We've just returned from a few days away with the Emira in the Cotswolds. For those outside of the UK, the Cotswolds is a beautiful part of England with many pretty villages and amazing scenery. It's also the place where Harry Metcalfe (of Harry's Garage YouTube channel fame) lives, and the route where he conducts his road tests.
Now I know that Harry didn't keep his Emira for long, but I still love his channel. As it happens we ended up staying just a mile or so away from the road where he tests many of his cars - mostly on the A361 leaving Burford and then the B4437 to Charlbury. Almost all of his videos feature the junction between those two roads. Anyone familiar with the channel will recognise the area. Anyway, I couldn't resist asking my wife to do a little camera work to re-create that section of Harry's route in my own car. I think she did an amazing job with just a phone <here>
On the same trip we also received some perks courtesy of the Emira. Firstly we thought we'd visit Jeremy Clarkson's Farm shop (called Diddly Squat)....really just to say we'd been and get a photo as it was only a few miles from our accommodation. We were surprised at the queue at 10am on weekday. Cars were already having to use the overflowcar park. Fortunately for us, the chap at the entrance of the overflow parking simply smiled at us and told us to proceed to the main shop car park. When we arrived there a chap in hi-viz looked at the car and directed us to a space right next to the shop ;-) For anyone wishing to visit Diddly Squat, it is just a farm shop...albeit a very small, expensive and busy one.
Our next perk came when we stopped off at Bicester Outlet village on our way home. TBH, this place is exactly as you would expect....lots of very expensive designer shops. This was compensation for my wife who, the previous day, had been dragged around the British Motor Heritage Museum at Gaydon. Via a deal on our credit card we had free reserved parking. As we approached the reserved parking area, a concierge approached to offer us one of their five VIP slots right next to the shops ;-) How could we say no? We just had to take a photo <here>
So, all in all, a fantastic trip in the Emira.
Now I know that Harry didn't keep his Emira for long, but I still love his channel. As it happens we ended up staying just a mile or so away from the road where he tests many of his cars - mostly on the A361 leaving Burford and then the B4437 to Charlbury. Almost all of his videos feature the junction between those two roads. Anyone familiar with the channel will recognise the area. Anyway, I couldn't resist asking my wife to do a little camera work to re-create that section of Harry's route in my own car. I think she did an amazing job with just a phone <here>
On the same trip we also received some perks courtesy of the Emira. Firstly we thought we'd visit Jeremy Clarkson's Farm shop (called Diddly Squat)....really just to say we'd been and get a photo as it was only a few miles from our accommodation. We were surprised at the queue at 10am on weekday. Cars were already having to use the overflowcar park. Fortunately for us, the chap at the entrance of the overflow parking simply smiled at us and told us to proceed to the main shop car park. When we arrived there a chap in hi-viz looked at the car and directed us to a space right next to the shop ;-) For anyone wishing to visit Diddly Squat, it is just a farm shop...albeit a very small, expensive and busy one.
Our next perk came when we stopped off at Bicester Outlet village on our way home. TBH, this place is exactly as you would expect....lots of very expensive designer shops. This was compensation for my wife who, the previous day, had been dragged around the British Motor Heritage Museum at Gaydon. Via a deal on our credit card we had free reserved parking. As we approached the reserved parking area, a concierge approached to offer us one of their five VIP slots right next to the shops ;-) How could we say no? We just had to take a photo <here>
So, all in all, a fantastic trip in the Emira.
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