Life's about experiences. These are mine.
We were sat in Starbucks this morning having breakfast and watching a little tableau unfold on the pavement (“sidewalk”) opposite where five police officers were arresting one guy. I’m not sure why five officers were necessary given that the man offered up no resistance. Maybe it was to help with the difficult job of rolling …
Continue reading “USA ’25 – Day Six – The Sights (Part II)”
I must admit that of all the places I expected to find myself on holiday, the zoo wasn’t one of them— at least not without children. Don’t Panda to Them Like many of the museums on the National Mall, the zoo is also part of the Smithsonian Institute, and like the museums, it is also …
When we came to Washington last time, we stayed in Georgetown, a beautiful and affluent suburb of Washington. It was a nice area but probably a bit too far from the action. Foggy Bottom This trip we are staying downtown so we had to get the Metro over to Georgetown. The closest stop was at …
Today we took the metro south to Alexandria, a city seven miles out of Washington in Virginia. We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented As we walked from the station to old town Alexandria I was struck with how well presented it was – spotlessly clean and tidy. It really …
Jet lag wasn’t too bad. I’m sure that it’s perfectly normal to be wide awake at 5 am! Still it did allow us to get out early and avoid the crowds. National Mall Today we’d earmarked to do the sights, which in Washington’s case are all centred around the National Mall. We started by heading …
Just as the weather begins to change at home, we are off to warmer climes. Back in 2019 we did a combined trip to New York and Washington but felt that we hadn’t spent long enough in the capital so vowed to come back. Now we are here for a week. Whenever we said to …
Something new for Heritage Open Days this year and arguably, something without any heritage— a trip up the newly opened ONE Station Hill building in Reading. Having done all the other things on offer and seeing that this offered the opportunity to look out onto the roof of Reading, we were keen to go. Missed …
Continue reading “ONE Station Hill, Heritage Open Days 2025”
We’ve not been able to do a leg of the path since late April. The reasons for this are twofold: firstly, it was very hot over the summer— too hot for us to want to walk; and secondly, I got plantar fasciitis in my right foot, making walking painful, so there has been quite a …
Continue reading “Thames Path – Day Fourteen – Cholsey to Shillingford”
Today is the last day of my 6th decade. Tomorrow I will be eligible for free prescriptions and a senior railcard. I don’t feel old enough to warrant those and other concessions but the grey hair tells me otherwise! While browsing the bookshops in Hay I came across these magazines from around the time I …
Continue reading “Wales 2025 – Day Five – Hay–on–Wye”
The final two stops on our Welsh tour today waking in the lovely Portmeirion and then travelling on to the bookish Hay–on–Wye. Portmeirion After all the hoi polloi paying day guests had left the village it became very, very quiet there and it was a pleasure to walk around the grounds. There were a couple …
Continue reading “Wales 2025 – Day Four – Portmeirion & Hay–on–Wye”