It was our last morning at the Union Jack Club in London. With glazed lamb kidneys as yesterday’s breakfast special, I was so excited to see what today would hold at the breakfast buffet. Alas, it was Spanish omelets with chorizo. A pretty standard special and a signal that it was time to say, in the words of my beloved Taylor Swift, “So Long, London.” I had my usual cereal with mushrooms, baked beans and grilled tomato. The Union Jack club was a great place to stay but would not make my top 1000 places to have breakfast in London.
We packed up our bags, checked out and grabbed out taxi using a snazzy gadget at the front desk where you push a button, it gives you a digital message like, “your taxi is on the way” and suddenly the taxi appears. It was literally less than 5 mins. Our driver, Alex, helped us Tetris our bags between the back of the cab where we were sitting and the front passenger seat. Unfortunately for me, I got the backward facing jump seat. It’s not about comfort, it’s about motion sickness. I was pretty green by the time we reached Heathrow’s Alamo Rental Car to grab our car for the remainder of the trip. I was so happy to be out of that cab!
The adorable Alamo lady asked the Mrs. and I if we were “ok with a manual” because they had no automatics returned so far this morning. Um no nice lady, we are not ok with a manual. Mrs. Koog and I are fine with a stick shift as my Jeep is manual but driving on the left side of the road with the gear shift on the left side and not taking out innocent bystanders is a bridge too far. I think she was shocked by our quick and in unison response of “no.”
Since there were no automatics we waited for about 20 mins for a car to be ready and for the people to take our information. I should mention that I had an immediate PTSD reaction when we arrived at the rental location as it was the same rental place where I rented the brand new car with 4 miles on it in 2025 and returned it with a scratched and smashed passenger side, 2 damaged passenger tires and a grill jammed with branches from the hedge I drove through for a total of £8500 damage. I really got nervous when they took my license since I am an authorized driver. Shocked there was no flag on my name I just kept walking to the new car with our bags as if nothing had ever happened in 2025.
This time we got a Mazda 5 mini-SUV. It fit us and our stuff and was a pretty comfortable ride. So comfortable in fact I slept the entire 90 minute drive from Heathrow to The Cotswolds. I was only able to yell “stay to the left” at Mrs. Koog before I drifted off/passed out in the passenger seat. Luckily for her, B and E were awake and immediately took over the yelling.
About 90 minutes later, we arrived at the “Jasmine Cottage” on Mousetrap Street in Bourton-on-the-Water. We parked the car but were too early for check-in so we made our way to the High Street and walked around a bit to find Smith’s Restaurant for lunch. This was E’s best day. Imagine a menu with only burgers. He was in heaven. The food was really good and we ate pretty much every morsel. We made our way just down the road to an ice cream shop with Cotswolds-made ice cream. Obviously, we needed to support local agriculture so we each got a small cone. Excellent use of dairy! Although, in my opinion, Welsh ice cream is much better.
With our full bellies, we continued to walk around the town to the Motor Museum. E and I were definitely not missing this place! We got our tickets and opened the door to the most amazing displays of British automobiles. There were 7 rooms of gorgeous cars and motorbikes, each with a cute story about its history and some with a quote from its past owner about their memories with each car. It was super cool. We were very happy to have escaped through the gift shop without buying anything for our gear head.
It was now time to check into “Jasmine Cottage.” Honestly, I don’t remember seeing pictures of this place so opening the door was quite a beautiful surprise. Perfectly appointed little stone cottage in the Cotswolds. Super comfortable and welcoming. Well, except for the driveway. I was pretty proud of the Mrs. for being able to park *and* get out of the car in the driveway. It is so narrow, the boys and I had to get out in the street because only one side can open the doors and even then, it’s a tight squeeze to get out!
The boys unloaded the car and delivered our bags to the rooms. Just as I would for a bell-hop, I tipped them £10 each. They tried to negotiate more but I told them it was that or nothing. I think they are trying to unionize against us but they agreed to the tip.
As is customary with the Family Koog, we sat down for our late-afternoon nap. I passed out again this time on the couch with the Mrs. on the other couch and the boys in their beds upstairs. Refreshed and ready by 7 to head out to our 8:30 dinner reservation at Jeremy Clarkson’s The Farmers Dog.
Driving without hitting anyone or anything, Mrs. Koog got us the 10 miles down the road without incident. The property is beautiful. There are lavender fields behind the restaurant that look like lush purple carpet. Just gorgeous. We were early because we wanted to shop around the Diddley Squat Farm Store. Unfortunately for us, it closed at 5. No problem, we grabbed ciders for us adults and fruit soda for the boys.
Everything served at The Farmer’s Dog is from the British Isles. So, no Coke, Pepsi, ketchup, or exotic fruits. We sat down for dinner and ordered 2 steak pies for me and E, a rump steak for B and bangers and mash for Mrs. Koog. It was served hot and it was really delicious. Everything was fresh and was just super tasty. We also had desert, a rhubarb cake for the Mrs., cheese plate for B and honeycomb ice cream for me. E passed on dessert because he ate his steak pie and the remainder of mine. Dessert was just as great as the main course.
We paid the check and headed back to “Jasmine Cottage” to relax and do a bit of reading. Obviously, I did a bit of writing.
Until tomorrow…
We packed up our bags, checked out and grabbed out taxi using a snazzy gadget at the front desk where you push a button, it gives you a digital message like, “your taxi is on the way” and suddenly the taxi appears. It was literally less than 5 mins. Our driver, Alex, helped us Tetris our bags between the back of the cab where we were sitting and the front passenger seat. Unfortunately for me, I got the backward facing jump seat. It’s not about comfort, it’s about motion sickness. I was pretty green by the time we reached Heathrow’s Alamo Rental Car to grab our car for the remainder of the trip. I was so happy to be out of that cab!
The adorable Alamo lady asked the Mrs. and I if we were “ok with a manual” because they had no automatics returned so far this morning. Um no nice lady, we are not ok with a manual. Mrs. Koog and I are fine with a stick shift as my Jeep is manual but driving on the left side of the road with the gear shift on the left side and not taking out innocent bystanders is a bridge too far. I think she was shocked by our quick and in unison response of “no.”
Since there were no automatics we waited for about 20 mins for a car to be ready and for the people to take our information. I should mention that I had an immediate PTSD reaction when we arrived at the rental location as it was the same rental place where I rented the brand new car with 4 miles on it in 2025 and returned it with a scratched and smashed passenger side, 2 damaged passenger tires and a grill jammed with branches from the hedge I drove through for a total of £8500 damage. I really got nervous when they took my license since I am an authorized driver. Shocked there was no flag on my name I just kept walking to the new car with our bags as if nothing had ever happened in 2025.
This time we got a Mazda 5 mini-SUV. It fit us and our stuff and was a pretty comfortable ride. So comfortable in fact I slept the entire 90 minute drive from Heathrow to The Cotswolds. I was only able to yell “stay to the left” at Mrs. Koog before I drifted off/passed out in the passenger seat. Luckily for her, B and E were awake and immediately took over the yelling.
About 90 minutes later, we arrived at the “Jasmine Cottage” on Mousetrap Street in Bourton-on-the-Water. We parked the car but were too early for check-in so we made our way to the High Street and walked around a bit to find Smith’s Restaurant for lunch. This was E’s best day. Imagine a menu with only burgers. He was in heaven. The food was really good and we ate pretty much every morsel. We made our way just down the road to an ice cream shop with Cotswolds-made ice cream. Obviously, we needed to support local agriculture so we each got a small cone. Excellent use of dairy! Although, in my opinion, Welsh ice cream is much better.
With our full bellies, we continued to walk around the town to the Motor Museum. E and I were definitely not missing this place! We got our tickets and opened the door to the most amazing displays of British automobiles. There were 7 rooms of gorgeous cars and motorbikes, each with a cute story about its history and some with a quote from its past owner about their memories with each car. It was super cool. We were very happy to have escaped through the gift shop without buying anything for our gear head.
It was now time to check into “Jasmine Cottage.” Honestly, I don’t remember seeing pictures of this place so opening the door was quite a beautiful surprise. Perfectly appointed little stone cottage in the Cotswolds. Super comfortable and welcoming. Well, except for the driveway. I was pretty proud of the Mrs. for being able to park *and* get out of the car in the driveway. It is so narrow, the boys and I had to get out in the street because only one side can open the doors and even then, it’s a tight squeeze to get out!
The boys unloaded the car and delivered our bags to the rooms. Just as I would for a bell-hop, I tipped them £10 each. They tried to negotiate more but I told them it was that or nothing. I think they are trying to unionize against us but they agreed to the tip.
As is customary with the Family Koog, we sat down for our late-afternoon nap. I passed out again this time on the couch with the Mrs. on the other couch and the boys in their beds upstairs. Refreshed and ready by 7 to head out to our 8:30 dinner reservation at Jeremy Clarkson’s The Farmers Dog.
Driving without hitting anyone or anything, Mrs. Koog got us the 10 miles down the road without incident. The property is beautiful. There are lavender fields behind the restaurant that look like lush purple carpet. Just gorgeous. We were early because we wanted to shop around the Diddley Squat Farm Store. Unfortunately for us, it closed at 5. No problem, we grabbed ciders for us adults and fruit soda for the boys.
Everything served at The Farmer’s Dog is from the British Isles. So, no Coke, Pepsi, ketchup, or exotic fruits. We sat down for dinner and ordered 2 steak pies for me and E, a rump steak for B and bangers and mash for Mrs. Koog. It was served hot and it was really delicious. Everything was fresh and was just super tasty. We also had desert, a rhubarb cake for the Mrs., cheese plate for B and honeycomb ice cream for me. E passed on dessert because he ate his steak pie and the remainder of mine. Dessert was just as great as the main course.
We paid the check and headed back to “Jasmine Cottage” to relax and do a bit of reading. Obviously, I did a bit of writing.
Until tomorrow…
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