England/Scotland Trip - Can't Wait

The prospect of our upcoming trip to England/Scotland has me chomping at the bit.  It's given me back some perspective that there is more going on in the world outside the narrow confines of my daily interests.  Our last extended vacation was three years ago to Hawaii.  That's just far too long a period to stick around rural NC <grin>.

I curled up last night in bed with my 2006 Fodor's guide to Great Britain. With a pencil I checkmarked all the sites I want to see. Right.  Cancel the two weeks and make it two months.  Do I want to see castles? Yes. Stately homes? Yes. Pubs? Good God, yes. Hiking/Walking trails? Yes. Moors and cliffs? Yes. English gardens? Yes.

The wonderful thing about Blair is that we are a perfectly matched traveling pair. We move at the speed of light, racing from ancient ruin to ancient ruin, but never feeling rushed. We're both up before dawn and are typically the first people in line for the opening of any site.  Did you know, when we went to Paris years ago we were at the gates of the Eiffel Tower right as it opened and we were the only ones there? So we climbed the Eiffel alone--a very cool thing.

We also get hungry on the same schedule and neither of us are much for the nightlife, preferring to knock ourselves out during the day with sites, than to bed early to study the itinerary for the next day.  

The only major travel difference I say we have is that I like to stop and sit at little cafes, which I think Blair doesn't enjoy as much.  France was just filled with little bistros and sidewalk cafes, begging you to stop and enjoy a coffee and pastry. And England with its tea and scones is going to keep me very busy.

We're going to start looking at hotels and B&B's on the web, figuring out where to stay. I prefer to stay in a central area and drive everywhere.  Not so wild about having to pack and unpack multiple times during a trip. I'm hoping for this trip we'll get by with no more than 3 different hotel stays.

I must say, as I sit at my desk working, if it becomes too much, it's lovely to glance up and out the window and just remember that in a couple of months, I'll be roaming moors and hills in Scotland, stuffed on scones.