“Once More Unto the Breach”

The battle cry of Shakespeare’s Henry the Fifth,  “Once More Unto the Breach” sums up our motivation to try something again in the hope that we get it right this time. I can’t say that the Roman Emperor Hadrian is the sole cause of our return to the roadways and roundabouts of the “old country”, but he is most certainly responsible for what we are determined to get right this time. 

A long, long time ago (ok, 1980 to be precise), we made our first overseas trip as a couple. It was a very, very big deal because it was the first one and we knew there might never be a second trip because we really couldn’t afford the first one.  But we talked ourselves into it - ok, ok, I talked Brian into it. We gave ourselves suitcases and Pan Am plane tickets for Christmas, got our first passports, and  my parents agreed to come stay with the kids. I planned every last detail (some things never change) and off we went to Great Britain. In a car, which was even smaller than a Smart car, we set out on a 3 week journey exploring the lanes and back roads of England, Scotland, and Wales. We even took the ferry to Ireland but that didn’t work out so well. That’s another story, however. 

The trip was so wonderful that it became the benchmark for every trip that we’ve been on ever since. But, it wasn’t totally successful, and that brings us back to Emperor Hadrian and his famous wall across northern England. Of course, since we were in the neighborhood, we wanted to see it. We had directions in our Frommer’s guidebook, but that didn’t help. We stopped in several villages and asked for directions, but that didn’t help either. We spent, well actually wasted, a day searching for that darn wall and finally had to give up. We are absolutely determined to see it this time and with well marked maps and GPS, I just know that I’ll be posting some pictures here and on Facebook. 

We leave for our England encore on Weds, May 7th, and plan on going to different villages and castles in England and Wales. We aren’t planning to go back to Scotland, but will focus on Cornwall, Wales, Yorkshire, and the central area north of London. Brian is so used to driving on the left side of the road that even driving in cities doesn’t faze him and I navigate. What could possibly go wrong?

If you aren’t too bored from my most recent travel blogs about Turkey and Malta and the Sydney to Seattle cruise, please join in.