Monday 28th June 2010…..Not a very merry England today!!!

This will be a rather long post, two days worth, so maybe a cup of tea is needed…

To pick up from yesterday..we continued our journey north and the place we stopped was called Cheddar…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We climbed the 274 steps of

 

The view from the top was very clear and reached for miles.

Back walking through the town we saw this bike leaning against this shop and I thought it was  just there for appearances and as I was about to take a photo the man got on and rode away.

We both thought that this town was too touristy for us and very expensive….

Continuing on the motor way and around 2.30pm we turned off and went in search of a pub to watch the England v Germany soccer game.  It took a while to find a pub which really amazed me because on every corner of every village there is one located.

Anyway we did find one and with two seats available.

 

 

The local patrons were very noisy and enthusiastic which soon turned to tears and the English team were demolished and lost 4 – 1 and their World Cup  dreams over.

The below is from the BBC website…

If England carry a burning sense of injustice as part of their baggage on the long flight home from South Africa on Monday night, Fabio Capello and his players will fool only themselves.

Capello's complaint about the incompetence of officialdom after England's humiliating last-16 exit against Germany was little more than a flimsy fig leaf when it came to disguising shortcomings exposed in a World Cup campaign that was a monument to mediocrity.

England's coach, of course, had every right to draw attention to one of the worst decisions in the tournament's history as a mitigating factor in their eventual defeat by a vastly-superior Germany.

Capello must not think, however, that Uruguayan linesman Mauricio Espinosa's failure to spot Frank Lampard's clever finish dropping well behind Manuel Neuer's goalline with the score at 2-1 was a defining moment that somehow blocked England's path to glory.

The course of the game may have been altered had Lampard's goal, moments after Matthew Upson had reduced Germany's two-goal lead, stood. On the other hand, it may not.

Germany will simply regard it as schadenfreude, payback time 44 years on for Sir Geoff Hurst's goal in the 1966 World Cup Final that gave England their first and last win in the tournament.

What is beyond dispute is that England's standing in world football was put into context by the manner in which they were comprehensively dismantled by Germany's speed of thought and limb that left a side that arrived here with so much hope looking lumbering and old.

 

Back on the road we bought strawberries here, reminds me of all those stands I used to frequent in Mexico!!

It was now around 6pm and the plan was to get off the motorway again and head for Stratford upon Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare.

Sara had mentioned to me earlier that she like to have a Sunday roast beef dinner with Yorkshire pudding.

As we turned off the motorway onto the back roads and on our way about 20 miles to Stratford we came across this pub and we stopped and I went in an enquired if they had dinner, does this answer that question?

Over here it is called a Carvery, like a buffet where you help yourself to all the food and they slice and serve the meat for you, the difference is you don’t go back for more, why would you want to??

Turkey, pork, beef, Yorkie, 5 kinds of veggies even apple sauce for me.  It was  simply wonderful and the cost 12 dollars.

Back in the car and now we are looking for a place to stay…not ten minutes later we seen a sign on the side of the road saying Farmhouse B & B so we turned in went about 100 yards and came to this

I have to interject here and say that my and now Sara and I the amazing luck we seem to have with everything we do and go, not just here in England but everywhere astounds me and it continues here.  This place is a restored pig barn and it is one of the very classiest rooms I have ever stayed in.

This amazing door leads to the bathroom!!

The deck leading to our loft room.

Notice the toilet tank is built into the cabinet.

The view looking down from our terrace.

Did I mention the fridge with complimentary bottled water, fresh milk, cookies, tea and coffee and I even asked the lady of the house if we could buy some cream for our strawberries which she gave us free of charge and boy were those strawberries delicious.

So now I bet you are asking how much?  Well all this plus a wonderful home cooked breakfast….110 dollars!!!!

As the sun was setting

we went for a walk down the country lane and talked about our journeys together and how fortunate we were to have found each other and how blessed our lives are.

Sara in a wheat field.

Had a great sleep and again woke up this morning to brilliant sunshine and after yet another wonderful breakfast

we travelled down the road to….

the birthplace of

We enjoyed a walk around this very historical and famous town and of course the weather was the same, sunny and warm.

Just a few miles down the road we came to our last tourist attraction…

This was another incredible old part of England’s history and the whole area was quite well preserved.

We had a lovely picnic lunch in the grounds of the castle and then started out for home.

The drive home on the busy motorways was Ok and we arrived home safe and sound at at 6pm.

Janet, Malc and Andrew were there to welcome us and we have had tea and talked about our incredible 7 days and all the things we saw and enjoyed…Sara thanks for being such fun, we had a blast!!!!