Anita is becoming famous in some circles in Luxembourg for her French!
For months, she practiced one and only one phrase in French:
Je suis desolée. Je ne parle pas français.
What does it mean, in English? “I’m sorry. I don’t speak French.”
Anita’s pronunciation is so good (and effortless) that people don’t believe her. (more…)
Just say “uncle” when you want us to do some actual writing for this blog.
At the beginning of August, we took a three-day weekend to visit Colmar, in Alsace. The town was well-recommended, and we’d enjoyed the region when we passed through it for the Tour de France.
So we have three brief photosets for you — one for each day — and the customary set of leftover photos for the die-hards. There are plenty of descriptions so that you can tell whether you want to add it to your BBB&B itinerary. (more…)
You’re surely anxious to see the rest of our photos from Stage 14 of the Tour de France, on July 18th. We drove straight from Sundhoffen to Delle, to see the cyclists get ready for the toughest climb of the day. (more…)
Although we did not secure a press pass for this year’s Tour de France, the Bugle sent a crack team of correspondents to Alsace to cover Stage 14 for our readers. Of course, we’re a bit late to report on minor details like the yellow-jersey standings and the action of the stage itself. Doesn’t matter: we specialize in human-interest stories anyhow.
As usual, we’ll direct you to photosets on Flickr, whose photos include amusing and informative descriptions. The following two sets will take you to Sundhoffen, just a kilometer or two after the start of Stage 14 in Colmar.
We arrived before our stuff — “on holiday” for official purposes. We drove into Luxembourg with several large suitcases in the back of our Skoda estate (i.e. station-wagon). The contents of the suitcases were an inexplicable combination of stuff that I thought might be useful, stuff I forgot to send with the movers, and stuff that Anita purchased or used in the US. A security official would be sorely confused by our traveling habits.
On the way, we passed an IKEA near the border with Belgium. IKEA would come to dominate the remainder of our weekend. 
Almost as soon as we arrived at our new apartment, we dropped our airborne burden and drove to Belgium (15 minutes away) to seek a bed for our unfurnished apartment. If we failed, we would need to spend the night in a hotel and try again the next day. (more…)
So, we’re running about three months behind. (If you don’t count the unfinished Italy set.) But you better not complain! We used our four day Easter holiday weekend to catch up for you ungrateful gobshites!
The holiday in January was a full three days — County Donegal is a large and picturesque region, and we saw the city of Derry, too. (more…)
Over 
the past two years, we’ve visited most of the distinct regions of Ireland. Our most significant omission was part of the south-west region of Ireland, mostly County Cork. This weekend, we rectified that exception. (more…)
After most of a day in Pompeii, we spent the evening in Naples. We got lost several times, ate pizza on the run, and felt just a little of the nervous energy that the city is famous for.
We posted a small photoset of Naples on Flickr. Also, as a special bonus, one of the photos includes a lengthy rant about a crucial detail of Rick Steves’s travel guide for Rome! (more…)
Last weekend, Anita and I drove through one of the few regions of Ireland we had not yet visited: the Sunny Southeast. In February, County Wexford is not so sunny, but it was a worthwhile trip nonetheless. Naturally, we posted a photoset of our trip for you.
I rushed this set of photos to the blog because some of the places we visited are under threat from a large oil slick in the Irish Sea. (more…)
The Bugle’s Photochromacommunal Promulgators prepared, especially for you, a tour of the renowned archeological site of Pompeii. On October 29th, Will and Anita took a train from Rome to Naples, and from there to Pompeii.
Pompeii was a seaside town of about twenty thousand residents in 62 CE. In the preceding seven hundred years, it had seen quite a few conquerors come and go, never able to act as an independent power. It had also felt frequent rumbles from the nearby Mount Vesuvius, but nothing that threatened the town itself. It had been generations since the last eruption of smoke and ash, and that was mainly an agricultural concern.
(more…)
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