travel Archives - Page 5 of 6

November 17, 2017July 24, 2018

What’s this headache?

Window seat daytime view — View from the window seat at 38,000 feet

HANOI, VIETNAM – I’ll write about more flight adventures later, but I thought I would share with you (especially Dr. Flanagan) about travel and the “American” way of life. What do I mean? Let me tell you my tale:

We get on the plane for Taipei at midnight in Seattle. Getting to the airport, checking in for our flight, boarding the plane – that part was uneventful. But the Northwest has a terrible windstorm that night and we get the resulting ‘rock and roll’ for a few hours at the start of the flight.

They want to serve me food soon. I’m almost sick, but I am saying to myself, “I AM NOT ON A BOAT AND I WILL NOT BE SICK.” This means I have nothing in my stomach for hours.
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September 11, 2017July 24, 2018

Don’t you miss your home?

As Melanie and I traveled around the U.K. over the last two and a half months, many people, after we tell them we’ve sold everything and are traveling the world, have said things like:

“That is so cool!”

“I wish I could do that.”

Most people have had quite positive reactions.

But occasionally someone will ask, “Don’t you miss your home?”
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August 16, 2017July 24, 2018

Pounds, pence, meaty money and more

British coins from one pence to two pounds

UNITED KINGDOM – We’ve been traveling around the United Kingdom for just over two months now, and I have to say…

Thank God for the metric system!

And thank God for decimal-denominated money.

Luckily for us, we haven’t had to deal with guineas, crowns, shillings, farthings or any other extinct denominations of British money. Continue reading “Pounds, pence, meaty money and more”

August 10, 2017July 24, 2018

Baked beans for breakfast… and other quirks of Scottish cuisine

The full Scottish breakfast — The “full Scottish” breakfast

SCOTLAND – One of my most curious first impressions of Scotland was the so-called “Full Scottish Breakfast.”

The ‘full Scottish’ includes such typical morning fare as smoked bacon (mostly meat, unlike American bacon where it’s mostly fat), a savory link sausage, a fried egg (just one) and toast (white or brown).

Uniquely Scottish additions to the menu include a wedge of potato scone (more like a potato pancake than the scone I’m familiar with in the States), a slice of black pudding (another type of sausage – very salty – made from pork fat or beef suet, pork blood and oatmeal or barley), sautéed mushrooms, a couple of grilled tomato halves, and finally…
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July 30, 2017July 24, 2018

Stone buildings are everywhere in Scotland

Stone buildings can be seen all over Scotland

SCOTLAND – When we arrived in Edinburgh in June we were impressed by how many stone buildings there were all over the city. Not just the castles, but public buildings, private homes, storefronts, monuments and more.

Stone walls are everywhere in Scotland — Stone walls are everywhere around Scotland

You also see stone walls everywhere in Scotland… along every street and roadway, enclosing individual yards and gardens, and around every field and pasture. Stones, stones and more stones.
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