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We delayed our traditional Easter vacation because Buz and Kathy were going to visit us in May. We hadn't had a vacation since the previous August, aside from the short trip with my Mom and aunts to Bavaria after Christmas. So we were more than ready to hit the road.

11 May 1991 Saturday. We picked up Buz and Kathy at the Brussels Zaventum airport at 8 am, and let them relax for most of the day, other than some local sightseeing later that afternoon.

12 May 1991 Sunday. We drove to Brugge for a quick tour of the town before arriving at Zeebrugge. For the first time we caught the longer ferry ride from Zeebrugge to Felixstowe northwest of London and the nearest port to Constable Country. John Constable lived in the Dedham Vale where his most famous works, "Dedham Vale" and "The Hay Wain" were painted. We visited Dedham Vale and saw the house and river (but no ox and cart) pictured in "The Hay Wain." We drove to Lavenham where we checked into the Angel Inn. Both Lavenham and the Angel are quintessential rural English villages and inns.

We ate ate the Angel's pub and while having dinner a group of Morris Dancers showed up to perform. What an amazing evening; an ultimate English exxperince.

13 May 1991 Monday. We drove west through as many quaint villages as we could include on our way to Cambridge, including such towns as Long Melford, Foxearth, Cavendish, and Horseheath...don't you just love these crazy names? We arrived in Cambridge near noon and parked at Jesus Green. We walked through the town and had lunch along the way while touring the various colleges. We then punted on the Cam from Queen's College to Magdalene College. I almost fell into the Cam when my ounting pole got stuck in the mud. There is definitely some skill involved. Buz did a better job than me. We returned to our car at Jesus Green, and proceeded west out of town to Woburn Safari Park where we drove through to see wild animals on the loose around us. By the time we were done it was quite late in the afternoon so we proceded to Northampton, again taking the scenic route through the many quaint villages, where we checked in to a motel. We had dinner and while the kids watched BBC TV, we played Dutch Blitz, our favorite game to play with Buz and Kathy.

14 -15 May 1991 Tuesday and Wednesday. We drove the short distance to the Cotswolds where we had booked rooms at the Lower Farm Cottages in Blockley, between Bourton-on-the-Hill and Chipping Campden. We would be there two nights. The apartments were in restored stone barns, and had modern amenities in an 400 year old setting. We loved the ambiance. The kids loved the animals at the farm, especially the ducks that swam in the brook that flowed through the property. That afternoon and the next day we toured the Cotswolds all the way north to Stratford on Avon and Warwick Castle and south to Bourton on the Water.

16 May 1991 Thursday. We drove from the Cotswolds, via Oxford and Blenheim Palace, into London. We checked into our hotel at Lancaster Gate on the north side of Hyde Park. We hired a babysitter through the hotel and that evening we had dinner, just the adults, and saw the play "Les Miserables."

17 May 1991 Friday. We toured London, hitting the normal stops such as Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Whitehall with the Horse Guards, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery. lunch at Sherlock Holmes Pub, and then shopping at Picadilly Circus, Regent Street and Oxford Street. By then our feet were killing us, and we repaired to our hotel for the evening.

18 May 1991 Saturday. Buz and Kathy were flying home from London so we dropped them off at the tube and departed London to Canterbury to see the cathedral briefly, and to Tesco to get groceries before boarding the ferry in Dover. We crossed to Calais and then drove home.

It was great to tour wit Buz and Kathy again!

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