Photo Friday: Travel back in time to Victorian England

London, UK; May 2009 / 19th century
Discovered – a rare colour photograph of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at the Orangery in Kensington Gardens in London. Since colour photography didn’t exist in the Victorian era, this clearly proves the existence of time travel. Maybe the Doctor and his TARDIS had something to do with it.
Or [...]

Sustainable food: Local versus organic

The latest post in my series on sustainable food in partnership with Chris Perrin of Blog Well Done.
It’s time to buy groceries. You are armed with a shopping list, cloth bags and the best of intentions to buy food that is sustainable in every way. But the organic apples in Whole Foods are from New [...]

Sustainable food: Where you shop and the 3/50 Project

Welcome to the second week of the series on sustainable food that I am writing with Chris Perrin of Blog Well Done.
What is sustainable food?
Food is what sustains life. For millions of people, this is the primary function of food. If you don’t have enough to eat, you’re not going to turn your nose up [...]

Best of the Web: Carnival of travel and art

Last week the theme was food and travel, this week I have focused on art.
Exhibitions and museums
Sydney. Dee at Babel at Bedlam says the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney is “venerable yet hip”. I know it well – it’s certainly a great place to check out Australian art and the main galleries are free.
Wellington, [...]

Best of the Web: A carnival of food and travel

Welcome to the first installment of my new-style Best of the Web feature. Thanks to everyone who provided feedback when I ran my poll. I’ve decided to keep the format going as an occasional feature but to focus on themes. This first one is on the intersection of food and travel – something I suspect [...]

My 3 Best Kept Travel Secrets

Steven at the Latin American travel blog Travelojos has nominated me to share three travel secrets in the Trip Base blog tag. I like the idea of highlighting obscure places.
1. Dougga, Tunisia
Dougga in Tunisia gives Ephesus in Turkey a run for its money when it comes to impressive Roman ruins. It is not quite as [...]

Photo Friday: The British Museum with children and the Parthenon Marbles debate

London, UK; July 2007

This is my sister Emma riding on my shoulders at the British Museum in summer 2007. She was five at the time and is now a big girl of seven and a half. We are standing in front of the Parthenon Marbles (also known as the Elgin Marbles) and our dad took [...]

Travel back in time to 1920s London

This gem of a video is from the British Film Institute but came my way via my friend Joanna Moncrieff on Facebook. Jo is a qualified tour guide in London and has a blog Westminster Walking.
The video shows London in 1927 – in colour! Lots of familiar landmarks like Westminster and Buckingham Palace and plenty [...]

Photo Friday: Giant water lily pads at Kew Gardens

Kew, London; May 2008

When I was seven my third-grade teacher gave us our very first assignment. We could do a project on any topic we wanted. I chose flowers.
I liked flowers and still do but the deciding factor was my aunt Frances who promised she would help me do one on flowers. She was a [...]

Photo Friday: Hill walking in Scotland

Inveraray, Scotland; June 2009

The population density of the United Kingdom is one of the highest in the world – there are 61 million people packed into a rather small island. You wouldn’t know it in the hills of Scotland.
About five out of six people in Britain live in England and within England, the population is [...]

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