Brucato's Go Museum Hopping!: Settling in to the Cotswolds!

Tuesday, 19 February 2013

Hello!

Today was transit day – moving from London out into the Cotswold’s.

So…up about 7, and packed up things and straightened up the flat. Fortunately, we didn’t do too much here, so not a problem getting everything back together. We went down the street to Gail’s – and I had my last and final cupcake…I will dream of those cupcakes for a long, long time! Hugo came right at 10 a.m. to check out the flat and return our damage deposit. He also helped us down the two flights of stairs with our bags. We walked up to King’s Road and Robert was able to flag down a taxi in just a minute or so! Yipee!! (We figure we’ve reached the age when we’re allowed to take taxis to transfer from one place to the next…)

Took the taxi to St. Pancras International (where we will actually be arriving on the Eurostar chunnel trip from Paris a few weeks from now) and needed to collect our tickets. Put the credit card into the ticket machine, and it just wouldn’t work properly! So, we headed into the ticket line. Fortunately, not many people there. Met an absolutely lovely lady, who told us that our CC didn’t work because it didn’t have a “chip” in it. (We do have a CC with a chip, but I hadn’t used it to book the tickets!) The nice thing about our ticket to Luton was that it could be used for any trip; our nice friendly agent recommended the 11:30 to Nottingham, which would get us to Luton (the first stop) quickly. So…found the 11:30 a.m. and out into the country we went. In something less than half-an-hour we were at Luton station. We got out, exited the station, and got in line for the shuttle bus to Luton airport. This took only five minutes or so, and we were at the airport – now needing to catch the shuttle bus to the rental car station. So…finally to the rental car! Picked up a very cute (and tiny!) Citroen. While it looks very tiny, the boot (trunk) actually is quite spacious, and we were able to store all four of our cases just fine! So…out we went, back on the road and heading to Bibury.

No 28 The Square in Bibury

Reached Bibury in a little under two hours, taking all back roads along the way. We stopped for a quick break about half-way here, at a services stop on the highway – and oh, my, did they have services! There was a combination KFC/Pappa John’s Pizza/Crispy Kreme donut/Burger King, along with a book store and a small Waitrose grocery. We split a ham and cheese sandwich and headed on out, more than a little refreshed!

No 28 The Square

We’ve stayed many times in Bibury before, but always at the Bibury Court Hotel, the manor house. Bibury itself is quite small – it has one good pub, the Catherine Wheel, another pub/hotel, the Swan Hotel, the Bibury Court Hotel, a small post office/shop and the trout farm – which apparently is very famous! This time, we are staying in a flat -- #28 on the Square. We found it with no problems – it is just down the road from the Bibury Court and the church. What made it a bit confusing is that there is MAJOR construction going on right next to our cottage! (It is actually a row of cottages, and the owner of 28 also owns 27; not sure what is going in on the other cottages; it’s really quite a production!) We found the key in the key box outside the door (only took a bit of poking and prying to get in!) and let ourselves in.

Bibury Street

Birbury Street

Well…it’s three floors; kitchen, living room on the ground floor, bathroom and one bedroom on the 1^st floor, and a larger attic bedroom on top. We’ve decided to use the 1^st floor bedroom as a dressing room, and sleep in the attic bedroom. Got settled in, made a grocery list, and then headed out to Cirencester to go grocery shopping. We haven’t been in the area in a few years, and it appears that now Ciren has acquired not only a large Waitrose grocery store, but a McDonald’s too! Is nothing sacred?!

Found the Waitrose with no problem, and had a good look around. We’ve basically bought things for breakfast and either lunch or supper. We figure we will try a different pub each day, either lunch or dinner, and make our own breakfasts and/or lunch/suppers. Back with groceries, and by now it was definitely time to get some real food!

The Catherine Wheel

Half Pine of Bitter

Decided to walk to the Catherine Wheel, because 1) great exercise, and 2) if I’m not driving, I can have a glass or wine or so! Nice to be back at the Wheel; it is a lovely pub! We were seated in the dining room at a nice table for two. As it was sustainable fish night, R ordered a starter of shrimp and crab risotto, followed by a tempura plaice with stir fried vegetables in red curry. I started with a blue cheese and walnut tart on rocket salad, followed by braised shin of beef on mashed potatoes with cabbage and peas. Everything was GREAT! For dessert, Robert had a blueberry tart with raspberry ripple ice cream. I had sticky toffee pudding – WOW! It was fabulous!!