Winchester Cathedral

I was puttering around, an "oldies" station playing in the background, when "Winchester Cathedral" came on.  Composed by the New Vaudeville Band in the mid-60's, it's a snappy little number ... nothing like the reserved and reverent structure of its namesake.  I remember the cathedral as a highlight of my visit to the UK. I …

Keep Right

A diamond-shape yellow sign with black letters saying, "Keep Right" is a common sight along roadways in the US.  Even pedestrians keep right on sidewalks, paths, and hiking trails. No signage was necessary for totally different two-footed species walking on the beach of Florida's Sanibel Island to keep right.  Without any instruction or direction, the …

Taxi?

Taxi? ... Bus? ... Car? ... Rik Shaw? ... Anyone?  There won't be anything by here for quite a while.  This is Beatrix Potter's house outside the very tiny village of Near Sawrey in England's Lake District.  Its sister city, Far Sawrey, is even smaller.  Not much in the way of public transportation up here. …

Photographic Painting

This is my first attempt at giving a painterly look to one of my photos.  An original photo of The Circus can be seen in an earlier blog titled, Bath Houses.  A several-step process is required to get this painterly look.  The first step is to knock off the sharp edges of the image with …

Best of UK, part 3

There are many things I like about the UK, as noted in two previous blogs part 1 and part 2, but city streets are not one of them ... for driving at least.  Yeah, they're quaint, charming and "homey", but they're impossible to drive in.  This photo is a classic city street in the city …

UK Sign

I was frightened when I saw this sign.  I needed to use a ferry to reach Beatrix Potter's home in England's Lake District, and I knew I didn't have the correct change, so what were my options?  I couldn't turn around, I was boxed in on a narrow one-way road with cars stacked up behind …

Petanque

Petanque?  "What the heck is petanque?", I asked the chap at the bar during a mid-afternoon break of touring Bath, England.   He and his mates were getting very worked up over opening night of Bath's Petanque League.  Between fight songs with his petanque team mates, he tried to explain it.  It sounded something like …

Dandy

I met this dandy near The Circus in Bath, England.  See former blog on The Circus.  He claimed to be a scholar of 18th century history, which was during Bath's glory years.  We chatted for a while and he used his cane to point out various facts about the neighborhood. I suspect he was a …

Carhenge vs Stonehenge

Not much more I can add to what has already been written about the mysterious site called, Stonehenge.  Ho hum.  What's to get excited about?   A bunch of stones stacked haphazardly out in the middle of a sheep pasture.  Its about what I expected, just another tourist trap. After all, Stonehenge was merely a …

Bath Houses

In the early 1800's, Bath, England was a place to be seen; i.e. a place to socialize, display your wealth, gamble, party, and look for a spouse that could enhance your social status.  Bath was England's party town, and all of London's gentry couldn't resist being seen there. The entire city seems to have been …

Best of UK

Can you remember the last time you saw a pay phone in the US?  They used to be easily found in airports, hotels and on every street corner.  The iconic red phone booths of the UK are still abundant today.  They may not be used, or even working, as everyone uses cell phones, but they …