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Measure for Measure: when is a pint not a pint?
Discovering and celebrating the differences which exist in the world is a joy: I have written about this before (see Is travelling losing its mystique?). However, there is one area which leaves me bemused: standard units of measurement! Standard? Aye right! The whole...
Travelling: is it losing its mystique?
One of the joys of travelling is to experience different cultures in the world – the language, the food, the customs….but as technology makes the world smaller, is some of that wonderful diversity being lost? Parlez vous.... Last year we visited Japan (see related...
Quirky Bits from our US Road Trip: wrecks, bats and RVs!
When travelling, we sometimes come across some really unexpected, quirky places, exhibits or stories. Our last road trip through some of the eastern and southern states of the US was no exception. Here are a few such examples – in no particular order. The National...
A Visit to Graceland
Visiting Graceland, home of Elvis Presley, fulfilled a lifelong ambition for me. I love Elvis. I love his music. I loved the man. He had so much charisma and frankly, he was beautiful. I was a teenager when he died and I cried. Visiting Graceland was an emotional...
Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
If you have any interest at all in geology or history, Mammoth Cave National Park is a must. Mammoth Cave is the most extensive cave system in the world. Four hundred and twelve miles of tunnels, caverns and chambers deep below the earth's surface have been explored...
On the Whiskey Trail!
Do you know the difference between Scottish malt whisky and American whiskey? Do you know what makes a bourbon a bourbon? Read on and all will be revealed! Having lived in Scotland for many years and having toured many of the Scottish whisky distilleries (see On the...
Monticello: Thomas Jefferson’s Grand Design
Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home in Virginia, is now a World Heritage Site. Designed by Jefferson himself, it is not only interesting as a building in its own right, but also because of what it reveals about the man himself. And frankly, we were shocked by what we...
First time in Washington DC: where to go and what to see
It was our first time in Washington DC. We knew very little about the city other than that it was the capital of the USA and that it had many famous landmarks which we had seen on television over the years. Until we had a “discussion” on the drive to Washington, I had...
The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation
Visiting The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Detroit is an unforgettable experience. Really. I like cars, but Peter is passionate about them. I was happy to go along and spend a couple of hours admiring a few jalopies, but I was completely wowed by The...
Go East! Our road trip takes us through Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario to Niagara Falls
Our road trip continued and the terrain changed enormously as we headed east across Canada. We left behind the mountains and glaciers of Alberta and crossed the plains and prairies of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. We drove through the forests of Ontario and around The...
Alberta: the first destination on our Canadian road trip
Our road trip got properly under way on a sunny Tuesday early in September. We left Kelowna in Fat Vanny and travelled east across British Columbia to Alberta, to Lake Louise to be specific. The road up to Lake Louise is absolutely beautiful. It wends its way up...
What to do in Kelowna in Beautiful British Columbia
Kelowna has a special place in my heart as we lived there for two years, leaving to return to the UK in 2016. Since then we have returned several times to catch up with friends and enjoy spending time this beautiful city. Before we actually moved there (work related)...
Let’s visit Orkney!
Why visit Orkney? There are so many reasons to visit this archipelago of islands off the north coast of Scotland, it is difficult to know where to start. The landscape, the history, the culture, the wildlife, the whisky ( - let’s not forget the whisky!), Orkney has it...
What to see on Jersey? Not just cows and potatoes!
The island of Jersey is famous for its cows and potatoes; the cows are beautiful and the potatoes are delicious, but Jersey, as we discovered recently, has much more to recommend it. The largest of the Channel Islands, Jersey is a quirky mixture of French and English...
I love my e-Bike!
"Are electric bikes any good?" When we are out on our e-bikes we are often asked this question. The short answer is: "Yes. Absolutely. I love my e-bike!" The benefits of electric bikes are many and varied. There is a genuine interest in electric bikes and they are...
The Jurassic Coast
Our campsite at Kimmeridge on the Jurassic Coast was idyllic, very quiet and tranquil, the peace disturbed only by occasional machine-gun fire and exploding tank shells. One night, it seemed that the shells were being aimed directly at our camper. The earth moved! The...
The Devonshire Coast
Having wended our way down through England over several days, we arrived on the South Coast in glorious weather. Being Northerners, this is an area with which we are not familiar, but our aim was to explore this stretch of the Devonshire coast. Our first port of call...
A Trip to Northern Italy: Milan, Lake Maggiore, Barolo
We recently returned from a short trip to see friends in Milan, or more precisely, Lake Maggiore, which is just a short drive from Milan. The best part of the trip was seeing our friends and being welcomed into their home, but there were many other highlights on this...