Travel: Cheltenham
Oct. 25th, 2014 04:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
neadodsWhen we staggered off the plane at Heathrow, we immediately took a minibus to Cheltenham. I'd been initially resistant - there's So! Much! in London - but once there, was disappointed when it was time to leave before I'd done half of what I wanted to explore.
The main event was the Cheltenham Literature Festival, where we all saw Judi Dench and John Cleese, and went to the "Jane Austen Tea" which was really a discussion by Dierdre Le Faye about her investigations into Austen. A couple of us (there were 5 of us travelling together) thought that she was too nit-picky; I found her method of stringing together small details outright Sherlockain.
I also went to the Val McDermid tea and the talk by the guy who wrote The Marshmallow Test, a man who is very smart and surprisingly witty.
Because most of these boiled down to "buy my books" and there was a food fair down the main drag on the first day we were there, I already knew before I went to London that I was going to end up buying a second suitcase for the trip back. But you can't GET some of those jelly flavors in America!
We also ate magnificently, including at The Beehive Pub (highly recommended) and the Daffodil, which played The Mayfair on Sherlock. The management not only didn't giggle when we asked to be "put close to the John and Mary table," the manager came out and pointed out not just exactly where Cumberbatch stood and a couple of her waiters who'd been in the show as waiters. Superb food, but I just adored The Beehive.
I also adored St. Mary's church, which is hidden by buildings. I kept running back to take more photos every time the weather changed.
Pictures:
St. Mary's in the sun:
And the fog:
Pigeons in the rain:
But it was best at night:
My halloween shot:
Lynne vamping on the stairs of the Daffodil:
The amazing Sunday roast spread at The Beehive:
The main event was the Cheltenham Literature Festival, where we all saw Judi Dench and John Cleese, and went to the "Jane Austen Tea" which was really a discussion by Dierdre Le Faye about her investigations into Austen. A couple of us (there were 5 of us travelling together) thought that she was too nit-picky; I found her method of stringing together small details outright Sherlockain.
I also went to the Val McDermid tea and the talk by the guy who wrote The Marshmallow Test, a man who is very smart and surprisingly witty.
Because most of these boiled down to "buy my books" and there was a food fair down the main drag on the first day we were there, I already knew before I went to London that I was going to end up buying a second suitcase for the trip back. But you can't GET some of those jelly flavors in America!
We also ate magnificently, including at The Beehive Pub (highly recommended) and the Daffodil, which played The Mayfair on Sherlock. The management not only didn't giggle when we asked to be "put close to the John and Mary table," the manager came out and pointed out not just exactly where Cumberbatch stood and a couple of her waiters who'd been in the show as waiters. Superb food, but I just adored The Beehive.
I also adored St. Mary's church, which is hidden by buildings. I kept running back to take more photos every time the weather changed.
Pictures:
St. Mary's in the sun:
And the fog:
Pigeons in the rain:
But it was best at night:
My halloween shot:
Lynne vamping on the stairs of the Daffodil:
The amazing Sunday roast spread at The Beehive:
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no subject
Date: 2014-10-25 09:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-25 09:39 pm (UTC)I also got a great shot with some lens flare running vertically up the front of the church. I call it my "ghost shot."
no subject
Date: 2014-10-26 03:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-26 10:27 am (UTC)