My first full day on Orkney, which I spent in pursuit of Neolithic delights.

Started with Maeshowe, a world heritage site in which you cannot take pictures. My B&B host said it can book full pretty quickly, so I went there first in case I had to book something later and go back. But one of the primary joys of offseason travel is that almost nothing ( Read more... )

Ever peeked into the rare books room of a library, wishing you could go in an look at the books to your heart's content? Go here.  This library was started by the local earl in his lifetime ( around 1680) and continued to lend books to locals until 1968. You can still go there and browse through their entire collection, and have a nice chat with ( Read more... )

took a day trip from Oban to Staffa and around some of the Inner Hebrides. Staffa is made from columnar basalt and there is a spectacular cave on the south end of the island that is its main attraction. However,  given the number of humans on the top of the island, and given free rein for 80 minutes or so, I chose to trek to the far north end and ( Read more... )

a city is a city is a city -- although some cities are more beautiful than others


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uh, Reykjavík. I am going to get kicked out of the country.

from the Rekjavik airport, 50 min layover before my flight to Glasgow.


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On board plane to Rekjavik, waiting for everyone to board. Had to kick some cute Icelandic man out of my seat, but then switched back later once I realized the other person on my row was a friend of his.


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food:

• brunch at The Counter Cafe
  
  1. breakfast taco
  2. MexiCoke (sugar, not HFCS)
  3. blueberry pancake
  4. another breakfast taco

I've been without internet for a few days, in the wilds of the South Island. And I am humbled, overwhelmed, speechless as a result ( Read more... )

New Zealand has lots of introduced species, many of which of course are causing all sorts of problems. Disclaimer: most of this is hearsay. I've checked few of these facts ( Read more... )