summer travels

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"When you're tired of London, you're tired of life." Or so says my friend Ruth who, having started traveling at the age of 50, has now spent just 10 days short of a year in England.

Saturday over coffee and cinnamon buns we met to study maps, look at guidebooks, and talk about my trip this summer during which I will be spending nearly eight weeks in England. She deluged me with literally dozens of little guidebooks that she has collected over all her travels and told me about all her adventures and favorite places. She gave me specific instructions to make sure not to miss the knocker on the wall of Durham Cathedral or the gingerbread at a cafe near Wordsworth's Dove Cottage. It was a perfectly lovely Saturday morning and made me all the more excited for the coming summer and all the more grateful for Ruth's friendship.

[pictures from last summer - in order from top to bottom: cliffs of dover, oxford, and canterbury cathedral]
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