Five Weeks in the Cotswolds Rosary Cottage

Ahhhh, we finally made it.  We arrived in Stansted airport and were met by Richard who brought us to our cottage.  Dad, Uncle Les and Jane had continued on with me.   Marsha, Alice and Carolyn went home from London.

We arrived at our cottage in early afternoon.  It is a 600 year old cottage that is located in the center of Chipping Campden, a beautiful old market town in the northern Cotswolds.

There is a picture on the wall that shows the cottage exactly as it looks today.  It is dated 1890!

Then....

Now.....

Here's the view out the front window.....When we arrived the roses were in full bloom and absolutely stunning.

When I say 600 year old cottage, I mean OLD.  Although the cottage has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, they are the funkiest layout of bathrooms I have ever seen.  There is one fairly normal bathroom, one with a toilet and shower with sink right outside the door and then there is my bathroom.  It took me two hours to locate the toilet!  In these old cottages they have to find a place for everything so when I closed the door to my room, I found the toilet behind it!  There is another door to the bathroom on the bedroom side so when you close both doors you are in a little alleyway!  The sink and shower are on the other side of the room!  Oh well, gives me something to talk about and cracks me up every time I use it.

The floors slope big time and 600 hundred year old wooden beams are found throughout the house.  We also have one of those two piece doors on the side of the cottage so you can open the top half. 

All the tourists are fascinated by this place and often stop at the door to peek in until they see me sitting by the window at which point they quickly apologize. So far I have met people from California, Tennessee and Northern Ireland who got caught peeking. Today, I saw a flash go off as someone quickly took a picture through the half door.  It's one of those kind of places, a real local gem albeit O-L-D.

The kitchen is big, homey and well stocked and slopes big time by the stove (600 year old room).  The kitchen chairs are leather and O-L-D but the kitchen has great character and warmth. Check out that huge center wooden beam. 

And here's my Uncle Les cooking up some breakfast!

There are two sitting rooms which are great for watching TV in one and reading in another because with these stone walls you can't hear a thing!!!  Don't bother calling for some from upstairs because they will never hear you.  Here's dad watching the news in the other living room.

The living room has a fireplace that easily dates from the early 1800's.

The cottage is in a primo location in the heart of town so my friends can crawl home from the pub.  The grocery, produce, butcher, ATM, everything is only a few steps away.  I went to get some money and heard a heavy clop, clop sound behind me and turned in time to see this beautiful horse and dressage rider walking behind me.  They apparently walk their horses down the street in the mornings for a little exercise. 

Folks, it doesn't get any more old world Merry Olde England than this!