Search This Blog

Back and Forth Across the Pond

My English hubby and I moved to the Scottish Highlands in June 2016 after over seventeen years in my home state of Florida. As a result, the posts have become Scotland heavy. Which is great because Scotland is stunningly beautiful. However, we do like to travel and I do visit my family and friends back in the States, so you can never be sure what's going to crop up next.

Our First Real Snow!

Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

- January 12, 2017

Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

Comments

Inverewe Gardens

- August 31, 2017

We stopped at Inverewe Gardens on our way home at the recommendation of one of Steve's work mates. It's a property within The National Trust for Scotland, so admission is free to Trust members. We had been pondering joining since we first moved here and decided to just bite the bullet and sign up whilst we were at the gardens. We only have to visit about four more places to have the membership pay for itself. Since the Culloden Battlefield near us in Inverness is part of the Trust, and our membership also grants us access to England's National Trust locations, we figure our membership will end up saving us quite a bit within the year. Inverewe Gardens was once the estate of Osgood Mackenzie. He built his mansion house on a rocky promontory overlooking Loch Ewe in the mid-19th century. He dreamed of having a walled garden of flowers and vegetables and set about excavating a raised beach and building retaining walls and terraces. By 1870, Osgood had created a productive gar...

Winchester Cathedral

- November 22, 2018

After two nights, we left Pitlochry for Glasgow. My Aunt Jody was arriving very early the next day from Florida for a two-week visit. During her visit, we toured a bit of England and a chunk of Scotland. Our first stop in England was Winchester Cathedral. Steve and I stopped here a few years ago when I was in England doing dissertation research. But there was a long line to get in and Steve was concerned that we didn't pay for enough time at the carpark, so we ended up leaving. I was very disappointed, so I was happy to return. Winchester Cathedral has roots dating back to the seventh century when England's then-pagan monarchy first converted to Christianity. Cynegils, the West Saxon king, was baptized in 635 and the first Christian church was built in Winchester a little over a decade later by his son. This small, cross-shaped church, known as the Old Minster, became the seat of a bishop who governed a huge diocese. In the tenth century, Bishop Aethelwold made the church b...

London Sightseeing

- May 15, 2009

With my archival work completed, we had all day Wednesday to sightsee. Since it was Alicia's first trip to England, I opted to skip Hampton Court in favor of the Tower of London. While Hampton Court better fits with the era of history I enjoy most, the Tower offers a lengthier pedigree. But first, Alicia wanted to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. I've seen the palace, but I've not been there for the famous ceremony. So we got there about 45 minutes early and secured a good spot next to the wrought iron fencing that surrounds the palace. The first disappointment for Alicia was that the guards were not the usual palace guard in the red coats and furry black hats. These blokes wore more common-place military jackets and berets. Four of them stood in front of four little guard houses - stock still. Every few minutes, a pair of them would begin a choreographed routine where they would turn, walk away from each other, turn back, walk toward each other, and the...