The Grand Tour

Hi Everyone
I know I announced a blog holiday last Friday ! ........ but I'm working outside on my deck and found myself thinking about the holiday work schedule. Then the view distracted me and I thought I would share it.



Sorry about the table !


We will be off on our annual Grand Tour next week. However, this year the Tour will be rather limited to a small part of The Lake District, although we will try and honour the spirit of the Grand Tour.
Young English elites of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries often spent two to four years traveling around Europe in an effort to broaden their horizons and learn about language, architecture, geography, and culture in an experience known as the Grand Tour. The Grand Tour began in the sixteenth century and gained popularity during the seventeenth century.
The term Grand Tour was introduced by Richard Lassels in his 1670 book Voyage to Italy. Additional guidebooks, tour guides, and the tourist industry were developed and grew to meet the needs of the 20-something male and female travelers and their tutors across the European continent. The young tourists were wealthy and could afford the multiple years abroad. They carried letters of reference and introduction with them as they departed from southern England. We, of course, are neither young or wealthy and our party is reduced to three, so we do what we can to broaden our horizons. We will use guidebooks !
Anyway, it will be lovely. I'm going to use photos to share our Grand Tour and give a tiny flavour of our experience. I will be planning our trip over the next few days - I hate this bit. I'm trying to make it a more pleasurable experience by researching some ideas for exploring and packing gradually and by giving myself reward treats.

Thanks for reading.