School lunch, Cotswold shopping, and Cottage feasts

Some of us (well okay… just John and I) have to get up very early today. I am giving a pair of talks at Prince Henry High School on my time at NASA, focusing on Mission Control and the Space Shuttle.

Since I’m doing this twice, for about 300 students each time, the rest of our group will only attend the second lecture. The talks go well enough, and the questions asked by the students are really wonderful. One of my highest compliments comes from Russell, who says it “wasn’t as boring as he thought it would be!“

After the first talk, a representative from the local newspaper comes by and gets some info and a picture of me with a pair of the Prince Henry students.

After the second talk, we head over to the cafeteria for a “school lunch”. It’s nothing like any of us remember from school days! Fruit, salad, quiche, and fresh tarts provide a great mid-day meal.

After lunch, John and Marianne head home to prepare for tonight, and Doive (!) drives us about the Cotswolds. It is another stunningly sunny and warm day!

We stop and get out in Lower Slaughter, with a picturesque stream and working mill in the middle of the village.

Next, after driving through Upper Slaughter, we spend a couple of hours in Bourton-on-the-Water. Another stream, larger than Lower Slaughter’s, runs through the town. Lots of shops and great picture-taking dominate the time. One of the coolest things, though, is the miniature village… it is an exact duplicate… shrunk down to a size able to allow guests to walk around houses that are as high as a hip. One of the funniest things in the miniature village is a miniature miniature village… in which there was another miniature village… you get the picture!

Next up is a quick stop at Broadway Tower. I’m a bit disappointed that no one wanted to walk to the Tower, but, since Kathy and I already did this, I get over it quickly.

Next stop: Broadway. We have about 40 minutes or so, so the girls and Dad head off up High Street. Russ and I find some “street signs” with English soccer teams. I wanted to buy a “No Fouling” sign, but they didn’t sell those. On the way back to the van, Russ “remedies” that situation… ’nuff said. 🙂

Doive drops us off at “The Blue Boar” to await John’s arrival in about an hour. We sit outside and enjoy a few pints of beer and/or cider. Towards the end of the hour, we’re all suffering from a severe case of the sillies… (“two rides for two pounds”, “Dozen Dogs Pub”, “Prince Nancy” high school, etc.)

John arrives to save us from ourselves and take us to Mill Cottage. This is the first time the rest of my family has been inside, and they’re as enchanted as Kathy and I are. John and Marianne have prepared an incredible home-cooked meal. We stuff ourselves again and enjoy laughing, joking, and talking well into the night. We return to Alveston Manor tired, but happy!