The Berkshires. All very pretty...
... if self-consciously so. In fact it could be called twee. We found it very reminiscent of the area around Bourton-on-the-Water at home. That said, it IS pretty with it's white clapboard buildings in rolling wooded countryside. We've ben the only guests of Diane, the proprietress of The Stockbridge Country Inn, and so have had a warm welcome at this lovely house.
As we have only had one day to "do" the area, we had a packed schedule today. The first stop was the nearby museum dedicated to the illustrator Norman Rockwell. The Americans always do this sort of this very well and we like Rockwell's work anyway, but we both felt that this little museum was a joy.
On then to the expensively well groomed little town of Lenox, full of shops for the wealthy, where Gill spent most of her time in a very upsacle wool shop. Mark sat outside, enjoying the passage of the locals!
Next was The Mount (above), the cottage (!) of Edwardian novelist Edith Wharton. The house itself is still being restored, but we liked what we saw, especially the hosta garden. At $15 a head, it was very expensive, though.
Tyringham's Gingerbread House is tacky,not cute, and we couldn't really see the attraction of Great Barrington, a town which the guidebook said was a magnet for vacationers. Going north in search of an easy early dinner, we paused at Hancock, a former Shaker village. But it was too late and too expensive for us to think it worthwhile going in. The aptly named Stroud-ish city of Pittsfield eventually turned up trumps in the shape of Arizona Pizza, which suited us just fine.
Finally, after a good day, we returned to the Inn to do our emails, upload our photos and blog this!
As we have only had one day to "do" the area, we had a packed schedule today. The first stop was the nearby museum dedicated to the illustrator Norman Rockwell. The Americans always do this sort of this very well and we like Rockwell's work anyway, but we both felt that this little museum was a joy.
On then to the expensively well groomed little town of Lenox, full of shops for the wealthy, where Gill spent most of her time in a very upsacle wool shop. Mark sat outside, enjoying the passage of the locals!
Next was The Mount (above), the cottage (!) of Edwardian novelist Edith Wharton. The house itself is still being restored, but we liked what we saw, especially the hosta garden. At $15 a head, it was very expensive, though.
Tyringham's Gingerbread House is tacky,not cute, and we couldn't really see the attraction of Great Barrington, a town which the guidebook said was a magnet for vacationers. Going north in search of an easy early dinner, we paused at Hancock, a former Shaker village. But it was too late and too expensive for us to think it worthwhile going in. The aptly named Stroud-ish city of Pittsfield eventually turned up trumps in the shape of Arizona Pizza, which suited us just fine.
Finally, after a good day, we returned to the Inn to do our emails, upload our photos and blog this!
posted by Gill at
2:33 am
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