United Kingdom, 2014

Someone has to start it and, since it the family's 70th birthday present to me, I might as well be the one...

It's a year away and time to start figuring out what we're doing and when.

First discovery - it's cheaper to fly on weekdays (and cheaper still if that doesn't include Monday or Friday), than on weekends (a "duh!" discovery), but we're considering renting an apartment in London (referred to as a "without meals") for a week and they rent weekend to weekend.

Second discovery - rail travel is extremely easy throughout the UK (another "duh!", although I didn't realize quite how easy), but it isn't cheap.  A round trip for five London - York and return (2 hrs each way),  is about the same as a car (well, large van) rental for the week.  The car issue is flexibility and luggage lugging (pluses) versus congestion (which is supposed to be terrible in the cities - London, York and Edinburgh).

Third discovery -- York has more going for it than I expected.  "The midlands" were always described to me as a tourist's wasteland, but York has a great Gothic Minster (church), a Viking excavation and recreation combo, and a 700 year old stone tower.  Oh..... and the British Railway Museum.  I almost forgot that one. ;-)

Anyway, that's the opening salvo for a year's worth of preparations.

Dad out....