It’s a strange thing, going “there and back again.”  Travel can be a kind of parenthetical experience, one that should bring many new experiences but ought not (some might say) create any real change.  A kind of existential gap can form, like the space between the car and the platform on the London Underground.  If you’re not careful, you stumble as you move from one space to the next.  “Mind the gap,” they say.

England was good, and it was good for me.  I am often unsure of what to say when people ask if it met my expectations or what I liked best.  And so through jet lag and a nasty cold, I’ve slowly been able to process some highlights, a list I’ll simplify here but would tell you more about in a heartbeat.  And so, my greatest England moments:

• eating my first (and only) Cornetto
• reciting the Saint Crispin’s Day speech in Shakespeare’s home
• rowing (and being rowed) down the River Avon
• treating my students to tea in the Eagle and Child
• early morning walks and breakfasts in each town we stayed in
• walking a long way and stumbling upon The World’s End

Almost too short and simple, I know.  There was more than that.  So much more, really.  It was a wonderfully balanced, almost mellow, trip.  It was walking and singing and learning and writing and all kinds of things you have to work hard to capture well.  I’ll mention a few more things over this week in an attempt to “mind the gap” and make some kind of transition back to life here and now.  I’m glad to be back, but I’m more than glad to have gone.