Half a World Away

Meeting Daniel on the first day with a broken arm. Walking through vineyards and historic towns near Hirschberg. Enjoying amazing German bread. Fireflies (Lamprohiza splendidula) and giant slugs in Daniel's garden. Pigs, deer and fox up on hill there too. The flooded Neckar river and picturesque Heidelberg. The bbq and veiw at Daniel's vineyard across the greater Rhine Valley, with scattered medieval villages. Grand gardens and asparagus madness at Schwetzingen. Weinheim's Gruffalo walk. Cash is still often used in Germany. Great selection of Wheat beers

London views from high up. History everywhere. Movie-set perfect villages in the Cotswolds and Wiltshire. Stonehenge graffiti on the Summer Solstice. Walking past a pub where Dickens wrote a novel. A day trip to rural Wales.

Steeples, nightlights and confiscated shoes in Ghent. Fairytale Bruges with its brewpubs and a mad landlady. Busy Aachen due to the annual world polo championships. Busy Cologne due to the football world cup games. A surprise slow train through the Rhine Valley. Singapore's tasty hawkers markets, heat, tropical gardens and snoozing in the hotel lobby.Read more