Gdańsk’s not-to-be-missed Solidarność Museum

Gdansk Solidarnost Museum

There is lots to see in Gdańsk, Poland. This trip looms large in our minds since it is the last international trip we took before the era of Corona lockdowns last year, and so we often found ourselves returning to idyllic life when international travel was the norm. Although the city offers numerous attractions to…

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Book review: Half a World Away

Half A World Away book cover

Loved, loved, loved this book. So pleased it was my first novel of 2021, and that I discovered author Mike Gayle through this highly enjoyable tale. The cover blurb says it best : Same city. Different streets. Same mother. Different lives. The story of Kerry Hayes and Noah Martineau is the story of fate, the…

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Another year, another Goodreads Challenge

In 2020, I truly took my Goodreads Reading Challenge down to the wire – only reaching my goal of the 45 novels I’d set out for myself in a more optimistic January of 2020 on the next-to-last-day of 2020. Even so, it was still a nice feeling to have met my goal. I love the…

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Passing through Wheeling, West Virginia

This past summer, my son and I stopped off in Wheeling, West Virginia during a driving trip. We arrived in the afternoon, and took a walk around downtown before stopping for dinner. Wheeling, located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, was originally settled as a township in the state of Virginia. It is here…

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Happy 2021!!

Were we in need of a new start. And a new year. As a history nerd, I’ve always loved the post-World War I era, so one year ago I was thoroughly bamboozled by the glamour of the year 2020 – the chance to ring in the new roaring 20s. The Jazz Age. Flappers. The economic…

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A 2020 in books

2020 reads

I usually finish my annual Goodreads Reading Challenge with plenty of breathing room, but 2020 has been anything but a usual year. So I’m still uncertain if I’ll meet my annual goal as the year rapidly comes to a close. Chances are – with yet another government-mandated shutdown (because science), I will. Nevertheless, I’ve read…

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In need of a little holiday cheer … in Rome

2020 is winding down. and while I’m old enough not to generally wish for the rapid passage of time – this year has broken all the rules. It can’t wrap up fast enough for me. So as 2020 comes to an end, I’m grateful the city didn’t skimp on the Christmas lights this year. I…

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