What is a Cotswold anyway?

Recently I put on my Facebook status that I was going to the Cotswolds for the weekend with my family. And one of my dear friends asked, "What is a Cotswolds anyway"? One of my bloggy friends commented about how there is a new development called the "Cotswolds" in her town. She found it funny that they would not have picked a more posh British name for it. My friend Sarah says it sounds like a skin rash.  I mention all of that, not to be offensive, but to explain what it really is. 

Now that you are dying to know, here is what I found on the internet to describe it properly. 

"The Cotswolds is a region that covers an area of 790 square miles in the upper part of the southwest region of England and is the country's largest officially designated 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty'. Popular with both the English themselves and international visitors (or expats like us) from all over the world, the area is well known for gentle hillsides ('wolds'), outstanding countryside with river valleys, water meadows and beech woods, sleepy ancient limestone villages, historic market towns and for being so 'typically English' where time has stood still for over 300 years."

With all of that said, we just had to take a drive to one of the towns and check it out for ouselves. We rented a cottage for a couple of days and had a magnificent time. Here are too many pictures to tell you about it. :-)

A great wintry scene down the street from our cottage.

Here is Braaten in front of "Rose Cottage" where we stayed.

I took Fletch for a walk and a dog was barking wildly in that house at him. I'm so glad he didn't come out. 

I took this as we were driving. 

Mel was taking Grant for a little ride.

How many people can comfortably fit in an English phone booth? Apparently 6!

We were walking in the town of Stow-on-the-Wold. And you thought Cotswold was an interesting name! 

Austin with his uber snowball.

I really like the architecture and coloring of the buildings.

 

Remember the tiny little deck snowman I posted about? Here's his big brother. 

The sign reads, "The Royalist Hotel - The Oldest English Inn in England". We had lunch there.

Ooooh pretty.

My men were playing Yahtzee. Austin won the game.

The girls were beading bracelets first thing in the morning. 

We love watching "Little House on the Prairie" together. We are currently on Season 6.

The view out our window.

A sunrise from our bedroom window.

Time to go sledding. 

Nice face, Honey.

Wipeout!!

Another successful run.

There's my spunky Melanie.

I love his eyes, though I'm not sure why he looked into the camera like that. 

So there you have it. Our journey into the Cotswolds. Enjoy your weekend everyone.