england

Welcome to Alaska

3 July 2010

I’m in love. My nephew, Passage Ray, was born 3 weeks ago, and since then, I’ve hardly missed a day of seeing him. He’s the first one of his generation in the family, and so right now, he’s the darling. I am so glad I made it back to the U.S., and Alaska, in time […]

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Liverpool: The Emigrant Experience

28 February 2010

Everybody goes to Liverpool to remember the Beatles. It’s appropriate, of course, since they are still the towns most famous export. However, they are probably not the town’s most important legacy — that honor, in my opinion, belongs to its role as the main jumping off point for thousands upon thousands of European immigrants to […]

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The Big 3-0, or, Why You Should Stay at the Hilton on Your Birthday

11 January 2010

The Hilton, ahh, the Hilton, is a great place to spend your birthday night. Anything you need, they’re there. If you need a corkscrew, here’s room service with a souvenir Hilton opener. If you break that one because it’s plastic and it won’t remove a synthetic cork, here’s room service again, laughing along with you […]

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Snow in the Cotswolds

10 January 2010

Actually, there’s snow everywhere in England at the moment. It’s been a week of snowstorms and cold weather, and it’s being called “The Big Freeze” by the news and weather stations. And I’ll admit, I’m cold, too. The temperature has been hovering around freezing, and the other day, I got stuck in the town of […]

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The UK, So Far

4 December 2009

I’ve been from south to North and back again, basing my travels on the suggestions of friends and acquaintances and people I meet along the way, looking for a good place to base myself for my three months in the UK. It’s a difficult task. While I have liked all the towns I’ve visited, I’m […]

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