Are we (virtually) there yet?

"Main Street" Lavenham

It has already been established that I am a magazine junkie - as long as the magazines are about England. As I devour every word of the magazines, I peruse even the advertisements at the back of these publications. This week an advertisement for a beautiful historical Conde Nast hotel in Suffolk caught my eye and gave me the idea for taking a virtual vacation with the kiddoes and y'all of course.The reality of spending a week in England currently seems a tad remote!

So - we're going to spend the week staying at the Swan Hotel in Lavenham, Suffolk and exploring some of the National Trust properties in the area as well as privately owned farms, museums, cathedrals, zoos and of course gorgeous tea rooms. I'm really looking forward to it! To make life easier and cheaper we'll be using our British Heritage Pass - sort of a ticket/passport to places of interest.

Lavenham is one of Britain's best preserved Medieval villages. It was prosperous in the 14th century on account of its thriving cloth trade and is one of those gorgeous villages that had a market square and a guildhall, an almshouse, a warren of winding narrow streets (studded, I trust, with antiques shops and second hand book sellers). The Church of St Peter and St Paul there dates to 1486 and has fabulous stained glass windows.

The Swan hotel is definitely a hotel with a history. Imagine waking up in this room! Built in the 1400s the hotel is made up of three Medieval houses. In 1667 the landlord was called John Girling and in that fantastic English dynastic tradition where families live in one location for generation after generation, there are still Girlings living in Lavenham today.

My American friends will certainly appreciate the American contribution to this inn's history. The hotel's historic bar was haunt not only of the RAF but also of the U.S. 487th bomber squadron during the second world war. Some of the stories from this period are probably better told in the bar there itself!

On our first day here in Lavenham I think we may be pretty jet-lagged so we'll take it easy, settling into the sumptuousness of the Swan and strolling around the village window shopping. We'll probably need a place for lunch so will go and enjoy the home made organic food and real ales (well, not the kiddies!) provided by The Greyhound Pub. Please understand that a pub in the U.K. is not a place from which children are necessarily banned - most have lovely beer gardens (sadly and wistfully, as hubby points out, beer does not grow on trees in these gardens!)and do excellent food. DO not think of an English pub as being anything like an American re-creation of one!

I think after lunch we will return to our home away from home for a nice restorative nap. We'll need to acclimatize asap because tomorrow there's going to be a lot to see. Dig out your walking shoes and a brolley - it looks like it might rain!

Gosh I have enjoyed traveling this way today. I haven't spent a dime yet, children 1, 2 and 3 have been politely cordial about the pictures they've been shown of Lavenham, have learned what the Medieval period was and best of all, no plaintive cries from the back of the car/boat/plane....."Are we nearly there yet?"