Last Day in the Cotswolds

For our last day in the Cotswolds we went to Broadway. It seems to be on a wold but that wasn't added to its name. It's called Broadway because it has the longest and widest main street in the Cotswolds. There is one bus time each way that arrives in a half-hour.  The rest of the buses take over 2 hours. We were there from about 9:30 until 2 to get the fast buses. Broadway is known for its main street filled with various  shops, art galleries, antique stores. There is also a tower to climb to see views but it's over a mile out of town so we didn't go. It was cold and windy today.

store with those flowers I can't pronounce or spell

We planned to eat breakfast there but most restaurants and cafes were closed. We've noticed  Tuesday seems to be a popular time to close in these towns. Also some are closed  Wednesdays and Thursdays.  Maybe they open more during tourist season but there's plenty of tourists now. We finally found a coffee shop that opened at 10 and had scones and jam. Also coffee in a French press (cafetiere). I pressed it down too soon so the coffee was weak but Lola was thrilled it wasn't espresso. 

We did go into a lot of the shops. Many of the places are chains which we've seen in every town. Dog (pet supplies), Edinburgh Woolen Mill ( beautiful clothes). There's an inn called The Swan next to us in Moreton and in the other towns. Also some of the coffee shops are chains.

We went to the Gordon Russell museum which highlighted his career designing furniture. He's known for taking traditional British craft work into mid-century modern. His furniture was high end before and after WWII but his business designed utility furniture and aircraft parts during the war. One of the most interesting pieces he made was a table with a map of D-Day landings ordered by the queen and presented to Eisenhower in 1957. It's not in the museum and I couldn't find out if its in a museum in the US. The furniture in the museum is certainly high end. Beautiful things. There's a piece that has a sign that says they recently got it back from the US and are researching how it got to the US to begin with. 

For our last night in Moreton, we actually broke down and made a reservation for dinner at a fancy hotel restaurant. We usually wandered around looking for an open restaurant with food we want. Some of the restaurants are nicer than others but there's not a big difference in price. We had trout which was excellent and didn't come with fries or bacon. All sandwiches in the Cotswolds come with fries and most entrees give you the choice of fries or mash. This restaurant didn't which shows just how high class it is.