Last Day in Prague (Part 1)

The ancient splendour and beauty of Prague, a city beyond compare, left an impression on my imagination that will never fade. – Richard Wagner TRAVEL DIARY: PRAGUE DAY 4 (Part 1) This was our last day in Prague so the plan was to do everything and visit everywhere that we planned on seeing. Yesterday, we…

Day 3 in Prague

“In Rome, the statues. In Paris, the paintings. And in Prague the buildings suggest that pleasure can be an education.” – Caleb Crain TRAVEL DIARY: PRAGUE DAY 3 It was hard on my feet yesterday but I am guessing that this day will be a better one. Our activity for today is a Sightseeing guided…

Day 2 in Prague

“No matter how many countries you’ve travelled to or where you’re going, Prague will sweep you off your feet.” – unknown TRAVEL DIARY: PRAGUE DAY 2 From our hotel, hubby and I decided walk to the Old Town Square. It is said that Prague is very walkable… so that’s exactly what we did. We may…

Tour of Imperial Europe

“Prague changes like a precious stone to reflect the weather, the time of day and the season of the year.” – Christian Norberg – Schulz ”We must not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.” –…

The Cally

“I’m not lost, I’m exploring.” Tim, my son, used to live in Islington, a district in Greater London in 2018 … so best place to go for coffee is in Caledonian Road or The Cally (as locals call it). This is a long stretch of road running for a mile on the western side of…

Stopover in London

“When exploring London, you will come across lots of excitement by chance, so try to take everything in rather than just rushing around to all of the major tourist haunts.” – Richard Branson 2018 was the last time we left Melbourne to go overseas because plans were stopped by “you know what”. Took this Royal Brunei flight…

Fun in Public Art

“Artists are not miracle workers – they’re just another alternative. “ -Mary Jane Jacobs To continue with my trip back home in the Philippines. .. Here are some Public Art which can be found in the Hannah’s Beach Resort in Pagudpud, Ilocos. This is a fun place to be, aside from being with nature and…

The journey continues …

“Roads were made for journeys not destinations.” – Confucius After an overnight stay and 2 days on the road in Vigan, we were off again. before it was Pam, my niece, who was driving, and now it was Ram’s turn, my nephew. Sharing this for Jo’s Monday Walk And so, the adventure continues… Next stop…the…

Roadtrip

“Discover how beautiful our country is and how wonderful our people are. Time to fall in love with the Philippines.” – Tony Meloto A few years ago, my husband and I went with my family on a road trip to the northern part of the Philippines. And that was the last time I have visited…

Laguna

My brother in law, Honorio, took us to this wide expanse of land that was a golf course. There we had a bit of a stroll and had lunch, where we ordered these amazing cold drinks which was just right for the Philippine weather. Next, we parked our car near the highway and then we…

Back in Cebu

“Once I had put enough distance between myself and where I grew up, I started to see its beauty. I started to see it the way outsiders do – maybe because I had become an outsider.” ― Taylor Jenkins Reid October 2016 … It has been more than a month that I have been away…

Edinburgh to Glasgow and back

A visit to a museum is a search for beauty, truth, and meaning in our lives. Go to museums as often as you can.” — Maira Kalman This was our last day in Scotland and we spent it mostly on walking and looking at some museums and public art and a castle. But because of…

The Scottish Highlands

“The best dreams happen when you’re awake.” – Cherie Gilderbloom One of the places that was high in my bucket list is Scotland and more specifically, the Scottish Highlands. Whenever I look at Instagram photos, I can almost feel the calmness of the place. And here we were, hubby and I and also with my…

Tulloch Castle: Is it really haunted?

“Whenever I wander, wherever I rove, the hills of the Highlands forever I love.” – Robert Burns It was nearly sunset when we reached our destination. This was the view from the parking lot. My cousins took us to the Tulloch Castle and this was where we stayed the night. Tulloch Castle is a 12th…

Walking the Royal Mile

“Always follow your dreams, even if they lead you down a few dark alleys.” – Teresa Mummert What better way to have a taste of Edinburgh than to walk through its most famous main street…the Royal Mile. This street runs through the heart of Edinburgh connecting the Edinburgh Castle with the Palace of Holyroodhouse. So…

All aboard…

“I name this ship Britannia. I wish success to her and all who sail on her.” – HM the Queen Our 23 days of European tour was all over but our travelling still continues. Next stop was Edinburgh and this time I am sure won’t be as hectic because we were staying with my cousin,…

Musee du Louvre

“My favourite thing to do is go where I’ve never been.” – Anonymous It was a free day because we didn’t go with the optional excursion. We decided to go to Musee du Louvre for our last day in Paris. The Musee du Louvre or just plain the Louvre is one of Paris’ most iconic…

Around Paris

With an early morning wake up call, we got ready for a city tour aboard the Cosmos tourist bus Still some awesome view from inside the coach window around the main city. Next, we went down for a guided city walk On the left hand side is the Palais de Justice, a beautiful building, which…

Versailles

The Palace of Versailles is perhaps the most opulent and beautiful palace in Europe. This was once home to kings and queens of France. It is one of the most important places in France and is now recognised as a world heritage site by UNESCO. This is the golden entry gate to The Palace of…

A Day in Paris

“Paris is always a good idea.” – unknown Aside from Disneyland, Paris is the only other place that was in my bucketlist when I was a lot younger. I thought to myself that when I find a boy, Paris is the place to be, because it is the City of Love and Romance. But several…

Bilbao and its Public Art

“The ‘EARTH’ without ‘ART’ is just ‘EH’ – unknown Aside from this beautiful building, the centre of Bilbao is full of amazing public art. And this is what I want to feature this week for Photographing Public Art Challenge – PPAC. Here are the many architecture, sculptures, statues and murals of Bilbao, Spain. Bilbao is…

Toledo in Spain

“Live life with no excuses, travel with no regret”– Oscar Wilde Toledo is one of the oldest and most unique cities in Spain and is the former Spanish capital before Madrid. It stands beautifully high up on a hill above the Tagus River and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. From the Mirador del Valle, you…

Art in Barcelona

We crossed spacious streets, with building resembling palaces, in La Rambla promenade ; the shops were well illuminated and there was movement and life… I did not decide to go to sleep, even though I wished to, so I could rise early and contemplate, in daylight, this city, unknown to me: Barcelona, capital of Catalonia….

La Cite de Carcassonne

La Cité in Carcassonne, located in southern France, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the whole country. Millions of visitors come every year to this huge fortified city on a hilltop. From afar, this medieval fort looks like something out of a children’s story book. This castle was decided to be preserved…

The Palace of the Popes

 “It doesn’t matter where you are. You are nowhere compared to where you can go.” – Bob Proctor On our way to Avignon… The walls of Avignon are a series of defensive stone walls that surround the city in the south of France. They were originally built in the 14th century during the Avignon papacy and have been continually rebuilt and repaired throughout their…

The Splendour of Monaco

“I avoid looking back. I prefer good memories to regrets.” – Grace Kelly Monaco is one of the world’s smallest country (second only to the Vatican). And so as not to be confused, Monaco is very small but essentially has everything that is expected of a regular country and Monte Carlo is a neighborhood inside…

Another day in Florence

“Stand on a bridge over the Arno River several times in a day and the light, mood and view change every time. Firenze is magnetic, romantic and busy. Its urban fabric has hardly changed since the Renaissance and its narrow streets evoke thousand tales.” – Lonely Planet Our first day in Florence was very hectic…

The Streets of Florence

“Florence is one of those cities that most of us want to experience at least once (but most likely hundreds of times)!” – unknown Florence, as foreigners and tourists call this city, is known to locals as Firenze. Previously, it was called Florentia in Latin, then Fiorenza in Old Italian. Here is the Florence skyline from…

Rome on a Rainy Day

“It does not usually rain in Rome, which makes a wet day somewhat of a special occasion.” – unknown While planning on this trip, we didn’t even have a clue that these two iconic Roman buildings, the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine, are just standing quite near each other. The first time we found…

Vatican City

“Church is who we are not where we go.” Author unknown Vatican City is the world’s smallest fully independent nation-state. It is home of the Pope and is known for the Sistine Chapel, the St Peter’s Basilica, the St Peter’s Square and the Vatican Museum. We were dropped off by our tour bus outside the…