Category: Uncategorized
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I’m going through a bit of a Scandinavian phase at the moment. Last year, my wife Chris and I visited Bergen and Oslo in Norway, seeing the fjords and mountains and viewing lots of slightly disturbing Munch paintings including several versions of The Scream. Earlier this summer ( 2026) we were in Copenhagen, capital of…
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5 BOATS. I once stayed in a nice guest house in the historical town of Stamford, Lincolnshire. The breakfast room overlooked a large garden surrounded by an old wall and in the far corner of that wall was an interesting- looking plaque. The owner told me that the border being Anglo-Saxon England and the Danelaw…
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My wife, Chris, and I have just returned from Copenhagen in Denmark. It was our second visit to Scandinavia in consecutive years. Last year we were in Norway. So what’s so special about Scandinavia? In one way, it’s our reaction to global warming and the extreme high temperatures and wild fires being experienced in the…
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RETURN TO THE KILLING. It had been a difficult journey to the Danish capital. Our flight from Newcastle ( N E England) had been cancelled by KLM airlines at short notice the day before and the rescheduled flights had involved a very early start and changes at both London Heathrow and Amsterdam. 3 flights and…
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Up to a couple of weeks ago I’d never heard of Gubbio. It’s not exactly near the top of most people’s Italian bucket-lists. But, visiting my wife, Chris’s: daughter, Italian son in law and Anglo-Italian grandkids every year, we have got to do many things that regular tourists don’t even think of. Our family visits…
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INTRO — My wife Chris has a daughter, son-in-law and two teenage grandchildren in Italy. The kids call her their English nonna. Her son-in-law, G, is Italian. Chris misses the regular contact which most of her friends have with their families, but it does make for some interesting and enjoyable holidays. She also has a…
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I’ve been to Brussels, the capital of Belgium 3 times and nearly went there on another occasion. It’s been a city of mixed fortunes for me. Good things and not so good things have happened there. I first attempted to go way back in 1972, newly married and a newly qualified teacher. It was to…
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We were recently in Belgium, so inevitably we visited Bruges. You have to don’t you? Missing out Bruges in Belgium would be like omitting London when visiting England or not bothering with Paris while getting to know France. Bruges dominates Belgian tourism with about 8.3million visitors per year. That’s a lot to cope with for…
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It’s Easter weekend. Our close is clogged with strange cars. Several of our neighbours are hosting family gatherings. The shouts and screams of young children disturbs our usual Sunday morning peace as people’s grandkids let off steam in the garden. Maybe soon, some of them will go on an Easter egg hunt or will be…
scrapheapstuart3 