Bibury With Claudio

One of our favourite outdoor outings during Lockdown 2 was when we went to the beautiful village of Bibury in the Cotswolds. It's really an amazing place for walking around, enjoying the scenery, and forgetting about everything else that's going on in the world.

The village wasn't quite as pretty as it was back in June, when there were lots of flowers everywhere, but on the upside, at least this time we could actually enter the most famous street, Arlington Row, and take photos there.

Claudio was really impressed by Bibury, and found it even more beautiful than Lacock, the previous village we'd visited. He described it as an enchanting place, and I would definitely agree with him!

When the time came for us to leave, neither of us wanted to go. Luckily, a few days later we had the chance to go to another charming Cotswolds village: Castle Combe. It was a place that was almost as new to me as it was to Claudio, and I'll be writing about it shortly after Christmas.

Dyrham Park With Claudio

Dyrham Park, a country estate in the Cotswolds, not far from Bristol and Bath, was an ideal place for us to go for a walk during the second lockdown, as it's such a big open space. And of course, it's also very picturesque.

I went there with my parents at the beginning of August, but I definitely enjoyed it more this time. (Despite the fact that the cat we saw before was nowhere to be seen!) The period of July and the beginning of August was actually one of the toughest parts of the pandemic for me, as it seemed like many of my peers were able to move on with their lives after the first lockdown ended, whereas I had no idea when I would be able to move out of my family home, start my job in Chile, and most importantly, see Claudio again. But then in mid-August, he booked his tickets to come and visit me, and life has been much better ever since!

It was really nice to visit Dyrham again - this time with Claudio, and in a more positive frame of mind. We both enjoyed the trip a lot, as the manor house and its gardens are so impressive to look at.

When you arrive, you have to walk down a hill from the car park to get to the house, and there's a point when you go round a corner and the house suddenly comes into view below. It's really amazing to see.

We had a great time looking around the outside of the house and its gardens, and we also explored the area around the church.

Dyrham Park is a perfect example of a grand English country house, and is quite different from the big houses in Chile, so it was a great place to go with Claudio.

The next place we visited was Bibury, a village in the Cotswolds that is considered by some to be the prettiest village in the entire country...

Lacock With Claudio

Before coming to visit me, Claudio had watched various videos online that showcased the best cities, towns and villages in England. One place that was mentioned in many of the videos was Lacock, often considered to be the prettiest village in the entire country. Fortunately it happens to be located in Wiltshire, the county where I live, so it was an ideal place for us to spend a nice morning outing in November, just before the new lockdown came into place.

I'd been there back in July with my parents, and we'd visited the abbey, or rather its grounds, as the interior was closed due to Covid. Of course, in November the interior still wasn't open, and the grounds must have been much more muddy and less picturesque. So this time we decided to focus on exploring the village itself, which we only saw a small part of before. 

The village really is a very charming place, that makes you feel like you've stepped into the past. 

Unfortunately, I was having some problems with my phone, so my pictures didn't come out as well as I'd hoped, but they still do a decent job at demonstrating how pretty Lacock is...

We had a great time there, and it was amazing for Claudio to see all the streets and buildings he'd seen on the internet in real life.

A couple of days later, the whole of England was put into lockdown, and we were no longer allowed to travel far from home. But luckily, we could take advantage of some beautiful places a short distance away, that were ideal for outdoor exercise (which was still allowed). Some places were ones I'd visited during the latter stages of the first lockdown, whereas others were new, or nearly new, to me. Our first destination was Dyrham Park...