Stories behind the stories. By Travel Writer, Amy McPherson
It was really nice to be able to see Moscow during the day, for my previous trips had been on business and I don’t always have the spare time at night to explore. I wrote about Moscow in winter in all its cold and snowy glory, but I thought I write a proper ‘guide’ post …
I hear that some of you have been inquiring over me. Never fear, I am still alive, despite mum and dad’s insistence of not feeding me every time I actually need to be fed. I keep telling them by nagging and clawing at the door, but I get ignored each time. So I spend most …
I love train travel, so it’s no surprise that when we were in Russia I wasn’t going to pass on a chance to get on a Russian train! While there is an express train that we could have taken between St Petersburg and Moscow, which would have only taken a little over 4 hours, we …
Two hours train ride away from St Petersburg took us somewhere in complete contrast. Stepping out of the train we were greeted with a bland concrete station building adorned with the Soviet hammer and sickle, and image that told us that we were definitely not in imperial grounds anymore. This was Veliky Novgorod (or simply …
My previous business trips to Moscow had given me a taste of the extravagance of the Russian architecture and their love of showing off, so on arrival in St Petersburg I wasn’t surprised to find a metropolis of grand palaces and elegant gardens, encircled by cathedrals and churches with golden onion domes. We chose to …
Wimbledon is a word that is synonymous with tennis, and is conveniently just four train stops from where I currently live. However, I am currently avoiding the area due to the crowds that have descended in the area for… well, the tennis of course. However, there is another side of Wimbledon that isn’t about tennis. Wimbledon …
Wanting to explore the region where we live, I jumped on Google Maps (what else) and looked for places and areas of interest in Surrey. Being Google, it knew my strong preferences to places with lots of nature and walking trails so immediately pin pointed the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Beauty on the map. …
Thinking of taking an eco-friendly approach to travel? On some of our previous trips, we’ve rented bikes to explore towns and cities, and I found travelling on bikes fantastic for seeing a place from a different point of view. Therefore, it is always an interest of mine to find bike friendly cities to visit on …
We all have places where we go to just breathe, sometimes for a long time but more often just for a couple of days, where we escape the daily grind, away from the routine that is wake up, breakfast, train, work, lunch, work, train, home, dinner, sleep. Some escape to shop, others escape to enjoy …
I have been thinking about the Pacific lately, thinking about the islands, the beaches and friendly people. Combining the European setting and thoughts of smiling islanders I landed my mind back in bustling Noumea, where it is easier to get a good croissant than it is to order the Bougna, a traditional Melanesian feast cooked in banana …
Dad’s turn :) 爸爸寫: Dad writes: 法國人浪漫崇尚自由，巴黎被稱為浪漫之都. 艾菲爾鐵塔，凱旋門,羅浮宮,凡爾賽宮,塞納河,紅酒左岸咖啡,這些名詞都是我來巴黎之前所學到的． The French are romantic and adore freedom, and Paris is known as the romantic city. Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, Palace of Versailles, Seine river, red wine and coffee are some of the words I associated with Paris before our visit. 這一次的歐洲之行，是女兒幫我們規劃的，法國是我們造訪的第四個國家. 我們從德國法蘭克福搭火車三個小時到達巴黎，女兒的朋友 Ching 已經在火車站等我們了，他將負責導引我們在巴黎三天的旅遊. This European …
媽媽寫: Mum writes: 女兒女婿親子來荷蘭接我們，由阿姆斯特丹坐快車到德國的科隆.科隆有世界著名的古教堂，高大宏偉壯觀是世界古蹟遺產之一，也有很大的廣場，在廣場的酒吧內第一次喝到了德國啤酒. My daughter and her husband came to pick us up after the cruise in Amsterdam, and we took an express train to Germany’s Cologne. Cologne has the iconic historical church, tall and grand and is one of the world heritage sites. 科隆的小餐廳並非以華麗取勝，而是有很多典雅的擺飾. 店內只賣啤酒和一些傳統的食物. 客人多為喝酒而來，侍者均以小杯呈上，不過會推銷無數次的續杯. Cologne’s small pubs and restaurants are decorated with …
My mother has been inspired to write a post about her journey in Europe. A first time writer, she decided to use my blog as a platform so she can share her story with her friends. This post is in Chinese, translated to English by me (sorry it’s not perfect, translation is not my forte!). …
There’s much to celebrate about English history this year, one of which is the 500 years of Hampton Court , built by Henry VIII (the one who keep killing his wives for not bearing him sons) which is a leisurely boat ride (or 10 mins by train) up the Thames from where we currently live. …
We’ve had a couple of visitors in London since moving here and many of them have displayed a desire to see musicals in London as one of their must dos. I love a good musical production, with its colourful costumes, fantastic music, and spectacular stage sets. Moving to London had been fantastic for the theatre loving …
Hello. Yep, that’s me. They put me in a cage, and I was not happy. So I wanted to write to tell you about the time I took the 24 hours flight. Mid last year mum suddenly disappeared on us for a few months. Angel and I were placed in the care of aunt Krista …
It’s one of those stories that begins with “In a land far far away….” Last month I shared my thoughts on what had surprised me about the UK. Most of these surprises don’t bother me all that much but while life has been more than wonderful (yes, you heard me, I am thoroughly enjoying myself!) there are times …
Hello. Yes, it’s the cat writing. I’ve been quiet for too long about this and it’s time to break my silence. Seeing that you have all been following what my mother gets up to trotting around the globe, I figured that you already know the pain and sufferance she has endowed upon me (not us, …
It’s approaching my 6 months anniversary of being a resident here in the UK. Doesn’t time fly when you are having fun? Remember how I was both excited about and dreading the move to London? A couple of months ago, a friend asked me how I was and what I liked and disliked about the UK, …
That’s right. It’s about food again. I can’t help it. As you know food always play a large part of my travels! One of the best things about business travel, is that I get to eat in good cafes and restaurants where my backpacking budget would never have allowed me to. Kiev surprised me with …
Kiev made me fall in love with fat. Yes, that’s right, fat. We are talking lard, we are talking slices of pig fat rolled in spices, we are talking pan fried dumplings with its thin coating of oil. It’s very much country food in this region, and for both Russia and Ukraine, I have been …
We stayed in a castle the other day. And it was like a fairy tale. Checked in: 28 February 2015 Checked out: 1 March 2015 Room: Bodium – Superior Double Price paid: £620 A Taste of Amberley Package The last time I paid this much for a night’s accommodation was for our wedding in Vanuatu. It was …
It’s first of March! It’s first day of Spring! Well, for the northern hemisphere anyway, and it has been warmly welcomed. Not that winter had been all that bad. Apparently it was the sunniest winter in England for 90 years. Sunniest! Can you believe it? And they say winter in England is horrible. I had …
As I am about to head over to Kiev for the second time, I thought I’d share 5 interesting facts I learned about Kiev that you probably didn’t know! 1. Kiev, or Kyiv, is one of the largest and oldest cities in Eastern Europe. The city was founded in the year of 482BC. That’s pretty old. Ok, …
