TASTE OF BRITAIN

By Vanessa Shaw-Finelli

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TASTE OF BRITAIN

TALES

Last summer heralded the first in our ‘Taste of’ tours. This premier was a Taste of Britain, and what a wonderful time was had by all. Instead of Taste,please allow one of our group to tell you about it. Here follows a diary kept by fellow traveller, Jo Ferriman:

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9th Century Amberley Castle, Sussex,
Sunday and Monday, June 24th and 25th 2001.

Here we are at our first hotel and what a beautiful place; to fully describe the loveliness of Amberley Castle, would be to run out of superlatives.

9th Century Amberley Castle, Sussex

The staff met us so graciously and efficiently. The castle is a warren of passages, staircases and inviting nooks and crannies to explore. This bedroom is up stairs, steep and narrow, but the room is charming and well-stocked with all one would need. This room is shared by two sisters, both unused to sharing a bathroom. So the fact that we are comfortable and feel immensely pampered is a high counterpoint to dancing a gavotte round each other in the bathroom!

Our formal dinner was delicious, the wines excellent. We dined in the private Charles II dining room in a party atmosphere. Coffee, (and cocktails), were taken in the exquisite courtyard, with the house petit-fours, on a perfectly balmy English summer evening. This is memorable.

At this point I must mention our brand new VW Caravel ‘people carrier’ which is excellent. We are all enjoying having a driver on-call and no worries about parking. Owner of Southern Cars, Paul, is very easy-going yet very professional and reliable.

A charming sign at
Amberley Castle

Monday morning we visited Arundel, a small, quaint town nearby with its old stately castle and antique shops. Then onto Bosham, a tiny, old picturesque village, further west, along the Sussex coast. The tide was high at that time, but at low tide the river is fordable. We had tea in the garden of the Millside Hotel, all very English. Weather perfect.

We all ate the evening meal together, with more friends joining our group, at The Black Horse Pub in exquisite, old Amberley Village, next to the castle, which was fun. Neal and Vanessa are giving us a really interesting, happy, memorable holiday.

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16th Century Bay Tree Hotel, Burford,
Tuesday and Wednesday, 26th and 27th June.

Lovely day. Tuesday lunch in Oxford, en route to our next hotel. Met two of Neal and Vanessa’s friends from Florida, Mike and Judy Day, who are also from, and live, in Oxford. Very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, showed us around this venerable and famous town.

16th Century Bay Tree Hotel, Burford

Burford is a beautiful village and I am enjoying, so much this whole tour. The Bay Tree Hotel is charming and very comfortable, but getting the luggage to the rooms was rather inefficient. The staff is cheerful and friendly and the food is good to excellent. A merry evening was spent dining together in the restaurant and after, more casually in the gardens, for coffee and dessert.

We did include a short visit to Blenheim Palace, Churchill’s birthplace, on the way north from the castle. Indeed few people could have covered a visit to this huge prestigious palace so swiftly. But with our driver, Paul, willing to drive us into through the grounds in a stately manner for an overview, it was all very civilised.The next day had us driving to Stratford. So interesting and historical, Shakespeare’s birthplace and home to the Royal Shakespeare Company. None of the current performances appealed for one reason or another, so we all voted to skip this, although we did have lunch and a tour at the theatre.

Wednesday evening we walked down the delightful Burford High Street to a nearby pub, the Cotswold Arms for our meal. The local musician added some colour! Indeed our tour of the Cotswold Villages, with the gentle rolling countryside and the myriad gorgeous, mellow stone cottages, was a joy. The roads have been amazingly free of traffic. Weather lovely.

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15th Century Calcot Manor, Avon,
Thursday and Friday, 28th and 29th June.

Thursday; another excellent breakfast. Strolled downtown to shops. Leisurely packing ready to move on to Calcot Manor, via Cirencester. This is an old Roman town withmany fine buildings. We shopped and walked, as we had in Arundel, Oxford and Stratford. Vanessa and Neal had arranged for us to do this without our feeling rushed and with very little waiting, as Paul was always on time.

Calcot Manor is charming, amid farmland, beautifully run with efficient staff. Nearby is Prince Charles’ country home, Highgrove. Our suite is large and airy, with a huge bathroom and decor very pleasing, with nice details. The ground floor mews cottages which house our suites, are very old and wonderful. After sup-ping pre-dinner champagne, courtesy the Finellis, from their courtyard overlooking the fields, we were off to nearby 16th century Thornbury Castle for a formal dinner.

Sumptuous, stately dining
at Thornbury Castle

Once again our hosts have surpassed themselves finding Thornbury Castle for us. Like Amberley Castle it is steeped in history and exquisitely lovely. But where Amberley is romantic, Thornbury is stately. The stone walls and flower gardens are, for any amateur gardener, to die for! Just the gardens we have seen on our tour would be a joy to visitors the world over. Our meal was superb and the ambience in our private dining hall quite magnificent. All the wines Neal has chosen for us, to accompany our formal meals, have been splendid in their variety and quality. I much appreciated Thornbury’s own white wine, very decent, from their nearby vineyard. Who says the English can’t make wine!

15th Century Calcot Manor, Avon

Friday morning, Paul our reliable and helpful chauffeur, took us from Calcot Manor to Bath, about half an hour away. We took a guided tour of the beautiful, old city in an open-topped double decker bus, which did not prove too windy. Shopping and sight-seeing. Splendid Afternoon Tea in the famous Pump Room, adjoining the ancient Roman Baths, thankfully previously reserved by our hosts, as it was very busy.

Early evening, a play, “Port Authority” in the Theatre Royal, interesting theme but sad. Paul returned us to the Manor where we enjoyed a delicious, informal late supper, in the Gumstool Pub, adjoining the hotel.

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21st Century Millennium Hotel, Knightsbridge,London,
Saturday and Sunday, 30th June and 1st July.

This morning to London and straight to the new British Airways’ sponsored, London Eye. Met up with my family here and had a terrific ‘flight’ on the Eye, with an amazing over-view of London, so many parks! Thanks to Taste Magazine we received VIP treatment and did not have to queue!

The Bennett’s overlooking London from the top of The Eye

21st Century Millennium Hotel,
Knightsbridge,London

We then checked-in to the Millennium. This hotel is very sophisticated, extremely clean and well run with good service. We gathered in the evening and went to close-by King’s Road, Chelsea. We had a table booked at a pub, Cahoots, in Markham Square, just off the King’s Road. This is a great little find, with very reasonably priced food in a quiet mews, yet right near all the action.

Frog Tour's amphibious ‘duck’

On Sunday morning, after the good hotel breakfast, most of the group went on a Frog Tour. This was great fun and very informative, a ride on an amphibious ‘duck,’ with a London street tour and then a short sail on the River Thames! Unique.

Sunday evening marked the end of our wonderful week. We were booked for our fourth and final, formal meal together at Quaglino's, a famous London restaurant, in the Conran group. Pampered to the end we were greeted with champagne and a superb menu, with like service, and wines pre-arranged by our hosts.

Quaglino’s restaurant

Paul was great, going the extra ‘mile’ by collecting us and taking us all to Gatwick Airport for our return journeys. Neal and Vanessa have given us a most happy and memorable getaway. I would give the week a 10 out of 10.

More quotes from our group:

“How can we ever thank you enough for the great trip through the beautiful English countryside? You left no stone unturned down to the last detail. It was ‘top drawer’ all the way! From Amberley Castle to the farewell dinner at Quaglino’s, it couldn’t have been more enjoyable! We saw parts of England we could never have seen without you, and we are most grateful. You are very caring of those in your group, and we were happy to be part of it. Thanks for making such awonderful trip possible.”
Fondly, Bev and Dave Bennett.

“Everything about this trip oozed quality and excellence. At the same time it was so enjoyable because of its informality and fun. I can’t praise it highly enough.

We experienced, in one too short a week, the grandeur of castles in the beautiful English countryside, stately towns full of interest and history, unique villages with quaint shops and, to top it all, the metropolis of London-steeped in tradition and yet so very hip! This Taste of Britain left us all feeling, in the words of that venerable writer, Charles Dickens, ‘Please Sir, can I have some more?’ But please can Neal and Vanessa always dish it out, because they do it so expertly!!”
Val Shaw.

A ‘must see,’ The London Eye

“Thank you very much for the mostwonderful vacation. I can’t believe that we were walking round castles, sitting in the most beautiful gardens, living in history! We loved walking in the small towns and tiny villages. Bosham Harbour was fascinating, where the highest tide came up to some of the doors steps. Having tea on the lawn and sitting outside 'til late, as it was still so light, was just great. Although I was worried about going on the London Eye, due to my fear of heights, you reassured me Neal, and I am so glad I went, it was fantastic. Bob was so impressed that we had such VIP treatment there, not even having to join the long line, and we had a capsule to ourselves! Right from Vanessa’s parents welcome brunch in their lovely home, we had the red carpet treatment all the way. Nothing like having the best guides who were native to the land!”
Bob and Joyce Reshke

IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE A FAX OF ALL, OR ANY, OF THE FORMAL MENUS WE ENJOYED, OR HAVE ANY QUESTIONS,
CALL US AT TASTE • 366 7950

Contacts in England:

(Telephone numbers are as dialed from here in the USA
All web sites pre-fixhttp:\\www.)

• Southern Cars (Paul Baker)

01144 1825 760163 southerncars.co.uk

• Amberley Castle,

Amberley, near Arundel, W.Sussex BN18 9ND

01144 1798 831992 amberleycastle.co.uk

• Bay Tree Hotel

Sheep Street, Burford, Oxfordshire OX18 4LW

01144 1993 822791 cotswold-inns-hotels.co.uk

• Calcot Manor