Beijing - China

Beijing and the Great Wall – China

Post published:6 September 2014
Post category:Asia China

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The Last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China

Reaching our last destination on this trip we arrived to the capital city of China. The heart of the country where the former emperor flair can still be felt in the air in the spectacular palatial constructions. Royal temples, palaces, gardens and broad avenues dating back to the Qing and Ming Dynasties, where the center of power of the vast empire, the Forbidden City, was (and is) located at the very heart, with the rest of the city following concentric rings on an ever expanding city.

Having been before in Shanghai which apparently is a larger city than Beijing, you do not get this feeling once in Beijing. You will come across a vast city where sights are so distant one to another as you surely did not really expect before when planning your trip. Have this really in consideration as the time you will spend commuting around is going to be really incredible long.

But having said quite a positive introduction, the unfortunate reality can change your mind rapidly. Yes, no one can argue about the impressive sights and history on them, but how about what is in the middle of the way between the sites; this is, the city itself? Well, that is the downside here. It is a complete disaster in architectural taste. Horrible apartment high-rises simply everywhere possible, ugly streets without any taste; huge avenues where pedestrians are the less considered. Only congestion, pollution, noise and traffic at any time of the day. (more…)

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Xian - China

Xian – China

Post published:2 September 2014
Post category:Asia China

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Starting Point of the Silk Road

Our next move within China and after our first impressions of what is like to be in mainland China, we took off from Shanghai to Xian in the heart of China. The starting point of the Silk Road. Impossible to argue it is one of the most historical cities in China and perhaps under rated by most of the tourist, which they just go (or are taken as part of a tour) to the Terracotta Warriors and leave the city without even see the impressive city walls or not a glimpse of what other attractions the city has to offer.

I knew Xi’An had way too many places to visit and lots to do, but unfortunately in our super busy agenda all we could spare were 2 days, from which almost a full one was gone for the Terracotta Warriors. Still, from the remaining time we had in the city we definitely saw the most we could, and yet again as the same note of what happened in Suzhou, unfortunately the rest of the city around the sights is really an eyesore.

A very good point in favour is the way the city developed. Meaning what is within the walls covers at least 75% of all the sights and must do’s, and it’s easily reachable even on foot around the central ones. Only some temples, monuments and museums are outside of the walls. (more…)

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Suzhou - China

Suzhou – China

Post published:31 August 2014
Post category:Asia China

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Venice of the East

At little over 100 km from Shanghai to the west is this “beautiful” canal-city of Suzhou. A glimpse of very traditional Chinese architecture, gardens, temples and all criss-crossed by many bridges over the countless canals. A must visit should you have enough time in Shanghai. It will truly make your trip to China an excellent addition merely to be able to really appreciate and feel the real ancient Chinese life. You might wonder why the quotations on the word beautiful, but will explain later below.

And at only 25 minutes by super frequent high speed trains from Shanghai, and only around £5 per way there is no excuse nor hassle why not to come and visit. Perhaps the only constrain will be having the time for it. Thankfully for us we planned 3 full days in Shanghai for which we could allow one of them for Suzhou since in 2 days you can more or less visit pretty much every sight in Shanghai. Still for you to know, 1 day in Suzhou is not enough to see everything. At least 2 would make things better.

Shockingly the city is rapidly growing and will soon have 10 million inhabitants! That’s just crazy growth and here comes the quotation on beautiful mentioned before. Sadly most of the old city centre is now gone for horrible constructions, meaning what is basically left are all the gardens, temples and monuments scattered around them, many of them listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site. A sad truth of what China is really doing with its development.

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Seoul - South Korea

Seoul – South Korea

Post published:28 August 2014
Post category:Asia South Korea

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Gyeongseong

After such impatient wait, the day finally has finally arrived! Our second time in Asia this year with a span in between trips of barely 4 months. Another two different countries, two well marked different cultures. Starting with the capital of South Korea then moving on to mainland China to cover the triangle cities of Shanghai, Xi’An and Beijing, and other secondary small ones in between.

This was not only the first time I would visit South Korea, but it was also the first time I would fly on such a long haul in business class. Although it was not one of those super offer tickets this time, it was at least one of these British Airways flights we could manage when they, from time to time, launch what they call “luxury sales” or “the world is on sale” where all their business and first class tickets have some sort of discount. I do strongly advice you to check around some flights whenever they have such a sales, you can grab some really great deals! Another purpose for us to have chosen business class was to boost our Executive Club membership to the next level, to become and retail the Silver status.

Now to what really matters here, the city of Seoul. It is the second largest metropolis in the world at over 25 million people, and has only became so rich and successfully over the past 30 years. It was not many years back, even poorer than their neighbour North Korea. This incredible unprecedented development is what is known as the “Miracle on the Han River” when it was transformed from the ashes of the Korean War after 1953 in what is today the 4th largest metropolitan economy in the world. (more…)

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Prague - Czech Republic

Prague – Czech Republic

Post published:27 July 2014
Post category:Czech Republic Eastern Europe Europe

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Caput Regni: Head of the Kingdom

Prague, one of the most impressive and beautiful cities in the world, is hard to even describe and say something towards it. Once you get there and be on the streets, is easy to understand why. And no matter the time of the year you come, every season is somewhat special here. What is becoming harder though is to find a quiet month with not that many tourists. My first trip was back in 2009 and that was still nice; the city was only starting to gentrify and prices were really competitive for everything. Now it’s the opposite, one of the most desired cities, heavily massified.

It’s good to now have a wider overview of the city, hence the good reason this guide is actually a combination of all these visits, plus another more recent where we would also take the chance to get to the enchanting city of Cesky Krumlov. It’s always great coming back to Prague, there’s always something new. Refreshing memories and also being able to provide with a proper travel guide entry for my blog as otherwise remembering all the details from these years back would have not been accurate with half of it missing.

The city is always included on any poll and listing of the most beautiful cities in the world, or places to visit before you die and similar lists. As such, you can imagine the incredible amount of history, sights, museums, entertainment and nightlife, therefore in a weekend it is absolutely impossible to visit everything. You will need at least a minimum of 4 days although I would personally recommend you more if you have the chance, or a me right now, coming for a second time and continue visiting new places.

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Vatican City - Vatican

Vatican City – Vatican

Post published:22 June 2014
Post category:Europe Italy Southern Europe Vatican

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The smallest country in the World

Since The Vatican is a separate country and to follow with the way I do create the travel guides in my blog, here is a standalone guide for it. Although pretty much the same is self-explained in the guide for Rome. Basically, this guide is based upon an older visit and not the most recent, since all the next times we’ve done a trip to Rome we did not return to The Vatican again. Fair enough one will always walk past it and around it, but to be honest having already been twice in the Basilica and gigantic museums, spending countless hours and making the way through the hordes of tourists, I think I have enough for quite some time until I feel the need for repeating in the future.

It takes at least half a day to visit, therefore plan ahead and know the times in advance, trying to avoid the rush hours where the queues build up exponentially. For instance, I would never recommend you to get there by the time they open and the following 2 hours, but coming towards the midday is already a good choice. You can admire the incredible architecture from the outside in the morning, and consider accessing inside after an early lunch. Remember once you enter all you have are some cafes and pricey restaurants, a limited choice.

Two of it’s highlights are why every visitor to Rome come, as otherwise, it’s like you have not visited Rome to be honest: Saint Paul’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums, all of which listed by the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. Both lie within the Vatican City, also known ad the Holy Sea, the smallest internationally recognized independent state in the world by both area and population. The only such exception to be found in the world where a micro state is within the boundaries of a city of another state. An ecclesiastical monarchical state, ruled by the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. It’s also one of the last seven remaining absolute monarchies in the world, being the others as matter of curiosity and information Qatar, Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Brunei and Swaziland. (more…)

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Rome - Italy

Rome – Italy

Post published:22 June 2014
Post category:Europe Italy Southern Europe

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The Eternal City; Caput Mundi: Capital of the World

Although it is already several times I visit this city, it’s also good time to finally create a proper travel guide for it. I know that a weekend as I have just been is extremely short time not permitting me to see even a quarter of what the city has to offer, but in combination with the previous trips to this awesome capital, it makes a good background of thoroughly sightseeing everything when combining them all. I’m happy to be able to provide you with this very complete guide, easy and ready for anyone to use. And to myself, looking forward to the next time I return which for sure it won’t be that long.

Although we all have a first thing in mind, the Romans and one of the greatest civilization the earth have known in antiquity, the city goes back much more in time to around 14000 years BC as many archaeological finds have proven. In any case, the worldwide importance of the city resides in having been the capital of the Roman Empire, the birthplace of the western civilization.

With such countless richness in architecture and arts it is no wonder that it is the 3rd most visited city in Europe and the 11th in the world (at the time of writing this guide). Of course the 1st by excellence in Italy, therefore expect the hordes of tourists everywhere at any time of the year, being most acute during high season months. Prices for everything, specially accommodation, are of course based on such demand and therefore much higher than anywhere else in Italy.

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Madrid - Spain

Madrid – Spain

Post published:15 June 2014
Post category:Europe Southern Europe Spain

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Moorish Mayrit, Mozarabic Matrit

It’s finally time I set myself to create the travel guide for my home town. I know it won’t be easy but rather a challenge in order to try to compile the best through my own experience and eyes, and if creating the guide for Barcelona was already a difficult task where of course, there is much more to see and do than what I shared, here I am still even deciding on how I am actually going to structure and divide the sections and areas within the city for the sightseeing list.

But first, let’s start with some interesting facts. Remember that I do not describe in detail the history of the cities in my travel blog; for that you already have Wikipedia, Wikitravel and many other sites on the web, but I do always provide a good input and some notes quite appropriate to give you an idea. Madrid is the largest city in Spain; 3rd largest city after London and Berlin, 3rd largest metropolitan area after London and Paris and 3rd largest GDP in the European Union. Capital of Spain since 1561 when King Philip II moved it from Toledo. It’s the largest transportation and communications hub in the Iberian Peninsula; media, business, banking, commercial, education, fashion, political, arts, entertainment and cultural centre making it one of the world’s major global cities. It is the major financial centre of Southern Europe. Ranking among the most liveliest cities in the world, you will find one of the friendliest and more welcoming people in Europe.

It is quite surprising that most of the tourists Spain receives per year do not consider visiting Madrid and instead quickly go to the Mediterranean coast, Andalusia, the islands, and the most visited city in Spain, Barcelona. And shocking in the other hand, it is for many people in the UK to believe that the capital of Spain is Barcelona. I get into such comments quite frequently where I have to teach politely the people a little bit of geography and basic history. (more…)

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