“Beauty, which is what is meant by art, using the word in its widest sense, is, I contend, no mere accident to human life, which people can take or leave as they choose, but a positive necessity of life.”
– William Morris
This UK trip will be one of our many upcoming UK trips in the future (since we are already married now!). This trip’s main goal apart from visiting Laurie’s family and friends again, is for me to meet his nan for the first time. She wasn’t able to attend our wedding last year because she’s too weak to travel already (she’s 96!), so this meeting is actually more significant for me than for Laurie.
My very first visit in Gloucesteshire-Cotswold was in 2013, and visited a LOT of nearby villages, you can CLICK HERE to see these beautiful places.
We only have 10 days to spend, so I didn’t plan anything really because this trip will be solely Laurie’s plans, I just ask him if we could stay one night in London, because it’s my favorite city and I miss it so much, and also to see some of my friends there too.
And here’s our stopover from London – Windsor Castle:
In that 10 days, we went up to Blackpool where Nan lives. It was a surprise visit and it was a success!). I am so delighted to finally meet her, she’s so lovely, no wonder Laurie (and the rest of their family) adores her. At her age, she’s very independent, full of joy and fun, and her sense of humour cracks me up every time! And I can’t cope up with her drinking haha!
Then from Blackpool, we stopped by quickly in Liverpool on our way back to Stroud. CLICK HERE to see my separate entry for Liverpool.
We also visited Bristol again! We stayed at Tim and Ellen’s place and I also wanted to experience the music scene there. Unfortunately, because we’ve met Laurie’s other friends during our dinner, we were too late already to see band performances. Maybe next time!
Also, we only saw few graffiti street arts this time on our way back to Stroud because we had to rush back for Sunday Roast lunch whilst watching Rugby 6 Nations game.
CLICK HERE to see our previous trip in Bristol in 2013.
Whilst in Stroud, if we are not meeting Laurie’s friends, we just drive around Cotswold in Gloucestershire. For sure there are still a LOT of places that I haven’t seen during my last trip in 2013.
And one of those is BIBURY as Mum Hilly suggested as well.
Bibury is one of the beautiful villages in Cotswold, as a matter of facy, poet-artist William Morris declared that it is actually the most beautiful village in England!
Bibury is often one of the villages included whenever there is a Cotswold tour from London or anywhere in England. It is few kilometers from Cirencester, the capital of Cotswold. Cirencester is around 2-hour drive from London.
It’s a very charming little village where you could get all the rural environment you could get within walking distance from another – row of quaint cottages built in Cotswold stones (Arlington Row), still river with white swans (River Coln), boggy water meadow (Rack isle), Jacobean architecture court house (it’s a hotel now, Bibury Court Hotel), mill house, tea houses, tennis court, horse race track, etc.
Since we will be visiting Gloucestershire-Cotswolds more in the future (because this is Laurie’s hometown anyway), I intend to see more other villages I haven’t seen because for sure there will always be beauty treasured for each place, just like Bibury.
Also, I look forward on seeing Nan more in the future. It may not be that long anymore, but I am hopeful that she’ll still live more years so we could spend more time together that I could learn more about her and be inspired to live like her.
Even if we only plan to visit UK once a year, one thing I am certain of is, in those moments we will spend together, those laughs, those little talks we will soon to have, it will be one of those memories I will forever treasure. She’s a true beauty – someone who have lived her life making everyone around her see the beauty of a human life.
