Luxurious Nomad ~ Ms Bella St John

Nestled in the Loch Lomond National Park is my beloved piece of Heaven.  Each of these photos was taken from essentially my back door, but yet each feels so very different…       ~ Bella Read more

I have been to several film locations for the ‘Outlander’ production, and Blackness Castle is yet another. …but first past the enormous horse head sculpture know as the Kelpies… This 15th century fortress provided the setting in ‘Outlander’ for the Fort William headquarters of Black Jack Randall, as well as… Read more

I went out exploring this morning in search of the Bignor Roman Villa that was built only two hundred years after Christ, and was discovered in 1811 when farmer, George Tupper hit part of the stonework with his plough.   By 1815 the remains of an impressive Roman villa had… Read more

The current Royal Mews was built in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in 1825. The name ‘Mews’ comes from the royal hawks that were originally kept at the King’s Mews. The word ‘mew’ means moulting, and the birds were kept in a ‘mews’ as they weren’t used for hunting whilst… Read more

Originally called Empingham Reservoir, the lake came into being since the late nineteenth century to provide water for an ever-increasing population. Lying near Oakham in the county of Rutland, the reservoir was completed in 1977 and is one of the largest artificial lakes in Europe. …local home-grown, home-made produce… …and… Read more

Another lovely day for a drive, and this time I went in search of the Grand Union Canal…   Perfect place to sit under the shade of an umbrella and have lunch… …and watch the world float by… Read more

What a lovely way to spend a couple of hours…  A wonderful group of volunteers works tirelessly all year to pull together this annual event, honouring and celebrating those who fought in and lived through WWII, and ‘kept the home fires burning’… ~ Bella Read more

I love old clocks and so have been wanting to go to this museum for such a long time BUT it is only open for five months of the year, only on Fridays, and only between 11:00am and 3:00pm – and given that it is a six-hour drive from my… Read more

It was a gloriously sun shiny day, so I went out exploring… …and discovered the Rock of Cashel… The Rock of Cashel was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion, and has been constructed in various phases over several hundred years… ..and back… Read more

Heading off on a damp Munich morning, we went in search of the castle that inspired Walt Disney…         I wasn’t up to the trek to the top, so Donna went up, and I explored the museum and lake… A parade of Japanese umbrellas…     I… Read more

Welcome to Hallstatt… We didn’t end up wandering through the town, and instead headed off again – since we were bound for Munich and still had many hours to go… Welcome to Salzburg… …and despite having a list of places we did want to go, our driver was quite insistent… Read more

Another of the items on my bucket list, was to have a Sacher Torte at the world-famous Sacher Hotel… …so, on the way home, that’s exactly what we did! As we walked home past the Opera House, the people were already getting settled for the free public viewing that evening…… Read more

Artstetten Castle (Schloss Artstetten) was the home to Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his family until the tragic events in Sarajevo in 1914… The castle is still owned by the same family and they live in it all year round… Note to self:  I want a bathtub like this, but preferable… Read more

Leaving the majestic horses, we made our way back to Graz to find the ‘Stairs of Reconciliation’… No matter where you look, there are cyclists everywhere in Graz… The archway on the right is where we are headed… …and through the small door on the left… Completed in 1438 under… Read more

Anyone who has seen “Under the Tuscan Sun” (or if you are like me and have seen it so many times you could just about recite the entire script), will recognise the following: Martini: Signora, between Austria and Italy, there is a section of the Alps called the Semmering. It… Read more

Now, on to find R2D2 and the other oddities…  You think I jest? Aha!  What is this we spy hiding in the bushes? OK, that mission accomplished…  On to Brno to find the two-headed hanger-on-er-er… More snow… All along the highway there was billboard after billboard, all with the Czechia… Read more

I will now always remember this as the gate to heaven on earth… We were back up to the Strahov Monastery, this time to see the library… We didn’t know one had to have a photo permission authority sticker until a woman coming down the stairs gave this one to… Read more

It seems in order to even drive past the US embassy, one needs to be searched… That is all well and good, until one cannot find the lever to open the hood………….  oh dear… Some time later… they finally let us go (although they never did get to look under… Read more

I now know what it feels like to fit a whole week’s worth of experiences into just one day!  …and who are Fred and Ginger?  You’ll just have to read and find out… My trip to Prague was AMAZING!  … and there was no way I could fit it all… Read more

What a magnificent day! Slept in, then rugged up (it was minus 1 outside and lightly snowing), walked literally 3 minutes past the opera house where I stepped into a horse-drawn carriage and rode around Vienna for an hour, had a magnificent lunch, strolled home via a stop in a… Read more

Although I forgot to program fine weather into the holodeck for this trip, I had a marvellous time travelling by road from Budapest to Vienna, with a stop-off in Bratislava in Slovakia. While there are no border crossings for passport checking and the like, one does need to have a… Read more

Entering through these reasonably ‘normal’ looking doors of the Urania – pronounced oo-RAY-ne-yah – of this theatre / cinema, one has no idea they are actually a time machine, transplanting one back to the late nineteenth century… …even the previews were of old movies, and of theatrical productions… Oh, and the… Read more

[Simply use your mouse or fingers to move around this 360 image] Overlooking the beautiful River Danube, the Citadella (the English translation of the Hungarian word for citadel) is perched on the top of Gellért Hill in Budapest.  My first intention was to stop in at the restaurant part way up the hill… Read more

You will have seen my posts of the beautiful marina in Torquay across the road from where I was living, bathed in glorious sunshine…  Or views from the lovely Grand Hotel where I would often sit and work, overlooking Torbay harbour… Well…  It has been ten years since Torquay in South… Read more

After sleeping in and working from bed until noon (that did me the world of good!), I decided to venture out and explore… It was an overcast day, around 1°C / 33°F, but crisp and lovely.  My hotel is right in the middle of the city, across the road from… Read more

Upon leaving my northern Scottish castle in Tain, the sun was shining, and it was a magnificent day! I did have to sit in the car for a while to warm it up and to remove the eighth-inch layer of ice on the windscreen before heading off in 2oC /… Read more

Leaving beautiful Fort William this morning, I came across the WWII Commando Memorial.   It’s sad that so many memorial halls and monuments were erected after WWI when the nation felt that nothing on that scale could ever happen again…  and then… I could have happily seated myself beside the… Read more

After a FABULOUS breakfast of smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, and lots of accouterments… …I headed off on my way back for the six-or-so hour drive back to Torquay… and while I have seen a lot of warning signs for deer etc, this is the first warning sign about DUCKS! First… Read more

Prince, my beloved convertible, and I headed off for a day of exploring and working, heading north from the English Riviera toward the Bristol Channel… When we arrived in historic Dunster, I thought I would check out Dunster Castle and Water Mill, however when I discovered that one would need… Read more

Topless Prince (my trusty convertible) and I went a-meandering today…  No actual destination in mind – just seeing where we ended up…   Read more

Yesterday, a friend and I went exploring on the South Devon Railway Buckfast Abbey and back via beautiful Devon countryside.  So, where does the owl come in?  You’ll just have to scroll and see… Somehow a man checking his smart-phone doesn’t really fit the image… I love old newspapers, and… Read more

Have you seen the TV program, “Doc Martin”? Well, today we (my friend Karen who has been visiting from Hastings) went exploring and decided to find the fishing village where the series is filmed on location. The village is Port Isaac and is located in Cornwall – or as we… Read more

Starting out from my home in Torquay, my friend Karen (who had come over from Hastings to help celebrate my birthday) and I headed north to Tiverton to check off yet another item on my bucket list – a journey on one of England’s last horse-drawn canal boats. …these archways… Read more

Although today was – according to the weatherman – going to be party sunny, partly cloudy, some shower and some rain… I decided to brave the elements and go exploring. First stop was Donegal Castle. From Wikipedia: Donegal Castle (Irish: Caisleán Dhún na nGall) is a castle situated in the centre of Donegal Town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland.… Read more

After a lovely sleep-in, Boswell (trusty rental car) and I went in search of a particular medieval abbey that dates back to 1508 – Creevelea Friary. …and I thought yesterday’s excursion was skinny and windy?  It had nothing on these roads – and I must admit, it was fun!  …although… Read more

First, let me say, “I love Romania!” I would go back there at any time – but that’s for another post… Yesterday morning I left beautiful Romania and since my flight was at 07:15, I arrived at the airport at 04:30 – thinking that would be plenty of time… Hmmmmmm……………… Read more

Oh my goodness gracious me…  I didn’t really have expectations before arriving in Romania – but even if I did, they would have all been blown out of the water… I will give you a more in-depth response in a week or so when I update this post, but for… Read more

A few weeks ago, my friend Lehan and I drove up to Castelli Romani – in particular to Lake Nemi… This was perhaps one of my most favourite places in my entire trip to Italy… …by the way, even the signs for deer here look very “Italian”!  LOL!     Read more

Today I decided to go exploring Roma! First, it was a twenty-minute walk to the train station and what started out as rather a hazy day ended up being brilliant sunshine by the time I reached Rome – just over an hour later. Actually, my day involved walking, train, walking, train,… Read more

Welcome to Ostia Update #2… I have been here just under a week and the more I get to know the place, the more I love it here! As I write this, it is 20oC, a slight breeze is blowing in from the sea, there is literally not a cloud… Read more

Vintage Ferris Wheel – the highlight of my trip! You know how I am about history, particularly that which falls into the English Victorian era – so image my delight at discovering this extraordinarily beautiful gem here in Vienna! Btw, if you would like to read my post about my… Read more

I am about to leave beloved England and was delighted that my wonderful friend, Gillian, offered to take me out meandering through South Devon for a few hours this morning… We did not have a destination other than seafood for lunch!  So, the following photos are from our lovely little journey…… Read more

Glorious Steam Train Travel! Being a lover of the Victorian era, it is not surprising that I adore steam trains… Yesterday, I went via regular train from Torquay to the next stop being Paignton where I boarded the Dartmouth Railroad’s “Braveheart” steam train, bound for Kingswear, then across by ferry… Read more

The Forgotten Torquay Pavilion Sleeping peacefully on the shore in Torquay, Devon in the United Kingdom is a once magnificent building – the Torquay Pavilion. Although it has been closed since 2015, this Sleeping Beauty has thus far had a very checkered life, first as a theatre, then an ice-skating rink, amusement… Read more

A visit to Hastings Castle is not only interesting from an historical stand-point, it is also a tribute to the people who essentially uncovered it from being largely buried for centuries. While there is not a lot left of the Castle itself, what is there, and the video that has… Read more

Just about every major capital city will have some form of tour bus and London is no exception. I spent several hours sitting on top of a double-decker bus touring through London and below are the photos (I will add additional details later).              … Read more

The Royal Observatory and the Greenwich ‘Time Line’ have been on my bucket list for ages…  Photos now, details to come…                                       Read more

Bodiam Castle just outside Rye is truly stunningly beautiful!  I will add info and commentary later – for now at least wanted to upload the photos…                                                 … Read more

I love the Mermain Inn in Rye – rebuilt in 1420, its cellars date back to 1156!  I will add info and commentary later – for now at least wanted to upload the photos…                                 … Read more

Hastings Old Town is the home to the largest beach-launched fishing fleet in the United Kingdom – and home to Hastings Castle.  I will add information and commentary later – wanted to at least upload the photos now…                        … Read more

Bath is one of the most beautiful of places – and the Roman Baths are extraordinary!  I am yet to add the information to this post – but wanted to at least get the photos up…                              … Read more

Prior to a devastating fire, Uppark was one of the most complete examples of a 17th century home – and also the place where author HG Wells’ mother served as housekeeper.  Here are the photos – details to come…                       … Read more

Want to visit the White Cliffs of Dover?  By far the best way is from the sea! After travelling from St Leonard’s Warrior Square Station to Dover, via Ashford International Station (the trip is about one and a half hours), then a short taxi ride to the seafront, I met the… Read more

In Ireland, a ‘shebeen’ was a late-night speakeasy, often of ill-repute ~ however this glorious gem in Whippany, New Jersey is anything but! When I’m in the area, this is one of my all-time favorite places to live the laptop-lifestyle ~ curl up, work, drink, chat… (apart from taking your life… Read more