Travel
-
Our Moscow adventure
The thought of standing in a snow carpeted Red Square on a cold winter’s day seemed appealing, so we booked a few days in Moscow. It’s necessary to obtain a visa before arriving in Russia and this can dissuade potential visitors from travelling. To help demystify the process I’ll explain how we went about it.…
-
Exploring Moscow
We opened the curtains to find that there had been heavy snow overnight, covering all the surrounding roof tops with a fluffy white blanket. After a leisurely breakfast we took the metro to Komsomolskaya station which was absolutely beautiful with its painted yellow ceilings and its platforms lit by chandeliers. The station was designed in…
-
Sightseeing in Moscow
There had been more snow overnight but it was a reasonably bright morning. Our first stop after breakfast was Lubyanka, which is the next station on Line 1 from Red Square. Climbing the steps from the metro station we could see the former headquarters of the KGB across the square. Lubyanka was once a name…
-
Exploring more of Moscow
After breakfast, we took the metro to the new central business district, known as Moscow City. Located at the Delovoy Tsentr metro stop, the station has a modern ‘high-tech’ feel to blend in with the skyscraper landscape above ground. Moscow City consists of several towers built in futuristic styles, each tower having its own distinctive…
-
Sokolniki Park, Moscow
We woke to more heavy overnight snow, creating a winter wonderland panorama from our 23rd floor bedroom window. As it was our final day, we over-indulged with a large breakfast and then bid our farewells to the lovely restaurant staff who had looked after us all week. After packing our belongings together we set off…
-
The Cotton Mills of Tampere and Manchester
My travels in Finland took me to Tampere, located 100 miles north east of the capital Helsinki. It’s Finland’s third largest city and takes just 90 minutes to reach by inter-city train from the capital. I’d wanted to visit Tampere for sometime because it’s often referred to as the ‘Manchester of Finland’ due to its…
-
Bristol City Break – Day 1
After enjoying city breaks in London, Edinburgh and Birmingham we decided to head to the south west of England for our next weekend away. My journey on board a CrossCountry train was pleasant, having an interesting conversation with an Edinburgh green keeper, learning about life on one of Scotland’s premier golf courses as we journeyed…
-
Exploring Bath
We were up bright and early as we had planned to spend the day in neighbouring Bath, 10 miles (16km) from Bristol. Getting there was easy as trains depart frequently from Bristol Temple Meads taking just over 10 minutes to Bath Spa station, adult off-peak day return fares are £8.60. From the moment we left…
-
SS Great Britain & Aerospace Bristol
After the previous day’s glorious sunshine, we woke to grey skies but as we’d planned to spend the day visiting two of Bristol’s top cultural highlights which were both indoors, it didn’t bother us too much. So, after our usual cooked breakfasts and large cappuccinos we felt suitably nourished and ready for a day of…
-
The Clifton Suspension Bridge & M Shed, Bristol
Our final day in Bristol, but still plenty of time for more sightseeing, so after checking out of the Travelodge and leaving our luggage to collect later in the day we once again caught the Bristol Ferry Boats 10.00 a.m. service. Unlike the previous day, when we disembarked at SS Great Britain, this time we…
-
Harewood House at Christmas
As we’d recently had the pleasure of viewing the exquisite toys and dolls on display at the Ilkley Toy Museum we couldn’t resist the temptation of seeing them once again whilst they were on loan to Harewood House. Harewood is a stately home in North Yorkshire, located mid way between Harrogate and Leeds and it’s…
-
RHS Harlow Carr Glow Winter Illuminations
What better way to lift our spirits on a dark, damp evening than with a visit to the RHS Garden Harlow Carr to view their Glow Illuminations. It’s the first year that lights have been installed in the gardens, and as we have visited Harlow Carr on numerous occasions in daylight we were eager to…
-
Historic Lancaster
A weekend visit to the historic city of Lancaster located in the north west of England was our plan, approximately a two hour drive from our home. I’d visited Lancaster before but not for many years and on entering the city, it was still congested through the one way system as we crept along until…
-
The Ilkley Toy Museum
Tucked away on a side street yet only a few minutes walk from Ilkley railway station stands the Ilkley Toy Museum. This hidden gem has been located in a former Sunday School building in the attractive small West Yorkshire town of Ilkley for the past 16 years. The museum contains one of the finest private collections…
-
A day at the seaside in Blackpool
It’s been a number of years since we last visited Blackpool, one of England’s premier seaside resorts, so we thought we’d return and see if it had changed. Blackpool is located in the north west of England on Lancashire’s Fylde coast. We travelled by train, arriving into Blackpool North station shortly before lunch. When purchasing…
-
The Blackpool Illuminations
The Blackpool Illuminations is an annual lights festival which was founded in 1879. It started life with garlands of 10,000 coloured light bulbs strung along the seafront and was such a huge success that it continued as an annual event extending the tourist season by an extra two months. The Illuminations or ‘The Lights’ as…
-
St. Annes-on-Sea & Poulton-le-Fylde
After a good night’s sleep we enjoyed the Ibis buffet breakfast which was included in our room rate. The breakfast room features a seaside theme with imitation sticks of Blackpool rock adorning it’s walls. The restaurant overlooks the sea so we were able to watch the trams pass along the promenade whilst we were sipping…
-
A weekend in Birmingham
Meeting my son for a weekend away in the U.K. has usually resulted in trips to London or Edinburgh so for a change we decided to explore Britain’s second city, Birmingham. Strangely, Birmingham isn’t a city I am familiar with, in fact I’ve only ever visited three times and then only to attend courses and…
-
Exploring Birmingham
After a leisurely breakfast we were ready for a morning of sightseeing in Birmingham’s city centre. Our first stop was to the Great Western Arcade, an elegant Victorian shopping arcade built in 1876 over the Great Western Railway line. The arcade has two entrances, one on Temple Row and the other on Colmore Row, the…
-
The Black Country Living Museum
The weather forecast seemed reasonable so we decided to spend the day at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, West Midlands, ten miles west of Birmingham. Although the museum’s postal address is Dudley, the nearest railway station is Tipton. We bought return rail tickets costing approximately £5 each for the 20 minute journey from…
-
The Birmingham Back to Backs
After checking out of our hotel and leaving our luggage to collect later, we set ourselves up for the day with cooked breakfasts in a nearby pub and then made our way to Hurst Street where we had booked a tour of the Birmingham Back to Backs terraced houses which are now operated as a museum…
-
Lovely Lyme Regis
It was a sunny day, so we prepared a picnic and drove along the south coast to Lyme Regis which is located on the West Dorset/ East Devon border. Being a popular seaside town finding a parking place wasn’t easy. Just outside town there were signposts for Park and Ride but ignoring these, we pressed…
-
A walk along the Rochdale Canal in Central Manchester
One sunny afternoon in Manchester, instead of shopping we decided to take a 7 km canal side walk through the heart of the city. The Rochdale canal runs from the Bridgewater canal at the Castlefield basin across the Pennines to join the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire, a distance of…
-
London City Break
I never tire of a few days in London so recently I managed to fit in a short break to the capital. Travelling by train took just under three hours from my home in the north of England enabling me to arrive into the city around lunchtime. My first stop was at Piccadilly, a short…
Love Travelling Blog 