Her question evoked many responses.
Yes, I can -- and do -- go to "new" places but one visit is usually not enough to get a real sense of any country -- even a geographically small country like England.
And -- to borrow a line from singer-songwriter Jim Cuddy -- England is "never the same way twice."
LIke the woman in Cuddy's song, there can be challenges. Yes, the weather can be iffy. Yes, driving on the opposite side can be tricky. And yes, it can be pricey.
But the truth is, England is worth the effort. It's never boring, never out of style, and offers a lot of bang for your travel buck -- from culture to castles to cathedrals to charming towns, even fascinating glimples into working class back-to-backs.
And it may sound like a cliche but there has never been a better time to go. Everyone is offering deals, which make England more affordable than it has been in years.
But don't wait too long, the recession is winding down and travel -- and prices -- may soon be on the rebound.
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LIVING BACK-TO-BACK
BIRMINGHAM -- Volunteer tour guide Ken Hughes welcomes us inside the "back to back" on Inge St.
The tiny three-room house is part of the last original "court" of homes that were standard dwellings for hundreds of thousands of England's working class families from the mid-1800s to the late 1960s.
Unlike the opulent trappings of other National Trust properties, the specifics paint a not so pretty picture.
Built back to back with front units facing the street and others facing a shared courtyard, the houses are only one room wide. The rooms are stacked, one per floor, and accessible via a steep narrow staircase. Until the mid-1900s, there were no washrooms, no running water, no central heating.
In the courtyard, there is a water pump, three open-pit toilets, and a wash-house -- meagre facilities used by more than 100 people, Hughes says.
Families were large. Personal hygiene suffered. Overcrowding and poor sanitation meant biting bugs, tuberculosis and food poisoning were common, Hughes says matter of factly.
A quote from a long ago resident sums it up: "We can't all get in the house at the same time." But according to the 80-year-old Hughes, who spent his first 25 years "in a place just like this," life was not all bad.
"We didn't look on them as slums, it was like a palace to us," the retired chief pathologist says.
Today, the Birmingham Back to Backs are the National Trust's biggest attraction, drawing some 500,000 visitors a year. You can even stay in a renovated unit with full bath and kitchen.
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READY FOR ITS NEXT CLOSEUP
YORK, England -- With hundreds of rooms and more than 400 hectares of parkland, Castle Howard is the kind of place where you can get happily lost for an entire day.
"No one has ever really counted the rooms," guide Geoff Preston says as he leads our group on a tour of the opulent property, which is still home to members of the Howard family.
Considered one of England's grandest stately homes, don't be surprised if you experience a deja vu moment when visiting. Its lavish interiors, sweeping lawns, ornate fountains and gardens have made frequent appearances on TV and movies screens as the setting of Brideshead Revisited and other productions. But Castle Howard's 20th century history rivals any fictional drama shot at the mansion, which was built between 1699 and 1712 for Charles Howard, third Earl of Carlisle.
World War II took a heavy toll on both the family and its castle. After losing two brothers in the war -- and being wounded himself -- George Howard returned home to find the castle partially ruined by a fire and trustees selling off its contents, assuming it would never be lived in again.
George moved back in and began restoration. Soon after, he married Lady Cecilia Fitzroy and the couple made Castle Howard their life's work, opening it to the public in 1952 and turning it into one of the area's premier attractions.
"In the early days, George would be at the door taking the money and his wife would be in the kitchen making the tea," Preston says.
Today there are cafes, shops -- including a farm shop selling local goods and a plant centre --and a holiday home park.
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IN PRAISE OF YORK
YORK, England -- Strolling along cobblestoned lanes lined with cafes and tea shops, it's hard to imagine this charming city was once considered too dirty for Victorian ladies.
When the railway first brought tourists to York in the early 1800s, it was a "dirty, horrible place," says Keith Mulhearn, a guide with Complete York. So the city fathers decided to create a pathway atop the city walls, where genteel women could stroll, far removed from the "filth."
Today, the filth is gone but the 4-km walk on the city walls remains a "fantastic way to see the city," which is one of England's top tourist spots.
While many people stay only one day, this ancient town -- ruled by Romans, Angles, Vikings and Normans -- has enough attractions, history and ghosts to amuse visitors for much longer, Mulhearn says.
"There are so many old buildings, from every period. Fortunately, people were too poor to knock them down," Mulhearn says.
Every visitor should make time to get lost in the tangle of pedestrian lanes, especially The Shambles. Now synonomous with the word "mess," the word shambles refers to the shelves where meat was displayed on this medieval butchers' street.
The other standout is York Minster, northern Europe's "greatest Gothic cathedral," Mulhearn says. Still in use as an Anglican church, the magnificent magnesium limestone structure towers over the old city.
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IF YOU GO
DESTINATION INFORMATION
- For all of England, contact Visit Britain at visitbritain.com. For York, see visityork.org. Check out the York card, good for admission to more than 50 attractions -- including Castle Howard -- and dozens of discounts. Single to mulit-day cards $50-$120 adults, $32-$77 children.
- For Castle Howard, see castlehoward.co.uk. House and garden admission is about $20 for adults, $12.50 for children.
- Admission to the Birmingham Back to Backs at 50-54 Inge St. and 55-63 Hurst St., is by guided tour only, about $9 adults, $4.50 children. Call 0121-666-7671 to book (recommended). The rental unit accommodates two. A one-week stay runs $426 to $925 depending on the dates. See nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-birmingham_backtobacks.
GETTING THERE
- Air Transat has many ways to tour England. We flew into Manchester (current return fares start at $349 plus $390 taxes). From there it's an easy drive to York. In conjunction with Visit Britain, the airline has very competitive packages for London that include car and hotel. See airtransat.com and britainforless.ca.
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