We headed out to Bath for several days, stayed pretty low key but was able to visit with family members in a socially distant manner. I really liked Bath, enjoyed just wandering around the city. It has a pretty cool vibe to it. One day we drove out to Old Sodbury where Paul spent the first several years of his life, saw his old houses, his primary school, church he was baptized at, etc. We also visited with his 96 year old Grandmother. Wednesday Paul's cousin, Vicky and family came down to Bath and hung out with us. Then Thursday, her sister, Becky and boys came down, plus Paul's Uncle Bob and girlfriend Sandra came to Bath to visit with us. We were lucky that our Airbnb had a nice sized living room so we could all hang out in there drinking tea. We drank so much tea in England, even Kyle began drinking it and liking it! We went to Sally Lunn's World Famous tea house, which I was all excited had gluten free scones for their Cream Tea, but none of Paul's family had ever heard of this "world famous" place! Boy I fell for their marketing! They are supposedly famous for their buns. Both Paul and Kyle tried these huge buns slathered in butter, then you add clotted cream and jam on top of that. Neither boy was able to finish it. I had the pleasure of going to a yoga class in the botanical gardens section of a big park in Bath. It was a very nice setting and good yoga, I felt like part of a community for an hour. 😊

We were in Bath from Monday through Friday, on Friday we took the scenic route to our next place, since we had 5 hours between check in and check out. We drove to Chepstow, Wales, adding our 12th country to our resume. (Of course, Paul claims he went to 13, since he ran around the Vatican in Rome!) Chepstow was another cute little town, we had some snacks and a drink in a local pub then continued on our way to Gloucester. The only thing I wanted to do in Gloucester, was go to Gloucester Cathedral and see where several of Harry Potter scenes were filmed at. It is a beautiful cathedral and it was fun seeing the "hallways of Hogwarts." Then we continued north towards the area of Paul's cousin's wedding. The Airbnb we stayed at was down a narrow road with a dairy farm at one end and fields surrounding us. There was not much around, we had to drive 10 minutes to find a place to get food at, which happened to be a post office, café and little grocery shop all in one! It was very peaceful though. Robert and Felicity's wedding was fabulous! It was an all day event, so we had lots of time to catch up with Paul's relatives, while eating and drinking and dancing. A great time was had by all!

On Sunday we left the fields to go visit another farm, Diddly Squat Farm, which is owned by Jeremy Clarkson and was showcased in the TV show Clarkson's Farm. If you haven't seen the show, it is quite funny, so put it on your list the next time you want a good laugh. After some fries and a beer at the Farm stand we drove onward to Oxford. We walked around Oxford for an hour, so Kyle could see Oxford University, which he now wants to attend. Okay by me, since I really liked the city! That night we stayed with Paul's Uncle Nigel and Auntie Jane in the town of Bampton. We had a great visit in their beautiful backyard and the next day they gave us a private tour of the Downton Abbey scenes that were filmed their in Bampton. After a nice visit and tour, on Monday evening we drove to our last destination, a hotel at Heathrow airport. Our time in England was just about finished.

Doorway used in Harry Potter Troll scene from Harry Potter

Tuesday we had to get up bright and early to head to the airport and wait in lots of lines! But our 9 1/2 hour flight from London to Atlanta on Virgin Atlantic went smoothly and they kept bringing us food and drinks, so everyone was happy. We had a 4 hour layover in Atlanta, which turned even longer due to a storm that we sat through on the runway. They shut down the airport before we could take off, but as the pilot said, "It's better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground!" We finally made it home late Tuesday night and we were all exhausted, climbing straight into bed! 11 weeks, 12 countries and a million memories. Our trip is done.

Can I start planning the next trip now??????😛