Cheltenham, England

Today was relaxing mostly. Very nice after being so stressed for so long. :) Actually, didn't start the day so hot. We had a 7:50 bus to catch out of town so I wanted to wake up at 6:30 and I told Liz I'd meet her at 7:20 and roll out. I definitley didn't get up until exactly 7:15 and freaked out, jumped out of my bed, pulled on some clothes, gathered my stuff right quick and got to her room like one minute late. Then we quickly got some breakfast to go and walked fast through Oxford to the bus station. Got there in time and the bus was late anyhow so we felt bad for rushing. :P Anyhow, the ride went well and it was so pretty. We drove through the most beautiful English countryside and it was really really cool to see. Lots of fields and streams and sheep and stuff. I enjoyed it a lot. :) Got into Cheltenham right on time, about 11:15. Then walked to the YMCA where we're staying and settled in there. It's not a bad spot and it appears that I have a room to myself which is awesome. :) Then we left and wandered around Cheltenham a little. Its a nice town- not quite as small as we thought but also not very big and certainly not very touristy. I feel like being here is like being British almost and its just life and nothing flowery or touristy about it. I like it. :) In our wanderings we found this small restraunt for lunch which on the inside looked like a little house and appeared to be family run and all the customers knew each other and knew the staff and it was so cool. Definitley the definition of "hole in the wall". I ordered a roast chicken lunch and it was AMAZING! It was like a whole stinkin home-cooked Thanksgiving feast. The waitress came out with a huge plate loaded in chicken, gravey, potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, more potatoes, some other veggies, another type of meat, more veggies, meatballs, etc, etc. There was so much food on that plate and it all looked so good, I almost died happy. And it was awesome. I think it was the best meal I've had in Europe thus far. Every faction of it was incredible and so good and filling and home cooked in a great atmosphere. It was awesome! So, after lunch we just wandered around town for a long time and through so pretty residential sections before finding a nice little park with a field and a pond. It was very pretty and we sat on a park bench and watched all the dogs and kids and people playing in the field. It was beautiful and fun and relaxing and we got to have a nice talk as well. :) We got cold there after awhile and then went off wandering through some more residential sections of Cheltenham which were very nice and quiet and relaxing to see. The sunset was amazing and we even got to swing on a gym for a little bit. :P Once the sun went down we made our way back through the town center, stopped in a fast food/pizza place and split a hawaiian pizza which was thick and greasy and oh so tasty! :) Great stuff, then we got back to the YMCA and went up to Liz's room and had a decent Bible study for some time over an hour or so. It was cool, but we both got really tired after so much walking today, so Liz has gone to bed now and I think I'll follow suite.