The germ for the trip was planted years before. But I built in a delay.
Are you going to go overseas? My reply for years was — so much to see in the United States first — or a little more specific — I want to set foot in all 50 states first.
Well — the above stated delay no longer applied. Now I needed a destination — easy to decide — I want to go where they speak English. So what better place than England.
I’d taken a tour for my vacation in Hawaii and knew it was the best way for me to see as much as possible in a limited time.
All that remained were two things — save the money, and use my courage to actually sign up.
First impressions — walking out of the Underground Station all of an hour or so after arriving in London. The largest city I’d actually visited prior to this was Chicago. I was awed most of the trip from airport to hotel.
Yes, it had rained. It was April in England. I came prepared with hooded windbreaker and umbrella. Grateful I’d poured over the tourist guidebooks from the library. The map purchased at a bookstore proved useful also — I found a direct route from hotel to one of the free museums.
The adventure started well.
