This morning we woke with the birds! There were magpies caroling and willie wagtails calling very close by, with kookaburras and cockatoos (or maybe corellas) in the background. Fortunately the magpies flew off somewhere else after they sang for a bit and we managed to doze off for another hour.
For Christmas our friend Steve received the lonely planet book Best Day Walks Australia. We were all q Read on...
It seems every state in the US, and every country that I visit has a wine region. Croatia is no exception, with a big plus. In fact, it is a world class connection, in the person of Miljenko Mike Grgic of Napa Valley fame. He left Croatia back in 1954, and became perhaps the most famous winemaker in the world when his 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay won a blind tasting in Paris, aka the Judgment Read on...
Arrived in Houston late afternoon and Ubered to our Super 8 Motel near the Motorcycle shop where our bikes have been stored for 3 years. This motel/gas/station/diner is a truck stop ..hundreds of huge rigs fuelling up & parked in the truck park (see the photo) .Tuesday morning went to Tejas Motorsports - the shop where the bikes had been stored for 3 years courtesy of Bob Binns the owner (thanks B Read on...
The last time I was here was back a few years ago and we sat with friends in the square and enjoyed strawberries and cream in the sunshine.
The Town Hall is among the most impressive town halls of Tuscany, overlooking the square with its copy of Michaelangelos David statue as well the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia with its sculpture gallery of antique and Renaissance art.
Another fe Read on...
I regard Donald Trump as an abomination - a narcissistic, ignorant, corrupt, racist, misogynistic, mendacious, divisive, President. Much has been written about him, so I do not intend to repeat the obvious here, just mention a few things that have caught my attention or crossed my mind of late.
In Vietnam there is a brand of cigarette called ‘Trump. On the packet is an image of the Statue of Read on...
Wilderness travel has very popular in the time of Covid and we had expectations that we would see lots of people on our 2 canoe trips this summer. However it seems the routes we chose were a bit off the beaten track and there werent many people.
Our first trip with 2 solo kayaking friends was to Dryberry Lake in the Sioux Narrows area. The constraint for this trip was reputed to be the access roa Read on...
In a previous blog entry we mentioned that there are plenty of rivers and rapids in northern Sweden. We have quite a few of those represented here in this blog entry. But we also want to point out that hiking also is a big thing in Sweden. There are many interesting hiking trails ready to explore for anyone who wish to do so. Below we will write about four of the hikes we made during our vacation. Read on...
Hier au soir jai enfin trouv le restaurant conseill par Denis. Lui mavait indiqu via????mais ctait vialle ???. Excellente adresse, pour manger, mais 45 minutes pour garer le voiture, jtais sur le bord de renoncer, quand enfin une place. Au resto, le patron me dit en franais, cest samedi, on refuse en permanence, oui, mais cest Denis qui menvoie chez vous, alors patient 2 minutes, qui se sont trans Read on...
For several different reasons, one being the forecast looked better, our ride today was this afternoon. We failed on the weather front as it was wet for the first few miles and just grey and breezy after that! It was just a standard Radio mast loop today. Through Chatburn, Sawley, Bolton by Bowland, round the mast and home via Sawley and Chatburn. Our virtual journey would be another full day on t Read on...
In this fine article, George Monbiot argues that a growing world population and economic expansionism mean we are heading for disaster:
Ive been saying for some time - years now? - that its all much too late. We had one planet and we have indeed (your word) fucked it up. Were past the tipping point to disaster. And in any case human population and pollution is still increasing. It isnt reducing. Read on...