​In terms of breath-taking scenery, there’s Canada – and there’s Canada in winter.  The awesome sight of snow on the Rockies is not just the preserve of skiers and their ilk, it is a Winter Wonderland of open spaces and elk. In 2007, Charlie and I were blessed to travel trans-continental in the comfort of “The Canadian” train, through the plains and prairies and the mountains magnificent in their pristine white snow cloaks.  From Toronto on the East to Jaspar in the Rockies and onwards to Vancouver on the West Coast, we saw indescribable beauty on an unforgettable journey.

​In 1993, myself and my friend, MaryD, saw a great holiday deal in a travel agent’s window to Barbados, one of the Caribbean islands in the West Indies.  Only when we arrived did we discover it was the off-season i.e. RAINY SEASON 😂.  During Covid-19 lockdown, I found a little diary at the back of a photo album reminding me of those two weeks.  Here it is:

One of my mother Peggy’s favourite songs when I was a little girl was “Will ye go, Lassie, go?” by The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem.  Indeed, she dreamt one night that she was on stage in Carnegie Hall singing it with them!  In the dream they brought her for a big slap-up meal after her performance…..and her biggest regret was that she woke up before she had a chance to eat it 🤣.  (See the song on YouTube Video at end of this blog post!)
 
With visions of “wild mountain thyme” and “blooming heather” it’s little wonder that the very first overseas place I wanted to see, as a fresh-faced 21 year old, was Bonnie Scotland.  So, in October 1987 (when our final accountancy exams were just over) I took my first ever trip on a plane there with my college friend, Mairéad, and her sister Teresa.  The plan was to fly to Glasgow for one