John Constable Collection at Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich, Suffolk

Ipswich, Suffolk, England
From repeated visits to Suffolk with Clive, I had become aware that Christchurch Mansion, located in the centre of Christchurch Park, houses a number of paintings by John Constable and fellow Suffolk artist Thomas Gainsborough.
Ever since our walk in Constable Country, I’d been interested to see the Christchurch Mansion paintings in person. We’d also walked around [...]

Meeting Mabel in Christchurch Park, Ipswich, Suffolk

Ipswich, Suffolk, England
Mabel is a tawny owl who lives in an oak tree at Christchurch Park. We ‘met’ her when we took a short break from all the running around you inevitably do when you’re visiting family and friends.
Ipswich is the county town of Suffolk, England, where Clive’s father still lives in the house where Clive [...]

Felixstowe Rocks and Docks – Who Knew?

Felixstowe, Suffolk, England
There are some things in life you just can’t predict, such as which people or places will capture your heart.
As regular readers of this blog know, my partner, Clive, grew up in Felixstowe, a coastal town in the county of Suffolk, in England. Since our first visit there together in 2006, I have developed a [...]

A Felixstowe Connection

St. Pancras Station, London
After two weeks in Clive’s hometown of Felixstowe, we’re en route back to Paris.
Due to our rental flat’s location between a high hill and the sea — the flat is on Undercliff Road and we learned some TV stations don’t work there, either — we had to go to other places, [...]

A Trip with a Difference

Sydney
Clive and I are in trip mode once again, heading off next week to visit family in England and the U.S. and to spend some ‘just us’ time in Paris.
Earlier this year, I wrote a Passion for Travel series, in which I described a number of our travel tips and techniques, beginning with a master trip [...]

A Passion for Travel, Part 11: Coming Home

Sydney
“It’s great to go away, and it’s great to come home.”
This has been our family travel motto for years. As much as Clive and I share a passion for travel and exploring new places, we equally share a love of being home and spending time together in Sydney.
Jet Lag on the Return
Jet lag can occur [...]

A Passion for Travel, Part 10: How to Save Time, Worry and Money: Managing Personal Business While Away

Sydney
Clive and I have personal business in four countries, and currencies, whether we’re travelling or not.
As indicated by the name of this blog, Sydney and Paris are primary locations. Our home is in Sydney and we spend as much time as possible at my apartment in Paris. We also have various accounts in our countries [...]

Hay-on-Wye, Book Town in Wales

Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales
Thanks to blogging, I learned about Hay-on-Wye, more specifically thanks to Samantha and her comment on my post ‘Travel and Books, Part 5: Where We Find Them’.
We left northern Wales and made our way to Heathrow Airport via Hay-on-Wye, in southeast Wales on the edge of Brecon Beacons National Park.
A Town of Books
Hay-on-Wye is [...]

An Exhilarating Experience: The Great Orme, Llandudno, Wales

The Great Orme, Llandudno, Wales
The Great Orme, Y Gogarth in Welsh, is a limestone headland at Llandudno, on the northern coast of Wales.
According to Wikipedia, ‘Orme’ is an old Norse word for sea serpent. The Great Orme has had human inhabitants for over 8,000 years. Its geology includes Bronze Age copper mines, ancient caves and wells, and [...]

Whimsy or Disney? Portmeirion, Wales

Portmeirion, Gwynedd, Wales

It’s almost time to say goodbye to Wales (for now, anyway), on this blog.
 
Before I do, I’ll share our last three adventures here:  weird and/or whimsical Portmeirion, our final walk high above Llandudno, and a visit to book town Hay-on-Wye.
 
Virtual Reality in the Middle of North Wales

Portmeirion is located on the coast of Snowdonia, [...]