Breakfast was included in my guesthouse, so I made my way to the restaurant. I had a nice, strong cup of coffee and fried egg on toast, which was pretty basic but good and filling. The homemade dumplings were the stand out dish. I really, really enjoyed those and could have eaten another plate or two. Looking out the window, the streets were still quiet, it was still early though. To see all the s Read on...
Shirley and I were ejected from the first on the train from Brussels to Stuttgart, but got to share a second with USA cuties Colleen and Pattie, as well as some other foreigners. We chatted with the girls at odd times and made it through to Stuttgart by 6am. We then had an hours uphill walk to the autobahn and were lucky enough to get two pretty quick lifts, the second taking us all the way into M Read on...
Sunday was a rush day . We were trying to cross the Ts and dot the Is with our house sale . We had sat on the furnishings and fittings list before taking time to fill them in . We signed all the contracts and got everything ready to drop at the conveyancer. With the rider not to rush things. She had put more stuff in the post for our purchase . Contacts to fill in and sign and permission to do the Read on...
To make its grand vin, or best wine, a top Bordeaux chteau will blend together only its very finest lots of wine, usually from the most vineyard plots and the oldest vines. What happens to all the other lots? In many cases, the chteau makes a second wine, which will have its own brand name and its own distinct label. (Its important to note here that a second wine is not the same as a Second Growt Read on...
Once again, I was surprised to wake up hangover free. We headed out for some breakfast and decided to check out the town next to Nanjiecun. We walked through the tunnel in the city wall, Choayangmen Gate. Inside the tunnels, there were some great sculpted murals on the walls of the tunnels. I enjoyed looking at those and it was another reminder that Nanjiecun is different to the rest of China. Thr Read on...
In 1963, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook Skopje, then a provincial town in Yugoslavia. Over 1,000 people were killed and 80% of the buildings destroyed. Rebuilding took place throughout the 60s and 70s with the help of 78 donor countries and the result was a rather grey, utilitarian city.
Our loft apartment is about 15 minutes walk from the main square, though we could catch the number 12 red do Read on...
We left Blowing Rocks on a, beautiful, fine clear autumnal morning. Only a few miles out, our route took us onto a road that as usual was climbing. It was intermittently seal then gravel then back to seal. We climbed Mount Hebo on a winding sealed road with plenty of switchbacks getting to around 3800 feet. On the descent down the other side we came to Hebo the Village. Pretty small but very sceni Read on...
Probablement que ce soir, je vais faire un texte plus court que dhabitude, et mettre plus de photos. Dune part ce sera le plus explicite de la journe, et dautre part, a vous vitera les fautes. Je vous ai entendu tous les jours: tiens il en a encore fait une ici. Je me concentre trop sur le texte, les formules, au dtriment de lorthographe. En me relisant, jen corrige un nombre considrable, mais je Read on...
Today was a very fun day at RWO! Josephine (of Jose House of Creations) who is a fashion designer in Kampala came to speak with our ladies. We had of ladies form our young mothers group as well as our womens group. She was a very inspiring speaker. She started her career in the media. She said that while it seemed like a glamourous job she was paid very little and felt trapped in what she did. So Read on...
Barcaldine closes for the weekend at 2pm on Saturdays. The tourist shops, bakery, souvenirs, art/craft galleries and general run of the mill shops all remain closed on Sundays. The pubs are open (there used to be 11 in the town) and the Laundromat is also open so it was a chance to get bed linen washed and dried. That is after I had to find some detergent – stupidly, I had left a new bottle of l Read on...