Travel
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Visiting Kowloon Walled City Park and Stanley: Two Unique Sides of Hong Kong
Another misty morning, and an unusual hotel breakfast combination of Chinese dumplings and Scotch pancakes with maple syrup but equally tasty. Leaving our hotel we called in to the nearby Java Street market, a large indoor wet market over three floors selling fish, meat, fruit vegetables and flowers. The fish market was the most interesting as…
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Spending a day in Macau from Hong Kong
It was drizzling slightly as we caught a rush hour MTR train from North Point station to Sheung Wan for the ferry to Macau. On arrival in the ferry terminal we discovered ferries were subject to delays due to dense fog in Macau and we were unable to depart until 10.30 am so we found…
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Exploring Aberdeen & an evening at Happy Valley Racecourse, Hong Kong
A bright, breezy morning and after a leisurely hotel breakfast we wandered across the road to the North Point bus station to take bus no. 38 to Aberdeen, the journey going via the Aberdeen tunnel and taking only 30 minutes. Aberdeen is located in the south west part of the island and is famous for…
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Po Lin Monastery and Tai O Village, Hong Kong: Discover the Spiritual and Cultural Heart of Lantau Island
A clear morning with no signs of any mist so after breakfast we took the MTR to Tung Chung, located at the end of the Tung Chung line. Our plan for this morning was to visit NGong Ping to see both the Big Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery. On recent visits I have travelled…
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Exploring Cheung Chau and the Hong Kong Flower Show
It’s hard to believe that it was our last full day in Hong Kong – the days had flown by. During the morning we decided to visit one of the outlying islands so we travelled on the MTR to Central and then walked across the footbridge to Central Pier for the 9.45 a.m. fast ferry…
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Flying from Hong Kong to Taiwan
It was a bitter sweet feeling needing to pack our suitcases after breakfast, the Ibis Hotel North Point having been a good place to stay and Hong Kong being a much loved destination. After pulling our luggage along to the step free entrance of the MTR station we rode the metro for the final time…
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Yangmingshan National Park and Beitou Hot Springs, Taiwan: A Perfect Nature Getaway in Taipei
We woke at 7.00 am but struggled to get out of bed for another half an hour. Fortunately the monsoon shower head invigorated me and we were soon ready to experience our first breakfast in Taipei. The Green World Grand Nanjing hotel restaurant, located on the 2nd floor was called ‘Find the Life Kitchen’ and had…
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The Presidential Office and Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial, Taipei: Exploring Taiwan’s Historic Landmarks
Over breakfast we chatted with two ladies on a weekend break from Japan who were sitting at the next table. They had both visited England and one had fond memories of the Cotswolds. We assured them that Japan was high on our list of places to visit, which they thought was nice. Before leaving home,…
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Taipei 101 and the National Palace Museum, Taiwan: A Journey Through Modern Marvels and Ancient Treasures
Drawing the curtains back, it appeared to be a dull morning but thankfully with no rain. The two Japanese ladies we met at breakfast yesterday were around again at the same time this morning so we exchanged pleasantries and wished them a good day. Our plan for the morning was to visit Taipei 101 which until…
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How to Visit Taipei Zoo on the Maokong Gondola: A Fun and Scenic Day Trip in Taipei
It was a bright, sunny morning as we took the MRT to Taipei Zoo Station along the Wenhou (Brown) line for most of the journey. The trains on this line run overground and are driverless, similar to London’s Docklands Light Railway and it was fun sitting at the front having uninterrupted views on our journey.…
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Day Trip from Taipei: Visiting Pingxi and Shifen for Sky Lanterns and Waterfalls
Our plan for today was to travel by train to the small countryside towns of Pingxi and Shifen. Getting there by public transport was quite easy, taking the MRT to Songshan Railway Station from where we caught a mainline train to Ruifang taking 46 minutes (its 34 minutes on the Express train but as the…
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Things to Do in Taipei: Explore Daan Park and Hike Elephant Mountain for the Best City Views
It was lovely warm, sunny morning so after breakfast we strolled along to the Nanjing Fuxing MRT station on the Brown (Wenhu) line. This overground line differs from the others as it runs on tyres on concrete tracks. Alighting at Daan station, a residential area of the city, we walked westbound to Daan Park hoping to…
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The Grand Hotel and Martyrs’ Shrine, Taipei: Discover Taiwan’s Heritage and Historic Landmarks
A relaxing breakfast on our final morning in Taipei, the week has passed in the blink of an eye, we’ve had such a fun filled time, seeing and doing so many different things in beautiful Taiwan. Returning to our room, we packed our belongings together managing to squeeze in numerous packets of Taiwanese Oolong tea…
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Discover Cambridge and its Colleges
An opportunity to visit Cambridge as my husband had a business meeting there recently. I’ve only been to this university city a couple of times and its many years since my last visit. We parked our car at Homerton College where the meeting was taking place so I started my tour of the Colleges here.…
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Poundbury: A New Town with a Difference — Exploring Prince Charles’s Vision for Sustainable Living
As we were visiting the Dorset stretch of the Jurasssic Coast, we decided to take a short detour to Poundbury to see what it looks like for ourselves. Poundbury is a thriving new urban development on the outskirts of Dorchester, West Dorset. The town was commissioned by Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales who outlined…
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Discovering Waterside Leeds: Explore the City’s Revitalised Waterfront
I’d heard that there was more to Leeds than city centre shopping so one sunny morning I took the train there to have a look around. Leeds is located in West Yorkshire and is only a two and a quarter hour rail journey from London King’s Cross station. Instead of leaving Leeds Railway Station from…
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Travelling to Malta
Finding a good deal online for a winter week in Malta seemed irresistible and as it’s somewhere we haven’t already visited it’s an opportunity to explore a ‘new’ country. Flights during the winter are infrequent, so we opted for an early morning departure from Manchester. Rather than risk the weather and drive to the airport…
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Exploring Valletta, Malta: A Complete Guide to the City’s History, Culture, and Attractions
After a good night’s sleep we enjoyed a hearty breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant and then walked the short distance to the Bugibba bus station to catch a bus into Malta’s capital Valletta. It’s possible to take the 31, 45 and 48 buses and the journey takes approximately one hour on each service. Valletta is…
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One Day in Gozo: The Ultimate Guide to Visiting Gozo by Ferry from Malta
Drawing back the curtains we were dismayed to find it was raining heavily and a strong wind was blowing. Not to be deterred, we kept with our original plans and caught a bus (No.221) to the Gozo ferry terminal at Cirkewwa, taking approximately 30 minutes. During the winter months ferries depart for Gozo at 45…
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Sliema Travel Guide: Explore Malta’s Premier Resort Destination
Thankfully, we woke to a bright, sunny morning after yesterday’s heavy rain and strong winds so after breakfast in our hotel we caught a bus to the large resort of Sliema situated in the north east of the island. Buses are frequent but don’t expect to arrive at your destination very quickly as roads are…
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Travel Guide to Mdina: Discover Malta’s Silent City
This is what we had been waiting for – clear blue skies and a warm sunny morning, just perfect for our visit to Mdina which is easily accessible by bus (No.186 taking 45 minutes) from Bugibba. As vehicular access is limited to residents in Mdina, buses stop alongside the Howard Gardens in Rabat which are…
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How to Spend a Perfect Day in St. Julian’s Bay, Malta
Fortunately the warm sunshine is continuing so after breakfast we took the Sliema bus (No.212) as far as Spinola Bay located in St. Julian’s. This charming, photogenic small bay with traditional fishing boats is lined on one side with numerous bars and restaurants and contains the largest proportion of 5 star hotels on the island.…
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Complete Guide to Valletta, Malta – What to See, Do & Eat
A dull, breezy morning for our second visit to the island’s capital, Valletta. Buses from Bugibba run at approximately 15 minute intervals taking about one hour to reach Valletta. Roads are both narrow and congested and the constant stop start motion of the bus always seems to make us feel drowsy. It was bustling as…
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Our final day in Malta
As we had arranged a late evening flight back to the UK we still had a complete day to relax in Bugibba. Check out time was 11.00 am so we popped down to the spa for a post breakfast sauna before vacating our room. We were pleasantly surprised to be able to retain our wristbands…
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