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.

Dyrham Park

Yesterday, we went on our second outdoor outing of the week, this time to Dyrham Park.

Dyrham Park is one of our favourite National Trust properties to visit, as the mansion is so impressive to see and its gardens are beautiful.

Like Lacock, Dyrham has been used as the setting for various TV series and films. In recent years, it has played the part of Sanditon Manor in the TV adaptation of Jane Austen's Sanditon, and a French country hotel in the WWI drama The Crimson Field.

When you see the house, it's easy to understand why it's so popular.

The house is currently closed to visitors due to Covid 19, but to be honest, that didn't matter to us very much, as we've already been inside it at least a few times! Besides, I think the gardens are more interesting than the mansion's interior. I particularly liked seeing the lake, which was surrounded by colourful flowers.

One of the things Dyrham is best known for is its population of deer, but unfortunately they weren't around yesterday, though we have seen them on previous visits. However, we did meet another animal friend! This regal-looking cat was very happy to stare down at us from the top of his wall!

Afterwards, we drove to the Tog Hill picnic site to eat our lunch. There are amazing views from up there; you can see across to the entire city of Bristol, the Severn Bridges and beyond to the Welsh hills.

It was a very nice day out, though I have to admit that I am feeling the urge to visit somewhere a little different, like a city or a beach. I like the countryside, but it would be good to have a bit of a change of scenery, or even a trip to a different country. However, going abroad unnecessarily just doesn't seem like a good idea at the moment, so I guess that will have to wait a while. 

Our next trip will be to another nearby National Trust property this Sunday. Although it won't quite be the change of scenery I'm dreaming of, it is at least a place I haven't been to before. My parents told me it has an excellent café and a resident cat, so I'm looking forward to checking it out!