Neigh Bridge Lake

This week we managed to squeeze in a quick outing to Neigh Bridge Lake, a beautiful nearby lake. I wrote a tiny bit about it in my post about the Cotswold Water Park, but I'd only ever taken one photo of it previously, using my old Nokia! Today I had the chance to take some better quality pictures, and they came out pretty well because the weather today was actually quite sunny. Though to be fair, I think the lake looks very nice in all types of weather and every season of the year. I'd like to go back again in the autumn, when the leaves are all different colours.

We used to go to Neigh Bridge all the time when I was younger, but it had been quite a while since the previous time I went there, because a few years ago a £1 parking charge was implemented, so it's now no longer free to visit, which is a bit of a shame.

But it was great to finally go back again and see all the old places I remember from years ago. Not much has been changed in the park, except for the fact that some parts have been fenced off. Another thing that differed from my previous visits was the fact that there were no birds on the lake. That was a little disappointing, as I always loved seeing all the swans, ducks and moorhens there!

However, it was still a very scenic and peaceful place to walk around.

There seemed to be a little treasure hunt going on round the park, as there were several painted pebbles hidden in various places. Pictures on the stones included animals, power rangers and, er, poop emojis!

Next to the lake, you can find another body of water: the River Thames! Its source can be found fairly close to Neigh Bridge, near the village of Kemble. Round here, the river is quite small, and obviously it gets a lot bigger as it travels towards London. In the winter it's very deep, but in the summer it's nearly completely dry. I used to stand in the "river" in the summer when I was younger, but the part I used to stand in has been fenced off now!

I really enjoyed our trip to Neigh Bridge and will definitely go back soon.

Although I have a real love for the ocean, I also really like lakes like this one. I find walking around them very relaxing and great for my mental health. Back when I was living in Nottingham, I used to regularly walk around the lakes at Highfields Park and Wollaton Park, which I think helped me get through my degree to some extent!

This outing was actually kind of a replacement for a couple of "bigger" trips I'd had planned. We were meant to be going to a country garden with rescue animals this Thursday and to London next Thursday, but for various reasons, both of those trips were cancelled. I was slightly disappointed about the London trip, because I absolutely love going there, but the good news is that I'll definitely be going in October.

The other good news is that in a week's time, my parents and I will be going on a proper holiday! We'll be seeing some more lakes, as we're going to be visiting the Lake District in the north of England. I've never been there before and I've heard it's a beautiful part of the world, so it should be an exciting trip!

Bristol: Part One

Yesterday was my first trip to a city since the start of lockdown!

It was quite exciting to go to Bristol after five months of only visiting towns, villages and countryside areas. I've been there many times before, as it's the nearest big city, and I have family there. But I'd never gone and properly seen the sights up until now, even though it's a place with many attractions.

Bristol isn't known for being a beautiful city like Bath or Oxford, but it's certainly a very interesting city with a long history. Sadly, it is known for its links to the slave trade. However, now it's a very diverse and progressive place, and it was recently in the news for the historic moment when anti-racism protesters pushed the statue of a slave trader into the harbour, during the Black Lives Matter protests.  

Bristol is also renown for its green credentials, having been consistently voted as the most sustainable city in Britain and among the most environmentally friendly in Europe. 

And of course, it's famous for its street art, being the home of the mysterious Banksy as well as many other artists.

Bristol covers a very big area, and it's pretty much impossible to see all its sights in just one visit. So I plan to go back soon, hopefully during my boyfriend's visit to England, and explore more then. For this reason, I've called this post "Bristol: Part One", like I've done with my London posts.

The main attraction my parents and I visited yesterday was Christmas Steps, a quaint, historic street. I guess it's kind of the Bristolian equivalent of The Shambles street in York, but a lot less crowded! It must look really nice at night in the winter, when the fairy lights are lit up.

Near to Christmas Steps, we found Foster's Almshouses and the Chapel of the Three Kings of Cologne. A lot of the building was covered with scaffolding, but it was still a very nice place to look at.

We all needed to get some shopping done, so afterwards we went to Cabot Circus, a very big and modern shopping mall that was opened in 2008. It reminded me a lot of the Parque Arauco mall in the Las Condes area of Santiago.

Both yesterday and on other occasions when we've been driving around Bristol , I've seen some interesting places from the car, such as the iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge...

...and the SS Great Britain.

The M32 is also a surprisingly great place for sightseeing! I've always loved seeing Shal Jahal Jame Mosque, which reminds me of the palace from Aladdin.

Another building I love seeing is The Dower House, better known as The Yellow Castle! My parents and I would like to stop there someday for a walk.

Yesterday evening I showed the pictures to my boyfriend, and he said he'd love to visit Bristol with me! The photos reminded him of Germany, the United States, Chile, India, and of course England. That's one of the things I like most about Bristol; it has so many different places and attractions that are inspired by or are reminiscent of other places from all over the world. It's truly a global city, and I'm really looking forward to going back!

Read about Bristol: Part Two here!

Pinterest + My Blogging Future

Since I restarted travel blogging back in May, I've been using some of the extra time I've had at home to try out new ways of promoting Charlotte's Travel Adventures.

This blog has seen some growth in visitor numbers over the last few months, which makes me really happy. Planning local outings and writing about them here once or twice every week has been a nice little project to work on, and it's made getting through the coronavirus situation a lot easier for me. And the fact that more people are reading what I write is just brilliant. It's possible that the consistent amount of posts I've been putting out has brought about this improvement, but I think a couple of new methods of promotion that I've tried lately have also helped.

Back in June, I was sent an email inviting me to join Firo, a new app designed for travellers and travel bloggers. Here you can publish "stories" about particular destinations, featuring your blog posts about said destinations, as well as your recommended itineraries. You can also read other people's stories to get travel inspiration. I've enjoyed using the app both to publish stories about my trips and to find ideas of places to visit on an upcoming trip. Unfortunately, it seems that the app hasn't been updated for several weeks, so I've stopped using it for the time being. But I hope it will be up and running again soon, as it's a great resource for anyone who loves travel!

I've also started using Pinterest for the first time in my life, as I've heard it's a great way of promoting blogs. At first I found it totally confusing and difficult to use, but now I find creating pins to be a very fun and satisfying activity! I've been making some pins on there featuring content from both this blog and my Year Abroad blog, but I've also been including content not seen before on either blog!

If you're interested in checking out my Pinterest, here's the link!

It's been really interesting to take a deeper delve into the world of blogging and to find new ways of working on my travel blog that don't include, er, actually travelling or blogging! I'm excited to see where my blog will take me in the future, both literally and figuratively. I know it won't be a career for me at least for a while yet, but then again, I don't really know if I want it to be. 

On the one hand, earning a living travelling the world and writing about it would be an absolute dream. But on the other hand, the fact that some people (especially so-called "influencers" who don't even blog) get paid to have amazing travel experiences really doesn't sit right with me. It definitely raises ethical issues, particularly at a time like this when many hardworking people with real jobs can't afford a holiday. Plus, I love my job (teaching English as a foreign language) and I don't see myself giving it up any time soon.

So I'm very happy to continue travelling and blogging alongside my teaching for the foreseeable future, and I'm looking forward to many more travel adventures!

Image by Pixabay from pexels.com

A Rainy Day in Cheltenham (Plus Colesbourne)

On Friday morning, my parents and I went on a shopping trip to Cheltenham, and I took the opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing there as well. It was the first time I was able to explore a big town/city since our trip to Oxford in March and I really enjoyed the experience. It feels like things are slowly returning to normal again.

Cheltenham is a place I've been to many times, but I'd never really explored it properly before. It's a big town (practically a city really) with grand Regency architecture and a very European feel. It even has a very scenic neighbourhood named after the amazing French city of Montpellier, and another named after the town of Tivoli in Italy.

Friday wasn't exactly the ideal morning for exploring, as it was pouring with rain. But that didn't stop me from seeing some sights!

When I was walking through the town, I noticed this building I liked called Alma House. Its architectural style is very typical of Cheltenham.

Probably the most impressive building in Cheltenham is the Town Hall. I remember going to the literature festival there a couple of times when I was younger, and meeting the famous authors Jacqueline Wilson and Lauren Child.

Next I went round the corner from the Town Hall to see an attraction I don't remember having seen before: The Neptune Fountain. It is said to have been inspired either by the Trevi Fountain in Rome or by the Fountain of Neptune in Florence. Whatever its inspiration, it's like a little piece of Italy in England, and it's certainly a beautiful fountain to look at.

The Neptune Fountain is at the end of The Promenade, the most famous street in Cheltenham, where you can find the Municipal Offices.

I had wanted to explore a little more of the town, but I had to admit defeat by this point, as I was absolutely soaked to the skin! My jeans were sopping wet, and I could barely see, because the combination of the rain and the steam from my face mask had completely fogged up my glasses. 

So I headed off to H&M to buy myself a change of clothes, and I spent the rest of my time in Cheltenham mostly indoors, looking round the shops. Who said that the life of a travel blogger was easy? 😁

One of the places I'd planned to look around was the Imperial Gardens behind the Town Hall. Luckily, we were able to see them from the car on our way back, and they were a really pretty sight. I'd like to go back and have a walk around them on a sunnier day!

We stopped off on the way back in the village of Colesbourne in the heart of the Cotswolds, to have lunch at the Colesbourne Inn.                                   

(Okay, I admit I took that photo last year, when the weather was nicer!)

I was a bit disappointed that the inn didn't have any plant-based milk alternatives. I'd been craving a nice latte because of the cold weather, but had to settle for black tea instead.

However, the food was great. I had a vegan burger and a raspberry frangipane tart. 😋

I had a really nice time in both Cheltenham and Colesbourne, and I'd say it was one of my favourite trips out since the start of lockdown. I've always loved walking around cities and admiring their various attractions; it's something I've missed a lot over the last five months. It was great to finally have that kind of experience again.

Not sure exactly where we'll be going next, but I think we'll have another couple of local trips during August, before going on a proper holiday in a different part of England at the beginning of September. And of course in October and November, I'll be exploring various places in the UK and (hopefully) the rest of Europe with my boyfriend! After a rough few months, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and the good times that lie ahead. 

I'm definitely going to have plenty of travel adventures to blog about throughout the rest of 2020!

Check out a more detailed post that I wrote about Cheltenham here!

Faringdon and Lechlade (Plus Some Very Exciting News!)

Earlier this week, we had a day out visiting two small towns in the south of England: Faringdon and Lechlade.

Firstly, we went to Faringdon in Oxfordshire in South East England, not far from the Uffington White Horse. The main reason we went there was because my parents wanted to see if it would be a good place to move to in the future, but I think they've pretty much ruled it out now.

Faringdon is not exactly a well-known tourist destination. However, there is an interesting folly on the outskirts of the town. We saw it from a distance, but we didn't have the time or the right shoes to walk to it! So we might go back again in the future to see it closer up. Here's a photo for reference:

I quite enjoyed seeing the town centre, especially the Roman-style Town Hall.

The town has several churches, including the All Saints' Anglican church, which has a particularly short tower, as it was damaged during the English Civil War.

In Faringdon, they have a strange custom of dyeing pigeons different colours, which was started by the eccentric Lord Berners, who lived at Faringdon House. Throughout the town, you can find several sculptures of colourful pigeons.

After looking around the town centre, we headed to Lechlade in Gloucestershire in South West England, which we'd previously explored back in June.

We had lunch at the Trout Inn, taking advantage of the Eat Out to Help Out government scheme, which allows you to get fifty percent off your meal from Monday to Wednesday throughout August. It was really nice to sit outside next to the river and enjoy the summer weather and the picturesque views. I especially liked seeing the huge willow tree on the other side of the river, as willows have always been my favourite kind of tree. I think it has something to do with my love for the film Pocahontas, which features a talking weeping willow!

I enjoyed the day out, but I have to admit that I've been feeling less enthusiastic about my local travels recently. This has mostly been because this coronavirus situation is just so relentless, and I've been gradually coming to the realisation that I'm going to be stuck here a long time before I'll be able to return to Chile and start my job there. I feel very powerless in regards to being able to change the circumstances of my life as they are now.

At times it seems like life has almost returned to normal for many people in this country; some are going on holiday, travelling abroad, seeing partners again, moving house, starting new jobs, etc. I don't want to complain, because lots of people are in far worse situations than I am in, but it does feel like the pandemic has stopped me from moving on with my life in a way that it hasn't done for others. I'm still living in my parents' house at nearly 25 years old and over a year after my graduation, which is certainly not what I envisaged.

But luckily, this week there has been a very very positive change in my life. My boyfriend has just booked tickets to travel from Chile to England to visit me very soon! It will be his first trip outside of South America, and I'm so excited to show him different places around the UK, and possibly other European countries if it's safe to visit them. This is just the best news I've had in ages, and I can't wait to see him again! 💕

Now I'm feeling much more enthusiastic about life in general, and I'm looking forward to my next outing with my parents later this week. We'll be going to a big town, practically a city really, which will be quite exciting after months in the countryside!

The Courts Garden

We've actually been on two outings in the last two days, so I'll be writing a couple of blog posts over the coming days. 

On Sunday, we visited The Courts Garden, a National Trust property in the village of Holt in Wiltshire. This is the place I mentioned at the end of my previous post. For reasons I'll go into later, it was a bit of a disappointing trip, but overall I think the property is worth a quick visit.

We were meeting family friends there, and as we arrived early, we had a little look around the village first. There was a really pretty little area with a lily pond and a willow tree, which was almost as nice to see as the garden itself.

As you can see, there was a furry visitor who particularly loved the pond!

Then our friends arrived and we went to the garden, which was very well set up with regard to social distancing, as there was a one-way system in place. 

One thing I liked about the garden was that it contained features that were reminiscent of different parts of the world, in particular Japan and Italy.

There was one part of the garden that had ponds filled with lotus flowers and waterlilies and a little wooden bridge, which reminded me of the Japanese gardens I visited in Santiago and Buenos Aires.

The garden also had many Roman style statues and columns, which made me feel a bit like I was in Italy.

Other interesting parts of The Courts Garden include the house...

...the sunken garden...

...the orchard...

...and this dog statue...

...along with many pretty flowers and trees.

It was a nice place to look around, but unfortunately the resident cat wasn't there, which was a shame, as I'd been looking forward to meeting him or her! 

The Rose Garden tea room was also a disappointment. It had a selection of about 15 different varieties of cake, as well as various savoury snacks, and yet absolutely none of it was suitable for vegans. Given that there were several gluten-free options, it really didn't make sense. Why would they cater extensively to people with one dietary requirement and provide nothing at all for people with a different dietary requirement? Plus it's actually very straightforward to make vegan cakes, so there's no excuse for not getting with the times and offering some options that don't harm animals or the planet.

My parents had told me great things about the tea room, so it was really disappointing that it offered nothing for me at all. They both got big slices of homemade cake to take away, whereas I had to pick up a sandwich from ASDA on the way home! To be honest, it left me with a bit of a bad impression of the garden overall, which I know is harsh, but you come to these places for the whole experience of looking around and then going for coffee and cake afterwards, so they really should be catering for everyone.

Our outing yesterday was to Faringdon and Lechlade, and I'll be writing about it soon. It wasn't exactly the most exciting trip in the world, but it was a nice day out with a few interesting sights to see.