England, Day 1

On a whim and a dream, my mom, Mari and I went to Bath, and London (with a day trip to Paris) for 8 nights. With this being my first trip to England, as well as my mom's, we relied on Mari's expertise to guide us on this incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience. It took a lot of planning, organizing, and arrangements on Mari's part. She was very intuitive on what we would enjoy, in the timespan that worked for us. Mari did an incredible job! Also, I must mention that our husbands and families were very understanding and supportive of this trip, thank you!

So we flew into Heathrow Airport Friday, February 13. Our Delta flight was sparse so we were able to stretch out in our own rows and got some shut eye. (Mari and I also enjoyed several episodes of The Mindy Project.) We arrived in London late afternoon. Our driver, Neil of Celtic Horizons, was a jovial, informative native from Bath, our first stop. He drove us for the 2+ hour journey to our destination heading into evening in sporadic rains.

When we arrived at our spacious room at Brooks Guest House, it was already dark. We took a 5 minute stroll to Martini Restaurant, an excellent Italian restaurant. My first impressions of England were mainly made in the dark, mysterious and friendly and exciting all at once.