My Architectural Fascination-England

Went I first visited England in March 2006, I instantly fell in love with the variety of architectural styles that growing up in central Texas hadn't provided me. Thatched roofs were something I had only seen on picture puzzles of quaint cottages. Castles were fairytale material. Yet, I now found myself submerged in a culture where they were as ordinary as trees. I'm sure I must have spent those three days with my mouth gaping open the entire time. Awestruck is understatement.

I was so smitten by the beauty, charm and history that engulfed me, that I booked a return trip to England as soon as I got home. This time I had to take my daughter with me. For the best rate on airfare, it meant I would have to pull my daughter out of school one day early. For that, I needed the principal's personal approval. I met with him and he must have thought I was a crazy woman as I poured my heart and soul into an impromptu speech about the why I felt my daughter would receive a much richer education from being in England than spending her last day of school doing nothing. He agreed with me and excused her absence.

I arrived in England with my daughter in May 2006 just two short months from being there the first time. This time we stayed a full week. The pictures you see below of Chester and Avebury were from this second trip. My daughter fell in love with Chester. I think it had a lot to do with the variety specialty shops.

The second trip was even more exciting since I now could see this world through my daughter's eyes as well. Unfortunately, as many kids do, she spent a lot of time in the backseat playing her Nintendo DS with me hollering at her to hurry up and look at something before we passed it. Sometimes, she missed it. Sigh. We joked that someday she'd look back on that trip and wish she had looked out the window more instead of playing her game. That day has already come.

She did get to experience Stonehenge, Avebury and Casterigg stone circles. She felt the thrill of seeing castles and thatched roof cottages. She stood at the Roman built Hadrian's Wall in northern England at the Scotland border. She walked the Roman walls of Chester. She too fell in love with the architecture.

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't long to go back to England. I have pictures everywhere that remind of the beauty and majesty and they call me back. The pictures you see here were taken with a simple 4 megapixel Kodak camera with auto-everything. Since then, we have purchased an incredible Nikon D-300 camera and hope to take breathtaking photos the next time around.

Look for more hubs after that next visit.