Days 93, 94, 95, 96 and 97. I just believe in natural history and little villages and being lazy as possible.

Days 93, 94, 95, 96 and 97.  I just believe in natural history and little villages and being lazy as possible.  For days I have tried to plan for adventures over the channel to european destinations but the frugality in me has won too many battles of saving money and not wanting to travel alone.  Weird.  I know.  I have travelled too much on my own to enjoy the independence, but this time around, I need some company.  So no travel it is, but making new adventures in and around London.

I got up Saturday (day 93) and made plans, then I was too late to make the train for said plans, so I made other plans, and other plans and finally a rough idea of what I could do.  I got a London number for my iPhone.  I got tired of depending only on wifi for three months, and so I got a cheap pay as you go plan.  It was easy to do, pour guy at the shop got an ear full out of me asking a million questions about what plan was the best for my money.  After that I decided to hit up a nice little farmers market that i had been to before.  The first time I went I had stuffed myself silly prior to going, so I had no room for more food.  This time, I was so hungry and indecisive i walked around for an hour before deciding on something to eat.  After that, I decided I needed to see a musical....one that has a lottery to win tickets to that shall remain nameless and I was only going to go if I won the lottery.  As they were drawing the winners, the man announced that this would be the last two tickets available, "Oh but someone else is in luck because this person only wants one."  "oooooohhhhhh" was the pity cry of the crowd waiting.  "Oh gosh its me. I won." was my thought.  Sure enough.  I was the winner.  I figured if i won the lottery, I'm destined to see the show.  I'll keep you guessing as to what it is I saw.  Very funny, very obscured, and overall I liked it.

Sunday.  Day 94. The usual morning routine.  As I left church, the Natural History Museum had no queue (aka line) to get in, this was a first as usually it is down the street.  I took advantage of the no line and enjoyed a couple of hours of looking at dinosaur bones, life-size relics of whales & mammals, and other enlightening exhibits.  It was a nice cultured afternoon.  I was starving by the time I got home.  I made salsa, chocolate chip cookie dough, and sweet potato tacos (thanks for the idea Lisa) and watched movies, talked to the parents, and planned out my next adventure.      During my indecisive walk around the farmers market on Saturday, I did text Vermont and California and told them I was renting a car and headed to the Cotswolds on Monday and they could join if they liked.  They both jumped on it.  Vermont asked if Singapore could join.  Why not.  The more the merrier.


Monday, Day 95, we all got up bright and early and met up at the airport to go to the neighboring rental car agency.  It took a lot longer to find the agency and fill out the paperwork then I had expected.  Nevertheless, we took off, and had a fantastic time in the Cotswolds.  I asked the other three if they had any preferences on what to see, and none of them had done research.  California mentioned a Cathedral, she showed me where it was on the map, and it was out of the way fro what I had planned and far from the hotel (manor) we were staying at.

Seriously it was magical.  Little towns full of [really old] people living their lives.  I told the girls that if any of them wanted to pull over at anytime to take a picture, I would.  I think I pulled over more for myself than the others ever requested, but there was so much to capture!  The towns and roads all blended together.  They were all fabulous.  At one stop Vermont talked to a man that had only been to London two times in his life, and never wanted to go back again.  London is two hours away.  Shoot I've been two hours away in every direction Sent from my iPad

Thanks to Mindy (hi Mindy!) for suggesting that I look up Rick Steve's recommendations for places to visit in the Cotswolds, we had a great variety of places to go and see.  I divided the list for the two days, and the first list was completed.  I told everyone that we were headed to the hotel as it is 30 minutes away and now dark at 5pm.  We'd been up since 5am.  California pulls out her phone and says "the cathedral is open for another hour we can still make it."  I was a bit stunned at the request.  It was thirty minutes away.  Directionally, we were at the top of a triangle, the cathedral was the lower left point and the hotel was the lower right point of the triangle.  It did not make directional sense to go there.  I knew there had to be an ulterior motive for going, but me being a good sport, agreed to go without knowing the reasoning for needing to go. Once in the Cotswolds, I knew there would be no major freeways to the hotel, but somehow we managed to get on one to see this Cathedral. I knew we were getting further away from our destination.  The cathedral was really pretty, all cathedrals are.  Once in the parking lot, California got really excited.  "Is there a significance for this cathedral like a movie was filmed here or something?" I asked.  "Yes! Harry Potter was filmed here!"  was California's joyful reply as she sh.  Ugh.  I should have known.  She was wearing her Hermonie (however you spell it) costume all day long.  She's worn it before.  I just didn't know she wanted a photo shoot in the Cathedral as a Harry Potter character. We made the most of it.  Vermont and i took a picture in the Men's bathroom next to the urinals I figured Daniel Radcliffe had used.  Once back in the car, California put her phone away and left it to the rest of us to find our way to the Manor.

The Manor.  Originally Vermont tried to get us a little cottage on HomeAway.com but when the owner didn't get back to her in time, she found the complete opposite (no complaints) on booking.com.  Seriously I thought of their commercials as we walked into the Manor.  Seriously grand history.  The rooms were over the top (velvet headboard & comforter, bust in the fireplace, leopard fabric covered armchairs) grandiose.  It was amazing to feel like royalty for the evening.  We grabbed dinner at a local pub, after stopping into a convenience store for snacks.  We were hungry.  When we got out of the pub, the town was foggy. Singapore said that was the first fog that was not pollution that she had ever seen.  Did I mention that this was also Singapore's first road trip ever???  Um yah. There were a bunch of firsts on this trip.  Must tell a funny tale from dinner.  Vermont told us about a friend she has back home that is quadriplegic and at concerts uses it to get back stage to see the bands better.  Singapore says "Im going to have to use that at the next concert...I'll just close my eyes and tell them that I cant see so I can go back stage."  Singapore did not know that quadriplegic and blindness are not the same thing.  We laughed forever with that one.  We walked around the grounds of the Manor by moonlight before heading in for the night.

Day 96.  California was our door knocking wake up call to see the grounds at sunrise (mind you it was 8am, but I was exhausted from driving all around).  Turns out the Manor was a B&B.  We had a nice breakfast.  Walked around the grounds a bit and headed out for more adventures.  The manor people recommended some more towns that we added to the list, and they were all lovely as well.  We went to the information center in one town, and I talked to a local man (not an old man) and he drew us a map of where to go in the town to see things.  As we were walking down one of the oldest roads, a young boy was helping his grandpa bring groceries in the house.  I was taking a picture when the grandpa starts talking to me and tells us that the merchants house was the one at the end and that these houses were the wool weavers.  Singapore asked him if I could get my picture with him.  He obliged. It was then our goal to get more pictures with old men then paparazzi shots of the past 24 hours.  We stopped into a church, looking for a restroom, and just as we were headed out, an old man gave un an impromptu tour of the church, showing us Ann Bolen's wine sacrament cup, Roman pillars (the town was built by the Romans), and stained glass.  Seriously nicest people town.  We headed off for more spots, and picture taking, fun and laughs.  And a lot of driving.  I was getting tired, and we tried to stop for dinner, but got stuck in traffic, and so we pressed on, returned the car, metroed to our dividing point, grabbed some dinner at a restaruant, and then a pub for dessert.  Came home, and crashed.

Day 97.  To be or not to be lazy.  Lazy morning.  Did a load of laundry.  Decided to be a tourist.  Walked by the Sherlock Holmes statue and 221B Baker Street and walked through Regent's Park.  I havent been there in 10 years.  10 years ago I walked through the soccer fields, not knowing there was a lake.  This time, I walked around the lake.  I went to Burough Market looking for a gift to give the host of my upcoming Wales adventure, but no such luck.  I didnt want to chance cheese incase she wasn't a stinky cheese lover. Grabbed some Indian Food for dinner.  I headed over to a Christmas Market on the Thames to get something there, but was unimpressed.  I wanted some paper Christmas stars for myself, but 1. dont need anymore extra luggage and 2. didnt want to spend the money.  donations gladly accepted.   Headed home for a lazy night of Chocolate Chip Cookies, toast with jam & hot chocolate for a snack, and youtube watching and writing this novel for my evening.  what is in store tomorrow I have no idea.  Just glad to take it easy.  I like slow days.