Today was an amazing day. We started out with a plan to see Trafalgar Square, built in the 19th Century. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the British Naval victory in the Napoleonic Wars over France and Spain that took place on 21…
It’s a whole different feeling arriving on a train to a city with 8.9 million people. We arrived on our nice GWR train and had to transfer to a local train, then to the tube. The London Train Map We…
If you love train travel (as we do) and you’ll be in the UK (Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland) consider a Britrail Pass. We purchased a 15 day pass to be used over 2 months. It felt expensive but…
Time for a battery recharge today and we nixed the visit to Bath. When we realized getting in to the Roman Baths was sold out and the Abbey was closed for a graduation it made our decision easy. I borrowed…
Another fabulous sunny day in the UK 🇬🇧. Walked to meet our Robbie Tour at a nearby hotel. Matt was our guide, a local mate with years of experience driving and tour guiding and telling the local tales of Bristol.…
Our mission today was finding street art, exploring the city and find a few Banksy’s hidden around the city. Also along the river is a huge Bristol festival. Google Maps always is challenging…this way, no turn, this way, no turn…
Good bye to Cardiff and South Wales, thanks for the memories and sunshine & lovely people. We took the train to Bristol & it was jammed packed. A lady squeezed in next to us asked if we were going to…
All museums in Wales are FREE!!! They want people to visit and learn and enjoy. What a concept!!! This museum has been Wales’s most popular heritage attraction for many years. It holds a special place in the hearts of the…
Fabulous start to our upcoming tour day. The meeting spot was across the street from Bike Lock Coffee. And funny TP 🤣 depends on the day Our day ahead includes beaches, cliffs and seaside towns. Quick stop in Swansea and…
Another day bursting with sunshine, and a slight breeze. No walking in circles today, we have a plan to explore the Taft Trail to Cardiff Harbour. First up street art along the river. We find these interesting with meaning, some…
Today was a walk around in circles kinda day. We visited lots of fun shops and markets. We found a huge mall, who goes to malls anymore. Jeff did find some things he’s been looking for his camera & sling.…
This morning we had our last fabulous B&B breakfast at Darwin’s Townhouse. We will miss this amazing start to our day I splurged because it was our last supper even tho the daily porridge was amazing. We went outside to…
On our last day in Shrewsbury we decided to hop on the train to Chester. We’ve passed it many times and thought why not. Plus the heat here is causing lots of travel disruptions and cancellations. We don’t want to…
Last evening walking back to our home away from home yesterday we saw the swans stalking the ducks. They were stealth hunters, picking one duck out of the group to torment. This picture tells the tale… On our early morning…
It’s always an adventure and you always have to be ready for plan B or C. We took the train to Ruabon, 3 stops and then on to catch a bus to Llangollen. Finding the right bus at an old…
We decided to get some relief from the heat in the UK with a nice day trip to the beach. We may not be able to pronounce Welsh words but we’ll definitely try 🤣 Walking into town you could feel…
We’re surrounded by the Severn River so ChatGPT gave us the highlights so we wouldn’t miss a thing. We started at the Abbey founded on 1083, one of the most influential monasteries in England. Its charter house saw one of…
We finally had morning porridge and it was delicious!!! Our B&B serves up a scrumptious breakfast! We were up early so we took a walk through town before hopping on the train to visit our cousin Eileen, it’s been awhile…
We had to say “good-bye & until we meet again” to our fabulous travel buddies Randy & Michael. Goodbye to Scotland & off to catch the train to Shrewsbury, England. A good base for a week to travel the towns…
Our last trek along the Royal Mile making our way to the palace. Hearing about the complicated relationship between Scotland and England and a bit of the political story and history. The Kings official residence while in Scotland, the elegance…
Ann our local guide was absolutely brilliant. The stories, the history, the funny quotes gave us a glimpse of the city she loves and calls home. We walked up the mile street hill with street sights used in the Harry…
Leaving the Loch and the Highlands of Scotland today. Tales of the Fairy’s good & bad. The bad ones are beautiful horses that encourage you to hop on for a ride. If you do, your fate is sealed. You get…
Our day started learning about the Iron Age (1400BC) people who farmed these lands and built Scotlands unique crannogs, which are prehistoric thatched roofed defensive huts build on piers over the lochs. Lots of interesting demonstrations of what life was…
Not often (never) do we start the day with a pour of whiskey 🥃; after the distillery tour of course. Glen Moray welcomed us and walked us through the process of making their world famous Scottish whiskey. We learned the…
Today was a sort of quiet, go for a bus ride kind of day. We were scheduled to stop at the famous Loch Ness, a couple of castles and the historic Culloden Battlefield. We started with a drive to Loch…
Yesterday we asked our cab driver “how has summer been so far?” He said “so far, two nice summer days.” This morning we woke up to the start of blue skies & no rain. Looks like day 3 of summer.…
Long journey to Scotland. We had a lovely flight to London last night. We upgraded to 1st and the pods were perfect for an 11 hour flight. We had little dividers so our space was our own. We did not…
We ended 2025 by visiting our 12th country this year…what a year for JEllens excellent adventures. We’re already planning our getaways for 2026 and 2027, that’s what retirement is all about. We heard an earful from our UBER driver about…
The facility allows visitors to walk through replicas of four ecosystems found in the Americas: All the exhibits are housed inside the former velodrome that was used for the cycling and judo events of the 1976 Summer Olympics, with each of…
We had a nice brunch and a morning walk in the fresh snowfall that fell overnight. A dashing looking English man, holding his pug, is giving a superior stare at Notre-Dame Basilica, symbol of the religious influence on French Canadians.…
