We spent much of Saturday morning in Bute Park, this massive arboretum and sporting complex just north from the city centre.  As a botanical garden it is pretty good and it also has many interesting species of trees planted in hundreds of acres of groves. Later we circled the centre and visited some church sites [...]

Liverpool is very nice and I think it may become one of my favourite cities worldwide.  There were aspects that reminded me of my all time fave, Chicago–good local music scene, populated waterfront, recognisable neighbourhood demarcations, a pride in their Liverpudlianess akin to the pride Chicagoans take in their citizenship, and an amusing and parochial [...]

  Penzance, 4.7 miles (in two routes) 31/12/2010 Penzance-Newlyn-Mousehole-Paul-Newlyn-Penzance, 8.8 miles, 01/01/2011 Lands End-Sennen Cove loop, 4.5 miles, 02-01-2011 The end of the RESIDENCE year (for Home Office purposes on 19 January) is still more than a fortnight away, but the calendar does not wait so it came to pass that we found ourselves in [...]

“If you get to the donkey you’ve gone too far.” Yep, been drinkin’ and, yep, been quite ill for a few days, but after awhile here this sort of statement is normal regardless of how ridiculous it looks in print.  At least these are just street directions and not some sort of hard won ‘Tijuana [...]

The Hash was running out of the Mason’s Arms last Wednesday, but I am swamped at work and could only take a short break around 6 pm.  I ran the Headington hill and found my way into the neighbourhood built on the site of an old quarry where the pub lives and promptly ordered a [...]

They take their Monty Python sketches too seriously ’round these parts (he’s probably just pining for the fjords):

[Note: these notes are mostly as I remember them from the tour, but a quick Google search on any of the details that sound dodgy is highly recommended.  I'm am not a reputable source.] Taking the tour of Highgate’s West Cemetary is highly recommended.  The last time I was here (5 years ago) there was [...]

There’s not a lot I can say about Highgate Cemetary, so this entry will be even more photo oriented than my regular posts.  If you like wandering around in a cemetary and taking in the different styles of remembrance then I can’t think of many that are better for this than the East fields of [...]