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Published: July 11th 2009
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This was our first bus tour and we were wondering how we would like it. We wanted to take a comprehensive tour of Great Britain but we didn’t want to negotiate the roads on the left side and deal with the heavy traffic and numerous roundabouts throughout the country. We studied options coming up with Globus, one of the top three rated United Kingdom tour companies. The timing and length of the tour was perfect and the itinerary included a complete panorama of England, Wales and Scotland. All 37 of us from the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand congregated bright and early to meet our tour guide, our bus driver and our clean, modern bus. It was a rainy, dreary morning as we boarded our home for the next 10 days, got situated in our comfortable seats with seat belts and left the city of London behind. By the time we arrived at our first stop at the 5000 year old Stonehenge, the sun came out and we thought what a wonderful way to start our journey. Because this tour was considered fast pace with multiple stops I decided it would be virtually impossible to describe in detail each stop.
Instead I thought that I would share some general impressions, a few highlights and let the photos tell the story. Our daily schedule was pretty consistent; wake up call at 6am, breakfast and bags out at 7am and departure at 8am. We usually made 3 major stops during the day never driving for more than 2 hours at a time. We were really lucky to have a great group of people who were considerate of others and were mostly always on time. We would arrive at the hotel just in time to freshen up for dinner at 7pm. Dinner was usually as a group at the hotel and this was a great way to get to know our fellow passengers. It was fun hearing their stories with a wide variety of ages and nationalities represented. In addition to these hotel dinners we also had four special dinners and evening events, with the first one happening on the first night of the tour. We took a drive into the heart of Dartmoor in southwest England to see the notorious 200 year old prison with a local guide. This was followed by a traditional meal of meat pies, alcoholic ciders and Jail
Ale at a local Pub owned by Prince Charles. The evening was topped off with Sherlock Holmes recounting some of the mysterious tales and legends of the moor and the infamous prison. It was a special evening! Our route was almost entirely on sometimes very narrow country and mountain roads. One passenger asked why doesn’t Great Britain widen their roads? Our guide answered that there were alternative freeway routes but what would be the fun in that. After all it’s really about the journey and seeing the country. Our guide, a middle aged Englishman had been doing his job for 17 years and he was good at it. He was very professional and knowledgeable and a terrific storyteller. Some said he spoke in a monotone and put them to sleep but we thought his perfect English accent was calming and we learned a lot. He made history interesting, (like a talented teacher) and separated fact from fiction like the myths of King Arthur and the knights of the roundtable and Robin Hood and his band of merry men. He played music and sang songs appropriate to the region and took pride in timing his stories to something we saw out
the window. All in all a capable guide who made sure things went smoothly during our tour. Our bus driver, or “steerologist” as he was affectionately referred to, was from Wales and it didn’t take long for us to feel comfortable with his driving skills. He was there early each morning in his perfectly starched shirt and tie and he kept his red and white coach just as clean and neat. He had a steady driving style with no radical moves and you could tell safety was his primary concern. As we finished the first half of our tour we had seen the famous Cathedral at Salisbury on a Sunday morning and heard the church choir, visited Plymouth-the site of the pilgrims leaving on the Mayflower in1620, toured the farthest SW point of England at Lands End taking in Michael’s Mount and the resort town of St. Ives, toured the Roman Baths at Bath, spent the day in Wales and learned the significance of a hand made wooden “Love Spoon” from a local merchant, walked around in the medieval town of Chester, drove through the pristine Lake District, enjoyed lunch and gingerbread in Wordsworth’s beloved Grasmere and finally crossed the
border into Scotland at Gretna Green where the blacksmith used to wed runaway couples. Stay tuned for the second half of our bus tour and the last segment of our month long adventure!
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