Top left, my friend Vladimir on the ramparts of Ljubljana Castle which stands on Castle Hill above downtown Ljubljana, on the first evening of my visit to Slovenia. It is a key landmark of the town. Originally a medieval fortress, it was probably constructed in the 11th century and rebuilt in the 12th century.
Top right the view of the Julian Alps from Vlado’s house.
For my first day in Portpatrick (Dumfries and Galloway) it was pouring down on the way up, especially through the lakes, but when I got within about 15 miles of Portpatrick, it stopped, became and remained blue sky for the rest of my holiday. As can be seen from the featured image my hotel was…
On my first full day I drove down to the Mull of Galloway, calling in for lunch at Kirkmaiden, near Drunmore. My late wife, Christeen’s, grandfather was born in Mill street, Kirkmaiden _ never met him as he died before I met my wife but she always said he was lovely and gentle man. I…
On day one we had a full Island tour and our driver was the knowledgeable Sean, originally from Yorkshire – but we did not hold that against him. There are twelve parishes of Jersey (Les pâraisses dé Jèrri), all have access to the sea and share a name with their ancient parish churches. We must…
On our middle day we had a day out in Peel on the west coast of the IOM. It is a beautiful town with a lovely harbour and historic castle. Within the castle walls there is a cathedral, St German of Man, which was originally inside the walls of Peel Castle and was built sometime…
I have been doing my family tree, concentrating on my paternal side. My grandmother, Rose, was an Emmett from Longridge in Lancashire. She was daughter of John Emmett and Alice Chapman. In a stroke of serandipity a DNA match with a man living in Canada, threw up clues to my Gran’s maternal family which I…
I went to Stranraer later in the day but this was a bit underwhelming. Lots of the shops were empty and some boarded up. The Tourist Centre told me that the Ferrys had moved to Cairnryan some 12 years ago as the catamarans used for journeys of Ireland and the Isle of Man moved to…