by Helen Kain | Apr 5, 2026 | Castles & Stately Houses, England, Featured, Great Gardens of England
Wrest Park was something of a surprise. Glenn and I had based ourselves at the Gardener’s Cottage at nearby at Audley End, and knew very little about Wrest Park beyond a vague awareness that it was an English Heritage property with notable gardens. Well, the...
by Helen Kain | Mar 29, 2026 | Castles & Stately Houses, England, Featured, Treasure Houses
Tucked along the windswept north coast of Norfolk, Holkham Hall is a marvel of 18th-century Palladian architecture—majestic yet restrained, classical yet rooted in the rhythms of working land. It’s a house that wears its ideals proudly: harmony, balance, and...
by Helen Kain | Mar 8, 2026 | Castles & Stately Houses, Featured, Medieval (1066–1485)
At Warwick Castle the past does not feel distant. The towers rise solidly above the River Avon, their thick stone walls suggesting permanence and authority. Castles were built to project exactly that impression. Strength. Stability. Control. Yet the history that...
by Helen Kain | Feb 21, 2026 | Churches and Monasteries, Featured, Recent, Scotland
Visiting Rosslyn Chapel was like being admitted briefly into a secret. Nestled in the Scottish countryside near Edinburgh, the chapel is known for its unparalleled architectural splendour, rich history, and intriguing legends. Founded in 1446 by William Sinclair, 1st...
by Helen Kain | Feb 15, 2026 | Featured, Unique Places to Stay
Our trips to England almost always begin or end in London, where we typically spend several days staying near St James’s or Westminster, and occasionally farther north into Mayfair. In years past, we greatly enjoyed The Stafford London and the St James’s Club...
by Helen Kain | Feb 8, 2026 | Featured, Italy, Recent
From the outside, the Pantheon is frankly unprepossessing. A heavy cylinder with a classical porch awkwardly grafted on. It bears a striking resemblance to a hedgehog house with columns. And then there is the inscription on the portico—M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT....
