Cory and I have been exploring the Cotwolds, learning how to drive on the left, and finding our way down country roads and unmarked paths.  The last couple days we ventured out to discover some of the National Trust gardens and buildings, historic landmarks in a country that is covered with history. Our first stop was Hidcote Gardens not far from Chipping Campden. Hidcote (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hidcote/) is one of the most beautiful gardens in England. It did live up to its reputation. It's a very large garden designed in rooms with hedges and walls separating the various garden rooms. While it was designed around a manor house, the house is not open to the public. We did enjoy walking through the gardens and marveled at the beautiful flowers and trees. On our way home from Hidcote, we drove past a lavender farm and stopped to enjoy the view. Acres and acres of lavender made the rolling hills a mass of purple and green. We picked up some blueberry and lavender jam in the gift shop and it is really good on scones for breakfast.

Our next excursion was to Snowshill Manor and Gardens http://www .nationaltrust.org.uk/snowshill-manor/. This is truly a unique place created by Charles Wade. In the early 1900's, Wade inherited a fortune, quit his job, and proceeded to become a collector. His focus was on anything that had interesting color and shape, but it had to be hand-made. He was a great supporter of the Arts and Crafts movement that began right here in the Cotswolds. He bought Snowshill Manor, refurbished and repaired it, and used it exclusively to house his varied collections of hand made items. He lived in the Priest's House, a cottage next to the manor, and displayed all his collectibles in the manor itself. He also built the gardens around the manor which are interesting because they are terraced into garden rooms. The manor is on top of a hill and the gardens are gradually descending terraced rooms. Wade's collections were diverse from handmade metal bicycles and spinning wheels, to Japanese samurai warrior costumes and carved chests. You can see some of the items in the pictures. The house was packed with all of Wade's collected items. I think he was just a compulsive shopper! The man bought everything in England and had a friend who drove him all over the country to find all these things and bring them to his house.

After leaving Snowshill Manor, we drove south to visit some of the other small villages in the area . This was a bit anxiety provoking as there are very few road signs and it's hard to tell where you are on these country roads. Someone told us that during WWII they took down all the road and location signs so if the enemy troops landed here they wouldn't know where they were. Apparently, they just didn't bother to put most of them back up! After driving the wrong way several time and back-tracking a lot, we found Upper and Lower Slaughter, both quaint and beautiful villages that looked very expensive to us. Then, we traveled to Bourton-on-the-Water which Cory now calls Bourbon on the Water because he felt in need of some bourbon by the time we arrived there. We wandered around a bit, looked in the shops, and decided to call it a day. Cory is doing well driving on the left, but it does take his full attention. I have to try to figure out the atlas maps, look for signs and watch for oncoming bicycles. Altogether, we were glad to park and spend a quiet evening at home.

Today we walked a couple miles around Chipping Campden . We bought a little leaflet of "Six Short Walks around Chipping Campden" a few days ago. It's directions made about as much sense as the lack of street signs in the towns and on the roads. In other words, we couldn't follow them and they did not make any sense to us, at all. We didn't get lost as we could see the church spire from the middle of the fields where we ended up, but we certainly couldn't figure out the route the leaflet was telling us to follow. So, we made up our own walk through fields and forests, coming out a bit south of town and following the main street home. It was nice day for a walk, about 80 to 85 degrees, but the locals are complaining loudly about the terrible heat wave. We just laugh and walk in the shade!