All entries by this author
Sep 16th, 2018 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene visits the wilderness, scenery and the food of Newfoundland
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Newfoundland: a unique land
Tags: Canada, Come from Away, Gander, Labrador, Newfoundland
Aug 28th, 2018 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene visits Cusco in Peru, once the capital of the Inca empire until the Spanish conquest.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Cusco – a destination in its own right
Tags: Aguas Calientes, Belmond Hiram Bingham luxury train, Cusco, Macchu Picchu, Moray, Peru
Aug 3rd, 2018 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene writes of her home town, Loveland, a place re-mails some 110,000 valentines each year, to every state and 110 countries around the world. And Britons send the most!
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Loveland, Colorado: “A sweetheart city which has a love affair with the arts”
Tags: Benson Sculpture Gardens, Boyd Lake State Park, Colorado, Columbine Gallery, Loveland, Rocky Mountain National Park, USA
Jul 10th, 2018 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene visits the San Luis Valley which straddles the US states of Colorado and New Mexico.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on A Colorado too few know – the San Luis Valley
Tags: Alamosa, Colorado, Colorado Gators Reptile Park, Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, New Mexico, San Luis Valley, Sand Dunes Recreation, USA, Zapata Falls
Sep 18th, 2017 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
After Adrian’s report on a British county show, Irene attends her first American one – the Arapahoe County State Fair. How similar are they?
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Deep-fried Twinkies, fuzzy llamas and fireworks – who knew? County fairs are fun!
Tags: Arapahoe County State Fair, Aurora, Colorado, county shows
Feb 4th, 2017 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
The experience surpassed my wildest dreams – every day we were just feet, and in one case inches, from enormous, gorgeous polar bears.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on On safari – Arctic style
Tags: Canada, Canadian Museum of Human Rights, Churchill, Manitoba, Seal River, Seal River Heritage Lodge, Winnipeg Zoo
Jan 24th, 2017 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene visits thelush, fertile region of Colorado known as the Grand Valley which has many award-winning wineries, succulent peaches and other fruits, and dramatic western high desert landscapes.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Colorado’s Western Slope
Tags: Art on the Corner, Canyon Rim Trail, Chrome on the Range, Colorado, Colorado National Monument, Devil’s Kitchen, Enstrom’s, Grand Junction, Grand Valley, Palisades, Plum Creek, Two Rivers Winery & Chateau, Western Slope
Nov 11th, 2016 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene finds that you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to see Aspen when you can be just a short drive from the glitz and status for so much less?
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Affordable Aspen? – just head down Valley
Tags: Aspen, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, Carbondale, Colorado, Glenwood Springs, Iron Mountain, Marble Distillery, Roaring Fork Valley, Snowmass, USA, Woody Creek Distillers
Oct 21st, 2016 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene goes whale watching and kayaking in Mexico’s Baja California and regrets not seeing mantas jumping out of the ocean in moonlight.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on A week of whales, water and wildlife in Baja California
Tags: Baja California, Loreto, Loreto Bay National Marine Park, Mexico, Misión of Loreto, Sea of Cortez, whale watching
Jun 29th, 2016 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
In the centenary year of the US National Parks Service, Irene visits the magnificent red rock serenity of southwestern Utah’s National Parks and Forests.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on A red rock paradise in southwest Utah –Bryce and Zion
Tags: Bryce National Park, Snow Canyon State Park, St George - Utah, US National Park Service, Utah, Zion National Park
Jan 6th, 2016 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
On Irene’s last day in the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas, we visited Estero Llano Grande, one of nine World Birding Centers located here, where we were captivated by a flock of some 30-40 soaring white pelicans high in the sky.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on The Rio Grande Valley – a whole different Texas
Tags: Estero Llano Grande, International Museum of Art & Science, McAllen, Quinta Mazatlan, Rio Grande Valley, Texas
Dec 3rd, 2015 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
“It’s a little city with a big attitude,” said Albert Francis, Irene’s taxi driver, who escaped Katrina’s wrath by snagging a cab fare who paid him to transport his family to Atlanta.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on New Orleans – much more than food and Bourbon Street
Tags: Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, Bourbon Street, French Quarter, Insectarium, National World War II Museum, New Orleans, The Southern Food and Beverage Museum
Sep 7th, 2015 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Stepping out from the opulent marble palace-like Casa Gangotena boutique hotel in Quito, Ecuador, I found myself in a bustling plaza dating from the 1500’s. The ornately decorated San Francisco Church and Convent fronts this enormous cobblestone-paved square. On this sunny, crisp morning, in every direction there were moms with their youngsters in tow, scurrying off to school – some with their breakfast plates in hand! There was a small group of rowdy men in a corner, apparently recovering from the festivities of the night
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Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Ecuador – four worlds, one place
Tags: Avenue of the Volcanoes, Cotopaxi, Ecuador, Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest, Galapagos Islands, Quito, Tren Crucero
Jul 25th, 2015 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene is bowled over by the sights of St Louis in Missouri.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on St. Louis – the Arch is only the gateway
Tags: City Museum -St Louis, Mark Twain Museum., Missouri, St Charles, St Louis, St. Louis Cathedral Basilica
Jul 15th, 2015 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
With a beaming smile that splendidly broke through the cloudy day, my almost 88-year-old mother rode her segway down the wide trail at Louise McKinney Riverfront Park in Edmonton, Alberta.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Remember to Breathe – it’s Alberta
Tags: Alberta, Banff, Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, Edmonton, Elk Island National Park, Icefields Parkway, Jasper, Jasper National Park, Lake Louise, Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village
Apr 20th, 2015 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
It’s not just New Orleans that has a Mardi Gras. Irene visits Lake Charles, which hosts the second largest Mardi Gras in Louisiana.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Lake Charles: true Cajun country culture
Tags: boudin, Cajun, Creole, Lake Charles, Louisiana, Mardi Gras
Apr 8th, 2015 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene describes Puerto Morales in Mexico as being like Cancun – before it became the Cancun many of us now know!.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Puerto Morelos – the Mexican Caribbean
Tags: Cancun, Mexico, Puerto Morales
Mar 7th, 2015 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene and her husband head to Hawaii not to enjoy the beaches but for a bicycling adventure.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Cycling the Big Island of Hawaii
Tags: Bicycle Adventures, Hawaii, Hawi, Iki Crater, Waimea
Feb 27th, 2015 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Last year in March, Irene visited Nebraska, the migration destination of half-a-million birds. She shares with you what you can see if you travel there next month.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Nebraska – 80,000 sandhill cranes meet here
Tags: Crane Trust Nature & Visitor Center, Nebraska, The Archway
Feb 19th, 2015 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene ventures into the Rocky Mountain National Park to try some Nordic ski-ing also known as cross country ski-ing.
Posted in Travel tips & opinions |
Comments Off on Try Nordic Skiing and avoid queues
Tags: Colorado, cross-country ski-ing, Nordic ski-ing, Rocky Mountain National Park
Feb 5th, 2015 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene explores some of the new products around that make your travel plans just that little bit easier. Readers can get a discount of 20% off some products.
Posted in Travel tips & opinions |
Comments Off on What’s new in Travel Gear?
Tags: Delta Baby Nursery Bag and Travel Carrycot, FastPass®, Popticals, Titanium Pocket Cleats™, Vargo
Jan 20th, 2015 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene visits Boulder in Colorado which, she says, exists in a wonderful world of its own.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Keep Boulder weird
Tags: Boulder, Colorado
Jan 6th, 2015 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene visits Nayarit, a small Mexican state which will open up now that there are direct UK links into Puerto Vallarta.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Knowing Nayarit
Tags: Mexico, Nayarit, San Blas
Dec 19th, 2014 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Here in verdant, mountainous Chiapas, one of the least westernised Mexican states, I was already used to seeing native people in traditional costumes, speaking a wide variety of tongues.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Chiapas – the Mexico so few know (let’s keep it that way)
Tags: Chiapas, Mexico
Sep 10th, 2014 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene visits the small town of Healdsburg in the wine country of California and finds that, for some reason, it is still uncrowded compared to some other parts of the Napa Valley.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Healdsburg – a sip, a tour and maybe another sip
Tags: California, Healdsburg, Sonoma
Aug 19th, 2014 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Irene heads to Door County in Wisconsin where she finds goats grazing and wild turkeys near the lighthouses and a life almost protected from the modern day.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Door County, Wisconsin – like nowhere else, and proud of it!
Tags: Door County, Wisconsin
Aug 11th, 2014 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
irene visits Aspen’s not so well-known neighbour in Colorado, Snowmass and finds that its not just a place for a winter vacation; there is a lot happening in summer too.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Snowmass, Colorado – music, mammoths, mastodons, and more
Tags: Colorado, Snowmass
Jul 6th, 2014 |
By Irene Middleman Thomas
Raja’s big brown eyes looked sideways at me with a touch of suspicion. Irene’s trip to Taos in New Mexico could only get better.
Posted in Travel destinations |
Comments Off on Taos, New Mexico – magical, mysterious and marvelous
Tags: D. H. Lawrence Ranch, Greater World Earthships, Harwood Art Museum, La Hacienda de los Martinez, Mabel Dodge Lujan house, Millicent Rogers Museum, New Mexico, Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Taos, Taos Pueblo, Wild Earth Llama Adventures