In a
couple of years, I turn 40. Leaving
the kids with the grandparents, my husband and I will travel to England to
celebrate. It will be a marvelous time
to go, the 70th anniversary of the VE Day and 75th
anniversary of the Battle of Britain. It
would be cool to stand in some of the places my characters have stood. Some must-sees on my list.
Royal Air Force Museum – oh yeah, first on my list. Not only do they have planes, but entire
exhibits devoted to the Princess Mary’s Royal Air Force Nursing Service and
Americans in the RAF. Since one of my
heroines is a PM and one of my heroes is an American RAF pilot, my husband will
be dragging me out of those rooms hours after I go in.
Hastings – Although the village of Sandwick-on-Sea and
Thaddington Hall, where my characters reside, are made up, Sandwick has a striking resemblance to the town of Hastings on the southern
east coast of England. I would love to
walk the hills and piers. Hopefully with no barbed wire and land mines on the beach.
Battle of Britain Memorial – not far from Hastings, near
Dover. Looks a lot like the Vietnam
Memorial, with its wall of names.
Imperial War Museums – All of them if my DH will let me, but definitely the ones including Churchill’s War Rooms and IWM Duxford, which was an aerodrome for the Royal Air Force and then the Yanks (Mighty Eighth Air Force) took over. Lots of planes.
The Blitz Party – This will take some planning, but I would
LOVE to attend one while in England. The
Blitz Party is held one night once a quarter.
EVERYONE dresses up in 40’s clothes.
I don’t think you can enter the party without looking like you stepped
out of WW2. Google The Blitz Party and
you’ll see loads of people dressed up from previous parties.
Train stations
fascinate me. Paddington Station would
be cool to visit. I had a Paddington
Bear when I was a kid. Waterloo Station would
be another on my list. I am curious to
see how much it has changed since the war.
Of course, there are
the usual tourist stuff, like the castles, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Trafalgar
Square, etc.
Whose with me?
4 comments:
Sounds like an AWESOME trip, Melissa. I hope you have an absolute blast.
When I was writing S&G I wanted to go to Colonial Williamsburg and spend a couple weeks there. Wanted it so badly I could taste it. Alas, it didn't happen. Though the librarians in the area were fantastic.
So cool you'll be able to visit the places you write about. Sure hope you get to attend a Blitz party. You'd really rock out the 1940s clothing.
Thanks Penny. I LOVE Colonial Williamsburg and since I grew up in MD, my family went there several times. I need to show you my deck of cards I got from there made on the old printing press. They have a marvelous website now.
What a wonderful trip you have planned. I loved Europe but didn't have a chance to see England. The way Europe was rebuilt after the war is astounding.
Fantastic plan! May you have the trip of a lifetime!
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