Tetbury

We have become big fans of the English countryside and of the Cotswold's in particular.  This Friday we decided to go to Tetbury, a small town in the Cotswold's an hour by train directly west of London.  We gave John and Barbara a backpack for the adventure.

                                                                  

Tetbury has 1300 years of recorded history, which is always so hard to fathom when our history in the US is only 200 years old.  Prince Charles and company have a home in Tetbury so apparently it is not unusual to see them at the polo field and around town; however, we didn’t stumble upon them.

                                                            

We stayed in a beautiful bed and breakfast run by a lovely artistic couple.  They picked us up at the train station when we arrived and welcomed us into their home that was exquisitely designed and decorated with jaw dropping art.  

                                                    

Within 15 minutes of our arrival Amy and her Mom were baking scones in the kitchen.             

                                                                        

                                                            

John was in the backyard talking to Gary and I was finishing up emails in our luxurious bedroom. In true English style, we enjoyed afternoon tea and fresh baked scones in the yard and then set off to check out the town…which took about 30 minutes.  Dinner wasn't until 7:30 so we decided to duck into a real "pub" and have a "pint".  

                             

With still more time to kill and wanting to get everyone laughing I encouraged a game of pool before making our way to the small café where we were scheduled for dinner.  The pool game was hysterical. Truly, a highlight of the trip.

Just as the restaurant name implies, we sat at the bar in the cafe, "The Chef's Table," and watched the chef prepare our meals.   Needless to say, we dreamed about running an open air kitchen brasserie in Seattle.

                               

On Saturday Gary and Nicola prepared a stunning breakfast that equipped us for the antiquing that we were hoping to do.  We walked through town and through many shops, but found nothing compelling enough to drag home on the train.  We've since decided that we got spoiled in Brighton at Alex MacArthur's shop, check her website out, you'll see what I mean - http://www.alexmacarthur.co.uk/

We visited St Mary's Church (and cemetery), which was built in 1777 and is described as "one of the best Georgian Gothic designs" and walked through the pillared outdoor market in the center of town that wool merchants once used as a trading floor. 

We jumped on an afternoon train and when we arrived in London had to sort out how to get home because, as often happens, several tube lines were down.  We were all pretty tired out when we finally arrived home, but Amy and I decided to run down and join an evening yoga class. 

Sunday was a nice relaxing day - we stayed in bed drinking coffee and playing on the computer, planning trips, etc until noon.  Amy's parents did a reconnaissance of a few museums which they raved about and we did a Pilates workout in the afternoon. For dinner, Amy made her new specialty - Indian food.  It was a super relaxing day and another great weekend.

We hear that the northwest is finally starting to get summer weather, that's great!  We are very much looking forward to seeing everyone in August and hoping for some nice weather while we're there so we can get out and enjoy Discovery Park.  We miss our lighthouse.

With love,

Jeri Jo