Sept 3 A stroll down Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile from the castle perched atop a 350 million year old volcanic rock down to Holyrood Castle takes one through centuries of Scottish history. It also opens a window on the rich pageant of life along this famed avenue.
Castle Combe is England’s Frozen in Time Village
Sept 1 A stop in Castle Combe is a must while visiting England’s Cotswolds district. The hamlet is nearly perfect. All that would be needed to make it 100% so would be if the locals all dressed in period costume, say around 1801, and if they got around on horseback instead of in cars. Even […]
Salisbury’s Magnificent Cathedral
August 30 Many of the great churches took centuries to build. A master mason or a glass maker might never live to see the church completed and the first mass held. This would hold true for that craftsman’s children, grandchildren and on and on Salisbury’s cathedral was started in 1220 and finished in 1258. The […]
Where Do You Want to Be on September 15, 2015?
August 27 If you said ‘London,’ then you are in for the party of the century. That is, if Queen Elizabeth II lives that long. Because at midnight on that date, Elizabeth will surpass Queen Victoria as the longest-serving monarch in British history. I suppose there will be some party.
England Remembers those lost in the Great War with Poppies Around Tower of London
August 27 A brilliant installation containing 888,246 ceramic poppies surrounds the Tower of London through November 11, 1914 which is the 96th anniversary of the end of the ‘Great War,’ also the ‘War to End All Wars.’ Artist Paul Cummins did the work in remembrance of those soldiers listed officially as dead from the United […]
Social Media the New Salem Witch Trials
August 23 I think it is beyond time for someone to come up with a way that businesses can fight back and even recoup financial damages (and they would be huge when you consider the multiplier effect) caused by those who post idiotic and false statements on social media whether it be #trip #advisor, #yelp, […]
How Do You End the Trip of a Lifetime in Germany?
August 23 Dolores Petit always wanted to visit her ancestral country of Germany but her husband would not allow it. A member of the French Resistance as a young teen, he harbored hard feelings against not just some Germans but the entire country. When they traveled, they went to see his relatives in France. So, […]
A 1,000 year-old baptismal font in the ancestral church
August 21 There are baptismal fonts and then there is the font in the little church at Kirchtimke, near Steinfeld, Niedersachsen, Germany. While the church is older than most in America, having been built in 1739, the font is truly spectacular. It is Romanesque and dates back at least 1,000 years. That means it was […]