Easter in the Cotswolds

I had the fun privilege of traveling with 4 of my friends (2 from work and their spouses) to the Cotswolds for Easter weekend. In the UK, Easter is a 4 day weekend and a lot of people celebrate by doing some traveling, even if it's not far. The train ride we took was just shy of 2 hours, but it was like being in a different world! The weather was "typical" English - cloudy, a bit rainy, with some spots of sun - but that didn't dampen our spirits.

On Friday after a yummy lunch at the pub we were staying in, we took a long country walk on some steep footpaths. The Cotswolds are very hilly and we experienced the hills first-hand while we were scrambling up the muddy paths and trying not to slip and fall coming down! There were lots of sheep around and even though it was raining, we had a good time and felt that we got plenty of exercise so we could justify a 3 course dinner. :)

Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous day! We had arranged to rent some bicycles from a shop in another town so after breakfast, we headed over and picked them up. They gave us a very detailed map with several long rides through lots of villages highlighted. We had a fabulous time cycling up and down the hills (well, the uphills weren't too fabulous), checking out the villages along the way, taking lots of pictures of the countryside and enjoying the sunshine and sheep. I think we visited/cycled through 7 villages and they were all distinct in their way. We stopped in quite a few to do some extra "sight" seeing, including a long stop for lunch and a wander through the church in Chipping Camden.

On Sunday we celebrated Easter in the church in the village we stayed in. It was a traditional Anglican service in a beautiful building and I really enjoyed worshipping there! After church, we had a bit of a wander around, found some lunch and then headed back to London. It was a fantastic weekend and I'm so happy that it all went well and we were able to take a good break from the demands of London and work.