Escape to the Country

Newly mown fields - late summer in The Cotswolds

Oh boy. Am I sick of London.

The Old Swan and Minster Mill, Minster Lovell

More precisely, I'm sick of the grind of travelling into London and back five days a week, in addition to putting in a (usually) nine- or ten-hour day at the office. I've been doing it for nearly six months now.

We recently had our one-year anniversary of having returned to the UK, and I suppose by now I was hoping we'd have left the metropolis and be settling into life in a more rural setting. At this stage it appears we're staying here for the next 12 months at least.

Kevin's been enjoying more than seven weeks of school holidays, while I've had only a day or two off all summer (making time to see visiting friends), but finally last week I managed to get a few days for us to escape to the country.

So it was back to The Cotswolds, which we so enjoyed visiting back in 2012.

Wedding temple at the Old Swan and Minster Mill

Thatched cottages in the village street where we were staying.
Bummer about the power lines. I suppose we could see them as providing a juxtaposition between the traditional and the modern.

Hollyhocks

Parker, the resident cat who always seemed to sleep near our car
- knowing a good scratch could be had from us!

I found us a great deal on a two-night package at The Old Swan and Minster Mill in Minster Lovell. It's a gorgeous property - the buildings almost 600 years old and with 65 acres of gardens right on the River Windrush, plus a spa. It's part of the very posh de Savary Family's group of hotels, and they describe The Old Swan and Minster Mill as a 'slightly less posh country cousin.' That's a style that sits better with us anyway.

Our package gave us accommodation, dinner and breakfast both days, free bike hire and a voucher each for a treatment at the spa.

Pre-dinner drinks in the lounge. This place just oozes rustic charm.

'Our cat is too fat'

Exterior, the main guest lounge at The Old Swan and Minster Mill.
And yes, folks - those are TURNING LEAVES. Autumn is on its way - hurrah!!!

£330 for a bottle of vintage champagne? Mais oui - a mere bagatelle!
 'Garçon! Bring me your finest champagne!'

This was a very nice touch: Complimentary sloe gin in our room.
Unfortunately, on the first evening Kevin told me it was port - yuck!
The next day I took a whiff for myself... and promptly berated KJ 
for his poor olfactory skills. 

Small pond at The Old Swan and Minster Mill

This really is the most beautiful area, and on the way to our hotel we stopped to explore the large-ish town of Witney nearby. Thank goodness for Google and TripAdvisor. With their help I discovered there was a vegetarian/vegan café, hidden down a lovely cobbled laneway.

Oh, the joy.

We had no sooner stepped inside than we realised there was something different, and yet oddly familiar about this place. There it was... my eyes zeroed in on the blackboard advertising hot drinks.

Long Black. LONG BLACK!!!!!

A few seconds longer revealed further signs of Antipodean influence. Sheep. Ferns. Elements of black-and-white. Yes folks - owned and managed by vegetarian Kiwis! 

Australians who travel abroad will be familiar with the difficulty of finding decent coffee in most other places. The UK has, thankfully, in recent years lifted its game - due mostly to enterprising Aussies and Kiwis who started opening their own coffee houses, frustrated by the poor quality available. The long black does not exist outside of Australia and New Zealand. The flat white is becoming more common but many of you will have patiently listened to my description of the trials of ordering a decent cup of black coffee around the world:

'I'd like a triple espresso in a cup larger than an espresso - and give me a separate jug of hot water please'. [I am invariably given a jug of hot milk]

Or: 

'An Americano with an extra shot, please - and don't fill the cup with hot water, just make it about two-thirds full.'

Server: 'Are you SURE you want an extra shot? We use two shots in our Americanos.'

Me: 'Yes, I'm sure. THREE shots please.'

Server looks confused and doubtful, but remembers the adage 'the customer is always right'. 

Server, looking worried, and proffering said cup of strong black coffee, only two-thirds full: 'Um, is that OK?'

Oh, the thrill of being able to ask for a Long Black without fear of misinterpretation!

Vegan blueberry friand at Eden Café. Bliss!

The food was absolutely delicious and mostly vegan, including the vast array of cakes. The coffee was excellent. The service friendly. A lot of their menu is also gluten-free, so also ideal for coeliacs. Definitely being filed away in the 'must return to' category next time we are up that way.

Whilst staying in Minster Lovell we spent a couple of days taking long walks, enjoying the food and exploring nearby towns. I don't image you'd ever tire of the gorgeous Cotswold style - row after row of cottages in golden Cotswold stone, villages as neat as a pin and beautifully preserved. 

The Lamb Inn at Crawley

The very beautiful ruins of Minster Lovell Hall (1440) alongside the River Windrush

Picture-perfect cottages everywhere!

With the invaluable guidance of friend Lesley who was recently in the area for some weeks, we sought out Burford with its fabulous antiques stores, pubs and boutiques filled with gorgeous homewares and high end clothing, and the tiny village of Kingham with its very posh pub/accommodation The Wild Rabbit. We didn't eat there, but admired the building from outside. 

Cottages in the unbelievably cute town of Burford

The Wild Rabbit at Kingham.
I am a sucker for pleached trees.

I would very much like somebody to buy me one of these cottages in Kingham, please

They're a very polite bunch in The Cotswolds

We also did a spot of shopping at the designer outlet facility at Bicester. Neither of us is really into designer labels - and we couldn't afford them, even if we were. But there was a sprinkling of more 'ordinary' stores and we managed to get a couple of items at bargain prices.

After our rambles and shopping it was very appealing to come back to the Old Swan and Minster Mill, have a pre-dinner drink and then dine in the restaurant.








And so we moved on to one of our favourite places in the UK, the historic and beautiful town of Bath.

The River Avon, Pulteney Weir and Pulteney Bridge

The colonnade in Bath Street, just behind the Pump Room

We did a 90-minute Jane Austen walking tour.
I said to our tour guide that I hoped she got paid extra on days like this
- it was 28ºC and 85% humidity, and she was in that Georgian get-up

The Royal Crescent, one of Bath's most famous landmarks

There are so many reasons we love this place, and why it's frequently voted the number one tourist destination in England (outside of London).

It's lost none of its grand beauty since the days of Jane Austen, when Bath was one of the most fashionable destinations in England. People came to see and be seen, and to take the curative waters - which you can still do today.

These days there are modern attractions as well - art galleries, fantastic shopping (particularly homewares and interior design), pubs, coffee houses and restaurants.

Yours truly out early to go shopping on Saturday morning 
- it was so hot I had to buy shorts!
I had not packed for heat and humidity

Entrance to the Roman Baths

Modern sculpture in Bath

Evening near the Parade Gardens

Once again TripAdvisor had given me the heads-up on a great vegetarian restaurant, and thank goodness we'd booked the week before as it can be difficult to get a table at Acorn Vegetarian Kitchen.

The complimentary amuse bouche served before our first course

The food was very elegant and inventive - high end vegetarian cuisine, and served on beautiful crockery, much of it hand-made.

This place has been in business for more than 20 years, so there's no doubt they're doing something right.

Kevin's first course:
 white onion soup with roast bladderwrack (seaweed), charred potato & black olive 

My first course:
roast cauliflower with cauliflower cous cous, candied hazelnuts & lemon gel

Our accommodation in Bath was at the modern end of the spectrum, and our first experience with Air BnB. It was extremely positive.

Our accommodation in Bath

View of Bath from the garden

This fabulous, architect-designed house is perched on one of the steep hillsides surrounding Bath. The 20-minute walk down into town - and even more so the arduous hike back up - ensured we burned off those kilojoules consumed at various eateries around the city! We did the return trip several times over the weekend, feeling incredibly virtuous.

An added bonus for us was the presence of sibling kitties Cosmo and Annie. Annie was the shy type, but Cosmo recognised a pair of suckers when he saw them - we were just settling into our room, not ten minutes after having arrived, and we heard miaowing from the other side of our closed bedroom door. There sat Cosmo, politely asking to come in. 

He made himself right at home on Kevin's lap, but was happy to leave when we went out.

The next morning when I opened the curtains covering our sliding glass doors to the garden, there he was, sitting at a respectful distance and just waiting for movement so he could visit again. What a sweetie.

Cosmo making himself at home on Kevin's lap

Cosmo in full grooming mode

One of the properties just down the street.
Oh, the money in this neighbourhood!

Of course my precious few days off work passed all too quickly. On Sunday we reluctantly made the journey back to Epsom from Bath. It's an easy distance of about 2.5 hours so we'll definitely be taking weekends there from time to time.  

The fact that in the past week or so the light has changed, and there's starting to be a different, autumnal feel in the air, has lessened the blow of having to return to the city. 

This is my favourite time of year, and we've already managed to get out and pick a couple of kilos of blackberries. Soon the crab apples will be ripe and I'm hoping this year my crab apple jelly is more successful - I overcooked it last year, and it was too firm, despite being very clear and a gorgeous colour. Oh well, it was my first attempt.

Until next time,
- Maree  xo