I’ve always been a big reader. Although I read primarily for entertainment, I learn all sorts of random facts and pieces of trivia. The moment I read historical romances featuring falconry, I was fascinated. I’ve never mentioned my fascination to anyone, but when we...
The first time I tried Koshari (a vegetarian dish) was during a visit to Egypt. It was a lunch staple on our river boat as we cruised down the Nile from Luxor to Aswan. This is our small river boat. The larger, more luxurious boats dwarfed ours, but our smaller size...
Any visitor to Norway knows how expensive it is to travel and sightsee in the country. When our cruise ship stopped at Tromso, we discovered the Arctic-Alpine Botanic garden, which was a short walk from the port. Even better, admission was free. It was in a gorgeous...
The North Cape on the island of Magerøya in Norway is in the Arctic Circle, and it is the farthest land point before the North Pole (Apart from the Svalbard archipelago). During the summer months, the sun doesn’t set and daylight is constant for two and a half months....
During our recent cruise we stopped for a day in Dublin. We’ve visited Dublin before, but it was fun reacquainting ourselves with the city. Drummers welcomed us as we disembarked from the cruise ship. Our first stop was to the Georgian House Museum in Fitzwilliam...
A Smithsonian article turned up in my inbox this week about mammoths that lived on an island in the Bering sea. They became extinct on this island around 5600 years ago and experts have concluded this happened because rising sea waters contaminated the water table and...
Llamas originate from South America and are closely related to the camel. They are domestic animals, used for packing supplies. Their feet are padded, which allows them to travel easily over rocky terrain without disturbing vegetation, and they’re capable of...
Jane Austen, author of novels such as Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Mansfield Park, moved to Chawton on 7 July 1809. Her brother Edward, who was adopted by the Knights, provided the cottage for his mother and two sisters after he inherited the estate left to him by...
Solange Luyon, a French Huguenot, arrived in Bath, England in 1680. She gained employment in a bakery and baked her own special recipe – a brioche bun, which was a dough enriched with egg. The buns were sold in the bakery where Solange worked and out in the street....
