Travel
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How to spend a day in Pisa
The four days we spent in Florence flew by but we managed to see most of the main sights and some of the many art treasures in this beautiful city. We checked out of our apartment after breakfast and headed back to the railway station for the one hour journey to Pisa, which is…
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Arriving in Geneva, Switzerland
A leisurely start to the day as our Easyjet flight from Leeds Bradford airport wasn’t scheduled to depart until 17.45 so it was about 9.00 pm when we arrived into Geneva. We remembered to collect a voucher from the arrivals hall entitling us to a free train transfer into the city centre, part of the…
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Exploring Geneva
Breakfast at the Hotel Strasborg set us up for the day, then wrapping up against the chill we set off to explore Geneva’s city centre. Starting with a long walk along the banks of Lake Geneva we viewed the Jet d’Eau, Geneva’s lakeshore attraction which spurts water 140 metres into the air. Along from there…
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A day in La Cure and St Cerque, Switzerland
The plan for the morning was to head out of the city and take a look at the snow clad Alps. We took a train to Nyon from where we transferred to the rack and pinion mountain railway up the steep ascent to La Cure on the Swiss/French border. As we climbed higher, the…
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Visiting the United Nations, Geneva
It had snowed overnight but nothing to compare with the huge snowdrifts we encountered the previous day in the Alps. Walking along the banks of Lake Geneva to its end then crossing the bridge to the opposite bank, we found more hidden corners in the old town to explore and after our warming mugs of…
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Arriving in Oslo
After spending the night in Edinburgh we took a Ryanair flight from Edinburgh Airport to Oslo Torp. Edinburgh is my favourite UK regional airport, it’s modern, stylish has a good choice of shops and cafes and is small enough to reach gates without lengthy walks. Coming into land at Torp we had good views…
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Sightseeing in Oslo
As our friends set off for work, we walked along to the railway station in Ski for a train into the city centre. Alongside the pathways wild lupins were flowering and looking bright and cheerful despite it being a gloomy morning with heavy rain showers. On reaching Oslo we headed first of all to view…
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Frogner Park and the Kon-Tiki Museum, Oslo
Our friends suggested a visit to the Opera House so we took the train into the centre of Oslo and headed there first. Built in 2008, it’s a futuristic white building, overlooking the sea with it’s angled exterior covered in Italian marble and white granite to make it appear as if it is rising from…
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Touring Oslofjord and Oscarsborg Fortress
It was Saturday and our Norwegian friends were free to spend the next three days with us, and for once the sun was shining and there were no rain clouds in sight! Served with our breakfast was a brown cheese, sweet tasting, rather like fudge but absolutely delicious, it’s called Gubrandsdalost and I will definitely…
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Shopping at Vestby Outlet and dinner al fresco
After the previous day’s sunshine it was back to heavy rain so a shopping trip was planned to Vestby, the home to Norway’s only outlet mall. Compared to Bicester Village and Cheshire Oaks in the UK, this was much smaller scale, there weren’t many bargains to be had as everything is considerably more expensive in…
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Visiting Treviso and Venice
It was an early start to the day as our Ryanair flight to Italy’s Treviso airport was departing from Leeds Bradford airport at 06.40 am. The upside of this being that we were enjoying coffee and croissants in Piazza dei Signori (Treviso’s main square) at 10.30 am. The town centre is only two miles…
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Riding along the Grand Canal, Venice
Our first task after breakfast was to walk around to the Academia Vaporetto station and buy tickets (72 hour passes) for unlimited travel on the water buses. Our accommodation was midway between two routes, Academia and Zattere giving us plenty of options. It was so lovely taking to the water and riding along the Grand Canal,…
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The Venice Lido
It was raining heavily but with umbrellas at the ready we took the water bus out to the Lido (Lido de Venezia). It’s very different out there as we encountered roads and cars, so the magic of Venice with its canals and gondolas was lost. It’s a barrier island separating the Venetian lagoon from the…
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A Vaporetto ride to Murano and Burano, Venice
It was raining once again at breakfast time but we still decided to visit the outlying islands of Murano and Burano as planned. On arrival in Murano we headed indoors to the famous glass factory where we were just in time to watch a glass blowing demonstration and then look around the factory shop. Sheltering…
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A walk in central Venice
After two rainy days, we woke to bright sunshine and were able to enjoy breakfast sitting out on our roof terrace. The plan was to explore the very attractive neighbourhood between the vaporetto stations of Zattere and Academia where we were staying. The long, wide waterfront promenade of Zattere, away from the hordes of tourists…
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A weekend in Belfast – Day 1
A part of the British Isles that we’d neglected to visit up to now, so a free January weekend tempted us to book flights and visit Northern Ireland. We took a 7.00 am flight from Leeds Bradford Airport over to Belfast with Flybe on one of their small Bombardier Dash aircraft and in little more…
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Visiting the Giant’s Causeway and the Antrim Coast
Breakfast at the Jury’s Inn was plentiful and soon afterwards we were collected from the hotel lobby by Allen’s Tours with whom we had booked a full day excursion along the north coast. As it was January there were only 18 booked on the tour so our driver/guide Ian suggested we all sit on the right…
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Queen’s University, Belfast and the Titanic Quarter
After a hearty breakfast we walked along to the Queen’s Quarter taking us 20 minutes. We strolled through the grounds of the Queen’s University which was founded in 1846, it’s historic buildings were beautiful with carefully tended lawns and quads. Just across the road stands the Botanical Gardens, being January there was little to see outdoors…
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Belfast’s Peace Walls
After breakfast we checked out of the Jury’s Inn, leaving our luggage for collection later in the day. The city centre hotel had been a good choice with friendly, courteous staff, a modern, comfortable room and a large selection at breakfast. It was then off to the eastern suburbs noted for ‘The Troubles’. We walked…
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