I'm not a fan of driving when we travel abroad but using public transportation from Liverpool to Lanchester was so complicated, we had little other choice. In addition, since Lanchester is only a small village, the nearest train station or bus depot is in Newcastle. We would have to figure out a way to get from Newcastle to Lanchester. Thaat made the four- or five-hour journey via train or bus seemed out of the question especially when we could get there by car in only a little over two hours. Plus our primary reason for visiting this area of the country is to walk a portion of Hadrian's Wall; we'd need a car to get there or else join an organized tour.

Our drive from Liverpool in western England to Lanchester on the northeastern coast was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen—that is it was once we managed to navigate our departure from Liverpool. Even with GPS, just as we did last evening, we made several wrong turns. Now please visualize . . . outside of Liverpool proper, streets in and around Liverpool are still very narrow. They once were horse and carriage roads. Over time, the front gardens of homes were taken in to build the street or to pave a road. On many streets, houses, shops and businesses virtually sit on the sidewalk next to the curb. Small cars are often parked on the street curbside since there are few driveways, garages or other parking facilities for the cars. On many streets, there is room enough for only one car to pass through, This makes driving challenging, and while the area does a really fine job of showing street names on signs or on walls, many streets show no names. The trip out of town was a bit nerve wracking but after a few u-turns was finally done. Then out of the city, the drive to Lanchester was intricate taking us from small town to small town. It included only one length over 50 miles long. Otherwise the drive included instructions like: in .2 mile turn left; in 2.2 miles at the roundabout, take the second exit; in 5 miles turn right on Low Hill Road, etc. For those of us accustomed to broad highways and expressways, the route was like a Sunday drive far out into the country.

The countryside was simply dazzling. Although Summer Solstice is approaching, it is early spring here. The days are long but the air is still cool and damp—perfect for growing grasses. The different shades of green on the rolling hills and fields were simply brilliant. Clumps of wild thorny bushes with golden flowers contrasted the green here and there. As we proceeded east, the rolling hills became larger and fields gave way to rocky pastures with ancient stacked rock walls built from stones gathered from the fields separating one pasture from the next. This must be a major wool and lamb production area since we saw herd after herd of grazing sheep . . . and lambs too! I kept advising them to watch out! They could become lamb chop any day now.

We also saw horses and pastures of dairy cattle whose breeds look vastly different from those seen at home. We drove past family farm compounds. All of the buildings, the large family homes, barns, and all of the out-buildings had slate roofs and were built of stone years and years ago. Our route took us on country roads through several small towns or villages, all hundreds of years old. Some are now attractive market towns and are very popular destinations for weekend visitors. In fact, Lanchester is one of those historic old towns. It's earliest history dates back to 140 AD when the Romans built a fort here. Today only the foundations of the fort are preserved. Stone from the old fort was used to build their All Saints Church. We Americans have great difficulty comprehending that kind of age.

Our apartment is adorable. Our creative host, Colin and his wife built a new home, yes, NEW home several years ago on a tall hill just a short walk from town center. They had the foresight to build a detached garage with an apartment upstairs. The ceiling on one side of our living area is slanted and has windows overlooking the village and the grand rolling hills across the way. It is a lovely setting.

We walked into town where we found a grocer, several excellent restaurants, cute shops and a coffee shops and cafes. Since it was Saturday, the town was busy. We did a bit of exploring, shopped for a few food items for the house and settled on an Italian restaurant for our evening meal later on.

Our plans for this part of the world is to walk a portion of Hadrian's Wall and to also find and walk one of England's many public old footpaths that connect towns and villages winding through farms and countryside. We researched area information and made our plans for the next two days.

At dinnertime, we returned to town to visit Ravello. The restaurant was at capacity but the atmosphere was nice and the authentic Italian food was delicious. The chef heard he had American visitors so the tall Italian came to visit our table for a chat. He invited us to share a toast of Lemoncello with him.

We love this world! We are treated well in it, and we lovelingly appreciate it.