We woke this morning to a cold and blustery day. It was 56 degrees and, although the weather app on my phone said the wind was 8 MPH, due to my experience from my flying days, you could not convince me that it was anything but a 25 knot wind. At one point I could not open the car door, the wind kept pushing it shut on me. And even many of the locals were wearing parkas and winter headgear. So afte Read on...
We headed off for a short family sojourn in the Philippines before the start of the academic year. Issy and I had honeymooned there way back in 1989 and hadnt been back since. We relied on our ever reliable travel agent, Family Affair Travel, to make all the arrangements. We hoped theyd done a better job than Thomas Cook, whod arranged the honeymoon. When us newlyweds went to check in at the Manil Read on...
If anyone has ever been to Brighton you know that its not the most beautiful beach in the world. Sure it makes for a nice day trip from London on a warm summer day, which we only get a few of a year, but would you ever consider to spent the night sleeping on this pebble beach?
This is exactly what my friend talked me into a couple of years ago. We both were broke Au Pairs working in London and we Read on...
We are back home on Pender having flown out of St. Johns the morning of the day Hurricane Fiona hit the Atlantic provinces. Apart from having a 5:00 am flight, our trip was relatively painless.
We traversed part of the trail to get to our B and B in New Perlican (which apparently is older than Old Perlican) and on our first morning there we headed north to finish the job. Several towns were on ou Read on...
These are two scientific names for a plant, based on Latin or Greek words. The first uses the genus name and the second uses the specific epithet. The two names together define the species and are usually written in italics or underlined
This is the second part of the scientific name. This may describe a plant characteristic, the location where it was found or the person who discovered it. This n Read on...
Today is our anniversary, and our guide has made dinner reservations at a restaurant that is supposed to be the best in Tbilisi. I have convinced Kris we need to try the famous sulfur baths of Tbilisi. Kris has reviewed the several options and we have reservations the baths at 11am. These bathhouses have been around for centuries, using the natural underground springs of sulfur water occurring in Read on...
Issy was feeling a bit ordinary yesterday and wakes up feeling a lot worse. Its not the dreaded COVID, surely, we tell ourselves. She managed not to get it when I came down a few months back; we were in very close contact just before I tested positive, so we both thought she must be one of these COVID nevers who won the lottery and are just naturally immune from the dreaded disease. Its just a bit Read on...
Wow what a wonderful place to visit, from the onset the scenery was amazing and along with our guide Ashea we took the boardwalk together.
Ashea had many anologies, one I particularly remembered was how fragile Earth was demonstrated by an egg.
For hundreds of years, Shoshone and Bannock people collected minerals from Mammoth Hot Springs for white paint. These minerals contribute to the beautifu Read on...
I had originally planned to spend two nights in Thunder Bay figuring Id be tired after two long days of driving but felt OK last night so I checked ahead in Winnipeg to be sure I could get in a day early and cancelled my second night in Thunder Bay. When I did it, it was supposed to rain there today anyway. Of course that changed by this morning but the plans were already changed. When I arrived a Read on...
Leaving Hotel Jkull near Hfn Hoffellsjkull, a part of Vatnajkull was in prominent view. Vatnajkull is Icelands largest glacier and it, or its subsidiary outlet glaciers like Hoffellsjkull, were visible all day. Icelands may rivers and waterfalls have their origin in glacial runoff. As we continued our drive along the south coast of Iceland, several Caribou were spotted. Herds stay in the highlands Read on...