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BRITISH NEWS & RESOURCES FROM THE EXPERT
Here I share my love of the British Isles, even if you never have the chance to visit the countries of the U.K. From time to time I also
share thoughts about travel in general, and about how to experience other cultures of the world right here in the U.S.
Spring is finally here, which means the festival season is getting underway in the Midwest. You’ll find festivals celebrating everything from cherries to pickles over the next six months or so. Of course, some of my favorites are the Scottish festivals. In more temperate parts of the U.S. you’ll find Scottish festivals throughout the year. In the Midwest,… Continue Reading
The English have a well-deserved reputation for being dog lovers. When I was living in London in the fall of 2015, there were English dogs everywhere I went. I saw them in Tube stations, on buses and trains, in stores and pubs, and even in some restaurants. My favorite dog encounter was at Kenwood House, an eighteenth-century… Continue Reading
In 2016, organizations around the world commemorated the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. One of the most unique events focused on the Shakespeare First Folio. For its exhibit First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare, the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC sent eighteen of its precious First Folios on a tour covering all fifty states,… Continue Reading
We all have favorite movies that we’ve watched so many times we can recite chunks of dialog by heart. I’m sure it’s no surprise that many of my favorites are British, so I thought I would share the list of my top ten favorite British movies. It’s an eclectic mix of comedies and dramas that have all stood… Continue Reading
I first became interested in rugby when I was in London last fall. The Rugby World Cup was going on, and it only happens every four years, so it was a big deal. The 20 qualifying teams played more than 40 matches across England and Wales over a six-week period. It was impossible to miss… Continue Reading
When I was growing up, autumn was the time for U-pick apple orchards, homemade taffy apples, and non-alcoholic apple cider. I didn’t learn about “hard” cider until my first visit to an English pub. I ordered a lady-like half pint and really enjoyed it, but it was difficult to find once I was back in the states. Fortunately, that’s no… Continue Reading
As we sprint headlong toward 2017, I’ve been taking stock of what I’ve accomplished in 2016. Looking back, I realized that British literature has been a recurring theme this year. The theme was set on New Year’s Day. My husband and son joined me for the last ten days of my stay in London, and we’d crammed as much… Continue Reading
I can’t think of any city whose skyline has undergone such a dramatic shift over the last 25 years as London. One by one, a series of modern buildings – each more odd-looking than the last – has changed London’s skyline significantly since my first trip to England in 1978. One Canada Square (1991) and the rest… Continue Reading
I’ll be in New York later this week to conduct some research for my book, Finding England in America, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to squeeze a visit to the Strand Book Store into my tight schedule. The Strand is a book lover’s paradise filled with more than two million new and… Continue Reading
We cut the cable cord earlier this year, which was no great hardship. Except for some on-demand viewing, we hardly ever watched it and I barely noticed once it was gone. As you would expect, I mainly watch British television programs and movies. Let’s face it, cable television is pretty much a wasteland in terms… Continue Reading
I never cease to be amazed at the many poorly designed hotel rooms I come across. You’d think architects and interior designers would have perfected the art of designing hotel rooms by now, but I’ve stayed at more than a dozen different hotels over the last few months (including two brand new hotels built for chains that shall… Continue Reading
My youngest son loves Japanese manga and anime. It started when he discovered Inuyasha at the age of 10. Sixteen years later, William has collected more than 4,000 volumes of manga covering more 1,300 different series. He’s as comfortable reading a book from back to front as I am listening to the accents on Coronation Street. He even wrote a paper on Osamu… Continue Reading
I was browsing the magazine section at Barnes & Noble the other day when the August issue of Good Housekeeping caught my eye. Of course it was the British edition, with a very happy, very glamorous Nadiya Hussain on the cover. Nadiya became a household name in Great Britain after winning Season 6 of The Great British… Continue Reading
It was gloomy when I woke up this morning. I hoped we were in for some rain so I wouldn’t have to go out and water the flowers. I was quite pleased, or chuffed as the British say, when the first fat raindrops finally splattered against the window. It’s not that I dislike gardening. I… Continue Reading
I finally got around to reading Bill Bryson’s latest book, The Road to Little Dribbling. It’s a follow-up to Bryson’s popular book, Notes From a Small Island, which was published in 1995. In Little Dribbling, Bryson sets out to travel the length of Great Britain. He starts his journey in the seaside town of Bognor Regis in… Continue Reading
Welcome to the first entry in my Great London Adventure blog, which will chronicle my three-month Anglophile adventure in London. My flight landed at Heathrow on schedule. We disembarked at Queen’s Terminal, which seemed like an auspicious start to an Anglophile adventure. After a long trek from the terminal, I arrived at Customs and Immigration to find hundreds of people… Continue Reading
The focus for today was getting oriented to London. I love to visit tourist information centers when I travel, so one of the first things I wanted to do was visit the official City of London Tourist Information Centre near St. Paul’s Cathedral. It’s about four miles from Teak Close. I decided to walk so I could explore some… Continue Reading
I set aside one of my first days in London to visit the Queen, or at least the Queen’s home. Buckingham Palace is Queen Elizabeth’s official residence, as well as her office. In fact, it might just be the world’s largest home office. Tourists can visit the Palace’s Royal Mews any time of the year to… Continue Reading
Many London attractions are quite expensive, but there are also some wonderful free attractions. St. Paul’s Cathedral charges £18 for admission, which is about $28 American (£1 = $1.52 at the current exchange rate). Even at that price it’s always packed with tourists. Just down the street, the City of London Guildhall is free, yet it was almost empty… Continue Reading
The Museum of London is a wonderful institution covering 450,000 years of London’s history. It’s located in the oldest part of London, not far from St. Paul’s and the Guildhall, which I’ve mentioned in earlier posts. You’ll pass some interesting historic buildings on the pleasant walk from St. Paul’s Tube station. Suddenly the street curves slightly, and you’ll see the museum… Continue Reading
Today was my first day as a volunteer at Benjamin Franklin House. I’ll be helping out here twice a week for the next three months. Franklin was sent to London in 1757 to mediate disputes between the colonies and the British government. He ended up spending almost 16 years in London, and rented rooms at 36 Craven… Continue Reading
This week I visited two historic houses, which I thoroughly enjoyed. On Tuesday I visited Fulham Palace with some of the other volunteers from Benjamin Franklin House. It was part of an exchange – kind of like a sorority and fraternity exchange, but with a lot less drinking. The Fulham Palace volunteers will be touring… Continue Reading
Today I took a trip into the heart of London’s East End. I walked over to Nelson Dock, which is a few blocks from my house, and took the ferry across the Thames. We landed at Canary Wharf in the heart of the London Docklands. I passed a pub called the Blacksmith’s Arms on my way to the… Continue Reading
I’m living in a house in Teak Close on the south side of the Thames. You won’t find Teak Close on the average tourist’s map of London. Southeast London tends to fall off the edge of most of them. If you do find it, you’ll see that it’s near the Rotherhithe Overground station. It turns out this whole area is… Continue Reading
The main item on my agenda today was a trip to the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden Market. It’s one of my favorite London museums. There’s been a major renovation since the last time I was here, so there were a lot of new things to see. The Underground and the iconic red double-decker… Continue Reading
I had a lazy day in Londontown today. I did laundry and put my feet up so I’ll be ready for my big trip to Bath tomorrow. Washing laundry is not to be taken lightly at Teak Close. Doing two small loads can literally take most of the day. The average cycle on the washing machine… Continue Reading
I ventured out of London today for a day trip to Bath, famous for Jane Austen and for its 2,000 year-old Roman baths. I went with London Walks, which is well-known for its wide range of London walking tours, including its popular Jack the Ripper walk. Many people don’t realize that it also organizes occasional day trips… Continue Reading
After my shift at Benjamin Franklin House, I headed over to Trafalgar Square for the Diwali Festival. Diwali is an ancient Hindu festival of lights signifying the spiritual victory of light over darkness. Holiday traditions include cleaning and decorating homes and offices, lighting lamps and candles, family prayers, fireworks, feasting (with lots of sweets), and… Continue Reading
Today I took a three-hour Thames cruise from Westminster Pier to the Thames River Barrier and back. I’m glad I waited until I’d been in London for a few weeks before taking the cruise. Now that I have a better understanding of the city’s layout, I could really appreciate what I was seeing. We sailed past some of the most iconic… Continue Reading
Tonight I had the good fortune to see Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet at the Barbican. For those who aren’t familiar with Cumberbatch, he is best known to American audiences for playing Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock. He also played Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness, and was the voice of Smaug in the Hobbit movies.… Continue Reading
Cambridge is the quintessential English university town, and the destination for my second day trip out of London. Once again, I went with London Walks. We met at King’s Cross Station for the journey to Cambridge. Harry Potter and his classmates caught the Hogwarts Express here at Platform 9¾. A coach (better known to Americans as a… Continue Reading
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