We started our next morning heading down to Malmesbury to drop Erin off at work, it was good to force ourselves up early to get towards the south Cotswolds and Bath. Our first stop for the day was Avebury, the step sister of Stonehenge that sees few pictures and fewer postcards. However, there is more more to Avebury than the side-road stop that is Stonehenge. Avebury is a little village that has been built around a series of stones as you see below, resting in their current place for over 4,000 years (I hope you are thinking, how the H-E double hockey sticks did they get rocks to that position 4,000 years ago!! - I was thinking the same thing when walking amongst the 50+ massive stones). Dr. Bauer is a big fella, and this rock dwarfs him.
From Avebury, we made our way to Lacock, which is a National Trust village. That's correct, the national trust owns the entire, amazingly preserved village. It is very untouristy (at least in Sept) and walking the streets sends one back in time. Following a stroll into the 600 year old church in the village, we went to The George Inn for lunch. The pub, which donned the cover of the good pub guide in 2008, provided everything a good pub stands for, good hosts, comfortable old world furnishings, a massive fire and quality ale.
The next town, one of my favorites of the weekend, is Castlecombe. What a great little town. It was recently named the quaintest village in England, which the town didn't even know they were in the running for the title! It is literally one street with more character than perhaps any other street in England!
We also stepped into the church, dating back to the 1300s. There is a really cool old tomb there that is from the founder of the town, who was part of the 4th crusade under Richard III!!!
After tearing ourselves away from Castlecombe, we made it to Bath. Getting in might be one of the most difficult tasks! There is only one straight shot into town and it always appears backed up. My faithful navigator Dr. Bow Wow took us the scenic route along the top ridge of the town (Bath is situated in a river valley), around hairpin turns dodging several oncoming cars on the way. It ended up being a shortcut that plopped us right in front of the town center and into a parking lot just a couple blocks away!
After we arrived, we spent the afternoon in the Church, checked out the Royal Crescent (which isn't unlike the royal crescent Erin and I live on) and strolling around town. We made it to three pubs that night and had a magnificent pizza dinner, of course stuffing ourselves too much! I recommend The Star as a must see pub! The next morning we went to the Roman Baths. This was honestly one of the most impressive sights I have ever seen, so well preserved!
One unique thing about Bath that I didn't know before is that the main bridge that crosses the river Avon in the city center has buildings on it and is quite reminiscent of the Ponto Vecchio in Florence, just not quite as colorful!
Inside Bath Abbey
After taking a historical tour of the city, we thereafter left Bath. I highly recommend it for an overnight trip if visiting London for a week. We then took the long way home, heading to the North Cotswolds again, stopping in the towns of Bibury, which is extremely eatable! The second photo is said to be the most photographed row of houses in England, Arlington row.
Following a further visit to Northleach, which is also worth a quick stop, we stopped in Oxford to find not only the money tower from which you have seen photos on the blog before closed, but also Christ Church. Fear not, for the oldest buildings in town were still open....the pubs!
We made it to the Bear and the Turf Tavern before Jason got a cramp in his neck and we had to head back to London! Again, you can truly see how people have grown since the middle ages and renaissance times!!
It was an amazing long weekend full of churches, pubs, village walks, laughs and all around great times! Thanks Bauer's!!!
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