We had a couple more days in Birmingham before going to London. There’s an environmentally friendly shop called Clean Kilo, which uses no plastics, and you take your own containers to fill up with food, toiletries, and cleaning stuff. There were two shops at one time, but they struggled during the pandemic. The one in … Continue reading / view photos From Chequers to pizza
Category: Culture
Damselflies in Ironbridge
It was a sunny Sunday afternoon, and a short drive got us to Ironbridge. We’d done an autumn walk there a few years ago and I had fond memories of the once industrial town. We followed the same route, finishing at the Iron Bridge itself. Along the canal on the walk, the azure-blue damselflies were … Continue reading / view photos Damselflies in Ironbridge
Hay Festival 2024
A last-minute decision and booking took us to Hay-on-Wye for the second May Bank Holiday weekend. Before going into town, we walked up Hay Bluff, one of our favourite hill walks. You can ascend and descend the 677m in about an hour. Hay-on-Wye is renowned for having lots of bookshops. When I first went there … Continue reading / view photos Hay Festival 2024
Taiwan earthquake
Beyond broadening the mind, travel has a remarkable ability to forge profound connections to distant places. Through firsthand experience, you can cultivate a deeper sense of empathy and compassion towards the people and cultures encountered along the way. Before my visit to Taiwan, I admittedly knew little about the island. And if it had remained … Continue reading Taiwan earthquake
Kew Gardens Wakehurst
Despite being a member of Kew Gardens for many years, I’d never been to their more rural gardens in Sussex. The public transport to Wakehurst is a bit ropey. Taking the train to Haywards Heath is straightforward. Once you’re there, however, you must wait for one of the infrequent buses for the 10km ride to … Continue reading / view photos Kew Gardens Wakehurst
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2023
I enjoyed the first Royal Academy Summer Exhibition I went to in 2017 but a few later ones not so much. This year’s, however, was full of good stuff and much of it was in the first room, including one of my favourites: the painting of Varanasi, which was evocative of my trip there a … Continue reading / view photos Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2023
Winterbourne House and Garden
One of the hidden delights of Birmingham is Winterbourne House and Garden. Almost immediately, on entering the garden after buying tickets, an elderly man, sitting on a bench, started talking to us. He had this avuncular tone and seemed to be a permanent fixture of the garden. After some chatting, he recommended that we take … Continue reading / view photos Winterbourne House and Garden
teamLab Planets Tokyo
When I was in Kakunodate, a German woman I met was raving about teamLab. She had been to many around the world. I had vaguely heard of it but her description fascinated me. When I knew my arrival date in Tokyo, I went online to book it. I expected it to be fully booked but … Continue reading / view photos teamLab Planets Tokyo
Sendai — the City of Trees
I was whizzing through the Tohuko region on my way south to Tokyo, spending just a day in a city or town before moving on. This was partly because of my seven-day JR Pass rail pass, which allows unlimited travel for the period of the pass. Therefore, you get most value the more you use … Continue reading / view photos Sendai — the City of Trees
Mount Hakodate
Yesterday, I had bought a three-museum ticket when I visited the Museum of Northern Peoples. Today, I went to the other two: the former British consulate and the old Public Hall. The British Consulate was established in Hakodate after an Anglo-Japanese Treaty was signed in 1858. Free trade between Britain and Japan then began. A … Continue reading / view photos Mount Hakodate