“If I take one more
step, I’ll be the farthest from home that I’ve ever been…”
With all due respect to the characters of Bilbo Baggins and
Samwise Gamgee, I could not help but keep the thought of J.R.R. Tolkien’s
Hobbiton and Middle-earth close to mind as I set out with five delightful
friends on a journey that, while expertly mapped out by Foot Trails, took me on
an adventure that I had not possibly fathomed in its entirety.
First a little back-story:
Planning in earnest for this trip began about a year ago,
but my journey started much farther back now that I think back on it. I have always struggled to have a healthy
body, and never considered myself to be athletic growing up. I suppose there are a myriad of reasons for
that, but I would guess the competitive nature of sports kept me from feeling
like I was “good” at being active in any of its forms. I’ve discovered as I’ve grown older that I am
competitive with myself, but not with others.
That’s posed some issues for me as I’ve worked at finding the physical
activity that suited me best. I try to
keep up with those ahead of me.
Sometimes that’s a good thing, and very motivating. Sometimes that’s not so great, and I end up
overworking my body to the point that I don’t want to try it again and give it
up (Um… hello… yoga anyone?). This has
all been part of the learning curve for me, and it was a revelation when I
figured out that it was hampering my success!
But I’m getting ahead of myself…
Those who know me well, know that I’m an ovarian cancer survivor
– ten years! While it was a difficult
time, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone or want to go through it again, it did
have some positive outcomes -- the greatest of which is that I want to be more
than a survivor. I want to thrive, not
just survive!
Yet alas… not only did I gain all the weight back that I
lost through chemo, I gained more. I
found I was “rewarding” myself for defeating cancer a little too much with food
– after all I’d spent nearly nine months not eating much of anything, I was
making up for lost time. And in the
meantime chemo slowed down my already leisurely activity to a standstill. I’ve had a long uphill climb (more about
hills later!)…
Fast-forward a few years and I’d really had enough of
feeling sluggish and bloated. I’ve
talked with my doctor about low thyroid and a slow metabolism to no avail. At this point I really don’t know if that’s
an issue or not – the current tests for thyroid say not, but I’m still dubious. I DO know that I have a very slow metabolism
(testing does bear me out here), but it seems the only way to get it to work
more efficiently is to be physically active.
There was nothing for it – I had to learn to be an athlete.
Several years ago, my workplace started a wellness program
and eventually I happened upon their weight-management program. I can go in every week to weigh-in and talk
with a trained professional about my fitness and nutrition goals. I’m an over-thinker and I’ve resisted a lot
of weight-loss programs over the years, but little by little, bit by bit I’ve
started to make headway – with less whining about the unfairness of it all, and
more proactive working at my goals. Twenty
pounds lost so far (with a lot more to go, alas!) – it was a start.
Then the hiking trip opportunity arose, and suddenly I knew
THIS was it. This is what I’ve been
waiting for to kick my physical activity to the next level. Once I committed to the trip, I knew I had to
work hard not to let my friends down once we hit the road. I didn’t want to be the one at the end of the
line holding everyone up (okay, it happened that I still did this from time to
time but it usually gave everyone else a short break while I caught up!), nor
did I ever want to give up when the road got difficult.
And do you know what?
Despite how long our hike was, or how challenging walking up a steep
hill was, I NEVER felt like giving up! I
just wanted to catch my breath – even my knees felt good! This ended up being a very personal journey
for me, and like Frodo I’ve come back changed in ways that I’m not even sure
I’m cognizant of, which is why I’ve been slow to tell everyone about it. (Though I hope they are positive changes!)
That said… here I go!
SO… back to Bilbo & Sam… both “adventure” and Sam’s
quote (from the film Fellowship of the Ring) were said multiple times
throughout our trip, probably at least once a day. Traveling to a new place is always exciting
to me, and I’m always eager to go on my next trip. Yet, hiking… physically putting one foot in
front of the other on foreign soil is an amazing way to experience a
place. Whether it’s running through an
entire field of lovely little buttercups or happening upon a herd of curious
cows, dodging the ubiquitous stinging nettles or climbing a hillfort to the
summit where King Arthur “may” have built Camelot, it’s a tangible moment in
time where I was present body, mind and spirit.
So, yes… when I took one more step, I was indeed farther from home than
I’d ever been! (More about “adventures”
in a bit!)
My portion of the trip started late in the afternoon on May
13th. Mom & Dad drove me
to the airport and I breezed surprisingly smoothly through check-in and
security. The flight took off and landed
pretty close to on time in Atlanta, and I met up with Liz & Elaine. Oh my gosh, how excited were we?? We had a little snack then headed to our gate
and boarded on time… but alas, the antennae on our plane needed to be replaced,
so we took off about an hour late.
Meanwhile Laura & Cathy left from Boston and Sheri would leave from
Seattle.
Our New England gals got in much earlier than we did and
headed for the hotel, but we were able to meet up with Sheri at Heathrow and all
took the shuttle to Paddington Station.
As this was a hiking trip, we began right away by walking from there to
our hotel rather than spending money on a cab.
It was only about a mile away and it was a sunny afternoon (and all our
luggage had wheels!). Finally we were
all met at the London House Hotel and paired off in twos for our first night’s
stay. I roomed with Sheri and we settled
into our small but nice room on Floor -1 (ie: the basement level). Laura and Cathy had already done some
scouting so we knew where to find coffee and breakfast in the a.m.! Once we freshened up we decided to head out
to look for a pub for dinner and quickly found The Bayswater Pub, which suited
just fine. The food was good and the ale
refreshing! To walk off our meal we
continued on to Kensington Gardens and spent a good hour (at least?) roaming
its wide avenues and taking in its lovely scenery. At the far end of the park we saw QueenVictoria’s memorial to Prince Albert, as well as the Royal Albert Hall
across the street. In reading about the
monument later I discovered that Prince Albert has only been re-gilded in the
past twenty or so years, as he was painted black during WWII to keep from being
an obvious target from the air. On our
way back we stopped at a Tesco and a Sainsbury for a late evening snack supplies,
and we sat around gabbing and catching up until it was time to head to bed.
[Mileage for the day: 2.72 miles on Tuesday + 5.38 miles on Wednesday]
The next morning we all trooped down the street to Pret รก
Manger for coffee, croissants and other breakfast items and brought them back
to the hotel lobby to map out our one full day in London. First stop… Westminster Abbey! I think most of us had been here before (this
was Elaine’s first time in Europe, I think, so all was new to her!), but we all felt
like we needed to revisit this storied church so steeped in history. I especially wanted to make my “pilgrimage”
to Henry V’s grave – I don’t know what it is about him that I feel such an
affinity for, but I was glad to be able to visit his tomb again, Shakespeare’s
immortal words ringing in my mind: We few… we happy few… we band of
brothers… I also was looking for the
memorial to Jane Austen, but I think workers had it covered as they were
updating lighting fixtures in that area.
Once through we met up to decide our next course of action. Several of us were interested in seeing
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and our docent Christopher urged us to walk to it
as it wasn’t too far away. I think
Brits’ idea of close by is different than ours as they are already predisposed
to walking! Regardless… we were there to
walk, so we walked!
Sheri & Laura headed to the London Eye as the rest of us
made our leisurely way along the Thames toward Millennium Bridge and the new
Globe. It was a gorgeously sunny day,
not too hot and perfect for being out and about the city, as the many runners we
dodged along our route certainly attested to – one has to wonder if there would
have been quite so many out on a typical English grey
day? As we crossed the Millennium Bridge
we glimpsed St. Paul’s Cathedral while our intended destination gleamed ahead
of us, looking all freshly whitewashed!
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre was built on the site (or nearly so) of the
old Globe, which had been gone several centuries. Sam Wanamaker, actor and director,
spearheaded the project in the late 1990s canvassing academics and scholars of
Shakespearean history to design an approximation of what the old Globe may have
been like. According to our guide,
Callum, (who we had a bit of a crush on… ah… actors!) while it looks like what
we 21st century people believe a Tudor-era theatre should look like,
it was probably somewhat different. But
then everyone now would say, “That couldn’t possibly be what it looked like –
it’s not Tudor!” Even now, it’s all a
representation just like a set on stage!
While we were there we had an opportunity to watch about 15-20 minutes
of rehearsal of Antony and Cleopatra. I was in theatre-geek heaven! When our tour was over it was time to head
back to the hotel to freshen up – afternoon tea awaited us at The Orangery at Kensington Palace! I can’t speak for any
of the other ladies, but I felt quite elegant sitting in the bright, elegant
tea room sipping my lemon-ginger tea and nibbling on cucumber-mint sandwiches
and currant scones… delightful!
Now here is where the “adventure” first comes in! After tea we were booked to see the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. We
needed to be at the Tower by 9:30pm – sharp!
If we were late, we would miss out.
We figured we needed to leave the hotel no later than 8:30pm to take the
Tube back down the Thames to the Tower.
We had split up as we left The Orangery, but miraculously we all met in
the lobby of the hotel at 8:35pm and hurried down the street to the
station. When we checked the map to see
which train we needed to be on, our stop was on both the inbound and outbound
trains! Which way to go?? We made our decision… and of course, you’ve
guessed that we chose the wrong one! A
gentleman in our car overheard us talking and quickly informed us we were going
the wrong way, so we got off as soon as we could and tried a different one –
this one was going in the right direction, but was taking the long way around…
would we get there in time?? Literally
running out the station to the Tower we headed pell-mell toward the gate, but
it was 9:30pm by this time… and again, we took the wrong route – the gate was
the other way! We finally gave up as we
realized even when we found the gate we would be too late. Disappointed, but determined to make the best
of a lovely evening we caught our collective breaths and walked down the Tower
Bridge, which was all lit up to show off its glory. Along the way we discovered the moon was full
that night, and we watched its progress along the night sky as we strolled back
over the Thames toward the Tube. Before
we went down to the platform we walked around the Tower the other way and did
some exploring along the Thames, finding a dock (we were looking for a place to
stop for a drink!). Finding a young
woman at the end with her briefcase and trenchcoat we discovered she was
waiting for the ferry, which is part of the Tube system – and our day passes
got us onboard and partially back towards our hotel. Fancy that, a full moon and a river cruise
along the Thames! We decided that
despite our disappointment at missing the ceremony, the evening turned out even
better than we’d planned. I’m
paraphrasing Sheri here, who said, “An adventure is just a stressful situation
that turns out all right in the end!”
(This was only the first of several such escapades!) [Mileage for the
day: 10.66 miles – rather auspicious!]
The next morning, we again walked down the street to get our
breakfast and returned to await our ride to Wiltshire! By lunchtime we were settled at a lovely
country inn/pub called The Compasses Inn in Lower Chicksgrove (kind of a
perfect name for our group!) for our first few days of actual hiking. With the help of the young women on staff (I
think Izzy was the name of one?) we wrestled our luggage up the stairs into our
rooms. This time I was sharing with
Elaine, and we loved our pretty feminine room with the great view of the front
lawn! Lunch and ale were first on our
minds, and we quickly went back down to the pub to order our meal and head out
to the back garden. I should mention
that I’m not big on ale, but I do love hard cider and they had a lovely local
one to go with my bacon & brie baguette.
We spent an hour or so out there soaking up our first real glimpse of
the English countryside and waiting for our box from Foot Trails with our maps
and hiking directions – it was supposed to be waiting for us at the inn, but
hadn’t arrived yet! Adventure #2! That day’s planned hike was just a short one,
so we decided to go ourselves and walk around to find a public footpath (which
are everywhere!). We crossed a field and
headed down a wooded path to find a blanket of bluebells along the way. We also found mud… well I did anyway – I was
the first one “mudded!” While we were out,
Liz was able to talk with Alison from Foot Trails about our missing box, and
she assured us she would get one to us that night. As we gathered in the pub for dinner, David
arrived with it and we had a thorough chat with him about our hikes and all the
other instructions and arrangements. So
again, it turned out for the better!
(And the box arrived the next day, of course, in the post!) We had another wonderful meal and turned in
early, as the next day would be a big day! [Mileage: 4.06 miles]
At this point I probably won’t go through each day’s hike in
its entirety, but this first one was particularly important for me… it was the
long one… the one I’d been training for all this time! It was supposed to be 11.5 miles (or
thereabouts), but it turned out quite a bit longer! We were blessed our entire 10 days with the
most beautiful sunny weather, and this first hiking day was no different. It was so temperate, in fact, that I only
wore a tank top with my jeans (with plenty of sunscreen, thanks to Elaine,
since I forgot mine!) – no jacket or layering needed! Our hike started out with us walking into the
town of Tisbury, and early on I discovered my nemesis for the day – hills! Now, I suspected all along that there would
be hills, and knew I needed to work on this in particular while I was training…
but I really had no concept of how many I would encounter. Pavement, fields, woods… all terrains had them
at some point, and each one that day I’m afraid daunted me. As I mentioned above, I don’t like to hold
anyone up and have to wait for me. I
tried not to be a baby about them, but I’m afraid I cursed them quite a bit
initially. Eventually though I would
just look at it, sigh and soldier on.
Elaine stayed back with me a lot of time, insisting she liked my pace! But enough about the hills – they were what
they were. I just stopped when I needed
to breathe then continued on. This day
was one where we encountered a herd of cows in a field that were more curious
about us than we were about them (though we were curious enough!). They followed us across the field (waiting
for a snack, we think) to the gate – we had to be very careful not to let them
out! Along with the hills there were
many stiles this day, and those I actually enjoyed, though stinging nettles
lurked – and so did barbed wire. Sheri
scraped her knee badly over one, but fortunately we all had first aid supplies
in our packs, and the wound was quickly cleaned up with a bandaged applied
(which lasted long enough to stop the blood, but soon fell off afterwards with
all the walking and climbing). This was
also the day of Adventure #3! We had
been hiking all morning, and were finally approaching the town where a pub was
suggested we stop for lunch. We were all
ready for a break and in need of more water, but when we arrived the pub was
closed due to a private event! Nor was
there another place to eat in the village.
One of the staff gave us rather vague directions that there was another
pub up the road, so we headed back the way we came in search of sustenance and
rest. We walked quite awhile with no
sign of a pub or town in sight. We
decided to wait on the side of the road while Liz & Sheri walked a little
farther to see if it might be up ahead.
They soon came back without any luck, so we sat in the hedgerows and
pulled out what snacks we had in our packs for a meager lunch. I had put buttered toast from breakfast in my
bag, and Liz and I shared that along with a granola bar and what water I had left. Once refreshed we got back to our feet and
resumed our way to Wardour Castle. I’m
not sure we would consider our roadside snack better than having lunch at the
pub, but it was still a bit of an adventure nonetheless. The castle was still some distance away, but
we made it and quickly descended upon the gift/snack shop for cold water (and a
diet Coke for me – after the water, of course!) and some snacks along with our
tickets to enter the castle. We sat out
on a bench for a few minutes to catch our breath then went in to explore the
ruined castle. I couldn’t help but think
of Ann Radcliff’s gothic classic The Mystery of Udolpho upon seeing the ruin –
the sky had clouded over by the time we arrived and Wardour had somewhat of a
spooky look to it. Yet, it seemed
entirely wholesome once inside – no creepy or ghostly encounters! I think we spent about an hour going through
it. At last it was time to get back on
the road. There was some discussion
about calling for a taxi at this point, as we still had several miles to go to
get back to the inn. I was close to
giving in, but I realized that I had spent a whole year training for this walk
in particular, there was no way I wanted to stop short of my goal! We all took one last bathroom break, drank
more water and went forth. The sun came back out on our trek back, and those last miles were tiring. I’d been checking my Fitbit
all along the way, and we were already well past our 11.5 miles, but we were
getting close. It was then I realized
just what I was accomplishing with my friends… ten years ago I could never have
realized I would be able to walk this far, and it was taking all my
self-control not to burst into tears as we recognized the road up (yes, up –
damn those hills!) to the inn. When we
reached that front lawn I gave in, SO happy to have achieved this goal! I may not be an Olympic-quality athlete, but
I did something requiring an athleticism that I didn’t know I had in me until
that day – we rejoiced with a big hug and kisses all around! Water, stretches, a hearty dinner and early
bedtime, in that order. That was just
day one! [Mileage: 14.85 miles]
The next day’s hike was titled The Stonemason’s Trail, and
we walked past quarries and could see chalk carvings in the distant
hillside. Huzzah! The suggested pub was open this day – The BlackDog – which had a fun gothic look to the dรฉcor in the dining room. I should mention that I had been having some
difficulty with my special bank card not working anywhere, which did not get
resolved until we moved on to our next inn.
This was decidedly NOT an adventure!
Fortunately I did have some credit cards with me too, and temporary help
from my friends. [Mileage: 9.64 miles]
We said good-bye to Alan, Izzy and The Compasses Inn after
breakfast and settling our bills. Andy
came to pick us up in the van to take us to our next destination with a
side-trip to Stonehenge. I am still
processing my day there – it’s a place I’ve wanted to see for such a long time,
and it did not disappoint! Again,
another beautiful, sunny day – though windy – but not cold in the least. Every angle of the sacred stones is
incredible. The English Heritage had
just opened their new visitors’ center this past March and are still in the
process of re-landscaping the old car park next to the site. I think it’s easy to see that it will show
Stonehenge to an even better advantage, though visitors still won’t be able to
get close enough to touch the stones.
Still, the path that takes one around starts somewhat far away, but by
the time the circuit is complete I was really quite close. On our way back to the visitors’ center the
six of us ate an entire pint of fresh strawberries that Laura had bought right
there at the pick-up/drop-off point. (Elaine
also bought some – cherries too – that we saved for breakfast another day) This is how strawberries are supposed to
taste! Before loading up in the van
again, we grabbed some lunch to eat on the drive into Somerset.
The Queen’s Arms in Corton Denham is quite lovely and the
staff was so accommodating and friendly.
While The Compasses Inn was very comfortable and had quite a local
flavor to it, The Queen’s Arms (while equally comfortable and homey) seemed
more like a destination inn (if that makes sense?). There are locals certainly, but I felt like
there were more visitors to the area here.
Laura and I shared the room here, and we ended up with the deep lavender
soaking tub in our bathroom, which I made sure to take advantage of! We mostly rested that afternoon (though
Elaine & Sheri had their own adventure doing an abbreviated Ghost Tales
hike), and I got my bank card situation straightened out at last! Dinner was delicious – I had Buttermilk
Chicken and American Fries (skinny fries).
So why did I go all the way to Somerset, England to eat fried chicken,
you ask? I considered that, honestly…
but I wanted to see their interpretation of this singularly “American”
dish. It ended up not being anything
like KFC or what we know as southern fried chicken. It was more like barbequed chicken, and there
was just the faintest hint of curry. The
English do love their curry! [Mileage: 2.44
miles]
You might have noticed that I have not mentioned one bland
or boring meal so far. In fact, none
were. Every meal I had was delicious and
prepared like a five-star-celebrity-chef specialty. If anyone tells you the food in England is
bad, they haven’t eaten there in awhile!
In particular, I think these inns and B&Bs are pulling out all the
stops for their guests. By the way,
never pass up an opportunity to try a sticky toffee pudding – anywhere!
Our first hike in Somerset was following in the steps of
King Arthur up to Cadbury Castle, which is actually a hillfort – no actual
castle rests at the top, but there was probably some sort of fortification at
various times. It is purported to be
where Arthur built Camelot, so naturally I was eager to get to the top (the
hills were much gentler here – no straight, steep inclines!). We also had a tag-a-long this day. Not fifteen minutes after we left the inn, we
encountered a springy, sturdy terrier mid-field. All of us being “dog-people” we stopped to
scratch her ears and make over her, but once we started to move on she bounded
ahead of us, almost as if to lead the way.
We tried to get her to head home, but she was determined to stick with
us, and did most of the day. We even
took her into the pub at lunchtime (the appropriately named The Camelot Inn)
because there was concern that she might not know how to get back home. After lunch we checked out another church
where Arthur & his knights were supposed to have drunk from the spring, and
we untied her there (Elaine had a rope to use as a leash), and that was the
last we saw of her. I kept thinking she
must be our spirit guide for the day as she would run ahead, sniffing the
ground for all the good smells, but never got so far ahead that she couldn’t
see us. She would just stop and wait for
us to catch up, then go on ahead again.
Since she was a terrier of some sort, we ended up calling her “Toto.” We did find out later from the inn staff that
she was a local farm dog, and that she was used to ranging far and wide. She got home safe and sound before us, and we
were all relieved! Standing on the
summit of Cadbury hillfort was an amazing feeling – you can see for miles in
all directions! Sheri took off her boots
to walk in the grass, and I knelt to run my fingers through it and feel the earth
beneath. There was something very
spiritual about the place for sure! That
evening we had dinner with Cathy’s cousin and her husband who she hadn’t seen
in many years – they were a delightful couple and we enjoyed the conversation,
learning about their volunteer work after the flooding the area had experienced
the past several years during the winter and early spring. [Mileage: 10.09 miles]
Our last hike to the town of Sherborne was supposed to be
relatively short. We were to walk into
town, have some lunch then shop, and a taxi would bring us back to the
inn. This was adventure #4! Somewhere in the instructions it should have
said go this way for the short hike or go this other way for the long hike… we
took the long hike! Eventually we did
make it into town, but well after noon – fortunately unlike the previous
country pubs we’d encountered, this one did not close between 2pm and 6pm. We had a leisurely lunch (taking off our
boots – heaven!) and regrouping before heading over to the beautiful SherborneAbbey, which was spared destruction when Henry VIII closed all the monasteries
as the town purchased the abbey from the Crown to be their local church. The fan vaulting is particularly stunning,
and some of the stained glass is extraordinary.
I took many pictures here! After
the abbey we walked up the street to window shop – as all the shops were closed
or closing by this time. We all met at
the Sainsbury market that we spied on our way in and gathered up some cheese
and bread and fruit to eat since none of us were particularly hungry for dinner
after our late lunch. A taxi blessedly
did come to take us back to the inn – we were quite footsore by this time! Everyone got cleaned up and met in Laura's
& my room to relax and gab and snack.
We were to head back to London the next day. [Mileage: 11.04 miles]
We asked the van to pick us up at 1pm instead of noon as
originally planned so Laura, Elaine and Sheri could taxi back to Sherborne for
some shopping since we’d missed out the day before and to check out Sherborne Castle (built by Sir Walter Raleigh), which we only saw from afar. They
all brought their packed suitcases to our room since we would check out before
they got back. Then we had to move it
all down to the office once we settled up our portion of the bills. Liz, Cathy and I walked up to the little village
church then hung out in the pub area until the others returned and it was time
to leave. This was our only real day of
rain, and I put on my jacket for the first time in ten days! The ride back from Somerset was a bit longer
than the one out to Wiltshire, and we were mostly quiet – though our driver
this day was quite friendly and entertaining.
He deposited us at the Arora Hotel near Heathrow a little bit before dinner
time. Cathy & I shared the room this
time. Before dinner we headed to the
hotel’s computers to check in for our flights and print our boarding
passes. Dinner was at the hotel’s cafรฉ –
again good food, though I wouldn’t say it was on par with either of the inns’
chefs. We spent about an hour back in
our room going over the trip and eating up the last of the food we bought in
Sherborne, then everyone headed to bed as we needed to catch the shuttle to
Heathrow bright and early! [Mileage: 2.62 miles]
The trip home was long, but not too tedious – until I hit
Logan Airport in Boston. I (sort of)
traveled back with Laura & Cathy (same flight, but other side of the plane –
we waved occasionally. Alas, the flight
was full and getting my seat changed was not really possible), and after we
three went through border security and then customs (fairly snappily, all
things considered) we eventually had to part ways. I had to go to a different terminal, and had
plenty of time though it was kind of far to walk, but I’d been walking so what
was a ten minute stroll through the airport?
All would have been fine except when I got to the new terminal I couldn’t
find a way to get to my gate without going through security again! Grrr!
And really that would’ve been okay too until I realized that I still had
half a bottle of diet Coke in my bag going through the scanner. Rats!
Oh well… it didn’t really delay me, but I was annoyed at myself for not
ditching it when I thought about it on the plane. Mom & Dad were in the cell phone lot
waiting to pick me up (though I had to call because text messaging wasn’t
working, which took several days to figure out), and we detoured to Claddagh
for dinner. One last “pub” meal! I was very glad to see my pup, Nildรซ when I
got home, and sleeping in my own bed was heaven on earth![Mileage: 3.22 miles]
All in all, it was a trip of a lifetime. I hope I may have other opportunities to hike
in new and different places, but I’ll never have my first time hiking again,
especially in a place so near and dear to my heart. There is something so comforting and familiar
about the countryside of England. I don’t
know that I would want to move there at this stage of my life, but I certainly
would enjoy living somewhere like it with the lifestyle to go along with it. For those wondering… 76.67 miles walked
during the entire trip!
One other phrase also went through my head constantly, and
on our last night in London I Googled it to share with everyone:
Home Thoughts From Abroad
Robert Browning
