Mad dogs and Englishmen

I've never made a bucket list (I might still do that, since I'm only middle-aged!), but if I had, visiting Europe - especially England - would be near the top of the list.

I am an unashamed Anglophile. Okay, maybe I should be a little ashamed since I used to think Prince Charles and I would have made a nice couple; after all, we're nearly the same age. Actually, I thought he looked a little priggy, but since it would have given me access to the Crown Jewels, several palaces, and centuries of history, I was willing to overlook his looks. But I would have been unwilling to overlook his taste in Camilla. However, I digress.

I've always wanted to visit England. To see the Changing of the Guard, Big Ben, the Tower of London (and the Crown Jewels, of course), Westminster Abbey, Parliament - oh, all the usual stuff. I've yearned to see double-decker buses, London roundabouts (but not to drive in London!), to visit a pub (but not to drink warm beer); I've mentally drawn the line at boiled beef, but think I could handle fish and chips.

So, at last, I'm going! Jim & I arranged our tour this morning and we leave the end of April. We aren't going only to England, since we both want to get a "taste" of Europe. We'll have 3 days in London, travel by ferry to France for three days in Paris (I expect we'll spend at least one of those days in the Louvre), and then by train to Italy for three days in Rome! Now, how exciting is that?

I would be happy to spend longer in England and Italy, stopping in France only long enough for the Louvre, but such are the arrangements of tours. And perhaps we'll go back in the next year or so for an extended visit.

We both love historical sites so much that it's a thrill to even start planning! I mean, what's more historical than Europe? We will have plenty of free time to visit things not on the tour, so we're talking now about what we most want to see. Maybe we'll be able to fit in a trip to Pompeii, but whatever we do, it will be exciting for us.

So if you notice a theme to my posts over the coming weeks, you'll know what's causing it. Or maybe I'll surprise us all and just treat the upcoming trip as a matter of course. But I doubt it.