If You Go: Cotswolds

We loved our time in the Cotswolds....I wish we had a week instead of 3 days!  So much to see and do.  But...below are the deets:

Air BnB 

Air BnB - Northleach: We stayed at a lovely two bedroom cottage in the adorable village of Northleach.  It was next door to a lovely Michelin guide listed restaurant and a short walk from a grocery store and wine bar.  Great spot for exploring the Cotswolds.

Restaurants 

Wheatsheaf Inn: Right in Northleach, down from the cottage we stayed in was the amazing Wheatsheaf Inn.  P maintains that it was the best lamb he has had in his life and I loved my cauliflower steak.  Fancy and a bit pricey, but well worth it!

Red Lion - Chipping Norton: A decent pub that was a great stopping point before we hiked around Chipping Norton fields

Things To Do 

Roman Baths: Seeing the Roman Baths in the city of Bath was truly amazing.  It was a reminder of how advanced the Romans were and how far their empire reached!

Bleinheim Palace: The birthplace of Winston Churchill and the home of the Duke of Marlborough this is one of the fanciest homes in England.  Just gorgeous inside and out!

Village Hopping: The thing to do in the Cotswolds...hopping from village to village seeing the beautiful stone homes, ancient thatched roofs, and green rolling hills.  We didn't have nearly enough time...but it was a lovely day!

Picturesque + Quaint Cotswolds

I am so behind in blog posting.  We're trying to make the most of these last weeks here in England and between friends, family, and personal travel, there has not been as much time for blogging as I would have liked! 

...but we did make it to the Cotswolds and it was just as beautiful as we expected it to be! We were blessed with some beautiful weather as we toured the famed Blenheim Place (where Churchill was born and many Dukes of Marlborough have lived), hiked through some of the most beautiful countryside, and visited the roman baths in Bath.  We had a couple of friends in town who are embarking on a round-the-world tour, so it was wonderful to welcome them to the island and show them why we have loved living here.

So without further comment...the picturesque Cotswolds:

First, a stop at Blenheim Palace.  It housed one of the most magnificent libraries I have visited and the manicured gardens provided a perfect spot to pose:

Speaking on manicured gardens...their hedge maze was really incredible.  Like Hampton Court, but with better spots to capture the experience:

The front gate with our friends Karen and David...we lucked out and had very few other tourists there:

How cute is this village pub with ivy covered walls and a small trout farm:

We stayed in the small village of Northleach and happened upon this incredible church in a town of ~200. Amazing

We lucked out with Daffodil season, they were everywhere!

No surprise, but P took out his drone and captured an aerial view of one of the beautiful villages in the Cotwolds:

On our hike, we loved seeing the adorable lambs of the season:

Our final stop was the city of Bath where there are some incredibly well-preserved Roman Baths.  The size and detail of the Baths impressed us:

Llama Drama

Today combined two of my most favorite things: views of beautiful Yorkshire and fluffy Llamas.  Seriously, a half day trek with a llama may be my favorite excursion we've taken in the vicinity (despite the rain!).  A dear friend gifted us with an amazing llama excursion and we joined 12 other llama enthusiasts for a trek through the Nidderdale Valley.  The day started with a llama meet and greet...where we got to know the animals and then they "matched" us with llamas based on personality. 

When I met Chester, I knew he was the one:

After that, our group trekked out from the barn through the beautiful public footpaths and private roads of the Yorkshire Dales!  We got to spend 4 hours up close and personal with our llama friends:

We walked them down quaint paths:

We stopped for a break to grab coffee while the llamas posed for pics (how handsome is this guy?)

Chester carried the supplies for coffee!

He had lots of friends... such a star

We loved walking Chester around the blooming daffodils, but couldn't let him eat them (fun fact: daffodils are poisonous to llamas!)

<3 <3 <3 Llamas

Oxford Snaps

Our behind the scenes tour of Oxford took us inside 4 different colleges with magnificent + unique architecture.  We had a day of near perfect (for England) weather that was perfect for touring around the city. 

Breakfast tea...loved this sign

Inside the dining hall of Keble College...it really was like Harry Potter and our friend said that formal dinners inside are truly special

The main quad of Keble

Beautiful, empty greens

Bluebells in bloom in Oxford Botanic Gardens

...and daffodils made their appearance too

We wondered if the creek came first or the building...

Another taste of spring colors on Oxford's high street

What a special treat to visit!

If You Go: Oxford + Warner Brother's Studio

We had a great road trip to the Oxford area to go to the Harry Potter Studios and visit a friend in Oxford.  We lucked out with lovely weather (for March) and a line up of awesome things to do!   Here was our rough itinerary

Friday Night 
Roadtrip to St. Albans!  This is about 3.5 hours from Harrogate, so we drove down after work and grabbed dinner en route

Clarion Hotel St. Albans: Basic, but convenient hotel right in the center of St. Albans.  St. Albans is the closest city to Harry Potter Studios and was a great spot to catch some zzz's and explore in the morning before our tour.  The hotel was very inexpensive, but right across from the cathedral and was perfect for what we needed (60 GBP/night)

Saturday 
St. Albans - Gail's Bakery: This is a British chain that has an AMAZING bakery.  I highly, highly recommend the cheese + chive scones.  It's also hot cross bun season and these looked amazing.

St Albans - Saturday Market: This was one of the larger markets we have seen outside a major city.  It sold everything from cheese to meals to antiques.  It's worth a ramble on a Saturday morning and if we had time, I totally would've had lunch there!

St Alban Cathedral: Built of Roman brick, this cathedral is truly stunning.  We were treated to a concert by a string trio that was stunning and the acoustics...wow.  Definitely drop in

Harry Potter Studios: WOW! This was amazing.  All of the original sets across two huge warehouses.  The tour was very well orchestrated (Disney-like hospitality and efficiency).  We loved seeing the Great Hall and then other sets like Dumbledore's Office, the Weasley's Houses, and Griffyndor Common Room. 
Important Note: Tickets for this sell out early, you need to buy them online 3-6 months in advance of any trip

From there...we drove to Oxford...it's about an hour from Harry Potter Studios

Oxford Mercure Eastgate: This was another convenient hotel in the heart of Oxford.  It was walking distance to all of the major attractions and the modern rooms were perfect for what we needed.  Highly recommend (250GBP / night)

Vintage Bus Tour: As we wandered around the city, we ended up on a totally free vintage bus tour of Oxford.  We nabbed a seat on the top of the double decker and got a great tour around town.  While ours was spontaneous, the website has more details on date + time

Turf Tavern: This is the oldest hotel in Oxford that dates back to the 1300's!  The ceiling was so low that P could not stand up, but the drinks were great and reasonably priced.  This is also famous as the tavern where Bill Clinton smoked, but did not inhale when he was a student at Oxford

Chang Mai Kitchen: This was a lovely Thai restaurant in the center of Oxford.  The ambiance was lovely and the food was pretty good (though I imagine you could find a better spot!) 

Sunday 
Oxford Botanic Gardens: We had a bit of time before we met up with our friend, so we visited the botanic garden.  It had some neat greenhouses, though we were a bit early in the season to truly appreciate the full garden

George Street Social: Our friend booked us a table at this fun, retro spot!  We loved the vibe and the food was amazing!!!   Cinnamon French Toast was awesome!


College Hopping: Oxford is made up of 40 colleges, each of which have a chapel, library, food hall, and common grounds that are unique.  We were lucky that our friend could get us a behind the scenes tour of many of them...including Queen's College, Keble College and Magdalen College. For the most part, these were empty and stunningly beautiful.   What's amazing is that most people only want to see the most famous - Christ Church (which inspired Harry Potter).  While Christ Church was amazing, these other colleges were in some cases more impressive and allowed you to walk around uninterrupted by the hoards of tourists!

Sunny, Sunny Southern Spain

Snaps from our amazing trip to southern Spain!  I wish I could capture some of the sunshine in a bottle to bring it back to England.  Instead, some snaps:

Stunning gardens at the Alcazar of Cordoba

The orange trees were absolutely amazing (but apparently quite bitter:

The patios of Cordoba were amazing:

...and the amazing Cordoba cathedral (originally a mosque)

The inside was incredible:

Loved, loved, loved cordoba

Alcazar of Seville is just as beautiful (if not more!)

Loved the beautiful patios:

...and the beautiful food:

If You Go: Seville + Cordoba

We loved our long weekend in sunny Southern Spain.  We stayed in Seville and took an awesome day trip to Cordoba.  We had perfect weather to stroll the streets, grab delicious tacos, and check out the amazing sites.  Put this area on your list because it's perfect:

Hotels
El Rey Moro: This is in the part of the city just outside of the Alcazar where the narrow streets feel more like Morrocco than Spain.  It's a 5 minute walk to the Cathedral or the Alcazar.  We absolutely loved the location as well as the set up of the hotel, again, more Morroccan than Spanish!  All of the rooms are set around a lovely central courtyard.  The room we had was just lovely with a view of a Spanish balcony and a crazy comfortable bed ($100/night)

Things to Do 
Alcazar de Seville: This is the crown jewel of Seville. This beautiful palace rivals the Alhambra in Granada.  Full of beautiful gardens, incredible Moorish architecture, and rich tile work.  A few recommendations: (1) pre-book, the line is crazy long; (2) when you pre-book pick the Cuarto Real option.  This allows you a semi-private tour of the upstairs rooms where the King still works and the views are incredible.  Make sure to earmark a full half day to look around completely - it's huge

Plaza de Espana: Built for the 1929 Iberian-American Festival, this beautiful Plaza has tile murals of all of the major Spanish towns and cities.  It also has a lovely space to rent a row boat and paddle around.  Just beautiful!

Palace of the Countess: We took a tour of the Palace of the Countess which is richly decorated with curiousities of the 19th century and earlier.  On the bottom of the palace, there are beautiful mosaics as well as Moor-ish style decorations.  If you have time this is a well worthwhile stop

Devour Food Tour: This is our second Devour Food Tour (our first was in Madrid) and it was really well organized!  Our guide, Hailey, took us to local tapas bars in the Triana neighborhood.  It was great to learn the history and see how locals eat.  Honestly, the food wasn't my absolute favorite, but the tour was still worthwhile

Day Trip to Cordoba: From Seville, Cordoba is an easy 40 minute train ride on their crazy fast rail lines.  We had a full day where we fit in their beautiful Alcazar (stunning gardens), Palaccio Viana (amazing floral patios) and their incredible cathedral.  Also not to be missed...their food market is fantastic

Restaurants
Note: Between markets and the food tour, we did not go to a lot of individual restaurants, so the list is short, but there is no shortage of amazing food in Seville

La Bartola: We stumbled in here after arriving late, but it was probably the best meal we had for the entire trip!  A local bar with tons of locals, we grabbed two seats at the bar and had a plethora of beautiful food come our way...croquettes, grilled calamari, manchego....and of course, wonderful wine and sangria.  Stop in in you're in the area.

Bar El Commercio: Looking for amazing, authentic churros?  Bar El Commercio is the perfect spot.  On a late Saturday morning it was loud, full of tourists + locals, and crowded...but don't let this deter you.  Snag a table at the back and place your order at the bar for the most amazing set of churros, chocolate, and fresh OJ. This can look intimidating from the outside, but the rowdiness is well worth the reward!

...and the Lights Danced in the Heavens Above

We took the long trip to Tromso, Norway...well above the Arctic Circle and near the north pole in a desperate attempt to see the beautiful northern lights.  One of the spots in the world most likely to see them...we got lucky and saw them both nights of our trip.  Despite it being "polar night" when the sun does not rise above the horizon, we saw beautiful colors of sunrise and sunset around lunchtime and then saw the beautiful green and purple hues of the lights.  It was a much more colorful trip than we imagined and definitely a few moments of a lifetime.

Enjoy the snaps!

Airport view...sunrise over Tromso

The skies were so incredibly clear, I saw the full milky way for the first time in my life (and in the photo below you can see the stars and the first signs of the Northern Lights over the fjord)

Sunset around 2 pm.... it was cold, but not as cold as you would expect.  Daily highs in the 20s / 30s and lows around -10 at night.  Definitely needed to bundle up.

The town definitely had some Scandi flair!

Sunset from the top of the mountain... 

On our first day, we took a cable car to the top of the mountain behind us:

The first night...the lights danced in the way you see in the documentaries.  It was magic: 

Incredible colors came out to play and illuminated the night sky.  Like something out of the Lion King when they explain that your ancestors are in the sky:

The second night, the display lasted only a few minutes, but it was brilliantly beautiful and we were grateful!

If You Go: Tromso

Seeing the Northern Lights has been my bucket list for years and this weekend we checked it off the list!    We went to Tromso in northern Norway because it's one of the darkest spots in the world...the other option was Iceland, but we decided we could do that from DC just as easily.  Needless to say, it was a great decision and we saw them dance through the heavens!

A few tips:

• Bring Hand and Foot Warmers: To keep warm at night, we brought hand and foot warmers...these were awesome. They are expensive when you are on the ground, so bring them with you!
• Buy Ice Spikes: We didn't have these, but there is ice everywhere...on the sidewalks, roads, everywhere.  P had a bad fall and wished we'd had them...most people did! 
• Prepare to be Shocked by Prices: Norway is legit expensive.  Like...$12 for Ben and Jerry's...most sweaters were $200 and more like $400.  You have to kind of forget about it on the ground, but mentally prepare!  

Hotels
Scandic Grand: This was a basic, but central hotel.  Very scandi...two beds...shower gel...and a great breakfast. It's a 5 minute walk from anywhere in town.  Highly recommend!

Restaurants 
Da Pinocchio: Honestly, I am not a huge fan of Norwegian food, so we ate at Pinocchio twice...a quaint little pizza price with reasonable prices (for Norway!)

Excursions
Chasing Lights: We took two tours with Chasing Lights to make sure we saw some! The first night we did a small bus tour with 14 others...which included a dinner and marshmallows.  This is when we saw the amazing lights...but the next night we went on a big bus tour.  It was still great, but minimal lights.  I think this was a function of lights, not the tour package.  The guides both night were great and super about taking photos (and giving photography advice!)
Cable Car: If you walk over the big bridge in town, you can hop on a cable car to the top of the mountain and see a stunning view of the town.  We lucked out and went up during sunrise and came down before sunset.  The views were amazing (and the food at the top was yum!)

Last Yorkshire Christmas

As soon as we returned back from Asia, we tried to soak in moment of Yorkshire charm for the Christmas season.  We visited village Christmas markets, went shopping in Leeds, and visited every fancy holiday decoration we could find.  Being away from family for Christmas in never easy, but we certainly had a lovely final Christmas here in Yorkshire!  Here are a variety of snaps from throughout the season:

Step one for an awesome Christmas, dress your dog in ridiculous costumes:

Step two - find a solid sausage at a German Christmas market in the adjoining village:

Sprinkle in some snow:

Make sure all of the halls (and Victorian mantels) are fully decked:

Visit a fancy estate to check out their decorations:

Check out a bigger Christmas market (and enjoy a little mulled wine!)

Convince your hubby to go Christmas shopping (by bribing with fantastic Indian food):

Check out some Christmas lights at the local garden:

Wake up to find Santa has brought you the best.gift.ever. Merry Christmas!