Regular readers of our blogs will have noticed rather a dearth of these lately. The usual witty, articulate and excellent photographer/commentator is out of action as he broke his arm just where it joins his shoulder towards the end of…
Saumur market
Day 2 turned out to be brilliantly sunny so we began with a walk to the Saturday market, crossing the magical river Loire as we went. Very hard to resist stopping every few yards for another photo opportunity, it was…
Saumur
Saumur is a French town of ancient origin (settled around 4 BC) in the Loire valley, built on the banks of the Loire river. We were there for an all-too-brief visit to see our niece Rose, her husband Luc and…
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli has just completed a 4-city tour of the UK and Ireland: Sheffield, Glasgow, London and Dublin. We were very fortunate to be given tickets to the show at the 9,500-seat 3Arena plus free entry to the attached 1878…
Cashel
In April 1863, Mary Jane Flanigan, aged 9, left her native Ireland and set sail for New Zealand on the ship Elizabeth Ann Bright. She was travelling with a Mrs Ryan. Was this her mother who had remarried? Was Mary…
Venice Music
On the Saturday night Bruce and I went to hear I Musici Veneziani, a group of musicians and singers who perform operatic arias in 18th century costume. The programme was varied, including popular works from Rossini, Verdi, Mozart and others.…
Venice The Sights
Well, let’s face it, for a city with the heritage of Venice you are not going to see a great deal when you arrive on day 1 and leave on day 4. But here’s what we did see. The weather…
Venice
A Little Local Colour We have just returned from a Thurs – Sun birthday celebration (Pip) trip to Venice with our old friends RyanAir. One of the longer flights, at 2.5 hours. Although dearer than our usual European flights, it…
Glendalough revisited
We have been to Glendalough twice before. It is an hour or so’s drive from Dublin in Wicklow to the south and is the site of one of the most important monastic settlements in Ireland dating from the 6th century.…
Amsterdam: Pip’s Reflection
I had Amsterdam on my “bucket list”. I am not entirely sure why, although we have various friends who have visited the Netherlands over time, and all have enjoyed it. Of course, one of the early explorers of New Zealand…