Friday, November 21, 2008

Fall colors



Southern California in the Fall -- sunny. brown. hot. I had never seen such brilliant Fall colors until this past weekend. Rome, Daniel and I went to the Cotswolds, about 90 minutes west of London, for a quiet, romantic weekend. Athough I took about 100 pictures, I wish I had taken more.... most of the villages in "the wolds"were built in the 14th century and grew very wealthy from wool trading. Many of the original buildings still remain and the sheep are still in abundance, as well as pheasants, churches, cobblestone roads and green fields. I'll put as many pics as I can fit in here for you to see how gorgeous and charming the countryside and all the little villages in between are.

As for Halloween, if you're wondering what people in England do, scroll down to see pics from our night. Although there were a few trick-or-treaters and events last year, we decided to go and seek out some fun and ended up at a family resort down on the cliffs of Dover. They had a big party with entertainment and a costume parade. Rome won a lollipop in his monkey costume and we all had a very cheesy, bizzare but very entertaining night (mainly just from watching Rome dancing with all the kids in his monkeysuit). The next day we visited the famous white cliffs and Dover Castle and then a wild-animal park that was created by one of the landed gentry who started to do captivated breeding of endangered animals -- now there are tigers, elephants, lemurs, buffalo, gorillas and lots & lots of monkeys roaming around on the 600 acre estate. Rome had the best weekend ever!!!!
driving from village to village in the countryside
the bridge at Bibury


Arlington Row in Bibury
sheep in the meadow
tea and Rome's snacks at an old Inn

Broadway village

telephone booths in Broadway

Daniel & rome at a 400 year old Inn

Sunday traffic in Broadway

the Horse and Hound
Rome with the sheep

and cows

residential window displays

and shops

Chipping Campden

houses along the main road on Chipping Campden

stately mansions
town square

(notice everything is made from the same stone)

a cottage in Bibury

old stone walls that run throughout the Cotswolds
with the ducks at Moreton in Marsh

1 comment:

L I S A said...

You forgot charred. With all the fires here, So Cal is an icky black.

Great pics! Love the colors. I still can't believe you live in the UK! That was supposed to be my dream :-)

Miss you here!