Rita Speaks

I have been gone from Vancouver for five weeks now. Very briefly visiting my friend Andrea and her family in Frankfurt and continued on to Denmark to meet my parents in the beach house on the North Sea.Our friend Josh, very generously still allows us to stay there and we always have a great time. We were lucky and had some wonderful sunny days. We walked the beach, played cards and great for me, watched some German TV. Saying "good bye" at the end of the week wasn't too hard because Geoff and I will spend some time at my parents at the end of the trip. But now it was time to meet up with Geoff – we were both excited. It felt a bit like in the old days when we would meet for weekends somewhere in Europe.


We have been touring for about four weeks now and it has been an absolutely wonderful time. I had NO idea how beautiful the countryside is here in England. I just loved the dramatic white cliffs close to Brighton, the rugged but charming villages in Cornwall and our long walks and hikes along stunning cliffs scattered with beautiful wildflowers. Bath and York are total jewels, I had no idea how pretty they would be. The people are so nice, warm and helpful. Of course I was able to make a fool out of myself a couple of times! In Cambridge, after a huge, traditional pub lunch, which included a glass of wine, we went on a guided city tour and while sitting in a church to listen to the guide, I nodded off, how embarrassing ….hope he thought I was just jet-lagged. In Cornwall while at the check-out at the supermarket, the lady said “is that all LUV”, I turned around to see who she was talking to….oh, but it was me she was talking to!!


But, besides the pretty countryside, we have found a lot of history in the buildings, churches, castles and ruins in each of the places we have visited.  Geoff can also spend a looooonnnng time to get THAT perfect picture he has in his mind. Of course the sun has to be in the right spot and I am the little assistant getting the other lens from the backpack – oh, sure let’s just wait for the cloud to move. I know it’s important to him, so I am being patient. But that’s not the only time I have to be patient. Geoff is very diligent when writing his blog; he spends hours to research the pamphlets he collects from the sites, his books and even the Internet to make sure he got the dates and information right. Sure, I can busy myself with packing/unpacking, cooking, doing laundry & ironing and making little homes for us – but when can I use the laptop, is it my turn yet?? When it is finally my turn, I have usually had too much wine and/or I am too tired….maybe tomorrow then, good night husband, author, editor and publisher. We are having a great time on the road exploring places for the first time. The weather has been really not bad at all and the answer to my limiting wardrobe choice is layers...and more layers. Only downside is we miss the grand kids, family and friends!

OK Geoff, I promise you can have the computer back now!!!!