I spent last week in Washington, DC for an academic conference. But as luck would have it, I was able to catch up with several friends…
I have just returned home after two weeks in Falkirk where I was house sitting (whilst taking orders from the resident cat, Phoebe). It was a nice…
I have been trying to get out for mini-adventures a bit more often and am pleased to say that I managed two of them this…
I’m in Glasgow for a much-needed writing retreat (and a bit of cat-sitting). And one of the things that help to keep me going on…
This past weekend was my birthday weekend, so I enjoyed a wee road trip to the Scottish Borders to explore in and around Kelso. It was a great…
I spent a day in Dunfermline over the weekend and am now wondering what took me so long to make the journey*. After all, it’s only a…
Travelling to new places is quite exciting; you get to see new places through the warped lenses of tourism. So when I travelled to Zadar, Croatia,…
I was invited to speak at a conference in Devon this past week, so decided to take the opportunity for a bit of sightseeing along…
I’ve spent the last two days at the 5th annual Discover Academic Research, Training, and Support (DARTS) conference in Devon, England, where I was invited to speak about my…
Bonjour, Bordeaux! Or rather, au revoir, as I’m already back home in Scotland after enjoying a mini-holiday to France these past few days! In fact, this…
The first time I was in Oban was for a quick lunch stop as part of a bus tour with my best friend, Rachel, when…
I’ve been down in England spending a few days with my brother-in-law, John, and on Saturday he suggested we drive across to Wales for a wee day…
I felt the need for a bit of exploration this afternoon. The sky was bright and blue and there was only a mild nip in…
Today was opening day for the new Borders Railway between Edinburgh and Tweedbank. And as I am a bit of a train buff who enjoys being “first” to…
I was chatting with my friend Iris yesterday and learned that she’d never been to, or heard of, Linlithgow. And as it’s one of my…
I went to Glasgow for a bit of museum-ing yesterday as part of my efforts to get out of the house a bit more. I didn’t have…
I spent the day walking to-and-from Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, following the various closes, wynds, and steps as I went along. The initial inspiration came from a post on Healthy Edinburgh’s…
When I first arrived in Scotland in 2001, the new Scottish Parliament was quite new. In fact, they didn’t even have a permanent building! But finally, in 2004, the…
I had a wonderfully fun weekend in Perth, where I did a lot of perambulating. (But you could probably guess that from the title of this…
I’ve been quiet here on Just Frances once again, but if you ask my friends, they’ll tell you I haven’t been quiet in reality! That’s…