Header photo – Zurich riverside/ Border photo – street cobblestones, Prague
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Category Archives: Archaeology in Europe
London Fire 1666
The Museum of London has a terrific exhibition commemorating the Great Fire of 1666 on its 350th anniversary. I took loads of photos but they didn’t do the show justice. The story needs more than just a couple of photos … Continue reading
Visiting Richard III in Leicester
If you are an Anglophile and/or history buff (both of which I am) and you haven’t read The King’s Grave, by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones, put it on your reading list. Ever since Richard III – or what was left … Continue reading
Neolithic Orkney 1 – the Ness of Brodgar and Maeshowe
Blognote – In the interest of shorter blog posts to cater to ever-diminishing attention spans (not least of which is my own!), here is the first of several posts about the Neolithic sites on Orkney. With all the known settlements … Continue reading
Magpie update – August / September 2014
In many ways, summer is possibly my least favorite season. Sure, there is no snow to shovel and late sunsets mean more time to be out and about. But, especially in terms of travel, summer is when I’m most likely … Continue reading
Posted in All Suzanne's travel essays, All Suzanne's travels, Archaeology in Europe, England, Europe food & wine, European festivals, European music, Germany travel, London travel
Tagged Berlin travel, Broch of Gurness, Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh Tattoo, Falkirk Scotland, Gatwick Yotel, Hilary Mantel, Kelpies, London arts, London theatre, National Theatre London, Orkney Islands, PBS, Scotland culture, Scotland travel, Skara Brae, summer travel, Yotel
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Travel and art news from France – summer 2014
From France 24. The Paris Pantheon has been wallpapered with some 4000 selfies by street artist JR, thru early October. On the topic of selfies – Parisian authorities are trying to effect a sea change away from those bridge-destroying “love … Continue reading
Dutch tidbits – spring 2014
From Dutch news. Bike parking to be expanded in Amsterdam. A canal house is being created using a 3D printer and is open to visitors. Problems with high-speed rail service continues, but slow trains are still in service between A’dam … Continue reading
Posted in Amsterdam travel, Archaeology in Europe, Europe's gardens, European art, European museums, General magpie travel, Netherlands travel, News from Europe
Tagged 3D printing, Dutch bike parking, Dutch canal house, Dutch flower bulbs, Dutch rail, Han van Meegeren, Han van Meegeren death mask, Rijksmuseum, Vermeer forger
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tidbits of UK travel news
From the London Independent. A (very) modest hotel in Wales scores for customer service. Even thrifty old me could afford to stay here! I wonder how far in advance one needs to book? And here are a few ideas for … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology in Europe, Edinburgh, England, Europe food & wine, European art, European festivals, European museums, General magpie travel, News from Britain, UK news
Tagged Leicester Cathedral, Oxford Islamic Centre, oxford travel, Richard III, scotch whisky, top Wales hotel, Wales travel, world whisky month
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Miscellaneous art news around Europe 2014
From London Independent – Matisse at the Tate Modern thru early September 2014. More Matisse at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris and a Matisse trail in Collioure in French Languedoc (aka French Catalunya). This last one sounds intriguing – see info at … Continue reading
Posted in Amsterdam travel, Archaeology in Europe, BeNeLux, England, Europe's gardens, European art, European museums, France, General magpie travel
Tagged early Dutch telescope, looted Nazi art, Matisse, Matisse trail, medieval coins in Utrecht, Picasso museum, Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh
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Get on your bike and visit Vikings in England – spring 2014
A collection of interesting exhibitions and other activities in and around London now that winter is finally gone… From France 24 – A British museum exhibit on Vikings through late June. From Oxford Mail. A bike route between Oxford and … Continue reading
WWI unexploded shell goes off near Ypres, Belgium
From several sources a couple of weeks ago. Unexploded munitions from both World Wars lurk, barely buried, particularly in northern regions of Europe. Sadly, this is not a rare occurrence even a century after that first conflict. The reason I … Continue reading
Thingvellir National Park, Iceland
A view of the Þingvellir rift valley (mid-Atlantic Ridge) from overlook point at Hakid on a cold, dry day in mid-January, 2014. Iceland’s first national park, founded in 1930. The site of Iceland’s Parliament from 930 to the end of the … Continue reading
A Scottish stone is going walkabout!
From London Independent and Univ of Glasgow. The Hogback Stone, one of the thousand-plus year old Govan stones which live in a Glasgow church, is going on exhibition at the British Museum in London. Here’s more info and a photo, … Continue reading
Roman road found in Utrecht, Netherlands
From Dutch News. A road dating from Roman times has been dug up in central Utrecht while building work was being carried out. Ancient Roman ruins don’t immediately come to mind as elements of Dutch history, which makes the news … Continue reading
Cold War era bunker opened at Prague hotel
From Prague Post. Prague’s Jalta Hotel has opened its top-secret Communist-era bunker to interested visitors two days each week. Admission is €3. Pre-booking is required. This should be on the list for your/my next visit. Join the queue!
Rare Jewish manuscript found in England
From the London Independent. A rare Jewish manuscript from the 18th century has been found and will be auctioned off. (Not related to the art horde recently found in Germany). Check those soup cartons before recycling!
Posted in Archaeology in Europe, England, European art, News from Britain, not really travel, UK news
Tagged Haggadah found, rare manuscript
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A Roman eagle in London again
From London Independent. A Roman eagle sculpture, around 1800 years old, has been dug up near Aldgate and is on display at the Museum of London. In excess of two feet tall, an amazing piece, quite possibly from some big … Continue reading
Emperor Augustus on exhibit
From France 24. A new exhibition on Roman emperor Augustus opens in Rome and runs through early February. It turns up again mid-March in Paris until mid-July. This all coincides with the 2000th anniversary of Augustus’ death. No flowers please. … Continue reading
Some autumn festivals and exhibitions in Europe 2013
From the London Independent. A new jewelry exhibition at the Museum of London opens in October for the now-named Cheapside Hoard. Dates from 11 Oct 2013 – 27 April 2014. Looks stunning. In Lisbon, the architecture triennale from mid-September thru mid-December. … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology in Europe, Copenhagen travel, Czech Republic, Denmark travel, England, European art, European festivals, European museums, European music, General magpie travel, News from Britain, News from Europe, portugal travel, Prague travel
Tagged cheapside hoard, danish design fair, dvorak in prague, lisbon architecture festival, museum of london
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Changes coming to Stonehenge
From the English Heritage website after reading a blurb on the London Independent. I can’t decide how much I like the sound of this. On the one hand, it’s laudable to want to restore the area around Stonehenge so it … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology in Europe, England, General magpie travel, News from Britain, UK news
Tagged Stonehenge
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Loving Croatia
Tuesday was my last full day in Rovinj, my new favorite destination in Europe. It is on the Adriatic and ‘Mediterranean sunny’; red tiled roofs; an ancient church in the middle of town at the highest point; narrow, winding alleyways … Continue reading
More April 2013 news from Europe
From France 24. The Gates of Hell have been dug up in Turkey (not a government building – it’s an archaeological site). From London Independent. This event was linked to in a previous blog post. Ruminations on the reopening of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum … Continue reading
Nefertiti in Berlin now thru April 2013
From France 24. Berlin celebrates centenary of discovery of Nefertiti bust.
Oldest prehistoric town in Europe found in Bulgaria
From France 24. Archaeology is a fascinating topic and this news item about Europe’s oldest prehistoric town being uncovered near Provadia, Bulgaria is no exception.