Englishmum

I've just arrived back from a trip to Blighty (5th - 22nd October) and have had such a brilliant time.....it was a killer having to go to Heathrow yesterday for the flight back to Newark...

The flight over was great - I took a morning flight with BA which arrives around 8.30pm and it was near-empty, apparently the morning flight usually has far fewer passengers connecting from other incoming flights so they put on a smaller plane in the mornings rather than the 777s; it was a 767 and out of 141 seats in World Traveller, 93 of them were empty! My friend who works for BA gave me a pass for the exec lounge and a nice bulkhead aisle seat with loads of legroom (2 + 4 + 2 configuration). The window seat beside me was empty so I actually had more space than the folks in WT+ one row in front of me. Send me a PM if you want the seat numbers LOL!

I rented a car and drove 90 miles up the M40 to stay with my sister in Coventry. The next few days were a whirlwind of seeing my mum, other sister, my brother and their spouses and children and seeing old friends from school. I couldn't resist going to the chippy for fish and chips on Friday evening LOL! On the Saturday I went to see my friend's teenage son play rugby which was fun, then in the evening we joined my sister and had a good laugh (we're thinking of going on a girls weekend trip to Amsterdam next year.... .

On Sunday morning my mum and I drove down to Richmond-Upon-Thames to meet up with my daughter and her boyfriend. It was the first time I'd met him and I wasn't impressed.....he's almost the same age as me and a bit of a dork. We did have a lovely roast Sunday lunch at one of the riverside pubs then a stroll along the riverbank and up Marble Hill for the fab views across the river valley. We also drove over to Richmond Park and had a cup of tea at the lovely old Molecatchers house (and observed a colourful African wedding party).

The next few days were spent mostly doing things with my mum, shopping for accessories for my cousin's wedding, seeing a movie, visiting my siblings etc. and going to Stratford-Upon-Avon which I never fail to visit whenever I'm in England.

On the Friday I drove down to Heathrow to meet up with my husband who had flown in on the overnight flight from Newark and spent a few hours working on his laptop at the airport. We were going to my cousin's sons' wedding; he's been out to visit us twice in the US so we just had to go! We then drove to Tenby in Pembrokeshire, SW Wales and arrived at the hotel in the early evening. The hotel is on a clifftop overlooking the bay and the town, so we strolled down to the town for dinner.....and ended up in a fish and chip restaurant! It was very lively in this pretty little seaside town as there are lots of pubs there, so of course we just had to go for a few drinks in a pub as well.... We had a few more when we joined up with other members of the wedding party back at the hotel....

http://www.parkhoteltenby.com/

Well, the weather has been unbelievably warm and mild in the UK and Autumn is late there this year (lots of concerns about global warming). The weather was really nice for the wedding in the nearby town of Saundersfoot in a picturesque old C of E church on a hill. I took a photo of the list of vicars in a side chapel to show the Yanks how old the church was....the year of the first vicar was 1492 (when Columbus discovered America I seem to recall). It really was a typical British wedding.....ladies in hats and the men in the wedding party in Welsh kilts - they have red dragons embroidered on them to distinguish them from the Scottish ones.

The reception speeches were hysterical; the groom and his family are very theatrical and Gareth spent a year in Stratford-Upon-Avon and did a drama degree at Cardiff, so lots of 'luvvie' friends were there. Dancing took place in the evening....it was just like the movie 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' with some terrible/hilarious dancing from the older uncle types. They had a well-known local couple doing the singing with karaoke type backing music, unfortunately not my cup of tea but the stuff to get most people up eg. 'I will survive' 'Dancing Queen', 'Is this the way to Armadillo?' and one Robbie Williams song. I had killer heels on so couldn't dance...

We were spending our second week in London as my husband was going to be in meetings all week at HO in Canary Wharf, so on the Sunday we took the scenic route back to the M4 and went on a lovely walk up a hill on a marked footpath in the beautiful hills and moorland of the Brecon Beacons. We encountered wild ponies and lots of sheep......I was nearly in tears when I thought about how I never get to experience things like that in the US; I was in Upstate New York at Hunter Mtn a couple of weeks beforehand but it doesn't compare with the wild countryside of the UK.

Hope I'm not boring you.....will write about my week in London in a seperate post later today....have to get back to all the laundry and bills LOL!

BrigieDarling

So there's going to be a Part 2?

Jerseygirl

Stop it, stop it, stop it....pleeeeeeeeease....it is making me feel so homesick.

LeedsGirl

Not boring at all, loved it!

jumping doris

It sounds lovely. I miss seeing little fields and hedges.

Titchski

I always end up in Stratford on Avon when I go home too

Sounds like you had a nice time - making me anticipate my trip home even more now

britvic

Great stuff to read, thankyou for sharing

Maz

"movie".... traitor! You mean "film", I'm sure.

Glad you had a great time!

snowbunny

I was watching "Buildings that Shaped Britain" over the weekend -- managed to watch four parts, taking me up to alllmost the Victorian age. Not quite.

Thoughts:

* I wish the US had beautiful places to visit and I wish I had more time and money to visit the UK
* there were no chavs in view and I hope they never take a liking to visiting historic buildings.

Jerseygirl

I understand what you are saying but there are many places in the US that have natural beauty. There are of course many places in the UK too...just not as varying and extreme as here.

snowbunny

I agree... but not nearly so many beautiful buildings. I'm more an indoors person.

janj

What a great trip. Wish I could have come along

I find we get so little time in the UK, time is always too short and there are too many relatives to see.....

One of these days I'd like to go without telling anyone and visit all those beautiful places I don't know

Jerseygirl

Know exactly what you mean...sometimes good to get back for a rest.

Bob

Sounds like you guys had a great time

BrandonBrit

Sounds like a great time, can't wait for part two...your descriptions are beautiful, thanks EnglishMum.