Guest Blog Post: Sofie's Trip to Stow-on-the-Wold

Hi everyone, it is an honor to be the first guest author on my mom’s Blog!

I am the youngest of her two daughters and this past week I had the pleasure of visiting my parents in England for a quick four day vacation. So with that, let’s get into it!

Day One: Wednesday

The vacation started without a hitch. Following my 9-5 day job, I took the blue line to O’Hare and boarded a red eye to London.

My dinner on the plane was green curry and a mushroom salad (not too shabby, United).

The customs line was surprisingly efficient, however, I was bummed to learn that they no longer stamp your passports, and switched over to a fully computerized system.

As my family loves to say, it wouldn’t be a Fisher vacation without a few hiccups. When I landed in London and turned on my phone, I received a stream of urgent texts from my parents.

Come to find out, I had sent my dad the wrong flight details a few weeks prior, which led to a flurry of confusion and fear that I had not arrived in London safely, at 9 am (per the details of my flight).

Needless to say, I learned a very important lesson that day. Make sure to send the correct flight itinerary to your parents, especially when your original flight time changes. Otherwise, you’ll come to find out that a missing persons report was about 5 minutes away from being filed.

Once my parents received word I had successfully made it through customs and had arrived safely in London (crisis averted!), I called a taxi and took a short ride to their hotel, where I was happily greeted by my concerned mother who immediately pulled me into a big Mama Bear hug (my favorite kind).

Once I had some food in my stomach, we headed up to the hotel room where I was given the same attention from my two pups whom I had missed very much. After a short nap and some cuddles with Winston, we loaded the car and drove 2 hours back to their home in Stow-on-the-Wold.

For those of you that have yet to travel to the UK, the weather in May is very unpredictable. Only 10 minutes into our drive, we got caught in a massive rain storm that quickly turned into hail. Thankfully my dad is an experienced driver (for the most part), so I felt safe enough to rest my eyes for the remainder of the drive.

When I awoke, I was greeted by phenomenal views of rolling grass, winding roads, and beautiful English cottages.

While I’ve never once doubted my mom’s keen ability to choose perfect homes, I was pleasantly surprised by the small cottage they had rented out for their month in the Cotswolds. The location couldn’t have been more perfect.

Settled in the heart of the town, our home was a mere 2 blocks away from the stores and restaurants that lined the narrow streets. Once I had settled in and changed out of my airport attire, we took a short walk with the dogs so that I could get acquainted with my new home for the next four days.

As my mother previously mentioned in a Blog post, we live quite close to a path named, “Monarchs Way,” which stretches nearly 620 miles. She explained to me that this path was intended for King Charles II as an historic escape route following his defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

My parents posing in front of a beautiful home. Winston and Maisie were more interested in a bird.

As I mentioned before, the town we're staying in is a very popular destination spot for both locals and tourists. However, I had arrived at a time where every shop and restaurant was closed for the Horse Fair.

According to the locals, Stow-on-the-Wold completely shuts down all their businesses during the week that the Romani Travelers (“Travelers”), are in town conducting their horse fair. One of our neighbors (not so fondly) recalled that this is done to avoid any repeated destruction of their property.

As my Wednesday came to an end, I was rewarded with a delicious home cooked meal that consisted of lamb from the local butchers, broccoli and pasta.

Day Two: Thursday

As someone who has never been too much of a history buff, my mom catered my visit around the things she knew I would appreciate. Thursday's agenda would be spent visiting local churches, something that she knew I would enjoy, as well as some shopping and touring.

We started out our morning visiting a local brunch spot called, “Avenue.” Since I was still recovering from jet lag, it was imperative that I ate enough food to fuel me until the afternoon.

Needless to say I had no problems devouring my breakfast of fresh orange juice, avocado toast (the California girl in me was very appreciative) with Salmon, perfectly shaped poached eggs, and 3 hash browns.

Our first stop landed us in the town of Cirencester, where I got to visit St. John the Baptist Church. Embarrassingly enough though, the highlight of this first stop was my trip to Barbour.

If any of you know me, I consider myself an un-paid salesperson for all things Barbour, so I was more than happy to give them my business. I left the shop with a brand new Barbour jacket and a very cute blue and red striped sweater. I even coerced my mother into buying her own matching sweater!

A very happy shopper featuring St. John the Baptist Church and Winston’s rear end.

Our next stop was my favorite. In Bourton-on-the-Water, I was in awe of the beautiful landscaping and small cottages lining the river. My mom and I even witnessed three different trout attempting to swim up river.

The beautiful river that runs through Bourton.

We ended up spending the rest of the day walking around Bourton. After a late lunch at a pub called, “The Willow,” my dad and I made an executive decision to tour the British Motor Museum next door.

As we are the only two family members who truly appreciate a loud engine and fast cars, we were very excited to have uninterrupted time viewing the various antique cars and motorcycles on display.

My Dad taking in the 1932 MG J2.

Fun fact: This museum is also home to a famous car named “Brum,” the star of a popular British tv show for kids.   

After an exciting day of touring and walking, we arrived back home. For Thursday’s nighttime activity, I chose a competitive game of scrabble with my parents.

For the past 3 months I’ve been playing online “Crossplay” (a NYT version of scrabble) with my parents every day, so I was excited to finally have all my practice sessions come in handy. Of course my dad won, but what’s new?

 Our very professional score card, which my dad later used as my napkin to show off his measly score of 178.

Day Three: Friday

One thing to know about me is that I thoroughly appreciate a routine. So it was no surprise when I strongly recommended (forced) my parents to have breakfast at the same spot from the previous day. Unsurprisingly, I ordered the exact same meal as yesterday.

During our breakfast, we met a kind British gentleman with two pugs named Winston and Bertie. I learned he worked just a block away from me in Chicago. Such a fun coincidence!

He was clearly not a Chicago native, however, as he referred to the Sears Tower as the “Willis Tower.” I explained to my Chicago born mom that the Willis Tower was the new name for the Sears Tower.

For our Friday activity, we had a long but fun day planned. Following our hearty breakfast, we hopped in the car to drive to Blenheim Palace.

The beautiful archway leading up to Blenheim.

Quick history lesson: Blenheim Palace was gifted to John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, by Queen Anne in the early 1700s after a victory in The Battle of Blenheim. This victory helped stop France from winning control of Spain, and was the first French defeat in 50 years.

It is now occupied by the 12th Duke of Marlborough, Charles James Spencer-Churchill and remains with the Churchill family to this day. I have no doubt that our dog, Winston, would’ve felt right at home.

We had a tour of the Duke’s Apartments scheduled for the afternoon, so we spent the first two hours wandering around the Palace. Following our self guided tour, we had a quick lunch and were joined by a very curious and brave duck.

“Got any snacks????” - Clementine the duck.

My favorite part of the Palace was touring the Duke’s Apartment.

Fun fact: Our tour guide told us that the current Duke was in one of his rooms as we were actively walking around his home!

Since the Duke’s family still lives at Blenheim, photography was prohibited, but take it from me, it was beautifully furnished. My favorite room was the Billiards room and one of the bedrooms, which featured a canopy bed and adorable pink wallpaper.

Following the guided tour, we decided it was time to venture into the gardens.

The beautiful Palace behind me featuring my new Barbour jacket and sweater!

The back of the Duke’s apartment.

 The inside of one of the smaller gardens.

A sillly picture of my mom and I posing behind a curved branch. We have a lot of photos like these from when I was a child, so we always love to stop for a photo-op when we come across a tree like this.

My favorite part of the gardens though, was the maze. After leading my family through the maze without a hitch (and in record time, if I might add), we came to the center and took some goofy pictures in celebration, which concluded our visit to Blenheim Palace.

My parents posing for a photo!

On our way home we happened to drive right by the “Rollright Stones.” These stones have been there since the Iron Age BC times!

Rolling Right Stones

According to a legend, if you are able to count every stone three times in a row and get the same number every time, your wish will be granted. Unfortunately, my wish will not be coming true, as I counted 67 stones the first time and 68 the second time (I guess I won’t be finding my future husband anytime soon).

When we finally arrived home, all of us were “too pooped to pop,” as my Grandma used to say. Dinner was pork chops, cauliflower, and handpicked new potatoes. My mom out did herself again (as always).

To close out the night, we decided to walk to our neighborhood pub called “The Sheep,” where we treated ourselves to some tasty cider and beer.

Day Four: Saturday

My final day started out with a new breakfast spot, called “The Hive.” My parents had already become regulars by the time I was added into the mix, as was evident by the owner's cheerful greeting.

Despite the change in restaurant, I was still able to order my usual avocado toast and salmon.

My final breakfast in Stow-on-the-Wold.

The plan for Saturday was filled with fun and leisure. We spent the first half of the day walking around Stow-on-the-Wold, since the stores had finally opened up again. My favorite purchase from the day were my new red ballet flats, which I’ve already worn since arriving back in Chicago.

Giving Winston some well-deserved puppy love. He behaved so well while his mom and sister shopped around!

The best part, however, and one of the highlights of my trip, was visiting the Cotswold Farm Park about 15 minutes down the road from our house. When we arrived, I was buzzing with excitement (mostly because we were told we would get to feed baby goats and hold a chick).

I saw all sorts of farm animals including sheep, goats, a running duck (a duck without wings), pigs, cows, turkeys, bunnies, and even guinea pigs. As a family that loves animals, we had an absolute blast!

Mom and I feeding the goats.

Obligatory family selfie (obviously).

Me holding a baby chick.

Me feeding a baby goat.

Mom and I waving at Dad mid-feed

After thoroughly washing our hands, we finished our visit with a quick snack at the farm’s café, then headed home to give our favorite animals (the Welshies) some love.

For dinner, we decided to go to “Dunkertons Organic Cider Shop,” which ended up being a great final meal. The venue was packed with locals, all coming to enjoy food, beer, and Rugby. When you walked through the door, you were immediately hit with all kinds of smells.

Inside, there were over a dozen small restaurants (best described as a high-end food court) featuring all different types of cuisines. I beelined straight to the Japanese stand, where I ordered a ramen and some pork dumplings. My mom and dad chose Indian.

Final Remarks:

My trip to the Cotswolds, while quite short, was an absolute blast (for lack of better words). Not only was I able to have one-on-one time with my parents and dogs (sorry Roberta), I also got to experience a plethora of culture, history, and architecture.

While it’s difficult living away from my parents, especially when they’re 6 hours ahead of me, moments like these make me truly appreciate the times I do get to spend with them, however small.

With that, it has been a pleasure sharing my trip with you all. Stay tuned for my sister’s recap of Scotland and don’t forget to subscribe to my mom’s AWESOME blog.

Cheers,

Sofie

Junior traveller, favorite daughter, and the only working family member.