Blogs from Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 2

Left Paris early Thursday morning....trains to Charles de Gaulle...taxi too expensive like 80 Euro....ridiculous! So on packed peak hour trains....3 large suitcases....no aircon on trains.....nearly expired arrived to check in an hour later! Flight was very short 45 minutes. Bus from terminal to hire car company...that took another hour....take a number system...they must go through hundreds of cars each day it was packed! Finally on the road had a good run down the M25 to Faversham...booked into the Railway Hotel right in town for the festival...didn't realise how involved the Railway Hotel was in the festival...their carpark became a music stage all weekend...SO NO PARKING here.....not a huge town so parked our car around near El and Deans for the few days there. El and Dean invited us for dinner Thursday night which was lovely...we had ... read more

Time runs together on the Canal. It's hard to believe that hours go by, and then you can't believe it's only been five minutes since the last bridge. We are doing the Black Country Loop near Birmingham, in a counter-clockwise fashion, starting out of Barton Turns Marina (and ending there). Rather than give a mile by mile (there are 86), lock by lock (more than 100), pub by pub (yummy meat pies), or bridge by bridge (we stopped counting)... for the remainder of the canal trip, we will talk about interesting highlights. We split out our time in Birmingham into a separate entry, after this one, since that was a short escape from normal Canal life. We'll mention that Anne and Tony (mostly Anne) were sick during this part of the trip, so we may not ... read more

This is a photoblog of our first voyage in Horatio Sprague from Stone on the Trent and Mersey Canal in Staffordshire to Tewkesbury on the River Avon in Gloucestershire. The boat was launched on February 21 2018 in Stone by the builder Steve Heywood as an empty steel shell with an engine. Being empty and unballasted, it was far less manoeuvrable than a completed boat, so the trip was quite "hairy". The first few days down the Trent and Mersey Canal and Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal were great, very cold but sunny. We stayed in a variety of B and B's as the boat was not habitable. However on reaching Stourport snow and ice set in, freezing the canal. Then the River Severn was closed due to high water levels from snow melt! We spent several ... read more

It's been 6 months since we've had a holiday. Our usual September motorhome trip was cancelled last year as I was booked for a new right knee on August 31st which meant No travelling for at least 6 weeks. Summer had been very busy since we came back from the Swiss, Austrian trip in June. Hardly an empty day on the calendar with Bob's 75th and a couple of parties for that, a summer holiday visit from my grandchildren and then we fitted in a four night visit to Lisbon just before my op. Such a good decision and just what was needed especially with the wonderful summer weather we enjoyed. New knee now in place and working exceedingly well thank you. Not tried swimming yet and surgeon says no breast stroke which is going to ... read more

Picture the scene. It is a warm sunny day. We are in Italy. Possibly around Venice or theVenetoand there are two rather studious gentlemen deep in conversation. Okyou have to use your imagination. They lean over a table pouring over plans. Andrea Palladio born in 1508 and died in 1580 a leading architect very active around the Republic of Venice. His houses are everywhere. If you have the cash Palladio is your man. Influenced by the roman and Greek architecture he was one of the most influential individuals in the history of architecture. Even in damp and rainy England there are examples of his style of architecture. He shakes his head in disbelief and can be heard to mutter the words " Wood ..................wood columns!!!!!! Never. Cheap skate builders. I am not putting my name to ... read more