Members and friends of the local Let’s Travel Club enjoyed seeing and walking through many gardens and displays of flowers as they participated in the Chelsea Flower Show and Floriade May 22-30.
The travelers met their fellow participants in the tour as everyone enjoyed a traditional English meal at the welcome dinner. The meal consisted of soup or salad, roast beef with carrots, potatoes, cauliflower. One of the highlights of this meal was the dessert—sticky toffee pudding.
The first full day in London included a trip to Kent and a visit to the Sissinghurst Castle Garden which is referred to as “the Garden of England.” Several hours were spent walking the paths throughout this beautiful garden. Lunch was available on the grounds. The day ended with the Let’s Travel group attending a performance of “Phantom of the Opera” at the Her Majesty’s Theater.
As the group enjoyed a tour of London on the next day, there was much evidence of the upcoming 70th Jubilee. Many store fronts added flowers at or near the entrance to “dress up” the area. The tour included crossing the Thames several times as the bus passed Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and many other iconic features of the city.
The Let’s Travel group chose to enjoy lunch at Byron’s Hamburger Restaurant after the city tour. In the U.S. this would be called a diner. The food was delicious and the waitstaff was friendly and helpful.
After lunch some travelers chose to visit Kensington Palace and others chose to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum. Both groups thought they had made the best decision as each enjoyed touring the place of their choice.
A special group dinner that evening was at the Old Bank of London. Another delicious meal was served and appreciated.
The last full day in London was spent at the Chelsea Flower Show. The Queen attended the show earlier in the week. Chelsea is described as the world’s most famous flower show and is sponsored by the Royal Horticultural Society. There were gorgeous flower displays, stunning garden designs, and a full lane of vendors for purchasing souvenirs. Almost everyone bought something to take home that will remind them of the beautiful displays.
The time came to leave London and move on to Amsterdam to attend the Floriade 2022. The trip was made on the Eurostar High Speed Train. The ride was very smooth and fast. The train was air-conditioned and even had Wi-Fi except when the train was in the tunnel under the English Channel.
The first full day in Amsterdam included a cruise through the many canals. The sides of the canals were lined with houseboats. They weren’t especially pretty or fancy, but they were very expensive. The mooring fee is determined by the number of square meters of the house boat.
These fees range from 40,000 to one million Euros. There are approximately 2,500 house boats along the canals.
Following the tour of the canals, everyone was invited to participate in a walking food tour. The group had the opportunity to walk the streets and visit a number of eating establishments. Once again, flowers caught the attention of everyone. While walking by apartment buildings, there were many with decorations and flower arrangements on the outside of the windows or balconies.
The final full day in Amsterdam was spent at the Floriade 2022. The Floriade is in the Netherlands every 10 years. One can visit this year’s celebration of the horticultural exhibits until October of 2022. The exhibits of many countries display their culture, their plants and flowers, and their local innovations. The theme of the Floriade is “Growing Green Cities.” The attendees walked over 148 acres as they viewed the presentations of each country.
Those participating in this tour were: Jeanne Shouse from Austin; Donna Mitchell from Groesbeck; Amy Kent from Oakwood; Cindy Shaunfield from Pearland; Becky Rex from Lafayette, LA; Judy Wardle from Streetman; Jerri McBay from Fairfield.
The only day trip on the current calendar is a visit to the Bass Hall in Ft. Worth to see Lion King. The date of this trip is January 21, 2023.
There is still plenty of room on this trip.
Let’s Travel Club plans to travel with Collette in September of 2022 to Switzerland, Austria, Bavaria that includes the Oberammergau Passion Play, and in October there is a tour Iceland’s Magical Northern Lights on the schedule. The Passion Play takes place every 10 years.
The 2022 production replaces the 2020 date that was postponed. There are two more Collette tours scheduled for 2023. The group plans a land and cruise tour of Alaska in June and a tour to Scotland in August. Please call Jerri McBay at 903-388-2243 if you would like to know more about any of these tours.
