CATEGORY
London’s National Portrait Gallery’s temporary exhibition, “Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens” presents an amazing collection of portraits, jewelry, personal effects, books, costumes, and more to illustrate not only the lives of the six women who married the second Tudor king, but the effort across five centuries to keep their memory alive.
The purpose of our trek to Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham in the southwest of London was to see a recently recovered bronze bust of the Emperor Caligula but we discovered so much more in the recently restored 18th Century “little Gothic castle” built by Horace Walpole.
London’s Imperial War Museum in Southwark founded even as the First World War raged offers insights into the myriad costs of the wars of the 20th and 21st Centuries. It was a most disquieting but valuable reminder of the myriad costs of war.
The two of us have long been fascinated with the history of canals and their role in the history of transportation, industrialization, and more recently recreation. This stay in London has given us new opportunities to explore and learn more about how canals contributed to the growth of this great city and how they are being used and preserved today.
It was a most educational visit to the newly renovated National Portrait Gallery at Trafalgar Square in Central London. We were intrigued with the contemporary approach to presenting British History.
It was at Bletchley Park that the Allied Codebreakers deciphered German military messages during the Second World War. A free guided tour gave us a good overview of the campus and the activities that occurred here from 1938 to 1945.
A lovely way to spend a Sunday in Hampstead. We visited the historic Fenton House to view lots of lovely collectibles, to listen to and learn about harpsicords, and to tour and linger in the garden before heading off to the historic Spaniard’s Inn for a most delectable Sunday Roast.
A visit to the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden gave us insight into the evolution and role of public transportation in the creation of London as a great metropolitan area.
Bath, England is an amazingly inviting place with deep deep history. One little day trip isn’t anywhere near enough but we did enjoy delving into the history of the Roman Baths, basking in the beauty of Bath Abbey, and topping our visit off with Tea and Bath Buns!
Today’s excursion to The Victoria & Albert Museum established in 1857 gave us a glimpse into the Victorian world and a chance to see some glorious originals and copies up close.
Planning a trip? Dreaming of travel? Perhaps some of our adventures could inspire yours! Over the last several years we’ve had the distinct pleasure of many cross country journeys traveling though the Lower 48 in tents and our various teardrop campers as well as an amazing Alaska adventure that did not involve a camper.
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The Zulu make up a large portion of the South African population and have a culture all their own. Today we traveled from the Port of Durban on the east coast of Africa to the Valley of a Thousand Hills to learn a bit about their traditional lifestyle.
The island nation of Mauritius was unfamiliar to us before we started planning this trip but today we got a wonderful introduction to this volcanic island that’s been peopled for less than 400 years. We drove past sugar cane fields and tea plantations, visited a vanilla farm, and savored a delicious Mauritian lunch while soaking up all sorts of information about the geology, history, and economy of this tiny country.
A visit the the Hindu shrines in Batu Caves involving a climb of 272 steps into an immense limestone cavern and a pewtersmithing workshop at Royal Selangor the world’s largest producer of pewter ware were our two very different adventures near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia made for an incredible day on our first visit to this Southeastern Asian country.