Ahh to drive a car in Great Britain. Steering wheel on the right, drive on the left, and shift gears with my left hand. As someone who loves driving manual transmission, it was fun! I only ran off the pavement a couple times as I figured out just how far to the left of the median I should go. The one thing I kept falling for was which door to open when I walked up to the car. I went to the left side before realizing that the wheel was on the right, and walked around. Every. Damn. Time.
I picked up the car in Bristol, and headed north towards a region known as the Cotswolds. This region is known for its rolling hills and towns out of a fairy tale. I wanted to find something interesting, and I found it at Snowshill Manor. This large 16th century country estate was owned by a man named Charles Padget Wade. He was a rich guy with a hobby: He collected things. A lot of things. So many things that he lived the guest house because his mansion was too full with all of the things he collected! And today, for a few pounds sterling you too can go and check out his collection.
There was a room for clocks, a room for bikes, a room for musical instruments, and even a room for Japanese samurai gear! It was wild. I could fill this post with dozens of pictures from this place alone, but I won't. Just make sure you check if out if you find it intriguing.
The outside of Snowshill Manor
Supposedly this sculpture (right) was carved completely from a single block of wood!
Some funky instruments More instruments The bicycle room
After leaving Snowshill Manor, I drove through the countryside where I came across a tower that looked like a castle, and a charming town called Chipping Campden, where most of the buildings were between 300-600 years old.
Broadway Tower Hansel & Gretel, are you there? High street in an old town
The other noteworthy place I stopped was in the town of Cirencester. There's an old Roman amphitheater here, which is completely gone but the land used to build it is still there. So it's an odd mound of land which, like everything else in Britain, has a long history.
Not only was it an amphitheater, but in the 13th century, the Abbott of Circencester used it as a rabbit warren. #themoreyouknow
Criminals, beware!