6/16

Today we went to Sudeley Castle. It's less than 10 miles away from where we're staying, so we decided it would be a good first outing with me driving. Without Miss Max there to make me nervous, I actually did pretty darn well.

Sudeley was really cool. It's been around since before Henry VIII, but that's when it became a royal residence. He spent some time there with a few of his queens, but it was given to Katherine Parr (his 6th wife). When he died, she moved there with her new husband, Thomas Seymour. Both Elizabeth I and Jane Grey lived there with her for periods of time. Elizabeth was actually banished from Sudeley for inappropriate behavior with Thomas. Katherine died there shortly after the birth of thier daughter.

The grounds were beautiful, but my favorite part was Katherine's grave. We got to get so close. There was also a nice display of various Tudor things. Elizabeth's christining gown was there, which was super cool to see. They also had a rockin' play area for Em. She played in there for quite a while. We had lunch in the coffee shop, which is located in the old Banquet Hall. Then, we came home and napped. Max came home, and we walked downtown for dinner. I finally got to have a friggin' meat pie! It was yummy. We came back to the hotel, and Max went to sleep pretty much right away. He hasn't had time to nap like Em & I have.

So, two observations about English food so far. They love paninis & prawns. Em had her 4th ham & cheese panini since we've been here for dinner tonight, and every single menu we've seen has prawns prominently featured. Is that everywhere in Britain, or is that just a Cheltenham thing?