Sherry, I have always enjoyed your posts even though I don't respond too much anymore. We had two horrid summers in a row, and my only goal has been to keep my roses alive. I am quiet in a way, yet I have no problem teaching in a large high school. I simply need to have a common ground with people. Our rose society meets at 1:00 or 2:00 on a Sunday afternoon. There are so many older people who have trouble driving at night that this is the best time for them. That time slot is when I am deep into gardening. The member in our rose society are very friendly, and interested in anyone who attends, but they do not grow the roses that I love. Their guest speakers are experts in spraying, exhibiting, propogating, etc. A leader in the society knows about old roses, but promotes more modern ones. I am automatically an outcast. I have even suggested that we form an organization within an organization for those who grow older roses, and do not care to spray. The subject meets a friendly nod --- period. I love it here. This forum is so large, but has such a great collection of rose lovers. Even if we have disagreements, we know how to back off, and still remain involved in what is important. I really appreciate your contribution and that of everyone else. I have belonged here for many many years, and just love it. I do hope that this year I will be able to grow roses instead of just saving them. Sammy

I've enjoyed reading this thread!~ My DH and I had planned one major foreign trip a year and one major domestic trip a year during our retirement, but his death a few years into retirement put an end to that--he had traveled the world in his job so knew his way around many places that he wanted to take me back to see. I have taken my daughters to England and we'd love to visit Ireland but they live far away and their jobs prevent them from having much time off. So my intention is to travel while I am still in good health and able to do so. I had heard good things about the Tauck Tours; some good and some bad about the Viking River cruises, and a good friend in her mid fifties and her new husband thoroughly enjoyed the Perillo Tour, but it didn't sound like my cup of tea. We always traveled on our own but I'm a little reluctant to do that now. These suggestions help immensely, thanks and dedtired, happy travels!

Annie, I agree about ABC : ) We went last summer with my SIL&BIL. I had lived there for a few years a while ago, so the prospect of driving around on our own didn't bother me. My BIL had been there when a young adult, but my SIL and DH had never been and were a little apprehensive. We ended up taking a week long river cruise on the continent, then spending a couple of days in Amsterdam and a week in the UK. We came into Switzerland a day before the cruise, just in case there were problems. This gave us a day and a half to wander around the town, check out how the streetcars worked, take a short train hop, and generally get used to things. The cruise was great and my DH and SIL appreciated knowing they had familiar food waiting for them on the boat. They're not very adventurous as far as food goes. The cruise tour guides were great, and were local to the city we were in. Overall, the experience was very nice, if a bit limited and structured if you only went with the offered excursions. You did have the option to get off the boat and go and do your own thing though. We got more experience in Amsterdam with trains, streetcars, restaurants, attractions, and hotels. When we got to London, we were pretty comfortable figuring out the subway and trains. The last part of the trip was driving around in the countryside, and the GPS in the car made getting around fairly easy. The hard part was driving on the other side of the road. This was my favorite part of the trip. As others have said, it depends on your personality and style. We had fun doing a lot of the research for where we wanted to go and how to get there, etc. I hope you are able to go and have a great time.

I think it depends on one's personality whether they'd be happier with a tour or on their own. I've done both - a focused tour (antiquing) in London and a by myself trek that centered on gardens in the general vicinity. The focused tour was with my mom and my best friend and her mom and was our first visit. Everything was handled by the tour company afa accommodations, some meals and ground transport to the antique market venues but there was plenty of free time to do whatever else we wanted. Mornings were devoted to the antiquing and then the moms (elderly) went back to the hotel for rest, etc. while my BFF and I toured the city and visited all the sites we wanted to see. We did an on-and-off doubledecker bus city tour to begin with but walked or took the underground to all the sites and attractions that interested us. It was a great introductory visit. My second visit was on my own and other than the logistics of locating accommodations and ground transport (and your travel agent can help with that), it was just as simple. But I have no issues with being by myself, either at home or anywhere else. I used to travel extensively for work and that was almost always on my own. But I think you need to be comfortable being alone to attempt a visit abroad on your own. And I wouldn't worry about language concerns. Obviously, England is easy to navigate language-wise (although the strong accents can get you!) and you will find that the vast majority of Parisians speak English as well, certainly those that regularly encounter tourists. This is true across much of Europe.