Within the Victoria and Albert museum is an area called The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Galleries. It has been there for a very long time but this month the V&A is featuring it in a special exhibition and it's just stunning. Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert were successful fashion designers whose company, Rosalinde Gilbert Ltd, operated in London between 1935 and 1949. Arthur and Rosalinde decided to relocate to Los Angeles, California in 1949 and sold their fashion business in

London, Liverpool, Birmingham, et al, are wonderful places full of interesting things and lots to do, but I think the villages and towns of the UK are my favorite places to visit. It's been my experience that people are happy to strike up a conversation and are usually quite proud of their hometowns and their history, and history is around every corner in the UK! So it was that we set off for Buckingham on the day of the big market and food festival. They regularly have a ma

When I was young I remember hearing the following nursery rhyme: Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross To see a fine lady upon a white horse With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes She shall have music wherever she goes. I mentioned this to my husband who was raised in Florida. He'd never heard of it. I must, therefore, conclude that it's either an artifact of a New England upbringing or part of my English heritage. (Except for my maternal grandfather's side which goes

When most people think of grand English palaces, they think of Buckingham Palace, home of the reigning monarch. I visited there last year and it was indeed grand, which is why I was so intrigued by the sign I saw on the approach to Blenheim Palace. According to my Google search, it's called Britain's greatest palace because it's the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. (I guess that wouldn't have looked as impressive on the sign.

Say the name Oxford and most people think of the prestigious university. Ture enough, but there has been a settlement here since Saxon times (circa 911). Its original importance was strategic due to its location on the Thames at the junction with the River Cherwell. The town was greatly effected by the dissolution of the monasteries and it, and much of Oxfordshire, played a significant role in the English Civil War. We're staying nearby in Bicester so a trip or two into Oxfo

Just down the coast from Porto is the lovely city of Aveiro, sometimes called the Venice of Portugal due to its network of canals that cross the city and the "gondolas" that traverse them. It is also famous for its Art Nouveau buildings which, unlike many other European cities, were not torn down once they went out of fashion. Back in fashion once again, they are part of a whole Art Nouveau trail which starts at the beautiful Aveiro Art Nouveau Museum, located right on the ca

In the heart of Porto is another historic building worth seeing, the beautiful Majestic Cafe. The exterior only hints at the beauty that awaits inside. The Majestic, designed by architect João Queiroz, opened in December, 1921. With its beautiful Art Nouveau look, it was an immediate hit with intellectuals, bohemians, and ladies of high society and soon all the most influential figures of Porto society became regular customers. As is often the case, over time the cafe became

We caught the 901 bus across the river where all the port houses are located. Our friend Elio, a sommelier of enormous talent, told us that if we were going to visit one house (maker) it should be Graham's, so ff to Grahams' we went. The bus takes you past neighborhoods that are definitely not on the tourist maps and down some very narrow streets, barely wide enough for the buses to clear one another. There's a lot of construction going on on this side of the river, mostly m

That title sounds like hyperbole, doesn't it? Well, having visited Livraria Lello in Porto, I'd have to say I agree with the assessment. I had to borrow this image from the ticketing website because at virtually no time during the day will you find it void of people. In fact, the central staircase is such a popular posing point that only the magic eraser on my phone allowed me to nab this photo. The bookstore's exterior is a bit of a mix of neo-gothic and art nouveau. The boo

In the next street over from our hotel is the walking route that leads to the Sé do Porto, or the Porto Cathedral. It's a massive structure, the cloisters of which are covered in azulejo tiles. The church itself is much plainer than I expected, consisting of a mostly granite walls and and pillars. They left the ornamentation for the alters. It looks as though the intricate carving on the pillars of the side alters is on wood, not plaster, covered in gilt. You can see where so

We came to Porto on the recommendation of friends who visited in September. We chose February because it's off season, not so crowded, and generally pretty nice weather with temperatures in the 50s and 60s. It just so happened that we came in the middle of a stormy period. Just like in Devon, many roads are flooded and the high winds and rain make it pretty miserable but we were determined to get out and see as much as we could. In Porto, that generally means churches and t

Go to Portugal they said. Escape the rainy English countryside. Uh huh... We arrived at the Bristol airport, returned our rental car and headed for the terminal. We had never flown RyanAir before, but our friends had warned us that it was probably the most budget of the budget airlines. We had opted for fast track service through security and it lived up to its name, at least until we got to the screening part. Bruce got pulled out for the contents of his bag and I got p

This was our third visit to Brixham. (See June 8 and June 26 , 2025) This time I was on a mission. I wrote about the Chart Room on June 8; it's the wonderful coffee house that has all the cruise ship memorabilia. I had made contact with Bob Higginson, the owner, who said he'd love to see the scrapbook my mother made after her cruise to Bermuda on the Lancastria in 1939. He greeted me warmly, looked at the scrapbook and said that it would help him with a presentation he was

I've visited Dartmouth before and have written about it as well. (see posts from October, 2024 and June 2025 ) I keep going back, though, because it's such a pretty town. I'm particularly taken with its beautiful old buildings. I love how the shop on the corner leans so far over the road. It looks like it's about to dive into the water with the little boats. A pub called The Cherub occupies the oldest building in town, circa 1380. Its original use is thought to have been as

When I purchased my ticket for Leighton House, there was an option to add on a ticket to tour Sambourne House, which is also in the Holland Park area. It is the home of Linley Sambourne, illustrator, photographer, and cartoonist for the popular satirical magazine, Punch. The draw of this house is not so much its opulence, as it is its historical accuracy. Walking into Sambourne House is like stepping back in time to the Victorian era. There's nary an inch of the Entrance Hall

I'll be the first to admit that. although I love art. my education is lacking when it comes to English artists. Beyond the most widely known, ie. Turner, Constable, Millais, Gainsborough, et.al. , I'm at a bit of a loss. How much I didn't know was revealed when I visited Leighton House. I was more than a bit embarrassed to learn that Frederic Leighton was not only a very popular Victorian sculptor, painter, and draughtsman, he was also president of the Royal Academy of Arts

There are days when I'm in London when I just want to walk around and enjoy the city. Considering there is so much to do here and still so many places I've yet to visit, it almost seems like conspicuously shirking the list to just walk about, but London holds wonderful surprises around every corner. We started the day catching up with a friend at an Australian restaurant on a barge in Paddington. We met Elio when he was head sommelier at Claude Bosi's restaurant, Bibendum. W

Nestled in the Dorset countryside is the fabulous country house, Kingston Lacy. The house has quite a history, but to talk about it properly you have to start with the history of nearby Corfe Castle. Corfe Castle was built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century and major changes were made to the structure in the 12th and 13th century. It left the crown's control when Elizabeth I sold it to Sir Christopher Hatton. In 1635 it was purchased by Sir John Bankes who was its

Our digs this week were in Broadstone, Dorset, a short ride from Poole. We took the bus into Poole to do a little sightseeing (Bethany) and pub crawling (Bruce). From the bus station you have to walk through the shopping mall to get down to the high street and the seaside, decorated for Christmas. The temperatures were frigid, so I was happy that the Poole Museum wasn't a very long walk. It's housed in a building with a very modern facade, but parts of it date to the 15th or

The closest town to our digs in North Devon was Barnstaple, so we hopped on the bus for a look around. As Bruce headed out to find old pubs, my first stop was the Barnstaple Museum. The ground floor is devoted to the life of the town over the years, from the prehistoric animals which roamed the area to the town's industries and the North Devon Yeomanry's participation in the wars. It was the sort of thing one often finds in small town museums. I was surprised to learn, howev