Category Travel
A Newer Ruin
In a land where the ruins can be a couple of thousand years old, a 20th century relic doesn’t stands out. This German pillbox, part of the World War Two coastal defence system, is on the edges of Monterosso al Mare, one of the villages of Italy’s Cinque Terre region. It serves as a […]
View From The Terrace
Berne (also spelled Bern), the Swiss capital, reminded me a lot of Canada’s capital, Ottawa when I visited in 2018. Both cities have a relaxed feel, big enough to have whatever you want/need – without the traffic. I only have vague memories of my first visit to Berne, in 1986. I remember seeing the famous […]
Wilhelm Who?
One of the things I find most appealing about travel is the opportunity to learn new things. You never know what you are going to discover, such as when I looked up information about this statue in downtown Vienna. Wilhelm von Tegetthof, who I had never heard of before, was an admiral in the Austrian […]
Remembrance Day 2019
Canada remembers its war dead today, as it does every November 11th. It was on this date in 1918 that the “Great War,” the “War To End All Wars” came to an end. Today we know that the First World War was just the beginning. Most years of the 20th century saw war being […]
The Other Side
Remembrance Day is tomorrow – in Canada anyway. When we moved to Germany I was surprised to discover that Germans don’t remember their war dead on November 11. Germans will take time to remember next Sunday. Growing up as a Canadian I never thought much about the casualties on the other side. Which made […]
Tonight At Menin Gate
It is Flashback Friday, with a post from five years ago. Today seemed like a good time to provide a reminder of the Great War. Tonight at 8, for the 29,758th time (31,583rd time in 2019), the Last Post, the traditional salute to fallen warriors, will be played at the Menin gate in Ypres. It’s […]
The Whipping Post
They stopped whipping women in 1791 – but continued to flog the men until 1837. Today that might be considered sexist. Of course today we don’t see flogging as a civilized method for punishing criminals. Things were different in 1572 when this post was first used at St. Martin-in-the-fields in downtown London. The post was […]
An Eye Over London
On my first visit to Paris, more than 30 years ago, I didn’t go up the Eiffel Tower. I thought it was too expensive. I haven’t gone up on subsequent visits either, as they have been of the changing planes/trains variety, so I haven’t been back. Part of me regrets not having spent the money […]
Decision Chamber
Made a quick visit to downtown Ottawa last week, as I realized I had yet to see the new chamber for Canada’s House of Commons, which relocated to West Block earlier this year. Centre Block is undergoing a ten-year renovation/restoration, and a new place had to be found for the House to meet. So they […]
An Anniversary Somewhat Forgotten
It ended seventy-nine years ago today, though they probably didn’t know it was the last day. They expected the bombers back to continue the Battle of Britain. As they had every day since July 10, 1940, Nazi Germany’s air force, the Luftwaffe, had bombed British targets. Unprepared for war, the few fighter pilots of the […]
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