Once again, adapting to a new location…Photos…

From this site:“The name Chepstow derives from the old English ceap/chepe stowe, meaning market place or trading centre. The word “stow” usually denotes a place of special significance, and the root chep is the same as that in other placenames such as Chipping Sodbury and Cheapside. The name is first recorded in 1307, but may have been used by the English in earlier centuries. However, the name used by the Normans for the castle and lordship was Striguil (in various spellings, such as Estrighoiel), probably from a Welsh word ystraigyl, meaning a bend in the river. The Welsh name Cas-gwent refers to the “castle of Gwent”. That placename itself derives from the Roman settlement Venta Silurum or ‘Market of the Silures’, now named Caerwent, 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Chepstow, which had been the Romano-British commercial centre of south-east Wales.”

Every holiday home and also hotels require a certain amount of adapting on our part.  It’s not that we’re comparing our “old lives” before we began traveling.  It’s simply that we’re adapting from the last place we stayed whether it was for a week, a month or longer.

This is the property we’re currently renting.  It was a former town hall and next door where the owners live was the Rectory.

Cruising often requires a considerable amount of adaptation but after 25 cruises in the past seven years, we no longer need to adapt to the small cabin’s lack of space when we so much enjoy the daily lifestyle aboard ship, spending little time in the cabin, other than for showering, dressing, and sleeping.

The kitchen, although small is fine for our needs.

Within moments of arriving at any new location, we access the potential issues.  We don’t say anything to the owner/property manager.  In most cases, the nuances were mentioned in the online listing.  


At times, an owner may minimize the less positive aspects, not necessarily to “hide them” but more so, these certain issues may be a bigger deal for us than other travelers, especially those staying two to three nights as opposed to our longer periods in most cases.

The stairway leading to the mezzanine/loft area where the bed, a dresser, and two small nightstands are located.

We knew when we rented “The Studio,” a former town hall, there would be several items that would require adaptation on our part which includes:


1.  The only bedroom is up a flight of stairs and is extremely small. There’s no bathroom on that level requiring we go downstairs in the middle of the night, should the need arise.  The bed is low to the floor, maybe 12 inches, as are the two nightstands.
2.  In the past several rentals in the UK, the only bathroom has been up a flight of stairs (not the case in Ireland where there was one on each level).  Recently, we’ve become adapted to going up and down stairs several times a day which ultimately has been a good form of exercise.
3.  The kitchen has an under-counter refrigerator with a tiny freezer. There’s only room for two ice cube trays, the bag of ice and two packages of bacon or one package of meat.  As it turns out, with Linda and Ken coming tomorrow, we plan to dine out each of four evenings and again after they leave for the remaining four nights until we drive to Southampton, staying in a hotel for two more nights until we board the cruise on the 24th.
4.  Parking is on the street but once we park in our designated spot we have a walk across a rock garden to reach our place.  We were drenched when we arrived on Friday and, it was a challenge for Tom to haul the heavy bags.  The owners kindly assisted with the bags.
5.  There’s no convenient spot in the house to store our opened bags since we aren’t unpacking here either, just taking out toiletries and clothing as needed.  As it turned out, there an enclosed shared storage area between us and the owner, on the main floor, the size of a double garage.  We were able to find places to leave our bags opened for easy access. It’s working out well.

The bathroom is all-new, as is most of the property and located on the main floor.

Once we adapted to these variances, we’re settled in and comfortably situated, these nuances being of less significance today.


Soon, we plan to get out for few photos for tomorrow.  With Linda and Ken arriving tomorrow afternoon, staying in a nearby holiday home, we’ll enjoy four days of sightseeing, wine drinking and the sheer pleasure of their company.  We’re looking forward to seeing them once again!

For the first time in a holiday home, we won’t be making the bed.  It’s low to the floor and a little difficult to maneuver around.

That’s it for today, folks.  We’ll be back with more tomorrow.  Happy day!