Last spring, I had the good fortune to spend one all-too-brief night at Great Fosters, a four-star country-house hotel with a royal pedigree set amidst 50 acres of gardens in Egham, England. The royal connections for the mid 16th-century main house (converted to Elizabethan design in the early 20th century) are deep—witness the original royal crest …
I attained enlightenment in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Not the lights-flashing, God-appearing, Hallelujah! type of enlightenment, but rather a far-more-subtle, restorative, all’s-right-with-the-world kind. This enlightenment hit me not while clambering over the Giants Causeway, not while swigging a dram of whiskey at Bushmills, nor while white-knuckling my way across the tightrope known as the Carrick-A-Reed …
While gadding about Great Britain by rail (especially easy with a BritRail pass), I stumbled into this delightful tea room, while exploring Chalmers Close, one of the many inviting alleys that radiate off the Royal Mile. The entire shop looked like a Hollywood set, and Christine, the proprietor, was right out of central casting. I …
Sharing a few pics from my recent Extraordinary Journeys safari to two &Beyond lodges, both on private preserves in South Africa. I’ll tell you more about it, soon.
EAST SHIP HARBOR, NOVA SCOTIA—It’s easy to find Barry Colpitts’s home gallery. Folk art adorns the house, lawn, barn, shed, fence, car, even the mailbox and truck. Hand-carved, two- and three-dimensional birds and fish, saints and sinners, mermaids and fishermen, augment every available surface. Even shutters, trim, railings, and newel posts have been transformed into …
Bath, a UNESCO World Heritage city and home to England’s only hot springs, is an easy day trip from London via train. I only spent about six hours in this delightful city—with most of that exploring the Roman Baths and the Thermae Bath Spa’s New Royal Bath, but I hope to return and immerse myself …
On a map, Ireland’s northwestern corner appears as if a giant stepped on it, splaying the land into fingers webbed by a raggedy-edged coastline. Wind-scoured headlands cradle swaths of sand, forested valleys shelter shimmery ponds, and heath-clad mountains overlord barren peat bogs. It’s expansive yet intimate, tame yet wild. In spring, like much of the …
Despite all-but confirming it to memory, I glanced once more at the message on my screen as the Eurostar, the high-speed train from London, docked in Paris’ Gare du Nord station. “I have managed to get all days off while you are here,” my doppelganger had written. “Did I mention how excited I am! Feel …
In Nova Scotia, Atlantic Canada’s not-quite-an-island province, folk art and its makers are aptly described as quirky, whimsical, spirited, and resourceful. Born of farming and seafaring traditions, folk art surfs the tide between functional and fanciful. The best works are playful, yet provocative; naïve, yet sophisticated; familiar, yet fresh. They share a common heritage, but …
Before arriving in Sillikers, New Brunswick, I knew even less about the Miramichi River than I knew about salmon, which wasn’t much. During my one previous fly-fishing attempt, I’d landed branches, hats, even a nearby canoe, everything but a fish. That’s not something one brags about over scrambled eggs and sausage while sharing a table …
Few places move the spirit or stir the soul as do northern Arizona’s Navajo lands. I keep returning to this mesmerizing landscape of red sandstone, deep canyons, intriguing land formations, and grassy mesas, and each time I visit, I’m awed by the beauty and humbled by the simplicity. It’s a place that exposes that the …
“Where are we?” asked Shane Connolly. I glanced around the small parking pullout, with ledges descending to Galway Bay on one side and a hill rising on the other. There was no “You Are Here” marker in sight. Shane reeled off the answer, the words flowing together and punctuated by a thick brogue. “The town …
Detour off The Royal Mile down Lady Stair’s Close, one of Edinburgh’s medieval pedestrian alleys, and step into Scotland’s literary heritage. The Writers’ Museum, housed in the early 17th-century Lady Stair’s House, immerses visitors in the lives of Robert Burns (1759-1796), Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), and Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894). In addition to manuscripts, original … Continue reading
I was more than content to admire masterpiece after masterpiece displayed in The Courtauld Gallery, a small, university museum on London’s Museum Mile. Then, cued by the upward gaze of another visitor, I glanced—then gawked—at the lavishly augmented and painted ceiling. The Courtauld Gallery is housed in Somerset House, designed by Sir William Chambers, built … Continue reading
Travtastic 