My son-in-law Peter’s Aunt Carol and Uncle Peter live in the glorious Radford Villa in the Cotswolds.  After our long day of touring in Bath, our merry band was eager to get home and relax. Peter, daughter Liz, granddaughter Adeline, and I settled in the great room around the long table and enjoyed a lovely supper. We had been joined by cousin Hannah, her adorable daughter Lottie, and cousin Jonathan, his husband Tom and their Bedlington terriers Billy and Dolly.  It was a full, jolly house.

Sunday was a day of rest, but Uncle Peter had one last true English tradition to share with us, the Sunday roast. For this, he had planned a hike over the fields to Timsbury to the local pub for this legendary repast.

We all, save Aunt Carol, hiked over hill and dale with Billy and Dolly at our side through the verdant countryside. We passed through several kissing gates that separate the fields. A kissing gate is a gate on a hinge that is between a U-shaped piece of fence. The gate opens just wide enough for a person to pass through but is designed to keep livestock where they belong. To the best of my knowledge, no kissing was exchanged in our journey.

Soon enough we were at the pub, an ancient stone structure that has been around for centuries. Upon entering, one encounters the bar and can place an order for the ale or cider of one’s choice. Then it was on to our table, dogs in tow.

In fact, as others from the town came in, they also brought their big dogs, but after a bit of barking, everything settled down. To my surprise, Sunday roast was offered in many varieties. I expected just an English roast of beef, but lamb, pork and chicken roasts were also on the menu. Complete with peas, potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and gravy, it was a feast fit for a queen and everything I had dreamed it would be.

Lucky for me, Aunt Carol had driven her car over to the pub and I was only too happy to catch a ride back with her. The rest of the gang walked back across the countryside, chatted with the local vicar (I mean, was this an English reality show?), and then settled in for a quiet Sunday afternoon. A game of Scattergories and a movie rounded out our day of rest.

On Monday, Uncle Peter and Aunt Carol gave us one more ride in their most useful Land Rover to Bristol Airport where we boarded an Easy Jet flight to Paris.  Our spring vacation was about to hop over the Channel!