On a warm and sunny day in August, my friend Kim, her daughter M and I had a wonderful day out at the Small Breeds Farm Park at Kington, Herefordshire. ... Read more
In April, I made a return visit to Chetham’s Library in Manchester’s Medieval Quarter. This time my visit was for a self-guided tour through the medieval stone passages, secret staircases ... Read more
On a recent trip to Manchester to see James Blunt in concert, I took time to wander around the city centre to see if I could find any new street art. Street ... Read more
Sat on a hillside on the Katajanokka Peninsula, Uspenski Cathedral (‘Uspenskin Katedraali’ in Finnish) overlooks the city and harbour of Helsinki. This red-bricked cathedral with its 13 onion domes is ... Read more
Oulu – The fourth northernmost city in the world with over 100,000 inhabitants, known as the “capital of Northern Finland” and, surprisingly, home to the Air Guitar World Championships! Oulu ... Read more
Think of one landmark in Helsinki and it will most likely be Helsinki Cathedral. It sits proudly above Senate Square, but it is not Helsinki’s only cathedral. We’ll visit a ... Read more
Beneath the snowy steps of the city’s great white cathedral sits Senate Square, the location for Helsinki’s Christmas Market (locally known as “Tuomaan Markkinat”). This year the market runs from ... Read more
Have you ever had a whole beach to yourself? On a hot day back in June, during my visit to Finland, my friend and I discovered we had an entire ... Read more
Last week I treated my niece to a trip to Manchester for a few days. I knew the trip would mostly be about shopping, but I also wanted to show ... Read more
The small but beautiful island of Tankar can be found in the outer archipelago in the south of the Bay of Bothnia. The island was inhabited as early as the ... Read more
Alighting from the Helsinki to Oulu bound train at Kannus, I arrived at my base for most of my stay in Finland. This sleepy Finnish town can be found in ... Read more
Day 1 – Manchester to Helsinki I hadn’t flown in over 22 years and I hadn’t been abroad in over 15 years, so when I reconnected with a friend who ... Read more
Manchester Cathedral is much more than just its colourful, arty stained-glass windows. 2021 marked the 600th anniversary of the Royal Charter to establish the Collegiate Church of St Mary, St ... Read more
Manchester Cathedral, originally the Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, has stood in place for hundreds of years, watching the rivers Irk and Irwell race by. ... Read more
Visitors to Manchester can’t fail to miss the abundance of street art around the city centre. On a recent visit, I decided to go in search of some of this ... Read more