by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 11, 2010 | Travel, Travel blog
Dickens’ description of Ye Olde Bull’s Head in The Uncommercial Traveller is as follows: “Take the old-established Bull’s Head with its old-established knife-boxes on its old-established sideboards, its old-established flue under its...
by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 11, 2010 | Travel, Travel blog
I highly recommend procuring the services of a local guide for at least a part of your trip. Our tour guide, Idwal Jones, was a veritable fountain of information on Welsh history and culture, and of course most helpful in the matter of pronunciation and...
by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 11, 2010 | Travel, Travel blog
Llangollen is one of the most beautiful villages in Wales, and perhaps the hardest to pronounce, given that the double L in Welsh is pronounced something like an aspirated “thl” and takes some practice to get even half right. The homes and businesses are of another...
by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 11, 2010 | Travel, Travel blog
The two most obvious attributes of any country, those that most reflect the culture, are architecture and language. In Wales, where bilingualism is mandated by law, the Welsh language is everywhere around you. Every sign, menu and brochure is printed in both...
by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 11, 2010 | Travel, Travel blog
While the 2010 Course at Celtic Manor Resort near Newport, in South Wales, was built expressly to handle the crowds of enthusiasts and media for the 2010 Ryder Cup, it is just one of many to choose from. With over 200 courses in Wales, you...
by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 11, 2010 | Travel, Travel blog
Trains stir romantic visions of travel, the anticipation of new sites to see, the excitement of being bound on a journey. The irony of our love of steam trains is that from a 21st century perspective they evoke a time of leisurely travel, while...
by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 11, 2010 | Travel, Travel blog
Text and photos ©2009 With more than 40 food festivals annually, 50 Farmers’ Markets operating weekly, and inviting restaurants around every corner, Wales is foodie heaven. If you find yourself in Cardiff in late September, you must visit The Great British...
by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 11, 2010 | Travel, Travel blog
Text and photos ©2009 When my great-grandparents, Sarah Sims and Ebenezer Beynon, emigrated from Wales in 1869, they brought with them an engraving of their hometown of Merthyr Tydvil (Tydfil in Welsh), that has hung on our walls since before I was born. It’s an...
by Lucy Gordan | Sep 13, 2010 | Travel, Travel blog
©2010 Think Germany and certainly one of the first images that comes to mind is a stein overflowing with a frothy beer. Few countries, maybe only Belgium, can come near to matching Germany for the quality and variety of its beer. Over 1,270 breweries nationwide...
by Lucy Gordan | Sep 11, 2010 | Travel, Travel blog
MUNICH’S BEST HOSTS The Geisel brothers text ©2010 Geisel Privathotels is a Munich-based private hotel and gastronomy group founded in 1900 by Anna and Karl Geisel, the great-grandparents of the present owners, Carl, Michael and Stephan Geisel. Today it...
by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 7, 2008 | Travel, Travel blog
text and photos © 2008 You’ll hear a lot about Cajun and Creole culture in Louisiana. They’re proud of their traditions and unique character, but for an outsider it’s hard to get a grasp on who and what is one or the other. Creole refers to any descendant of those...
by Lucy Gordan | Sep 11, 2008 | Travel, Travel blog
I first read about Yotvata in Rome’s newspaper Il Messaggero on September 29, 2006, in anarticle called “Un ristorante, tante religioni: La pace si fa a tavola?” meaning “One restaurant, many religions: Peace is made at the table?” In...
