On Thursday evening I was kindly invited on a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament by my local MP, Richard Harrington. Before I write-up a post about the tour itself I thought this would give a great opportunity to write a little about Parliament itself. Though there were bodies with some parliamentary like qualities… Continue reading A Brief History of Parliament
Sintra – The Jewel in the crown of Lisbon
Having spent all day on the Friday sight-seeing around Lisbon we were eagerly awaiting Saturday, our second day in Portugal and our only full day. As there is so much to see in Lisbon I had planned to spend the second day in some of the many museums and galleries but then we thought about… Continue reading Sintra – The Jewel in the crown of Lisbon
Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon
It had been a long old winter with two potentially serious health scares that thankfully were gradually eliminated over repeated visits to doctors, hospitals and specialists. With good news ringing in my ears and strong encouragement from some friends I vowed to make up for lost time and treat myself to a weekend away. I wanted to… Continue reading Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon
Mr Spock in words and pictures
Here is a bonus third post of the week, following my recent post on Leonard Nimoy and Mr. Spock. For those with no interest in Star Trek, normal service will resume on Saturday with a cultural blog on Lisbon! Rather than write a long post highlighting various aspects of the show or turning points for… Continue reading Mr Spock in words and pictures
Remembering Leonard Nimoy and Mr. Spock
I was in Portugal on Friday when I heard the sad news of the death of Leonard Nimoy and whilst very saddened was not entirely surprised given his recent health problems. I shouldn’t have been surprised that his death was featured quite heavily on Portuguese television and made the front pages of their newspapers on… Continue reading Remembering Leonard Nimoy and Mr. Spock
No-takers for Paradise?
A week or so ago I wrote about the famous mutiny on HMS Bounty and the island of Pitcairn in the South Pacific. It turns out that though at one time the island was home to several hundred people, over the years the number has called away to under 50 and most of them are at… Continue reading No-takers for Paradise?
Terra Nullius, enclaves & the strange case of Bir Tawil – The land that nobody wants.
When European nations were looking at empire building there were a number of sham reasons used to justify it. Either religious edicts from Rome, pure Ethnocentrism from France (the belief of one race being superior to all others) or in the case of Great Britain Terra Nullius. It was the Romans who first came up… Continue reading Terra Nullius, enclaves & the strange case of Bir Tawil – The land that nobody wants.
Captain Bligh, Fletcher Christian and The Mutiny on The Bounty
HMS Bounty was a small and rather unremarkable ship that was bought and re-fitted for the Royal Navy for a not particularly exciting mission but little did anyone onboard realise their names would go down in maritime history. It started off as an experiment, to carry Breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the West Indies in… Continue reading Captain Bligh, Fletcher Christian and The Mutiny on The Bounty
Was it something I said? – Accents and dialects of the world and Great Britain
Over the weekend it was a revealed in a Time Magazine survey that we British apparently have the most sexy accent in the world. Whilst not sure how many from Tanzania or Mongolia were surveyed, we sure are grateful to all our English speaking and European friends. I must say though that I find it… Continue reading Was it something I said? – Accents and dialects of the world and Great Britain
Grace Darling – A Victorian Heroine
Not many people know about Grace Darling today but 175 years ago her fame hadn’t just spread around the land but around the world and with good reason. Grace was the daughter of William and Thomasin Darling, just one of nine children born into the family in the early 19th century. Aged just a few… Continue reading Grace Darling – A Victorian Heroine
Stephen Liddell 