Mia

My trip to England in May was a literary pilgrimage. I visited the Bronte Parsonage, Stratford-upon-Avon, Keats' house in Hampstead, and Jane Austen's last house in Chawton. And in London, I stayed in Bloomsbury. All the sites were inspiring and wonderful. The most amazing moment was early Sunday morning in Stratford, before all the crowds arrived, walking around the grounds of the Holy Trinity church where Shakespeare is buried, the early morning sun shining on the river Avon, and listening to the church bells ringing, calling the townspeople to church...I realized at that moment that I was walking the same ground that he did at one time, and the feeling was overwhelming.

erica

I went on a Katherine Swynford/John of Gaunt pilgrimage last month. I went to Lincoln, where I saw her chantry in the cathedral and the remains of a house near the cathedral where she lived late in life. I visited what's left of Kettlethorpe Manor, where she lived with her first husband. I went into Kettlethorpe's church. I visited the ruins of Bolingbroke Castle. In London I studied the tomb of Edward III, at Westminster Abbey, which has little statues of some of his children (including John of Gaunt). I wandered around the Thames near where the Savoy Palace once stood and tried to imagine it. I hovered around Lambeth Palace and tried to imagine the Peasant's Revolt. I haven't been to Kenilworth Castle yet, but I'd like to see it someday. <BR> <BR>Last year I went to Winchester and Bath in search of Jane Austen.

NFW

I have a book titled The Lost World of the Impressionists. It has photographs of the original sites of the paintings and also what was there when the book was pub. a few years ago. We drove to many of the sites of my favorite paintings, and it was a moving experience also.

Beth Anderson

glad to see more stories... anyone else? We have not heard from Wes, Art, Dan...

FWhiteside

Having been a 'Bondophile' for many years ( Books & Early Films ) I have found myself taking vacations in some of the spots where Jimmy B. caused mayhem during his adventures :- <BR> <BR>1993 - Manhattan & Florida ( "Live & Let Die" ). <BR> <BR>Last Year - Istanbul ( "From Russia, with love". Japan ( "You only live twice" ). <BR> <BR>

Martha

The book - 84 Charing Cross Road - made me seek out the address when I was in London. Although the bookstore is long gone it was fun to imagine the persons as Hanff presents them, working through the war in the bookstore.

xxx

"Twenty Years A Growing" by Maurice Sullivan pulled me towards the Blasket Islands in Ireland.

Alice

The book I remember have the biggest impact on my travel was "The Hawaii Story" by Queen Liloukilani. In this book she not only give an interesting account of late 19th century Hawaiian monarchy but she also talks about among other things the volcano on the Big Island. I recall her saying that the best thing you can do in your life in the islands is visit the volcano at midnight. I went at night and had an experience that is still with me. Not sure I would have made a night trip if she had not impressed this upon me. <BR> <BR>

Beth Anderson

hi all, I am BACK! finally. the internet was down at work for 2+ days... <BR> <BR>anyone else want to weigh in? <BR> <BR <BR> <BR>

SharonG

Being a Napoleon fan, I read the trilogy by Sandra Guiland (I'm sure I've got this name wrong)just before and during my trip to France. It was great to read about the places where they lived and then go visit them. Especially Malmaison which really feels like a "real" home.

rob

Hi all, <BR> <BR>On my first trip to Europe and made two (non-literary) pilgrimages. <BR> <BR>My first destination was Malta, where my father was born. While there I visited the first flat my grandparents lived in and I also visited some of the sites commemorating Malta's efforts during WWII. It was tremendously moving walking streets that I know had been walked by my family for generations, as well as seeing the places where my grandfather fought during the war. <BR> <BR>Surprisingly, in a way, the most moving places I visited were the WWI battlefields in eastern France and Belgium. As a Canadian, I was moved to tears walking through one of the Canadian cemeteries at Vimy Ridge. I remember seeing row upon row of tombstones emblazoned with the maple leaf, and when I finally happened upon the grave of Private Percival Moore, aged 16 the day he was killed at Vimy, I felt a pride in my country and a gratitude for the sacrifice around me that I had never come close to experiencing in Canada itself. <BR> <BR>Those days were with all the time, money, and effort I put into the trip. <BR> <BR>Rob

Judy

I have read tones of English fictions in my teen, so the names of many places in London became as familiar as the streets names in my hometown. <BR> <BR>The first time I visited London many years ago, instead of going to any tourist sights, I just walked all over London in the whole week: said hellow to all the strange and yet familiar buildings, streets, parks and areas, as though greeting a first seen long term penpal.

Ben Haines

Like many people, in November 1989 I saw television pictures of the young people on the Berlin Wall. So I altered my homeward plans, and reached Berlin in mid December 1989. I've known Berlin since 1956, but that visit was a pilgrimage. I still go (I'll be there next month) and each time I remember those great days. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR>

Mel

The first evening of my first trip to London I went to the Cadogan Hotel for a drink to sit back and imagine Oscar Wilde being dragged out by the police. Small little bar; very quiet. My sister and I were alone, in fact. Newspaper clippings about the event on the wall of the hall that led upstairs. <BR> <BR>

Rebecca

We visited the house where Corrie ten Boom in Haarlem, the Netherlands. The ten Booms were a Christian family who hid Jews in their house during the holocaust and helped many more escape to freedom. I have read many of her books and taking a tour of her home was such a blessing to me. I pray I would have the courage to do what she did if I ever had the opportunity.

LJ

As a mystery fanatic, I have enjoyed visiting the real sites of the cases of fictional detectives while in Italy. Florence was made even more interesting by envisioning the teary-eyed roly-poly Guardia chief wandering the small neighbourhoods as he does, so endearingly, 'til he stumbles on to the solution to the crime in Magdalen Nabb's wonderful books. I made my husband go to Perugia to see for myself the background of Dibden's Aurelio Zen case set in that ancient multilayered city. I was easy to imagine his character there. Next year I hope to follow Zen to Venice, or maybe join him in Sicily...

elaine

All the time! At least one on every trip.<BR>Paris<BR>On Quai des Fleurs, the one-time residence of Heloise and Abelard, and then Pere LaChaise cemetery where their tomb is<BR>The Victor Hugo Museum<BR>Giverny, of course<BR><BR>England--Castle Howard, near York, setting on which the grand home<BR>in "Brideshead Revisited" was based<BR><BR>All sorts of places in and around London, including Hampton Court Palace<BR>and the Abbey Road street crossing in St John's Wood, which today I'm especially glad I've been to<BR><BR>Venice<BR>Campo San Barnaba<BR>The canal that Katharine Hepburn fell into in the film "Summertime", and the nearby "antique shop"<BR><BR><BR>Still on my list, among many other places<BR>Chatsworth House in the UK<BR>Jane Austen's home in Chawton<BR>Salisbury Cathedral<BR>Dove Cottage in the Lake District<BR>Edinburgh, for Mary Q of S<BR>Auvers sur Oise, not far from Paris, Van Gogh's last residence and also his burial place<BR><BR>

Edmond O`Flaherty

The poet William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin but is usually associated with County Sligo on the Atlantic coast. I went to see The Lake Isle of Innisfree on Lough Gill on a waterbus this summer and enjoyed it enormously.I saw Dooneen,Knocknarea,The Glencar Waterfall,Ben Bulbin and numerous other sites whose names live in Yeats`s poetry.Finally I went to see where the great man is buried at Drumcliffe Churchyard.That particular place is so busy that they have built a coffee-shop nearby but when I went for coffee there the line was so long that I had time to talk to several people.It is quite amazing how many people from all over the world come to this beautiful part of Ireland to pay homage to probably the greatest poet in the English language.

Joanne

Last summer, we spent two weeks in London and one week jaunting around the countryside, visiting sites related to Queen Elizabeth I (for my daughter), and Harry Potter sites (for my son).<BR><BR>In addition to the usual Elizabethan stuff like Tower of London, Globe Theater, National Portrait Gallery, Westminster Cathedral, we also went to Hatfield House, where Elizabeth lived before inheriting the throne, and even dined in the very hall where she held her first meeting after hearing that she was queen.<BR><BR>Harry sites included Kings Cross Station, Australia House, London Zoo, assorted Oxford libraries and Cotswolds towns and cathedrals where the film was shot, and the National Raptor Center, which has lots of owls and wonderful demonstrations.<BR><BR>I'm a Dick Francis fan, too, and even put together a list of racecourses and times that coincided roughly with our itinerary, but somehow never got to a race. You can get a comprehensive racing schedule at:<BR><BR>http://www.comeracing.co.uk/dec01.htm

the continental

I thought of Thomas Mann upon visiting Venice.