Crumbs to Crunch

Are you a fan of apple pie? If you are, then Hirosaki might just be the place for you! Hirosaki is in Aomori, a prefecture in the Tohoku region in the north of Japan. Aomori is famous for its delicious apples, and nowhere is this fruit more greatly celebrated than in the city of Hirosaki. There are over 50 shops in the town selling different types of apple pie. With so many options, it can seem overwhelming. How can you possibly find the perfect pie for you?! Well, the answer is simple. All you need is the Apple pie map !  Not only does the map tell you all the different locations for pie shops and bakeries, it also rates each pie on its sweetness, sourness and amount of cinnamon. My personal favourite is  スリーブリッヂ or Three Bridge, a cute little bakery near Hirosaki station. Their pie is rated 3/5 for sweetness and sourness. But don't take my word for it, head to Hirosaki and do your own research! There's plenty of pies to enjoy and beautiful sites ...

I love the outdoors and watching natural history documentaries yet I had never heard of Gilbert White who is often dubbed as the father of ecology. I recently visited his house-turned-museum, in the idyllic village of Selborne in Hampshire where I learnt about this fascinating man. Gilbert White was a man with many hats - a curate, naturalist and author. His most famous work , The Natural History of Selborne, was published in 1789 and was the first English language book of its kind. In fact, it has never been out of print since. Gilbert White observed animals in the wild which was highly unusual at the time as most scientists dissected specimens in the comfort of their own study.  Through Gilbert's observations, he identified that what was thought of as one species of bird, was actually three separate species. Nowadays, you can visit the garden where Gilbert made all his important discoveries. The grounds were ever so tranquil and full of colour. They are so lovely t...