Malmesbury - Cirencester - Bibury

We started driving to Malmesbury very early in the morning... it was a special day because we were meeting my friend J in front of The Old Bell Hotel (notably the oldest hotel in England).

J and I have been friends since the 1970s. I met her through another friend who was a pen-pal of J's at the time.... I started writing to J and our friendship has endured over the years, via letters and cards and then eMail.  In the late 1970s or very early 1980s, J traveled to New York and I got to spend time with her in my home on Long Island, but until this trip to England, we hadn't seen one another in years. But... old friends are the best friends... and when we saw one another in Malmesbury, it was as if we'd seen each other the day before rather than decades ago.

The three of us toured the Abbey in Malmesbury, and then the gardens... spectacular flowers and little 'rooms' of planted and shaped hedges... very peaceful and serene and breathtakingly gorgeous. We walked around the village itself, with its centuries-old silk mill and tiny cottages lined up along the streets. Shops and stores all along the interior of the village, and we had lunch at a quaint little cafe called "Amanda's."  Looking at the menu, they offered all sorts of truly English meals. Both J and I ordered 'Bubble and Squeak,' which I thought looked to be sort of a deconstructed omelet -- a bottom layer of potatoes, then a layer of sauted vegetables, topped with a lightly fried egg.  J told me that it's a favorite English recipe because a lot of left-over vegetables can be used, whatever happens to be in season. I liked it so much that I intend to try it here.

The morning and afternoon went by much too fast, and we had to say good-bye so my husband and I could make our way towards our B&B for that night.  Very hard to say good-bye to such a good friend when you have no idea when you'll be seeing one another again. I think I gave J three or four good-bye hugs, trying to make that last moment endure a bit longer.

We drove to Cirencester.... and walked around the Corinium Museum.... not very interesting to me, since it was filled with artifacts from the Iron Age. Plus, my mind and heart were still in Malmesbury. There is an enormous sculptured hedge in Cirencester which is surrounded by an ancient stone wall. When you stand near that wall and hedge, you feel as if you're the tiniest person on the planet. Supposedly, the Cirencester hedge is the largest in the world.

From there, we drove to Bibury.... a most beautiful village that I could move to without thinking twice.  By that time, the driving on the narrow roads was getting much easier for my husband, having had three days' worth of English driving. We walked around the large pond in town, watched swans floating on the quiet water, and then walked along Arlington Row... a most famous street of vintage thatched-roof cottages.  We had dinner at The Swan Hotel that night... just tea and scones for me since the lunch in Malmesbury had been quite substantial. (Once again... delicious tea, raisin-studded scones.... the tea served in a teapot on a pretty tray.)

Our B&B for that night was in Ablington, just a short drive from Bibury. The house was 300 years old, owned by a very nice woman with a friendly dog named Myrtle. Our room and bath was on the second floor, overlooking her front garden which was filled with all sorts of blooming flowers and sculptured hedges.

We were exhausted by all the walking we did that day... which wasn't any different than on any of the days of the trip.  We tend to try and pack as much as possible into each day of a trip, and I guess we'll keep on doing that until we can't.  There's just so much to see... and neither my husband nor I are the sort to just sit in a chair and watch the world go by.  And when you're in England, where you're surrounded by history and tradition and quaintness and ancient architecture, how can you not want to see every last stone, every last flower, every tiny cottage... and enjoy every cup of tea.

I'm ready to go back......... and we've just gotten home..... and I've not even finished writing about all the towns and villages we visited.