England 2007

                                       Hampton Court, the gardens

 On June 17th, 2007, I arrived at Gatwick airport in England to start my 3 week "retirement present to myself trip". So, 5 years ago, I was taking my dream vacation. The tour included England, of course, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. It was the trip of a lifetime and hardly seems that long ago.
Our group was so friendly and fun, it made the trip even more enjoyable   (I am blocking out the memories of all the rain). I made several friends that I still keep in touch with today. (Hi Val).
Our group was made up of Americans, Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders.....we all had the English  language in common. :-)
On July 4th, we celebrated our American holiday, in Plymouth and on that day, I stood on the very dock where the Mayflower left for America. By this time our trip was close to the end and I admit that I was overwhelmed by all that I had experienced.

Our Globus bus waiting for us at Hampton court.

                                       Oxford

 My favorite thing to do in every city and town was to visit a tea shop. I loved the tea with milk, scones with cream and Jam. It isn't always the big events that make an impression. These little pleasures made the trip special to me.

 Here comes the kids from Hogwort.....this was at Warwick Castle.

 Lovely town green at Betws-y-Coed, Wales

 Beautiful...can't remember where this was...probably Ireland

 Me at Bath. Loved it here and enjoyed tea in the famous Pump Room.

Frank, showing off at the English- Scottish border.

Frank lives in Florida and he has stopped to visit me on his way up north. Next to him is Phyllis who lives in Malcomb, Michigan.

 Val, waiting for our food at a cafe in Glastonbury. Val is from New Zealand and we keep in touch via email. We were looking for King Arther or at least Sir Lancelot but only found the guy pictured below.

This is what the English call a "rag and bone man". Can he be for real?