The last few days have been all about changing plans. I was meant to leave for Scotland yesterday, but the day after Verona became lost time. Sensory overload, on top of too much wine and too many late nights, required me to take a day off. So, tenUK pushed everything back a day for me and I took off this morning. Isn't the sound of an alarm clock going off at 4.00 worse than the hounds of hell?!? But the reason that I like taking the first flights out in the morning is that one arrives and can have a whole [View Full Entry]

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I woke up this morning unable to believe that we had come to the last day of this trip. The weekend simply flew by and, as I finished up the packing, it felt as though we had just arrived. What a difference the leaving was from the arriving! After breakfast, we all went down to the coach and climbed aboard for the relatively quick journey to Padua. We drove through the less historic and less beautiful parts of Verona and then out into the countryside. We passed the Soave vineyards, from which a lot of the copious amounts of wine we [View Full Entry]

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THURSDAY, 21 AUGUST I am waiting in the BA queue at Gatwick when a voice behind me says, "Hello, I'm Michael." Before I have a chance to say something really witty like "So?", I turn around and see that the man behind me also has a Martin Randall badge on his bag. Thank God, I think to myself. For once I kept my mouth shut and won't have to spend the next four days apologising to one of my tour mates. "Hello." I smile as I shake his hand. "I'm your tour leader. It's nice to meet you." Wow! Dodged that [View Full Entry]

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There are two organisations in the UK that do nothing but work to preserve old homes and other landmarks. If it weren't for the National Trust and English Heritage, a lot of the history of this country would be lost to developers and other people willing to tear down centuries old buildings and replace them with blocks of flats. Run as charities, these two groups have found very clever ways to raise funds. One way that English Heritage does it is to put on outdoor concerts at their venues. Not far from where we live is a beautiful old house called [View Full Entry]

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"Do you know where the owls are?" I hear a small voice below me at the same time I feel a tug on my trouser leg. I look down to the discover that the voice belongs to a small Asian boy with eyes the colour of dark chocolate. "No, love, I don't." "Oh," he says with that tone of disappointment that only a small child can muster. My heart melts. "Would you like me to help you look for them?" "Yes!" His face breaks into a smile that lights up those gorgeous eyes. He takes my hand and tugs me in [View Full Entry]

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In around 800 BC, a Celtic king called Bladud was kicked out of his realm for leprosy. Because he had nowhere else to go, he went off to a place that the locals thought was divine -- hot springs coming up out of the soil He mimicked the swine he had and began to roll around in this mud and, lo and behold, his leprosy disappeared and a town began to build up around the springs as others came to be healed. The Celts continued to worship at the spring as well, building a shrine to the goddess Sulis. When the [View Full Entry]

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My friend Natalie from Sydney has arrived to spend a week with me and to reacquaint herself with London. She arrived safely last night into Terminal Five, Heathrow's new terminal. To say that this place has had its growing pains is putting it mildly, but it is a beautiful building and I was glad to finally be able to see it for myself. Nat and I have been travelling together since we spent a weekend in Paris together during the summer of 2001. We love to do the same things and, whenever I go to Sydney, she takes very good care [View Full Entry]

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This is now becoming a bit ridiculous. Every time this summer that I have had an event planned, I wake up to lousy weather. And today, that was no mean feat. The alarm went off at 6.00, so I was at least hoping for the sun. But no, overcast and actually raining. Putting my faith in Poseidon, I donned a bathing suit, a skirt and a golf shirt for the better weather that I knew would eventually come along. Oh yeah, I put a fleece over it all. At 7.30, nine of us all met at the pub (stop it, it [View Full Entry]

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All week the weather report has been for thunderstorms on Sunday. A mixed blessing. On the one hand, something needs to break the heat. On the other hand, six of us had plans to travel out to Windsor to watch the polo match. As so often happens, the BBC got it wrong and we woke up to sunshine and the continuing heat. At least we didn't have to watch the matches in the rain. At 9.00, we all piled into a taxi and made our way out to Windsor Great Park and the polo ground, learning the rules of the game [View Full Entry]

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OK - it's HOT! I don't mean mildly warm and pleasant. I mean hot and humid. What a contrast this is to last weekend. Sunday night, I was at the pub with friends. We were in jeans, jumpers and winter coats. Today? Shorts and golf shirts are almost too much to bear. I guess I shouldn't complain - it is July, after all. But, one of the reasons I live in England is so I won't have to deal with this weather. Because it is so rarely this hot, very few places in London are air conditioned. So, everyone finds a [View Full Entry]

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