Revisiting Marida’s old haunts, and discovering new ones
It is 40-plus years since Marida lived in London. In her mind, it is yesterday. Which is good, since what she did the actual yesterday is none too clear in her mind. For the past 25 years, she’s been eager to share this beautiful part of the world with Terri, and finally it’s happening.
Our trip is starting out with four days in London (of which one, at least, will be spent recuperating from the flight). We are staying at The Bailey’s Hotel, which is pleasant, quiet, and minutes from the Picadilly Line. Plans are to see the British Museum, do a day on a hop-on/hop-off bus tour (Tower of London, Houses of Parliament, etc) and to stroll down Memory Lane with a visit to Church Road in Barnes, where Marida lived in the ’80s. For reference, this is across the river from Hammersmith.
The rest of the trip:
- May 18 to 22 – Canterbury Beyond just strolling this beautiful city, we’ll be seeing Operation Mincemeat at the Marlowe Theatre and doing day trips to Dover Castle/White Cliffs and of course the inimitable Shell Museum, a quirky place suggested by our even quirkier friends Michael and Julie.
- May 22 to 25 – Dorset We may take the loooooong coastal route so we can see Beachy Head, Battle (site of the Battle of Hastings!), Brighton, and the Sussex Downs. That is literally impossible, so we shall see. We’ll stay at Mapperton Farm, where Marida’s former in-laws have a sheep farm. Nearby is West Bay, where “Broadchurch” was filmed, and there are lots of Roman archaeological sites and beautiful rolling countryside.
- May 25 to 29 – Cotswolds south Stay at Sign of the Angel in Chippenham. Ticketed evening visit to Stonehenge, potentially Bath although the hordes of tourists make this a dim prospect. Maybe a sortee to see standing stones.
- May 29 to June 4 – Cotswolds We’ll stay at Badger’s Hall in Chipping Campden and enjoy the village féte which is on that weekend. We have a lovely guide from Marida’s brother and sister in law (Spence and Nita) to all things cool and old in the Cotswolds. We’ll just go with that.
- June 4 to 8 – Oxford and Avebury Out to Thatchcombe to stay in a thatched cottage. Visit Avebury, spend a day in Oxford, and chill.
- June 8 – Swan Hotel Drop off rental car at Heathrow and spend a night at this lovely place recommended by Spence and Nita.
- June 9 to 13 – Toulouse Head to France to visit with our friend Moira who lives near the historic town of Revel, east of Toulouse.
