An Ex-Ex-Pat’s thoughts on the woman, her reign, and her passing. Everyone knows that no one lives forever, but Queen Elizabeth seemed like a possible exception. She always appeared in public with dignity but not austerity, with warm smiles and that vertical hand-wave. And of course the pocketbook. Always perfectly coiffed and dressed, except for… Continue reading Queen Elizabeth II
Category: Travel – UK
The Grapevine
Greasy air oozes out when we open the door to the truck stop cafe. Cigarette smoke, grilled hamburgers, burnt hash browns, and perked coffee replaces the frosty air outside. Men in plaid wool shirts hunch over thick white ceramic plates of food, heavy jackets draped over chair backs. Ashtrays hold smoking butts. A few… Continue reading The Grapevine
More North – June, 2008
Although we spent a night in so-so hotel near a village called Cranster, and had a good meal of fresh fish beside the North Sea, it was really only a stopover on our way to the Yorkshire Dales, another high point of our trip. As we traveled into Yorkshire, the countryside became spare, sheep fields… Continue reading More North – June, 2008
The Birds
The boat which will ferry us to Inner Farne Island and the bird sanctuary looks like a big rowboat with a little wooden cabin tacked onto the front, and the queue waiting to board is very long. Our hearts sink. People pile on, one after the other, until the boat looks like a colorful octopus… Continue reading The Birds
York minster and Belford
The sun shone on the morning we went to see the Minster. I wondered why York Minster is called a Minster instead of a Cathedral, so I looked it up on Wictionary and in the Dictionary, but there isn’t an answer in either place. It’s just a Big Church, the same as for the cathedrals. … Continue reading York minster and Belford
York
We find our hotel, The Minster, with no trouble. An alleyway off the main road leads to a parking area, and we roll our bags up the slight incline to enter a warren of twisting and turning corridors to find our rooms. They are clean, comfortable and adequate, but not more; the hotel looks like… Continue reading York
Northward bound—-
The trigger for our trip is the arrival of a visitor from the US, my sister. We hope that the days and days of planning by Bernard, the best travel agent around, guarantees a comfortable and well-organized journey north. There are always unknowns. That’s part of the fun, they say. But at our ages, unknowns… Continue reading Northward bound—-
More Dorset –
Dorset is Hardy country. Dorchester, its capitol, is said to be the model for Casterbridge in the novel, The Mayor of Casterbridge. Did I bring a copy with me? No. Didn’t plan to do much reading in our two day visit, though I wish I had re-read some Hardy works before we came down. But… Continue reading More Dorset –
Dorset and the Jurassic Coast.
We went south this week to reconnoiter for family visits this summer. Dorset boasts a World Heritage site, the Jurassic Coast, where, it is said, the sea washes up fossils every high tide. Nico, my 6 year old grandson, knows more about dinosaurs and the periods in which they lived than most adults, and is… Continue reading Dorset and the Jurassic Coast.
NESTING
Furnishing a home is something most people do in their twenties and thirties. At least, they used to. I suppose more people are like me, now. I’ve furnished many different homes and apartments in many parts of the world, mostly on my own, and now Bernard and I have to accommodate each other’s taste and… Continue reading NESTING