My God, it's full of sheep!

Damn it got cold last night! No A/C in the house, so we had all the windows open and it got pretty chilly overnight. Breakfast was traditional English style, including the mushrooms and stewed tomatoes (I opted out of the mushrooms and tomatoes) and something called "Fried Bread." Now, I was thinking something like French Toast, but in fact it was more like two pieces of white bread soaked in butter and oil and fried in a skillet. Mmmm....

We set out around 10:30 for the town of Broadway. Our hosts provided us with a suggested circle route through several of the more picturesque Cotswolds villages, and the first stop was Broadway via Mickelton (so we could make reservations for dinner at the "Three Ways House Hotel").

Broadway was a lovely little town with a very nice "High Street" of shops and tea rooms. We peeked into several galleries looking for a nice painting to bring home but didn't find anything that "spoke" to us. I am afraid that I will become completely desensitized to all the "cuteness" of the crawling rose vines and the gorgeous golden limestone buildings and the thatched roofs.

After a "down and back" of the hight street, we set off for Winchcombe by way of the "Snowshill Manor" and the small town of Snowshill. Snowshill Manor is part of the "National Trust" and up until the 40's it was an occupied residence. The gardens were stunning (and I don't even think this is a "big" garden by National Trust standards). We didn't get tickets for the house itself, but we were able to peek into a couple of the outbuildings, including the owner's residence cottage.

We had lunch in the small village of Snowshill at the pub that was about 50 yards away from the house, but required a long walk back to the car park and out in order to reach. Angela had what looked to be a very yummy baked camembert with raspberry jam and crackers while I had a delicious bacon burger with chips (fries). The Cotswolds is famous for its hard cider, so we tried some that was not very refreshing; it was hand-pumped and served cool but not cold.

We rolled out of town after a couple more pictures of creeping rose bushes and cute cottages and headed for Winchcombe. Winchcombe was a little more "working" than the other villages, and therefore not quite as picturesque. We did however manage to find a gallery that was showing a local artist's work that we really liked. We waffled around a bit and decided to walk around some while we thought about it. Not being able to make a decision on where to actually hang it, we left without buying anything.

None of these small villages is more than 10 or so miles from the next, and so we left Winchcombe and hit some small country "lanes" on the way to "The Slaughters" (Upper and Lower). We must have passed 2 or 3 villages so small that they weren't much more than a main square, a post office/general store/pub, and a small church.

Upper Slaughter wasn't much bigger, and our hosts back at the B&B strongly encouraged us to walk from Upper to Lower via one of the numerous public footpaths that criscross the country. It was a fairly short walk through a couple fields, past a burbling stream and fields of sheep making a terrific racket. There are actually quite a number of sheep everywhere. Lower Slaughter has a little more going on and when we got there, there was a whole busload of asian folks on some sort of art adventure with their sketchpads and easels find inspiration in the architecture of the Cotswolds. Still and all, there's really not that much to "do" here, and it wasn't long before we headed back to the car via the footpath.

By then it had started to get a little late (late by Cotswolds time, which is only about 5:45pm), and we decided to head back to Nineveh for a little vino before heading to dinner. We returned to a full car park and a gathering of people sitting out in the garden. Turns out they're from the states and finishing up their vacation in the Cotswolds just like us. We enjoyed a nice conversation and a little snack and then headed to dinner at "Randalls Brasserie" in Mickelton.

Now, the Three Ways House Hotel is home to the "Pudding Club" and specializes in both sweet and savory puddings. I had an unbelievable pudding consisting of chicken, ham, and sage all cooked in a pastry-type crust. It was so good, I don't even remember what Angela had. For dessert, we shared a portion of a Banana-Cinnamon pudding (that had more of the consistency of a grainy bread pudding than the "snack-pack" style of pudding that we are used to) topped with a warm custard. It was so good and I am still quite full.

More cute villages await tomorrow, after we visit the Hidcote Manor Garden, another National Trust property.