by Joyce Heard I am delighted to introduce my good friend, Joyce Heard. A fellow Harvard grad, Joyce worked in journalism in the US, then moved to France after meeting her husband Jean-Marie while on a Rotary International fellowship. Now a long term European observer, Joyce and Jean-Marie divide their time between Aix-en-Provence and southernContinue reading “Guest Post: Visiting Chernobyl”
Tag Archives: History
One week in Adelaide
One week is barely long enough to get an introduction to a place like Adelaide. We did our best, visiting Hahndorf, walking around historic Port Adelaide, tasting wine in the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, and visiting beaches, despite a bit of rain. The drought in South Australia is so bad that we can’t begrudgeContinue reading “One week in Adelaide”
Botany Bay
The north shore of Botany Bay is just a few kilometers from our home SE of downtown Sydney. We explored this historic area by driving around the perimeter. We stopped along the way to look for birds, walk along the shore, take a swim, and have a picnic. This rock is said to be whereContinue reading “Botany Bay”
Cartagena de Indias
The sign says it all. We arrived in Cartagena, one of the oldest cities in the New World founded in the 1500s. It has survived all these years despite colonization, wars and heat. Many places are suffering from high heat this summer, but Cartagena is always hot and humid. Hot, hot, hot, and sweat-dripping-from-every-pore humid.WeContinue reading “Cartagena de Indias”
All things green and beautiful…
I’ve been doing so many things that the space between posts has gotten longer. Most of our activities involve walking on beaches or visiting ruins that date between the twentieth century and 3000 BC. A real highlight was the cemetery that includes ruins of Asseroe Abbey in Ballyshannon. Nothing is left of the Abbey butContinue reading “All things green and beautiful…”
Cuba!
Actually getting to Cuba is the first part of the tour’s adventure, as it turns out. We met our group the night before departure and they proved to be a congenial bunch. We had to be at the airport three hours ahead of time (boring), but we saw the array of goods that people takeContinue reading “Cuba!”
Pictish Stones
We followed “The Pictish Trail” around our area, checking out the Pictish Stones. These highly carved upright stones may have been grave markers, and were carved between about 200-800 AD, mostly in northern Scotland. The Picts are a mysterious group, best known for these distinctive carved stones. They were early converts to Christianity, said toContinue reading “Pictish Stones”
Scottish Castles and then some
Southern Scotland is full of castles. How do you choose which ones to visit? After I realized that we couldn’t visit them all, we chose a couple from a range of time periods to see whether we can see any changes over time. What I found is that castles didn’t change much between the 12thContinue reading “Scottish Castles and then some”
Other fun in Edinburgh, ancient and modern
Some of the places we’ve visited and things we’ve seen in Edinburgh haven’t fit in to my comments until now. By joining Historic Scotland, we were able to visit Edinburgh Castle multiple times, Linlithgow Castle and there are 75 sites they manage. Not all have admission fees, and I enjoyed visiting one of these thatContinue reading “Other fun in Edinburgh, ancient and modern”
Walking through History on Hovsveien
Using the magic of the internet I found, “Tjelsundet: A Channel Through the Ages,” a guide to Hovsveien, an ancient road along the north side of Tjeldoya Island. This 2 km section is open for walking, set up with trail markers and some informational signs. You can see the roadbed pressed into the landscape. AlongContinue reading “Walking through History on Hovsveien”
Llywindatravels 2022 