Tuesday November 19

Good-bye Cheltenham, we enjoyed you!

Sadly, it really is quite pointless to take photos from the train, these are the dirtiest train windows we have had so far.  It's too bad, because there was some nice scenery today.

Well, we are definitely back in the big city!  London is as crowded and crazy as ever.  We arrived at Paddington Station and took the Tube to King's Cross.  Our hotel is only a couple of blocks from the station.  The Princess is on a street of narrow tall hotels converted from homes or apartments.

This is outside the station.

This is two blocks up, just past our hotel.  Much quieter!

After dinner we went for a walk through King's Cross station and checked out the fancy shops.

Then we walked around the neighbourhood for 2 or 3 kilometres and passed this immense construction project.

And we found a canal.

Tomorrow we leave England - I am going to miss it!

Monday November 18

Sunny all day today!  We went to the library this morning, about a 5 minute walk.  I finally got to start adding my new Sykes relatives to my family tree, while Brad got help from a couple of library volunteers.  True genealogists who researched the heck out of what he was looking for!  We grabbed a tea and a snack, dropped our computers at the hotel, then walked 15 minutes in the other direction to Pittville Park.

  

We walked around the lake, then to the Pump Room.  This was the last and largest spa to be built in Cheltenham, between 1825 and 1830.

The building was not open today, but they had the doors open while they polished the floors.

This cheeky fellow ran past us and jumped the fence.

We carried on walking back to the hotel (walked close to 6 km today) where we did a bit more research.  Then to the laundrette for a couple of hours in the late afternoon, Tesco for train snacks for tomorrow, then a couple of episodes of The Crown to finish our day.

Sunday November 17

Woke up to a grey, almost foggy, day.  More women in the breakfast room today, I didn't feel quite so outnumbered!

Today we drove to the quaint village of Winchcombe where Sudeley Castle is located.  We spent so much time at the castle, we didn't have a chance to explore the village, but I got a really good vibe from it and hope we can go back some day.

Sudeley is known as the most romantic castle in England, and is one of the few still used as a residence.  It has had a tumultuous history, and has housed several royals.  Henry VIII's last wife Catherine Parr lived here after she remarried, and her tomb is in the church.  It was purchased by two brothers in the mid-1800's, and they set about restoring it.  The castle is famous for it's gardens.

This is the ruin of the tithe barn, built in the 1400's.

The castle.

The ruin of the Banqueting Hall, built by Richard III in the late 1400's.

The royals who have stayed at or lived in Sudeley Castle.

The Knot Garden.

Elizabeth I if she was made of plants.

A folly - notice the mirror in the background?

The church on the right with the castle on the left.  It is one of the few, or possibly the only, parish church on private land.

Catherine Parr's tomb.

Saturday November 16

After re-reading yesterday's post, I realize that I may have give the impression that we are in Birmingham.  We are, in fact, in Cheltenham.

We went down to a packed room at breakfast this morning - there was me, a couple of other women, and about 50 men.  Cheltenham is known for it's race track (horses) and this was the annual race weekend, the Big Event of the year.  To quote the news, the punters were sorely disappointed, as the races were cancelled due to the track being ankle deep in flood water.  People came from all over, we heard Irish and Welsh accents at breakfast.  I get the impression that this weekend is a sort of "guy's getaway weekend".  Just because the races were cancelled didn't stop them all from getting drunk later anyway!

Today we rented a car and drove around the area visiting village churches.  We started in Badgeworth at Holy Trinity.

Next we went to St. Michael's in Brimpsfield.  This one had amazing views over the hills and dales of the Cotswolds.

We were lucky to have a gorgeous morning so we were able to appreciate the views.

There were pheasants near the church, and on our travels a bit later, we came across a pheasant in the road.  This turned out to be a couple of dozen birds on the road and in the fields.  Below is a stone circle, with a pheasant in it.

Brad was happy to drive on single track roads again.  Single track equals not much traffic.

Suddenly we were driving through a forest.  The sun disappeared and things were very damp, although it did not rain much today.

We stopped at St. Mary's in Cowley, and had a posh cup of tea at Cowley Manor (now a hotel).

One last look at the view.

Saturday night in Cheltenham - we were turned away from 3 restaurants because we didn't have a reservation, so we ended up taking McDonald's back to our room.  As I said, lots of drunks out and about tonight.