While we were staying in Bath, we took one of our days and spent it on a bus tour of the Cotswolds. It was a fantastic day. It was a small bus that held only 14 passengers. When we arrived to wait in line for the bus, the other patrons eyed us warily. We could read their thoughts almost as if they were shouting them "oh, no!! a 2 year old on the bus! crying! whining! our trip ruined!". We said nothing, though, because we knew that the 2 year old in question was our girl Sophia, seasoned traveler and most excellent bus rider. And it turned out that we were right. Sophia was a good girl all day long. So good, in fact, that at the end of the day the other passengers and tour guide cheered her off the bus with compliments and big smiles. Phew.
The Costswolds are an area of lovely rolling hills, hand-built dry stone walls (which means no mortar was used to hold them together, just amazing stonework), houses with thatched roofs and villages so quaint that they are impossible to describe and portray accurately. (So you can learn more if you'd like to, I'm including a link to the official website which is worth a look.)
The bus wound its way through the narrow lanes of English northeast country side. It was a lovely day and we saw so many farms, from small to large, that looked like they came out of a film set. We stopped in several towns and got out of the bus to look around and take pictures. I fell in love with all of the beautifully painted doors and gates set into garden walls, so I have a million pictures of doors. One of our walks was particularly pleasant. We stopped in 'Upper Slaughter' and were told that we couldn't get to the village next door, 'Lower Slaughter' by bus, so we would be taking a path there. (The name of these villages stems from the Old English 'slough' or 'slothre', describing a wet land or muddy place.) This was an apt description. Off we went trudging along quite a muddy path that led us through fields, over hills, through fences and in and out of farmer's pastures. It was so much fun. And Sophia, who has been hiking with her daddy since she was 3 months old, just hiked along with everyone else and loved it.
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