Rising Sun Cheltenham

... Earl of Leicester, transformed Kenilworth from a medieval fortress into one of the greatest Tudor palaces so he could entertain Queen Elizabeth I in style for 19 days in 1575, costing millions of pounds. The Keep was breeched during the Civil War in the 1600s. The Great Hall where they dined was huge. It was so cold ...

Stephen drove us to Chipping Campden (20 min. away) for our 4 hour walk. It was bitterly cold as a wind was blowing but the sun was out. It was a lovely village and had a lovely open stone market hall from 1627 with an uneven stone floor.









We ...

... ticket to London on the National Express Coach for 13 pound 50 for both of us. Got it heaps cheaper because booking 3 days in advance ($31). Went for a hot chocolate at Costa’s in a lovely Tudor building. Changed $200 Aus to 79 pounds, bought a vegetable pastie and then went through Shakespeare’s birthplace 9 pounds ($21). Lovely home from the 1500s ...

Woke up early again and it started to snow & was 0 degrees! Had a lazy start to the day. Nathan had a huge breakfast – 3 pain au chocolat, 1 apple, 1 mandarin, 1 piece of toast with an egg!








Today was our hiking day and we drove 1 hour to the village of Bibury ...

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We then went out to the Front Arena Area and watched a man use and tell us about the longbow and crossbow. The longbow changed warfare in medieval England as it could shoot off 15 arrows a minute, but as it was difficult to use it was compulsory for all boys from the age of 7 to practise every Sunday after church in ...

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We then went home and went for a drive to Bourton-on-the-Water. We paid 3 pounds to park the car for 3 hours and walked into the village called the Venice of the Cotswolds due to the number of little bridges over the shallow little stream running through the middle. Has lovely pubs and beautiful shops. Stopped for lunch and ...

Up at 6.30 am to go to airport & hostel organised a taxi to take us there for 20d ($7.50). We were flying Lufthansa this time. Bought some Calvin Klein Eternity perfume 100ml for 206d (US$57) (Aus$70). Nearly missed the plane as came out of shop and walked the wrong way. When we realised, there were only 5 mins until gates closed & we had to run & were the last on board!!!!



Stratford-upon-Avon, England, United Kingdom hilaryramsey

This entry will be my last for a while. Writing in internet cafes, and without my iBook (which I thankfully left at home due to its weight and value), is so incredibly inconvenient it has felt like a burden from day 2. And burden was what I hoped to leave behind while traveling! So here I am, struggling to type something literate on a keyboard that's stickier than fingertips after cotton candy, and listening to Boogie Wonderland in an internet cafe that charges almost $5 ...

DAY 4 SAT After a lavish breakfast we commenced our journey to Cheltenham. We made good time until we reached the outskirts of the city. Although Christopher has been to Cheltenham several times, he had absolutely no idea how to find Warden Hill, home of Nan and Wendy (my aunt and cousin respectively). We drove through and around the town several times before getting detailed instructions from a girl in a BP service station (who, as it turned ...