A travel day with the odd wrinkle

So maybe taking the day flight from JFK wasn’t the best idea. We started well on Saturday, with an early Father’s Day dinner with Andrew, Emily, and the boys. The restaurant, Flex Mussels on the Upper East Side, was good but frenetic: the usual NY scene: too many tables, too many strollers, etc. To sayContinue reading “A travel day with the odd wrinkle”

Down to the sea in…a BMW

After far too little sleep, we headed down toward Oxford’s town center and soon found a nice small tea and coffee shop, where we had a light bite and some caffein. Our cell phones were still not working, so we struck out even further into the town center: onto the Cornmarket, a large pedestrian shoppingContinue reading “Down to the sea in…a BMW”

Cliffwalking of the very best sort…

After a very nice English breakfast at Chiltern Lodge, our chauffeur Mr. D. was waiting out front. He dropped us down a road leading to a quarry at seaside and headed back to Oxford, ponies calling. After our goodbyes, we walked down an increasingly rustic road to Winspit Quarry. Our walk today was to leadContinue reading “Cliffwalking of the very best sort…”

From hill walkers to beach combers

We had both slept long and well, and, although I woke up with a stiff back (probably from two nights of B&B mattresses), we were soon out the door and in search of some coffee. We found a nice Italian place and had a decent cappuccino and a roll. The logistics of today’s walk wereContinue reading “From hill walkers to beach combers”

The Tate Modern is best known…

for its elevators! Or such is the opinion of the young art critic NFJ. The gang actually got going in plenty of time to share the hotel’s wonderful breakfast buffet. Nathaniel even enjoyed their weird idea of an American pancake (think pan-cake). Soon enough it was off to St. Paul’s. After a quick ride onContinue reading “The Tate Modern is best known…”

The Transport Wayback Machine

Today’s activity, chosen by the younger set, was a visit to the London Transport Museum. Nathaniel chose to transport himself to the Transport Museum via Double Decker Bus with his mama, while the rest of the crew strolled with Alex. Here are a couple of generations waiting for the bus crowd. The Transport Museum isContinue reading “The Transport Wayback Machine”

La Ciau del Tornevento

Sue and I got up early to find some of the crew already awake. We jumped in the car and drove to the larger, “downhill” village, Castagnole delle Lanze. Sue did a big shop at the local supermarket while I found a bakery and cleaned them out of Cornetti (marmalade, cream, chocolate, Nutella, you nameContinue reading “La Ciau del Tornevento”