Central Park wandering

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11 October 2015

We woke on Sunday morning still reeling from our airport experience but determined not to let it sour our views of New York. Our hotel, the Excelsior is just a block from Central Park on West 81st Street near the junction with Colombus Avenue. This was no coincidence, Commando knew one of the places I most wanted to see was Strawberry Fields in Central Park. This was the morning it was going to happen because Commando had a ten mile run scheduled and he planned to do it first thing in Central Park, followed by a late brunch in one of the places we’d seen when we went in search of coffee the night before. Because of the time difference we were awake early, just before six, and showered, dressed and out of the hotel before eight. In truth, I could have done with a coffee but I thought I might find somewhere in the park when Commando was running. Continue reading Central Park wandering

Lyndhurst, an adventure in Wonderland

Illustration by Gwynedd M Hudson
Illustration by Gwynedd M Hudson

18 November 2014

One of my favourite childhood books was Alice in Wonderland. My copy was a thing of beauty that once belonged to Pappy and had colourful illustrations by artist Gwynedd M Hudson. I read it countless times and it captured my imagination. Alice Liddell, the inspiration for the story, lived most of her life in Lyndhurst in the New Forest and is buried in the churchyard there. As the Tuesday weather forecast hardly mentioned rain at all I thought I’d pay it a visit. Continue reading Lyndhurst, an adventure in Wonderland