Finishing Our Trip to England

Today is our final day in England. We fly home tomorrow morning, leaving the Humberside airport at 6:10 a.m.

 

That means leaving the house at 4:30 a.m. to go to the airport. An hour flight to Amsterdam, then a 5 1/2 hour layover, long overseas flight to Detroit, another layover of 4 1/2 hours and then a flight of one hour to Kansas City. We plan to stay overnight at a hotel and drive home on the morning of July 4th. This all means a short night for us tonight and a very long day after that.

 

We've enjoyed our time in England visiting friends from South Africa. We know one another well and feel very comfortable with each other. Last week, we traveled together to Cornwall, which is a lovely area on the far southwest of England. The weather was sunny but cool, no rain.

 

Each day, we headed a different direction from our hotel to explore the area. Land's End was just what it sounds like! Great viewing point for the Atlantic Ocean and the inevitable shops that draw tourists like flies to honey. Another day, we visited another ocean viewing point called The Lizard. This was far better, I thought. High, rugged cliffs and clusters of huge rocks below with the ocean waves beating against them. Here is the kind of spot many authors add to their books set in England. There were a few shops here, too. A tea room and a tiny, tiny gift shop which was closed. But there were two craftsman shops where men were creating lovely pieces of useful items out of the serpentine rock native to this area. I bought a small bud vase which will hold my miniature roses nicely when we get home.

 

One day, we spent a long time at the Eden Project which was a very interesting environmental spot. This group supports recycling and saving our world. We walked through a huge rainforest with tagged plants, then a Mediterranean walk showing the plants and flowers from that type of climate. Several spots to eat while enjoying these places. Another phase was the science part of the project. These three places were housed under huge bubble rooftops that resembled huge golf balls. And of course, there was a giant gift shop at the end with all kinds of recycled items.

 

We stopped to tour many small towns on the coast, most of which were built on steep hills. It's fun to wander thorugh the shops and see what those from another country have to offer, to spend time in the bookshops browsing through the papers and books.

 

Another day, we drove to Falmouth, a port city where we spent a long time going through the Maritime Museum which was so well done. And oh yes--it had a shop, too.

 

We've done a great many things here in 2 weeks and will go home with a new set of memories and a mental file of stories to use in my writing.

 

Hope to post again on Friday when we are home in Kansas. As much as I've savored our time here, I'm looking forward to being home again.