“Mexico” was the opening track of his 1975 album Gorilla. …
Graham Nash and David Crosby sing backup vocals.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
It’s been covered by many, many others. Jimmy Buffet OFTEN. 😀
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. Jimmy and JT.
Once again I broke up long international travel with a stopover in London.
I enjoyed my days in June 2022. And again end of August 2022.
BUT it would take a month of dedicated research to really understand all the areas of the city. And to visit all the attractions.
This time I stayed at Wombats near the Tower Bridge so ended up spending more time on that section of the Thames. Especially in the evening.
Most of what I do is FREE — wandering the streets and parks. Something interesting around every corner.
I drop into one of the free museums most days.
There’s a lot of green space.
There are many excellent street performers.
My favourite this time was Mex.fs, an acoustic lap tap/percussive guitarist.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Of all amazing and FREE museums in London, the V & A is perhaps my favourite.
So massive!
11 acres, 145 galleries, 7 miles of exhibits and 5 million objects.
It’s not easy to see David in Florence — but you can study an exact replica any time, any day in London. Free. No crowding.
In fact, this space at the V & A called the Cast Courts is perhaps the best. You’ll quickly be diverted from David to other astonishing replicas in those 2 galleries.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Another of my favourite exhibits is Tippu’s Tiger.
The ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in India had made a carved and painted wood casing representing a tiger savaging a near life-size European man. It moves and makes music.
The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie.
.. opened in London’s West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It then re-opened on 17 May 2021.
The longest-running West End show, it has by far the longest run of any play in the world …
Richard Attenborough was the original Detective Sergeant Trotter …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I’ve been working my way through the Agatha Christie books.
Normally I don’t correctly guess the killer. But for Mousetrap I did get it right at intermission.
Shakespeare: The World As Stage is a biography of William Shakespeare by author Bill Bryson.
… The focus of the book is to state what little is known conclusively about Shakespeare, and how this information is known, with some discussion of disproved theories, myths, and that which is believed by the public but not provable.
It also explores the political, social, cultural and economic background to Shakespeare’s work. …
I read it while in London. Quite dry for Bryson, I thought. I would have liked more humorous anecdotes — whether or not they were true. 😀
The best section is Bryson debunking all the conspiracy theories that other authors actually penned his great plays.
Existing today are only 6 Shakespeare signatures, spelled differently. He took a lot of licence with spelling since it was the spoken word that mattered.
And only 3 images of Bill exist.
We tend to go with the Chandos portrait, which was the 1st work donated to the National Portrait Gallery, London. I went to try to see it summer of 2022 — but the Gallery was closed for renovation.
It’s most likely Shakespeare, but nearly nothing can be factually verified about the great playwright.
I also took the tour of Shakespeare’s Globe — a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre … as best can be guessed.
While on the tour a production was rehearsing. A new play based on Joan of Arc, but using the technology of the original theatre.
Shakespeare lived 1564 – 1616, a terrible time in London. Plague years.
It’s astonishing we think we know as much as we do about one of the most influential writers all-time. Plays at the time were not intended to be published. Happily, much of his work was saved.
I visited Oxford in 2018. Really enjoyed it.
So in 2022 I planned a trip to rival Cambridge. Home town of Pink Floyd. 😀
The University of Cambridge was founded in 1209. And even today the highlight of the small city are the Colleges.
Click PLAY or watch Rick Steves on YouTube.
As the Church ran education in the early centuries, there are plenty of Churches.
One place I really did enjoy was The Orchard Tea Garden outside of town.
On advice from a local, I had the FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST mess at Cafe 24. I ASSuME this is where Sir Isaac Newton broke fast. 😀
I do think it would be super inspiring to be a student here.
The libraries and bookstores are fantastic.
Cycling town I happened to come upon AstraZeneca. The British-Swedish multinational company has its Head Office here. Moderna has headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts so there’s a bit of symmetry.
Click PLAY or watch the tourist pitch on YouTube.
Described as one of the “most beautiful cities in the world” by Forbes in 2010, I personally found it frustrating to explore on foot and by bike. MUCH is locked down. Bicycles prohibited. Views limited.
Oxford is better for the tourist.
I happened to be in London during the Notting Hill Carnival, which had been cancelled the previous 2 years due to Covid.
Fun. Loud. Fragrant with the smells of cooking barbecue.
Dancing. Drinking.
I particularly like how ANYONE with any kind of body and any kind of costume is welcome to join in the parade. Very body positive.
Saturday is the family friendly parade. Plenty of activities for kids.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
No anger or violence that I could see. Of course there’s a large police presence — all very friendly.
… an annual Caribbean festival event that has taken place in London since 1965 … each August over two days (the August bank holiday Monday and the preceding Sunday).
It is led by members of the British Caribbean community, and attracts around two and a half million people annually, making it one of the world’s largest street festivals, and a significant event in British African Caribbean and British Indo-Caribbean culture. …
Everyone welcome. If I’d put on my make-up, costume and peacock headdress, I’d have fit right in. 😀
My only previous experience with Carnival was in Colonia, Uruguay in 2018.
related – Notting Hill carnival 2022 – in pictures
EVERYTHING is expensive in Norway. 😕
For the most part, I ate supermarket food. Cooked in a hostel or on my camping stove. SPAR was by far my favourite chain. They have grocery stores in 48 nations.
SPAR is the only chain that always has hot deli food, often discounted by 50% late in the day. As everywhere, rotisserie chicken is the best value food in Norway. At least for me.
SPAR sells a low-cost brand called “First Price“ which is often WAY cheaper than name brand alternatives.
The most recommended (lower priced) seafood in Tromsø was the Dragoy Fish and Chips restaurant. I tried both these two meals for about US $21 each. OK — not great. And not worth the price.
I asked for something local, traditional at another restaurant — and got this … something like meatloaf with an egg on top.
My favourite restaurant meal was reindeer stew. This glass of wine was the only booze I had in Norway. Beer is everywhere, including grocery stores. Wine not all that popular.
To be fair, I don’t like restaurants anywhere unless I’m socializing with other people.
Happily, Diet Coca-cola is not expensive in Norway, IF you buy 4 bottles at a time. And I’m OK with that. 😀
Weirdly, many hostels did not have a toaster. Gourmands of my class only require kettle, microwave … and a toaster.
Whew.
I feared SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) would pretend they LOST my bike box at Heathrow airport — and offer me less compensation than the value of the rig.
Travel insurance? 🤔
Though SAS didn’t once contact me over the 27 days it sat in Heathrow, some human managed to reroute it back to Vancouver Island as I requested.
My cycling trip through Norway was ruined — yet I’m feeling relieved that it wasn’t worse ruined.
I’ll now apply for compensation for both my lost bags.
Finishing a cycling trip to the top of Norway is tough.
This is Europe’s most northerly paved road.
I didn’t do it. BUT Matthew did. 😀
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
About 200k tourists travel to Nordkapp (North Cape) each year.
The municipality is named after Nordkapp (North Cape), a 307-metre-high (1,007 ft) cliff that is commonly referred to as the northernmost point of Europe.
However, the true northernmost point of the European mainland is Cape Nordkinn (Kinnarodden), at 71° 08′ 02″ N, located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the village of Mehamn on the Nordkinn Peninsula.
If Europe’s northernmost point is allowed to be on an island, then it still is not the North Cape. It would be Cape Fligely on Rudolf Island, Franz Josef Land in Russia, which is located much further north at 81° 48′ 24″ N.
If Franz Josef Land is not considered to be in Europe, then Europe’s northernmost point is the northern point of the island of Rossøya, an islet in Svalbard, north of Spitsbergen at 80° 49′ 44.41″ N.
Rick McCharles 