Castles, Cake, and Open Road

The last time we were in London, we had tried to achieve Taylor's dream of enjoying a Sunday roast, a traditional British dish with roast meat, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and a Yorkshire pudding. Unfortunately, the pub in which we tried to eat said roast had abysmal service and after well over an hour with no food, we had to leave to make our entry time at Winter Wonderland. On this trip, though, Taylor would not be denied his roast--he booked a fancy Easter meal at Cowley Manor, a beautiful hotel in the Cotswolds.      The original manor was built in 1695, though the current buildings are only about 100 years old; it has 55 acres of grounds and a lovely garden. It was the first private home in England to use concrete and even had a spa complex--and most exciting to me, Lewis Carroll was allegedly inspired by his time there to write Alice in Wonderland (and the hotel has a subtle Alice and rabbit theme today).        Elowen is always excited to find ...

Our second full day in the Cotswolds was supposed to be rainy and also it was a bank holiday, so we didn't think we'd be able to find parking or enjoy the little towns we had slated for the day. Instead, we decided to drive to Puzzlewood (which was actually very close to our hotel in Wales) and then visit the Cider Museum in Hereford, both things I'd really wanted to do and was feeling angsty about missing.      Puzzlewood is an ancient woodland (dating back at least 10,000 years) in the Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire England. A local landowner laid down a mile of windy, maze-like pathways in the 1800s for his children, friends, and neighbors, and it later opened as a tourist attraction in the 1900s.  I wanted to make sure we had it mostly to ourselves, so we were there and in line at the ticket office before the gates even opened--then we dashed in!       It's even more glowy-green and otherworldly than it looks in the pictures, and it truly feels...