The Heritage Walk: Day 2 - Beginning the Cotswold Walk

Our first night's lodging in England was at "The Volunteer Inn" in Chipping Camden. We checked in at the pub downstairs, which was lively as it was Friday night. The young lady at the bar was kind enough to carry our bags up the steep, narrow staircase. In fact she insisted on it.

When we opened the door to the room, there were three beds. Since this is the first trip we've taken without mother, it made us feel like she was here with us after all. Funny thing is, the same thing happened the second night.

After checking in, we headed down the street to find something for dinner. Along the way we found all sorts of interesting things

The vine growing on this building for one...

...and this great building called the market place

and this crazy lady in the phone booth

and two crazy ladies in front of the phone booth

and one more crazy lady leaning on the Cotswold Way sign

We didn't want anything too heavy for dinner and found a little pub that had soup and homemade bread. I had tomato and red pepper soup and Jo Anne had vegetable soup. They were both splendiferous! When the ladies sitting next to us asked for the pudding menu, we decided since we had just had soup, we could probably have a pudding too. Of course I didn't mention the two huge slices of homemade bread we had with the soup. The best sticky toffee pudding I ever ate was when Kim and I went to London years ago so I decided to see if I still liked it.

Oh yes! It is still delicious!

Jo Anne had a sherry trifle and wasn't impressed.

I didn't get much rest during the night. It was loud and my body wasn't on the same clock as England.

After a full English breakfast, we headed down the street to see if any of the shops were open and to see if we could find something to carry for lunch on our long hike. We found a bakery/deli and ordered ham and cheese on freshly baked brown bread.

Then, we are off on the walk. It was drizzling a bit, but it didn't last long. It's also cold, so I had on long johns, a long sleeved shirt, my fleece and a rain coat. Jo Anne was dressed equally warm; however, it wasn't long before we started shedding layers.

There were the most amazing thatched roofs in the village. The picture is kind of dark so you really can't see the beautiful pattern at the top.

This is the start of the Cotswold Way in Chipping Campden.

I can't begin to describe how beautiful and peaceful it is, so green and quiet, except for the sheep.

Here we have the modern day wagon. She was moving sheep down the hill and the two dogs were not about to be left out of the picture.

The trail

Loved the flowers, the stone wall and the field in the background.

A mossy stone wall

A break in the wall for the walkers

Jo Anne was kind enough to stand by these trees so you can see how big they are.

She needed to take a little break

Just amazing

And more amazing

A sign at the facilities stop

The Broadway tower has some of the best views in the England. From the top of the tower you can see 16 counties.

A close up of the tower

It is lambing season and these two little guys took our breath away. Jo Anne's pastor said he was praying that we had many God sightings on our trip and we certainly have,

including the Lamb.

A really neat planter made from slabs of stone.

The village of Broadway

An 1887 clock that still works

We had to have an ice cream just because the stand and people were so cute.

The chocolate shop.

The moss-covered trunk of this tree looks like a little fairy house

Another neat planter made in the trunk of a tree

Jo Anne's muddy feet at the end of the day

We were exhausted after a long day of 14.65 miles and 36,262 steps. Unfortunately, we still had to walk down a hill and then up a very steep hill to dinner (the Mount Inn) and then back to the Shenberrow B&B.