History
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Dover Castle – The defender of England
As we wait for our travel date to arrive we continue our exploration of our local area. One major site which has been on our list for some time is Dover Castle, a familiar site majestically standing proud atop the white cliffs of Dover, keeping watch over the English Channel across to mainland Europe, keeping England safe through the ages, a myriad of underground tunnels holding secrets of days gone by. This site has been occupied in some form since Roman times, the Castle in its present form built by King Henry II and has played a key part in England’s defences throughout many wars, not least of course the…
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Canterbury: A cradle of Christianity
The countdown to the start of our amazing adventures and trips around the world is well underway, with just three weeks to go until our departure on January 29th. From that point on, the next chapter of our lives begins. So currently we are doing our best to shake off the extra pounds put on over Christmas and get quite a bit fitter before the adventures begin. The New Year has to date seen a stroll around the so-called lost waterways of London, following the trail of the River Fleet, a tributary of the Thames now mostly buried underground, and a delightful walk around the picturesque villages just south east…
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Michaela on tour – week two continued- Stratford upon Avon
The town of Stratford-upon-Avon is known across much of the World as William Shakespeare’s birthplace, and remains a major destination for tourism, with good reason. Of course, the town milks the Shakespeare theme to the limit, but in its own right it is one of the best preserved old towns in all of England, with many stunning ancient properties and a wonderfully quaint character. It simply oozes charm. The town dates from a charter granted in 1196, but it was of course Shakespeare who changed the course of history here, culminating now in a town which has less than 30,000 inhabitants yet welcomes 2.5 million visitors per year. It loses…
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Michaela on tour- week two
Week two of my retirement and I head off to visit family in South Birmingham in the Midlands, another week of eating, drinking and fun. Although I am from Birmingham originally, I haven’t lived here for many years so today I take a solitary tour around a number of special childhood places and a trip down memory lane centred around the village of Bournville and the home of Cadbury’s chocolate. Maybe I am biased but in my opinion Cadbury’s is the best chocolate in the world!! My family has a long history with Cadbury’s, my Nan was an original Cadbury girl starting work there at the age of 14 back…
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The Suffolk Coast: Heathland, Waterways And A Vanishing City
Reaching the end of September means that we are now precisely four months away from starting our trips of a lifetime; retirement is coming soon, the first trip starts at the end of January. Over the next few weeks we’ll be taking in some of our favourite corners of our home country of England before we leave our shores long term. So this weekend sees us visit a picturesque part of the Suffolk coast, both dodging the showers and catching the sun as the early autumn throws a mix of weather at the country. Day 1 is a walk around heathland clad in heather and bracken, small traces of the…
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Ending This Journey: A Weekend In Athens
Finishing off our tour of the Cyclades with a weekend in the wonderful city of Athens
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This Sacred Island
Tinos and the incredible pilgrimage to “Our Lady Of Tinos”
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Polignano A Mare And Corpus Domini
A day in Polignano followed by an evening of corpus Domini celebrations in Molfetta
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More Adriatic Adventure And A Church Puzzle
Continuing our tour of Southern Italy featuring its churches
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FROM STATELY HOME TO CAVE HOUSES: IT’S ITALY NEXT
From Chatsworth House Stately home in England to Matera, the “shame of Italy” in Basilicata, Italy
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