A brief but brilliant weekend in Barcelona

Barcelona-view-Sagrada-FamiliiaA weekend or so ago we spent a couple of days in Barcelona. The primary reason for our visit was that finally our reservation at El Celler de Can Roca which we had had to book 13 months in advance (yes an entire year!!) was upon us. But it was also a great excuse to spend some time in a city I’d been longing to return to since my first trip a decade ago. but more on that on Wednesday.
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Colombia Part Three – culinary and cultural delights in Cartagena and more Caribbean chilling

Colombia-view-coming-into-Cartegena

Cartagena des Indies is Colombia’s fifth largest city and known, with very good reason, as the queen of the Caribbean. This charming colonial town has a great energy, wonderful food and is just a short boat ride away from some of the most beautiful beaches and islands I have been lucky enough to spend time in. Continue reading

Miyajima

Miyajima-the-Great-Torii(3)

If Hiroshima is on your itinerary I’d really suggest allowing an extra half a day to visit the nearby Miyajima, a beautiful island just off the coast of the mainland. Not only is the atmosphere of peace and calm a lovely change from the hustle and bustle of the city but the island also offers one of the most iconic photo spots in all Japan…the torii gate of the Itsukushima shrine.  Continue reading

Hiroshima

Hiroshima-the-atomic-dome(1)Having settled into our very comfortable room at Hiroshima Aioi, a lovely traditional ryokan right by the Hiroshima Peace Park, complete with a sobering but incredible view straight out onto the Atomic Bomb Dome, we took advantage of our location and headed straight out to the Hiroshima Peace Park and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Continue reading

Kyoto – part one

Kyoto-Higashiyama-with-view-of-koyashu-pagodaI think it’s fair to say that most visitors to Japan spend at least a little time in the fascinating city of Kyoto which was Japan’s capital for over a millenium. Kyoto is known as Japan’s most beautiful city and it is easy to see why but as it is hugely spread out and hosts an overwhelming number of shrines and temples (some sites put it at 400, others at 2000!) it can be a little intimidating when you sit down to plan your trip…so hopefully my tips over the next two days on my favourite sights will help in your itinerary building. Continue reading

A ‘Trulli’ lovely detour…

Trulli-rooves

As we drove towards the beach portion of our trip in Puglia we decided to take a significant detour via the Itria Valley to see the trulli houses.  These traditional Apulian houses (small white buildings with a conical roof) were really a sight to behold and I’m so glad that we went out of our way to see them.  I’d definitely recommend building in a visit to this unique town if you’re heading to Puglia.

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Chichen Itza

Chichen-Itza-El-Castillo

Being a history geek, I couldn’t leave the Yucatan Peninsula without visiting its most famous archaeological site – especially as it was on the way to our final destination.  I was pretty blown away by the scale of the site and the beautiful carvings and buildings to be found all around Chichen Itza but there were definite downsides as compared to the ruins we had seen the day before.

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