I can’t believe we have been on this journey for six months. Six months! A length of time that sounds generous in the workaday world is a mere fleck in the travel world, especially given all the places we want to visit. If you look at the map it doesn’t seem as though we have … Continue reading
Dam! That was fast!
This post comes to you from Hamburg, where I am spending several days visiting friends from my former company and catching up on my writing. Steve has gone back to Amsterdam, the subject of this post, for a few days for some rest and relaxation. On The Grand Tour every so often we separate for a few days to maintain our sanity … Continue reading
Dining with the Michelin Man: la Bécasse
I write this from Amsterdam, our first foray into Europe on the Grand Tour. This will be my last post on the UK this go-around, although Steve has promised write-ups on the malts of Islay and our experiences in working at beer festivals in England. We’ll see… I have always wanted to write a proper … Continue reading
The Grand Tour: 6 Things You Should Know About Ireland
Geez, has it been that long since I have posted?!? Outrageous. So much has happened since then. We have seen Belfast (a surprisingly lovely city), Dublin, Galway, did a week in Wales, spent almost two weeks in Shropshire, including a week in the gastronomic town of Ludlow, visited Peterborough for a CAMRA Beer Festival at which we had the … Continue reading
The Grand Tour: Scotland, “Haste ye back!”
Still playing catch up! Here’s a bit about our last few weeks in Scotland: Samuel Johnson, author, essayist, literary critic and famous for his work on the Dictionary of the English Language, took a trip to Scotland in the 1770s, the event recorded in A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland. Scotland was still … Continue reading
Thwarted by one queen, welcomed by another
Edinburgh has room for only one queen. You will recall that I was proclaimed Queen of Dalriada at Dunadd in Argyll which entitles me to do pretty much whatever I damn well please. Yet, I soon realized otherwise the day we decided to visit the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the grand turreted structure with requisite ruined … Continue reading
Peat in the Fire, Midges in the Sky: Lessons learned on The Isle of Islay
In case you were wondering, Steve and I did manage to make nice after the coffee/missed train fiasco in York. It ended up being a good day after all! We’re still playing catch up with these posts. The Isle of Islay (pronounced Eye-la. It took me a while to remember this.) was about two weeks ago but memories are still … Continue reading
Coffee, Steel, Pinstripes and Genetic Defects
Readers, below is a snapshot in time from a galaxy not so far away… —————————————– Today is intended to be our third day trip from York in as many days. The previous two saw us complete a wonderful seven-mile coastline hike along the North Sea cliffs from Robin Hood’s Bay to the beautiful seaside abbey … Continue reading
The Grand Tour: Scotland, one week in
I apologize for being incommunicado for a while. Since we left York our wireless access has been minimal, and the times where we have been able to locate a hot spot the connection has been weak. Needless to say this has been frustrating, but I think about how travel and travel writing used to be … Continue reading
In the footsteps of Dracula: Robin Hood’s Bay to Whitby
Taking a break from city life is a good thing to do from time to time. Not that York can ever be considered akin to a New York or a London, but it is still a city and for some unfathomable reason THE place to go for hen and stag parties in North Yorkshire (hot … Continue reading