¡Viva la Revolución!

From our recent trip to London and Edinburgh… The English often strike foreigners as being odd. Not in a bad way, mind you. Just different. Like being unfailingly polite as they elbow their way past you onto the Tube. The juxtaposition of seemingly incongruous behaviors can be both confusing and

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Ach! Who Would’ve Thought!

Churchill famously observed that the UK and the USA are two nations separated by a common language. I found that particularly true in Edinburgh, where if I didn’t concentrate and focus when a native was speaking to me I often couldn’t understand what was being said. The experience made me

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The Curiosity Room

From our recent trip to London and Edinburgh… An odd gentleman’s pastime developed in England in the 18th century: the curiosity room. This was a room, or library, that you strove to fill with interesting and odd artifacts from around the world. No organizing principle was required, and in fact

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Why Does This Man Look Unhappy?

Here’s an interesting statue I saw in Edinburgh along the Royal Mile. Obviously a famous personage — you sort of have to be one such in order to earn a statue — but he sure looks unhappy: The answer is simple. He’s Adam Smith, the founder of modern capitalism. Basing

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Land of the Giant Women

Reflections on our just-completed trip to London and Edinburgh… Walking around London I had the subliminal impression that something was off. And I’m not talking about the subconscious fear that one is about to step off a curb and get plastered by a car because you were looking the wrong

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Losing Weight in London & Edinburgh

Reflections on our just-completed trip to London and Edinburgh… No, I’m not talking about eating nothing but haggis and neeps, which would cause most people to shed pounds. It’s just that it was interesting how, with one exception, none of the places we ate in London or Edinburgh put out

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London: Holiday Inn Express/City

Reflections on our just-completed trip to London and Edinburgh… With the dollar being where it is, and us having booked our trip pretty much at the last minute (what a surprise :)) and given a desire not to totally break the bank we didn’t have a lot of choices as

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