Tag: travel blog

What I Am Proud Of In 2022

Antwerp – a winter break

This has been a very busy year for me as I am sure it has for you. Work has been hectic but I have managed to go from a five day week to a four day one, freeing up a little more time for writing and blogging. As well as this I have started to travel again. Here are some of my 2022 highlights.

– Being involved in the establishment of the Climate Change Collective. This group of bloggers is writing monthly posts about global warming and spreads the word about how people can become more environmentally considerate.

– Travelling around Northern Europe by train. In summer I was lucky enough to visit Amsterdam and Copenhagen. I also took day trips to Sweden and stopped off briefly in Bremen. To finish the year a wonderful visit to Antwerp was a brilliant finale.

– Releasing my YA book, ‘Being Watched.’ I loved writing this story which began life as a short story in my self published book ‘Short Dates’ back in 2018. A snippet from my YA Novel.

– Another trip that excited me was a little break in Edinburgh back at Easter. I wrote this guest post about the experience: Edinburgh – A Reader’s Dream .

– I have loved becoming a member of the wonderful blogging community. This year I have continued to expand my blog slowly and begun writing content for Medium.

– Somehow I have managed to keep up some basic fitness workouts during the year. Using the Own Your Own Goals Davina app I have kept going with aerobics, dance, combat and yoga. My personal faves are the aerobics workouts.

– I had a new kitchen installed and did more cooking than ever before.

I have achieved quite a lot this year. I am grateful to all the people I have collaborated with and appreciate all of the support I have got for the blog. My intention is to keep going with my Youtube channel next year and do plenty of travelling by train, possible starting with Basel and Geneva. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Please consider following my blog for more of the same.

Edinburgh – A Historic City

With the sad news of Queen Elizabeth’s death leading to her body being held in St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, I was reminded of my first visit to this wonderful city, back in April. Having not blogged about it, I decided that now was an appropriate time to share my thoughts of this ancient city.

There is something fascinating about these old streets.
A modern shopping centre.

As soon as I arrived at Edinburgh Waverley station I wanted to look around. I noticed a gin festival close to the station and was intrigued by the deep gully that divided one side of the city from the other. After dropping off my bags, I took a walk up to Calton Hill, which was incredibly steep but the views were rewarding.

Nelson Monument
On top of Calton Hill

Although it was raining, I enjoyed walking around the old monuments, including the National Monument with its twelve pillars and the Nelson Monument, as seen above. You will also find the City Observatory in the same place.

As I was only in Edinburgh for three nights, I wanted to squeeze in as much as possible. Of course, the evenings were spent tasting Scottish whiskey and exploring local pubs and eateries.

The Dome, Edinburgh

My first delicious meal was at The Dome and its menu was mouth-watering. I went for the fish dish with asparagus and had a very tasty creme brûlée for pudding.

Edinburgh had an intriguing spirit and was really welcoming, with its colourful cobbled streets, charming scenery and remnants of culture everywhere. It is also built on two hills, so walking around it really gets the blood flowing. My legs were aching each morning but the experience was amazing.

Adored this pudding.

This was just the start of my Edinburgh adventure and I have recalled how perfect Edinburgh is as a venue for bookish people in my guest post ‘Why is Edinburgh a reader’s dream?’ which I recently posted on The Grumpy Olive Blog.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my article. Please consider following my blog for similar future content.

Things To Do In Copenhagen (Part Two)

Having just got back from a brilliant railway holiday across northern Europe, I am enjoying sharing my thoughts on the cities I visited. My previous Copenhagen article focussed on a castle visit and this time I want to talk about how to get a good overview of the city. So here are some more interesting and fun things to do in Copenhagen.

These canal cruises are brilliant!

On the second day I wanted to find out more about this beautiful city. The best way to do this is by boat tour and I decided that a one hour cruise would be a good taster for me. It was a Sunday and, though the weather was very hot generally, this was the one day that the sky threatened rain but that didn’t put us off. Funnily enough a rain storm started half way round and the guide gave us all ponchos to wear.

A slight hiccup.

It was during this rain storm, while we were out in the harbour, that the guide also let us know that the engine was failing. We managed to get the boat over to the nearest mooring and were told we could either end the tour there or wait 20 minutes for another boat to collect us. Of course, we waited and enjoyed the downpour, just like many others.

I am glad we did as the weather then cleared up and we carried on the canal tour, catching some brilliant insights into Copenhagen and its history. One of the first sights was Amager Bakke, a biofuel incinerator which is also used as a ski slope and picnic area. I have to celebrate Copenhagen’s keenness to become a carbon zero city. This generator provides power for 80,000 homes.

Biofuel incinerator

Another highlight was this beautiful Church of Our Saviour with its incredible spiral staircase which is situated outside. You can take the time to walk up that external staircase if you want to but I sadly didn’t have enough time.

The spiral staircase church
Hans Christian Anderson’s house

We also got to see the place where the Little Mermaid storyteller, Hans Christian Anderson lived. His was the first floor flat in the middle, under the balcony with the tree on.

Statue of Bishop Absalon, founder of Copenhagen
Streetside
The Opera House
Much needed food.

After a dramatic but fun boat cruise in the rain, we found ourselves in a Buka restaurant where I had a lovely lasagne. I had hoped for some baked goods but when I saw someone else having lasagne, I had to have the same.

Lasagne after boating

Following an eventful morning on the water, we decided to visit Tivoli but I will save that for a future blog post. Thank you for reading my article. Perhaps consider following my blog for similar future content.