My trip with my parents this week was just a short one, but it was still a nice change of scenery. We went out on Monday morning to the Lodge Café at South Cerney Outdoor, a watersports centre in the Cotswold Water Park, to have a coffee next to the lake.
The last time I'd been there was back in 2016 for a free windsurfing session, as part of a government programme to inspire people to try new sports, following the Olympic Games in Rio. I really enjoyed learning to windsurf, and it's something I'd definitely like to do again in the future.
But this trip was a less active one, as we just went there to visit the café, which now has a new balcony overlooking the water. All the tables on the balcony were taken, so we sat at a picnic table not far from the lake, from where we could watch the swans, ducks and stand-up paddleboarders.
The only disappointing thing was that the choice of food in the café was quite limited. I had read on the website that there would be a good range of vegan food, but the only vegan option on offer was crisps, which was a bit of a weird thing to eat at 10am for breakfast. However, at least I could get a vegan latte, and a very nice one at that.
Afterwards we went for a walk around the area, which is very picturesque. Sights to see include the River Churn, and several wooden cabins, as well as the lake itself, of course.
As for my future travels, I have some good news to report. Next week my parents and I will be going to Jennie's Kitchen (another café in the Cotswold Water Park) to feed the alpacas there (very excited about this!) and then later on in the week we'll be going on a longer trip, which I'll definitely be writing about here. We'll also be returning to Chepstow later this month, and during my time off in July we'll be spending a much needed couple of days at the beach!
Although things haven't been coming together as quickly as I would like them to for my move back to Chile, it does make me feel better to have some things to look forward to in the coming weeks. Obviously, if it were up to me, I wouldn't still be living where I am now, but I'm going to at least try to make the most of the rest of the time that I'm here. There are plenty of nice places to explore in this part of the world, and I'd like to document as many of them as possible here on this blog!