my winter vacation, part 2 by Susan W. Story

Day 6 - Dec 22, 2009 (Tuesday)

We spent a few hours at nearby Warwick Castle, which is considered to be the finest medieval fortress in England.

high up on the ramparts

self-portrait of us at the mound, the oldest part of the property!

Day 7 - Dec 23, 2009 (Wednesday)
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

... if you wear a lot of red and live with elves. (In case you can't see the fine print, the car read -4 degrees Celsius.)

Frommer's Guide rule #189: Don't go to Stonehenge. Period. But if you decide to go, don't go in the pouring rain when temperatures are near freezing. It will be a memorable experience, but not in the way you hoped.


Day 8 - Dec 24, 2009 (Thursday)

Our lovely old neighborhood butcher preparing our leg of lamb

St. James Cathedral, a 15th century church, where we worshipped at their Christmas Eve service

the Christingle Mac received from the rector (see earlier post at Christingles)

Our Christmas portrait, taken after Christmas Eve dinner at the Eight Bells Inn

Day 9 - Dec 25, 2009 (Friday)

The Cotswolds are famous, among other things, for their great "rambles". You can basically just walk these "public footpaths" that cut through people's properties. It's you, nature, and the farmer's sheep, and surprisingly, nobody gets shot!

After opening Christmas presents and playing the Wii for a couple hours, we headed out on a Christmas Day ramble before cooking dinner.




not your mother's Christmas dinner - roasted leg of lamb; roasted potatoes, parsnips, carrots and brussels sprouts; and yorkshire pudding.

after popping our Christmas crackers, we donned our crowns and took a self-portrait

Day 10 - Dec 26, 2009 (Saturday)

Boxing Day provided us another strenuous day of playing Wii, rambling, and eating a late lunch at the Eight Bells where we had the pleasure of meeting an older English couple named Jill and Peter (affectionately called "Petey" and "Speedy" by Jill). They made for an entertaining couple hours.





Day 11 - Dec 27, 2009 (Sunday)
We drove back to London, returned the rental car, and had dinner at the Maynard's local pub.

Day 12 - Dec 28, 2009 (Monday)
Monday was a sad day for us. We said goodbye to Jimmy, knowing that we won't see him again until late March or early April. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Monique suggested that we go to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, an amusement park set up for a couple weeks over the holidays. Surely an amusement park can bring out the smiles, right?

Mac and Caitlin as they prepare to get on a ride


Day 13 - Dec 29, 2009 (Tuesday)
I had promised I'd take Mac on one of the double-decker tour buses in London so he could see "the white palace" aka Buckingham. Naturally we had beautiful (but cold) weather on every day we were in London until the final day, the appointed day for the tour. It was freezing cold and raining and miserable. Not one to back out of a deal, we left the warmth of the Maynard's house for a day of cold, wet misery. Even my trusty umbrella that I've had for years could not withstand the London wind and died on this day. We never got off of the hop-on, hop-off tour because neither of us could muster the courage to brave the elements. So we rode around for a couple hours, saw a teeny little glimpse of the white palace, ate lunch afterwards, and called it a day! I have no photos to share from this day as it was difficult to get any good pictures from the inside bottom of the bus with the windows covered in rain!

The Conclusion

We had a PERFECT vacation. It was so relaxed and marched to its own rhythm, which was a very slow, very peaceful beat. Exactly what we all needed.