“This fragment, which is part of the eastern frieze of the Parthenon, depicts a foot and a part of the peplos (dress) of Artemis, and was acquired in 1816, by the British consul in Sicily, Robert Fagan…the fragment is now displayed in a glass case [on the top floor of the Acropolis Museum], within its place in the reconstruction and also to the actual historical site.”

The mission was to provide free, global care for cancer patients with the help of great architecture. Maggie understood the impact environment and design can have on someone dealing with cancer. She knew —from the point of view of both patient and family—the need for “thoughtful lighting, a view out to trees, birds and sky” and the opportunity “to relax and talk away from home cares.”  She knew how the “kitchen table” is often at the centre of people’s lives.

With over 2500 miles of single-track routes in the Highlands alone, it’s easy to find yourself in a tricky situation if you haven’t done your research into how to navigate them. However, they are also an integral part of the wonderful experience that exploring Scotland can become if you just follow some simple etiquette and basic rules.

This is Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve where the landscape changes before your eyes. Unspoilt, peaceful, and beautiful, the reserve has the full spectrum of coastal habitats, from constantly moving sand at the edge of the sea to the colourful dune heathland. 

Do you live on the East Coast of the United States of America and are desperate to get away for a beach vacation? There is a gem of a country only a couple of hours from the East coast that is waiting to wow you! That gem is the British island territory of Bermuda, and it is easy to fly to only a couple of hours by plane from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Miami.

2021 is Scotland’s “Year of Coasts and Waters,” and when it comes to spectacular beaches, visitors to Scotland are spoilt for choice. Mainland Scotland has over 6,000 miles of coastline. When you include the islands, this increases to well over 11,000, so the diversity of beaches should come as no surprise. Everyone will have their own particular favourites, and I’m happy to share mine. Controversial? Perhaps. Come visit and decide for yourself!

Europe Day is a bittersweet day for me. I am of the generation that had the opportunity to study and work in Europe. I had the freedom to go where I pleased for as long as I pleased, which—unless they already live there and have applied for settled status—UK citizens will no longer have. 

Louisa Jordan’s working career was mainly in care and nursing on the East and West of Scotland. She later enlisted with the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service in December 1914, after the start of the First World War.  She joined the first Serbian unit and looked after war wounded soldiers until the outbreak of a typhus epidemic in 1915, when she took charge of a typhus ward in Serbia.  

From the stories and legends evolved a unique set of superstitions that existed to give protection to people and the things they held dear. We might scoff at them today, but imagine a time, not so long ago, when life was so hard and tenuous that your very survival might depend on a good harvest or an easy childbirth. It’s easier to understand how these beliefs could become so deep-rooted and firmly held.   

Is there anything in my life that I have been complicit in that, looking back through a 21st-century lens, would be seen as abhorrent? Indeed there is.

There’s something so evocative to me about pictures of food and the power they have to vividly remind me of mouth-watering meals and moments that I’ve had on my travels.  I can look at my culinary photos and remember exactly where I was, the scent of the dish just placed in front of me, and the way the flavors open up on my pallet. 

The “Jeely Piece” song originates in Glasgow, second city of the Empire and power house of manufacturing in Scotland. As more and more people moved to the city to find work, by the turn of the 20th century,  the poorer areas were overcrowded, infested and rife with disease. When the Second World War ended and the government of the day adopted policies to look after the wellbeing of all of their citizens, the slums of Glasgow became an obvious target for new social housing policies.