Category England
Sightseeing along the Cornish coast
First a drive through the narrowest hedgerows to Lizard Point, the southernmost tip of mainland Britain. Then up the coast to the charming village of Mazarion and Saint Michael’s Mount. This actually way exceeded my expectations. From a distance it looks an awful lot like the Mont-Saint-Michel. Same name, same tidal island, on opposite sides […]
Cornwall!
Last night I flew from Brussels to Cornwall because it’s a bank holiday weekend and this piece of England needs some extra time. The initial impression was a bit grim. I was on the last flight into Newquay, managed to pick up a rental car right before they closed, and checked into a rather shabby […]
Weekend in the Northeast: Newcastle, Durham, Hadrian’s Wall
On Friday night I took a train from London to Newcastle, checked into a grand-but-faded Victorian hotel next to the train station, and after a few hours’ sleep, woke up to a rather damp weather forecast: Not to be daunted by a little rain, I pulled on my long underwear and all my sweaters and […]
Prehistory in the rain: Stonehenge and Avebury
This morning dawned cold, dark, and wet. Freya had arrived during the night and there was no missing her . . . . . . which made for a delightfully gloomy breakfast in the conservatory of my hotel but put quite literally a damper on the rest of the day. I left Salisbury at 9am […]
Salisbury Cathedral
First weekend in March — time for a road trip! I knew the weather likely wouldn’t be good, and although it’s peak season for daffodils, we’re a bit too early for the best of the gardens. So I decided to go for the timeless: England’s tallest cathedral. Salisbury sits in Wiltshire, about two hours west […]
Finally inside St. Paul’s
I have this philosophy that I should never see absolutely everything there is to see in a place. Setting aside that it would be impossible to actually do that (except, maybe, in Winnemucca), this philosophy means that there’s always a reason to come back One of the “obvious” things that I’ve never done in all […]
Gravestones and Jeeves in Stoke Newington
The middle weekend of February. The second of three weekends that I set aside to do my U.S. taxes. Ugh. But that doesn’t mean I can’t still do something interesting! I spent all morning figuring out the accounts for my house in Seattle, which I’m renting through Airbnb (surprise: it’s making money), and then hopped […]
Taking care of unfinished business at Mud Australia
Remember that lovely ceramics shop below our flat in Sydney that was closed the entire time we were there? Well, as I faced a weekend of work and taxes, I resolved that I would carve out at least enough time to make a visit to the shop’s London sibling. I had the shop to myself, […]
Diverted to Essex!
Flying back from Luxembourg to London in a smallish propeller plane mostly full of my colleagues coming back from the same conference. The weather is terrible the whole way — high winds and clouds, lots of turbulence. Finally we start our descent into London City Airport, breaking through the clouds into driving rain. But as […]
Guests!
Dinner was loud and delicious at Yauatcha Soho, followed by an uber-glamorous after party at Disrepute, a subterranean speakeasy that was notorious for scandal and international intrigue during the Cold War. Today I turned Nicole and Bruce loose to explore Notting Hill and Little Venice without me (in the pouring rain) while I sat (cozily […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 