Stories behind the stories. By Travel Writer, Amy McPherson
Cities are such wonderful places to experience human life. While they are busy and hectic, the travel experience will enrich all your senses, and give you an insight of the lifestyle and progress of a country.
Our travels to the world’s cities has given us the opportunity to see just how similar our cities are to each other, how very much alike our ways of thinking, and at the same time, experience and embrace the cultural differences, try different foods and most of all, learn that while cities can feel very similar to each other, each city has its own unique way of dealing with modern day issues. A chance to learn and take home the good, and reflect how we can also do just a little bit better in our own city lives.
There is a lot of war going on. There has always been a lot of war going on. A few years back I wrote a story on Snowshoeing around Sarajevo for Destinasian magazine. During that trip, I got to experience the quiet winter wonderland in the mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and received the warm …
Is there a secret London many of us don’t know about? I recently read Charles Dickens’ Night Walks and The Uncommercial Traveller, a series of essays based on his walks around London. Known to be an insomniac, he described the London he saw, from Haymarket, which he describes as “the worst kept part of London” (Uncommercial …
2017 is supposed to be the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, yet, tourism hasn’t been all that sustainable at all. We saw this first hand on our recent trip to Dubrovnik, on a walking holiday with On Foot Holidays where we stayed 2 nights with our apartment window looking out to this wonderfully …
I loved a recent article on Traveller listing the 13 best cities you’ve never thought of going to, listing Taipei, the place of my birth among the other exotic and fantastic cities around the world. Personally the idea of visiting places that may not be on the mainstream travel itineraries gives you an alternative view …
Ok, it might be a little late for those not already in Europe to consider, but Eurovision is upon us in a few days and as Ukraine won last year’s song contest, the event will be held in the country’s capital – Kiev – this year. If you are still thinking about going along, here’s …
I think it’s time to finally admit we are getting old. It was about three hours into the second leg of our flight from London to Sydney when we began to realise: we no longer find inflight entertainment entertaining, the complimentary alcohol no longer amused us and to be honest, our bodies no longer tolerated …
I am not biased, but having experienced Taipei as an adult and as a tourist, it really is an exciting city to visit. Here’s a little guide to Taipei on getting in, getting around and essential information about travelling in Taipei. Why you should visit Taipei (and the rest of Taiwan while you are at …
Tourists generally come to London and spend a few days battling crowds of their own kind in and around the major attractions: Westminster Abbey, the Big Ben, London Eye, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the entire strip down Regent Street from Piccadilly Circus to Oxford Circus, maybe venture to St Paul’s, maybe nose around Soho …
Ah, the beautiful Prague… I know my last post about ways to escape the crowds in Prague may have put you off from visiting… Yes, it is absolutely chaotic and yes, we were there in winter. So, in summer during the main tourist season, it must be worse! However, there is a reason. Prague really …
We ended our Slovenian journey in the capital Ljubljana. The small, quaint city isn’t all that much of a ‘capital’ as you would imagine, but with only a total of 2 million people in this country, it is still vibrant and full of life! It’s impossible not to love Ljubljana. Having explored the city, Will …
We’ve just had the opportunity to visit my (favourite) German city Saarbrücken, for a friend’s wedding. I lived here 13 years ago as a student for a year, and surprisingly have always had an inkling to come back. Saarbrücken is not too well known, in fact, when I mentioned that I would be spending my weekend …
Switzerland Tourism advises travellers to beware of Pokemons when visiting Basel this month. It’s a Pokemon Go revenge! This footage shows a team of four mischievous Pokemons disrupting the peace around the city by throwing and slinging giant balls at unsuspecting humans playing on their phones while walking around Basel’s top attraction spots – in the …
“Thank you for visiting Belfast, it’s good of you to come.” Our AirBnB host couldn’t be more welcoming. We arrived in the wee hours of 2am on a Saturday morning, from a flight that was 3 hours delayed in London and he wasn’t the least bothered. The reassurance that we were in fact, welcome, is …
Stayed: 1 night, 23 – 24 April 2016 Room: 3911 (Superior Shard Room) Price Paid: £435, booked through Secretescapes.com Breakfast: Included That feeling, when you’ve done something that you normally wouldn’t do – like, spend this kind of money for a night’s accommodation – is still lingering in my head 7 hours after checking out of the …
Lisbon is a great city to spend a long weekend in. It is small enough to be explored in 48 hours but not too bland and boring to leave you with nothing to do. Not only that, there’s something for everyone, from foodies to culture lovers to history buffs…. and surprisingly, almost everything was open …
Architects are going all out and trying to out do each other in the quest to design a building that most resembles our everyday things. In London, a series of modern architecture have become tourist attractions and whether the Londoners like it or not, becoming so popular that more is being built! Love them or …
“Mum! This is like fairy land!” a little girl said as she excitedly ran forward to view the cartoon-like animals illuminating our path. My inner child laughs with delight as I too, were mesmerised by the fantastic lanterns surrounding us. As the Lunar Calendar steps into a new year on Monday into the Year of …
Ok, I am stealing someone else’s tagline, but I’ve decided that Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland really is, the world’s coolest little capital. In terms of temperature, the capital of Iceland really isn’t all that ‘cool’ Well, for starters, Reykjavik is the northernmost national capital of the world, which potentially should make it the ‘coolest’ …
You know that moment when you realised that you’ve just filled your entire camera’s memory on the same back drop over and over again? I had that moment recently when we spent a weekend in Lausanne, sitting on the lake shore being mesmerised by the snow dusted mountain peaks directly across the water from us. …
Come together, right now. Over me. My mother is a big Beatles fan. I am also partial to a good tune by the Fab Four, and visiting Liverpool was somewhat of a pilgrimage, made on behalf of my mother, to the home of the band that made millions of girls worldwide scream their hearts out …
There was only one reason, and one reason only for my recent trip to Cardiff. Doctor Who. Go on, call me the nerd, but I am simply in love with this quirky time traveller created by the BBC and couldn’t help but make this special journey to the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff. For the show’s …
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 …
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 …
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 …
