Sunday, August 12th, Lower Slaughter, England

Greetings!

I added the "England" in the title because I too had never heard of "Lower Slaughter".  I didn't want you to think we'd flown somewhere else in the world.  Lower Slaughter is a small town (can anything be smaller than a town?) in the midst of many others in the Cotswold District in Western England.  It's rumored the town has restrictions on residents making their houses "too cute".  We're in a very cute hotel (Washbourne Court), nestled on the banks of the River Eye, watching the Olympics Closing Ceremonies.

After the kind of drive that Rick Steeves describes as "joyriding" from Bath to here this morning, we checked into the hotel long before our room was ready.  So we decided to head over to the Blenheim Palace, home to the last 11 Dukes of Marlborough and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.   A smaller version of Versailles, with as many tapestries and statues (but mainly focused on the Spencers and Churchills).  Photos were prohibited inside, so you'll just have to imagine a giant scrapbook made into a palace of rooms.  We did find interesting the filling of eight rooms with animated figures, videos, and associated sets featuring an immortal maid (Grace Ridley) describing the personalities of each Duke and Duchess.      

We're taking Steeves' suggested 100-mile "joyride" tomorrow to see the other cute towns in the Cotswold region.  The homes were built with the sheep-raising profits that this rich Cotswold soil provided, and they're now occupied by A-list celebrities like Madonna, Elizabeth Hurley, and Kate Winslet.  The walking trails are extensive, and once a year the Ramblers organize a "Mass Trespass" to walk the country's 50,000 miles of trail - thus assuring its public access, and preventing fences from being erected.

Here is a link to the few photos taken today: Sunday, August 12th, Lower Slaughter

ps.  I noticed that I hadn't checked the "all public" access box in Picasa for the photos, so you might want to go back and check out the photos for the past few days.  I'll try to not screw up again.  Now if I can just get the B&B owners to keep their wifi on after 10pm so I can get the photos up on the blog.