The A-Z of My Favorite Travel Destinations — E for England

Father and Son trip to England during Mike’s College break

Egypt and England are my two “E” countries. I wrote about Egypt already. So England it is.

This trip was around 2007 when our son Mike Jr. was on break from College. We have had three Father & Son trips; this was the first, the second was Yosemite National Park, and the third was Desert Trip, which was my letter D destination.

I asked Mike where he would like to go. He said Australia, Fiji, or England. The first two were expensive and had very long flights. At this time in 2007, there were some real bargains on airfares to London. So to save dad a few bucks and still make a trip, that was one of his choices, England it was.

We spent half the time in London and the other half in the English countryside. I took many pictures, but all I can find today are three. Even lost the iconic re-creation of the Abby Road cover picture. I lost one of the memory cards right after we returned.

We bought and used the visitor's tube pass. We found the London mass transit system the perfect way to get around. We stayed at the Gresham Hotel. While the word Hotel was in the name, it felt more like a large bed and breakfast to me. We had an included hot breakfast each day and took full advantage.

I’ve always been surprised to have beans and sliced tomatoes as breakfast food, but I like both, so no worries. But they also had great sausage, eggs, and bacon.

A quick side story. I tried to order English Muffins when my ship was in Portsmouth years earlier. But my ship's chandler had no idea what I was talking about. Americans say English Muffins, the English do not use that term, and the Chandler didn't even know what they were. I was a bit surprised at the time that an Englishman didn’t know what English Muffins were. I guess the closet thing would be a crumpet.

We had a lovely private bath, a room with one double bed, one twin bed, and low ceilings for a guy 6 foot 2 inches tall. It was an attic-type room. But was it perfect being near Paddington Station, which became our tube stop for our daily adventures?

In the first few days, we saw all the major sites visited by a typical tourist. Big Ben, London Tower, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abby, Tower Bridge, London Eye, Millennium Bridge, and Royal Albert Hall.

I found out that Eric Clapton was performing at the Royal Albert Hall, which we both wanted to see, but unfortunately, that concert was also sold out. Most of these attractions we saw from the outside, but a few we got to go inside. London Tower and Westminster Abby were incredible. Saw the crown jewels, where we were locked inside for some time, some security issue or false alarm.

We did attend one broadway show in the theater district, where the seats were too small, the ticket prices too high, and I fell asleep with Junior elbowing me to wake up. I think it was Phantom of the Opera. The fact that I’m not sure — is a solid indication of my attention level.

We did three London walks. These were meeting places, usually near tube stations, where you would meet your guide, pay cash and enjoy a tour by a local. No reservations; you just showed up. They didn’t cost much, and the groups were small. Today, they are much more organized with reservations and payments online, with large groups of people participating, almost a crowd.

But the tours we did 13 years ago were very spontaneous and relaxed. We did a Pub Tour along the Thames one evening. I was surprised at how much history and non-pub places we stopped at. So it wasn’t just four bars and drinking. At the first Pub, both my son and I ordered a pint. He only drank a few sips, saying it was too strong and too warm. I drank all of mine but realized quickly that if four Pub stops were scheduled in two hours, I could not drink four pints of beer in two hours. I ended up having 1 1/2 pints total, which was too much.

I can’t remember the names of the pubs, but in one Pub, you got your ale from a hatch window where Shakespeare got his flagon of Ale. Since a flagon is two imperial pints, it might be safe to say beer drinking was more intense back then than even today.

We saw an art gallery, a church, a three-masted ship, and an old theater, and the area along the Thames had fantastic skyline views. And, of course, we visited four Pubs. I enjoyed our walking tours using locals.

Junior wanted to do something called the Rock and Roll tour. I had visions of a large bus where you look out the window of huge mansions of Rock Star homes as you drive by. Think Hollywood tours called “homes of the stars”. Something I have never done and have no interest in.

But it was pretty good. It was only a small van with eight seat total and a guide that made it fun and exciting. And we stopped and “got out” often. Including getting that picture of Junior and me re-enacting the Abby Road cover at that famous crosswalk. (so wish I could insert that picture here)

A good guide can make all the difference, and ours was great.

It was foggy, gray, gloomy, and misty for our entire visit. The sun was out occasionally, but the weather was misty and wetter than we are used to coming from sunny Southern California. I liked the rain, we get so little, and I enjoy a little rain now and then.

It was so lush and green when we were in the countryside. I love that, and the giant trees and green landscape were just so beautiful. We have lots of green where we live, but it's not naturally green. If the sprinklers were turned off, including all the ones along roadways, our entire area would turn back to the brown that is the desert.

We saw so many charming little towns where life seemed to be in slow motion compared to London. Fluffy sheep walk across the road, sometimes just standing in the roadway. I’m sure they thought the cars were in the wrong place. Rolling green pastures and, oh, the trees, so many beautiful trees in every shade of green possible.

The soft contours of thatched roofs contrasted with stone and brick chimneys and dormers of every style, including what I call the eyelash dormer.

The history of all European countries is so fascinating to me. Coming from California, where they will raze and tear down anything to build a freeway or parking lot, regardless of its age or importance.

We had a great visit; I received a “catch you up” from my son on what was going on in his life. He’s generally not good about sharing, so always nice to get some glimpse into his life. And we shared a great destination on our very first Father-Son trip.

Thanks for checking out my “E” story in the A-Z Travel Challenge.

Below are links to the other “E” locations for Sam Millichap, Anne Bonfire, and Adrienne Beaumont, covering Edinburgh, Epupa Falls, and Elvas. Along with the “B” location for Jerry Dwyer’s visit to Barcelona.

So much variety in these different locations with inspirational photography; give them a look.