Preamble Before proceeding to the destination, I couldn’t help noting that on the last day of April 2021, I was making my first train journey of the year – an
Tag: Museum / Gallery
December 2020: Christmas Cheer(s) in London
Arrival The last trip of 2020, and for an as yet indeterminate period thereafter, was once again to London. Outbound travel was on Sunday 13 December. The first two nights
October 2020: Northern Portugal (Part 6): Coimbra
Coimbra is a city of around 145,000 people, situated 125km south of Porto. A three-night stay there formed the second part of our trip to northern Portugal. Coimbra is Portugal’s
October 2020: Northern Portugal (Part 4): Vila Nova de Gaia
As previously mentioned, the urban area south of the Douro and opposite Porto is officially a separate city: Vila Nova de Gaia (“New Town of Gaia”), or simply Gaia. It’s
October 2020: Northern Portugal (Part 3): Porto
With a city population of 240,000 and a metropolitan area that is home to 1.7 million people, Porto is Portugal’s second city. Its ancient name, Portus Cale, may even be
October 2020: Northern Portugal (Part 2): The Douro Valley
Our second full day in northern Portugal was dedicated to another day trip. The Douro Valley is one of the world’s oldest winegrowing regions and is a UNESCO World Heritage
October 2020: Athens (Part 6): City Centre Roundup
Thursday On returning to the city from Aegina on Thursday, we had time to fit in a visit to the National Museum of Contemporary Art, also known as EMST. This
October 2020: Athens (Part 2): Acropolis & Museum
Monday The transition from weekend to new week brought a move from ‘settling in’ to serious sightseeing. Top of the list were the city’s most popular attractions: the Acropolis and
September 2020: Two Galleries and a Georgian House
That’s what I managed to clock up over just two days in September, albeit two days that were separated by a weekend. Scottish National Gallery (Friday 11-Sep) The Scottish National
September 2020: London
Our base Our London base for this visit was relatively unusual: the Holiday Inn Express, Limehouse. It certainly didn’t represent IHG at its finest: the neighbourhood was slightly dodgy, it
September 2020: Berlin (Part 2)
Tempelhof Airport Tempelhof was Berlin’s first major airport, operating between 1923 (making it a similar vintage to Croydon Airport) and 2008. The former airport’s main claim to fame is the
August 2020: The town made famous by the Covid-19 crisis
Background I suppose I must have come across the name Barnard Castle prior to the year 2020: I know for a fact that I have driven the A66 several times,
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
March 2020: Three Cities: 2. London
I arrived in London from Amsterdam, unusually, and a little later than planned (thanks to issues with the GWR service from Bristol), met up with Bruce at our base for
Leap-Year London (2020)
Barely a few days after my previous visit to London, I found myself flying south once more, this time on the Saturday itself – the last day of a leap-year
February 2020: London
As I have written previously, albeit not here, London is not necessarily my favourite place in the world, but it is easily my most visited destination outside my native Scotland.
Japan in Winter (2020): Day 6: Last full day in Sapporo
Today, like Thursday before it, was neatly subdivided into three sections. After sampling a McDonalds breakfast (which, if anything, was marginally better than the previous day’s Starbucks experience), we set
Japan in Winter (2020): Day 5: Getting to know Sapporo
Morning … Today started with breakfast at a local Starbucks – the coffee was nice enough, but the food wasn’t so great. After a brief return to the room to