John and Max

Hello All, There will be a short intermission in Travel Blog Updates. There have been two deaths in my family and we have been on the road again, not for pleasure this time. I am booked with two all day art classes this week-end--so please hold tight as we wind up this spectacularly different way to look at England and Ireland and take you along with us! Last week we were in San Francisco.. Guiness should never ever be served cold! Truth! Love John and Max... read more

Day 33 Northern California Although we have been home for almost a month, when we took the pictures for this last blog it was actually the last night of John's vacation. I had convinced him to take a week after we came home--the longest vacation he has ever taken-- because, honey, jet lag does not get easier as one gets older. On this morning, Sunday, I woke up late. I was already feeling a tad bit guilty when I wandered into the kitchen mid-morning in yoga clothes. John is sitting at the kitchen table with a big grin…”Why are you wearing an apron?” Then my nose detects…beans, tomatoes, sausages, bacon? Is it…? Is it?... Yes! My darling husband is creating a Full Irish/English/Maine (beans included) breakfast for our last morning of vacation together… During breakfast we ... read more

Days 24 and 25 Salisbury “Nice Church, Great Rocks….” We sleep wonderfully well. That is a very good thing because our waking thoughts are: Wow! It’s hot already and we have gotten up very, very early for our trip to Stonehenge. A lovely breakfast is cooked up by Veronica and served by her John, the car is packed up, and too very soon, we are leaving the wonderful hospitality of Webster’s B&B. It occurs to us that this is our last Bed and Breakfast stay: tonight we check into a real hotel to begin the transition into that you’re-not-on-holiday-anymore world. Well, let’s just put that nasty little looming thought out of our minds and head out to Stonehenge. Stonehenge is quiet , deserted, and slightly eerie in the inversion haze brought on by the current heat ... read more

Day 22 I have not told you how much I love this Old Farmhouse at Roystone Grange. I am totally happy, secure, and safe here. I wake in the morning and think, “This is Home….” There is something about 16 inch deep rock walls, whitewash, and raw timber that makes my heart sing. It also helps that there is indoor plumbing. Actually, it really, really helps a lot even though English washers and dryers are totally substandard….sorry, but it is true. Our “Heavy Load” washer dryer combination can handle about what one person would wear in one day….So, we are planning our jaunts around loads of laundry. But today we have many travel bits and pieces to attend to. Yesterday our cell phone was blocked, so we think we need to “top up” our account, and ... read more

Day 19 The Big Cousin Reunion John and I are heading off on a Thames Boat Cruise to the Tower of London. Roger has opted out as he has seen The Tower so many times before. First we have to figure out how to get there: The Circle Line (I think it was) is our direct route and it is closed in the section we need. We ask the not-very-hospitable person in charge (owner?) of The Vicarage Hotel for help and she thinks we can get straight there. We can’t. (She also didn’t know of a good pub in the area….strange…could be why she is such a sourpuss.) So we ask the nice man at the tube entrance and he gives us complete directions and we make it to Westminster Pier lickety split. We are hampered ... read more

Days 16 and 17 Goodbye to Dublin, Goodbye to Ireland. We have one full day left here on the Emerald Isle: tomorrow we leave for London. We spend most of the day at the wonderful National Museum of Ireland, Archaeology. The Museum is set up on a time line that helps us put into perspective all that we have seen: Newgrange; The Hill of Tara; The Grange Ringfort; The Rathurles/Kennedy Ringfort, Church, and Castle Keep; The Treasury Exhibit; Hill of Slane; Monasterboice; The Book of Kells; Rock of Cashel; Trim Castle; The Yellow Steeple ; Cahir Castle; Ormond Castle; Kilkenny Castle; Cobh and The Dunbrody Famine Ship; and everywhere signs and information are in English and Irish- that once forbidden language. However, the most impressive part of the museum for us is the display developed from ... read more