Category Archives: Uncategorized

This post features Rome, Florence and Genoa from a trip in March 2026 – with more to come in May… Rome It’s worth considering why you’re going to Rome and what you want to do when you get there. You can spend a lot of time queuing to visit attractions such as the Colosseum andContinue reading “121. Italy 2”

This post features Paris, Chartres, Laon, Le Mans and Orléans from a trip in July 2025. For this trip, I flew from Leeds-Bradford to Paris Charles de Gaulle with Jet2. At Paris CdG I took the RER train from the airport station. We landed at Terminal 3 and it’s a bit of a trek toContinue reading “119. France 4”

This post is split into different sections. The first section covers a trip to Inveraray and Campbeltown, via Glasgow. The second section covers a trip to Inverness, Invergordon and Cromarty. The third section will cover the gem towns around Edinburgh: Culross, Haddington, Kelso and Edinburgh & Leith plus Dunfermline, Scotland’s “newest” city (it was awardedContinue reading “118. Scotland 2”

A brief, and by no means complete, history of rebels and rebellions in England and Wales. It makes for interesting, sometimes depressing, reading as you realise how little some things have changed and see that, with the rise of AI (artificial intelligence), the age of the Luddites (in its correct or original meaning) has madeContinue reading “117. The Peasants Are Revolting: Heroes and Villains”

This post features Magdeburg, Goslar, Quedlinburg, Halle (Saale), Dresden, Meissen, Zwickau and Görlitz, while Berlin makes a cameo appearance and there’s a sneaky peek at Poland… The main reason for doing this trip was to visit Magdeburg and Saxony-Anhalt – the last of the 16 states. Saxony-Anhalt has the highest concentration of World Heritage SitesContinue reading “116. Germany 6”

According to legend, Luxembourg was founded in 963 by Count Siegfried, a descendant of Charlemagne. The city was siezed in 1443 by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. It was later integrated into the territory of the Netherlands and drawn with them into various battles and disputes. In 1684 it was conquered by Louis XIV,Continue reading “115. Luxembourg”

This post follows on from the Gem Towns: England post. The list of gem towns was produced in response to the Buchanan Report of 1963, relating to the devastation and loss of heritage in the UK, specifically Worcester. A list of 324 historic towns across the UK was drawn up. From that list, 51 wereContinue reading “114. Gem Towns: Scotland and Wales”

This post features: Prague, Plzeň, Liberec, Český Krumlov, Brno and Olomouc visited during October 2024. There are also some photos taken in Prague and Kutná Hora from a previous visit in March 2015… For the October trip I used Prague as a base for 6 nights, then Brno for 3 nights and a last nightContinue reading “113. Czechia”

This post features Conwy, Llandudno, Ruthin and Mold visited during August 2024; Monmouth, Tintern, Chepstow and Swansea, Brecon, Kidwelly, Carmarthen, Tenby and Narberth visited during two trips in February 2025. The visits to Abergavenny and Hay on Wye were in February 2026. Wales has four UNESCO World Heritage sites (see below) and three gem towns:Continue reading “112. Wales 2”

This post features: Szczecin, Poznań, Gniezno, Toruń, Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk, Gdynia and Warsaw visited during June 2024. This itinerary almost put itself together. I’ve long wanted to visit Szczecin and when my friend Olga said it was easy to fly there from Liverpool, the seed was planted. I hadn’t been to Poznań for around 18-years, soContinue reading “111. Poland 2”

Rynek simply translates as market square and there is a big rivalry between Polish cities as to which is the best Rynek. If you come from Krakow you believe your city has the supreme champion. Unless you come from Warsaw, in which case you believe that your city has the supreme champion. And so on…Continue reading “110. Rynek Rivalry”

This post features Munich, Nürnberg, Ingolstadt, Erfurt, Weimar, Jena and Saarbrücken. Although I’ve been to Munich and Nürnberg before, the others were new to me. Erfurt is the state capital of Thüringia, while Saarbrücken is the state capital of Saarland – states I’d not been to before… There are 16 states in Germany and I’veContinue reading “109. Germany: 5”

So: another trip to France. Eurostar to Paris and then a TGV to Lyon, where I’ll stay for six nights. There are 94 departments in mainland France – albeit numbered 1-95 (there’s a reason for that). Corsica is split into 2 departments and there are a further 5 overseas departments. Curiously, Tahiti isn’t one ofContinue reading “108. France: 3”

This post features pictures of Malta and Gozo taken during a visit in December 2023 A Brief History Malta’s first inhabitants came from Sicily – mainly fishermen, farmers and hunters – around 5,000BC and they mostly lived in caves. It is believed that the first temples were built around 4000BC . Temples built during thatContinue reading “107. Malta and Gozo”

This post features: Lille, Arras, Bethune, Douai, Hénin-Beaumont and Lens as part of a trip in June 2023 and Rouen, Reims and Troyes from a trip in October 2023… I used Lille as a base and stayed there for 6-nights. The region of France and Belgium around Lille is known for its belfries. There areContinue reading “106. France 2”

I visited Algeria in April 2023, on a tour that had been scheduled to run in 2020. That was cancelled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, the irony of the Algerian consulate granting my visa the day after they closed their airspace was not lost. Back then it took 7 weeks toContinue reading “105. Algeria”

The idea for this post came when putting together the posts on Abbeys & Monasteries and Gem Towns. It struck me as quaint that events that happened over 600 years ago should still be relevant today and that some of these events (and laws) still manifest themselves. It might seem unimaginable now that the churchContinue reading “104. Since Time Immemorial”

In putting this post together, I realised there’s still lots to learn about the UK. For example, I only discovered the existence of “gem towns” in September 2022, while doing some prep for a trip to Whitehaven and Workington. The list was produced in response to the Buchanan Report of 1963, relating to the devastationContinue reading “103. Gem Towns: England”

October 2022: I flew to Istanbul with Turkish Airlines from Manchester. The flight time was about 4 hours and we landed at Istanbul’s fancy new international airport that opened in 2018. The new airport is huge: it takes 20 minutes just to taxi to the gates and then, depending on which gate you dock at,Continue reading “102. Istanbul”

This post features: Chișinău, Căpriana, Tipova, Orheiul Vechi,Saharna, Soroca, Ghindesti, Tiraspol, Bender (Bendery), Comrat and Belsama October 2022 Back to Moldova for the 10th anniversary tour and to catch up with Natalia. Natalia has kindly agreed to show me around again and take me back to all the places I’d completely forgotten about… This timeContinue reading “101. Moldova”

February 2009 In October 2008 I resigned from my job but carried on as caretaker until the end of January 2009. At the time of the resignation I had no idea what to do next – until it was suggested that I go travelling.  Once I had thought about it a bit I realised itContinue reading “29. The Oyster World Tour”