(photos by Jill Martin Wrenn) When I was planning my trip to Italy, I ended up leaving Milan and the Lake District off my itinerary. So I couldn’t wait to hear all about it from today’s guest blogger, Jill Martin Wrenn (whom you might remember from her previous guest blogs posts about The Georgia Aquarium […]

England has lots of haunted places — whenever you're getting a tour of an old building, just ask if there have been any ghost sightings. You'll almost always get to hear about some spooky tale. When I asked that of Parks Development Officer Linda Hardy the beautifully crumbling Rufford Abbey, a Cistercian monastery turned country […]

Rufford Abbey, a crumbling monastery-turned-country-house, ended up being one of my favorite attractions in Nottinghamshire, and possibly in all of England. It used to be within what was officially considered Sherwood Forest (home of the Major Oak), but as the forest's land has been divided up it's now its own Rufford Abbey Country Park. It's […]

Robin Hood was a master of archery — that's how he survived the Crusades, attacked the Sheriff's men and put food on the table. So after following in Robin Hood's footsteps by visiting Nottingham Castle, City of Caves and the Major Oak, we decided to go practice our archery skills at the Adrenalin Jungle in […]

Inspired by the tales of Robin Hood, most people visit Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire to see the legendary Major Oak. While the gigantic oak tree is indeed a sight to behold, there are plenty of other lovely hollow oaks, too, as well as other kinds of trees, including silver birches and pines. Based on the […]

Legend has it that the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest was a hiding spot for Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. The Major Oak has a major reputation to live up to, and I'm pleased to report that it did. That's a good thing, because Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve's 400,000 visitors per […]

When you go to Nottingham, it’s Robin Hood this and Robin Hood that. Which begs the question: Is there a real Robin Hood? Yes, and it’s this guy.

I'm at JFK, waiting to board my flight to Heathrow and then a minivan to Nottingham, England! I'm going to spend five days following in Robin Hood's footsteps, in the honor of the new Robin Hood movie that hits theaters on May 14th. On the itinerary is Nottingham Castle, Sherwood Forest and Galleries of Justice […]

When I was in Wales in September, I loved seeing dragon symbols everywhere — so much so that I bought a dragon Christmas ornament as souvenir. I don’t recall thinking that what the country really needed was an gigantic, red-tinted bronze dragon statue. But now that the announcement has been made that they’re building Waking […]

Wales is full of history — especially North Wales which has the oldest metal mine open to to the public in the world and Plas Mawr Elizabethan Town House, which is reputed to be the finest of its kind remaining in Britain (the amazing plasterwork over its grand fireplace is pictured above). When I was […]