Painswick - June 8

Our hostess is a "hoot". She's been to America many times with her husband and has stories to tell. Basically, she loves it and would like to move there, but then her grandchildren are here so it would be a challenge to visit with them.

The B & B is loaded with signage she brought back from the States as the first picture indicates. John Wayne is on her wall (not in my pictures) with a typical John Wayne quote, but then it's all in fun.

A cloudy day and ideal for walking around town.

After breakfast, we walked down the street (Painswick is built on hills) towards Saint Mary's Church looking for the tourist info center (open Monday to Friday, but closed this Friday and no explanation) as it was located in the grave diggers cottage (perhaps closed due to grave digging). Anyway, the church was quite beautiful and its history goes back to the 1300's. During the English Civil War, cannons damaged the bell tower and one can see the damage today (just below and to the left of the clock). The cemetery also contained a war memorial, for both world wars.

We visited the few shops that were open and ran into a gentleman in his 80's whose wife was born here and remembered when, in 1941, the Germans dropped eight bombs which destroyed most of the homes along Friday Street. Quite a memory as she was about six when the bombing occurred.

We had coffee and scones at a cafe, checked out the menus of several restaurants, but decided to again make reservations at the bistro as the food was so good and our hostess recommended also. We did not care for the other menus that we saw.

Walked by the Painswick Hotel (told that it is a five star hotel) and enjoyed the view before we walked to the Painswick Rococo Gardens (the only rococo gardens in England). If you do not know what a rococo garden is, we challenge you to Google it. We enjoyed the walk, the flowers and the structures. It dates to the 1740's.

Once again, dinner was a delight. Chicken stuffed with brie and ham for Arlene while I enjoyed pork tenderloin and potatoes. We can get used to this!Read more