Time travel

I just happened to come across this lovely bit of travel writing from 1782 - a German tourist's description of the journey from London to Richmond, and his impression of "the rich expanse of this charming vale", "sweet Richmond" itself, "Elysium" indeed, where he "forgot all sublunary cares".

So he quite liked it, then.

It's only a few paragraphs that get so florid, when he's quite overcome with delight at "ye copsy hills, ye green meadows, and ye rich streams in this blessed country". Give it a read if you're interested in what a foreigner thought of English stage coaches, anti-Semitism and slugabed habits. (He was up at three to watch the sunrise, and there was no one to let him out of the house till six o'clock! Appalling laziness!) Or if you're looking for delightful new words. Personally, I'm quite taken with "circumjacent".