LET'S GO FOR A WALK IN GRANTCHESTER

Last Sunday signalled the start of the third series of hit ITV show ‘Grantchester’. But what do we really know about the village that has become the stomping ground of a ‘crime-fighting’ vicar, played by James Norton, and a war veteran turned police detective in Robson Green?

Well, Grantchester which lies just a mile outside the city of Cambridge plays host to a number of famous pastimes which adds to its quintessential Englishness. These include the Boxing day-barrel race that brings all the local pubs together for a tradition that dates back to the 1960’s.

SCOTLAND, AT LAST!

Loch Lochy, the Highlands, Scotland

After an exciting experience it is not easy to go back to your everyday life. After a journey, you download, order and archive the pictures you’ve taken and look at your travel notes: all those beautiful moments flew at the speed of light and left you astonished,  with beautiful memories but also the awkward impression that you dreamt and have just woken up. Maybe writing can help you fix them somewhere in a safer place and make them somehow more real.

Scotland, at last!

Eilean Donan Castle 

Scotland is the 3-M land: the land of magic, mist and myth. How could one resist its charms? I simply couldn’t.  Last year, after a very brief visit,  I had to promise myself I would soon go back to see more of it. I did it in July and here I am,  back from an incredible tour,  which has been as magical, misty and mythical as Scotland in my dreams.  In our 10-days’ schedule an unforgettable series of fantastic sites, a variety of wonderful places, which I had the opportunity to visit  in the company of four of my anglophile friends.

One of the themes of our  tour was Outlander, the best-selling saga set in Scotland written by Diana Gabaldon,  as well as its TV adaptation.   We managed to visit a few of the main locations they used in seasons one and two or important sites mentioned in the books.

CROESO CYMRU! SORAIDH, ALBA! TRAVELLING THROUGH WALES, THE LAKE DISTRICT, SOUTHERN SCOTLAND

I never miss a chance to travel to Britain, I've been there a few times only this year - Yorkshire in March, Bristol in April and then a summer tour in July. I've seen much, but so much is still there to be discovered. I never have enough, in fact, and I consider Britain my second home country or, better,  the one where I feel - oddly enough - at home. It is the place of my favourite writers, my favourite books, my favourite drama series, my favourite heroes, my favourite language, my favourite actors ... do I have to go on?

Here are 10 of the best places I visited on my latest tour through Wales, the Lake District, the Borders and Southern Scotland. Only 10. Yes, there were more!