Planning Travel to Britain

Victoria  here.  I don’t know about you, but after laughing myself silly over Kristine’s posts about her recent trip to England, I am driven to start planning for my next jaunt.  I’ve been trying to get across the pond almost every year but due to the Jubilee and the Olympics and the crowds expected, I decided to pass on 2012.

What a mistake!  Instead I was glued to my tv, iPad and computer trying to take in all the festivities (and feeling sorry for myself because I was not there).  Did you feel the  same way when you saw the Queen cruising down the Thames with the flotilla of boats?  Or when the British won medals in many sports, particularly the equestrian events?  Or especially when the Queen came parachuting down from a plane over the Olympic stadium?

So I just can’t miss 2013!  Like Kristine, my usual traveling companion is my husband, who has seen a lot more of stately homes and art museums in England than he probably cared to, but he’s a good sport and declared himself up for some more.

You realize, gentle readers, that Kristine and I have traveled together and would have absolutely no qualms about filling every day with sights to warm the hearts of every Anglophile. And eating only at teatime — or when we are so exhausted we have to crash at a pub. Good thing there is always one nearby!

But Kristine and I can’t always go together, and our husbands have a claim on some priorities!  All of which is an introduction to my delicious choices ahead.  I will have seven days in England, following a trip to Prague, Dresden, and Berlin this summer.  I have never been to the former two and not to Berlin since the 1960’s when it was still divided into zones, even preceding the infamous wall.  Of course I was a mere baby, but I remember it well.

I am trying to put the various places I want to visit in some sort of coherent schedule.  There are several places northeast of London that are high on my agenda: Cambridge, Holkham Hall, and Houghton Hall, maybe Sandringham. 

I’ve been searching through the websites of many London attractions which will have special exhibitions I want to see — and a few spots on London outskirts that I have ever managed to visit, like Marble Hill House and Ham House.

I have a pile of old magazines from Britain that I will consult…and I scour libraries for the newest and some of the oldest travel guides.  Planning a trip is wonderful — can I fit everything into my time schedule?  Stay tuned for further musings.