Day 3 - Cheltenham

We awoke at 7:30 the next morning and headed outside for a quick jog, but the weather had other plans. The rain forced us back inside, so we did a short workout in the room and then grabbed some breakfast in the hotel restaurant (where they served an amazing buffet complete with black pudding!). We packed our stuff and took a taxi to Paddington Station where we boarded a train for Cheltenham.

I thought this station was like something straight out of the movies, so I couldn't resist taking a picture

Train travel was great. We had plenty of space and were able to enjoy the ridiculous newspapers that are really more like gossip magazines. We arrived in Cheltenham and took a taxi to The Rising Sun hotel (a place we found the night prior on Expedia). We checked in and went for a run on some of the most ridiculous hills I've ever seen.

Amazing view from the hotel lobby

After a quick shower, we changed and grabbed some lunch at the hotel. We asked around about walking to Winchcombe (something our taxi driver recommended) and were told it was about an hour and a half long hike. Undeterred by the hills, we headed out anyway.

This is where our run started...ridiculous!

This hills (part of the Cotswolds) contained the most insane golf course we've ever seen. 

We had to stop and ask a few fellow walkers, but eventually we found some signs to help us navigate:)

Our walk brought us to the foot of a trail that led up to the Sudeley Castle. We were told by a lady that we should walk up around the back in order to get the best view. We did just that and ended up exploring the perimeter of the castle and getting some cool pictures:

As we wandered through the area in the above picture, a man came running out of the castle (while attempting to put his shoes on) and yelled at us for trespassing. We feigned ignorance and asked for directions out of there. He wasn't fooled that easily and told us to leave the way we illegally entered which bypassed no less than 4 signs that said "Private Property." Oops:)

We arrived in the small town of Winchcombe just in time to see the sunset and find the one pub that was opened. Apparently every restaurant in town closes for a few hours in the afternoon. We shared some champagne and when the kitchen opened, we ordered some food. I had some mushroom soup and we shared a sausage tasting platter with 6 different types (including wild boar, lamb, and venison). We both ordered steak (prepared different ways) and luckily were full from our first course because they were awful. Jason's steak was actually still mooing when they brought it to the table...and not in the perfectly rare way either!

The bartender called us a taxi and we headed back to the hotel where we drank beer and played a video game machine for about an hour before retiring for the night.