I have named this blog “A Traveling Fool” for two reasons. One is that I love traveling and do quite a lot of it. The other is that I can sometimes get myself into some interesting situations on some of these trips from being naive or just plain stupid. This isn’t meant to be a travel tips site, though you may glean some tips on what to do or not do from my personal experiences. My main intent is for you to simply enjoy the commentary and photos.
My travels so far have mainly been to the UK, Europe (including Eastern Europe), some of the Middle East, the US, and Canada. But since I have been an Anglophile since I was wearing diapers, my first trip was to London, England. This took place in 1983 with my mother. In 1983 (I know this is making me sound ancient), we didn’t have the internet or mobile phones. So traveling involved going to see a travel agent, who made all of the arrangements for you.
Our trip was through the main airline out of Minneapolis at the time. It was a package including air, hotel, train tickets between Gatwick Airport and Victoria Station, a day trip from London, and tickets to a West End play. The entire trip was about a week in length and was timed to coincide with the Queen’s official birthday celebration — Trooping the Colour.
I was so excited to be going to London that I don’t think I slept for days before we left. I also didn’t sleep on the plane (I still don’t). I learned the hard way to stay up until what would be a normal bedtime in the location to which I’m flying. Trying to take a nap once we arrived in London not only didn’t work, but added nausea to looking and feeling like a zombie (which wasn’t considered cool in 1983).
To compound the situation, I wasn’t adjusting well to the food yet. I tried ordering egg salad and got some sliced eggs on a bed of watercress. Later I found out that, if I wanted what we called egg salad in the States, I needed to order “egg mayonnaise”. A peanut butter and liverwurst sandwich also didn’t hold much appeal. So we temporarily gave up and went to McDonalds. Although I normally want to experience the food of wherever I am, I was desperate. That settled my stomach and I was able to to spend the rest of the trip eating British food with no qualms.
The train from Gatwick to Victoria Station had some of those wonderful older cars that were polished wood and had individual doors that opened in each section. The compartments weren’t walled inside, however. A gentleman traveling on business from Florida helped us hoist our cases up onto the train and into the overhead racks. He and my mother then had a lively conversation all the way into London while I stared out the window in awe. We were in England — home of the Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens and nearly every author I had ever read at that point.
During the cab ride from Victoria Station to the hotel (which was in Piccadilly Circus) we passed by a tall wall with barbed wire along the top. The taxi driver confirmed for me that it was indeed Buckingham Palace. My mom was surprised that I had figured that out and I had no explanation for how I knew it. I just did. I had also pretty much memorized the London map and watched for all the street signs (which were on the sides of buildings on the corners) on the way.
All of the lack of sleep didn’t help me when it came time to actually sleep that first night either. I was still too excited. When I did finally fall sleep, I kept dreaming that I was lying on one of the slabs in Westminster Abbey with people walking around me. The hotel bed was quite narrow and high.
But the sights were incredible — Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard, the Duke of Wellington’s House, Banqueting House on Whitehall, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, St Paul’s Cathedral, St James’ Palace, the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace. For the Trooping the Colour, we got some space on the Duke of York Steps that lead down to The Mall from the Duke of York Column. I developed an immediate crush on the guardsman who sold us the programs. He was young and cute, in full uniform, and could actually chat with us as he wasn’t guarding anything — just selling programs.
My camera was a cheap view finder that I had gotten at a pawn shop, so my photos of the parade pretty much all look alike. You have to look really closely to even begin to make out the Queen Mother & Princess Diana riding together in a open carriage, or the Queen, Prince Phillip and Prince Charles on horseback, or the rest of the family. But I was thrilled to see them all and have all of the photos properly labeled in an album. The photos that I share in this blog will all be photos I have taken myself on the trips that I describe.
Coming next: “Stratford-Upon-Avon” or “To Be or Not to Be”
