Obsessing about travel

foreground dude is suspicious. background dude is dapper.

I love to travel. I love the planning to go, when anything is possible and your adventures have yet to start.

I love the part when you’re right IN IT and enjoying what you came for [whether it turns out as you planned or not, and it’s often not].

And I love the part when you’re finally ready to go home and turn the trip you’re on into a juicy memory that you can chaw on for a long while. And unpack the cool stuff you collected on your trip to help you remember.

I’ve had all of those moments in the last 2 weeks. The hub and I just got back from Heather Ordover of Craftlit‘s London, Bath & Wales adventure. A week of UK overload, focused on literature and crafting. The picture above right kind of sums it up: new UK vs old UK — always contrasting. Heather has been a friend since I went to SOAR in 2007, and this time we got to spend time with her hub, who is awesome. Our boys got along exceedingly well, which made for warm fuzzies on our part. And thoughts of future trips together. But I digress. We started in London:

proof I was actually there
dramatic skies as seen from our moving tour bus, driving through London
i can assure you it is NOT falling down.
v. v. v. old socks at the V&A. a museum that I fell in love with. and I emphatically do NOT like museums.
i Knit London is licensed, and clearly i took advantage of that. i loved this strawberry/pear cider. never got another bottle. whimper.

We also saw the play Oliver!, which was slightly traumatic for me since my sister [very musical, she is] was one of the orphans when she was a kid and spent an entire summer singing the songs in the house every waking hour. Talk about flashbacks.

Heather getting Stephen Moore's autograph

Most excitingly that night, besides being in the famous Royal Drury Lane Theatre, and enjoying the performance, it turned out that the grandfather was played by Stephen Moore. Heather is shown at right, getting his autograph and sharing a charming, heartwarming anecdote. I am standing to Mr Moore’s right, trying not to pee my pants. He was lovely and charming and a little surprised by our enthusiasm.

Who is this lovely man? Why, he is the original voice of Marvin, the Paranoid Android. And now I have his signature on my bagel-fabric knitting bag. Because that was all I had with me. Yay to Heather and Andrew for reading the program and getting us the geeky scoop of the trip!

our beloved blue-badge guide, Peter Ffrench, in his customary road-warrior position
the Crescent in Bath. If you've watched a Jane Austen movie, you've likely seen it. wish the cars weren't there, but I just squinted and imagined carriages and women in Regency dress instead.
i didn't expect to care about the Tinturn Abbey visit. i was an idiot. it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.
see?
taking a trip (not up to but somewhere near) Abergavenny! who remembers this from Captain Kangaroo?
i love this man. our tour guide, Peter, was the heart & life of the trip. did you know that?
yarn just-bought being wound on the tour bus before we even left Hay-On-Wye. Sharon is the windOR, Dianne is the helpful windEE (and the professional vacation planner that made this trip happen).
Tenby, beautiful little town in west Wales, where the tide was WAY out.

At this point, the tour continued for one more day, but the hub and I stayed behind in Wales to spend some time with our friends Brenda and Tonia. So now’s a good time to stop. There’s another post left to go, and if you want to see any more of the photos between the ones in this post, you’ll find them in my Flickr stream. You’re welcome to poke about.

(189 Posts)

18 thoughts on “Obsessing about travel”

  1. Sara

    How funny…I have a bottle of that same cider in my fridge right now (brought back from the UK earlier this year).

  2. Magi

    It looks loverrly doesn’t it – thanks for sharing. Glad you had such a nice time. Homesick now 🙁

  4. delighted

    …not to be party-pooper, but isn’t that Tower Bridge?

    I lived in London for three months this spring, and discovered the London Bridge by accident on one of the last days of my trip. It was extremely underwhelming.

  6. Ana

    That’s a photo of Tower Bridge, not London Bridge. The previous London Bridge is now in Arizona, and the new one is, as Delighted suggests, nothing special.

  7. pocketsize

    You went to Hay-on-Wye! It’s one of my favourite places ever. So many books! I’ve stayed in the cottages next to the Abbey, and it is a fantastic setting.

  8. Lisa (42MainSt)

    Life! Don’t talk to me about Life! Brain the size of a planet… SO jealous. Looks like a wonderful trip.

  12. Carolyn

    Did you use your new camera? I getting ready to order the Cannon G11 next week…..It is a gift to me for my 50th birthday….I did get money for my birthday to help with the cost. Hope you still love the camera. The pictures are great.

    1. Amy Post author

      Yup, still love the camera. Right-handed hub (and I, sometimes) found ourselves hitting controls on the right side that we wish we hadn’t, but I got used to it. He, not so much.

  13. Roberta

    I’m new here and I’m loving it already. I’ve made 3 of the Hallowig hat in 2 different colors. My sister had e-mailed me this pattern. I love it. I’m looking forward to do some of the other patterns.
    Thank for being here for us.

  14. Rose

    I absolutely loved Tinturn Abbey when I visited 15 years ago! Thanks for the photo reminder. Your trip sounds like it was lovely…..sigh

  15. Jean Jambas

    I absolutely loved the textiles room at the V & A Museum when we visited eons ago. If and when you have the chance, would you please post again which Tour Company you used and what the “name” of the trip was?

    Thanks.

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