I was taken to England when I was 11, so I know something about it <g>. We (my sister, 13, and I) were put in an English boarding school for a term, which was a very interesting and worthwhile experience, while my mother visited family and researched. Then my father came over and we toured for a month.
What I loved most were castles, pagentry -- changing of the guard, the Black Watch performance at Edinboro, etc. -- and the great Welsh and Scottish scenery. I loved going into pubs for lunch and seeing all the local characters and their dogs in the pubs. I did NOT enjoy cathedrals much (though I did when I went back 6 years later) and at age 11 insisted on only ONE rose window per day. The gardens my mother loved to visit did Nothing for me. But a boat trip on a canal boat was glorious, and walking through the countryside was great -- there is so much happening in so little space, hedgerows, sheep, cattle, crops, trees, ponds, fields of bracken, etc all in a one-hour stroll. And there were wonderful festivals. Be ABSOLUTELY SURE to catch at least one Morris Dance Ale somewhere -- it is WONDERFUL stuff to watch (and, as I later found out, to do.) |
