Blog

Shanghai – The Amazing City Skyline

October 8th, 2014

Arriving at Shanghai main railway station on an overnight sleeper train from Xian it was good to see easy access to the main concourse and directions to the well organised taxi stands that were simple to follow, after spending time in a few Chinese railway stations over the past weeks we knew this was not always the case.
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Beijing – Forbidden City and the Great Wall

October 8th, 2014

Nothing can prepare you for the vastness of Beijing, the sheer size of the city and the number of people is staggering, but it is also a city of huge varieties. In the middle of some of the main shopping areas with all the designer names such as Chanel and Prada and more high end watch shops than you can count there are still small lanes of grey brick houses called hutongs where families live and little eating places and local shops thrive.
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Palma – The Sa Gerreria Neighbourhood

August 8th, 2014

This was our first visit back to Palma in seven years and this time we were renting an apartment in the old part of Palma in a neighbourhood called Sa Gerreria. This was the area of merchants and craftsmen and it retains much of the original character with narrow winding streets and small squares.

Northern Spain – Galicia for Wine & Seafood

August 5th, 2014

May has arrived and time for our third trip to Galicia in Northern Spain, this time with four friends, two of whom have been before but two have not. The aims of the trip are to taste some great local wines and eat great seafood and for the two newcomers to get a taste of Galicia and we sure did all three. I’ll start with some places and end on the amazing wines.
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Madrid – Tapas Week in La Latina

August 5th, 2014

After ten days in Galicia it was time to head to Madrid, the city I have visited more often than anywhere else in Spain, where my heart is and to me the most Spanish city in the country. What a joy to unpack in our apartment in La Latina go out into the busy streets on a warm Sunday evening and to discover that the area is holding a Pincho Week.
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Seville at Christmas

August 5th, 2014

Christmas in Seville, a new experience for us as although we have spent Xmas in Spain before and know Seville reasonably well we have not been there during the festive period and had no idea what to expect.

Venice Can Be Cheap

June 19th, 2014

Venice, is my partner’s favourite city in the world and we were here for his birthday in February, probably our twelfth visit here and time I thought to correct some of the commonly held myths about the city. The canals do not always smell, the cost of food and drink is not always expensive and of poor quality, and lastly that it is always packed with tourists.
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Istanbul Food Paradise

June 19th, 2014

This was our third visit to Istanbul and this time it had a different focus, the food and wine and in particular trying some of the highly rated “ Modern Turkish” restaurants that I had been reading about.

Amsterdam – The Best Parts

February 12th, 2014

I am a southern European at heart but if I had to live in one northern Europe city then it would be Amsterdam. It has everything that I could possibly want, a wonderful walking city, lovely warm bars, loads of good places to eat, full of great small individual shops, design and style by the bucket load and of course one or two rather good galleries.