When we lived in the US I listened to NPR a lot, and even though I still catch some of my favorite programs via Podcast, I have turned into a total BBC Radio 4 junkie. I have a radio in the kitchen and if I am in there, Radio 4 is on. I even time my cooking to listen to The Archers at 7:03 every night (except Saturday). In the US I listened to NPR … Continue reading
One of the many things that I like about living in England is the television. The BBC produces great dramas, comedies and news shows. Every household pays a TV license (£145.50 per year) which pays for the BBC, so you have public ownership of the part of the media.There are four BBC channels, creatively named One, Two, Three and Four. People tell me that each has a different “flavor” of show, but I have not … Continue reading
We spent much of this year looking at houses for rent. We had not intended to stay longer than a year in the first cottage we rented, but we ended up staying a year and a half because we could not find something that we liked better. I came to England with a North American sensibility towards housing. It did not matter that I had stayed in many vacation rentals on many vacations. I did … Continue reading
In mid-September we spent a week in Gascony with our friend Chris at a farmhouse in the countryside near Condom. We all arrived Thursday afternoon. Chris was jetlagged having flown from California and we were exhausted from our one hour time change so we made a simple dinner at “home”. But the next morning we were ready to go and got several “must dos” accomplished the first day: coffee and croissant in a cafe, lunch sitting … Continue reading
British Airways are considering pumping fragrance into the cabins on their planes to replicate the experience customers have when walking into expensive department stores. I sneeze and then get a headache when I walk through the perfume section of expensive department stores and I don’t want to spend 10 hours on a flight having that same experience. British Airways already use scents in their Executive Lounge in Heathrow and want to put this fragrance on the planes … Continue reading
Last year in England it was sunny and warm – even hot on some days – from mid-May to mid-September. Our rain jackets never left the boot of our car. I wore short sleeves all summer long. It rained for a few days in July, but we were traveling in France and missed it. For us it was the perfect British Summer. But people said it was not a good summer. The school holiday schedule … Continue reading
I was one of the judges of the European Experiences photo contest. People who have been on their tours sent in photos showing their experiences. Here are the 10 winners. My friends Kathy and Charley Wood, who run European Experiences, are celebrating five years of doing small group tours of France, Italy, England and Austria. They do a great job – as is shown by these beautiful photos. If you don’t want to spend days … Continue reading
December and January seemed to last forever. In early December a cold snap hit and lasted for weeks. We had snow in the southern Cotswolds, but not as much as other parts of England. For a couple of weeks driving was difficult and, with the short days (pitch black at 5pm), we did not venture out of the house much. By the end of the month I felt “cabin bound”. In January the typical English … Continue reading
We were here in the Cotswolds four winters ago. January was cold and it snowed once, but it melted the next day. In February we had spring-like weather. We were test-driving England in winter and it passed. However, each winter since has been cold and snowy. This country is not prepared for snow. It seems like people hope these three cold winters are coincidence and not a change in weather patterns. The snow falls and much … Continue reading
If I have to be up early for some reason, I set the alarm, but I always wake up ten minutes before it goes off. My internal body clock keeps track of the time. It is the same with flights. We were scheduled to fly back to Colorado last week. We decided at the end of June that we were going to stay until next May (or longer), but I kept our booking in case … Continue reading