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A Diamond Jubilee
All eyes were on London this past weekend as it celebrated Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. I would have loved to have been there in person, being the sap that I am for all things historical,...
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First Night of the Proms
Today was First Night of the Proms at the BBC Proms, aka The World’s Greatest Classical Music Festival. It runs every summer for eight weeks until Last Night of the Proms in September. The festival was...
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London 2012
All eyes are once again on London as it’s the opening day of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Having lived in a host city, I can say from personal experience that the Olympic spirit is alive and well when...
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Art Talk: Rembrandt, Van Dyk, Gainsborough
Kenwood House is one of those grand estate houses popular with tourists who want to see Downton Abbey–style houses. It’s currently closed while undergoing renovations. I’m sure that’s a huge...
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University of Oxford
When I applied to and was accepted at the University of Toronto, I enrolled as a student at Woodsworth College. I didn’t get the whole college-thing they had going at U of T, and didn’t much care what...
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University of Cambridge
I went to Cambridge for one reason and one reason only: to hear the King’s College Choir. I got to hear them sing a Choral Eucharist service in this chapel, the King’s College Chapel of King’s College...
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Royal Opera House
Regular readers of this blog may have figured out by now how much I enjoy listening to live music. And that I especially enjoy seeking out opportunities to hear live music whenever I travel. I have my...
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Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare!
It’s his 450th birthday today ― the Bard’s, that is. I’ve been rummaging through my photos to see if I had any that link to William Shakespeare and I found this one. It’s of the Tower of London....
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Through My Lens: Dolphin Lamp Post
Hundreds of these lamp posts ― the first of which went up during Queen Victoria’s reign ― line the Thames Embankment in London. They’re known as the dolphin lamp posts. That’s because their designer,...
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Through My Lens: Jets on the Taxiway
Eventually, and usually inevitably, the European vacation comes to an end ― and we come home. The long journey goes much quicker if you can find something to amuse yourself with en route. Like I was...
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Through My Lens: Little Cloister of Westminster Abbey
This year, for Lent, I’m going to take you on a photographic tour of European cloisters. For the First Sunday of Lent, here is a photo of the Little Cloister at Westminster Abbey in London that I took...
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Happy Birthday, Charlotte Brontë!
Not that I need a reason to travel, but I often select my travel destinations based on the books I’ve read. A setting comes alive in a way that it never can, quite, in a book. You don’t completely...
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Big Ben
I’m pretty sure I don’t have to explain why I’m posting this photo tonight. What I suspect is the world’s most iconic clock is, I think, the best metaphor for what Brexit will do to the United Kingdom...
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Through My Lens: Float Planes
There was a wee bit of excitement in Vancouver today about a couple of visitors. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are in British Columbia for an eight-day visit and today was their whistle-stop tour...
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Through My Lens: Bayeux
Heh. Why Bayeux? Why today? Wait for it. It’s because this history geek can’t let the day go by without acknowledging the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. Yes, 1066 and all that. The...
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Through My Lens: Fountains Abbey and the River Skell
For this year’s Lenten series, I’m going to follow up on last year’s series of photos of Mission Abbey with photos of another abbey. This time, though, we are once again back on the other side of the...
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Through My Lens: Fountains Abbey Great East Window
Fountains Abbey was founded by 13 rebel Benedictine monks from St. Mary’s Abbey in York. They were sent packing because they wanted to live by a stricter rule than the Rule of St. Benedict that the...
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Through My Lens: Fountains Abbey Cellarium
For the Third Sunday of Lent, I’m posting a photo of the cellarium at Fountains Abbey. Cellarium is a fancy monasterial word for “storeroom,” and this one was located beneath the dormitory where the...
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Through My Lens: Fountains Abbey Nave
Without the lay brothers who built the abbey and did all the daily chores necessary to keep body and soul together, Fountains Abbey would never have become as wealthy as it did. At the time of...
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Through My Lens: Fountains Abbey Narthex
Here is a photo of the narthex of Fountains Abbey, which I am posting for the Fifth Sunday of Lent. A narthex is the entrance to a church. Nowadays, we usually call it a foyer. You get an idea of the...
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