The Holiday Meets Rural Wisconsin

[Wednesday, May 30]

Picture sheep grazing upon the hill, right across from your lovely castle of a hotel in a sprawling meadow with a name like Bollington, and then imagine you are there. Then imagine that it is one of the prettiest places that exist on earth and that your friend Sarah was there and be a little jealous, although mostly excited because she is about to tell you all about it.

Complete with cobblestone streets, handmade walls of field stones and brick, and the hilly terrain to rival the Tour de France, Bollington, U.K. is my newest favorite place in Europe (trust me, this won't happen every time). We were only in Bollington for one day as well to visit a small marketing agency, but the winding, one-lane roads and breathtaking view were far beyond worth it.

We arrived to our hotel by walking up the gravel pathway, since the bus couldn't fit through the clusters of trees gathered on either side. As we walk, with lots and lots of sheep to our left, a legit castle rises to meet us, where we are staying (read: night one of the terrible Wi-Fi known to the most recent parts of my travels). But boy was it pretty. We had a great time planning a campaign for the agency, and then headed off to dinner.

If you have never been to Europe, then you will not know that the rumors are true: people eat meals here like it's their job, and I mean that in the nicest way. After arriving late to our reservation at La Plaice (directions have not necessarily been our strongest faction of this expedition), we settled down for a three-hour meal of delicious meats, potatoes and vegetables, coupled with white wine and desserts all around. Simple stated: a delightful experience and the funnest dinner I'd had thus far. We ate with our "teams," of which mine is the beer team or self-proclaimed Mighty Ducks, and discussed what trends we'd noticed in Britain regarding beer and its consumption. We established a culture code (our assignment in each country) and had a great time doing it.

All said and done, the day was a huge success. This place was seriously amazing and I would go back in a minute. Unfortunately, Thursday promised to be quite busy, so we had to be on our way.