Folksy Travel by Bill Smale • Click on "Menu" below to search Country or City or to see Country Guide. Tip your phone sideways and you will see all aspects of the site.

February 3, 2026February 3, 2026

Cats in Helford

I did a cat sit for a very nice lady, Lynn, in Helford for about six days with a company called TrustedHousesitters. The cats name was Buzz and he was very shy in the beginning but then after a day and a half he became very friendly and talkative. This gave me a chance to drive around the countryside in that area which happens to be very beautiful, especially the ocean side. In the summertime I think the beaches are very nice for taking a dip.

Helford

Recreational Lake in Helford — This is a recreational lake nearby

A church Bill Smale — A church in a small nearby town

Helford landscape Bill Smale — Beautiful landscape and clouds

Bexington

A local beach Bill Smale — Not too far away is this little town and a nice beach. The sand is very coarse but I was amazed how big the beach was.

Fog Bill Smale — This was fog but it looked like smoked from a fire. It was very interesting

Helston

This was an England TV show. I took a photo because you can see on the plate a typical England meal, something deep-fried with peas. I will tell you I always leave the peas on the plate because I hate them. When I was a kid we tried to feed the peas to the dog under the table and of course our parents would get very angry because the dog was not allowed at the table while we were eating. And my mother was not too happy we did not want to eat the peas. She finally wise up and stopped serving them. I am also not a fan of mashed potatoes. But when I was in Paris I found a mashed potatoes with cheese mixed in and it was very tasty. This just goes to show everything is relative.

Dirt road — Trying to go out to see some ancient tomb on a one-way /two way Country Rd.

Loe bar — This is Loe Bar. I guess the person living in that house there must really love the wind.

Marazion

Island building — Some castle are building on the small island

Local beer — And of course I had to try the local beer

February 1, 2026February 1, 2026

Winter Tartu Fun

Tartu is in the southeast part of Estonia and it’s one of the larger cities. I am sure during the summertime, spring and fall there are a lot of outdoor activities but during the winter you get very much restricted to the city and there’s really not that much of interest so I’m not sure I would recommend spending much time here during the winter. But it was interesting to stay here and see what’s going on.

Winter time on the train Winter Tartu Fun — On the train looking out the window

tartu downtown Winter Tartu Fun — Part of the downtown area

Tartu train station Bill Smale — Tartu train station

Tartu town hall Bill Smale — The town hall

Downtown Tartu Bill Smale — Walking in the downtown area

Dodo Pizza Bill Smale — This is not a sister business to the dodo bar on Koh Chang island in Thailand. The dodo bar in Thailand is owned by a friend from Scotland

Playing in the snow — Kids playing in the snow

January 29, 2026January 29, 2026

Traveling around Tullamore

Tullamore, Ireland is an interesting place to visit for a couple days and especially to go out to the Belvedere estate where you can visit even with the kids. There are a number of activities there for the whole family so it looks like an enjoyable place to spend an afternoon if the weather is good. A lot of it is outside and the beautiful gardens and views are very nice. And of course you can visit the Tullamore Dew whiskey brewery in town which is very famous. It’s a very good whiskey.

Minnesota Viking T-shirts — Of course the Minnesota Vikings are extremely famous here. Actually I have no idea why they had these T-shirts in the shop but I let my Minnesota friends know they are famous.

Cathedral Traveling around Tullamore — Cathedral of Christ

Inside the cathedral Bill Smale — Inside the cathedral

Beautiful painting Bill Smale — A really beautiful wall painting

Bose speakers Bill Smale — Of course you need to have state of the Art Bose speakers. I don’t notice these in Italian churches but maybe they just have better acoustics?

Cathedral front Bill Smale — The front of the cathedral

Belvedere house Bill Smale — the Belvedere house and Gardens. What really cut my eye was that I used to live on an island called Belvedere

Beautiful lake Traveling around Tullamore — The beautiful lake by the estate

Good trout fishing Traveling around Tullamore — There must be good trout fishing here

The evil Earll — Evidently the earl, the father, was not a very nice guy and the son was nicer but through conflict they lost control of the estate

Aerial photo — You might think I flew up here to take the photo. I didn’t,. I took a photo of a photo

Beautiful fall colors — A nice fall walk around the area

Old structure — These thick brambles are hiding an old structure

Red color tree — This is the full version of this tree. I like the red color

Ice storage — I guess this is where ice was stored, way out detached from the main building

Visitor direction — He’s been directing visitors for a long time

This is a depiction of an ancient Irish warrior

Bookmaking is legal in Ireland and in England

Interesting House — An interesting house in town

January 28, 2026January 28, 2026

England’s small towns

England’s small towns are really interesting to walk around and enjoy the old buildings and see how they have been repurposed for shops and for other purposes.

Ely

Ely is an important town for England. This is where Oliver Cromwell looped for 10 years when he became the Lord protector after executing King Charles the first. This was the first attempt to create a republic which ultimately failed when Charles II became king evidently because Oliver‘s son failed to effectively carry on his father‘s leadership abilities.

Cromwell’s home England’s small towns — Oliver Cromwell‘s home

Visitor center England’s small towns — This is a visitor center as well as the house itself

Jewish history England’s small towns — A little different history here. Actually during the 1500s England was not kind to the Jewish population.

Dining room Bill Smale — The dining room

Kitchen entrance Bill Smale — Entrance to the kitchen

Moss on the building Bill Smale — Moss growing on the side of the building

Boots pharmacy — Schizophrenic Shop. It’s an optician selling boots which have hearing problems. Just joking

St. Mary’s Church — Saint Mary’s Church where Cromwell attended

Winchester

Graffiti wall — This was a very complete graffiti wall

Cathedral map — The map of the inside of the cathedral

Silver collection — There is an interesting collection of silver upstairs. This is from the 1700s

Broken stained glass windows — During the Civil War these windows were destroyed. After things settled down they took the glass shards and created what you see now

First bishop — The first bishop is buried here

Original door — This is the original door from the 1100s

Clergy area — The place where the clergy sat during official ceremonies

Original altar — One of the original alters from the 1100s

Jane Austen‘s grave — Yes, Jane Austen was buried here

England Sushi — The spicy chicken above was a little bit sweet and not spicy. The salmon sushi was England style so the rice was very poorly made.

William Walker memorialization — William Walker spent weeks underneath the foundation during a flood and helped shore up the pilings so the cathedral would not collapse. He is memorialized here

Portsmouth

My cousin passes by — As I was looking at the ship my cousin was on this Viking cruise ship passing by just as I was in Portsmouth. We later met up in London. I waved to her but she didn’t get my message

Quintessential fish and chips — Very quintessential British fish and chips

Map of the harbor — The map of the dockyard. You have to pay 51 pounds to see everything. I didn’t pay so I got to just walk around the pier since it was already a little late in the afternoon and there was not enough time to see everything

Nice photo — I just like this photo of the HMS warrior

Ship museum — One of the ships inside the boat museum which is included in the free pier walk around

Figurehead — The figurehead for the Benbow

Navy ship — A navy ship docked maybe for repairs

Tardis — This is a strange version of the tardis

HMS victory — Nelson’s ship. This is a very extensive museum inside and probably very interesting.

So Henry the eighth was walking on this pier

January 25, 2026January 25, 2026

walking in Spain

Pamplona (Iruña)

i’m sure you have heard about the “running of the bulls“ in Spain. That happens in Pamplona and the reason I wanted to visit. It’s on the way to Madrid from France by train so it’s very easy to access. It’s kind of an interesting city and I think you need two days to look around and see most of the sites. This is where Ernest Hemmingway came to see the running of the bulls and enjoy the Spanish environment with some connection to the Civil War.

Hemmingway poster walking in Spain — Of course you need to have a poster of Hemmingway whether he visited the shop or not

Interesting building walking in Spain — Just an interesting building

Beautiful view walking in Spain — A beautiful view from on top of the hill

Colorful building walking in Spain — I don’t know. This just struck me as interesting with the buildings and the angles and colors.

Interesting site Bill Smale — Another interesting site

Fueros de Navarre Bill Smale — Monument to the Fueros of Navarre

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fueros_of_Navarre

Cured pork Bill Smale — Cured pork, Iberian of course. You will find the shops in every city and you’ll find very different varieties of cured pork and other meat and sausage.

Merchant Street — Calle de los Mercederes

Old shops — A couple old shops with a pharmacy plastered with graffiti

San Sebastián

this town is really known for his food, comfort and beach front. This was not exactly the season for the ocean and I just stopped here on the way to Madrid having been here before and enjoying the beachfront area. I highly recommend this town and you should spend two or three days here or maybe more just to relax and to soak up the international cuisine and feeling of the area.

Tapas — Pickled onion peppers and olives with some anchovies and chorizo

Bridge entrance — The large monument entrance to the bridge

Toilet paper variety — Even a variety of toilet paper. As we say in Thailand “up to you”

Zaragoza

I did not find Zaragoza very interesting but then it was raining all the time, it was just a one day stop over and it was a long walk to get any food on a Sunday. But this large hotel was right at the station and not expensive. It had the longest corridor I have ever seen in a hotel. You could walk and walk and walk and never get to the other end, just like Hotel California.

The traveler — A print in the hotel was just kind of interesting. Actually it is me with my Borsalino, my coat and my suitcase.

Interesting site — The most interesting thing I saw in the city

January 24, 2026January 24, 2026

Quaint little Porthleven

in the southwestern end of Cornwall you will find this little port and fishing village which is Quaint little Porthleven, a very nice place to spend the day, walk around, get some food, enjoy the seagulls flying overhead and slowing down. Spent some time to go out to the very point where the old church is which is now a memorial building. I went there when the tide was not high but by the time I left the tide was so low that all the boats in the port we’re just stranded.

PORTHLEVEN HISTORY

The word porth in the Cornish language means port and elvan is the Celtic Saint who came to these shores in the 5th century along with many others to preach the Christian faith.

Fishing boats Quaint little Porthleven — They are quite a few fishing boats in the harbor

Main road Quaint little Porthleven — Looking back towards the main part of town

Harbour swimmers Bill Smale — These guys were not the only ones who decided to take a dip in the very rough and cold waters in the harbor

Old Cannon Bill Smale — An old Cannon pointed towards the other side of the port

Rough sea Bill Smale — The sea was pretty rough that day

The ship inN — the ship inn Click on that pub name on the left here and you will get their website. It’s a pretty interesting place.

Harper view Café Bill Smale — This was the Café restaurant I decided to have something to eat and I settled for what you will see below

Seafood chowder — This was the seafood chowder which was very nice but needed some salt at minimum. It was £9.

Cornwall butter — Even the butter is from Cornwall

Pastries — Pasties has a little different meaning in US English. Here in England it means pastries but in Cornwall they have this pie type pastry with something in it, closed up on one side. The flavors are very bland but it’s interesting food.

Old houses — These are some very old houses leading up to the church

Old school — As you could see in the photo below, this is the old school

A good place to sit and below you will see why

Ice cream in the wind — The ice cream parlor was packed with customers so I had no choice but to sit outside. Quite a few people watched me as I ate my ice cream in the cold and windy salt sea air. Actually it was kind of fun and the ice cream was very delicious.

Old town houses — A very old row of townhouses

Bayview — These townhouses are on a street or walkway with the same name as the street I used to live on as a kid

Townhouses — Here’s a view of the townhouses and looking back from the harbor opening to the town

Old guys chatting — These old guys have been sitting here and chatting for many years

Fishing — I wonder if it’s good weather to go fishing

A place to stay — I did not rent this place but I saw this badge for one of these townhouses. It might be an interesting place to stay but it seems they rent out only by the week. Right now it’s not that expensive but the price of course increases as it gets close to tourist season

January 23, 2026January 23, 2026

Cambridge and Oxford

From Tallinn, Estonia I decided to fly directly to England and the “cheapest“ airline was Ryan air which landed at an airport north of London. Cambridge is not too far from the airport and I wanted to stay away from London since I’ve been there twice, it’s very expensive and I wasn’t really interested in walking around right now in the city. The cheap airline started at US$27 and then when you pick the $27 flight schedule the price bumps up to $55. Then when you select the cheapest ticket which means you can carry on a 10 kg bag and something under the seat the price jumps up to $77. Then when you click to check out the price jumps up to $100. I have never seen that happen before and it’s something you need to be aware of because it’s not really a nice way to lure people into a flight. It’s called “bait and switch“ but when you switch three times that’s a little bit extreme.

so booking Cambridge for one night was a good decision since there was really not all that much I wanted to see. I rented a car at the airport and so I was free to do a much more vigorous schedule than having to wait on public transport.The Lithuanian lady who owned the guest house ( A & B guest house, about $80 a night) explained Oxford is the masculine city and Cambridge is the feminine city of the two. So it seems Oxford is a little bit more crowded and bustling and Cambridge is a little more calm and sedate. Anyway that’s what she told me. So I spent one day in each of the cities just looking around, noticing a lot more modern buildings than I was expecting but the last time I had been in England outside of London was in 1971, 55 years ago so …….

Telephone booth Cambridge and Oxford — What would England be without the iconic telephone booth

Estonia Cambridge and Oxford — Actually this is what I left in Estonia the morning I left. It was -9°C and snowing

Poke bowl shop Cambridge and Oxford — The Hawaiians are taking over the world with all their poke bowl shops. Actually what they sell is not Hawaiian poke, it is this shopkeepers idea of poke which turns out to be anything on top of a bowl of rice instead of the Hawaiian style of some raw fish with a little bit extra on rice.

Our lady church Bill Smale — Our lady church

Approach to the altar Bill Smale — Like most cathedrals it’s a beautiful approach to the altar

Organ practice — Someone was practicing on the organ

Christmas scene Bill Smale — They still had the cresh scene on display. It was pretty intricate

Church front Bill Smale — The front of the church

Scott polar Institute Bill Smale — The polar research Institute named for the famous explorer Scott

Tennis Court, Road — This is probably a very appropriate name for this road. I bet there’s a tennis court somewhere around here

Shop area — This is a very quintessential England shop area

Judge business school — I just really like the name of the school and the building itself

Nice building — And I like this building also

Corpus Christi College Chapel. And you know the English translation means the body of Christ

Quintessential shops — This is also quintessential but I love the names of the shops kind of like something out of a Harry Potter novel. I wonder, is Samuel smiling?

Saint Catherine’s College from another point of view

Good fish and chips — My first fish and chips since getting off the airplane. The fish was good, the fries were filling and nice, and I hate peas but that seems to be something that is served for so many meals in England which is maybe the reason I have not been here so often.

Evening view — An evening view of the city

Mistaken photo — We have a saying in Japan, “even monkeys can fall from tree trees“. In this instance it just means that even a practiced Photographer can sometimes make a mistake and take a photo of his hand

Oxford

Canals — This is the nice college city with the little canals going through it. But it was much too cold of course to be on a paddle boat

Boat rental — The larger canal where you can rent all sorts of boats and floating devices

Nice building and hotel — I think this is a hotel and a restaurant but I didn’t go inside. I just like the building and since it’s on the river it might be a nice place to stay

Tom tower, christ Church University of Oxford. Only certain people can get in like student students, professors and administration

Upton country Park guest house — This was my hotel outside Oxford in the countryside, The Upton country park guest house, golf course and resort. Needless to say it was too cold and rainy to play golf.

January 22, 2026January 22, 2026

st. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is the cathedral to visit in Dublin. You need several days anyway to explore the city but here you will see why you need to visit this cathedral.

Celtic Cross st. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin — A typical Celtic cross

Sharpie correction st. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin — When you want to make a correction even though it’s not authorized a sharpie is the way to do it

Garbage can Bill Smale — A very nice garbage can

Looking at the history st. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin — Going back more than 1000 years is always interesting

Storytelling windows Bill Smale — Beautiful stained glass windows telling a story

St. Patrick’s well Bill Smale — Going back 1500 years at a well that may have been used by Saint Patrick

St. Patrick’s well — This is the stone over the well which the church is built on top of

Saint Patrick’s history — The history of Saint Patrick

Memorial plaque — There are many memorial plaques in the cathedral which is typical of churches on the island

Jonathan Swift’s memorial — Jonathan Swift was very important writer and religious figure in Ireland and he served the cathedral as well as the general public

Death mask for swift — This is the death mask of Jonathan Swift who you know as the author of Gulliver‘s travels

Swift things of interest — Some interesting things about swift

An important person — So now you see how prominent he was as a “deacon“ in this cathedral

Wake up the parishioners — This seems to be a very aggressive Irish thing

Cathedral view — A view of the cathedral on the inside

Queen Anne’s patent — Patent approved by Queen Anne

George the fourth memorial — George the fourth of William the fourth memorial

Memorializing deaths in Burma — The following are memorials to the people who died in the Burmese war

Old entranceway door — The old entranceway door with an interesting twist

THE PHRASE TO

‘chance your arm’ is often used when describing someone taking a risk.

Yet many people do not know the role this medieval door played in its origin.

In 1492 two feuding families, the Butlers of Ormonde and the Fitzgeralds of Kildare, were engaged in battle. Sensing an impending defeat, the Butlers fled the battlefield and took sanctuary in the Cathedral’s Chapter House.

The Fitzgeralds followed in pursuit, but instead of fighting proposed a truce. Calling to the Burlers through the Chapter House door, Gerald Fitzgerald, head of the family; guaranteed them safe passage from Dublin. However, the Burlers refused this offer, believing it to be a trap.

To prove his sincerity, Gerald Fitzgerald ordered a hole be cut in the door. He thrust his arm through it, offering it in peace. Convinced, the Butlers shook his hand. Today, the story lives on in the famous expression, “to chance your arm”.

January 17, 2026January 17, 2026

Riga Excursions

Riga is the only city I visited in Latvia but it’s a very interesting city and you should spend two or three days here walking around and seeing the interesting sites. One thing about the three countries in this area, the people are very welcoming, friendly and willing to help out with whatever you need so feel free to talk with people.

Clock face Riga Excursions — A lot of the cathedral was destroyed but some pieces like this clock face were saved

Horseback hero Riga Excursions — Hero Rose need to be on horseback

Recovered Stone face Riga Excursions — Some very old stone carving which was recovered in the courtyard

Cannons Bill Smale — These are just Canon exhibits which I found a little strange to have a cathedral

Blackface Bill Smale — This was a tribute place to buy the “blackface” which were the merchant associated people with their own large house which is shown later

Pipe organ Bill Smale — An extremely ordinate pipe organ

Pizza Bill Smale — The reheated pizza here was extremely good. I never had much reheated pizza because of the dimension flavor flavors but this was very well regarded so I went to this restaurant and it was very tasty

Stained glass window — A beautiful stained glass window

Saint Peter’s Church with its very impressive spire

I guess there’s not much more you can say about Belgian beer

Bar — A pretty active bar across from the hotel

Park buildings — Beautiful buildings by the park

Cathedral side gate — Old gate at the side of the cathedral

Small plaza — It was too snowy and cold to sit down in a small plaza

Medieval pub — An ancient style (dark ages) pub which I did not go into since it was too early in the day

Amber is the thing in Riga — In Riga the thing is Amber. Kind of like in Toledo where the thing is swords and knives.

Building for sale — Jump jumping around a little this is just an interesting building which was for rent or for sale. I can’t imagine who would build this and then try to sell it

Place to visit — This house is a welcoming place for foreign diplomats including the emperor Japan

Glassware — Some of the beautiful glassware saved

Wagner played here — He played in the backface house. Riga had a very strong trading relationship with Bremen Germany and they had an affiliated house in Bremen

Basement — This is part of the basement which was not destroyed

Built in 1860 — A photo of the house in 1860. The members of the association were extremely powerful politicians and economic forces in this area of the world

backface emblem — An emblem on the cannon

Ceremony room — Beautiful area for ceremonies

Beautiful ceiling — Beautifully decorated ceiling

Local market — This is the main market nearby for local people

Cured meats — All different kinds of cured meats

Place to eat — On the second floor of the market you order your food from stalls and eat here

A mixture of food foods — Hawaiian poke and Chinese stuff

Japanese foods — These are supposed to be Japanese style foods

Ancient tram — An ancient tram system still working

Corner building — An interesting corner building

Russian church — The Russian Orthodox Church

Outside of the Russian church — The Russian church from the outside

January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

Walking around Vilnius

Vilnius is a great walking city and there is a lot to see here so planet at least two or three days, three nights, so you have time to relax and see what’s going on. I was lucky to be there during the new year even though it was snowy and cold. The people in Lithuania are extremely friendly and love talking with other people so you will most likely never have a problem there that can’t be taken care of easily. Taxi transportation is not expensive and the buses are tap to pay so it’s easy to get around.

Cats Walking around Vilnius — In the early morning it was not only humans walking around.

Small station Walking around Vilnius — This is one of the small stations on the way out of the city

Piano in the station Walking around Vilnius — Just like in France they have decided to put a piano for people to play music and I was surprised how professional many of the people who played it were

Excellent restaurant Bill Smale — This was a really excellent restaurant

Good food Bill Smale — The pork was extremely well done and tender, juicy and the pickled cabbage was very nice

Monaco Embassy Bill Smale — Even Monaco has an embassy here

The Christmas tree in the plaza was a major attraction

Merry-go-round — The Murray go round in daytime

Cathedral service — A service was going on in the cathedral

Remembrance candle — When it’s available I find a candle in every church I go into and remembrance of my family

Mongolian hero — This hero looks ominously like a Mongolian with his outfit

Peruvian Japanese restaurant — So a Japanese descendent from Peru set up this restaurant?

Cold weather — It was very cold and snowy

Part of the castle — I didn’t visit this part of the castle but there were a number of people up there.

Plaza nighttime — Night time on the plaza

Tower in front of cathedral — The tower in front of the cathedral

Cat café — These are popular in Japan but this is the first one I’ve seen outside of Japan, a cat café

Beautiful view — The view from my hotel window was actually very beautiful

First class snack — Senior citizens get a significant discount on trains so I took advantage of first class and I got a free cup of coffee and a brownie, very tasty

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