We all dusted off the bikes this afternoon for a little ride along the Rivanna Trail. This is where we stopped and turned around (and none too soon, I might add, because tree roots and rocks were already conspiring to unseat me). We had just started meandering the nearby streets when Sam’s trail-a-bike got a flat tire. …

Read More

He makes me laugh. And he lets me take his picture. We came across this “dirt bike in the mud installation” on our walk along the Rivanna Trail, just east of Jordan Park.

Read More

As seen from Rockett’s Landing near Grand-mère’s flat. It turns out that Richmond was named for the English town of Richmond near London because the view of the James reminded founder William Byrd of the view of the Thames from Richmond Hill. After Grand-mère fed us a tasty lunch we walked along the river and then up …

Read More

One last outing on our last Saturday in the UK: a train ride to Chichester, a small city in West Sussex that dates back to Roman times. We visited the 11th-century cathedral, constructed on top of a Roman building, and we walked most of the old Roman walls that encircle the city. But the most delightful–and …

Read More

The London Eye over the Thames, seen from the Jubilee Bridge.

Read More

At the dockyard at Portsmouth. The flagship of the British fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), the Victory is also where Horatio Nelson met his end in the shape of a single bullet that pierced his lung and lodged in his spine. We spent a good hour touring the ship. It is an impressive restoration and provides a …

Read More

There are days (like yesterday) when I barely remember to take a photo. Then there are days like today when I take a ton of photos and then hesitate over which one to post as the photo of the day. I chose this one because it was one of my favorite moments: after a steep climb up a footpath in the Surrey Hills outside …

Read More

I love cliffs. Today we rode the bus to East Dean and then walked a little over 3.5 miles to Beachy Head via Birling Gap, just east of the Seven Sisters chalk cliffs. The walk is undulating: steep climbs lead to steep running descents. The final ascent brought us to Beachy Head, where AC snapped this photo.

Read More

“Treachery! Treachery! England is ours!” is what Sam shouted over and over again as she galloped her way through the Battle of Hastings Heritage site and the ruined Abbey that now stands where King Harold fell.

Read More

As in the “Battle of Hastings” country. Nothing about this trip went as planned. We missed our train. The train we did end up on was packed and we had to stand with our bicycles at the end of the car. We wanted to visit the Herstmonceux Castle and Science Center, but we were blocked by a Medieval Festival. We wanted to …

Read More