The last Travel Library of the year is a suitably seasonal cold & frosty one – it’s called Frigid Women by Sue & Victoria Riches (affiliate link to bookshop.org, not to Am*zon) and it’s the story of the first all-woman expedition to reach the North Pole. Sue Riches was the speaker at the Trefoil Guild … More Travel Library: Frigid Women by Sue & Victoria Riches
I like a boat trip. I think it’s a great way to get to see a city from a slightly unusual angle. With the Danube so very prominent in Budapest (my mental image of the city will always be the riverboat cruise adverts sprinkled throughout Midsummer Murders), it shouldn’t be so unusual, and my difficulty … More An evening Danube cruise in Budapest
Perhaps you don’t know that Budapest is actually the fusing of two cities? Buda is the half on the west bank of the Danube; Pest the one on the east. Once upon a time the young double-city was called Pest-Buda before everyone presumably realised that a) it rolled off the tongue better the other way … More How to spend a day in Budapest’s Castle Hill district
The “A Daycation in…” series is one I was planning to start in 2025, to showcase some of the best and most interesting places around Dorset and Hampshire, delving into what elevates something from a mere “day out” to a “daycation”. But I got started a bit earlier than planned, because Bournemouth hotel The Nici … More A Daycation at… The Nici, Bournemouth
Over the last ten or fifteen years, Girlguiding has cultivated four flagship events, held simultaneously at anywhere between two and four of its Training & Activity Centres. The really big one is Wellies & Wristbands, a festival camp for Guides & Rangers, the 10 to 18-year-olds. Then came Magic & Mayhem, a circus-themed fun day … More Sparkle & Ice 2024: the one in a shepherds hut
There are so many thermal baths to visit in Budapest but Rudas was high on my to-do list for one important reason: it has a rooftop hot tub with city views. Even better, at weekends it does night baths. A night bath with views of the city lights sounded like everything I could want! Iceland’s … More A night bath at Rudas
Just north of Budapest’s spectacular neo-Gothic Parliament is a tree-covered lozenge-shaped island in the middle of the Danube, where locals and tourists alike go to escape the hustle and bustle of the city without actually leaving the city. Yes, that’s not entirely different to my last post about escaping the city by going to Városliget … More How to spend a day on Margaret Island, Budapest
I like churches. Like some of the people who appear in this book, part of the heart & soul of their particular churches, I’m not a believer and I don’t even find any sense of peace or inner tranquillity in a church. It’s merely my chosen favourite art form, one which contains, usually, a few … More Travel Library: Steeple Chasing by Peter Ross
If you haven’t noticed, a new volcanic eruption started on Wednesday night. Honestly, I’m kind of surprised it’s still going – out of the previous nine eruption, three were over in little more than 48 hours and this one lost power very quickly. But it’s still going, and if it stops by the time this … More How to visit the Icelandic volcano without annoying ICE-SAR
Every time there’s an eruption in Iceland, I feel a compulsion to write about it, to tell you what’s really going on. I’m not a volcanologist, a geologist, a science writer or in any way qualified to do this but I love Iceland and I know the area as well as any casual tourist who’s … More Iceland’s having another eruption!
I Am A Polar Bear 