St Michael’s Mount Friday brought another solo day trip by train and also the achievement of another item ticked off on my personal ‘bucket list’. I visited Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy
Tag: Castle / Fortification
July 2022: First Time in Cornwall: Part 2
Falmouth (Town) As is clear from its name, Falmouth is situated at the mouth of the River Fal. It is the second-largest town in Cornwall, both it and larger St
Thailand Contrasts (2022): Day 14: Chang Moi
Introduction Today’s plan, intentionally a little less ambitious than Tuesday’s, concentrated on the district of Chiang Mai in which our hotel stood: Chang Moi. Even so, we weren’t intent on
Thailand Contrasts (2022): Day 13: Temples of Chiang Mai Old Town
Morning Today’s hefty programme – and indeed the next couple of days as well – got off to a good start with an inclusive breakfast at the hotel. This was
March 2022: Wonderful Copenhagen (Part 1)
Introduction The main part of the title is the name of a Danny Kaye hit from 1953 – that’s before my time, but I remember hearing the song as a
March 2022: (City of) Stirling
Introduction This post’s heading takes a slightly non-standard form as the name ‘Stirling’ applies to one of Scotland’s smaller cities and also to the much larger council area in which
Dec 2021/Jan 2022: New Year in Budapest
Background Bruce and I had been scheduled to bring in New Year in Germany, but about a week before Christmas the German government announced that it would be joining neighbouring
October 2021: Edinburgh’s Seven Hills (Part 6)
Introduction This is the sixth in a series of posts, where I record my visits to the classic ‘Seven Hills of Edinburgh’. Please use the tag ‘Edinburgh’s 7 Hills’ to
September 2021: Cowal Peninsula & Isle of Bute
Introduction This is the sixth of seven posts covering our Island-Hopping Whisky Trail trip in August/September 2021. 5 Isle of Jura 6 Cowal Peninsula & Isle of Bute 7 Wemyss
August 2021: Antrim Coast
Introduction We used one of our days based in Belfast for a full-day visit to the Antrim Coast, using a rental car picked up at Belfast City Airport. The overall
England Grand Tour (2021): Day 8: When visiting Surrey, best not be in a hurry
Off to Guildford We drove into Hook and had breakfast at an independent coffee shop there, agreeing afterwards that it had been nothing special. After briefly returning to Tylney Hall
England Grand Tour (2021): Day 2: Getting Reacquainted with Durham
Before lunch We had breakfast at the local branch of Caffè Nero, a few minutes’ walk away via Elvet Bridge and the Market Place. In due course, we set out
October 2020: Northern Portugal (Part 7): Pombal
The small city of Pombal is situated 50km southwest of Coimbra, halfway between Porto and Lisbon. The population is a mere 18,000, although there are 55,0000 people in the wider
September 2020: Berlin (Part 1)
Ku’damm / Zoo area May as well start with where we were based! We were delighted to spend our four-night stay at the brand-new Hampton by Hilton Berlin City West,
August 2020: Lancaster
The relatively small, but venerable city of Lancaster (population 52,000) is situated in northwest England. The name is derived from ‘Castle on the (River) Lune’, an explanation that imparts a
March 2020: Three Cities: 3. Norwich
Arrival I travelled from London to Norwich on a Greater Anglia express train, using a heavily discounted ‘Advance First’ ticket. It was one of the company’s brand new, Swiss-built Stadler