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Showing posts with the label great britain
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Now Back Home In Britain I Had To...... After such an epic, five month long adventure, traveling through Europe and North Africa, I decided that I should become familiar with my own shores. The British Isles are a beautiful collection of islands and I knew nothing about them apart from what I had learnt in my history and geography classes at school. So, now back home in Britain I had to plan another trip. My initial idea was to hitchhike and backpack up to and through Snowdonia and Anglesey, two gorgeous areas of North Wales. An area that always intrigued me…it was calling. Having consulted maps and photographs of the area I decided to head straight into the mountains (and National Park) of Snowdonia. I wanted to camp on Mount Snowdon's slopes, and hike the beautiful valleys at my leisure and for my pleasure. So packing my rucksack, once again I set off. I ‘thumbed’ my way up to North Wales in the space of a day. It was an uneventful trip and eventually I found myself in the tiny v

Fes And A Scuffle

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Onward to Fes... And A Scuffle ! I'm sitting here, at this moment, drinking tea..... a nice cup of tea ! I'm English  and its what we do! On a fateful morning, many moons ago, we decide that we had to move on. And it was over a cup of sweet tea that we made our plans. We'd already spent several days languishing in Ouezzane....the people were wonderful and we'd been enjoying the food immensely... but our feet were itching and wanderlust was driving us onwards.  Our next destination was to be the medieval fortress city of Fes. You may ask why ? My simple answer is because its there and we wanted to see the place that gave its name to what is, a rather odd hat with a tassle. So off we went. The public bus was once again our main means of transport. Hiking across the mountains was not an option in those days. There was too much risk attached to it. Hitchhiking was 'improbable' because of the lack of roads with vehicles on them. So once again it was to be a beaten up

Afrique

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Afrique ! I’ve been asked to write a little more about my 'escape' from the British Isles, that took place many years ago. As I previously mentioned, I was a 17 year old who needed to get away from the 'woes' of my life. I had decided to embark on a backpacking and hitchhiking trip, across Europe and into North Africa. Now remember, this was in the days before mass tourism, and we were going to a place that was having trouble of its own. North Africa, namely, Morocco, and Algeria were in the throes of Civil wars, that we knew little about....but more on that in another blog. My friend and I (he is also a Rick Steves guide now) had agreed to meet on the outskirts of Bath, our hometown. It was a wet and very windy evening. It was also dark. We laughed at each other as we stood there with our military style backpacks and gear, our wind cheaters on and a bedraggled piece of cardboard in my hands. That piece of cardboard was our secret weapon ! On it was written the one word

Touring The South West of England

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Touring The South West of England In March 2021, I shall be leading my own tour through this beautiful region of England. With the use of small minibuses, I’m going to take an intrepid band of travelers into some of the remotest parts of England. I was born in the north west corner of Devonshire and later into my youth moved to Bath and Bristol. My family come from Plymouth in Southern Devon, and Barnstaple to the north. I have friends in Cornwall, Dorset and Hampshire.....    and love this area ! I start my tours in Clifton in Bristol, the largest city in the area. It has great transportation links to London and also an airport that receives flights from the US. I’ve chosen Bristol as a starting point because of transportation but also because, historically, it’s always been tied to the America’s through trade and fishing. We know the John Cabot was fishing in the waters of North America, and trading with Native American communities at the same time as Columbus was ‘discov

The Horses of Britain

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The Horses of Britain - Are they wild ? As a young man, I lived near to both Dartmoor and Exmoor. These are two National Parks that sit nicely in the SW peninsula of England. At weekends, I would often head out to one of the moors with friends, to go and try to find the ‘wild’ horses...    It was never a difficult task. Because they have no natural predators they roam freely and are found in ever increasing numbers, all over the moors. Growing up in the British Isles, I was fully aware of the fact that there were other horses, roaming freely all over our islands. In the Shetlands, you will find short stocky horses, wandering amidst the heather. In North Wales, you’ll find the gorgeous Carneddau horses, and only about 240 of them left in existence. In the South of England, you’ll find horses grazing in moorland areas, contentedly. It really is a wonderful thing to see. Imagine driving through the gorgeous moorland areas of Britain, and as you turn a bend in the road, ther

The Roman And Georgian City Of Bath

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The Roman and Georgian City of Bath Why is Bath such a popular destination for tourists today ? What is so intriguing about this small city that sits amongst 7 hills in the heart of Somerset, in England.? As a boy, I grew up in and around Bath. It was a dirty city. It’s buildings were caked in coal tar and the 1960s style shopping centre was terribly ugly and rundown...even by the 1970s! However, I enjoyed Bath because as a rugby player, I was recruited into the ranks of the most powerful rugby club in the world at the time, Bath Rugby Football Club... a huge honour for a young 16 year old. And as a teen I was able to enjoy the wonders of Baths nightlife. It’s subterranean pubs and clubs were a huge draw to the youth of the area as it still is today. In the 1980s a programme of architectural ‘cleansing’ was put into place, and plans to tear down the 1960s shopping centre and to start cleaning every stone surface in the city, were put into place. Slowly the city, began to at

Enjoying A Few Days in Plymouth

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Plymouth Is not the first place you’d think of visiting, if you travel to Britain. It’s a large city that was devastated during the Second World War because of its status as a significant naval seaport. Much of the city that was rebuilt after the war was quite shoddy and unattractive. However...  and I emphasise that word.. HOWEVER, the oldest part of the city survived the blitz and retains a wonderfully atmospheric charm about itself.  The seafront or Hoe, as it’s known, radiates Victorian wealth and power. Tall Victorian hotels and apartments, line the park area that slopes down to the cliffs that overhang the sea. Built into the cliffs are a number of cafes and restaurants that lure you down to enjoy the views at all times of day and night. You may even see a Royal Navy vessel cruising by as it conducts the ‘Defense of the realm’. There are numerous monuments surrounding the park, commemorating the fallen through centuries of warfare, and a mighty fortress called th

A new site

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We at Afootinfrance have just started a new service for those wishing to enjoy a tour in England or the United Kingdom. Check out the new site at http://afootinbritain.com We are currently working on the site and the tour tariffs, so if you have any input, please let us know.