Our next trip itinerary

My wife and I are not experienced world travelers. Two years ago we both went off the continent for the first time, going to London for a couple of days and then onto Edinburgh and the Scottish highlands. We had a great trip and have been wanting to do another one since about 5 minutes after our plane took off on the way home.

So this summer, we're traveling again. Woo-hoo! Look out Europe!

Here's the itinerary:

August 29th: Fly from Seattle to Denver to Boston to visit Carrie's sister Michelle and her husband Joe. I've never met Joe, but everyone tells me that he's a hoot. I'm looking forward to meeting him!

August 30: Visiting Joe and Michelle. There's a possibility that Carrie & I will be going to Rhode Island to see a very old house that was owned by my ancestors. If that happens, my brother Steve be coming from Seattle and my cousin John and his wife Dallett will be coming from Philadelphia as well. I hope it works out! That would be really cool.

August 31: Visiting Joe & Michelle. The Boston Red Sox are out of town, so we might be able to tour historic Fenway Park - I've always wanted to see (and touch) the Green Monster.

September 1: Visiting Joe & Michelle. We'll need to hit the sack early, because we have a 9AM flight the next morning. Joe & Michelle have told us that they'll take us to the airport, even though it's a three hour drive (each way!). Bless 'em for that.

September 2: Fly from Boston to London. Leave Boston at 9AM. Due to a 5-hour time difference, arrive at Heathrow airport at 8:45PM. We're staying at the Park Inn Russell Square, recommended to us by some friends. It's right behind the British Museum, and just a few blocks from two different tube stops. I got an amazing deal - $116 a night!

September 3: British Museum. The plan is to take it a little easy this day, to recover from jet lag. Carrie also found a rubber stamp store a few block from our hotel, so we might go there. There are several walking tours in the area, and I think we may do one of those this evening, if we're up to it. If you have any good suggestions for recovering from jet lag, let me know!

September 4: Hampton Court Palace. Carrie is setting the agenda for our stay in London, and this is high up on her list. Since Hampton Court is quite a way west of London, I think we'll take a train to get there, and take a river tour to get back. Our hotel in London is about 10-12 blocks from the Thames.

September 5: The Portobello Road Saturday market. This sounds really cool. Antiques, flea market. Saturday evening, we'd like to go see a play (Carrie is leaning towards a comedic version of Hitchock's "The 39 Steps").

September 6: Take the train from London (Euston Station, about 10 blocks from our hotel) to Llandudno, in northern Wales. Llandudno (pronounced "Smith") is a Victorian seaside resort town on the north coast of Wales. It's a good base for exploring the area. We should arrive mid-afternoon, and spend the rest of the afternoon checking into our hotel and exploring the town on foot.

September 7: Pick up a rental car (already reserved) at Llandudno Junction (a suburb of Llandudno), and head south to Portmerion, a small, privately-owned Italianate village where that great 60's TV show "The Prisoner" was filmed, and Harlech Castle. We will also try to ride a narrow-gauge railway.

September 8: More castles: This time Caernarfon and Conwy.

September 9: A day of rest. Find a small pub, sit there and talk to the locals.

September 10: Check out of the hotel, turn in the rental car, and take a train from Llandudno to Bath, in England. Carrie loves Jane Austen, so this is a natural. Arrive in Bath mid-afternoon. Check into the hotel and then go look at the famous Roman baths and the abbey.

September 11: All day bus tour to Stonehenge, Avebury, Lacock village (was the Hogwarts village in the Harry Potter movies), and Castle Combe village in the Cotswolds. Should be a good way to see a number of sites. The tour company has been highly recommended to us.

September 12: Touring Bath. There are some great Georgian buildings, and a Jane Austen museum to see, as well as a highly-recommended costume museum.

September 13: Take a train to Salisbury to see the cathedral.

September 14: Packing and getting ready to leave.

September 15: A very long day. We take a train from bath to London, take the tube from the train station to Heathrow, fly from Heathrow to Boston, from Boston to Detroit, and from Detroit to Seattle. Then we need to get from the airport to home. We'll be getting up in Bath at about 5:15AM their time, and landing at Sea-Tac at about 10:30PM our time. Since we'll be getting home about two hours later, that means we'll be spending 27 hour travelling.

September 16: A day off to recuperate. We'll need it!