After a fifteen day absence from the keyboard, The Grandstander is back at his post. The reason for the absence can be explained by the two pictures below.
Group photo taken in the village of Shottery
on the first day of our trip, right before we arrived
in Stratford-on-Avon
Our luxury coach where we logged
a lot of miles - and naps!
On Wednesday, October 2, Marilyn and I along with our friends and A-1 travel companions Susan and Dan Bonk left Pittsburgh and flew to London, England to take part in an eleven day adventure that would include an eight day bus tour via Trafalgar Travel, that would take us to eight countries, cover 1,556 land miles, and two crossings of the Irish Sea. We would visit historic sites, eat in many local pubs, see castles (LOTS of castles!), spend lots of pounds and euros on must-have souvenirs, take lots and lots of pictures (over 700 of them, both the blessing and the curse of digital photography), and make a whole lot of memories for ourselves.
I have lots of stories and photos to share with all of you Loyal Readers, and I will certainly do so in the days and weeks ahead, but before I do that, I just want to comment on what may have been the most enjoyable part of the trip, and that is getting to meet so many nice, friendly, and interesting people who shared our journey aboard that Trafalgar coach. They included, but are certainly not limited to....
- Laura and Alijandra, a mother and daughter from Florida
- Craig and Tracey from Australia
- David and Mia from Australia
- Sandy and Lucas, a mom and teen-aged son from Toronto
- Les and Debbie from Calgary
- Susan from Michigan
- Lynn and Mikki from Maine
- Maryelise and her adult daughters Jen, Tracy, and Amanda from St. Louis
- Erin and her parents Dennis and his wife (whose name I have already inexcusably forgotten) from Oregon and Nashville
- Colin and Emily, a young couple from Atlanta who were celebrating their second anniversary
- Dominic and Keva from Edmonton who were on their honeymoon
- Pat and Kathy and Tom and Gail, two couples from Massachusetts traveling together as we were with Susan and Dan
And last but certainly not least, our expert tour guide, John Barleyman, and New Zealander now living in Devon, England, and our coach driver Brian from Scotland. How he could maneuver that giant bus through the tiny and crowded streets of the UK and Ireland defied belief!
Over the course of our eight day adventure, we had occasion to get to know and talk with many of these folks while riding the bus, over many meals, on the two ferry boat crossings, and while on the various tours that we took. These people made the trip more interesting, and I can only hope that many of them are saying the same things about us as they return home and share their stories with their families and friends. It is unlikely that we will ever see any of these folks again, but in an age of social media, it is possible that we may remain in touch with several of them.
As I said, we made lots of great memories, and I shall be sharing them with you over the next several days, but I will try not to beat you over the head with them.
An no matter how great a vacation can be, it is always great to be back home.
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