Sunshine in the Cotswolds

Well it was mostly sunny with a shower. It was my birthday party weekend and my lovely European friends came. The Italians arrived first on Thursday and we asked them what they wanted to do. 'We want to do English things' they said so early on Friday morning we took them to Cheltenham for a spot of shopping and coffee. Actually I needed something to wear to my party so we had to go shopping. The chaps were very patient with us jumping in and out of shops.
Then we went to The Mount Inn at Stanton for a pub lunch. http://www.themountinn.co.uk/ The scenery was beautiful with spring flowers blooming, birds twittering, lambs frolicking and barns perched on staddle stones - the full Cotswold experience. Then just to complete it we went to Soudeley Castle for a wander around the gardens and who should we bump into but Mike. Now Mike is the reason we all know each other. Several years ago he was my head teacher and he began a Comenius project where five European schools got together and worked on a project for three years. During that time we made visits to each others schools and of course that was right up my street and I loved it. We have all remained friends and meet up as often as possible. I see the Italians and Germans most as travel for them and us is fairly easy. Sadly the Lithuanians and Finns find it more expensive and quite tricky. Over the years our husbands have also become very friendly so now we try to meet up a few times a year for holidays and visits to each other's homes.
So here are the photos of the full Cotswold experience!

The Mount Inn Stanton

They wanted an English day out - so it had to be fish and chips for lunch.

Doriana had to photograph everything!

The gardens at Soudeley Castle were spectacular.

We bumped into Mike!

 

Henry V111's last wife is buried here