A Wonderful two weeks in England and Wales concludes with a special gift

Julie and I made it to the Holiday Inn Express at the Manchester airport but we could not let the Journey go by without a few stops at National Trust spots along the way. We won't labor you with lots of narrative and photos but here are a few of our last day in Great Britain.

Erdigg Hall in East Wales. It rates inclusion into the National Trust repertoire because of its extensive records about the Service help including portraits, poems written in their honor and authentic rooms explaining the period and what life was like to be in service. This is unique among stately homes. No other families seem to honor their service help in this manner.

Beautiful English Gardens.

The Joiners workshop with a typical 1700's English Joiners Bench

A stop at Chirk Castle, another of Edward I's strongholds that was renovated by several families over the years into a stately home.  

Okay Grandkids, here is a view of a real Dungeon. Grandma and Grandpa had to walk down a long circular staircase to get to this prison cell which was pretty damp and nasty. Some prisoners spent the rest of their lives in this terrible place.

Here is a very fierce and brave knight - Wait...its Grandpa wearing real armor. I was crying to Grandma  "Quick take the picture, this helmet is heavy"

This is Nick our tour guide for one hour on the castle grounds. He was the quintessential blustery Englishman, complete with an Oxford degree. I had to suppress my laughter because of his dramatic presentation and his wonderful English accent. We felt like we were getting a tour by the Colonel in Fawlty Towers. I suspect he was pleased to be offering a preformance. Click on the video to hear a very brief video of his remarks. After one hour of not understanding what he said I turned to the other English tourists and asked " Did you get any of that?" They all laughed and responded "NO!".

Well that concludes our two weeks of somewhat out of the way places in Northern England and Wales. We love this sort of travel and this trip did not disappoint. We feel definitely blessed to be at a stage of life where we can do these things together. We are now anxious to get home and get on with our life in Virginia. I recommend keeping a blog or a journal when you travel. Keeping such notes each day makes your trip come alive and you can refer to it for years. Whether anyone follows you or not is not the point; you have the record for your own memories. Thank you to the family and friends who have followed us along.

Tonight as we drove to Manchester we were presented with a special goodbye gift. A beautiful Rainbow. As Rick Steve's says in closing his programs "Keep on Traveling".