Quang Nam Province is where the Unesco World Heritage town of Hoi An is situated. It is a mix of Vietnamese, Chinese and French style buildings. Hoi An sits on the banks of the Thu Bon River and there are many waterways around the area. We have stayed in Hoi An twice before and visited on a number of other occasions while staying in Da Nang. It gets busier with each year and there is hardly any room to move crossing over the little bridge.
The two hotels we stayed in were just outside of the small town, Hoi An Historic Hotel and Hoi An Beach Hotel. Early evening is the best time to go into Hoi An Ancient Town as it’s a bit cooler then, although not much!
Hoi An Beach Hotel
Hoi An Historic Hotel
Fishing for the daily catch, views from our balcony
An Bang Beach
The beds are so close, no social distancing here! Crawling from the bottom is the only way to lie on them! No secrets are safe here.
Restaurants and Bars in the walking area of Hoi An
Bikes and doors
Views of the other side of Hoi An
My nightly cocktail – Pina Colada
Hoi An is such a wonderful place to visit but so many places in Vietnam are. It is one of my favourite countries to visit.
Hanoi Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, where we spent four days a few years ago. Hanoi was not a place that interested me as I had heard it was quite industrialised due to the influence of communism. However it was somewhere where Anthony wanted to visit, and I can’t always have my own way! After…
I have to say I am completely stumped with O and cannot think of a place I’ve visited that is worthwhile posting about. So I’m just going to display a few photos and see if anyone can guess where they are. Some easy, some hard or maybe not if you are well travelled!
Nagasaki was part of our 9 day road trip through the Kyushu Islands a few years ago and we spent two very busy days and nights here. There were four of us on the road trip, me, hubby and our two good friends Cheryl and Vaughan. Vaughan and hubby did all of the driving. We…
A few years ago we did a road trip from Biarritz to Porto. We ended up in Porto purely for the reason that it was convenient to fly back from. Anthony had been many years ago and said he wasn’t very impressed. Well we were in for a wonderful surprise. I had booked an apartment for two nights overlooking the Douro River and we couldn’t have had a better view. Although the apartment could have done with a bit of work it was more than okay for two nights and the view made up for any complaints.
View from our balcony of Luis I Bridge
We only had two full days here and we made the most of every minute and explored as much as we could.
There was a fabulous tiny restaurant attached to the apartment belonging to the owners and we had dinner there the first night. The food was amazing especially the grilled sardines.
The door to our apartment!
The next day we set off early and walked along the river and took in the views. We stopped off at the Sao Bento Railway Station as someone mentioned it was a place we must see. The station had the most amazing murals decorating the walls.
Traditional Ribellos
Above a slideshow of the murals in the Sao Bento Railway Station representing Portuguese history and daily work.
Next we had scheduled a walking tour over Luis I bridge to visit the Port houses on the other side of the river. There were five included in the tour, we managed two, but for me there’s only so much port I could taste!
Waiting for our guide to start the tour
Reflections of Porto
Inside Adriano Ramos Pinto
We crossed back over the river and found a bar to have a bottle of wine and some tapas and found we were just in time for the annual procession of the saints. Good timing for us as we had front row seats.
The sleepiest little drummer boy
The next day we were already checking out at 11 am. We found a souvenir shop to leave our luggage, which was very handy because when we were in Vigo there was nowhere that would take left luggage. We headed up to the cathedral and stopped there for a while to enjoy the amazing views over Porto.
Views of Porto over the rooftops
Enough time here and it was onwards and downwards to town to look for lunch and a spot of shopping for you know who!
So many steps
Stone work
Art work
Too many options!
Shopping time!
Modelling his artisan waistcoat – “Made in Porto”.
Two days in Porto is just not enough and we will definitely be back to explore more of this beautiful city and the rest of Portugal, whenever we can get on a plane again!
I have to say I am completely stumped with O and cannot think of a place I’ve visited that is worthwhile posting about. So I’m just going to display a few photos and see if anyone can guess where they are. Some easy, some hard or maybe not if you are well travelled! No. 1…
Nagasaki was part of our 9 day road trip through the Kyushu Islands a few years ago and we spent two very busy days and nights here. There were four of us on the road trip, me, hubby and our two good friends Cheryl and Vaughan. Vaughan and hubby did all of the driving. We…
After saying goodbye in Pemberton to our friends Cheryl and Vaughan we drove onto Yallingup for our overnight stay at Caves House. Although we had previously had dinner here we had never stayed. Spending the night is always something I have wanted to do. The inside of Caves House is wonderfully well kept and has some fabulous artwork on the walls. Not only that but there are lovely art deco ornaments decorating tables and fireplaces. The ceilings are adorned with many kinds of light fittings all unusual in their own way.
Reception and Lobby Area
The Wyadup Room
A cosy lounge to relax, mixing the old and new. Where you can sit and enjoy a cocktail or nightcap in front of the roaring fire.
Indijup Room
A casual dining room for larger parties with an open fire, with art deco ornaments on top of the fireplace. A beautiful stained glass parrot light decorates the ceiling.
The Nigligi Room
A wonderful black and white tiled dining room with a 1950’s feel complete with photos of Marilyn Monroe on the walls. Open for breakfast and lunch.
The Yallingup Room
A beautiful dining room decorated with white cane chairs and modern summer themed art on the walls. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We had dinner at the hotel and had to eat in the lobby area as the Yallingup Room was fully booked. Food is ordered at the counter at the front where there is a casual/sports bar. It is pub food with a variation, as in Curry/Pasta/Fish of the day or otherwise steaks, pizzas and burgers.
Breakfast used to be a buffet but with the outbreak of Covid 19 it is just off the menu.
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Accommodation
We stayed in a Heritage Double room complete with small sitting room and an amazing bathroom. The bed even had a dual fitted electric blanket, great for me who likes a warm bed and hubby who likes it cold!
Coming down for breakfast after a very good night’s sleep
Before setting off back to Perth we had a walk down to Yallingup Beach through the gardens of Caves House.
Changing into his walking shoes sitting in the “boot” of his car
Caves House is a great place to hold a wedding or any kind of reception because of the large rooms for entertaining. Also if you have a special birthday or anniversary. I enjoyed my stay there, it has a friendly and relaxed atmosphere and is within walking distance to a beautiful beach. All in all a five star stay.
An apt quote for me and hubby, he loves roads and I love to travel!
Nagasaki was part of our 9 day road trip through the Kyushu Islands a few years ago and we spent two very busy days and nights here. There were four of us on the road trip, me, hubby and our two good friends Cheryl and Vaughan. Vaughan and hubby did all of the driving.
We stayed at a hotel called Hotel Monterey, a great location and decorated in a Spanish Villa style.
Our first night was spent at Dejima Wharf, I’d read that it was quite lively and had a few restaurants. Maybe it had just opened or not been open for long but there didn’t seem to be that many places to choose from. We opted for a seafood restaurant where we sat outside and could cook our own seafood. I have to say it wasn’t such a great dinner as half the things we were served I couldn’t identify and the small bbq didn’t seem adequate to cook anything properly.
Cheers!
After dinner we found a bar upstairs called St. Andrews Jigger Inn, playing live music and everyone singing along, we even got up to have a dance!
The next morning with heavy heads we had a cooked breakfast at the Hotel Monterey and headed out to explore.
Former Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank
Nagasaki has a very international feel to it, with many Dutch, Portuguese and English buildings still standing. We headed first up to Hollander Slope, so called because many Dutch people lived here from around 1600.
Old Dejima Seminary
From here we took a tram to another historical building, Glover House and Gardens.
Glover House
Glover House was built by Thomas Blake Glover, a Scottish merchant who arrived in Japan from Shanghai in 1859. He set up his own trading company, Glover and Co. Glover House is a western style building with imported furniture from Scotland and England. The carpenter is purportedly Koyama Hide who built the Basilica of the Twenty-Six Holy Martyrs. Source: Visit Nagasaki
From the balcony of Glover House
Koi Pond
Nagasaki is a big cruise ship port as you can see from above photo.
There is some Japanese influence in the rooms, but mostly it is of the old heavy wooden style favoured during the 1800s in England.
In this bottom right photo my hubby is with the Japanese gardener, and while I popped to the ladies he struck up a conversation with her. He speaks fairly fluent Japanese and she was so taken aback by him that she dropped everything and bombarded him with questions about his life, they found out that they were exactly the same age, even with the same month, now that’s a coincidence!
With the morning over and our visit to Glover House done, hubby said it was his turn now and he wanted first to go to the Sakamoto International Cemetery and then lastly the Peace Park and A Bomb Museum.
Sakamoto International Cemetery
Trying to find our way to the Cemetery was a bit of a nightmare, but we eventually found it tucked away at the back of some houses.
I wish I had taken more photos of the cemetery but felt a bit morbid doing this. Cemeteries in other countries with foreigners are so interesting. It makes you realise how determined people were hundreds of years ago and how easy we have it today. It would have taken them weeks or months to arrive at their destination and we complain about an hour delay to our plane!
Nagasaki Peace Park
It feels appropriate to be writing this post now as is the 75th anniversary of the Atomic Bomb on 9 August. It was the second bomb to be dropped by the United States after Japan still refused to surrender after Hiroshima. The exact number of people killed will never be known as all records were destroyed and many bodies were totally obliterated.
To walk around the museum is very sobering to see the destruction and devastation that was caused that day. Of course there is no mention of Japan’s part in WWII.
After experiencing that nightmarish war, that blood-curdling carnage, that unendurable horror, Who could walk away without praying for peace? This statue was created as a signpost in the struggle for global harmony. Standing ten meters tall, it conveys the profundity of knowledge and the beauty of health and virility. The right hand points to the atomic bomb, the left hand points to peace, and the face prays deeply for the victims of war. Transcending the barriers of race and evoking the qualities of Buddha and God, it is a symbol of the greatest determination ever known in the history of Nagasaki and the highest hope of all mankind.— Seibo Kitamura (Spring 1995)
Nagasaki to Kagoshima 6 June 2017 By now I think our two drivers were getting the hang of the roads and tolls! It was especially useful to be able to input a telephone number into the satnav instead of the actual address – very helpful considering how all the Japanese places were spelt. Because if…
Continuing my A to Z of Travels Challenge with the letter M.
Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota was part of our road trip through USA and Canada. We had some very dear friends who lived there and we hadn’t seen them for 25 years after they left Hong Kong! Many people asked us why we were visiting Minneapolis as they said there’s not much there! However I enjoyed every minute of our three day stay there thanks to Michelle and Jon who were very good guides.
We chose to stay at the Residence Inn by Marriott because this was very near to where they lived. I can’t say I was very impressed by this hotel for the price we paid, I thought the rooms could have had a good clean to start!
Our first morning was spent at the wonderful Mall of America, Anthony’s dream come true! Unfortunately we did only have a morning there as in the afternoon we would be exploring the town. We couldn’t believe our eyes at the size of the place, it even has a theme park in the middle!
After we had spent the morning there, Michelle and Jon picked us up and took us around the town. I really enjoyed seeing the lakes and river and the Stone Bridge that crosses the river.
Minneapolis was full of surprises especially the grand old houses that stand on the banks of the lakes, very impressive.
The next day we were going boating across the river to another State! Lake Pepin, Wisconsin. We would travel along the Mississippi River in Jon’s boat. We had a fabulous lunch here at The Pickle Factory.
Bye Bye Minneapolis
Waiting to “board”
Hello Wisconsin
After lunch we had a quick walk around the cute little town of Pepin.
I felt like I was stepping back in time walking around the town looking at all the old weatherboard houses.
That same day we also drove up to an old farm that Michelle and Jon owned and went for a fairly long walk around the property.
My GI Joe
That was really all we had time for in Minneapolis, just a whistle stop tour and then we were off on our travels again. We flew to San Francisco later that evening.
Monteray
We had only one night in Monterey but really managed to make the most of the next day. This small town was everything I had imagined and more, having read so many books about it. We stayed right in the centre and had dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf.
Monterey Marina
Looking forward to some fabulous seafood for dinner
Not before we came across this Porsche show though!
Gourmet dinner with plenty of wine and a martini to finish
We finished the night at a wonderful jazz bar with a live band and of course more cocktails.
17 Mile Drive
The next day we did the 17 mile drive and managed to take wrong turnings a few times and ended up going back on ourselves, it was confusing to say the least. We certainly stopped a few times to get our bearings and of course take plenty of photos. We ended up having lunch at The Inn at Spanish Bay overlooking the famous Links golf course.
This drive is a scenic road through Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula. On the drive you will see huge mansions of the rich and famous and golf courses.
The Lone Cyprus
Chinaman Beach
I felt we could have spent so much longer looking around and going down different routes, but time was ticking by and we were due in San Francisco later that day. A place to revisit in the future.
Our road trip ended up in San Francisco where we spent four fabulous days.
London, the city I was born in, worked in and lived for a while. It is one of my favourite cities and even though there must be hundred of blogs about London, these posts are about my memories of London. We try to visit at least a few times when we go back to the UK to see my parents, either taking the train which is around a 30 minute journey or drive up.
I found a wonderful website called Just Park . It’s a site where people rent out their parking spaces for a day at a time. We have never paid more than £10 a day, which is a bargain considering the astronomic cost of parking in London. If we take the train, we buy a travel card for the day and this lets you use, trains, tube and buses. The train for us takes us into Fenchurch Street Station and from here we walk to the tube or bus stop. I have found that google maps is brilliant for telling you what number bus to take and when it will arrive.
So much has changed over the last twenty years I find it hard to know my way around like I used to. Tall architecturally designed buildings now dominate the city with centuries old churches nestled in between.
By Day
St. Paul’s Cathedral
Tower of London
Plantation House
Monument to the Great Fire of London
The Walkie Talkie Building
St. Mary Aze
Leadenhall Street
Royal Exchange
The iconic red London double decker bus is the best way to see London especially if you are at the top in the front! We did manage this during one visit only to be turfed off shortly down the road due to the “Save the Planet” protests.
By Night
The Gherkin from the Heron Tower
The Gherkin with St. Mary Axe
Alleyways
and Pubs
Nowadays there are so many places to eat in the City, whereas many years ago it was really just pubs and cafes. The food is always good wherever you go giving London the gourmet reputation it deserves.
A fine bottle of Pouilly Fume
Crab Cakes
Seafood pasta
Obscure captioned poster!
Oops! Can you pay?
Lunchtime at Davy’s Bar, underneath the arches in Crutched Friars
Brick Lane
As I’ve written before my dear hubby is mostly interested in shopping and is always on the lookout for shops that sell a particular denim or certain item of clothing that has caught his eye. Brick Lane is where his favourite shop is located, Son of a Stag. It sells mostly jeans but there are also other quirky designer items. I usually sit on the bench inside and know I’m in for a long wait, while he discusses weight and thread count with the sales assistant. We’re normally here for 45 minutes but then have to go back to collect said item after it has been altered.
“I won’t be long”
“How does it look”
Street Art around Brick Lane
The old Truman Brewery, said to be founded in or around 1666 by Joseph Truman. Now it is home to East London’s arts and media centre. Housing bars, restaurants, galleries and shops.
Back to their roots
During one of our trips up to London my mum and dad came with us to show us where they used to live. My Dad came from Bethnal Green and my Mum from Hackney. We also visited the church where they got married.
Aged 10
Aged 84
Still has the same smirk!
Mum’s old housing estate
Outside St. Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch
Still going strong after 64 years
St. Leonard’s Church (also known as Shoreditch Church) dating back to approximately 1740. This church was mentioned in the nursery rhyme “Oranges and Lemons” – “when I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch”.
Prospect of Whitby, Wapping
Still in the East is the district of Wapping, sitting on the banks of the River Thames and near St. Katherine’s Docks and Tobacco Wharf. This area is now a much desired place to live. The Prospect of Whitby used to be one of my favourite pubs and I decided to revisit on one of our trips.
It dates back to around 1520 and is probably one of the oldest taverns in London. I don’t think anything has changed much over the years!
There is so much more to see of East London and the City especially the markets. You don’t always have to do the touristy stuff to have a good time in London.
Some of the fabulous markets to visit if you have time
Petticoat Lane Columbia Street Flower Market Leadenhall Market Old Spitalfields Market To name but a few!
My Square of the Day for Square Perspectives hosted by Becky from The Life of B is a photo of The Montcalm Signature Tower in Shoreditch, London. The Hotel M by Montcalm is situated in this building. The architecture is amazing and it looks like it has been squashed between the adjacent buildings.
Kelowna was on our itinerary for the road trip we did in the USA and Canada a few years ago. We spent five days here visiting my very good friend Lynn. It had been a few years since we had all seen each other.
Kelowna is a city in British Columbia and is situated in the Okanagan Valley which is known for its pine forests, vineyards and orchards.
We travelled from Vancouver in a hire car, which foolishly we had left until the last minute thinking that we could do it the day before! Also we wanted the car to drive onto the Rockies after and to drop it off in Calgary. We found out that this wasn’t something every car hire place did. So we spent a fair bit of time trying to find somewhere that did this, paying quite a bit for the one way route.
The journey takes around seven hours plus stopping time, we arrived in time for dinner!
Some of the photos I took along the way
Over the next few days we explored all around Kelowna. One thing that surprised me here were the amount of homeless people around. At first I thought they were backpackers but then wondered why they would take a dog with them! I found out that they collected more money if they had a dog with them. We would always keep loose change in our pockets to add to their caps and tins. Anthony would always have a word or two with them to find out their story, most of them were homeless involuntarily but we came across the odd few who chose this way of life.
From our walk up Knox Mountain, I didn’t manage it to the top but Anthony did. Views over Okanagan Lake and the town of Kelowna.
Half way
I think this is where I stopped
Magnificent views over Lake Okanagan
Kelowna Town
Making it to the top
A blurry wild deer!
O’Keefe Ranch
We spent a fun day at O’Keefe Ranch with Lynn’s parents one day, a drive not too far from Kelowna. The ranch was founded in 1867 by Cornelius O’Keefe. Everything here has been very well preserved and there is a lovely restaurant for lunch.
Outside and inside the farmhouse
There are some beautiful walks around Kelowna and one day Lynn and I went for a mini hike very near to where she lived
We found many fossilised rocks on our walk plus a crashed car at the bottom of a ravine! Wonder how that got there
Our last dinner
All too soon our trip to Kelowna was over but not the road trip! After this we drove onto The Rockies.
We visited Jerez on a three night trip to Seville with my parents a few years ago. It was an unplanned trip, but when I realised how close and easy it was to get to we decided to spend an afternoon there. Trains from Seville were pretty frequent so we just took a taxi to the station and bought tickets at the counter. The journey takes around an hour.
Waiting to board
For some reason I thought there would be tour buses at Jerez Station! When we walked out the only transport were taxis. By this time it was lunchtime so we hopped in a taxi and Anthony asked the driver who spoke no English to take us to a “nice restaurant”, he’s very good at miming. We struck lucky with our driver who drove us to a fantastic restaurant and also said he would wait for us and give us a tour after.
The restaurant we had lunch at was called La Carbona, I think it was probably a Michelin Star restaurant judging by the price!
Anyway the food, service and atmosphere were excellent, but we knew we had to go and explore soon before it became too dark.
True to his word our driver was waiting to drive us around the small town centre. He tried so hard to make us understand what he was talking about, and spoke very animatedly for over an hour in Spanish, all to no avail!
Exploring the beautiful town of Jerez. Jerez Cathedral; Town Square
A Christmas Nativity Scene
I would love to go back to Jerez one day and spend more time there, but it was a wonderful afternoon during our visit to Seville.
