From the Cotswolds, we're heading back to Scotland, via Wales, luckily avoiding the possibly busy major roads and beetling along on more minor country roads. As we enter Wales the road signs change to long unpronounceable place names and we're into the hills, covered in huge piles of slate scree which seems to be the local building material of choice. There's more of a Highland look with heather and less trees and a sprinkling of small hamlets. We pass aquaducts, forts and abbeys and loads of interesting history that on this trip we won't have time to delve into. Have to come back. We find a wee B & B in the beautiful estuarine town of Porthmadog, close to the open sea in North Wales. Our room looks out over the estuary with a steam railway ... read more

We're leaving Scotland for a few days and heading to the wedding of our friends, Janet and Chad, in the Cotswolds, England. Its time for a rental car. Our luck is in with our requested wee economical model being unavailable, and instead a free upgrade to a much more roomy and comfortable model. Unfortunately in the excitement we forget our yummy snack box at home in the kitchen, but we manage to move on from that faux pas. As we cruise alongside Loch Ness I keep an eye out for Nessie (the elusive Loch Ness monster), but it seems she's hiding again. We meander past a number of picturesque lochs as we head South, and then through stunning Glen Coe. Bits of rain have brought the hillsides alive with small waterfalls and the rock faces shine. ... read more

We're off to Scotland, catching a train from Kings Cross to Inverness, covering a very large portion of Britain in one day. As we pass through the countryside England seems very flat and when we reach Scotland there are a lot more hills, and the transition from the lowlands to the highlands is pretty stark with the trees replaced by the purple heather in flower. The journey gives Tessa and me a taste for the country with glimpses of castles, stately homes and cathedrals as well as beautiful countryside and rivers and quaint towns with picturesque bridges. Keith gets to reminisce as we're on his old train route to the Highlands. We spot a couple of wild deer undisturbed by the passing train. We're now into another culture, and station names have Gaelic versions underneath. At ... read more

Just a few days in New York again before we fly out to London. As its prefectly safe to use the subway at night, we head downtown and check out a couple of well known suburbs. We wander through Chinatown with its shops and street stalls selling all sorts of Asian style goods and have a lovely pasta dinner at a restaurant in Little Italy. And we have to hit the bright lights of Times Square at night, with all the other tourists. The evenings are really warm and its a great atmosphere. Its definately the centre of consumerism with huge billboards like enormous TV screens advertising all sorts of things, each covering many stories of buildings. We're keen to go to the American Museum of Natural History, and a recce visit highlights the need for ... read more

From New York we catch a bus to New Bedford to stay with Bob (from the Tennessee conference) and his family. We have a yummy meal in a brewhouse bar and the guys get beer 'samplers' - a concept that definately meets with Keith's approval. Its great to meet Kris and Emma and to be staying in a home for the first time in a few months, but more on that in the next entry. Bob has a meeting in Boston and takes us up there with him, so we get to check out the city of Boston for the day. As Bob heads off to his meeting, we take a short train ride in to the central city. Its a bit cooler today, so may be the end of the heat wave. We have a ... read more