A lifestyle blog
We love exploring, either close to home on an afternoon out, slightly further afield on a weekend away, or to a far flung destination picked because it happened to be on page 83 of the travel guide and we were asked to pick a number between 1 and 230.
For a splendid vacation in the heart of the Mediterranean, whether you are an art lover, a historian, a food connoisseur, or a nature and sports enthusiast – Sicily is definitely the place to be. This is not only due to its long and rich history imbued with the spirit of over two millennia of cross-cultural interaction (which makes Sicily a melting pot of diversity), the many UNESCO-protected natural
It feels like ages since I have posted something for my weekly window post. My love for windows and their ability to frame a photo hasn’t diminished but time to go out and photograph them had recently. Last week we ventured to Guildford for a mooch on New Year’s Eve and to see if anything grabbed us in the sales and on the way back we realised we had
It’s a vivid memory for me, the first time I thought “this is how a holiday should be done”. Though to be honest I had been on holiday this way since I was a child. You know, the “Canvas Holidays Way” where you rock up at your campsite and move into a fully set up tent. We had done several when I was little but I hadn’t taken any of
Arriving at Middle Piccadilly in Dorset last weekend couldn’t have come at a better time. This little rural idyll prides itself on being the ideal place to switch off, kick back and recharge. Something I have needed for a while, something we could probably all do with. I find switching off virtually impossible, I feel I am always connected to an online world, and always doing or thinking
Window Wednesday is at home this week (Forgive me, this one is more wordy than usual!) It is funny isn’t it, how sometimes something can occur to you, not in a thunderbolt kind of way but in a more gradual way. A sort of drip feed realisation over time. For years I have thought that our house made me unhappy, an odd thing to say, I grant you, but
Just the most stunning window on Window Wednesday this week, from Winchester Cathedral. The window above might be one of the most impressive windows I have ever seen. And Winchester Cathedral might be one of the most impressive buildings I have ever entered, it being one of the largest cathedrals in Europe. Even back in the day (and I am talking 1500 years) ago it was a place of importance.
You may have missed it but this week an Indian Airline has introduced Child Free zones on flights. This seems to have split the traveling community straight down the middle with half saying “Hoorah, keep the screaming brats away from me” and the other half saying “stop being a pompous arse, you were a child once”. It might not surprise you to know I am in the latter group.
Bit of a different one this week for Window Wednesday in that I am not featuring one place and their windows this week, but I am wandering around the whole town of Deal. It was only when I looked through all my photos from our weekend in White Cliffs Country that I realised just how many photos of buildings I have taken. I can never take too many in
We have Catherine of Aragon to thank for Deal Castle. Sort of. When Henry VIII decided he wanted to annul the marriage it caused ructions with the Pope of the time, and also with Catherine’s nephew who just happened to be Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. Having annoyed these two men Henry was warned that an attack on England was imminent and therefore defences needed to be
Goodwood motor circuit was born shortly after the RAF closed their Westhampnett base at the end of the Second World War and the landowner, Freddie March, decided to turn the perimeter road into a Motor Circuit. For 18 years it became one of the most prestigious tracks in the world before closing its doors in 1966. Fifty years after that first meeting in 1948 it reopened it doors once more
These days, family camping holidays are less about going back-to-basics and more about discovering Europe’s most wonderful hidden gems. It’s not until you set your sights at least a little off the beaten path that you realise quite how dramatically diverse and deeply beautiful our very own continent can be. So if you’ve been thinking of heading out with the kids for a spot of adventure, you’d be wise to
Chawton House Library on Window Wednesday this week. Chawton village is, of course, dominated by its most famous resident Jane Austen. Her house sits in the middle of this pretty village in Hampshire and is a draw for hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. The first time we went we had just decided on the spur of the moment to head there since it is only 45