the cotswalds

The Village Restaurant and Tearoom, Bourton-on-the-Water, The Cotswalds. Photographed November 20, 2008.

Our last full day with Marcus' dad, we drove out to The Cotswalds, an area of England so beautiful even Brits sigh when they speak its name. Our primary purpose was to take Alex to see Birdland in Bourton-on-the-Water (where I shot the previous image). Birdland is weird and wonderful in a tired sort of way, but I'll never forget it, primarily because of Anne's uncanny knowledge of all things orthonological. While the rest of us were trying desperately to find the little sign which would describe what weird animal was currently in front of us, she would just quickly glance at the bird, toss out its name, and move on to the next exhibit. It is because of her that I'll now describe all dim-witted souls (myself included, natch) as "not knowing their rhea from their cassowary."

You know I can't wait to use that phrase in day-to-day conversation, right?

After we'd marveled at the birds, we walked into town for lunch. Seriously, the villages in the Cotswalds can't be real -- they look more like a movie set. I kept stupidly asking Marcus: "Can you believe people actually live here?"