UK Vacay

Once again it's been TOO LONG since my last post on this blog!  On the bright side it has been shorter than the previous time between posts, so I'm going to focus on the positive, keep calm and carry on -- speaking of which, I was lucky enough to recently visit the U.K. with my wife and three children over the Christmas/New Year Holidays.  It was our kids' first time in Britain, and I'm very happy to say we all had a pretty fantastic time.

As this blog is not meant to chronicle my family's travels, I am strictly limiting this post to things wargame related...

First on that short list is my favorite General Officer of the Victorian Age, whose sculpted visage I spotted from several hundred yards away as the family and I were walking through St. James Park, passing Horse Guards Parade, en route to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. 

I took leave of my family -- who chose to rest -- approached with a great deal of excitement, and was pleased to discover the statue was who I thought it would be...

Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts,

VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ, VD, PC

Next up on the Colonial Gaming related front (at least peripherally!), was dinner at "THE INDIAN CAVALRY CLUB" in Edinburgh.  The food was excellent, the ambiance quirky but welcoming, and we enjoyed our meal immensely, complete with the "Regimental" signage...

After visiting Edinburgh Castle, my family and I toured, "THE SCOTCH WHISKEY EXPERIENCE," ending with a visit to what I believe is the world's greatest collection of Scotch Whiskey, some photos of which I am including here on principle...

Last but MOST IMPORTANT BY FAR (in our current wargaming context!) was the afternoon I spent with friend and fellow-gamer, Willie Anderson, who I'd been lucky enough to meet in person and bring home for an all-too-brief visit to my place the prior June.

This time it was Willie's turn to pick me up and take me to his place.

Without further ado I present the most imporant and valuable part of this post:

A VISIT TO THE ANDERSON COLLECTION...

(Willie's ruddy Scotts visage on the left, my own

pale, balding Brooklynite pate on the right)

I really can't thank Willie enough for the time and effort he spent on my behalf.

I sincerely hope I'm able to do the same for him again on this side of the pond!

I leave you with a highly recommended LINK to Willy's own blog, which as you can probably imagine contains a FEAST OF SPLENDID PROPORTIONS for anyone who enjoys beautiful figures and euqally beautiful terrain:

https://theandersoncollection.blogspot.co.uk

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I hope to be back with a new post relatively soon, with a post about a Napoleonic game I participated in and/or a second post showing the hobby project I've been working on the past few months...