Category: Travel

An autumnal long weekend in Cotswolds: Lower Slaughter

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I was looking for tiny quaint villages in the the north of Cotswolds, villages that are really small and not big market towns and definitely ones we had never visited until then. That is how I stumbled on Lower and Upper Slaughter, the twin villages about a couple of miles away from the more popular Bourton on the Water. And ofcourse, the fact that registered with me is how the word Slaughter came up – definitely nothing to do with slaughtering, it is derived from the old English word “slothre” that means “muddy place” which I can assure you along with every other article on the internet, it most certainly is not.

What it is though, is ethereal.

My research had told me of how scanty parking space is and all of my searches only threw up one road near the Manor House and said there are only a few spots available. And so we found ourselves there at 8 in the morning, with just one or two joggers who were residents, in sight. Bliss.

We parked by a stream that I later realised is the river Eye that runs through the village and was potentially the source of “muddy” banks. It really looks like a stream though it is a river. Walking along the river is one of the most memorable highlights of our entire trip.

I was in love with those beautiful stone foot bridges! You will find a couple as you walk along.

To watch the reflection in that pristine glass like water as we (read: I) tried to be as quiet as possible because I wanted to break into a song and announce to the world of how much beauty there is to be discovered all around us! I am sure the residents would not take too kindly to it, so I was on my best behaviour.

As you start walking further up along Copse Hill road which according to some of the sources has been voted the prettiest road in Britain, you cannot help falling in love with this beautiful village but also wonder how the residents must feel when it gets all busy with tourists. It is not easy being a resident in picturesque towns, is it?

I was really mesmerised by this style of stone houses – hundreds of homes across Cotswolds built in this distinctive style with Cotswold stone. This must have been so time consuming to build and yet stands tall and strong to this day!
I was trying to read more about how these stones are formed (makes for a fascinating read, especially so when you are procrastinating on something) and I stumbled on these words by J. B. Priestley who wrote of Cotswold stone that – “the truth is that it has no colour that can be described. Even when the sun is obscured and the light is cold, these walls are still faintly warm and luminous, as if they knew the trick of keeping the lost sunlight of centuries glimmering about them.” 

As you walk along, you will reach the unmissable Old Mill with its trade mark red brick tower and the water wheel.

If you just turn around, you will walk into this charming little horse trailer that doubles as the delightful mobile coffee van and sells some delicious coffee and pastries. What warmed my heart was they have doggie treat and smoothies for the infants/toddlers all served with a smile by the thoughtful owner.

We kept walking further up and had the most peaceful town to savour that morning.

We were peckish and decided to turn back and try the beautiful Manorhouse for breakfast but unfortunately it was only open to residents so we just had a quick look around and decided to head to Bourton on the Water for some breakfast and explore the market centre. All of that in my next one!

An autumnal long weekend in Cotswolds: Castle Combe, a photo essay

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I am always blown away by how beautiful Cotswolds is. Quaint, charming, idyllic, oddly familiar from the books and movies you watched and imagined a place to be, and ofcourse, incredibly picturesque. I had read of Castle Combe’s charm a few times I looked up the villages to be at in North Cotswolds so we had to make a trip there and am so so happy we did. It is a tiny town, nestled most rightfully within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The chocolate box village is characterized by its honey-hued Cotswold stone cottages, some dating back to the 12th century. These quaint buildings line the narrow, winding streets and everything looks right out of a fairy tale. I later read that possibly, no new houses have been built in this historic centre of the village since about 1600.

We parked atop the hill in the visitor’s car park and it is such a lovely walk down to the village with the autumnal colours transforming the landscape into a tapestry of oranges and gold!

I always wonder how the people residing here must feel, having tourist stare admiringly at the streets, their houses, taking pictures and soaking what is often referred to as one of the prettiest villages in England. It must not be easy 🙂

Within a few steps, we were met by the beautiful Bybrook river flowing gracefully through the heart of the town and beautifully highlights the stunning Cotswold stone cottages against that rich backdrop that no phot can truly capture.

While Castle Combe gets its name from the castle, I am told that nothing much remains of it so we didn’t really explore anything beyond the heart of the town and its quaint streets which while not totally empty didn’t really have many tourists that day.

We were utterly famished when we stepped into the Castle Inn late that afternoon. It is at such a fantastic location for visitors to have a nice stroll and then step in for a meal or drink. I had a super delicious rosti with portobello mushroom, cavolo Nero (my first of the season), cheese topped with an egg – it was just so good! We shared a panna cotta served with a yummy Garibaldi biscuit.

We did another small walk near the square and headed back, happily full from this beautiful village, a feast for all senses.

Glamping in Dorset in Lytchett Manor

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I have been long wanting to document our travels and yet I have never gotten to doing them, despite making a beginning. This time I am determined to not let the trip to Dorset and Cornwall slip away in the endless gallery on my phone. So if you are reading this, I know that I have at least persisted with my beginning.

A while ago, K applied for his paternity leave and we had decided we would do a holiday together, our first long one since Ishaan’s arrival. Not having explored the English coastline at all, we decided to spend a few days in Cornwall. Now a trip to Cornwall is about 4 hours from where we live and we didn’t want to have Ishaan in the car seat for so long even if we were taking breaks. And so it was decided a day before the trip that we would look for a place enroute for a day trip and stay the night there before moving onward.

We picked Dorset with its beautiful Jurassic Coast.

Here is where we stayed:
Lytchett Manor https://www.southlytchettmanor.co.uk/accommodation-types/glamping-pods/

On our way, the staff from the glamping site gave us a call to confirm when we were likely to reach. The office closes at 5 PM so it definitely helps to plan your arrival before then or let the office know so your check in is arranged even when the office is closed.

That is just as we entered the glamping site. The directions are very straightforward and right at the entrance is the office (cum shop) to check in and pick up the keys.

As we drove in, we were met by this beautiful sight. I have never glamped before so these adorable eco friendly pods that dotted the green had me all excited!

One can park right next to their pod or across it – there is plenty of space. We were living off the car so as to keep our pod free from too many things and so parked right by the pod.

This is what you walk into – it is cozy and perfect for two. Now with four of us, two adults and two babies this was definitely a sort of adventure because the pods do not have a bath/restroom inside them. One needs to walk out to shared baths/toilets which by the way are very very well maintained. We have never stayed in a set up like this before so the novelty of it all was really exciting.

Needless to say, the pods are pet friendly and it is great given how much field there is to walk around. As always, Mili got her Sherlock cap on the minute we entered and picked her bed. That was a pull-out bed as well so it can in theory it can sleep 4 people.

It was quite the rainy thunderous night and only Ishaan slept well. But that was a much better situation than none of us sleeping at all.

The thing about glamping especially for absolute amateurs like us is how often we tend to forget some really fundamental items to pack because they are almost always available in the accommodation. However since moving to UK and choosing to spend holidays in cottages, we remember to pack the basic stuff well. Still, one of the things we really appreciated on this glamping site was having a shop that was well stocked with everything that one would need – toiletries, snacks, doggie biscuits and treats, baby calpol too! But they went several steps ahead and had a bakery where they sold fresh croissants, bread and swirls in the mornings for breakast. We loved their pain au chocolat. The coffee was very decent too.

I even managed to pick some local goodies from there – Dorset knobs and some honey marshmallows from a lady who made them in her home nearby.

In the evening, as we stood out and looked at the views behind our pod, we saw these caravans, some really well furnished and it felt strangely familiar. I had been reading some stories based on van lifers, in fact I had one right with me here to read on the trip.

I have often wondered what it must feel like, this life on the move quite literally. Are there more opportunities to pause when you are on a move like this? How liberating it must be to live with exactly what you need, to constantly look up for new places to explore! Certainly it is not wrought without challenges but the charm is very tempting.

I leave you with this. Our little Mili, always up for a journey. She loves home, she didn’t have great sleep in the pod but – there is always a wag in her tail, a spring in her step and an infectious spirit every time we say, “Let’s go!”

Day 5 Navratri in white

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I am wearing this lovely easy-breezy saree that my perima gifted me. I do have very generous perimas and chittis who have spoilt me silly and I don’t want that to change ever.
The transition to being given sarees from salwar materials as cloth gifts happened in college when I started having events to wear them to and I really enjoyed that phase a lot – you know how you wait to be an adult to enjoy certain perks ? This saree had my heart the minute I saw those dainty parrots in green, blue and silver. I decided to pair this blouse just so I could wear this lovely glass jewellery set I got from Murano from our X’mas trip to Italy in 2015. 
When we were in Venice, K and I visited some glassmaking centres and watched some beautiful glassware being made. Those colours, the craftsmanship blew us away every time the glass was blown! We could not carry back anything heavy and I spotted some glass jewellery in one of the boutiques attached to the glassmaking centre. It was quite pricey and I was not sure if I wanted it so after dilly dallying, we left without buying it. We had walked about a kilometre from the place when I could take it no more and K who very calmly professed he had seen this coming, told me to hurry along and get it before they closed. I ran. I really did. I will never forget that evening as I ran across a couple of small bridges and my absolutely pathetic sense of direction left me in peace for that one moment. When I went back, the owner was almost getting ready to close and he smiled at me and said, “Ah, there you are! I knew you would come back darling.” I could not say a word or smile. I just picked this up, mumbled a thank you and walked back with the nervous energy and excitement that had not left me and K was sitting on the steps across the bridge waiting. It is in these moments I have felt acute elation and I am aware I can never quite put them in words.
Will you believe it if I tell you I have never worn this jewellery ever as I kept waiting for an ultra special occasion? But today? After a lot of what we have been through, today is the surest and most special occasion to celebrate, after all.

Fall-ing in love

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I have gushed about it a fair bit on the gram now. I cannot be happier about living in fall in pretty pretty Surrey. It is an era by itself, you see. Those luscious green trees from summer..

..morphing into several pops of colours,

to adorn homes,

and lay out a carpet of the most magical wonders,

for you and me to stop and look closer and unravel one of them,

and feel celebratory,

for here you can find, on your most casual walks, all those magical things you read about in your childhood, come alive from books.

You don’t have to do much to enjoy all of this. You only need to step out..

..and it is all there, waiting for you. Right at your doorstep.


You’d think it cannot get better than that but mostly it does once you turn on your oven or stove and bring out your tubers and roots.

“What is it you love about fall?” they asked.

“Let’s go for a walk and I will show you,” I smiled.

The guard who stopped the train and made my morning

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I made a dash with hesitation (do you know what am referring to? Like, when you run but also your legs give way and your heart wants you to try a bit more?). As I hurriedly bought my ticket, I saw the train doors closing along the platform that was about 20 steps of a run, maybe less. The guard at the barricade told me I can probably make it to the train and as I punched out, I saw the train guard standing out, keeping a door open and urging me to hop into that cabin. I foolishly tried getting into another wondering why the door did not budge open. He patiently called out, “Madam, this one! This one, I have it open.” That’s when I realised I had to get into that compartment and I gave him the most grateful sheepish look I could. The next train was a longer route and 20 minutes away and meant missing my first meeting with a senior at work (who probably would have kindly understood my predicament but that would have made me really guilty throughout our meeting). Anyway, I hopped in, he gave me a small smile as if this was nothing.

As I got off at Waterloo, I walked up to him. He probably thought I was lost and meant to ask for directions. And when I told him, it was beautiful what he did and am so thankful, he gave me the most beautiful smile and shrugged with a, “Ah no problem. Don’t worry about it.”

Almost always when I walk away from such people, the world around me stops. I have tears from God-knows-where spring into my eyes. I tell myself repeatedly, how beautiful people are. It makes me so emotional that I spend the next hour or two smiling at everyone and creeping them out. K has seen me do this multiple times. But really, it made my morning. I have lost count of how many times I have said this, but the people in train stations and the staff who work for the London Underground and South Western Railways are absolutely fabulous and everyday heroes. I mean every one of them. They have let me in when my app conked off, sometimes walked me to the correct exit, drawn a virtual route on their palm to show me the way, redirected me to better and shorter routes and just been absolutely wonderful with other fellow travellers every time I have passed by.

I thought long and hard about how I must title this happy event of mine that happened this morning. I quite honestly could not think of any way to do it. It really is as simple as that and yet so profound.

Distant.

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… turns out, I am not going to have much of a break.

The last few days have been transformational – things have come my way when I least expected them to and how! I am now caught in the several labyrinths of choices with each of them offering me a way to reach where I see myself.I am euphoric and thrilled and all that but the paradox of choice has never struck harder before.

Now that I know I have something coming up, I would not mind a reasonably long break. It is funny how this my mind works. I always prided myself on being cool about not having a certain place to go but I guess somethings change. As much as I am a homebody (I am that person who will proudly will tell you she cannot make it for a Saturday night out because she wants to stay home and do nothing), I love people. I love feeling connected and having an opportunity to care for others and be there. And going out, meeting people, hugging friends and then meeting some more makes me insanely happy when I feel like it. And the opportunities I have now will enable that, at least the way I see it.

Over the years I have come to view things and act on things in two ways: the first type is where I let go and just get into something with gay abandon, without so much as a care for the why, how and what ifs. These are times when my mind tells me, “go for it. I mean, why not?”. So every time I act on this impulse, I do not spend an iota of thought on it. The second type is where I really start thinking of why should I do something, how does it take me where I see myself, what purpose does it serve and how and why am I adding any value to what is out there already? How is my action making someone’s life better (mine included)? And I have a good mix of both these and being a Gemini has nothing to do with that (ask me tomorrow and my answer may change). I adopt these two approaches for equally important decisions so it is not a case of when I use what. Sometimes I just act on a whim even if it is something that can have big consequences. Without much overthinking, I view this as a strength. It lends a strange sense of balance and comfort to me knowing that there is no secret to figuring things out. Sometimes you just do what feels right to you then and really, things eventually work themselves out one way or the other. All the more reason why I have come to appreciate and value different approaches to living and learning. It has made me more tolerant, accepting and even appreciative of ‘to each her/his own’. It has made me less judgemental of how people approach challenges and made me less inclined to hastily suggest but rather be more empathetic and just listen even if I have nothing to say at all. Many a time, I have come away learning a bit more about myself when I have listened harder. I will even go so far as to say that learning to listen has made me like myself a bit more and be a little less critical and that includes listening to myself as I write this and the train of thoughts that emanate from something so distant.

Distant is the vision I have for myself. But I can see a path. It is really hazy and not without curves and tricky bends and straight paths I can tread with my eyes closed. I will have to make some choices. Sometimes I will just walk without a care and sometimes I may tread with caution. Maybe I will take a detour and try a different destination or a pitstop. I don’t know. I think I will never know. But that is the whole point. How is it fun otherwise? And why would you be excited for tomorrow and next week and the year after?

An afternoon at Dorset’s Highcliffe Beach

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We have for a while been raring to take Mili (our 4 month Cavalier pup) with us on a small getaway. Now that she has received her vaccinations and is free to travel, we jumped right to it. We were specifically looking for dog-friendly getaways (and there are quite a few of them, thank you UK).

One of our friends M recommended New forest and we decided to make a trip to New Forest and visit the Highcliffe beach, last weekend. After a day and night at New Forest (that I will share in another post), we spent a few hours on our way back at Highcliffe. Less than 10 miles away from New Forest, we totally recommend this experience.

It was such a chilly day with dark clouds looming over in spots as we started our drive but the sky opened up beautifully as we neared the coast. And then, it rained. So while we sat in the car waiting for the rain to soften a bit, we noticed how the sky over the beach was much clearer than over the parking lot. I can never get enough of these wonders seriously.

The rain mellowed down pretty fast so we literally jumped out of the car. Beaches are lovely (if not lovelier) in the rains, don’t ever doubt me on that. But I am a very cautious (new) mother and we had too many new things for Mili as it is, and getting her drenched was not something I was eager to do. But Mili? She was oh-so-excited to see so many cars, people and dogs! I think she’d be just as thrilled to be in the parking lot.

The beach line a la Jurassic coast is indeed very beautiful – very clean, lots of sand and gravel for Mili to walk and little rocks for her to climb and watch the sea in great contemplation. There are several promenades and paths to explore but we stuck to the beach. Despite it being so windy and chilly and being threatened to be blown away (not kidding), we loved walking it. There were quite a few fur friends and people around (have tried to keep that away in the pictures) despite the roller coaster weather. Mili absolutely loved saying hello to all of them, always reminding them if they didn’t.

It really was a beautiful morning watching people enjoy the beach with families irrespective of the weather (and the popular notion against it). We met absolutely delightful couples who took time to cuddle Mili and fuss over her as she happily lapped it all up. That’s thing about UK – how inclusive so many facilities are for pets, the acceptance and the love that people have for them. As first time pup-parents, it has been pretty breezy bringing her out thanks to this. We cannot wait to explore more of such delightful nooks soon.

It was only when it started raining we realised how far we had walked. We may go back to the beach and the Highcliffecastle (that we could not explore that day) in the summer!

That Jurassic coastline and this little girl.

Some tips: For those planning a trip I really urge you to go, no matter what the weather. This link has some good details to plan your trip. A word on the car parks – the two easiest ones are the cliff top car park (the drive to this is not steep, just that it is a cliff overlooking the sea but not all that elevated at all) and the Steamer Point Car park where we parked. There is a cafe on the cliff near the cliff top car park but we did not go there since we were not parked there and most importantly, we already had our coffees with us.