The Weekend in Stroud

Saturday was a pretty fun day. After sleeping in to a solid 10:30 I went out on a bike ride with the my host family, and another family they are friends with. According to Luka (Adam's abnormally tall friend) we had biked 14 miles. With Rob, and his friend Mike navigating we wound up though the hills and into neighboring parishes. Some of the houses up there were amazing: sitting on a couple acres of land, and made of the signature Cotswold Stone which is so coveted in these parts. We stopped for a break by a stream and the boys went romping through a stream which wended its way through the forest. We heard splashes and laughs and Mike yelled out "You boys better not be playing in the water!" Jack replied "We're not!" indignantly, as he splashed obliviously in plain sight. They came out fibbing about some ducks and dogs which had splashed them and pushed them into the water much to their dismay. Towards the end of the ride we stopped in some random field which stood isolated from all the storefronts and byways of town. And smack dab in the middle was an ice cream shop with dozens of people lounging on the grass with sticky chocolate covered hands. Mike treated us all, and I have to say, it gave Fosselman's a run for it's money. We got back to the house, had tea (the English word for dinner which I think spawned the misconception that the English have a nationally recognized tea-drinking time), and went into town for Adam's band performance. It was a pretty sweet set-up. Instead of an auditorium we were seated at tables laden with good English cheeses, grapes, wine, and soda. 4 different bands performed, two of which Adam was in. I tapped my foot to Singin' in the Rain, something called Walking Down Broadway, and the Bare Necessities from the Jungle Book, but gritted my teeth during Abba. As I walked back to the car, Cindy's mom (Jack and Adam's grandma) explained to me that she doesn't quite understand American humor, and a couple of guys stepped out of a bar asking with hilarity"Did that bloke just order a Pinot or a penis?" I like British humor.