Day 16: Andy Williams, Ben Kingsley, and Some Amazing Baked Goods

It was tempting to try to do and see everything we possibly could everywhere we went, but we knew there had to be designated places of rest if we were to survive. For us, the Cotswolds was one of those places. We slept in a little and took our time getting up on this morning. Zach made me a cup of instant coffee, and I sat in our comfy chair to watch the BBC morning show (kind of like NBC's today show). There's my chair:

A few minutes into the show, one of the hosts excitedly announced his first guest, who was none other than Branson's own Andy Williams. My initial reaction was somewhere between, "You've got to be kidding me," and "Wow, really?!" Intrigued and feeling a little homesick, I decided to stay in our room a little longer to watch the interview. It wasn't long before Mr. Williams and the host began discussing his show in Branson, at which point I really said, "You've got to be kidding me!" There we were, all the way in England, and I turn on the TV to hear Andy Williams talking about Branson! It was so uncanny.

Finally, around noon, we left our hotel and drove to Morton-on-Marsh. It just so happened to be the town's market day, so there were vendors everywhere. We parked our car and start meandering through the crowd. I hadn't eaten breakfast yet, so I stopped in a bakery for a blackcurrant pastry, a delicacy which I remember with longing.

We drove through several other places to have a look-see, but our next stop was in Chipping Norton. As we sat in our car (I can't remember why we were just sitting there), I could have sworn that I saw Ben Kingsley. A bald man wearing sunglasses and a black jacket passed by, and I wish I would have followed him. I don't know what I would have done if I had caught up to him, but not going after that man is seriously one of my only regrets from this trip.

Zach and I finally got out of the car and walked around the town for awhile and were eventually lured into a bakery called Nash's. There were so many things to choose from that we bought 3 sweet treats and a Dr. Pepper. Anyone who knows me at all knows that I have quite the sweet tooth and a high tolerance for rich desserts. However, I was ashamed at how little of these sweets I could actually consume. They were sooooooo sweet and sooooooo rich; the Dr. Pepper certainly didn't help either.

Feeling like we were on the verge of sugar comas, Zach and I decided on a lighter fare for dinner. We went to the Co-op and bought crackers, cheese, and hummas and took it back to our hotel room. After a hot bath and shaving my legs for the first time in 2 1/2 weeks, I crawled in bed and fell asleep, eager to see my foggy London town the following day.