I’m 38 and until last week had never been to the Mother Country.

Tragic, right? Thanks to wonderful parents who flew from NC to watch the girls, I was able to crash Dave’s business trip and ya’ know….I didn’t want to leave. We spent most of the time in London but took the train to Cambridge for the weekend so Dave could show me around his grad school stomping grounds at the University there. London impressed but Cambridge enchanted.

England is tasteful, orderly, efficient, proper and tidy…qualities I probably put too much importance on. The politeness is what cracked me up, as in “mind the gap!” every time I boarded the Tube. I wandered London mostly on my own, convinced if I were mugged, my camera and valuables would be lifted in the nicest way possible.

After landing in Boston and arriving at baggage, the first two things to accost me were the smell of Dunkin Donuts and a woman saying loudly in her thick Boston accent…”I’ve always had big boobs.”

Home, sweet home. Maybe we should have drunk the tea and paid our taxes.