UK Time Travel

Leaving Amsterdam was easy. Getting to our next destination, the Hoek of Holland ferry terminal, was not. Holland is not a particularly large country, unless you have a ferry to catch and you accidentally take a train in the wrong direction.

That is how we ended up with a tour of southeast Holland.

That is how we ended up watching Napoleon Dynamite from our bunk beds on an overnight ferry to England. And, that, is how our girls trip to the UK began.

I am not going to lie to you, I had no idea what the Cotswolds were before Liz suggested that we come here. Just a short drive north of London, the Cotswolds are London's Hamptons. And, while b&b's and hikes in the countryside were a slight departure from the type of travel that I have done with these ladies, I accepted without hesitation, knowing from experience that the three of us find fun wherever we go.

The ferry here from Holland might as well have been a time machine. Cream tea, lace doilies, and sheepdog artwork. Wandering through pastures (we might have been trespassing at some point).

But our UK visit wasn't just a trip into the distant past, it became a trip into the recent past when we visited our friend, Victoria, for her 30th birthday in nearby Stamford. The theme needs no introduction. (Side note: shockingly, all of our costumes were purchased at regular department stores, not costume shops. Lace and all.).

For my younger friends from school, it was an opportunity to dress in a way that they never could because they were too young. For me, and the rest of us who were born in the 70's, it was an excuse to dress in a way that we never could because we were too good.

 I'm not advocating 80s fashion or suggesting that we should bring it back on a permanent basis; however, I will say that it makes a damn good theme for a party.