Paint Your Wagon On the Way to San Jose: 16th November 2022. Throughout our travels around Costa Rica, we would occasionally come across a disused narrow gauge railway line. This was strange, as I was told there ar…

From my archives: Paint Your Wagon travelrat.wordpress.com/2023/04/20/p...

I did a double take there! I thought you wrote Syria!😅

La Boca Buenos Aires: 2nd February 2017. My favourite stop on the tour of Buenos Aires was the La Boca district. This was where the first settlers lived; they built a sort of shanty town, and decora…

From my archives: La Boca travelrat.wordpress.com/2017/05/25/l...

Petra I’m probably unique in that I visited Jordan twice before I saw Petra. My only excuse is that I was there on business. But, this time, I was on holiday, and determined to see this ancient city, whi…

From my archives: Petra travelrat.wordpress.com/2021/03/18/p...

Whale Jawbones It’s many, many years since ‘sye-leurs’ set out from Whitby ‘a-fishin’ for the why-all’ (as they used to sing in folk clubs). But, although highly illegal today,…

Today's blog post: Whale Jawbones travelrat.wordpress.com/2026/03/11/w...

Lake Bled Carriage Ride Bled: 6th October 2023 We took a ride around the lake in a horse drawn carriage. Well, we couldn’t not, really. It seemed the little park near where we had lunch held more carriages than cars! But,…

From my archives: Lake Bled Carriage Ride travelrat.wordpress.com/2024/04/03/l...

Well, don't exile him here! We don't want him!
(says just about every country in the world)

You could probably find a remote, uninhabited island somewhere?)

Totem Poles I knew I was going to see many totem poles on our Canada/Alaska trip, and, when I saw the Haida totem pole in the Pitt Rivers Museum, in Oxford, I set out to find out more. First, to the ‘fount of …

From my archives: Totem Poles travelrat.wordpress.com/2016/11/01/t...

Music in Vienna Vienna: 29th March 2018 When you talk about Vienna, you will probably mention that it’s known as the City of Music. Many composers, the most prominent of which were Mozart and the Strauss family we…

From my archives: Music in Vienna travelrat.wordpress.com/2018/05/29/m...

The Washington Window This is St. Martin’s church, Bowness on Windermere, where we went towards the end of September to attend the wedding of my nephew, Paul. After the service, I went back inside, to seek out, and poss…

From my archives: Thw Washington Window travelrat.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/t...

Pic of the Week: What to do when the oil runs out

When You’re Up To Your Ass In Alligators …. The Everglades: 21st March 2015 ‘When you’re up to your ass in alligators, it’s difficult to remember you came to drain the swamp’ (Cajun proverb) When we finished the airboat ride, there are a few…

From my archives: When You're Uo To Your Ass in Alligators travelrat.wordpress.com/2015/08/05/w...

Impeachment, conviction, and removal only work when Congress has a spine.

Cleland Wildlife Reserve, Adelaide Most Australian wildlife is either nocturnal, reclusive or both. If your time is limited, the best way to see as much as possible is to visit a wildlife reserve; there’s usually at least one within…

From my archives: Cleland Wildlife Reserve, Adelaide travelrat.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/c...

The Cane Train You see a lot of little railways like this in and around the canefields of northern Queensland. They’re used for hauling the sugar cane from the fields to the mills. The video here isn’t my best ev…

From my archives: The Cane Train travelrat.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/t...

To the Other Side The sculpture by French abstract artist Roselyne Erutti is called ‘Vers l’Autre Cote’, or ‘Towards the Other Bank’. I thought this must have been an early means of cro…

Today's blog post: To the Other Side travelrat.wordpress.com/2026/03/04/t...

Vale of Clwyd Ruthin: 23rd September 2014 In 1972, Denbighshire ‘disappeared’ under the Great Disorganisation, which saw our traditional counties replaced by the somewhat soulless ‘Local Government Areas’, and b…

From my archives: Vale of Clwyd travelrat.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/v...

I am wondering why, after heavy rain, the deepest puddles seem to be located at bus stops and pedestrian crossings?

St. Pancras London: 12th July 2010 I’ve always wondered why they chose to put the ‘new’ Eurostar rail terminal at St. Pancras. I mean, it’s in the north of London. It does mean, however, that passengers arrivi…

From my archives: St. Pancras travelrat.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/s...

Aboard ‘Edward Elgar’ Gloucester:  23rd April 2010.   Before we set out on our cruise down the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal on the Edward Elgar, I’ll say a few words about her. I gave details last week of her tonnage …

From my archives: Aboard 'Edward Elgar' travelrat.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/a...

Travel Theme: Frozen When icicles hang by the wall and Dick, the shepherd blows his nail and Tom bears logs into the hall and milk comes frozen home in pail.  (W, Shakespeare) Now that I’m retired, I can watch Dick the…

From my archives: Travel Theme: Frozen travelrat.wordpress.com/2017/11/16/t...

Pic of the Week: No particular reason for choosing this one; I just happened to have the 'China' file out, and liked it!

Eclipse ‘Be careful what you wish for’ says what I call ‘Granny Wisdom’. Sometimes, it’s right! Last week, I read what Selma had to say about the full moon ( I left a comment to the effect that, whenever t…

From my archives: Eclipse travelrat.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/e...

Yatala Pies Yatala: 7th August 2010 On the way back to Brisbane, we stopped at the Yatala Pie Shop for a cup of tea and … guess what …a Famous Yatala Pie. It used to stand right beside the Pacific …

From my archives: Yatala Pies travelrat.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/y...

Further Explorations in Kinsale Kinsale: 14th September, 2011 Up the hill, Kinsale is dominated by St. Multose church, named after the town’s patron saint. Surprisingly, it’s not a Catholic church, but an Anglican one; the larges…

From my archives: Further Explorations in Kinsale travelrat.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/f...

Brimham Rocks: More Pictures A couple of weeks ago, I posted about our visit to the Brimham Rocks. We didn’t spend as much time as it deserves there; it was Christmas Eve, and the weather wasn’t the kindest. Maybe we should go…

Today's blog post: Brimham Rocks: More Pictures travelrat.wordpress.com/2026/02/25/b...

The Cook Collection ‘We call it the Cook Collection’ I was told ‘although it was actually put together by the Forsters, father and son scientists, who sailed with James Cook on his second voyage. But, most people have…

From my archives: The Cook Collection travelrat.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/t...

Small Ships are Best. I didn’t get many really good photographs on the Christmas Markets cruise, because the daylight conditions weren’t too good. But, that’s only to be expected in the middle of Winter. The irony was t…

From my archives: Small Ships are Best travelrat.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/s...

Coober Pedy: Opal Central. Coober Pedy: 24th April 2012 If you like quirky and off-beat, you’ll love Coober Pedy. It’s famous, of course, for the opals mined here, and everywhere, there’s evidence of the mining … including w…

From my archives: Coober Pedy: Opal Central travelrat.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/c...

Stanley Park Vancouver: 14th May 2016. The Hop On/Hop Off bus showed us the sights of the city, before taking us to Stanley Park, where we ‘hopped off’ to transfer to a horse-drawn carriage for a ride around th…

From my archives: Stanley Park travelrat.wordpress.com/2016/11/15/s...