During our extended stay in Croatia, we decided to add the ancient city of Dubrovnik to our list of places to visit. Dubrovnik is steeped in history and from the moment we arrived at the Pile Gate to the city wall, it felt as if we were transformed back in time. As a UNESCO site, the city was carefully restored …
Places
By traveling to new places your senses, your powers of observation, and your focus intensify. Our perception of time quickens with age, because adults tend to have “compressed” memories. Your ability to learn and be engaged puts you in the same position as when you were a child. If this is true, then does traveling to new places makes you a kid again?
Visiting new places won’t just ease the transition into the next stage of your life, it will give you a chance to reflect on where you’ve been, where you’re going and where you want to end up. Rather than waiting until you’re saying, “I wish I had”, live so you can say “I’m glad I did”. Life is a wonderful gift, filled with beautiful places and people.
We had a house sit in St Hipp., which sits at the foot of the Cevennes mountains, about 50 Km (30 miles) from the Mediterranean coast by Montpellier, France. With origins from the 13th century, the town survived multiple invasions over the centuries by being a trading and artisanal center. As a protestant center in the religious wars, it had …
Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, is both spiritual and cultural and it opens the door to a whole new set of experiences. When we planned our visit to Chiang Mai, we had wanted to visit a camp for elephants, where we could interact with them, but in a humane way. You can find many tours offerings rides, where elephants are …
Some years ago, during a visit to close friends in Caracas, Venezuela, we took the opportunity to spend a few days in the Amazon region of the Venezuelan interior. The Orinoco river, some 2,000km (1,300 miles) long, starts in Columbia to discharge into the Atlantic. The river basin is huge, estimated between 880,000 and 1,200,000 square km (340,000-460,000 square miles). …
We are very lucky to have good friends in London who are willing to put us up when we are there. They live on the Hammersmith / Chiswick border close to the Thames. The neighbourhoods have a village flavour to them. We love the walks along the river, even as far as central London. There are many pubs along the …
Detail of Nonsuch Palace from the North East, circa 1666–1679, attributed to Hendrick Danckerts Henry VIII’s palaces of Nonsuch and Hampton Court Whilst we were house sitting in Cheam, south of London, we would take our dog Rufus for walks in Nonsuch Park nearby. With a name like that I had to google it! Henry VIII built a palace here that …
The sculpture park is the world’s largest, all year sculpture exhibition, showcasing over 300 artists and 600 sculptures. Situated within ten acres of lush arboretum and wildlife inhabitated water gardens, surrounded by thousands of new plants, bulbs and specimen trees. Maintaining the natural landscape of the rolling Surrey Hills has resulted in the perfect haven for the display of sculpture. The …
Bali was one of those places that I never dreamed I would visit and I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said we were captivated from the get go. From the moment you leave the airport the heat of Bali is like a slap in the face. Heading to Ubud, the landscape shifts from tropical beach to lush …
It is impossible to travel in parts of Provence, Camargue, and Languedoc without seeing the signs for bullfights in the towns and villages. The Camargue is famous for its black fighting bulls, who are light but fast. Unlike a typical Spanish Corrida when the bull has one fight for his life, in France, the bulls are not killed. A good Camargue …
