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The English Countryside

I'm back home in Seattle now, and just now uploading photos from the remainder of my trip! After Austria, Whitney and I flew to England and took a train down to Devon in the south. The countryside there is just how I imagined it... rolling green pastures, quaint stone-built cottages and winding, cobblestone roads.

Our first stop was to see Whitney's other grandfather, Frank, who was there visiting from the States with other WWII vets who survived ExerciseTiger on April 28, 1944. This was a top-secret exercise to prepare the servicemen for D-Day. It took place off the shores of Devon County, Engand, and hours after a German E-boat discovered them, almost 1,000 Americans lost their lives. Frank was one of the few lucky ones... injured, but alive. The survivors were told not to breathe a word of this exercise to anyone, or they would be court-martialed. It wasn't until forty years later that the incident was finally revealed. This was a major history lesson for me, and what better source than from the men who were actually there!

While visiting Frank, we got to join him and his tour group for a visit to Bath England, where the Romans built bath houses over 2,000 years ago.

After three days in the south, Whitney and I travelled 8 hours by train to North Umberland to see the Roman Ruins in the north. Overall, we got a great view of the English Countryside...

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Photos

Laura, Frank and Whitney
Frank is Whitney's grandfather (on her mother's side). He was in England for the 65th Anniversary of [url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30977039/page/2/] ExerciseTiger[/url].

Inside the Baths at Bath, England
This is the site of natural hot springs, where the Romans built an extensive bath house two thousand years ago.

Whitney and Laura
Dartmouth, England

View from our hotel room in Corbridge, England
North Umberland, U.K.