2013: the best bits
Annual Review 2013 2013 was my first year of retirement so you would think that I would have had more time for blogging. Not so! I’m shocked to find that… Read more 2013: the best bits →
Chengdu pandas
Scotland may have lost its chance of a baby panda for the meantime, but John saw lots of them on a recent business trip to China. His hosts took him… Read more Chengdu pandas →
Dublin Diary: Day 4
Our plane didn’t leave till late afternoon, so we had a few hours to wander along Dublin’s Grand Canal before we left. Near the Liffey, it’s quite commercial but further… Read more Dublin Diary: Day 4 →
Dublin Diary: Day 3
After seeing the mummified cat and rat the previous day, we managed to top it by not only seeing but touching the mummified corpse of an eight-hundred year old crusader!… Read more Dublin Diary: Day 3 →
Glasgow’s Doors Open 2013
Doors Open Days happen throughout September in different cities in Scotland – this last weekend it was Glasgow’s event and we went exploring on Sunday, concentrating our efforts on the area near Glasgow… Read more Glasgow’s Doors Open 2013 →
Dublin Diary: Day 2
For the next three days, we wandered round Dublin using the walking tours in our Lonely Planet guidebook as a basis. Day two was “Viking and Medieval Dublin”, though I… Read more Dublin Diary: Day 2 →
Dublin Diary: Day 1
Not your usual tourist view of Dublin maybe, but on our latest visit we were staying at the Gibson Hotel on North Wall Quay. There were advantages and disadvantages to this.… Read more Dublin Diary: Day 1 →
Pollok Park and the Burrell Collection
Pollok Park on Glasgow’s Southside contains woodlands, gardens and two outstanding cultural destinations – the Burrell Collection and Pollok House. Sir William Burrell (1861-1958) was a successful shipping agent in Glasgow who,… Read more Pollok Park and the Burrell Collection →
Culzean Castle
Culzean Castle, which has a beautiful cliff-top setting on the Ayrshire coast, was the home of the Chief of Clan Kennedy until the family donated it to the National Trust for Scotland… Read more Culzean Castle →
Going home* from New England
After the disappointing weather in Acadia, it was great to finish on a high with a gloriously sunny day in Portland followed by similar weather for our journey back to… Read more Going home* from New England →
Acadia National Park
A few days ago, we drove from the mountains to the sea through countryside which was unexceptional except in name. We passed through Paris, Poland, China, Palermo and Belfast! Eventually,… Read more Acadia National Park →
Maine rains again
But not much. We woke to a beautiful day in Bethel, so set off for Grafton Notch again to do some of the hiking that we had deemed it too… Read more Maine rains again →
The Glasgow Gallivanter 