On Saturday, I’m off to England for a two-week vacation. Hurray! The itinerary isn’t quite set yet, but will definitely include London and Norwich. (I’ve have the privilege of living both places, and love to visit again.) I hope to eat at a pie and mash shop in London’s East End… Have tea somewhere nice (perhaps Fornum & Mason’s top floor?) I may do some research at the Guildhall… And I plan to see Titus Andronicus! (Which will bring me closer to my lifetime goal of seeing every one of Shakespeare’s plays.)
I may make it to Bath, a city a adore, but I’m not sure!!! After all, I’ll only be there for two weeks…and I’ve been to Bath many a time. But it is gorgeous…and if a certain publisher buys a certain book of mine, my next Regency will be set in Bath. So it’s for research purposes, of course! 🙂
I have a tentative plan of spending a week traveling about East Anglia — perhaps seeing Bury St. Edmunds, Lavenham — maybe even Holkham Hall! (Regency home to Thomas Coke, Duke of Norfolk.) The book that’s on an editor’s desk right now is set in Norfolk, so refreshing my memory for revisions is good… Plus, East Anglia is a beautiful area, but less crowded with tourists (usually) than somewhere like York or Bath or the like.
So, aren’t these pictures lovely? Actually, I meant to upload pictures of London, Norwich, Bath, Bury St Edmunds, and Lavenham — but Blogger won’t cooperate today! So you get these pics instead. I’m not going to any of these places — but they are pretty, aren’t they? 🙂
Cara
Cara King, www.caraking.com
MY LADY GAMESTER — out now from Signet Regency!!!
Wow, Cara! Have fun, and make sure to take loads of pix to make us turn green, I mean, share with us when you return.
Good luck with that certain publisher, too.
I am so envious! But have a wonderful time. I think next time I go to England I might just wander rather than take a tour, although I loved my tours! I would love to spend an extended period of time there, like three months or something. But what to do with the cats? (I’d take the hubby along-the restrictions for taking pets are more stringent.)
Diane
Yay, Cara! Hope you have a wonderful time and get lots of lovely research (in the form of cream teas and hard to find books) done!
Bring us back some amusing stories!
I also wish you luck with that certain publisher. If they know what’s good for them they’ll snap you up before someone else does.
Megan, I will definitely bring back pics. (Can’t guarantee blogger will let me upload them, though!) We actually went out and bought our first digital camera so we could take lots of pics.
Diane, I’ve never been on an organized tour — I’ve always just done it myself. But sometimes I wonder what I’m missing!
And yes, I sympathize about the cat thing… When Todd and I moved to England for two years, I had a cat. Luckily, the people I’d been living with (who had two cats of their own) were extremely kind and took care of him for two years. (Yes, TWO YEARS!!!! Very impressive. Particularly as one of these housemates liked to call my cat as S.O.S. — short for Spawn of Satan. In other words, it wasn’t his favorite cat.) 🙂 Anyway, I did miss my cat something dreadful. I hear the rabies import laws aren’t quite as strict now as they were then, but still pretty strict, I expect!
Mandacoll, I definitely intend to thoroughly research cream teas and the like!!! And thanks for the ego-boosting!!! 🙂
Cara (smiley queen — er, king — strikes again!)
Enjoy your vacation! I know you will have a great time!
I am also glad to hear that a new book is in the works!!!
Cara, have a great time and bring back recommendations for those of us who will get back to the UK someday! My kids are longing to go, but right now it’s just because they want to visit the Cadbury factory. 🙂