A Coopersmith's Garden Tour: Summer in the Cotswolds, 2015

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Trip Review: Coopersmith's "Summer in the Cotswolds"

"The Senior Travelers"

Selfie at Highclere Castle, 2015

Coopersmith's "Summer in the Cotswolds" (August, 2015) was a very poorly organized tour, with precious little time spent in gardens compared to time spent on an uncomfortable bus and at meals and garden teas. Based on first-hand experience, I would not recommend this tour - even at half the price.

Advertised as a 10-day tour, "Summer in the Cotswolds" was actually a 7-day, 7-night tour: Day 1, Day 2, and Day 10 were assumed to be travel days, and travel expenses (airfare, hotel and meals, and transportation until Day 3) were NOT included in the tour price - nor were tips for the guide and bus drivers, nor were some of the meals, nor was transportation to the airport (a $250 taxi ride) on Day 10, because our flight left before 1:30PM and therefore did not meet one of Coopersmith's requirements to qualify for "free transportation" to the airport.

Compared to other tours we have taken, "Summer in the Cotswolds" was seriously overpriced - more costly per day than an all-inclusive Viking river cruise and twice the price per day of a Rick Steves' (surprisingly luxurious) land tour, to name only two. We expected much, much more for our money.

The guide did not lead a single tour. She demonstrated no expertise in horticulture, nor in any other aspect of gardening; and she showed limited, if any, familiarity with the places we visited. She left us on our own most of the time, telling us where and when to meet the bus before disappearing.

The group spent an average of 30-45 minutes self-touring each garden after "welcome" remarks from a garden host. Plantings were marked in only one of ten gardens we visited during the week. If you didn't already know what you were looking at, you were not likely to learn - unless someone else in the group knew.

Most hosts offered tea and cakes after our garden "wanders," which added another 30 minutes to each brief stop.

On two of the seven days spent touring, random stops were made for the convenience of the bus driver. Once, the group was dropped off for a 40-minute "lunch stop" [too early for lunch] in a small village, while the driver took the bus to pick up his own lunch somewhere else. Another time, the group was dropped off in the pouring rain for 30 minutes in a town square when all the shops were closed, while the driver took the bus to a gas station to top off the tank for the next day's trip to the airport.

Time spent on the bus in seven days totalled more than 22 hours, mostly winding around scenic, narrow, "B" roads. The bus was a bare-bones model with no toilet facilities, no wi-fi, thinly-padded seats, limited legroom; and no headrests, footrests, armrests, or tray tables. Small hammers were mounted between most bus windows. In case of emergency, passengers were expected to use the hammers to break the windows in order to get out of the bus.

Time allocated for meals, including breakfast and dinner at the hotel, garden teas, and daily meal stops, totalled approximately 35 hours.

We did not tour any gardens that were not open to the public on charity days, and tickets to Highclere Castle did not appear to be [as our guide claimed] "as rare as gold dust," judging from the short lines to purchase them, and the less than ten-minute wait to enter the castle.

Every year, the National Garden Scheme publishes a catalog listing all gardens open to the public, including those on private estates opened only on special days to benefit charity.

For information to help plan your own garden tours in the UK, go to:

http://www.ngs.org.uk. There's even an app! :)

Tips on Booking a Coopersmith's Garden Tour

If you are considering a Coopersmith's tour, you may want to ask for a copy of the client contract and get particulars about the tour itinerary, including meeting places, airport transportation, meals, tips, and so on, BEFORE you pay the $1,000.00 per person deposit. The $4,495.00 per person land price (double occupancy) for our "Cotswolds" tour was not all-inclusive. Make no assumptions about this tour based on past experiences with other tour operators.

At first glance, Coopersmith's "Summer in the Cotswolds" (August 15-24) looked like a perfect match to follow our Rick Steves' "Ireland" tour (August 2-15), but after signing up for both and receiving a copy of the "Cotswolds" itinerary, I realized Coopersmith's was providing absolutely nothing on Day One and Day Two - no transportation, hotel, meals, tours, or hospitality of any kind.

Why advertise August 15 as the starting date if the tour begins August 17?

Coopersmith's assumes you will require two days (Day One and Day Two) to get to the tour group's initial meeting place - no matter where in the world you live. Plan to pay all your own expenses until Day Three. And remember, the group will meet for the first time on the morning of Day Three inside one of two hotels Coopersmith's chooses. If you stay at a different hotel, you will have to get yourself - and your baggage - to one of those two hotels; the tour bus will not pick you up at any other location. (I asked.)

Coopersmith's is the only travel company I have encountered that advertises tour dates longer than the actual tours. Road Scholar, America by Rail, and Rick Steves - to name a few - advertise beginning and ending dates based on first (welcome) and last (farewell) contact with the tour guide; but not Coopersmith's.

Unfortunately, by the time I realized this, it was too late to make a change. I had already paid the $1,000.00 per person deposit, and bought non-refundable airline tickets, arranged for a house sitter and had many other date-sensitive commitments.

John and I decided we would make the best of the situation and self-tour in London for two days until the "Cotswolds" tour actually began. Rookie mistake for a seasoned traveler.

Also note that Coopersmith's assumes your flight home will depart Heathrow AFTER 1:30PM on Day Ten. If you have an earlier flight (ours at 12:30PM), be prepared to pay $250+ for a taxi ride from Corse Lawn to Heathrow, because you will not be eligible for the advertised "free" transportation to the airport. (I asked.)

In my experience with Coopersmith's, the devil's in the details. And there are lots of them.

Learn from my mistakes.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Coopersmith's CRAY-CRAY Post-Tour Letter

On September 7, 2015, two weeks after the Coopersmith's "Summer in the Cotswolds" tour ended, I received a letter from Paul Coopersmith out of the blue claiming that John had "problems with his prostate," and accusing us of lying on the Client Information Sheet by not disclosing a "medical problem." What? I had no idea what Coopersmith was talking about or why he would write such a wierd letter to us.

John and I had not yet submitted our evaluations of the "Cotswolds" tour, and neither of us had a "medical problem." The letter was so strange, I forwarded a copy to other members of the tour and inquired if anyone else had received a similar communication. The answer was YES. We weren't the only tour members he insulted - in writing - after the tour!

Here's the text of the email Coppersmith sent me. What was he thinking?!

Dear Sharon,

I regret that you and John did not enjoy our Summer in the Cotswolds tour. Had you indicated on the Client Information Sheet that John had problems with his prostate, we could have discussed the options and hopefully found a way to make things easier for him on the tour. And if that wasn't possible, we would have recommended cancelling your places on the tour, and receiving a refund in full. But alas, you checked "NO", where we asked the following question on the Info Sheet:

IMPORTANT: Does either of you have any physical or psychological limitations that we should be aware of, i.e., something which may require special attention, limit your ability to take part in group activities, and/or affect other tour members? If you do, you MUST check the “Yes” box and indicate the nature of your limitation. Failure to do so could result in your not being permitted to stay on the tour.

So unfortunately, we had no advance notice about John's medical problem. Jane did her best to accommodate your needs. But clearly, it would have been better for all concerned had you given us an honest answer to the above question.

Sincerely,
Paul

Paul Coopersmith
COOPERSMITH’S One-of-a-Kind Tours...since 1984P. O. Box 900, Inverness, California 94937
Tel 415.669.1914
Paul@Coopersmiths.com
www.Coopersmiths.com

That was the end of it. We never heard another word from Coopersmith's.

Since returning from the Cotswolds, John and I have traveled more than 11,000 miles by train, bus, and car; and we'll be putting in another 3,000 miles by car and rail before the end of 2015.

In 2016, we plan to log another 25,000+ miles: this time with Rick Steves in Italy (two back-to-back tours); with Holland America in Alaska, the Mediterranean, and a trans-Atlantic crossing; and with Oceania Cruises in the Caribbean, America by Rail in U. S. National Parks, and on self-guided tours at home and abroad for special events, including garden tours in England and Italy.

Everyone is welcome to follow our travels through my newsfeed at writerondeadline.com.

Happy trails!

Sharon and John, "The Senior Travelers"
25,000+ Miles a Year and Counting!
Selfie on a Plane

Coopersmith's Day One: On Our Own - Dublin to London

August 15, 2015

We exchanged fond goodbyes with our fellow travelers on the Rick Steves' "Ireland" tour, and took a 25-minute cab ride from Buswell's Hotel to Dublin Airport, arriving shortly after noontime thanks to a good driver and very light traffic mid-day on a Saturday.

Photo: Aer Lingus check-in. Much faster than it looks.

After checking our bags with Aer Lingus in less than fifteen minutes and breezing through Security even faster, we waited for our flight in the lounge area outside the Jameson shop, where they were serving free samples of Jameson's newest whiskey, Caskmaker, aged an extra six months in casks used previously for Guinness. Caskmaker is only available in Ireland right now, but it may be coming to the U.S. as early as October, according to the Jameson representative.

I commented to John how much quieter it is in Dublin's airport terminals than in Boston's and in other U.S. airport terminals we've visited. Why? First, there are very few announcements, and when you hear them they are spoken calmly and in a quiet voice; second, people are not talking on cell phones constantly; in fact, I didn't notice very many cell phones in use anywhere during our travels; and third, children are well-tended and well-mannered as a rule. What a difference that makes!

Our Aer Lingus flight boarded with the same ease and efficiency as the previous flight, but I was disappointed to find the seats I booked were not in an exit row. On an Airbus 319, this is a bad mistake. (Later, I learned there had been an equipment change. I had booked exit row seats, but on an aircraft with a different seating configuration.) John and I had aisle-aisle seats. I had the misfortune of sitting next to two young men with terrible colds. The one in the middle seat, kissing-close to me, spent the entire hour-long flight sniffling, snarfing, coughing, wiping his nose with the back of his hand - and on his sleeve - biting his nails, and talking to his friend. It was airplane hell. Honestly, the guy was the most disgusting seat-mate ever.

Photo: John was crushed into a seat too small for anyone over 5'8".

Photo: Remember the Airbus 319. Avoid it if you can.

Photo: Seats are ridiculously close together.

Photo: There is hardly any padding on the seat cushion.

Photo: There is even less padding on the seat back - and virtually none for the lower back.

These were the worst airplane seats ever! If I did not have the "Cold One" to flatten and firm the seat bottom and "Bucky" (a bear filled with buckwheat hulls) to provide lumbar support, an hour on the Airbus 319 would have caused lasting back pain.

Photo: I found another use for the "Cold One." It makes a strong sling to hold my backpack to the suitcase handle.

Photo: Heathrow Terminal 2

We landed at Heathrow after a delay due to air traffic. I hope I didn't catch what the guy next to me had, but how could I avoid it? Guess I'll know in a few days. Eeeyuk! Next time I travel overseas, it will be by sea. Seriously.

A note about transportation:

I was unable to find a complete system map for the Heathrow Express online. It may be too complex to render in a single image. There is an app, but I didn't have it at the time. The map I did find online (above, cropped) seems to be out of date, but it gives a sense of the route pattern between Terminals - not a simple star or ring pattern, which is probably why it confounded me.

Our flight from Dublin arrived at Heathrow's Terminal 2. To get from Terminal 2 to the Sofitel at Terminal 5 there was a choice between a shuttle bus and the Heathrow Express train. We wanted to experience the train but had a little trouble figuring out how to manage it. In the end, it worked like this. The route by Heathrow Express from Terminal 2 to Terminal 5:

(1) In Terminal 2, follow signs to a lift marked Heathrow Express Terminal 5.

(2) Go down to Platform One and take the train servicing Terminals 2, and 3 to the next stop. (Terminal 1 service has been suspended.)

(3) Go up in a lift and look for another lift marked Heathrow Express Terminal 5.

(4) Go down in that lift and wait on the platform for the Heathrow Express train to Terminal 5.

Heathrow Express trains are free between terminals; however, the train to Terminal 5 offers express service by ticket to Paddington Station after the free stop at Terminal 5.

I was glad of the many Heathrow employees on duty to guide us through the terminals. They made sure we got where we needed to go. We found the Sofitel easily after we arrived in Terminal 5.

I had booked the Sofitel Heathrow at Terminal 5 based on Trip Advisor reviews, so my expectations were high - and all of them were exceeded. This is a true five-star luxury hotel. From check-in to check-out, everything was perfect.

Etched glass, marble, metal, and wood combine to create a sparkling contemporary interior steeped in elegance. Add a superbly trained staff, soft classical music, thoughtful lighting, champagne bar, gourmet dining, world-class spa, and Sofitel's Club Millesime and you have my idea of perfection.

Our room was ultra-modern and deeply luxurious. The gorgeous, spa-like bathroom (where mirrors never steam up), the crisp linens (but oh so soft), immaculate housekeeping, accurate temperature control, super-clean air, excellent soundproofing (no noise whatsoever), top-notch security (elevator and in-room features key-controlled), and a long list of services available to guests made us wish we could stay much, much longer.

The Sofitel Heathrow is only 21 minutes from Paddington Station by Heathrow Express, and the train is easily accessible from inside the hotel, so the Sofitel makes a great home base when visiting London.

The room I booked came with access to Club Millesime, a private lounge serving continental breakfast, afternoon tea, and evening hor d'oeuvres with wine, beer, spirits, and soft drinks - all free of charge. Unlike clubs of this kind in many other hotels where food is served out of a package or a microwave, the food at Club Millesime was gourmet quality, freshly prepared in a kitchen, and plated with the same care it would be for a formal dining room buffet.

The environment and food in the Club were so agreeable, John and I spent several hours there before retiring for a good night's sleep.

Coopersmith's Day Two: On Our Own - London's Heathrow Hilton Terminal 4

August 16, 2015

The next morning, with no tour to meet and no travel scheduled, we settled into one of the Sofitel's beautiful restaurants for a full, very leisurely breakfast. I was delighted to find Indian food on the breakfast buffet and started the day with basmati rice, excellent chick pea curry, and paratha. Loved it!

John and I were sorry to leave the Sofitel, but because our pick-up for Coopersmith's garden tour was to be inside the Hilton at Terminal 4, I felt it best to book our next night's lodging there, not wanting to risk missing the tour group by some fluke.

Getting from Terminal 5 to Terminal 4 was tricky. I thought we would simply hop on the Heathrow Express at Terminal 5 and get off at Terminal 4, but it was not as easy as that. The route from Heathrow Terminal 5 to Terminal 4:

(1) Take the lift marked Heathrow Express Terminal 5 down to the Platform level;

(2) Find the platform for connecting service to Terminal 4, which takes you to Terminal 2;

(3) Go up the lift at Terminal 2 and find another lift marked Terminal 4;

(4) Go down to the platform where two trains stop, one bound for Terminal 4, the other for Terminal 5 (with continuing service to London's Paddington Station);

(5) Take the train to Terminal 4. This is the terminus for that particular train (whew!).

Photo: Gates to the train platform limit baggage size. If your bag won't fit through the gate, it's too big for the train.

Photo: Good signage, but nothing is better than a helpful Heathrow employee. There was always one close at hand to answer questions.

Photo: John, waiting for the train to Terminal 4

Honestly, I am still a little confused by the Heathrow Express trains, but after a few trips, it must be easy?

As soon as we took the elevator up from the platform at Terminal 4, we saw a sign for the Hilton, but it was a long way to the hotel. We walked through a series of old, covered passageways, then continued walking outdoors to get to the entrance of the Hilton. We had our bags in tow; but after two weeks with a Rick Steves tour group, we took that in stride. In all, the trip from one hotel to the other took 30 minutes.

Photo: One of a series of covered passageways to the Hilton at Terminal 4

Photo: Another in a series of covered passageways to the Hilton at Terminal 4

Photo: The last of the covered passageways. The rest of the walk was outdoors.

Photo: A large construction project was underway next to the Hilton at Terminal 4.

The Hilton, like the covered walkways leading to it, was old and tired. The contrast between the Sofitel at Terminal 5 and the Hilton at Terminal 4 was day and night. I regretted my decision to change hotels, even before I saw our room.

Photo: Entrance to the Hilton at Terminal 4

Photo: Front wall of the Hilton viewed from inside

Photo: Dining areas in Hilton lobby viewed from third level interior walkway

Photo: Front lobby of Hilton viewed from third level walkway

The staff at the Hilton desk greeted us with smiles and our room was ready - a plus. But, the room was very small, and the decor dated to a time when mid-century modern was the popular look in hotels. 1970's? There was a whiff of old dirt in the air from aged carpeting.

Our room was an "Executive King." When we entered, the TV was blaring commercials for "The Boy Next Door" and "The Messenger"; creepy and violent movie images and sounds weren't what I wanted to see and hear. I found the remote and clicked the "Off" button as quickly as possible.

Photo: Hallway leading to our "Executive" room

Photo: Executive King Room interior (1 of 3)

Photo: Executive King Room interior (2 of 3)

Photo: Executive King Room interior (3 of 3)

Photo: View from the Executive King room

Photo: Bucky, softening the effects of the ugly lime-green chair and plastic finishes in our room.

Since the room was so small, we decided to use our key card to relax in the Executive Lounge on the first floor. I needed to print some documents from Aer Lingus and knew there would be a public access computer. I expected a place where we could sit in less claustrophobic, more comfortable surroundings.

I was stunned by the overall appearance of the Lounge. The lighting was over-bright, and entirely artificial. There was not a ray of sunshine in the place. The decor was more of the mid-century modern plastic, leatherette, formica, chrome, and whatever else was popular when humans were turning away from the natural and embracing the artificial. Everything was worn. Even the stains on the fabric-covered seats and backs of the plastic chairs were faded.

The music was loud and inappropriate for a work/social space for "executive" guests - not quite the junk-in-the-trunk hip-hop style you might hear in a dance club; more like the baby-lets-get-it-on music you might hear late night in a dark bar. I wished for ear plugs. I asked the host if they played the same type of music all day. He said they were playing whatever was playing in the lobby, but he could take requests. His personal style was theatrical and he pushed it over the top for me. He said they would change the music and turn the volume down for Happy Hour, but things might not stay quiet. There was a nudge-nudge-wink-wink in his tone.

Sadly, it was only 2:00PM. Happy Hour would be a long wait. Would the music improve? It didn't really matter. Music was a small part of what needed fixing here. I smiled "thank you" to the host, and still wishing for ear plugs, tried to find a seat that wasn't under one of the corner-mounted Bose mini-speakers.

After a few minutes, I decided to print the Aer Lingus documents and get out of there. The two public workstations were set up so that people on one side of the room could read what was being done on one of them and people on the other side of the room could read what was being done on the other. No thought whatsoever had gone into planning this space.

The workstation technology was ancient. Windows 7. Word 2010. Really? I managed to print the Aer Lingus documents and went back to our tiny room.

Several hours later, John and I returned to the Lounge for Happy Hour, mostly [in my case] to see if the music had improved. It had, but the food was offputting. "Fresh" was in short supply. The snack buffet literally killed my appetite. John and I agreed to skip dinner too. If that's what they were putting out in the Executive Lounge, the restaurants wouldn't be worth trying.

We decided to make it an early night. We watched a pay-TV movie, "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" in our room. It left us with a smile and ready for a good night's sleep.

Photo: Hilton's Executive Lounge

Photo: Computer runs Windows 7 and Word 2010. It's 2015!

Photo: Plastic chairs last forever, and so do the stains apparently.

Photo: "Dear Hilton, Windows 7 is no longer supported by Microsoft. Don't your "executive" guests deserve better? They are certainly paying for it!

Coopersmith's Day Three: Bus Driver's Lunch Stop, Two Hours at Highclere Castle, A Plea for Donations in Bampton

August 17, 2015

John and I woke early and went downstairs to the Hilton's Executive Lounge for the Continental breakfast. Unfortunately, breakfast was no better than the hors d'oeuvres served the night before. In fact, some of the raw vegetables on the buffet looked very familiar. I decided to settle for machine-brewed coffee, orange juice, plain yogurt from a package, and bottled water. The coffee was bitter; the juice watered down and tinny tasting. The yogurt was OK, but an unopened bottle of water I picked up from the drink buffet was so greasy it nearly slipped out of my hand. I decided to skip breakfast and go back to the room. If the staff was serving yesterday's crudite and putting out an unopened water bottle with grease on it, too little care was being taken with food handling in general.

Photo: Everything looked like it came from a can, a jar, or a package; some food had been stored overnight - or perhaps longer.

Photo: The hot food service was messy.

Photo: Eggs in a shell might be a safe bet, but the overall appearance of the buffet made even these look unappealing.

Photo: Hot beverage service area

The staff was slow to bus dirty dishes. Three cups beside the make-it-yourself coffee machine were dirty. One of the milk pitchers was empty. The coffee machine was leaking from underneath and the "hot milk" dispenser had a piece of tape over the button. According to the writing on the tape, the button dispensed "hot water." But, I wasn't going to take a chance. Eeeikkk.

Photo: Table seating in the Executive Lounge.

After breakfast, a shower. Hilton provided sad, raggy towels. "DEAR HILTON, DOES ANYONE MANAGE THIS HOTEL?"

Photo: One of our raggy bath towels

According to the tour itinerary, Coopersmith's bus was scheduled to pick up "Cotswolds" participants on Day Three, August 17 at one of two hotels selected by the tour operator: the Park Lane Hilton (first stop) or the Heathrow Hilton at Terminal 4 (second stop). The exact times and locations had been made available approximately six weeks before the tour began in materials sent through the U.S. Mail, Coopersmith's preferred method for group communication. According to the instructions we received July 2, our guide would identify everyone in the group by colored ribbons we should tie to our luggage. Ribbons were enclosed in the Coopersmith's folder with the final itinerary.

Being met in a hotel lobby by a guide reminded me of day tours we sometimes booked through hotel concierge services. I thought it a strangely impersonal way to start a week-long adventure with a group of 20 people. In contrast to the Rick Steves tour we had finished two days before, there was no opportunity to meet the Coopersmith's guide, or get to know our fellow travelers at a "welcome" dinner or orientation meeting of any kind before climbing aboard the tour bus. A shame.

The meeting place for pickup at our location was supposed to be Oscar's restaurant inside the Hilton, but when John and I figured out which eating area was Oscar's, it looked an unlikely spot. There was no signage; the menus on the tables were marked "Oscar's," but you had to look closely to see that. John said we should sit in the lobby, because it was the only way in and out of the hotel and we were bound to see the bus and our tour guide from there. I agreed. For me, following instructions on a piece of paper was an uncomfortable way to begin a tour.

Photo: John, waiting for the Coopersmith's tour bus

Based on Coopersmith's Day Three itinerary, the bus would go directly from the Hilton Terminal 4 to Highclere Castle. Apparently, we would be on deadline for an appointment at Highclere, so my fingers were crossed that everyone would be on time for pickup at both hotels with ribbons tied in plain sight.

At ten minutes before the specified pickup time, another tour member came into the lobby. We recognized each other from the red and yellow ribbons tied to our bags. Five minutes later, a second member joined us. Shortly after, a third came over to tell us there were others waiting in Oscar's. The pickup time came and went. Four of us stayed in the lobby and chatted. The rest of the Terminal 4 group stayed in Oscar's. I was glad to meet some of our fellow travelers.

Finally at 10:30AM, fifty minutes after the scheduled pickup time, the tour bus arrived. The guide, Jane Brand (not Alex Cross as originally advertised), greeted us quickly and explained the bus's late arrival: pickup time was traffic-dependent. No apologies. We rolled our own bags outside, turned them over to the bus driver for loading, and climbed aboard.

The bus looked great from the outside, but inside it was not at all what John and I expected. The seats were narrow and lightly padded. There was very little legroom between rows. No armrests. No footrests. No headrests. No tray tables, No toilet facilities. No wi-fi. No handicap-accessible features. And, a poor sound system. Everything we had enjoyed on the Rick Steves' tour bus was missing from this bare-bones Coopersmith's bus. John likened his seat to the ones on the Airbus 319. The good news was each of us could use two seats, just like we did on the Rick Steves bus.

Our tour guide Jane reserved two front row seats - the best on the bus - for herself. I remembered our "Ireland" guide Susie had always used the guide's jumpseat next to the bus driver, leaving all the front row seats for tour participants. I was disappointed Jane didn't follow the same protocol, but I wasn't surprised. I had seen unprofessional guides do the same thing on other tours.

Photo: John, making the best of inadequate legroom on the bus

Seats on Coopersmith's tour bus were narrow; rows were too close together for John to have adequate legroom, but he managed to get reasonably comfortable sitting sideways.

Jane didn't say much at first, except to answer questions. After a while, she announced that we had a 12:30PM appointment at Highclere Castle, so we would make a lunch stop in Newbury, because we would be at Highclere during lunchtime. That sounded fine to me.

When we arrived in Newbury, Jane led us from the bus parking lot into town. She told us she was not familiar with any place to eat there, so she could not suggest where we might like to go, but she did say we should split up rather than all go into the same place. We were to meet back at the bus in 40 minutes for the short ride to Highclere.

John and I picked an outdoor table at a Spanish restaurant and ordered a coffee. It was too early for lunch service, even if 40 minutes had been enough time to eat.

The group assembled in the bus parking lot 40 minutes later, but the bus was not there. We waited. Apparently, the driver had gone to get his lunch and took longer than expected. Was that the real reason for the 40-minute stop? Or was it just a way to kill time until the appointment at Highclere?

After re-boarding, one couple couldn't find a daypack they had left on the bus, and their other things were disarranged. Jane said the bus driver had stopped short during his lunch trip. He had heard things fall on the floor, he said. Jane suggested that when we got back on the bus, some of us must have picked things up off the floor and put them on seats to get them out of the way, and since we didn't know which seats the things had come from, we put them wherever. Not to worry. Everything was safe, she said. Hmmm. I was not reassured.

We arrived at Highclere on time, but Jane had to find out where to pick up our tickets. She said she had never been there before. What? Meanwhile, the attendant who directed the bus driver to a parking space came aboard to welcome us to Highclere.

We all got off the bus and waited for Jane to return with our tickets. There would be no tour of the house, she said, but there would be people in each room to answer any questions. We should meet back at the bus at 2:30PM. Jane thought two hours would be enough time. Based on what? She made no mention of the gardens at Highclere. Two hours was scant time to enjoy what had been touted as the highlight of Coopersmith's "Summer in the Cotswolds."

Here's a link to what we missed:

http://www.highclerecastle.co.uk/highclere-castle-gardens.html

No photography was allowed inside Highclere.

After finishing a walk through the house and the optional Egyptian exhibit, I found one of the tea rooms and picked up a beef pasty and a jelly doughnut for lunch. Both were fresh-made and delicious.

Everyone in the group got back to the bus on time, but the door was locked and the driver, Kenny, was nowhere in sight. Jane called him on her cell phone as soon as she returned and saw all of us standing in the parking lot. Suddenly, he popped up inside the bus. He had been taking a nap in the back.

Our next stop was Bampton, the village "where Mrs. Patmore shops." Jane had never been to Bampton in a bus, she said, only by car. Maybe that's why she didn't know the bus was too wide for a bridge we encountered enroute. Why didn't the driver know? The bus got stuck between the outside wall of a building and a low wall across the narrow street while Kenny was trying to make a turn, presumably toward the bridge. I heard a crunch just before Jane announced that the bridge had recently "acquired a width restriction." A what? The driver would have to take a different route to Bampton, she said. The bus backed slowly down the same narrow street we had just come up. We must have been a comical sight to the locals.

By the time we arrived in Bampton, it was close to 4:30PM. The bus parked outside the "town archives," a former grammar school, currently used as a library and gift shop. Jane explained the building would be closing shortly, but they might stay open for us a few extra minutes. She directed all of us to gather inside the gift shop where the town archivist, whom Jane said was creating documentation to explain connections between Bampton and "Downton Abbey," would speak to us.

As soon as we crowded into the small gift shop, the archivist told us about a fund-raising effort under way to pay for a new roof for the building. She asked us for a one pound donation (approximately $1.50) per person. She and Jane pointed to the donation box, and that was that. I was confused. I didn't mind the idea of helping put a roof on the town archive/gift shop/library, but I thought being herded into the gift shop to give a donation was awkward. I heard Jane ask the archivist for a receipt. "I have to account for every stop," she told her. I was beginning to wonder about Coopersmith's. I had expected a professionally run tour, with a modern bus and an expert guide. So far, we had a bare bones bus with a driver who didn't know which route suited a 53-passenger bus, and a guide who had never been to the most anticipated stop on the tour. It didn't look promising, but I remained hopeful.

We had a few minutes after making donations before re-boarding the bus - not enough time to do much more than find a restroom. Since there wasn't one on the bus, and because neither Jane nor Kenny could say how long it would take to get from one place to another due to "the traffic," John and I decided to make comfort stops whenever we had the opportunity.

After standing in line for my turn in the "town archives" bathroom (a single outside the gift shop), I looked through the one-room library and walked around a nearby church exterior. Then, we were on the road again. Jane said we would be about a half-hour late getting to the hotel because we were in "rush hour traffic."

We arrived at Corse Lawn House Hotel a little after 6:00PM. Jane told us to pick up our keys at the front desk; someone would bring our bags to the room. The group would meet for cocktails at 7:00PM and have the first group dinner at 7:30PM. John and I picked up our room key and headed for the bar.

People in the tour group started getting to know each other over cocktails and dinner. Jane never made a welcome speech or asked us to introduce ourselves to each other. There were fourteen singles and three couples. I wish she had taken the time to have each person say a little about himself or herself. Isn't that one of the responsibilities of a tour guide on a multi-day tour - to help strangers become comfortable with one another and as a group? Maybe not in this case. As it was, John and I got to know a little about the people sitting near us at dinner and hoped to find time to chat with others during the trip. After the welcome dinner, I didn't feel like part of a group, but I had met some nice people.

All told, it was a strange first day. But on the plus side, the hotel looked promising, and the people on the tour - at least the ones we had talked with - seemed pleasant.

Photo: Spanish restaurant in Newbury, where we had coffee while our driver took the bus to pick up his lunch.

Photo: A cappucino at the Spanish restaurant in Newbury

Photo: Highclere Castle. No photos allowed inside. No mention of the gardens. We were allowed only two hours at Highclere.

Photo: Selfie at Highclere

Photo: My beef pasty lunch at Highclere. The forty-minute lunch stop in Newbury before coming to Highclere made no sense, except as a convenience for the bus driver to pick up his lunch.

Photo: Flowers in the outdoor seating areas for the tea rooms. Jane never mentioned there were gardens at Highclere. Maybe she didn't know, since she had never been there before.