ItchyFeetBlog

It’s been quite a while since I posted a new blog on here and I actually have several more destinations to write up: Berlin, Cologne, Bruges, the Calais-Dover ferry, York and Belfast! I’m in the process of gradually uploading some of the gigabytes (literally!) worth of photos to my Flickr account, but in the meantime, I’ve uploaded a handful of videos from my travels around China! I hope you enjoy them – going through them has brought back some great memories!

Beijing Railway Station bells

The video below is of the bells ringing at Beijing Railway Station at 9pm one evening. The sound carries for miles and made standing in the square just outside very atmospherical! I remember this evening well as I’d just got back from seeing the Great Wall of China, exhausted, hungry but absolutely buzzing from seeing such an amazing landscape!

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Alghero is situated on the north west coast of Sardinia, an island in the Mediterranean sea that makes up part of Italy. Naturally that means it has plenty of influences from the surrounding countries including Italy, France and Spain. The Italian style is not forgotten with celebs such as George Clooney visiting (while I was there!), and with the visitors and locals showing off their incredibly stylish wardrobes like they were all born in Milan.

History

Alghero is full of history. It’s said that Alghero has been present in some form since the 4th millennium BC. Today you can see buildings that date back to the 16th century including the stunning cathedral and the fortifications of the 12th century that were also rebuilt in the 16th century.

Cattedrale di Santa Maria

The Cathedral can be found in the heart of the Old Town of Alghero. When I visited, the outside was being renovated so there was scaffolding, but this didn’t alter the experience inside. With parts being of Catalan-Gothic style, and others in Late Renaissance and Neo-Classical styles, the cathedral has a fascinating mix of history built into its structures.

Cattedrale di Santa Maria: front

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The Travelling Limbo: clouds over Vietnam

Just back from another trip, and I love how:

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Last week I was lucky enough to go on a short break to Cornwall, in the south west of England. If you’ve ever dreamt about quintessential English countryside, Cornwall has just that in abundance!

Traditional Cornish village: Polperro

Sunset and a little boat on the beach in Cornwall.

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Upon hitting Hanoi in northern Vietnam, one of the first priorities was to seek out information on getting to Halong Bay. In Vietnam there are hundreds of travel agents including in Hanoi, and they tend to be situated inside the hotels themselves too to make it even easier to book trips. After sifting through the tips in my Vietnam Lonely Planet travel guide, I chose a 2 day, 1 night cruise in Halong Bay on a fairly new cruise ship called the Paloma.

A map of northern Vietnam including Halong Bay

Halong Bay cruise ship: the Paloma

Just one of the many stunning views from the cruise ship of Halong Bay

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There were several World Cup games on while I was in Vietnam. I remember noting how the passion to watch football was very strong out there! Maybe one day they’ll qualify in the World Cup? Here are a couple of snaps of how they’ll probably be watching the games! (As it’s about 3AM out there right now, they’ll be some hard core followers!)

As usual, click the photos to view them in a larger size

Vietnamese watching the world cup on a big screen outdoors

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During my brief trip to Hong Kong I was lucky enough to be able to see many aspects of Hong Kong through many different view points. My favourite 8 are below in reverse order, some of which are actually free so there’s no excuse to miss out!

Click on the photos below to enlarge them or view more in the set.

8. Choose a room with a view when booking your hotel

Views from floor 27 of the hotel

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My journey through China to date had been a fairly busy one and quite a fast pace. My travelling friend and I were thinking that a bit of time out in China somewhere would be a great idea to slow the pace down, especially since our next destination was likely to be the immensely busy Hong Kong.

After a chance meeting with a writer for Rough Guides books in Renmin Park in Chengdu who gave us some advice on an idyllic beach in south China, we researched some accommodation in the area and booked a flight this time (it was further plus the train routes weren’t very direct) and stayed at Dameisha Beach Resort in Shenzhen from the 24th to the 28th May. Read the rest of this article…

After a stay in Xi’an I took another overnight sleeper train to Chengdu which is further south west in China. I came here primarily for the infamous panda reserves, but ended up extending my stay from 19th to 24th May as I loved Chengdu so much. As Chengdu is within the Sichuan province, the food with all the Sichuan peppers was amazing! You must try the snacks or dishes as the spicy peppers give a different ‘tingling’ sensation to normal pepper. Read the rest of this article…

The second part of my trip was a short trip to Xi’an. This was from the 16th to the 18th May. Again, click on the photos to see more on my huge-and-growing photo gallery on Flickr!

Travelling to Xi’an on a Soft Sleeper Train

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