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.

this is very interesting fishing port and one of the very beautiful little cities with a castle of renown.

Luxury Welsh ice cream More around Wales — It’s interesting to see excellent Welsh ice cream started by an Italian. Actually I had a good friend from Scotland who was also named Mario. The ice cream was chocolate on the bottom and on the top was strawberry.

Clairvoyant office More around Wales — I could have entered here to find my future. But it was closed so who knows what the future is

Conwy streets More around Wales — The streets of Conwy

Beautiful port More around Wales — On the other side of the port you enter the very popular city of Llandudno

Cold snow on the hills Bill Smale — It was cold enough to snow in the hills but not quite at the port. This was looking out from the castle

The boat man Bill Smale — A cute boat man had an appealing call to the children every three or four minutes

Bank building Bill Smale — A very old bank building near the station

Town Square — A small but adequate town square

Train station — The train station is just this little place out of the rain. You better have already purchased your ticket somewhere else. And some people there told me that if the train is full they may not stop even though you’re on the schedule

Kurdish barbershop — It’s an interesting profession for the Kurds. I am sure they do a great job

The ancient walls — You can walk the walls of the city which go all the way around and are extremely well preserved

The Welsh dragon — Walking around the backstreet I saw this exclamation that the occupants are obviously Welsh. You can tell by the dragon. On the union Jack there are four crosses. The cross for whales is David who slew the dragon.

Famous fish and onion rings — This was very tasty efficient chips except I exchanged the chips for onion rings. This little restaurant, mostly take away, is very famous

Conwy Castle

The castle — Clicking on the title of the section you will get a link to the history of the castle. It’s just a shell now but the shell is very impressive

Inside the castle — Walking around inside

The birds took over the castle — The birds were very comfortable here with the tourists. They obviously have taken over the castle, both see pigeons and the seagulls

Train tracks — A view of the railroad tracks and a new tunnel entrance to the bridge which sort of matches the castle concept

Seagulls at home — The seagulls are at home here

Birds in flight — This black bird and his buddy I caught just in flight which it was kind of cool

Hay-on-Wye

Bookstore town — This cute little town is probably going to be a good highlight for you to walk around. It’s a very interesting town and you can look at all the bookstores which seemed to be the highlight and fame of Hay on Wye. The river this is on is the Wye river

General market building — I’m not sure what this old building in the back was used for but it looks like it might have been a general market

The Wye Castle — You can see the defense door at the entrance which is extremely old and has withstood many attacks

Old shoe store cash register — I bought a pair of shoes here and this is the old cash register from more than 100 years ago.

Famous shoe store — The fellow who sold me the shoes knew what he was doing. Actually he was retired but he decided to come in at work since his wife was working here also. She is the fourth generation of the owner of this shoe store. Now they have jackets and many other kinds of clothing. They are very proud of their profession. You might want to stop here and buy a pair of shoes.

Large shoe store — Here is the shoe store on the corner. Actually it looks like it’s been expanded to another building as well. It’s fairly large

Fish and chips and a bookstore — Fish and chips next to a bookstore. Why not!

Occupied house — A large occupied house near the river

Nice view of the bridge — I like this view

Llandudno

Resort hotel — Looking over at another hotel from the promenade. It’s obvious this was a resort area for many decades

Windmills — In the distance you can see the many windmills and it’s obvious you need to protect yourself against the wind. It was very strong when I was there

Beach promenade — He is looking down the promenade along the beach

Nice food at the goat — I was recommended this beer and I had this pasta which was extremely well done. And the beer was very tangy and delicious

Local beer — The beer was produced not far from here

Llandaff

The cathedral — I stopped here to see the cathedral

Interesting display in front of the altar

Old Norman construction — This is part of the original Norman construction so over 900 years old

King Arthur stain glass window — Some famous fellows and the first one is King Arthur

Balcony and ceiling — The arch and the balcony and ceiling were very impressively beautiful

March 1, 2026March 1, 2026

Venturing in Krakow

if you’re traveling in Poland I would recommend the city and spending more time here than in Warsaw. This has a lot of history, many older sites, is a smaller city and is extremely interesting. It is also the entryway to the Auschwitz memorial.

Kids playing Venturing in Krakow — These kids are just playing around. I’m sure this man has had many thousands of kids pestering him

Screenshot

Fryderyk Chopin

born 1.03.1810, died 17.10.1849

Composer and pianist. Born in Zelazowa Wola; when he was no more than seven years old he was already believed to be a musical genius. He is considered the greatest Polish composer and the creator of the so-called “national school” of Romantic music. He was known as the poet of the piano and a master of harmony, simplicity and moderation in music. His music drew Inspiration from Polish folk music. His works, in particular the Polonaises and Mazurkas, have become symbols of Polishness.

insoiration from Polish folk music. mis works, in parcula une polonaises ano mazuras, nave Decome symoois of rousnness.

The great majority of all Chopin’s works are piano compositions: waltzes, rondos, varlations, études, preludes, nocturnes, ballades, scherzos, sonatas and songs. Fryderyk Chopin’s premature death as an émigré in Paris marked the beginning of a new chapter in the history of his artistic and spiritual presence in world culture. The ceremony of the unveiling of the Medallion of Fryderyk Chopin – a copy of the original that lies on his tombat PCre Lachaise cemetery in Paris, was held at Wawel Cathedral on

28.02.2010 – on the day of the inauguration of the Chopin Year.

Christmas season crowd Venturing in Krakow — People from all over crowded around during the Christmas season

Banksy Art Venturing in Krakow — This is some banksy art

Area history Bill Smale — The history of the area

Largest synagogue Bill Smale — The large synagogue in Kraków

The Wall of Tears During the Second World War the Remuh cemetery was utterly devastated and profaned by the Nazis. Most of the tombstones were smashed. According to some of the testimonies, the Nazis planned to pave the pavement in the Kazimierz district with the broken matzevot. There is a well known story about the group of Polish doctors and lecturers of Krakow Medical College who collected fragments of the matzevot in order to give it back to the Jews. The brave doctors were harshly punished for their heroic act and sent to the concentration camp. The broken matzevot which were not fit for reconstruction were integrated into the wall, which was later called “The Wall of Tears”. Thus the precious monuments of Jewish funeral art were protected. Many of the matzevot are of exceptional historical and artistic value. They are a testament to the memory of the Jewish community and their thriving life in Krakow’s Kazimierz. – Fragments of the tombstones from the 16th-18th centuries discovered during excavation and conservation works conducted between 1958-68.

During the Second World War the Remuh cemetery was utterly devastated and profaned by the Nazis. Most of the tombstones were smashed. According to some of the testimonies, the Nazis planned to pave the pavement in the Kazimierz district with the broken matzevot. There is a well known story about the group of Polish doctors and lecturers of Krakow Medical College who collected fragments of the matzevot in order to give it back to the Jews.

The brave doctors were harshly punished for their heroic act and sent to the concentration camp.

The Remuh (Remu) Synagogue Built centuries ago, to all the Jews this synagogue is the most sacred place in Cracow. Throughout the centuries it endured fires, wars and plagues. Its walls preserve the memory of the ages long gone. The place is inhabited by “Shekhinah” (Hebrew: Presence of God from the time it was founded up to these days.

It is at this building that the great scholars studied Torah and Talmud day and night, at this courtyard that picturesque Jewish weddings took place, it is here that Jewish life once thrived. The Hebrew inscription on the gate reads: “This is the Gate to the New Synagogue dedicated to the blessed memory of Remuh”.

It is at the time of Black Death which

plagued the Town of The Polish Kings in the second half of the 16th century that Rabbi Israel (Isserl Lasers), son of Josef erected the synagogue to commemorate his wife, Dinah Malka, the daughter of Rabbi Eleazar, who died of this disease. The synagogue was named after his son, the great scholar, Rabbi Moses Isserles, called “Remuh”. The official opening of the Synagogue took place in 1558. Thanks to the efforts of the Jewish Community and attentive care of the experts from the Civic Committee for the Restoration of Krakow Heritage, the Remuh Synagogue regained its former splendour. Presently the Remuh Synagogue is the Chief Synagogue of the Jewish Community in Krakow. It is here that everyday and holiday prayers take place. In 2016 the former women’s gallery was adapted as the so-called “Shtiebel”, the place where the local Jewish community as well as the Jews from all over the world can pray and study the works of Rabbi Remuh.

Auschwitz Orchestra Bill Smale — Auschwitz camp Orchestra

ID papers for a prisoner — This is the camp identification papers for one of the prisoners

Auschwitz map Bill Smale — This is a map of Auschwitz. This was originally created as a barracks for Polish troops and was taken by the Germans and repurposed as a concentration and annihilationcamp

Train entrance — This is the famous entrance of the camp next to the original Auschwitz camp which was built mainly for extermination. You see the train tracks for the transport directly into the camp

Smoked stacks of the houses — You can see the smoke stacks of the houses that used to be there which were destroyed. They were used by the occupation army

Cubicle — Each one of these cubicles would hold many people sleeping together

February 27, 2026February 27, 2026

Germany to Poznan

In December I started my trip from Cologne Germany where I had tickets to see Rod Stewart and continued on east through Poland and then up through the Baltic states. Here are just a few memories.

Subway station Germany to Poznan — A beautiful subway station

Kaiser Wilhelm Tower Germany to Poznan — Kaiser Wilhelm Tower in Cologne

Good health Bill Smale — It’s nice to see they’re doing something about GESUNDHEIT

Circus ad Bill Smale — It looks like advertising for a circus which I did not go see

Saint Andrews Cathedral Bill Smale — A stained glass window in Saint Andrews Cathedral cologne

Baby bike Bill Smale — Wow! €5000 for a baby transporter bike

Poke — The Hawaiians are taking over the world with poke

I wore my Scotland hat from the euro cup to the Rod Stewart concert. This hat was given to me by a fellow I met in Scotland at a bar.

Rod Stewart — And he still had a lot of energy

At the cathedral this door has panels, the second ones from the top, which are very similar to the Japanese simple in a Shinto temple and also an old Celtic symbol in Ireland

Beautiful Art — Nice to have this kind of art on the side of a gray building in Frankfurt (oder). This is the other Frankfurt on the border with Poland.

Spain pilgrimage path — This is a pilgrimage path that leads into Spain

Markers of people — These you see very often in Germany and Poland where people were taken and never came back during the second world war

Ukrainian food specialties — In a restaurant in Poland, a map showing the different specialties of Ukrainian food and where they are located

Famous person marker — In Poznan the marker for a famous person

Lecturing kids — Giving a lecture concerning history to kids at a famous statue

Melting ice festival — They had a nice festival but it melted

Street Art — This doesn’t require explanation

February 27, 2026February 27, 2026

Around Wales

these are some interesting places around Wales. I have found this country to be extremely beautiful. If you are interested in beautiful countryside or beautiful villages in cities and beautiful hills then this is definitely a place to visit, anywhere around Wales.

Castle Coch

this was the second castle that John of Bute rebuilt for you and his wife too bring up their family. Of course he spent a lot of time in London and castle in Cardiff but also spent quite a bit of time here as well.

Three Greek gods around Wales — These are three Greek gods. Of course John was able to read an ancient Greek and Latin as well.

Restoration work around Wales — This is the castle from the front. They are doing some restoration work.

Stories on the walls around Wales — Various stories painted on the walls for edification.

The Lords of the area around Wales — Family tree of the Lords of this area

The sitting room — This is the sitting room. You will notice places to sit by the windows at different places in the room to catch the sun as it moves around

Decorated ceiling — A beautifully decorated ceiling

Middle courtyard — The courtyard in the middle

Beautiful ceiling and crest — Another beautiful ceiling with a wall which has a dual family crest of John and his wife

John’s bedroom Bill Smale — This is John’s bedroom

Dual crest Bill Smale — Another dual family crest which is different than the other one. I did not ask why they were different.

Beautiful ceiling Bill Smale — the bedroom’s beautiful ceiling

A display of food — This is just a display of what people were eating at the time at different parts of the day with some clothing from that era

Margaret’s bedroom — The bedroom of one of the children, Margaret

Old entertainment — The modern entertainment machine

Old telephone — This phone obviously was made for a left-handed person

Crickhowell

Countryside photos — Just some beautiful photos of the countryside

One of these smelting plants of the area

Tretower castle

this is actually two castles. One was built during the Norman times and the other one was built later. I was not able to walk over to the old Norman castle since it was raining and the mud was too much of an obstacle.

Castle Courtyard — The courtyard of the New York Castle

Tretower Castle

The Norman castle — This is the old castle built by Picard in the 11th century

Beautiful scenery — I took several photos because I just found the scenery very beautiful

Talking snakes on a virtual tour — They had these virtual displays here with talking snakes explaining the details of the people who lived there and some of the artifacts

Dining room — A long room probably for dining

Bill was sticks and mud — This shows how the Newcastle walls were constructed, with sticks and mud for the façade, outside walls.

February 24, 2026February 24, 2026

chasing around Chester

I visited the city from Birmingham since it seemed to be convenient by rail, on the way to Hollyhead in Wales where I could hop on the ferry for Dublin. But much to my surprise it was an extremely interesting city and worth a couple days to stick around. If you go chasing around Chester make sure you go down to the city center to see the old tutor style buildings and to walk along the older shops in the back streets and get some nice flavor of the town. Another interesting thing about Chester is it just a few minutes away from Liverpool, home of the Beatles, most of whom were of Irish descent. So whether you’re just visiting Chester for the history or you want to go onto Liverpool it’s a good idea to stick around here for a couple days.

Cathedral Moon exhibit chasing around Chester — If you can expand this and read it you will learn about this moon exhibit.

https://chestercathedral.com

Chester Cathedral chasing around Chester — This is inside the cathedral which is very beautiful

Chester Cathedral entrance Bill Smale — Looking back at the cathedral entrance

Chester Cathedral model Bill Smale — These two photos are models of the cathedral as it stands now

Looking at the front of the cathedral — From the back looking towards the front

Chester Cathedral stained glass windows — Beautiful stained glass windows

Chester Cathedral ceiling — These are ancient arches and the wall I think is from the Norman era so about 1000 years ago

Chester Cathedral cloister walkway — The walkway around the cloister

William Tracy killed Thomas Beckett — On the ceiling in a chapel is this figure explained below. William Tracy who killed Thomas Beckett at the behest of Henry II had to go around and build three churches as penance for the murder. There was a good chance he may have been my ancestor.

Emblem explanation — Explanation of the emblem

Rainbow colors — The rainbow colors spread out all along the large promenade

Shrewsbury Station — This is actually one of the stations on the way from Birmingham to Chester, Shrewsbury station. It’s just an interesting old station

Off license convenience store in Chester Bill Smale — I asked the fellow what “off license” means. The fellow told me that the shops are just not part of a large corporation or a franchise. They are independently owned convenience stores.

Louisiana style balcony — When I saw this building it just reminded me of Louisiana because of the balcony style

Eyebrow transplant in Chester — This sure grabbed my attention. The pictures go from left to right. If you have a hair transplant you wind up with more hair. If a woman has an eyebrow transplant she winds up as a man. I found that pretty…. Different.

Convenience store — A news and “off license” convenience store

Tutor style buildings — He wrote some of the old buildings downtown

My own spaghetti sauce Bill Smale — I made my own spaghetti sauce which was very delicious

You have been warned. Going to a coffee shop you are now facing software from the US requesting tips.

February 22, 2026February 22, 2026

Cardiff is a must

when you’re going into Wales it’s a really good idea to start in the south visiting Cardiff 1st. It gives you a general history and sense of the country. It also hosts some of the very important monuments such as Cardiff castle. This town is very much a cross-section of England and Wales. It gives you a multiple perspective of the ancient attempts to occupy and subdue the people in Wales. That’s why I say “Cardiff is a must“.

Chinese fast food food Cardiff is a must — Just out and about finding a Chinese fast food restaurant which has good reviews on Google maps but obviously by touristS. It was a box take away restaurant with a lot of seating but you still just get the box.

Old style house houses Cardiff is a must — There are many of these old timber brick and plaster houses in Cardiff

Cardiff castle

Cardiff Castle was started by the Normans and has a very long and interesting history. The son of William the Conqueror imprisoned William here in order to lessen his power. From the end became a seat of power for much of Wales.

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

Court of Castle entrance Bill Smale — The entrance to the castle

The castle Cardiff is a must — The castle from a distance

Cardiff Castle Clocktower Bill Smale — This clock tower is very interesting

Cardiff Castlegate Bill Smale — This gate actually looks very welcoming

The sitting room Bill Smale — The elaborate rooms were created by the Marquess of Bute, a descendent of the royal Stuart family of Scotland and also of the Bruces

Beautiful inside Bill Smale — Unbelievably beautiful ornateness

Storytelling — All of the decorations were employed to tell stories

Fireplace — Each room had a fireplace to keep it warm. You will notice the family crest over the fireplace

The children’s playroom — The playroom for the children. The walls were decorated with an ancient tales to educate and entertain the children

A man behind the bird — Around the bird is an outline of a man. This was John who had this room decorated for his children

Very secure door — A very secure door to lock someone in

Musicians loft — The loft above was used for the musicians

Storytelling at Cardiff Castle — Again, storytelling within the design. Look at the castle above the fireplace. In the lower left you will see the face of a man behind bars. That was William the conqueror who was imprisoned here

John’s bedroom Cardiff castle — This was John’s bedroom. You notice in the right side of the room several corners where people could sit. The sun would shine at different places during the day so the people live here could change where they sit to get the sun.

Fountain and garden — There was always glass up above to bring in sunlight to this fountain and gardenroom with storytelling around the walls

Embedded gems — These are real gems embedded in the middle of these squares in the ceiling

Family shield over the fireplace — Over one fireplace was a family shield, actually two. One was John’s family on the left and on the right was his wife’s shield

World leaders at Cardiff Castle — World leaders gathered here after 2008

Obama attending Cardiff castle — President Obama attended

Cardiff cathedral

Street view of the cast — The castle from the street

Old burial plot within the cathedral — This burial site was so old it was difficult to even tell it was someone buried under here

Family crest — The family crest of one of the royalty. The Plantagenets loved to use lions

Castle of Cardiff owners’ crests — Here you can see the crestS of the different owners of the castle

These two windows were commissioned by Sophia, Marchioness of Bute in 1855. At this time Sopia was a widow, and her son (John, the third Marquis) was still a minor. No information is yet known on the designer or maker of these windows, though it seems safe to assume they were created by the same person given the similarity of design. The left hand window shows the paternal arms of the donor, and the other window shows the arms of the families to have possessed Cardiff Castle from 1091 to the mid 19″ century.

Guest house in Cardiff — This was my hotel, guest house which was completely adequate

February 21, 2026February 21, 2026

Cornwall tidbits

i’ll be giving you just some Cornwall tidbits of places I visited that had some interesting things to take photos of.

Bovey Tracey

i’m going to tell the long story after the photos of this small town which was most likely named after members of my family, Tracy. This is a cute small town requiring only one day to walk around. The food is nice and you will most likely enjoy staying here.

Telephone booth Cornwall tidbits — Good use of a telephone booth

Hors d’oeuvres Cornwall tidbits — Very tasty minced meat hors d’oeuvres

from Wikipedia

Bovey Tracey was an established Saxon community and takes its name from the River Bovey. The name first appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bovi I2! and possibly earlier as Buui. The town gained its second name from the de Tracey tamily, who were lords of the manor after the Norman Conquest of 1066, and was first documented as Bovitracy in 1309.31. One member of the family, William de Tracy, was implicated in the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. It is thought that he rebuilt the parish church of St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury as penance for the murder. In the early 13th century, Henry de Tracey created a borough here and, in 1259, was granted the right to hold a weekly market and an annual three-day fair. 4]. During the English Civil War, on 9 January 1646, Oliver Cromwell and a contingent of his Roundhead army entered Bovey Tracey after dark and caught part of Lord Wentworth’s Regiment by surprise, catching a number of officers playing cards in an inn. Many of Wentworth’s Royalist troops escaped, but Cromwell did capture about 400 horses. ‘5! If local legend is to be believed, the Royalists escaped by throwing coins from the windows in order to distract the poorly paid Roundhead troops.

Methodist Church Cornwall tidbits — Not much really interesting about this church. I just wanted to take a picture of the church with the sign to show the name of the town.

The sign Cornwall tidbits — Here is the sign

Nice building Cornwall tidbits — This is just a nice old building with a telephone booth, defibrillator the streets surrounding it

My hotel Bill Smale — This is just a nice old tavern where I stayed the night. It was very comfortable

Quiz night Bill Smale — This reminds me of the quiz night in Max‘s bar on Koh Chang, Thailand

Quiet town Bill Smale — It’s a very quiet town

Beautiful stream — A narrow roads outside the city, rocks of the bridge wall and stream

The stream — Here’s another view of the stream

OK, so I’ll try to keep this as short but understandable as possible. You all know the Roman empire fell and Christianity almost disappeared in Europe. The monks and Ireland kept as many religious documents as they could and then after things settle down in Europe they brought Christianity back to Europe. In the area which was Normandy the Irish monks named a church Tracy after Saint Treasaigh. In 1066 you also know that William, of Viking roots, killed Harold in England and took the throne creating the house of Plantagenet. His trusted friend Henry who was from Tracy and therefore named Henry de Tracy fight with him and his family married into the royal family. Two generations later William Tracy killed Thomas Beckett in the Cathedral at the behalf of Henry II. Henry then assigned William to take lands in the west, Cornwall and Wales. This town was named after William. He was also told to subdue Ireland. So my family, Tracy, either came from these Norman’s or from the original Tracys near Galway. That’s how I got my first name but mostly due to my mother‘s very close love of her brother Tracy. So one of my family branches either comes from murderers or saints.

Cheddar

everybody knows about cheddar cheese. I noticed on my map the name of this town and read that it was the origin of cheddar cheese so of course I had to visit. Most of the cheddar cheese factories have closed down but the town is still keeping some traditional method of making the cheese.

Cheese Company — This is the sales office of the cheese company

The gorge — People also go to see this gorge but it was closed off most likely due to landslides caused by heavy rains

Entrance to the gorge — The closed off entrance to the gorge

Nice sticker — This might have been a driver for hire

Helston

this is a cute little town but really not much to see here. Most of the sites are in the countryside around or on the Oceanside which is very beautiful.

Cat sitting — I did some cat sitting for six days. It was done through TrustedHousesitters which seems to be a pretty reliable and interesting way too cut the cost of travel and enjoy pets on a temporary basis

Plantings — These sticks in the ground were all over the place. It seems they were engineering the roadside and it seems these are bushes or some other plants that were put here to deter erosion

Portside swimming — this was in Portleven. I saw these guys deciding to take a swim in the very violent and cold Portside

Mousehole

Low tide — This is low tide at the protected port

Sunset colors — I liked the sunset colors

St. Ives

Memorial — Many of the memorials to World War I have been modify to include World War II

Old city walls — Here you can see the old city walls

Port Isaac

House for sale — A very old house for sale. I can imagine it would be very expensive to fix this place up

Port houses — Very old and small houses in the port

Narrow streets — The entrance to the port is very steep and once you get into the port the roads are extremely narrow

Old school — This is the old school modified to a hotel

Portishead

A small town — I didn’t stay here very long. It was just an overnight stay but it’s a quiet town with a lot of tourist attractions along the port side

Content swans — Very quietly enjoying the port calmness. The swans were very content

Working on the boats in front of the Pill Shark.

Tintagel

as I mentioned in another post this castle is the legendary home of King Arthur. Not only this castle here which is very well preserved and the tourist infrastructure is very good but also the town is an interesting place to walk around. There are ice cream parlors in town.

Walkway — The walk way down to the castle

Nice walk — It’s a nice walk down the hill and then back up again

Important river — The stream which shapes the cliffs into two distinct land area areas

Distant rock — The far rock is where the main castle is

Ice cream — As I mentioned above, they have a very nice ice cream shop

February 19, 2026February 19, 2026

loving north Cornwall

the whole Cornwall area is extremely beautiful with abundant ocean views, beaches and places for families and outdoor activities. It’s difficult to choose which area is most interesting since they all have their unique attractions. But the north coast is an area you will find some extremely unusual terrain in the Hill area areas and the valleys but also you can find some incredibly intricate and interesting small Oceanside villages and ports.

Newquay

this area has extremely beautiful beaches and a fairly significant port. The fish restaurants here are plentiful and highly recommended.

Long Beach loving north Cornwall — A typical loan beach in the area

Interesting old building loving north Cornwall — I just found this to be a very interesting building since it’s typical of the area. You have the old building in front and you have a new addition in back for whatever needs to be added or made more modern.

Cliff sites loving north Cornwall — The cliff areas are very dramatic. I wonder if all of these buildings will still be there in 300 years. Erosion of these cliffs has also been dramatic

Exmoor national Park

this national park is really a must visit area. Every 10 minutes you have entirely different and beautiful scenery. Some of it can look a little desolate but most of it is very green and attractive.

Narrow roads Bill Smale — Many places in Cornwall in the countryside will have these two way roads which requires some mutual understanding and cooperation at times

Narrow roads with horses Bill Smale — In this area they not only walk the dogs but they also walk the horses. Go slow in the countryside since there are many things which share them

Winding Road Bill Smale — Winding road in the park

Typical Hill — Typical hilly countryside

Minehead

i’m sure there is a reason for the name of the town, probably related to mining. But this is an interesting town to visit partly since it reminds me a little bit of Brighton in England with the long white building along the beach side near the train station.

Unusual English — I stated this Hotel and I will explain a little bit in the next photo but I found this use of the stem word for customer to be kind of interesting. I’m not familiar with this usage but then again the UK has some unusual English.

Interesting Hotel — This is a nice place to stay, inexpensive and I highly recommend it for those reasons but for one other. The people managing this hotel higher and train young mentally disabled to help out which I found a very good use of a hospitality operation. Everybody is extremely cheerful and the atmosphere is very bright and welcoming. Please stay here if you are in the area. Give young people an opportunity to challenge themselves at their potential.

England style breakfast — This was an extremely full breakfast, England style

Small lunch — There is a local café which serves a limited menu, very inexpensive but frequented by residence. This was a sausage sandwich which of course required some seasoning I brought with me but was fine for just a small lunch.

Old train station — This is the old train station. I would have to look on a map to see if it is still in use

Queens Hall — The old queen’s hall needs some renovation.

For sale — The Queen’s Hall is up for sale. Let’s hope some company finds use of this beautiful old building, maybe for tourism related operations

Old clock — Near the port area and of course it requires a clock

Nice building — I just like this building

Bude

I stopped here but I’m not particularly recommending this town. I didn’t find much interesting here so you could skip it.

Not much interesting — This is one of the more picture risk views I managed

Cornwall flag — You will notice the white cross flag on black and that is the flag of Cornwall

February 14, 2026February 14, 2026

England Tidbits

Bath

this town is well known for the Roman baths and I’m not showing them here because I didn’t visit this time. I saw them in 1971 and I actually remember them fairly vividly. But this is an interesting town to visit so from a historical perspective I recommend spending one day or two days here.

Pig statue England Tidbits — I don’t know what this was promoting but maybe it was something related to pigs? That must be a good guess.

Countryside intersection England Tidbits — This is just an intersection in the countryside to show the signage. It was very muddy since it had been raining very heavily for the past few weeks.

England breakfast England Tidbits — A typical England breakfast. There’s not much flavor so bring your own sauces and spices.

Cambridge

Telephone booth England Tidbits — You will still see these old telephone booths around the country. I didn’t check to see if the phones were working but I suspect many of them are not.

Nice colors Bill Smale — It’s a beautiful cathedral. This is the one this week I liked the most due to the color arrangements.

Warning of theft England Tidbits — It’s nice to warn people

Tavern Bill Smale — actually this was in Cambridge. I missed looking up at the ceiling which you must do if you visit this tavern. It’s an interesting place to visit and I highly recommend recommended

Ely

this is a cute little town you will want to spend a day walking around in. As you can see below there is the home of Thomas Cromwell who was the Lord protector for a number of years after they killed Charles I am proclaimed a parliamentary government with him as the head. But he lived here for only 10 years even though it was the 10 years during the revolution.

Gum garbage Bill Smale — This is the England way of saying not to throw your gum on the sidewalk

Cromwell kitchen Bill Smale — Cromwell’s kitchen

Cromwell’s house — An old rendering of the house next to the large church which he attended

Filled in land — This was the area before it had been filled in creating more land for farming and easier transportation.

Winchester

Jane Austen Memorial — It’s interesting to know that Jane Austen is buried here

Reading

I first visited this town in 1971, the first train ride outside of London. I remember that it was an easy direct train. My cousin was coming to London on her European trip and I wanted to see her so I decided I would park the car in this town and then take the train into London. I did not want to drive in London.

Poke bowl style — As I travel around England I see a lot of these “street food“ restaurants, most of which are from southeast or east Asia. Many of them have been closed probably due to the lack of business. I looked at this and it didn’t seem that appetizing. It’s just something on rice which is more like poke bowl than Korean food.

Greenland support — People were supporting England and Denmark and Greenland

Nigerian Guinness — This Guinness extra stout I bought in the store but it’s made in Nigeria. Kind of strange

Reading bus — I didn’t know that buses could read

Birmingham

every town seems to have its interesting little things. Near Birmingham new street station you’ll find mostly Hong Kong related restaurants and businesses with a smattering of Indian and some other shops. It’s a little confusing getting around the station so make sure you have your GPS maps working properly. I was very happy being here, not that I found a lot that was interesting but I certainly enjoyed the Hong Kong style food which was obviously created for their main customers, Hong Kong Chinese so it was very close to San Francisco Chinese restaurant flavors.

The Victoria pub here is just interesting at night time, the colors

Hooch — It’s nice they sell hooch which is called “hooch“.

A symbol of Hong Kong influence in Birmingham

Cathedral photo — I didn’t have much time to go into the cathedral so I just took this photo from the outside which I thought was kind of interesting

Worcester

I would bet Worcestershire sauce comes from here since Worcester is in Worcestershire. And originally I heard that the sauce concept was from Asia or India and was originally made with fish but gradually changed to include other ingredients.

Attorney office — This is interesting advertising for a law firm

Fish Street — Interesting name for the street

Fifth Street — And here you have fish Street. I didn’t smell any fish

And of course they have to celebrate Denmark by having a Copenhagen Street

Keeping the churches alive — These old churches need a lot of money to be maintained so this is one way they help keep the church in good shape. They had some event with kids inside which was kind of interesting. It’s like a community center

I stopped to see a home builder, model homes, to see some interesting things regarding England style home building. Here are a few things I found interesting.

Radiation heating — You could see the radiator which is used for the main heating. I don’t really find these to be very effective but maybe it’s a less expensive way to heat the house? And putting it below the window?

Electric electrical plug — This is a typical electrical plug. The switches in the middle allow current to flow through the plugs which seems to be safer than not having them since you can cut the power so kids sticking things in the holes don’t get electrocuted.

This might serve as the replacement for a circuit breaker? I didn’t ask to see but I suspect there are also circuit breakers somewhere. These were in the kitchen.

Conservatory addition — I asked about this addition to the house which is not provided by the builder. This is just for show. I was interested to see how this would be heated. This addition in England is called a “conservatory”. I guess it must be conserving something.

Bathroom radiation heat — Most places I’ve been have these which I find helpful but kind of strange. You can turn these on and they are radiators which will dry your towels and also warm up the bathroom. But again I didn’t find the heat generated by these were really sufficient to keep the bathroom warm. After washing clothes, which I do every day, I put them on this rack so they dry out by morning but I don’t keep them on overnight because these tend to get fairly hot. But then again the one that my friend had in Paris seemed to keep the bathroom nice and warm.

Interesting stick — Just an interesting sticker

Worcester cathedral

Long cathedral — The cathedral is very long

The crypt contained the old portions of the cathedral, almost 1000 years of history

Foundation supports — You can see the foundation supports down here in the crypt

Beautiful pipe organ — This cathedral had one of the most beautiful pipe organs I’ve ever seen

Beautiful design — Beautiful and intricate design

CryPt — I was interested to find out who was buried here

Normans buried here — You can tell by the names these people buried here were Normans since it’s clear they came from Harcourt and Camvile. My family came from Tracy in Normandy

Well, what do you know. King John is buried here, the guy who was forced to write a Magna Carta or be overthrown by the angles and the Saxons

King John’s grave — Here lies King John. And I’m sure you know from history that he was the son of HenryII, the fellow depicted in “a lion in winter“ with Peter O’Toole and Catherine Hepburn.

February 9, 2026February 9, 2026

Driving North Cornwall

driving North Cornwall is definitely the best way to get because you can visit small towns, the countryside, save a lot of time and also get less expensive accommodations probably in a pub which is an inn. In the evening you can go downstairs to the pub and have a drink and maybe strike up a conversation with somebody interesting. The “interesting“ part of it is pretty certain since the person you would be talking to has very different experiences and can give you some very good information where to visit and want to see.

Port Isaac

this is a cute little poor town, a little difficult to navigate in town so you should park up above a little bit and just come down and walk around. Actually it’s almost impossible to drive in the town and one of the photos below you will see why. And many of the roads don’t allow you to drive unless you’re local or you’re making a delivery or have a business there.

Beautiful countryside Driving North Cornwall — Beautiful countryside

Wide road in Port Isaac Driving North Cornwall — This is one of the wider roads going into town which is really just a small port.

Dr. Martin Driving North Cornwall — This fellow mentioned here is actually from a television show while I thought it was the fellow who started the shoe company which later I learned was started in Germany.

Narrow streets Driving North Cornwall — This is how narrow the streets at the port are

Old buildings Driving North Cornwall — Beautiful old buildings

At the bay Bill Smale — At the bay looking up at the businesses on the hill

The bay Bill Smale — This is the port and the Bay and you could see some of the businesses and houses on the hills

Old school Bill Smale — This old building used to be the school but I’m sure there aren’t enough students here now to keep the school running

A view Bill Smale — A view from up above

Padstow

Nice port Bill Smale — This is another fun port to visit though it seems to be very typical, not like Port Isaac which is very small and unusual

An international restaurant — An idea of an international restaurant. But don’t be fooled. It’s really all England food

Rowing club — This is the rowing club in town

Port side view — Of view from the other side of the port

St. Ives

this is a little town on the ocean you really must’ve visited if you’re in Cornwall. I was thinking to spend a little bit more time here but there was so much more to see and I thought sometime I could come back and spend a week just relaxing in this little town. It reminded me of Carmel California where I used to live but very different. In the tourist season I am told that there are so many tourists it takes a long time to walk down any little Street, this place is so popular. So I recommend coming in the off-season, relaxing and talking to the people running the shops. They are very nice and easy to share a conversation with.

House on the hill — A large house on the hill which might not be used as a house anymore but I did not check that out

Guinness 00 — This looks like a real Guinness but look at the photo below

Good Guinness — Hey no alcohol Guinness which many people have said taste exactly the same as the alcoholic version however I found some taste difference which I think everybody could notice. But it is a very good tasting beer, much closer to the alcohol version than many of the zero alcohol beers

Celtic Cross memorial — Most towns have World War I and World War II memorials. In Cornwall they often use the Celtic cross

The golden lion — I had the Guinness at the pub on the left

Broad Street — This doesn’t really look like a very broad street.

Tintagel Castle

this is another place you really need to visit. It has a castle on a large rock and a sub castle on this side. The views are really fantastic and it’s well worth spending a couple hours here but also sometime in the local town. I found the food at the King Arthur pub to be very tasty

I didn’t expect to find the original Olive Garden in this small town

Countryside Church — A church in the countryside

Interesting colors — This view is not so captivating but I just found the array of colors interesting

Walking area — The map of the Castle area. It’s good to spend some time here and walk around

King Arthur’s Castle — Was this King Arthur’s castle?

Hotel on the hill — This old mansion on the hill is now a hotel

Castle walkway — The bridge to the castle on the rock

Hotel view — Here’s a view from the opposite side of the hotel

King Arthur pub — This is a family owned pub and seems to have very good food

Good food — I hate peas and I am not fond of french fries (chips) but these french fries were very fresh and tasty and the seafood basket was well prepared and very nice

Bill and Ted’s adventure — This is where a Bill and Ted started their great adventure

Sexy license plate — Quite a license plate

Parking machine — Sort of a typical parking lot. But this one has a camera when you pull in which will take a photo and identify your car and the time you came in so you need to do nothing until you leave because the clock starts ticking once you drive in. When you’re leaving you go to the machine, and put your license number and a calculates how much you have to pay. Pretty interesting

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