LA LA LAND (LOS ANGELES) – MARCH/MAY/OCTOBER 2017

Hi there,

I’m finally getting around to writing my new blog posts about my trips to LA and Vegas last year. I am very lucky as I got to follow my partner around the world last year for his work. Our 3 months in Colombia were bookended by two trips to LA (where my partner has another office) and then back again in October for a few weeks.

I had never been to LA before and didn’t really have a desire to go there. For some reason I thought it was a dangerous concrete jungle with nothing to do there. How wrong was I?! Maybe staying in beautiful Santa Monica helped give me a brilliant first impression. We stayed in a wonderful Airbnb overlooking the Santa Monica Pier. This was the view one evening sat on the balcony watching the sunset:

My partner was in LA for work so was only free in the evenings and weekends to do tourist attractions together so I did most of my sight seeing on my own. The first touristy thing we did together was a trip up to the iconic Griffiths Observatory http://www.griffithobservatory.org/ and my first ever view of the famous Hollywood sign. An absolute highlight of my trip (even though I had to experience it with hourdes of other tourists)!

Steve’s first day at work involved a meeting at the Beverly Hills Hotel, so of course I hitched a ride there to explore the (very pink) hotel and the area!

From the Beverly Hills Hotel it is a short walk to Rodeo Drive, the famous high end shopping street of LA. I obviously remembered it from the famous scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts character was being snubbed.

On our next free day together we headed downtown to The Broad Museum https://www.thebroad.org/ , a wonderful contemporary art gallery. It is very popular so if you are able to plan your visit in advance then book tickets. We ended up being an hour in the standby queue. It was definitely worth the wait though.

I decided to do a guided bus tour of LA and after some research opted for Surf City Tours https://surfcitytours.com/ which happened to be located in Santa Monica which was very handy. The tour was over 5 hours long and the driver was a real character filled with so much information. It was a great introduction to the city and helped me get my bearings in this huge sprawling metropolis. There were only 4 stops on the tour but the bus drove past so many other famous locations with the driver sharing his personal knowledge and anecdotes. It was on this tour that I first got to visit Hollywood Boulevard.

Santa Monica is sandwiched between Malibu on one side and Venice on the other. From Santa Monica it is only a short walk along the beach (about 40 minutes) to Venice Beach. I had no idea what to expect at Venice Beach but after experiencing pristine Santa Monica, Venice Beach is definitely a bit rougher around the edges!

Whilst reading the guide book I discovered that the LA Venice also had canals like their namesake. Just a few blocks behind the beach are the Venice Canals. This beautiful residential area is just gorgeous and so serene.

Before we left LA we caught an Uber to experience the Sunset Strip and have brunch at the famous Mel’s Diner http://melsdrive-in.com/

Our last tourist attraction on this first trip to LA was a visit to The Getty Center http://www.getty.edu/visit/center/ An amazing art gallery in a stunning building with gorgeous grounds and views of LA.

On our return to LA in May, at the end of three months living in Medellin, we stayed at a hotel just around the corner from the beautiful art deco Shangri-La Hotel in Santa Monica, which we frequented regularly for its rooftop cocktail bar and gorgeous views! http://www.shangrila-hotel.com/dining-en.html

On our first weekend back in Santa Monica, we caught a taxi to Malibu and had an amazing brunch at Malibu Farm https://www.malibu-farm.com/ on Malibu Pier.

Followed by a walk along Malibu Beach to walk off lunch and for me to imagine my idol Madonna frolicking in the waves while filming the Cherish video https://youtu.be/8q2WS6ahCnY

On the way back from Malibu, just before Santa Monica, we stopped at The Getty Villa (the sister Museum and the original of the Getty Center) http://www.getty.edu/visit/ The Villa is a recreation of a Roman country house and is full of Greek and Roman ancient art.

Originally I didn’t think I would be able to travel around LA easily on my own. However, Santa Monica has its own metro station which takes you straight into Downtown LA. The Science and History museums are also on the same line which was very handy. So on the days that Steve was working, it was very easy for me to travel around on my own and see the sights. On my first day catching the metro I took the line as far as the California Science Center https://californiasciencecenter.org/ – make sure you book your tickets in advance to see the Endeavour. Now, I did not think I was a space geek but I was blown away by seeing the Space Shuttle Endeavour!

Handily, the Natural History Museum Of Los Angeles https://nhm.org/site/ is next door to the California Science Center. I was very impressed with the local history display and of course the dinosaurs!

Once I realised how easy it was to catch the metro from Santa Monica, on my next free day I headed into Downtown LA to do some exploring and visit some museums. I believe not so long ago, the downtown area was not very nice or safe but today it is lovely, clean and I felt very safe. My first stop was to both venues of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) https://www.moca.org/

The walk from the first MOCA venue to the second took me through Little Tokyo and very close to MOCA I discovered the Japanese-American National Museum http://www.janm.org/ There was a very interesting yet harrowing exhibition all about the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans into concentration camps during World War 2. I also discovered a fascinating exhibition on the life and times (so far!) of George Takei which was a lovely uplifting end to my visit.

On our third and final trip of the year to LA in October, we now had our own apartment in Santa Monica and yes we were still very close to our favourite rooftop bar! Also very close to the beach and the pier to watch gorgeous sunsets.

This particular trip to LA, which was as usual a work trip for Steve, was also planned around seeing one of our favourite bands at the Hollywood Bowl https://www.hollywoodbowl.com/ . We have seen Depeche Mode many times before but to see them in LA on the first of a record breaking sold out 4 nights at the famous Hollywood Bowl was just amazing!

Another first in LA on this trip, was going to see an American Football match! I’m not into American football but the experience of seeing the LA Rams play at home to a packed stadium was just fantastic. The atmosphere was electric. As you can see I really threw myself into it too with the merchandise!

Well that’s about it for our amazing LA experience last year. We will definitely be going back this year. Steve for work and me to continue as a professional tourist! So much more still to do. Really want to do a Movie Studio Tour next time and definitely want to see the new King Tut exhibition at the California Science Center.

Las Vegas is only an hour away on a plane from LA and on these visits we also did trips to Vegas. I will write a separate blog for Vegas very soon. Until then, farewell.

Mas Medellin, por favor!

This post is following on from my “Una introducción a Medellín” blog https://peterdav2000.wordpress.com/2017/03/08/una-introduccion-a-medellin/ which covered my first few weeks in Medellin. We stayed in Colombia for 3 months in total so this carries on from where I left off last time.

El Clasico Paisa

Now, those that know me know I am not much of a football person. However, it was recommended that we experience a local derby between Atletico Nacionale and Independiente Medellin, known as El Clasico Paisa, at Estadio Atanasio Girardot. It was such an amazing experience. The atmosphere was pure electric before, during and after the game. Non stop singing and dancing to the bands in the audience. The football was almost secondary! I absolutely loved it.

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One of the highlights of exploring Medellin was catching the cable car up the mountain to Parque Arvi. https://parquearvi.org/ The views from the cable car were stunning and I was fascinated to see (and hear) the barrios up close on the journey up the mountainside. 

Parque Arvi is a massive national park up in the mountains. The huge forest is a lovely respite from the hustle and bustle of Medellin. We signed up for a guided tour of the park. It is recommended for security reasons not to wander the park by yourself. We even had a mounted police escort!

Unfortunately at the end of our afternoon there was a huge thunder and lightening storm which closed the cable car and we had a 2 hour wait for it to reopen. 

I loved our visit to the Museo de Arte Moderno Medellin (MAMM) http://www.elmamm.org/ It is quite a small museum but has great quality exhibits. I was particularly in awe of the work of Debora Arango. 

Debora Arango exhibition

On a very hot afternoon, I decided to climb the many, many steps to the top of the 80m high hill Cerro Nutibara, to visit Pueblito Paisa. http://discovercolombia.com/pueblito-paisa/ This is a mini replica of a typical Antioquian township but is still beautiful and with lovely views of Medellin.

While I was up at Pueblito Paisa, I visited the Museo de Ciudad of Medellin. A small but perfectly formed museum on the history of the city, mainly recent. It was awe inspiring to see how successive mayors have recently invested in not only the infrastructure of the city but the social structure too, making Medellin a city for all of its residents.

On one of our free days together we visited the Zoológico Santa Fe Zoo. The highlights were seeing a jaguar up close and the black bears. Such beautiful creatures. To be honest we were just as interested in all the local wild birds that were in all the enclosures eating the animals food! http://www.zoologicosantafe.com/menu-superior/santa-fe-zoological-park

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An excellent day trip from Medellin is to El Peñol and Guatape. El Peñol is a 200 metre high rock with 750 steps to reach the top. It is so worth the climb for the absolutely gorgeous views. This is one of the most beautiful places in the world. I had seen some photos but they just can’t prepare you for the stunning scenery. 

Not far from El Peñol is the pretty lakeside town of Guatape. We enjoyed a boat ride around the lake, looking at the former holiday homes of Pablo Escobar. We were also shown the former site of the town which was flooded to create the huge reservoir

This is the former holiday home of Pablo Escobar. At the top of the hill was his house and also where he had is own private zoo. The building near the lake was his own nightclub, which also had an escape tunnel through the hill!

Former holiday home of Pablo Escobar

The Jardin Botánico de Medellin is a peaceful oasis away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The gardens are beautiful and full of local wildlife.

Parque Explora is next door to the Botanical Gardens. We had fun exploring Parque Explora but there is so much to see and do that we were a bit overwhelmed. An aquarium, reptile house and then a Science & Technology Museum in 3 two storey blocks! Will definitely need a revisit.

Parque Explora

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The best walking tour I did in Medellin has to be the Comuna 13 Graffiti Tour http://www.comuna13tours.com/   This area used to be the most dangerous district in South America and was extremely poor. The government invested heavily in free schools, childcare and various social programs. It is now full of colourful street art and has its own escalator transport system up the steep hills.

I just couldn’t stop taking photos of the amazing street art I saw in Comuna 13. It was so beautiful and colourful. It’s actually been an initiative of the local government to brighten up what used to be a grey and depressing place. Local artists are allowed to produce these amazing pieces and other residents are encouraged to paint their houses in bright colours.

There are some amazing restaurants in Medellin. Our favourite was Cielo http://elcielorestaurant.com/us/ It is billed as the best restaurant in south America. You might have seen it on the recent BBC Colombia documentary. It lived up to it’s reputation. It was an amazing experience. This was the only photo I took as I was too busy devouring the 13 course ‘journey experience’! I have no idea why this course was smoking but it looked fantastic…

Another favourite restaurant of ours was Oci http://ocimde.com/

I also tried some Colombian cooking at home. My most successful dish was Arroz con Pollo with Hogoa del Pacífico (a tomato and green onion seasoning sauce). This meal takes a lot of preparation but is so worth it. I shall definitely try to cook this dish in the UK too.

Other dishes I managed to cook were ‘Molde de Puré de Papa y Carne’ and ‘Pechugas de Pollo al Coco’. Not the prettiest looking dishes but absolutely delicious. I got these recipes from ‘Secrets of Colombian Cooking’ by Patricia McCausland-Gallo.

Molde de Puré de Papa y Carne

Pechugas de Pollo al Coco

We had a wonderful 3 months living in Medellin and would love to go back. It is such an exciting place to be at the moment. There was so much more I wanted to see and do. I do not doubt that Colombia will be seeing us again.

Until then, hasta luego!

Museo de la Ciudad

Zoológico Santa Fe

Zoológico Santa Fe

El Peñol

Jardin Botánico de Medellin

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View from Poblado apartment

Hola Bogotá

For the long Easter weekend, we decided to visit Colombia’s capital and largest city, Bogotá. It is only a short one hour flight from Medellin. Bogotá is located high up in the Andean mountains and the climate is much cooler than Medellin. In fact, everyone in Medellin was telling me how cold Bogotá was before I left! To be honest, I did not find it cold at all. Maybe that is because I had recently come from a UK winter but the temperatures in Bogotá while we were there were in the low twenties which I find quite warm. What I did find hard to get used to was being out of breath so easily due to the lower levels of oxygen being at such a high altitude.

Catedral Primada in Plaza de Bolívar

On our first day in Bogotá we headed to the centre of the city and the Plaza de Bolívar. The square is dominated by the Catedral Primada. As it was Good Friday the cathedral was packed with worshippers. Foolishly, I left the hotel without an umbrella so after looking around the cathedral, the first point of order was to buy an expensive umbrella from one the many sellers in the square. Due to the rain, which didn’t look like it was going to let up, we decided to make the day a museum day. However, on arrival at the first of the museums, we found that all the museums were closed because it was a holy holiday.

Museo Botero

With all the museums being closed we had to come up with a new plan of action. After a quick review of the guide book we decided to climb the Cerro de Monserrate http://www.cerromonserrate.com/en/seccion/1 . The sanctuary at the top of Cerro de Monserrate is located 3152 metres above sea level and reached by 1500 steps.

Cerro de Monserrate

The summit can be reached by climbing the 1500 steps or by cable car or funicular. We opted for the steps. I had read in the guide book that it was best to do the climb in the morning when there were plenty of pilgrims also doing the climb. There had been recent robberies targeting tourists on the path and the guide book suggested an early climb as there was safety in numbers. It was after lunch when we started but we certainly had no worries with regards to finding ourselves alone on the climb. We had not considered that as it was Good Friday and everywhere else was closed that the whole population of Bogotá was climbing this mountain today!

Cerro de Monserrate

What should have been a 60 minute hike up the mountain, turned into a 3 hour painfully slow shuffle up to the summit, getting a bit too up close and personal for my liking with the pilgrims and residents of Bogotá!

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The long climb up Cerro de Monserrate

Upon reaching the Sanctuary at the top of the mountain, we were rewarded with beautiful views of the 1700 square kilometre city sprawled across the valley.

The Sanctuary at Monserrate

Reaching the top certainly did not free us from the crowds! After appreciating the view we decided to return down the mountain by the funicular. After queuing for some time, we purchased a ticket for the funicular and went to join the queue. However, we quickly realised there were at least a thousand people ahead of us in the queue and we would be stuck there for hours! The queue for the cable car was no shorter so we decided to return down the mountain the same way we came up.

The summit of Monserrate

The Sanctuary at Monserrate

The trek down the mountain was so much quicker! By the time we were heading down there were very few people making the climb up. After all the rain, the steps were very slippery and a few times we nearly ended up at the bottom of the mountain much quicker than we anticipated! The sun came out on our walk down and we reached the bottom in about 30 minutes. 

We found a bar with live music in front of the cable car and funicular station and rewarded ourselves with a couple of beers in front of the mountain.

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Following our mountain climb we had an evening out in Callejón del Embudo (Funnel), which is a tiny alleyway full of lots of small cool bars in the La Canelaria area. We started at the end of the alley at Pequeña Santa Fe which is a tiny 2 storey historic building where we got to sample a ‘Canelazo’, which is a hot tea with aguardiente. 

Pequeña Santa Fe

Steve enjoying a Canelazo Santa Fe

We then soaked up some of the atmosphere of the tiny cool bars in Callejón el Embudo (Funnel).

Callejón el Embudo (Funnel)

On our second day in the capital we decided to have our Museum day, starting with the Museo Botero http://www.banrepcultural.org/museo-botero – I was not aware of the artist Botero before arriving in his home town of Medellin but I am now fascinated by his work. This large museum is dedicated to all things chubby but also has some works by Picasso, Miro, Henry Thomas and Monet.

Botero’s Mona Lisa

Henry Moore sculpture at Museo Botero

Picasso & Miro at Museo Botero

The Museo Botero is part of the Banco de República massive museum complex. Following Botero, we visited the permanent Colección de Arte full of art mainly by Colombian artists.

After the art museums, we decided to explore one of Bogotá’s oldest and most richly decorated churches. The Iglesia Museo de Santa Clara http://www.museocolonial.gov.co/Paginas/default.aspx

Iglesia Museo de Santa Clara

Even though I had read in the guide book about how beautiful the interior of this church was, I was still blown away. It is stunningly beautiful.

The interior of Iglesia Museo de Santa Clara

The interior of Iglesia Museo de Santa Clara

Next, we visited Bogotá’s most famous museum, Museo del Oro http://www.banrepcultural.org/museo-del-oro. The Gold museum houses a fascinating collection of gold pieces from all over South America.

Doors of Museo del Oro

Museo del Oro

Museo del Oro – Dobby The House Elf!

For dinner we went to Andrés DC http://www.andrescarnederes.com/ which is the city centre sister restaurant of the infamous out of town Andrés Carne De Res. We decided to go to Andrés DC just for convenience as it was only a short couple of blocks walk from our hotel. I can only describe the restaurant as bizarre and amazing. It is certainly an experience. The food was great but plays second fiddle to the crazy decor and non stop entertainment. If Baz Lurhman opened restaurants, I imagine this is what they would be!

Andrés DC

Andrés DC huge cocktails!

Andrés DC

On Easter Sunday we booked a driver through the hotel and did a day trip to the Catedral del Sal in Zipaquira. https://www.catedraldesal.gov.co/ 

The salt cathedral has been built 180 metres underground in an old salt mine. To enter the cathedral you have to join an hour long guided tour and at the end of the tour you are free to explore the underground labyrinth for as long as you like. There are 14 chapels, representing the Stations of the Cross, on the way down to the huge Cathedral.

One of the 14 Stations of the Cross

Once you reach the massive underground cathedral you are greeted with a huge illuminated cross. It is just absolutely beautiful. As it was Easter Sunday, there was a large mass taking place while we were down there.

Catedral de Sal, Zipaquira

I had intended to visit Mirador Torre Colpatria https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_Colpatria during the weekend but we ran out of time. Fortunately, or unfortunately, whichever way you look at it, we were stuck in Bogotá unexpectedly for 24 hours on our way home to the UK, after our 3 months in Colombia. 

Torre Colpatria

There are beautiful views of the city from the 48th floor outside viewing deck including views of the decommissioned Bull ring and Monserrate.

Cerro de Monserrate

The tower also looks fantastic at night time when it is all lit up.

Until next time Bogotá, hasta luego!

Climbing Cerro de Monserrate

Iglesia Museo de Santa Clara

Steve confessing at Iglesia Museo de Santa Clara

Stations of the Cross at Catedral del Sal

Andrés DC

Lovely Lima, Peru

The cliff tops of Miraflores

We have just had a short but sweet visit to Lima, the capital of Peru. The city has made a great first impression and I definitely would like to return to explore further.

Lima Catedral, Plaza Mayor

On our first day we headed to the centre of Lima and the Plaza Mayor. This beautiful square is home to the Lima Cathedral and the Government Palace. We arrived just in time to see the ‘changing of the guards’ ceremony at the Government Palace.

Government Palace, Changing of the Guard

Lima is full of lovely colourful old colonial buildings with beautiful wrap around wooden balconies. 

As in Medellin, we found a grand old building which used to be the central train station. This building has now become a very beautiful, grand library and cafe with a stunning stained glass ceiling.

Later we did a tour of the Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco which is a huge church and convent complex for the San Franciscan order. http://museocatacumbas.com/ Underneath the complex are catacombs holding an estimated 25,000 bodies. It was a brilliant tour and the church and convent are stunning but unfortunately you are not allowed to take photos. We were hoping to buy a book in the gift shop but there were none!

Iglesia de San Francisco

Catacombs of San Francisco

Next we visited the Museo de Arte de Lima and were lucky enough to discover a temporary exhibition including the Mexican artists José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera. http://www.mali.pe/historia.php#1

Museo de Arte de Lima

Diego Rivera

One of Lima’s newest (and many say best) tourist attraction is the Circuito Mágica del Agua in the Parque de la Reserva. It is a gorgeous fountain park. It looks beautiful during the day but in the evening after the sun has set there is an amazing light and water show. It was definitely one of our highlights of Lima. They are missing a trick though as there is no cafe in the park to sit and enjoy the atmosphere in. http://www.circuitomagicodelagua.com.pe/

Circuito Mágica del Agua in the Parque de la Reserva

Circuito Mágica del Agua in the Parque de la Reserva

Circuito Mágica del Agua in the Parque de la Reserva

We started our second day with a visit to the Museo Larco. http://www.museolarco.org/ 

Museo Larco

The museum is set in a gorgeous 18th century villa in a residential district. It houses a fascinating exhibition of preColumbian (pre Colombus) art.

Museo Larco

Separate to the main museum is the Erotic Gallery. A real eye opener. Basically ceramic porn! The karma sutra in pottery…

Erotic Gallery, Museo Larco

Lima is a city set high up on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. One of the best districts to appreciate this is the area known as Miraflores where shopping centres, restaurants and parks offer stunning views.

Mangos Restaurant, Miraflores

Marisa, a great Peruvian friend of ours from the UK, recommended that we visit Mangos Restaurant http://mangosperu.com/ in Miraflores while we were in Lima. It was very popular but after a cocktail at the bar we managed to secure a table with a gorgeous view.

Mangos Restaurant, Miraflores

Afterwards we walked off lunch with a stroll along the cliff tops of Miraflores to Parque del Amor. The park is dedicated to all lovers and the ceramic tiles across the park are inspired by Gaudi.

Parque del Amor, Miraflores

Just next to the park were lots of paragliders throwing themselves off the cliff! While we were having lunch at Mangos many of them were swooping extremely close above the terrace. Also below in the Bay of Lima we could see hundreds of people surfing.

While we were walking we came across this little fellow. Although he is not that well known in Peru itself, he may well be their most famous export! The British Embassy donated this statue.

The other most famous export from Peru has to be their cuisine. I have well and truly fallen in love with Peruvian food and have eaten so well in Lima. I would definitely recommend Lima 27 in San Isidro https://www.facebook.com/pg/lima27restaurante/photos/ and IK Restaurante in Miraflores http://ivankisic.pe/

IK Restaurante, Miraflores

I have also fallen in love with Pisco Sours. I can not believe that I had never discovered them before now!

We only had a couple of full days in Lima so I would definitely like to come back and see more. We didn’t get a chance to visit any of the ancient ruins (apart from happening to walk past some in the middle of a residential district!)

Until next time. Hasta luego!

Iglesia San Pedro

Signs showing safest place in buildings during an earthquake

Museo de Arte de Lima

Circuito Mágica del Agua in the Parque de la Reserva

Mangos Restaurant, Miraflores

Museo Larco

Bienvenido a Cartagena

Sunset at the Hotel pool

We recently spent a few days in the beautiful city of Cartagena which is located on the Caribbean coastline of Colombia. My partner was attending a one day conference for work so we decided to stay a few days and explore this beautiful city and its surrounds. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency hotel on the modern developed strip just outside the Old Town. It was a great location and the hotel had its own pools with stunning views along the coast.

View from the hotel pool terrace

Beautiful and colourful colonial buildings in the Old Town

Cartagena is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The beautiful walled old town was founded in the 16th century, with squares, cobblestone streets and colourful colonial buildings. We made the mistake of walking into the old town at the height of the early afternoon sun. There was a lovely breeze walking along the coastal path but as soon as we entered the walled old town the heat and humidity was stifling. The temperature was 37 degrees Celsius but felt like much more so we aborted our first foray into the old town and headed back to the hotel to enjoy cool sea breezes and the pools!

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The next day we headed back to the old town early in the morning before the heat kicked in and enjoyed the air conditioned comfort of the museums. Our first cultural stop was at the Museo de Arte Moderno which is a small two storey colonial building displaying local and Colombian modern art. On the day we visited one of the artists on display, Rosario Heins was actually in residence. I found her beach inspired works fascinating http://www.mamcartagena.org/

Museo de Arte Moderno

Next we visited the cheery Palacio de la Inquisición which is a beautiful building housing an exhibition on the Inquisición which took place on this site from 1610 until independence from Spain in 1821. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/colombia/cartagena/attractions/palacio-de-la-inquisicion/a/poi-sig/454797/363310

It is a fascinating exhibition set in a beautiful colonial palace but the exhibits are far from beautiful including the horrific torture instruments used by the Inquisición.

Palacio de la Inquisición

Palacio de la Inquisición

In the same square as the Palacio de la Inquisición, is the small but perfectly formed Museo del Oro Zenü (Gold Museum). This is the little sister of the much larger Museo del Oro in Bogota. http://www.ticartagena.com/en/things-to-do/sights-attractions/a-golden-opportunity-to-learn-about-the-zen%C3%BA/

Museo del Oro Zenu

These museums are a fantastic opportunity for a respite from the daytime heat and are the perfect size so as not to get too overwhelmed. After the museums we walked outside the walls to the imposing Castillo San Felipe de Barajas http://fortificacionescartagena.com/en/history/history-castillo-de-san-felipe-de-barajas/

Castillo San Felipe de Barajas

It is a huge impregnable fortress. The insides are full of very small steep tunnels all the way through the complex. At one point we got worried that we would get lost and trapped in these tunnels so had to abort and find our way to to the surface again!

Cartagena Old Town at night

It is in the evening after the sun goes down that Cartagena old town really comes alive and seems to become even more beautiful. One of our favourite bars, which did fantastic cocktails, was Al Quimico https://www.alquimico.com/

Cocktails at Alquímico

Another great bar (again with fantastic cocktails) was Alma http://www.almacolombia.com/tablet/bar.html

Alma Bar (photo taken from website)

We also had a great night at the world famous Cafe Havana with brilliant live salsa music and dancing. Apparently Hilary Clinton enjoyed an evening here on a recent visit to Colombia so we were in good company! http://cafehavanacartagena.com/

Cafe Havana

We couldn’t go to Cartagena without doing a day trip to the beautiful islands just off the coast, so we booked ourselves on a boat tour. Our first stop was at the Aquarium of San Martin Island in the Rosario Islands. It was amazing to see all the fish being fed – especially the piranhas and basking sharks! 

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I have never seen a live dolphin show so that was a real highlight for me

Dolphin show, San Martin Island

Next stop was the stunningly beautiful Playa Blanca on Baru Island

Playa Blanca, Baru Island

We spent a couple of hours relaxing on the beach and cooling down with swims in the gorgeous turquoise sea.

Playa Blanca, Baru Island

Playa Blanca, Baru Island

The next island stop was for lunch and to see the San Fernando fortress on Tierrabomba Island. To be honest when we were dropped off we were a bit worried for our safety. We were just left on the island which obviously had a very poor population and were being hassled by dozens of people to buy things. We reluctantly agreed to a guided tour of the fortress (not sure we actually had a choice). In hindsight we had nothing to worry about and the personal guided tour of the fortress was great. The tour operator obviously takes tourists to this very poor island to help the local economy.

San Fernando fortress on Tierrabomba Island

Then a very fast and bumpy speed boat ride back to Cartagena city. I have the bruises to prove how bumpy it was!

We ate very well in Cartagena. There are some amazing restaurants. If you get a chance to go I would definitely recommend the following:

1621 Restaurant located in a former convent and can be found at the Hotel Santa Clara  http://bestrestaurantsincolombia.com/en/restaurant-colombia/1621-cartagena-hotel-santa-clara-sofitel.html

1621 Restaurant

El Santisimo http://www.elsantisimo.com/en/ was another wonderful restaurant. Here’s a photo of me enjoying the delicious prawn starter. The restaurant also offers a fantastic all inclusive wine deal with your meal which we took full advantage of!

El Santisimo restaurant

El Santisimo

Alma Restaurant. This is the great cocktail bar I mentioned earlier which also has a wonderful restaurant  . http://www.almacolombia.com/tablet/index.html
A great place for a traditional lunch is the cavernous Espiritu Santo cafe https://www.facebook.com/pages/Restaurante-Esp%C3%ADritu-Santo/150410708379453

The sunsets in Cartagena were stunning. Not quite Margate but definitely up there!

We had such a fantastic time in Cartagena and will definitely be heading back there. It was my first ever Caribbean experience and it really felt like we were on holiday. I shall leave you with a photo of the Cartagena airport departure gates…

Airport departure gates Cartagena style!

Until next time, hasta luego!

Basking sharks being fed at the Aquarium

Pelicans at San Martin Island

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Castillo San Felipe de Barajas

Palacio de la Inquisición

Club Havana

Una introducción a Medellín

The view from our balcony in Medellin

Buenos dias,

I arrived in Medellin, Colombia, a week ago now and I am settling in well. My partner is here for work for 3 months and I have tagged along for the ride. I’m looking forward to exploring lots of Colombia over the next 3 months.

It was a long flight from London to Medellin, 2 and a half hours to Madrid and then a 10 and a half hour flight from Madrid to Medellin. I did not have a window seat on the second leg so no photos unfortunately.

The view flying into Madrid

Our apartment is in the San Fernando Plaza in Poblado. It is in a very nice area of Medellin with lots of shops, restaurants and bars on our doorstep and only a short walk to the going out area of Parque Lleras. The first thing I noticed about Medellin is the noise. The city has 3.5 million residents all crammed into the valley – it is a very busy, very noisy city. Coming from sleepy Margate in the UK, it was a bit of a shock to the system. I was complaining about the noise to my partner and how it was so quiet in Margate and the response I got was “you’re not in Kansas anymore Dorothy!” Even after living in London for many years, London is a calm oasis compared to Medellin. The second thing I noticed was how spotless the streets are – I have yet to see a single piece of rubbish on the streets. This is so nice after coming from the UK. 

San Fernando Plaza Apartmentos

Every night I sit on my balcony and watch the millions of lights coming on across the valley. It is absolutely stunning. No photo seems to capture the beauty as well as seeing it with your own eyes. I get a gorgeous light show every evening. 

Medellin at night (not my photo)

During the day, I can sit for hours watching huge eagles swooping over the balcony. Unfortunately the photos do not capture how big these beautiful birds are. 

Eagles flying over the balcony

One of the first things I did when I arrived was to check out the local supermarkets to see what produce was available. I was amazed by all the wonderful fresh exotic fruits on display and immediately filled up our fruit bowl without even knowing what half of them were! My favourite looking fruit is the guanabana (the large green prickly one). I had a guanabana juice in a cafe and decided I wanted to try and make my own. After an hour of peeling, de seeding, blending and sieving, I managed to make about a litre and a half of homemade guanabana juice. So much effort but so worth it!

Exotic fruit

Guanabana juice

 

To get to know Medellin City Centre we decided to do a walking tour. We chose to do www.realcitytours.com – they run daily 4 hour walking tours of the city centre. I would thoroughly recommend them. You get a real feel for the city and the local guides are full of fascinating local knowledge. The tours are free and at the end you just donate what you think it was worth or what you can afford. 

The tour starts at Alpujarra metro station and takes you first to the Alpujarra Administrative Centre (the local government buildings). In this square there are a few monuments including The Monument To The Race by Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt which is a sculpture depicting the history of Antioquia.

Monument To The Race by Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt

Alpujarra administrative centre

 

Just around the corner from the Alpujarra administrative centre is the beautiful old Medellin central train station. Colombia did not maintain its railways so they no longer exist. This old station is now offices. Medellin has the only metro in Colombia and we were informed that the railway is going to be reinstated across Colombia in the near future.

Across the road from the old train station is the Parque de las Luces (Park of Lights), or as I liked to call it “Plaza de Light Sabres”! This square used to be very run down and full of crime but it has now been regenerated with a library and public sculptures. We will have to go back in the evening to see the lights.

Parque de las Luces

Next on the tour, we popped into the Palacio National, which is a very grand building which has now been turned into a budget shopping centre. We shall be popping back here soon to stock up on t-shirts and tops in very grand surroundings!

Palacio National

Palacio National

 

The highlight of the tour for me was seeing the massive Fernando Botero bronze sculptures in Botero Square. 

Botero Square

Botero Square

Here is another Fernando Botero sculpture, the Pájaro de Paz (Bird of Peace), which is located in Parque San Antonio.

There is a very sad story surrounding these. The first was destroyed by a terrorist bomb during a festival concert in the square in 1995, killing 23 people. The sculpture was going to be destroyed but Botero asked for the remains of the sculpture to stay permanently as a memorial to those who died and built a new sculpture to sit alongside it.


If you are ever in Medellin, I would definitely recommend this walking tour. They also do an Exotic Fruits Tour which we will certainly be doing in the near future. After our long 4 hour walking tour we decided to relax at a rooftop bar in Provenza not far from our apartment.

Enjoying a giant gin at a rooftop bar in Provenza

I am loving the climate here in Medellin. It is lovely and warm, without being too hot or humid. There’s lots of sunshine and rain. I’m fascinated sitting on the balcony and watching the storms roll through the valley. Yesterday, I watched a rain storm with lightening pass by very slowly and was amazed to see how localised the storm was. 

A couple of days ago I had my first Colombian speciality dish for dinner. The Bandeja Paisa is famous in Medellin and is a massive dish with rice, beans, sausage, black pudding, pork belly, ground beef, fried egg, arepa, plantain and avocado. You need to starve yourself for at least a day to even try to attempt to eat it all! It is not the prettiest of dishes but it is absolutely delicious.

Bandeja Paisa

So, I am now a week into experiencing Medellin. After the initial culture shock, I think I am going to really enjoy it here. I am getting used to the hustle and bustle of the city. My biggest barrier is not being able to speak Spanish. It’s the first country I’ve been to where the majority of people do not speak English. I am intending to start Spanish lessons very soon which I hope will be very helpful. 

I am very much looking forward to exploring Medellin and Colombia and will post more travel updates over the next few months. 

Hasta entonces, adios! 

I’m off to sit on the balcony now…

P.S. This sunset just happened on the balcony:

Sunset on the balcony

Parque de las Luces

Botero Square & Museo de Antioquia

MARGATE AND KENT STAYCATION – June 2016

In June some very dear friends and their two young boys from Australia came to visit us for a holiday. To start with we were thinking of hiring a car and travelling around the UK or hopping across to the continent. In the end, as it is the year of austerity as far as our personal finances are concerned, we decided to keep it local and show our friends our home town of Margate and surrounding Kent.

On our first day we kept it very local. Starting with the very traditional seaside activity of visiting the seafront amusement arcades. The Flamingo is always our favourite one to visit and the boys loved it. I’ve never seen so many 2ps disappear into the slots at such speed. If it was an Olympic sport the boys would definitely win gold! 

The next activity was literally on our doorstep at Bugsy’s Bowling in Cliftonville http://www.bugsys.co.uk/. Now on any given day I am either brilliant at bowling or absolutely rubbish and on this occasion it was the latter. Even with the side bars up I came an abysmal 4th place out of 5! 

We finished our day in Margate enjoying delicious pizza with gorgeous sea views at GB Pizza on Margate seafront.

On the second day of our Staycation we went a bit further afield and had a day trip to Leeds Castle https://www.leeds-castle.com/home? . Leeds Castle is stunning and set in beautiful parkland. We did a tour of the interior of the beautiful castle and also enjoyed a falconry show in the grounds. There is a wonderful maze at Leeds Castle and I have never once found the centre without assistance from someone directing me from the tower in the centre. This occasion was no different. I would never enter that maze on my own as I could be lost forever!

The following day was a day trip to the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway http://www.rhdr.org.uk/ . It’s only a short 40 minute drive from Margate but we just made the train from Hythe with seconds to spare including a last minute throwing up from car sickness incident! It’s a beautiful steam train ride through the countryside along the coast to Dungeness with the landscape getting more and more sparse as you near the end of the line. By the time you reach Dungeness the landscape is made up of just shingle. It is a very desolate yet beautiful landscape. Of course we had to climb the lighthouse for views along the coast.

We stayed in Thanet the next day with a trip to the Powell Cotton Museum at Quex Park. http://www.quexpark.co.uk/ This small museum is a gem right on our doorstep. The boys loved all the dioramas of the wild animals brought back from the African and Asian hunting expeditions. The interactive room was brilliant too. We did a tour of the historic stately home and had a wander around the gardens before heading back to Margate for lunch.

We had lunch in the fabulous Old Kent Market. If you are looking for a one stop shop for lunch with a group of people with varied tastes then this is the place. Between us we ordered sushi, Thai, Jamaican, BBQ pulled pork and also a burger from the bus cafe. Yes, there is a full size London Bus cafe inside the market! There is also a fantastic bakery inside the market making the best hot cross buns ever.

After lunch we enjoyed a bit of culture at the Turner Contemporary https://turnercontemporary.org/ and then headed back up the hill to Cliftonville. No visit to Margate is complete without a trip to the mysterious Shell Grotto, a beautiful underground grotto of 4.6 million shells. http://shellgrotto.co.uk/ 

We stayed local on the next day, starting with a swim at the Grade II listed tidal pool in Walpole Bay, Cliftonville. http://walpolebayswimmers.co.uk/ Needless to say the temperature of the North Sea in June was a bit of a shock to the system for the Australians! 

The afternoon was filled with screams and laughter at Margate’s number one attraction, the recently reopened Dreamland. https://www.dreamland.co.uk/ The park is in its second summer of operation after reopening in 2015. Dreamland is just so much fun and is perfect for families. Lots of rides for kids large and small! The best views of Margate are from the top of the Big Wheel. 

The next day we got back in the car and did the short drive to Dover to visit the historic Dover Castle http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/dover-castle/ The castle is huge with so much to see. We started with a ghost tour of the castle which was great fun. We also did a very interesting tour of the World War II tunnels beneath the castle.

Obviously before we left the area we had to go and do a walk to see the White Cliffs of Dover.

Now, for our next day trip we had to leave Kent. The boys are huge Lego fans so we had to spend a day at Legoland near Windsor. Of course it was raining because we left sunny Thanet. Being such huge Lego fans, this was the only part of the trip that trumped Dreamland for the boys. Other than this, Dreamland was always the highlight of the trip when asked.

During our Staycation we were lucky enough to eat out at lots of lovely places including GB Pizza http://greatbritishpizza.com/, Bebeached http://www.bebeached.co.uk/, Roost http://roostmargate.com/ , The Diner and the Old Kent Market http://www.theoldkentmarket.com/

One of our friends is gluten intolerant and was amazed by how gluten free friendly Margate is. All of the eating places I’ve mentioned provide gluten free options on the menu. In addition, I ordered an amazing gluten free cheesecake and daily bread from local baker Annie’s Larder http://annieslarder.co.uk/ Annie will bake fresh and deliver locally.

For the last night of our Staycation I was treated to dinner by our guests at one of our favourite Margate restaurants Buoy & Oyster http://www.buoyandoyster.com/ . Margate certainly did not disappoint that night and put on a stunning sunset for our Australian friends! The perfect ending to a fantastic Margate and Kent Staycation.

P.S. Following their week in Margate, our Australian friends spent a week doing the sights of London. When asked which was their favourite, Margate or London, the boys responded with a resounding MARGATE!!!

Berlin Update – July 2005

Berlin was a fantastic city break but there was so much to do and too little time to do it all in. I didn’t have high expectations for Berlin before I went because I knew very little about the city.

We flew to Berlin on the Friday morning. We did not have a very nice start to the trip because when we turned on our phones at Berlin airport we found out about the bombings in London. We watched the news at the airport in shock and contacted everyone we knew to make sure they were safe. In a selfish way it was good to be away from it all.

Because of the Second World War and then the wall being built a lot of old Berlin no longer exists. There has been a huge amount of regeneration and building going on since the wall came down so Berlin is full of modern architecture.

Our hotel was just around the corner from Potsdamerplatz which is one of the new rebuilt areas. The area was destroyed in bombing in WW2 and what was left was demolished to create a no man’s land when they built the Berlin Wall. The area is now home to the Sony Centre and is a going out area with lots of bars and restaurants.

On the Friday night we went to the U2 concert in the Olympic Stadium. It was one of the best concerts I have ever have been to. I will definitely go out of my way to see them whenever they tour again.

On the Saturday we did a walking tour of the city and visited the Holocaust Memorial museum, the Brandenburg Gate and we climbed up the Reichstag Dome. We also went to see Checkpoint Charlie which was one of the main crossings between East and West Berlin and visited a section of the old wall and the Wall Memorial museum. We also went to Zoo Station which was used to be the commercial and cultural centre of West Berlin but now is looking quite shabby and has been superceded by the east. 

We visited Tiergarten Park which is the Berlin’s central park and saw the golden Victory momument which used to be in front of the Reichstag but was moved into the park. It was a beautiful day and the park was full of people strolling and playing sports. Then we just came across a section full of nudists. It was a bit of shock as this area wasn’t out of they way or anything it was just by the side of the main path! Very funny to just stumble upon.

If Saturday was our mainly West Berlin day then Sunday was our day to explore East Berlin. You can easily tell whether you are in old East or West Berlin by the green men on the pedestrian crossings – the east’s green men are much more interesting than the bog standard one’s in the west!

I think I preferred the east part of Berlin in the short time we were there. We went up the TV Tower (of course – what else do we do when we are away!) for great views of the whole city and we also had a wander along Karl Marx Alee the grand residential boulevard which used to be used for military parades.

There are very few parts of the Berlin Wall left. You can understand why they were so quick to destroy it and wipe that part of their history away but as a visitor to Berlin it is very hard to picture the city as it was with the wall. We visited the East Side Gallery which is a section of the wall still standing which has been used to display art and we found a great outdoor bar overlooking the art on the wall and the River Spree.

It’s because most of the wall has been demolished that there are so many new buildings in Berlin. There was a dead man’s land all along the eastern side of the wall where the East German army demolished buildings so they could shoot anyone trying to escape. Therefore there was lots of free land to build on after the wall went.

On our last day in Berlin we visited the Allied War Museum and we also made sure we had a doner kebab before heading to the airport. Berlin has the best doner kebabs! They were invented in Berlin by the first Turkish immigrants.

This was a very brief whistlestop tour of the main sights of Berlin. We were deeply affected by the 20th century horrors of the holocaust and the Berlin wall. Berlin today is a beautiful modern welcoming city. We loved the city and will definitely be back to explore more!

Margate Tribulations – Part 2! (not a travel blog post)

On this day one year ago I was once again verbally abused in my place of work. And once again by a local business owner – a different one this time! I don’t know what it is about Margate that means local business owners think they can come into my work place and have a go at me about my personal opinions but this is the second time this has happened to me (see my Margate Tribulations post from May 2013).

This person was constantly writing vague negative tweets aimed at people they disagreed with and disliked. Occasionally I would write vague tweets to counteract these claims.

I wrote down everything that was said to me immediately after the confrontation just so I wouldn’t forget it. I’m now writing it down somewhere more permanent in case it ever occurs again and I need to contact the authorities over harassment. 

So on Tuesday 9th June 2015 at 5.30pm this local business owner came into my work place and the following took place:

– She asked me to remove posts about her business on Facebook and Twitter. I have never mentioned her business by name on Twitter or Facebook , plus she doesn’t follow me nor is she my friend on Facebook.

– I told her it was inappropriate to come into my work place as my personal views have nothing to do with where I work. I have never mentioned online where I work. She told me ‘everyone’ knows where I work.

– I repeatedly asked her to leave and she just refused. She asked me whether she should come find me on the steps at lunchtime or come to my house to talk to me. I told her she did not know where I lived and she said she does and knows my living room and who has been in it! She said I did not know how ‘online works’ and I’m not very clever posting pics when I’m away. Also that I’ve posted pics of rubbish outside my house. I have NEVER done that, plus I know exactly how I manage security at my home.

– She asked me whether she should call the police about my harassment of her because a friend of mine had done that to others on the basis of a lot less. She told me I needed to call my friends off her. I informed her that anything my friends do has got nothing to do with me. I told her that I often disagree with my friends points of views but that does not mean we can’t still be friends.

– She asked me if I had a problem with her husband. Why?

– She said “the conversation would be very different if her husband was the one doing the talking”

– She told me that she was going to talk to my boss. 

– She said if I didn’t stop that she would come back to my workplace everyday

– Bizarrely, she told me that she didn’t need to tweet promotional tweets about her business like I do on my workplace Twitter account

– She told me that not all my friends agree with me and they think I’m out of order and they have been feed backing what I say on my private Facebook account to her

– When eventually leaving the shop, she said she was leaving of her own accord, not because I kept asking

– Her husband was standing opposite the shop the whole time and as she was leaving he stared at me and laughed and loudly told her that I was a baby and stupid

Anyway, I have written all this down just so I have a record. I was very shook up at the time. Especially about the knowing where I live and who’s been in my living room and that she was receiving feedback from my friends. It made me feel very vulnerable and paranoid. I unfriended lots of Margate people on Facebook just in case they might have something to do with her. I am now extremely guarded on Facebook and let very few local people in which makes me very sad as I would prefer to be much more open. It was a very threatening situation and I just can’t comprehend how someone thinks it is appropriate to go into someone’s work place and do that.

It may seem strange that I’m posting this now but it was such a threatening and bullying situation that I’m still affected by it 12 months later and need to acknowledge it happened. These elements still exist and would do it again given half the chance.

Fingers crossed I never have to write another post like this.

SAINT PETERSBURG UPDATE – December 2011

 

Hermitage Museum

 
Sorry it’s taken me so long to getting around to writing this update. December seems like so long ago now. I organised for us to go to St Petersburg for Steve’s birthday and kept it secret up until a month beforehand. I then had to tell him because of information I needed for the visas.  
We arrived in St Petersburg on the Saturday night and had a taxi organised to take us straight to the hotel. We stayed at the Alexandra House Boutique Hotel which is the best hotel I have ever stayed in. I have never experienced such a high level of customer service and the hotel was located in such a scenic part of the city on a canal. The hotel had a 24 hour restaurant so we were able to eat there when we arrived late on the Saturday night and the food was suberb.  

 

Hermitage Museum

As Steve is such a museum go-er he has always dreamed of going to the Hermitage Museum which is the mother of all museums. That is the main reason I chose St Petersburg for his birthday destination. The Hermitage is set in the old royal Winter Palace which is a stunning building in itself. The museum and it’s collections are vast and we ended up spending 6 hours there. I was amazed by the number of paintings by every famous artist you could ever think of. At one stage we walked into a room that wasn’t even listed on the museum map and we were the only people in there looking at countless Picasso’s, Monet’s and Van Gogh’s (there were more rooms with these artists elsewhere in the museum that were listed!). 

The weather while we were there was quite mild for December. I was expecting all the canals to be frozen and for there to be lots of snow. There was lots of sleet but nothing that settled. In fact it worked in our favour as it meant we were able to walk around the city very easily. I had read and heard that Russians did not celebrate christmas in December but you would not have known that. There were Christmas decorations and lights everywhere and the whole city felt very christmassy. Apparently the reason for this is that they never changed the day they celebrate Christmas when they aligned their calendar with the Gregorian one 300 years ago, so it always falls in early January. Another fascinating fact brought to you by the letters P & S!  

 

Church of the Savior of The Spilled Blood

On Monday we walked from our hotel along the canals to the Church of the Savior of the Spilled Blood. This was a beautiful church on the outside but the inside was stunning with the whole of the interior covered in mosaics. The church gained it’s name as this is where Czar Alexander II was assassinated.  

 

Interior of The Church of the Savior of The Spilled Blood

After the church we visited the Russian State Museum next door (another Museum housed in an old royal palace). This museum was much more manageable and after our 6 hour marathon at the Hermitage we explored this one in nearly 4 hours looking at Russian art from the Icons up to present day. There was one particular picture I loved that you’ll see in my photos but annoyingly it’s not listed in the Museum Guide and I didn’t make a note of the artist.  

 

Russian State Museum

 
   

Loved this painting in the Russian State Museum

In December there is very little light in St Petersburg. It wasn’t light until about 11am so when we were out and about in the morning it always felt very early and it was dark again by 4 and never really got very bright. It was in the evenings that you noticed all the bars as the neon lights came on. None of them stood out during the day. After the Russian State Museum we realised it was already Steve’s birthday in Australia and was about to become his birthday in the UK, so Monday night became Steve’s birthday celebration night. We managed to sample many St Petersburg bars that night!  
 On Tuesday we woke up to snow and decided to explore the other side of the city by foot and visited the Peter & Paul Fortress which is the oldest building in St Petersburg and on a small island. It was too cold to wander around the island so we visited the spectacular Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul which is in the fortress. All the Russian Czars have their tombs in this cathedral. It was very sad seeing pictures and learning about the individual members of the last Czar family who were all executed in the Revolution including the 5 children and their servants. 

 

Tombs of the Czars at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul

As it was Steve’s birthday we decided to treat ourselves to a nice traditional Russian lunch and ended up in a local cafe bar where they did a bargain 3 course ‘Business Lunch’. The business lunch is basically just like the continental Menu of the Day. The menu was all in Russian and the waitress didn’t speak English so we didn’t know what we were in for! However the 3 course feast was just what we were after. We managed to find a Metro station near our lunch stop to get us most of the way back to the hotel. The St Petersburg metro system is very unusual in that none of the stations are anywhere near the places of interest (well not for tourists anyway). The tunnels are also extremely deep so you have neverending escalators rides into the depths of the earth!  

 

Neverending escalators on the Metro

When we got back to the hotel, the staff organised a complimentary bottle of champagne and gorgeous fruit platter and brought it to our room as it was Steve’s birthday! The level of customer service at the hotel was outstanding. From booking taxis and restaurants, to looking up ticket availability for events and just exemplary friendliness and helpfulness the staff were fantastic. We were hoping to either go to the Theatre or to an Ice Skating or Ice Hockey event while we were in the city but unfortunately that didn’t work out timewise. Next time!  

On our last day we did a day trip to the Peterhof Palace which is less than an hour’s drive out of the city. The hotel organised a car and driver for us, which worked out to be the most cost effective and convenient way of doing it. In the summer the best way to arrive at the Palace is by boat. This was the royals Summer Palace and it is huge and lavish. The building is beautiful and Versailles inspired. The Germans destroyed most of the building in the Second World War so it has now been restored to it’s former glory.  

 

Peterhof Palace

As well as the Palace there are huge grounds with many more smaller royal residences. It is best to see the Palace Gardens in the summer as there are over a 140 fountains working on the Grand Cascade & Water Avenue. As you can see from my pictures the gold statues and fountains are all boxed in for winter to protect them from the elements. Even without the fountains working and most of the statues covered the gardens were still beautiful. Another excuse to return to St Petersburg in the summertime!  

 We spent the late afternoon souvenir shopping and on our last night we went to a lovely traditional restaurant for a gorgeous meal. We also got to sample some flavoured vodka. My favourite was the horseradish vodka!   

During our stay in St Petersburg there were many political protests against the rigged election by Putin. We saw lots of evidence of police blockades but as we weren’t walking around much at night time we didn’t really see the protests. We ended up watching most of the protests and arrests over breakfast on the morning news.  

I’ve attached a link to some pictures of the trip below. I didn’t manage to take many as my camera battery died because of the cold.  https://flickr.com/photos/10703198@N06/sets/72157629203034617 

St Petersburg has joined our long list of cities that we wish to return to!  

Anyway I hope you are all well. Until next time.