We have been back in the USA for two weeks now. I will refer you to George and Pat's blog for their wonderful words on our days in Normandy. We also spent time thinking and talking about each day of our adventure together and discussed our days together which George was able to put into words on the way home on the plane....I watched movies on flight back!! SO it is a MUST READ. Go to Gpcannode.blogspot.comNow let me tell you about our trip after we left Normandy until we arrived back to the USA.
We left our rental home in Solier's France and drove a few hours up the road to just outside of Calais, France which is the port where we were taking the ferry back to Dover, England. We stayed in Grand Fort Phillippe at L'univers that was right across from the beach front. Great view of the sun-set and sun-rise! We arrived early so drove up to Dunkerque to explore. Returned to Grand Fort and finally were able to fine a place that served French Crepes....
We were up and at the Ferry early to turn in our car at the port. We were picking up another car in Dover, England so had to carry our luggage on the ferry with us. While unloading the car, a pigeon flew into the back of the car and took a snack with pretzels and chips and flew back out before the guys could get it back. After all the luggage was safely inside , George went back out and was able to retrieve the bag back from the Pigeon!! Had a good hour and half trip across the English Channel. It was beautiful coming into port on a clear day and seeing the White Cliffs of Dover.
We picked up another car in Dover and drove to the tops of the White Cliffs of Dover and had a nice view of the Dover Castle. George and Tom shared the driving on the continent but when we returned to England Tom was the driver as had more experience ...hmmmm...driving in Great Britian. It was a beautiful day so we walked around the paths above the White Cliffs. We stopped in Farnham, England for the night and spent the night at a place that had Peacocks roaming the grounds and found another little cafe to have dinner. The next day we arrived in Bristol, England to spend some time with our friends Louise and Alastair. What gracious host they always are..we took a walk about Bristol with them and Alastair and Louise gave us the history of the city tour. Alastair is from Bristol so he knows all the history of the city and shared with us. Another beautiful weather day to be able to stroll around and see all the different architecture and the Christmas Steps (the street was originally called Queene Street and then became know as Knyfesmyth Street after the tradesmen there). We then stopped by a fun pub down by the water and sat on the patio and had a nice meal together and just enjoyed the company. Louise has such a green thumb and what an amazing garden in the front and back of her flat. Alastair tried to help me figure out some issues with my IPAD as not able to send emails. It seemed the time went by so quickly before morning came and we were hugging them good bye again! Look forward to seeing them back in Tucson in January.
We spent the next few nights at Lakenheath Air Force Base as wanted to go to London and check some of the areas near Lakenheath. We took the train down to London from a station about an hour from Lakenheath. Of course we were dressed for rain and were glad that we did!! We took the train into London and then hopped on one of the Hop on Hop Off Double Decker busses. AND of course it was raining. They were handing out raincoats on the bus....hmmm.. We found some seats on the top deck that was under cover and started our trip through the streets of London with our ear pieces telling us about what we were seeing. We had all been to London before so it was fun to go back together. Tom and I talked about all the good times we spent with Nanny Kitt, Noreen's Mom who lived in London and a vacation we had with Peggy and Larry and kids in London. We would visit Nanny when we were stationed in Germany and got to know all the family and those memories we spent with Nanny Kitt will never be forgotten. After about 3 hours, we had stopped at a bakery to have some croissants and other items and decided that we would head back to the base since it was still raining. As we walked out of the cafe, the rain had subsided and we could see sun in the clouds...so we got back on the bus and did the tour again! Also took a boat ride on the River Thames. This time we had live commentary about what we were seeing and the history. We walked to Buckingham Palace where they were having another 90th birthday party picnic lunch ( by invitation only) for the queen and were able to hear the Marching Bands. The park and lots of roads were blocked off so we decided we would come back another time to walk about the gardens. After having some great Fish and Chips in a pub next to Victoria Station, we headed back to Lakenheath on the train. Another great day together.
The next day we traveled several miles North of Lakenheath to the village of Lavenham.
Lavenham is a village noted for its 15th century church and half-timbered medieval cottages. The town prospered from the wool trade making blue broadcloth for exportation until a cheaper and lighter broadcloth was produced. The trade grew so fast that the homes were built in hast with green timber. As the wood dried, the timbers warped causing the houses to bend at unexpected angles. By the time the timbers started twisting, Lavenham's families had lost its wealth and with no money to rebuild their homes, the homes were left as they were. In the past years, property owners from London have bought homes and are refurbishing them. The rhyme "There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile etc." is believed to have been written after this town. The poem published in the 1840's. Also Jane Taylor who lived on Shilling Street in Lavenham wrote the poem "Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star". We had a lovely day walking around this little village and had a nice lunch in a restaurant in a "crooked house"...and of course had an ice cream!
We decided to go back to a little place for breakfast that we had visited on our first trip to Lakenheath in April....another great Breakfast Burrito! The owner had remembered us from when we were there in April and told us that we made her day with all the laughter and chatter from our table and she was happy that we were all still together and still seemed so happy to be together. We assured her that we all still like each other too after being together for nearly 3 months and she said that she could tell!!!
We found a couple great places to have dinner around Lakenheath before we checked out and headed to London on the 13th of June. We stayed at a little B&B near Heathrow Air Port...in fact it was directly in the flight path of incoming planes...but after about an hour, we were not even hearing the planes. We took the "Tube" into London before we left and spent the evening walking around Buckingham Palace and the gardens in the early evening and were able to see some of the lights around London at night. On the way home, Pat and Maryann laughed so hard as Tom and George sat next to each other across from us and were very entertaining!! I have video!! The day before we were to fly home, we went to Heathrow and got our boarding passes and checked out the terminal.
The last couple nights instead of planning our adventures for the next day, we sat and talked about our wonderful adventures together..unbelievable to have had such days together.
We traveled 13 countries, stayed in 33 cities, spent the nights in 30 different hotels, B&B, cottages , rental homes, one room family units, one Abbey, military billeting, micro hotel, apartments, during our time together. Traveled by train, ferry, boats,underground railway (Tube), bus, trams, cars, double decker buses, airplanes, antique car, smart car, and taxi... I think that is all and of course walked many miles. Pat and George traveled approximately 1415 miles to meet us in Linesville , PA. We traveled 2769 miles from Tucson to Linesville. Then round trip to Dulles Air Port and back to PA, we traveled together 556 miles.
We traveled 7342 air miles round trip to England, 224 miles by ferry, had four rental cars that we drove the roads of Great Britian, Ireland and all the countries on the continent which added up to approximately 13,000 car miles together. .We will continue to do our blog as we travel here in our America. Our plans are to be home in Arizona by the first week of September after visiting family and friends as we "are on the road" back to our Tucson Family.
We arrived at Dulles the afternoon of June 15th and stayed the night at Andrews Air Force Base where we had left Pat and George's car at the passenger terminal and then drove to Zion, Pennsylvania on 16 June to spend some time with Tom and Joan. We said a tearful good bye to Pat and George as they headed on to Ohio where they had left their RV and their family.
We keep trying to find words that could sum up the time the four of us spent together on this adventure ........ we feel so blessed to have been able to live these days together. Our adventure was filled with many blessings and memories but don't think that even today we realize all the memories that we shared each day and we were so glad to be together! We had several "belly laughs" and so many conversations about life and about "stuffs". I think we only had the radio on in the car once for a short time! We are so blessed to call George and Pat not only friends but family...and cannot wait until our next days together.
We know that this is now 15 days after our return and a late post but hope you enjoy our adventures. We were so blessed during our trip and thank you all for our travel prayers.
We thank you for continuing to keep us in your prayers during our travels home..
Hugs and Love,Tom and Maryann
"a journey is measured in friends, rather than miles"
SEE BELOW.....
YOU MUST GO TO GPCANNODE.BLOGSPOT.COM to see our list of BEST etc.
George and Pat have detailed some of the "BESTS" etc. so wanted to add some "just stuffs" that we were so glad to experience!!!
All the people we met, on the street ,in the pubs and eating establishments, staff in the places we stayed, on the public transportation , stores , bakeries, markets, towns where we visited to look up our ancestors, just to name a few were so willing to chat with us and help us out even if it meant stopping what they were doing to help us....and how many people came up to us (as we must have looked lost) and asked if they could help us! Staying in the little villages or just seeing a little village that looked interesting and taking the time to stop to walk around or staying for a night was also such a high light of our trip. Learned how to use several different ways to turn on the showers without getting freezing cold or very hot water ( we started to do tutorials the night before so would not get frozen or scalded when we took a morning shower) when we arrived at different places we stayed), different ways to flush toilets and after all the days, still did not totally master the use of the combo washer/dryer. Loved the towel warmers in most of the bathrooms and found that since we were having issues with the washer/dryer...the towel warmer was really great to dry our "mostly dry" clothes from the the washer/dryer. Hung clothes outside on the line or on the radiators at night. George and Tom became professionals as they were able to get all our luggage etc. in the trunk of our car. Pat and I did have to have a small suitcase between us in the back a couple of times...but usually was the snack bag. We all had our daily "car jobs"...Pat kept notes, and managed the trash bag and the snack bag, Maryann would ask about "the need for gas for the car at least daily", George was the Map reader when Tom was driving and Tom the Map reader when George driving. We did have Garmen but need to double check her directions at times. Pat would also set up our continental breakfast in their room on the days we would have our first meal of the day at the hotel before we ventured out for the day. Pat made sure we had enough butter and Jam and apple juice etc. We would pick up the rolls and croissants the evening before or George would go to the bakery down the street to get fresh early in the morning!! Learned how to use the washer and dryers in a self service laundry form a very nice young lady in Berlin. The bakery staff in the villages we stayed for more than a day, knew George by name!! Saw lots of fields that were planted but never saw anyone working in the fields. Learned that George could dance...Maryann has video!! Painful when George and Maryann sang..even though they did practice frequently. (No video!)The best phrase was from Tom...."We're outta here" which he said with attitude.... when we were in two large cities and he was driving in Ireland --and the streets were very narrow and the traffic was heavy. Tom seemed to have difficulty slowing down for us to get a pictures. Hmmmm. Such beautiful flowers such as Poppys and Daffodils etc. growing wild alone the streets and in the fields.
Best and only play we saw was Hamlet at the Shakespeare Theater in Stratford-on-Avon, England. Boat trips at the Loch at Stratford-on-Avon , Danube River , River Thames.
Learned different ways to order water in restaurants depending on the country...Still, Tap, Bubbly, Mineral, Natural, Sparkling and what kind of container,...caraf, bottle, decanter. Also learned that in several countries had to pay for water and it cost more than beer or soda!! Coffee Culture..no free refills on coffee and of course served in smaller cups and is meant to sip. Had the best after dinner drink in Bitburg, Germany in a gasthaus that was owned by two Crostian brothers. It is called Slivovitz which is a fruit brandy made from damson plums. Plum Brandy is made in Central and Eastern Europe. It is served warm and very smooth brandy. Losses: George had his pocket knife taken at customs in Dover, England and left his hat on the plane on the way over to England. When we returned to Lakenheath to come home, went to lost and found and they had a hat that looked like his hat so we went to the basement in Heathrow Airport to Lost and Found and we all cheered that he had found his hat and were walking out of the Lost and Found and he discovered was not his hat! SO returned the hat to Lost and Found. Always an adventure when we are together!!! SO many more "nit-not" memories that we will be talking and laughing about for years.
