Culture

Here’s the 11th post sharing our adventures in the British Isles and Ireland from September 29 to October 17, 2025, for genealogy, business, and sightseeing. Hope you enjoy it! Friday, October 10, 2025 Our wake-up time was 5:00 a.m. for 6:00 porterage and breakfast. I could get used to this porterage thing. We had to…

We covered a lot of ground with a variety of experiences that day!

Here’s the eighth post sharing our adventures in the British Isles and Ireland from September 29 to October 17, 2025, for genealogy, business, and sightseeing. Hope you enjoy it! Tuesday, October 7, 2025 We got up super early to board the bus that would take us from Scotland to Northern Ireland. I was intrigued by…

Charming lane in York. I wonder how those umbrellas fared in the storm!

(Sunday, March 23, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn with Jim DeDad Another hearty hotel breakfast this morning. I will really miss that. I won’t even tell you what I had every morning, but I sure don’t want to have my cholesterol checked for a while. We had some time to kill before our waka cultural tour…

(Saturday, March 22, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn with Jim DeDad If you’ll recall from Day 12, about half of the people in our tour group did not receive their luggage when we arrived in New Zealand. It had been taken off the plane in Melbourne, because the aircraft was too heavy. We were informed four…

(Friday, March 21, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn with Jim DeDad Bits ‘n Bobs from Cam (and Ann): Our first stop on the way to Mount. Cook was Arrowtown, a former gold-rush town. It has a charming main street with many cute boutiques and coffee shops. There was also a historic Chinese village and high-tech toilets.…

(Wednesday, March 19, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn with Jim DeDad Up and at ‘em for a 7:15 a.m. departure to Milford Sound/Piopiotahi, an estimated eight-hours total on the “coach.” Our tour information said that we’d soak in the “rugged  grandeur” of Hollyford Valley as we cruised through ancient beech forest via the Homer Tunnel on…

(Tuesday, March 18, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn with Jim DeDad On to New Zealand’s South Island! First stop, Queenstown, also known as the “Adventure Capital of the World.” Pick up from our Melbourne hotel was at 6:00 a.m., and it was very nice that they had breakfast boxes for us, since we wouldn’t be able…

(Monday, March 17, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn with Jim DeDad It was cool, but the rain held off as we met with our group at 9:00 a.m. on St. Patrick’s Day. Our coach driver took us on a sightseeing tour of the city with Guide Cam narrating. Here are some interesting takeaways: The Crown Promenade, where we…