Ans: Dunno, but there are a hell of a lot of people already here! The place is heaving and the guy at the B&B asked anxiously if we had booked somewhere for dinner this evening (we have, go us).

Only one random Hepworth sculpture spotted so far, however, two tiny ancient churches and a very old pub observed, also the lifeboat station. And many, ( Read more... )

For some reason I get regular spam from Lonely Planet, which I occasionally look at in case there is anything moderately amusing in them.

Today they are trying to convince me of the virtues of 'slow travel', including:
[C]ycling the canals of Amsterdam.

Glug...glug...glug...

Nor have I noticed the pace of cyclists on dry land in Amsterdam to be ( Read more... )

Germaine Greer takes issue with the claim that modern sex began in the late 17th century -
Dabhoiwala ignores the kinds of economic, social and demographic history that were systematised at Cambridge. It is not enough to show that somebody somewhere was thinking thoughts that we might think of as amazingly progressive, without investigating ( Read more... )

Getting a second breakfast under my belt...

Wow, minicab arrived slightly early, whisked me along the North Circular route (which I haven't seen for some while) via Highgate, Hampstead Garden Suburb and some identikit Outer N London 1930s suburban architecture and modernist tube stations, getting me here in possibly record time, or at least ( Read more... )

Yesterday there was tramping around the Kunsthalle looking at Art - some good stuff, but a lot of rather bogstandard paintings by lesser known members of specific schools, pupils of, etc.

Today, having met up with partner's brother and sister-in-law there has been extensive walking round Hamburg.

Which is more attractive than I had anticipated, ( Read more... )

Rupert Isaacson believes riding has transformed his autistic son.

But it turns out that it's not just about riding good old Betsy at their Texas farm:
Not long before, Rupert - a travel writer - had attended a gathering of traditional healers, tribal herbalists and shamans in California, and had taken Kristin and Rowan along. Some of the healers ( Read more... )

Itsa a hotel!

And it's inna CAVE!!!

And I have INTERNETZ!!!!

However, spent much of this pm trekking round trying to find a usable map of the confusing and multilevelled streets, in a place where everything closes unttil 3.30-4 pm, at least outside tourist season.

This entry was originally posted at http://oursin.dreamwidth.org/1118237.html. ( Read more... )

And they are having wifi problems here at the moment and my dongle is only picking up a signal that's there but too weak to do anything useful, bah,

Have some links:

I am not entirely sure that David Denby really understands the meaning of the word 'snark', because he seems to be applying it much more broadly than I would in order to make another ( Read more... )

The two-day, bone-rattling journey to Band-i-Amir may be littered with landmines and the odd village of Taliban sympathisers, but if the Afghan government gets its way a collection of five sapphire-blue lakes will one day become one of Central Asia's hottest international tourist destinations.

Hey, excuse to be much-travelled person and post a link ( Read more... )

A rather nasty migraine last night, cause uncertain,, but after sleeping in this morning it dissipated without my having to resort to further doses of cafergot.

By then it was around lunchtime, so partner and I went to the Cafe Frauenhuber for coffee and a light lunch. Old and atmospheric but rather lacking in tables full of people discussing the ( Read more... )