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

We were staying in North Devon for the first time, so Bruce booked a special experience for me at the Exmoor Zoo. Let me backtrack a bit here. I have strong feelings about wildlife and support a number of wildlife charities. Visiting Kenya two years ago and seeing elephants, giraffes, lions, etc. in the wild was thrilling and reinforced my feelings that animals deserve to remain in their native habitats. Now, I realize the idea behind zoos is to expose people to wildlife, th

When I was much younger and working on the Ocean Princess cruise ship, the cruise staff would accompany the guests on the shore excursions. Sometimes we went on exciting journeys, down an Amazon tributary, say, or into the hills of Norway for a train journey around the fjords. Most of the time, though, we escorted the city tour which had acquired the nickname "The ABC tour". The ABC stood for Another Bloody Cathedral. Now that I'm about the same age as the passengers we car

We drove out into the countryside again for visits to two National Trust properties. The first was Hanbury Hall, a stately William and Mary-style country house. The Vernon family, one of the most prominent families in Worcestershire, started construction on the house in 1701. It was built on the site of a 17th century dwelling and the rear wall is thought to be from the earlier house. As each generation of Vernons took ownership of the house, it was redesigned and redecora

That's what they say in New York. It's pretty accurate in Worcestershire, too, because a short drive into the Cotswolds takes you to the pretty village of Broadway. With a bustling high street, it's a wonderful place to spend the day. We parked the car and walked to the Broadway museum, which is dedicated to preserving and celebrating its history and cultural significance. There are a number of story boards that tell of the importance of Broadway as a station for the coache

In many of the churches and cathedrals I've visited, there's a small discoloration on one of the walls, sometimes with just a hint of a discernable shape. The churches in question proudly point out that these are remnants of murals from before the time of the Puritans. During the Civil War, most ecclesiastical murals were viewed as idolatrous and sacrilegious and were either chipped off the walls or painted over with white paint. Over the years, many have been discovered,

One chilly, overcast day we hopped on the bus to Tewkesbury for a visit to Tewkesbury Abbey. Much to our surprise, we were there on the last day of a special exhibit, "Museum of the Moon." A giant replica of the moon was suspended from the ceiling of the abbey. It's an art installation by Luke Jerram who wanted to         "transform the Abbey into a space of wonder, reflection and imagination. Measuring         seven meters in diameter and featuring detailed NASA imagery,