Cheltenham

Posted on 2005/01/17 09:03:11 (January 2005).

[Saturday 15th January]
As mine and Chie's anniversary (five years!) was fast approaching, we'd decided we ought to go away for the weekend to celebrate. As we got nearer the time, the weekend away became somewhat contracted into just going away for one night somewhere. We'd originally planned to go to Cambridge, but at the last minute changed our minds and opted for Cheltenham instead. I have a secret liking for Regency architecture, and, according to some blurb I read somewhere, Cheltenham has more buildings in the Regency style listed than any other town or city in England.
We stayed at The Queen's Hotel, which I was rather pleased with. We arrived in Cheltenham just after lunchtime, checked in, and then went out for a wander. We had a look around the shops (obligatory as Chie was there) and then after that popped into a wine bar for a glass of rose champagne, where we got talking to one of the locals - a chap called Martin, who was very friendly. One of those incidents that make you go back home and say "Oh the people are so much more friendly in XYZ than here...".
After having looked around a few restaurants for dinner, in the end we decided to be lazy and eat in the hotel. The food was pretty good actually, but it was the standard of service that really shone out for me - which is a pretty rare comment for me to make. They were not just extremely courteous and attentive but actually smiled and seemed to be happy! How rare is that nowadays? Had a quick drink in the hotel bar before going off to bed - I had the Balvenie Founder's Reserve, which must have had a very strong Bourbon finish, to the point I pretty much thought I was drinking Bourbon.

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