Holiday part I

I'm finally back from my holiday trip to the UK! And what a trip it was. If you plan a trip yourself or just like to see how mine was, read on!

Day 1 - Wellesbourne Airfield & Moreton-in-March

If you happen to be in the Cotswolds during the weekend, I would recommend paying the Wellesbourne Airfield a visit on Saturday. Every Saturday (or at least during the summer when we visit) the planes on the landing strip make way for one of the largest outdoor markets of the Cotswolds. You need new home decor? This is the place to find a rug, table of lamp shade. You fancy a bit of shopping? They've got clothes, shoes, bags and make-up. And also everything else you weren't looking for like utilities, piercings, nerf guns and buggies. This event attracts a variety of people, arriving in the most luxurious cars (Porsche, Bentley etc) and the least luxurious cars which I will not mention (probably including ours) ;). So besides the shopping it's also a sort of anthropology study of the British population (I love to watch people, especially on holiday).

All this watching and spying from behind sunglasses makes one very hungry of course, which is the perfect moment to indulge on the many different flavors the market food has to offer. Just don't bother with the diet, it won't work here.

 

Of course we happened to visit the airfield on a very hot day, so after a few hours we were completely dehydrated and gasping for a cup of tea. So we drove to Moreton-in-March and sat down at Tilly's tearoom for a delicious cream tea with scones and clotted cream. The perfect ending to the perfect start of the holiday!

Day 2 - Hidcote gardens & Chipping Campden

For day two of our holiday we collected our National trust membership cards (which we booked before departure) at one of the Cotswolds most famous gardens: Hidcote. Hidcote manor and its gardens are the brain child of Major Lawrence Johnston and his mother Gertrude Winthrop, and is a must-see for any garden enthusiast. Try to go a bit early, because it can get quite busy during the afternoon, but is splendid non the least. The gardens of Hidcote absolutely stunning and are one of the greatest of the Cotswolds.

After walking around the gardens for a couple of hours, soaking in its splendor, we fancied a cup of tea and headed into the picturesque village of Chipping Campden. And we did we find here by surprise? A small antique market set up in the village hall, today only! Isn't that pure luck?

Absolutely love this car! Too bad the guy was picking his nose...

After tea we took a small break at our rental cottage located in the Lenches and went for an Indian dinner in the town centre of Evesham.

Day 3 - Burford House & Badgers Hall tea

After soaking in some culture and history we decided to go for a bit of shopping today, by paying a visit to Burford House in Tenbury Wells. We learnt of Burford House through a leaflet left at the cottage, which stated that "Burford House (built in 1728) is both a shopping experience for interior decor and for plants, as it holds a large nursery. It also holds a landscape garden which contains the National Clematis Collection.". Which all sounded very promising. However, upon arrival the lovely words of the leaflet were a bit overstated compared to the disappointing view of the garden and clematis collection. The layout was lovely but it was clear that the grounds were still under development. And the clematis' were very hard to find. The garden center was lovely though, with many different (good priced) and rare plants. They also serve a nice lunch, so if you want a snack in a beautiful surrounding Burford House is your place, but if you come for the gardens and clematis collection you may be left disappointed. 

To not let the beautiful day go to waste, we decided to head for Chipping Campden and have tea at Badgers Hall. 

Hope you enjoyed the post! Stay tuned, there's more to come ;)