No Rose Parade this year. But I have great memories. My only remaining wish, or should I say dream, is for my Cal Golden Bears to actually play in the Rose Bowl game on January 1. I last went to the famous Rose Parade when I was a kid, 1959, to be exact. How is it that I can remember so well? Because that was the last time my Alma Mater, the University of California, Berkeley, played in the Rose B Read on...
started in 1162 with the celebration of the victory over Ulrich II of Treven, the Patriarch of Aquileia (an ancient Roman city in Italy). Urich II was taken prisoner together with his 12 vassals and eventually released on one specific condition. Every year on Holy Thursday the Patriarch was obliged to pay a tribute to Venice that included a bull and 12 pigs which than were slaughtered in the Piazz Read on...
We can all probably agree that 2020 is not a year that we will remember fondly, although we surely wont soon forget. Our Christmas plans to head to the beach for Christmas week were given the kibosh by the Chilean government about three weeks before the day, as they decided that a recent uptick in cases necessitated a move back to fase 2 in their paso a paso plan (update on this in my next blog po Read on...
My friends took me for a walk today. Well actually, I chose it from four walks they had picked from a book of walks. We went to the Folkestone Warren.
It wasnt until after the walk that we got a clear explanation of the formation of a warren. Water gets into cracks in the chalk relatively close to the front of a cliff, and eventually the front breaks off, creating a new cliff face with a lot of Read on...
This was the day to walk over Cleeve Common , a high plateau. After the initial climb (1000 feet above sea level, of which the hotel is half way), the walk is gently rolling. At the south edge are the remains of a hill which was use for protection over 2000 years old. Much further on and around is Belas Knap, a burial mound over 4000 years old. Built into the mound were small stone caves for the Read on...
England finally decided to end the 3.5 months strict lockdown due to coronavirus and I jumped at the idea of travel. I even went to eat fish and chips in a nice, local restaurant so that I could refresh my table manners 😊
My friend at texted a horrible weather forecast of wind and rain weather. Dressed for the worst of weathers in my easily dryable trousers and wind cheater (both Chinese made Read on...
The cloud that had started to roll over the hills on Banks Peninsula yesterday were forecast to spread over the city overnight and the prediction was correct.However,the cloud is also forecast to clear as the day wears on and afternoon should be sunny with 20C.
So we took a dollar each way and dressed our top for summer and bottom for autumn and hoped for the best that we wouldnt get too warm if Read on...
Back in January 2020 we came back from a trip in Brazil. Little did we then know that we would not be travelling abroad any more that year or the next. Well, we have visited Tallinn twice, but that doesnt really count as travelling abroad. In these two years we have done plenty travelling in Sweden and we have enjoyed that immensely. But weve missed going to foreign destinations.
Fast forward to Read on...
My partner and I recently got back from a trip to Eagle, Colorado. We were visiting some old buddies of ours who moved from Vail to Eagle due to the rising cost of living in the Vail Valley. While I had been to Eagle a few times in the past, the last time was quite a few years back. At the time I was still a big Vail snob (and much more ignorant being younger), and Eagle didnt impress me much.
It Read on...
We decided to ride to Jackman Maine which is very close to the Canadian border, to get to the end of the old BDR route.
Leaving Eustis/Stratton, we headed North on what was the original last section of the NEBDR. We got onto a gravel road around 20 miles out of town which once again was a fun ride with a backdrop of stunning fall colours. A whole tourist industry is built around this seasonal vis Read on...