Cotswolds!

Today we took a day trip around the Cotswolds, a region near Oxford. This is where Mom and Dad went when they were here.. really picturesque, with ancient houses, lots of thatched roofs, rolling hills of barley and wheat.. beautiful place. This day trip was on Medieval houses, so we visited an old castle, Broughton Castle, which is still inhabited by a noble family... in fact, Lady Saye and Sele, the lady of the house, came and talked to us as a group! Apparently she knows Dr. Addison. When we were leaving the house, her nephews were playing cricket on the lawn.. incredible that these people are living in a house made in the 1300s!

These pictures are a bit out of order, so I'll get back to Broughton Castle in a minute. This is Minster Lovell Hall. Historically, the Lords of Lovell have played important roles in British gvt. One was even referenced in Shakespeare. Unfortunately, their manor is in ruins today, but it was still neat to imagine what it would have been like.

Here it is, Minster Lovell Hall! This is about 30 min from Oxford.

More of the ruins.. this is part of an old staircase..

Hahaha, thought this guy was HILARIOUS. Mustache. I'm going to say this guy came over fresh from Normandy.


Ok, back to Broughton Castle. This is the Great Hall, and the oldest part of the castle. This is where the Lady met us and told us a bit about the castle's history. Since her husband is a lord, he is in the House of Lords, though he's pretty old, so he stays here mostly. Today we saw him out in the garden sipping tea while working on a book he's writing. Life's hard.

View from the gardens.

This felt very Jane Austen-esque... you can just imagine rich ladies sitting here reading books alllll day and drinking tea. There was a harp in the corner and tons of old books.

We were able to climb up to the roof of the castle...and THIS was the view!! Beautiful gardens!

Well, tonight around 9 I head to London and then I'm over-night busing it to Glasgow! I'm going to be exhausted tomorrow FOR SURE, but I think I'll get an adrenaline boost from being in Scotland! I'll try and limit the pictures I take, but I'm sure there will be some good ones to post!

I'll be back Monday, so expect a post then!

Love,
Emily