On my recent coach trip to Pitlochry the other passengers and I were given the opportunity to see the Queen’s View in Highland Perthshire, which overlooks Loch Tummel and is said to have been named after Queen Victoria, following her visit to the area in 1866. Looking down the loch, the mountains of Glencoe are…
On my recent coach trip to Pitlochry my fellow passengers and I had a day out in Stirling. the last time I was there was in 1968 when my late Scottish wife and I were ‘courting’ and had a day out there. I could not remember much of it from then but spent most of…
On my recent coach trip to Pitlochry the other passengers and I had a day out in Perth in the morning and Dundee in the afternoon. I visited Discovery Point in Dundee, where the ship RSS Discovery is moored. I visited the Discovery Point museum exploring all 11 galleries, and 9 audio-visual film shows with…
I went on my annual holiday to my native Somerset in August when Covid restrictions were somewhat relaxed, here are some images from it. First Bristol Suspension Bridge, which I had never seen up close before. On a rainy Wednesday in the city of Wells, I was surprised that they allowed dogs inside Wells Cathedral…
We spent the Monday in Ljubljana, commencing with crossing the Butcher’s Bridge on which many “love padlocks” adorn the bridge, placed there by lovers as token of their love. After that we went to the old town and on the way called into the Ljubljana Roman Cathedral of St Nicholas (katedrala Ljubljana), like the other…
In the morning of my third day in Slovenia Vlado drove us to Ptuj. This is the the view over Ptuj from the castle. The traditional Ptuj carnival features n=many strange and surreal costumes, some of which are pictured next to me. We then drove to Pristava near the border with Croatia where we where…
At the invitation of my friend Vladimir Hrovat, who I met at the National Harmonica League festival in Bristol in 2015, I flew out to Slovenia and enjoyed the Slovenian Harmonica festival. Vlado did a workshop at the festival in Trebenje in the morning. While this was happening I was entrusted to his friend ‘Tony’…
On my first full day in Slovenia, Vlado took me to see the Ski slopes as Planica. We then went to see the Bled Castle, which overlooks Bled Lake. We each had a helping of the lovely Bled Cream Cake in the castle café. Vlado drove South to the spectacular Postojna caves from which I…
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…
The NHL Harmonica annual festival recently took place at Hartpury Sports and Equine College campus in August. It was residential this year with acclaimed international artists like Joe Powers and the Palomina Brothers. A weekend of workshops, concerts and impromptu jams it was enjoyed by all who went.