A long weekend in the Cotswolds

 You probably haven't ever visited the village of Burford, but I bet you have seen it in a magazine, a jigsaw or even a biscuit tin.  Whenever they are looking for a photo of a quintessential example of the English countryside Burford ticks all the boxes!

We were staying at an apartment which was part of the old mill and which has the River Windrush passing through the courtyard.  

Can you see the little ducklings the other side of the wall?  

Burford is considered to be the 'Gateway to the Cotswolds' and is so picturesque, it really was a lovely base for our weekend.

We were up bright and early on Saturday with an eager Coco looking forward to a day of dog walks.  First stop Bourton on the Water which was a lovely place to wander around

Then in the afternoon we went to Batsford Arboretum - a perfect place to explore, and Coco found another bridge for a photo opportunity

After a day of walking, we were all relieved that I had pre booked a table at a nearby pub which advertised itself as 'dog friendly' and it certainly was.  Here is Coco enjoying a delicious side order of dog treats

I'm happy to report that the human food was absolutely delicious too

After a good nights sleep we discovered that it there had been a storm overnight and everywhere was very wet!  Rain had been forecast for the whole weekend so we had made the most of the day before.  But by mid morning, the sun was out, the pavements were dry and we headed out to Lower Slaughter, where Coco found another bridge to pose on

This was yet another pretty village, and I loved the sign on the door of this cottage

Hard to see in this photo but it says 'oh no, not you again'.  The cottage was right next to the mill on the river, so I suspect they get a lot of people taking a photos

Back to Burford for Sunday lunch at a local pub

I don't know if we just struck lucky or if all dog friendly pubs in that area serve restaurant quality food, but it was absolutely delicious.  After a lovely lunch and a couple of glasses of wine we had a slow stroll back to the apartment where we just chilled for the afternoon.

We have friends who moved to this area about six years ago and we still hadn't been to visit them so when I realised we were staying half an hour drive from them I contacted them to ask if they would be home for us to pop in and say hello.  Not only were they home on Monday, but they also had friends who emigrated to Australia 18 years ago visiting, and another friend who moved to Devon staying for a few days!  So we stopped there for a few hours, had a lovely lunch whilst catching up on all the news, before heading home late Monday afternoon. 

All in all it was a lovely long weekend, and we certainly walked off all those delicious meals exploring the local area.  It's an area I would definitely recommend.  Coco gave it 5* too!