Europe Adventure: Day Eleven- Chipping Campden

Friday, April 15th was our "rest day". 

It was the one day we didn't plan any huge activities so we could feel free to sleep in, hang around our cottage, explore our town, and do whatever else we felt like doing. 

I had done laundry a few days before so my things had been hanging up drying already but my mom hadn't done hers yet. 

So this morning we slept in, had some cereal for breakfast, and she did her laundry. 

After it was done washing she hung it to dry and we went out on a walk through town. 

We started down High street stopping along the way in some of the shops. 

 

It was lightly raining and a lovely walk. 

We went quite a long way down High Street and then turned around and came back down High Street on the other side of the road, stopping for a minute at The Market Hall.

 The Market Hall was built in 1627 to provide shelter for the market traders.

A War memorial...

We made our way down to the Cotswold way as I really wanted to walk at least part of it. 

I loved looking at all the buildings, homes, and gardens. 

We found one of the cottages we had considered staying in. It was so cute!

Hoo Cottage-

After our walk we went back to our cottage and had a simple peanut butter sandwich and chips lunch. 

My mom's clothes weren't dry at all and we started to worry that they wouldn't be dry in time for check out the next morning. 

We decided to go looking for a laundromat to dry her clothes. 

We went in search of one I found online but it wasn't there when we got to the area. 

We stopped at a little farm stand store to ask the owner if they knew of anywhere. 

He told my mom where one would be and we went looking but ended up all the way in Stratford and never found one. 

Finally we gave up and went back to the cottage. 

Mom came up with the idea to hang her clothes next to the oven and the fireplace. 

We let them dry like that for a while and then we went out on another walk. 

I really wanted to walk through the neighborhood. 

I took this picture to show the sign into our parking area.

We were in Coldicott's Close...

The neighborhood was heavenly.

My favorite cats are orange ones. 

I spotted this guy and called it to me. It came over to me but then gave me this snarky look as it walked right on by. 

That's a first.

I am obsessed with thatched roof houses. They are so amazing. 

I found a lot of them on this walk. 

I fell in love with this one. I want to live there!

Most of them had cute statues on the top of the roof. This one was my favorite...

Walking up to the back of our house...

"Home Sweet Home"

I bought one thing in town- this card. 

It was so cute and made by a local artist. 

There were quite a few things I wish I would have bought in town now that I am not there anymore but I am glad I got this card as I was able to give it to my sister in law- she and her husband are beekeepers.

My mom set her clothes back up by the fireplace as soon as we got back and it actually worked! Her clothes began to dry finally. 

We had nachos again and watched more Pride and Prejudice.

Then we packed up as we would be leaving our cottage early the next day.

Europe Adventure: Day Eight, Part Three- Little Campden House

When planning the trip I knew that we wanted to stay somewhere in the Cotswolds for a few days. 

We would be driving around to a lot of places but we wanted somewhere we could call "home" for a while. 

I had my heart set on a thatched cottage but as we went through a ton of different cottages we kept going back to this one. 

It was in a village that I loved the name of- Chipping Campden.

And here we would have our own bedrooms as well as the fact that while it had amazing reviews it was one of the cheaper options. 

We finally decided to go with Little Campden House.

When we left Chatsworth we drove south to Chipping Campden and found our little home. 

It has a private parking spot in the back/side. I was really worried before arrival because I was told it was a small space surrounded by rock walls and I might want to get passengers out before pulling in. 

I imagined me running into the sides with the rental car. 

But when we got there I was actually so pleasantly surprised. 

Compared to a lot of the places that I had parked up to this point, this was positively roomy. 

 

After parking and getting all of our bags out, we walked around the wall and to the front door. 

We were given a code to a key box so we were able to get in right away. 

I loved the look of it.

When you go in, there is a little foyer and the stairs leading up to the bedrooms. 

There is also a small half bath to the right of the foyer. 

The kitchen was pretty big and very bright. 

The kitchen opens up to the walled in courtyard with tables and a shed. 

It didn't end up being the best weather to spend a lot of time out there when we had time.. but it was still fun to look at!

It also had a large family room area. 

They had a selection of movies and games too. 

Upstairs we each had our own bedroom and bathroom. 

This was my mom's bathroom...

This was her bedroom...

My bathroom...

My bedroom...

Going back down the stairs...

As soon as we were settled in we made some sandwiches for dinner and watched part of one of the movies they had in the cottage- Nights in Rodanthe.

We felt so at home and relaxed. It was great. 

Next up: Oxford!