Off to the UK w/o Howie pt 3

May 21st..off to the Cotswolds area. We drove to Cornwall in the morning, had lunch, then took off for the Cotswolds, eventually finding our first Airbnb bed in Highworth. The next day we drove through several small towns, including Burton-on-the-water, Stow-on-the- Wold, and Chipping Campden.

Burton-on-the-water was our favorite. It is also known as a Little Venice, because of the river through the town and the bridges over it.  It was very picturesque.

Harris took this picture just because he thought the price of the beef was so high!

On Friday we headed north to York.  This is just a picture of a small passageway between streets.

The inside of York minster, the largest Gothic church north of the Alps, built in the 1200's.  We arrived in time to attend an evensong service, sung by a choir of men and boys. Their beautiful voices echoed in this stone church to make an inspiring event.

The outside of the minster.

York has the National Railway Museum, so we had to go see it. This engine and its wheels seemed huge to us, so we took a picture with Harris just for the scale.

This is a picture of a street called the Shambles. The name comes from "shammell", a butcher's bench. The lane was once made up of butchers' shops. Further up the lane, the houses lean towards each other so much you could literally shake hands with your neighbor across the way.

After York, we drove to Kesswick in the Lake District. This is the first time we've seen real hills instead of gently rolling countryside. Since this was during the Spring Bank Holiday ( a long weekend, Monday off), the place was very crowded with tourists and people who come to hike in the hills.

We drove 9 miles out of town, which took about 30 minutes because of the small size of the road, and walked about 4 miles around Buttermere Lake.  It was a pretty level walk, except for one section that Harris climbed to try and find a geocache. Alas, his climbing efforts were for naught. The cache wasn't there. Next time, he says, he'll check the logs first before climbing!

A good pub sandwich after our walk. We had driven those same 9 miles back to Kesswick, and then decided to try and find a good tea place so Judy could have a "real" English tea meal. This place, about a mile from our B&B, was rated number one on Trip Advisor, so we walked there to give it a try. Alas, it was more of a pub/restaurant than a tea shop, in spite of their advertisement. There was no real "tea" meal, so we settled for a heartier meal.

Judy had a Toasted Portinscale Pockets

Warm filled flat breads all served with dressed Chalet salads

- Crispy bacon, brie, and cranberry sauce - Hot chicken, sage and onion stuffing and cranberry sauce

Harris ordered The fish larder board...

Prawn marie rose pot, smoked mackerel with horseradish fresh dill dressing, smoked salmon and lemon pate, gravadlax salmon with brown bread and butter served with a chalet salad bowl

They both said it was terrific! In the morning of the 27th, we drove to Newcastle to return the car. Judy heaved a big sigh of relief. Our driving will be taken over by Allan.