Rob Little's Blog – the musings of an English / British Tour Guide !

Minchinhampton Church by Rob Little, Let’s Tour England

Minchinhampton Church – unusual design and I like the floodlights

Yet another Italian cruise ship “is up the suwannee without a paddle“….. The Costa Allegra – sister ship of the Costa Concordia which sunk off the Italian coast last month.

After drifting without power in the Indian Ocean, exposed to the perils of the Somali pirates, it is now being towed to port by…..a tuna fishing boat.

…..you couldn’t make it up?

Rob Little
International Shipping Advisor
Let’s Tour England (and have a safe vacation) !

I’m feeling rather smug as I have lost 40lbs since the beginning of the year…. !

Don’t tell me its too much, too soon. I am eating enough and exercising and feel much much better for it. But, this is only the beginning !

Rob Little
Aiming to be half the size I was !
Lets Tour England !

Wembley Stadium – the National Stadium in England !

Rob Little
Let’s Tour England

Wembley Stadium – the National Stadium in England !

Wembley Stadium – the English National Stadium !

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FIRST OFF, MAY I APOLOGISE FOR THE QUALITY OF THE VIDEO – THE SOUND IS GOOD BUT THE VIDEO WAS DONE ON MY BLACKBERRY AND I DIDN’T HAVE THE BEST SEATS

I learned about Country Music in America…..now on my way to my first concert at Wembley, England headlined by Reba McEntire + Lonestar !

Of course I HAD to pick a day when there was a major Cup Final in the next door National Stadium so there is the usual traffic chaos – decided to nip into a famous Pakistani restaurant, The Karahi King in East Lane, Wembley, known for their authentic north Indian cuisine and frequented by international cricketers and sportsmen from the sub continent.

UPDATES
5.30pm – well this place is hardly full at the moment but then, if a load of Morris Dancers performed in the US how popular would that be? Stood outside alongside a group of gypsy girls!

5.45pm – a load of oldish people (ie older than me!) walking around wearing the gear – hats, waistcoats, those tie things – it sorta looks wrong !! LOL

6.30pm – nice atmosphere, performers having vox pop interviews – bet they won’t be doing that with Reba !

8.00pm – Asleep at the Wheel were very slick – excellent !

8.30pm – Lonestar – and a couple of girls in the audience drinking beer and shaking the American Flag around…..I thought “Hmmmmmmmm”….. Great band but, of course, more rock than country – I like rock but have heard better rock bands – nice songs like “Amazed”, of course !

9.25pm Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder – the ole Bluegrass ! Very tight musicians

10.15pm – Reba McEntire – superb as expected and very generous with her time – show finished 11.35pm !

…..I will put up some video later!

Rob Little
Driver / Guide
Let’s Tour England

Lonestar on stage…..like you can see them LOL !

Reba McEntire at Wembley Arena, England

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Ricky Skaggs at The International Country Music Festival in Wembley, London

Lonestar at The International Country Music Festival in Wembley, London

Amusing parody of British Airways classic commercial filmed at Kilworth House Hotel, Leicestershire.

Rob Little
Lets Tour England !

Westonbirt Arboretum in the English Cotswolds, today, Saturday 25th February at 60F !!

The deciduous trees are now totally bare but for the odd bud…..give it another six weeks and things will be beginning to happen !

Rob Little
Cotswold Driver / Tour Guide
Lets Tour England
www.roblittlephotography.com

Westonbirt Arboretum near Tetbury in the English Cotswolds

Westonbirt Arboretum Gloucestershire

Snowdrops at Westonbirt Arboretum in the English Cotswolds

Snowdrops at Westonbirt Arboretum

Westonbirt Arboretum near Rob Little, British Tourguide’s home in Tetbury in the English Cotswolds

Westonbirt Arboretum near Rob Little, Cotswold Driver / Tour guide’s home in Tetbury

Spectacular scenery at Westonbirt Arboretum in the beautiful Gloucestershire Cotswolds

BBC COMMENT: With one and a half million American children now homeless, reporter Hilary Andersson meets the school pupils who go hungry in the richest country on Earth. From those living in the storm drains under Las Vegas to the tent cities now springing up around the United States, Panorama finds out how the poor are surviving in America and asks whatever happened to Barack Obama’s vision for the country.

Hilary Andersson is an investagative journalist born in Austin, Texas in 1967. She was educated largely in the UK, and studied politics at Edinburgh University. Hilary joined the BBC as a producer in World Service radio in 1991, and later moved to BBC World TV.
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(Comment from Rob Little – I guess we are lucky here although I know there are people in the UK living a similar life albeit everyone is entitled to health treatment…..)

By the time you read this, Christopher Tappin will have arrived in Texas and, at the age of 65, will be incarcerated in a Federal Jail, and moved around in leg irons.

When Britain applies to the USA to extradite an American citizen,we must prove there is prima facie evidence tested in an US court while, for a British individual to be extradited to the USA requires, instead, only “reasonable suspicion” and we are obliged to pack them off for an uncertain future.

This man is alleged to have sold batteries to the Iranian government which could be used in missiles, from his business in the UK – so if there was a crime committed, he should be tried and sentenced here in the UK. If found guilty the penalty, apparently, is 35 years imprisonment and even if he is not found guilty, his defence lawyers costs are estimated at $2m so he is likely to plea bargain and hope he survives.

Tappin, who said he was full of trepidation about his fate, denies any wrongdoing and says he is the innocent victim of a sting operation by US agents.

Tappin’s wife, who he is the carer for, has chronic Churg-Strauss Syndrome, said he was “not very confident at all” about his case.

His lawyer Karen Todner said Mr Tappin, the former president of the Kent Golf Union, would arrive in El Paso, Texas, around 4pm local time (10pm GMT), where he will be remanded in a local jail until Monday, pending a bail hearing at the US district court in the western district of Texas.

Meanwhile we have a known terrorist sympathiser here, the cleric Abu Qatada, now walking the streets of London and wanted in Jordan but cannot be extradited to there in case evidence obtained by torture is used in his trial and that would not be fair…..so we have a known terrorist here but we send an old man off to the US?

The whole thing is a bloody farce, a joke…..

Rob Little

New York Frame of Mind

…..memories of time I spent there with my camera !

Rob Little
British Tour Guide – Lets Tour England
www.roblittlephotography.com