Tag: #sightseeing

Holiday destinations: Cambridge, UK

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A few weeks ago, I was on a business trip in Cambridge.

Cambridge is a city in the county town of Cambridgeshire in England.  It is located around 80 km north of London and in 2011 its population was slightly over 123,000 including almost 25 thousands of students.

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Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology industries including software and bio-science and many start-up companies spun out of the university.

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More than 40% of the workforce has a higher education qualification, more than twice the national average. 

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There’s lots to see in this beautiful city-here is a short list of my suggestions:
  1. King’s College Chapel;
  2. Fitzwilliam Museum;
  3. Mathematical Bridge;
  4. Cambridge University Botanic Garden;
  5. University of Cambridge.

I hope you enjoyed reading this review.

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Singapore

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I have recently returned from my honeymoon and today I would like to tell you about the first destination I visited-Singapore.

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Singapore is the world’s only island city-state that is based one degree north of the equator, south of the southernmost tip of continental Asia and peninsular Malaysia, with Indonesia’s Riau Islands to the south. It is known as a global commerce, finance and transport hub.

What I found inspiring is that most Singaporeans are bilingual. There are four official languages on the island: Malay, Tamil, Mandarin and English.

We decided to see what the city has to offer by taking a bus tour and although, it is a nice, modern city it doesn’t have much heritage.

There were 100s of shopping malls so if you are planning to go on a shopping trip then you could add Singapore to your destination list. The prices of most items are higher than in UK though so change the exchange rate before you splash your cash 🙂

 

The highlight of my visit to Singapore was our visit to the Botanic Gardens. They were beautiful and I had an opportunity to walk in the rain-forest that is located in the middle of the city.

Top places that you should go to whilst in Singapore are:

  1. Botanic Gardens
  2. National Gallery
  3. Gardens by the Bay
  4. Singapore Zoo
  5. Little India

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I hope you enjoy reading this post!

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Lisbon, Portugal

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I’ve recently visited Lisbon-the capital and the largest city of Portugal for a short 3-days break with my husband. Lonely Planet’s features which boast Portugal in both its top 10 Cities and Regions to visit in 2017 lists prove that Portugal is not a place to be missed. You should experience it before it becomes a tourist hub so if you are currently planning your travel adventures for 2017 then put Portugal on your ‘to-go’ list.

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Lisbon has a population of around 2.7 million people, being the 11th-most populous urban area in the European Union. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and the oldest in Western Europe, predating other modern European capitals such as London, Paris and Rome by centuries.

Lisbon enjoys a Mediterranean climate. We were there during December and it was quite warm. The city has the warmest winters of any metropolis in Europe, with average temperatures 15 °C during the day and 8 °C at night from December to February.

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There’s lots to see in this city and here is a short list of my suggestions:

  1. Lisbon Oceanarium
  2. Jeronimos Monastery
  3. Belem Tower
  4. St George’s Castle
  5. Parque Des Nacoes
  6. Design and Fashion Museum

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As I was there for only 3 days my mini-break, it felt quite rushed and I would love to go there again for a few days more. I am sure that I could have benefited from taking the slower route and really immersing myself in many beautiful surroundings that Portugal has to offer. On my return from Portugal I have discovered the ‘Slow holidays’ company Inntravel that is specialising in organising walking holidays. They have recenly added a new La Palma Volcanic Trail walking holiday. Everyone needs some time to think and if you enjoy discovering new places, eating delicious food and walking then that would be the perfect break for you. I would love to go on this 7 days walking holidays that consist of:

  • self-guided hotel-to-hotel walking;
  • walking through beautiful, unspoiled scenery from coast to coast;
  • staying at the unique blend of traditional and modern accommodation (one guesthouse, one 3-star hotel, one village cottage; one rural hotel).

You can read more about this walking holiday on Inntravel website:

https://www.inntravel.co.uk/holidays/walking-holidays/Portugal/Algarve-coast-to-coast?pg=sk

I hope you enjoyed reading this review. It was written in collaboration with Inntravel.

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Pauline

The BB Bakery Sightseeing Afternoon Tea

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It’s warm, it’s sunny and the season for catching-up over some tea has started 🙂 Over the next few weeks, I will share with you some reviews from my recent Afternoon Tea experiences.

This week, I would like to tell you about an amazing Afternoon Tea I had on the BB Routemaster Sightseeing Bus.

I moved to London 13 years ago but then again I love discovering new sights and wonders of this city. As soon as I heard about the opportunity of combining an Afternoon Tea with a sightseeing bus tour around the marvels of London I decided to give it a go.

The Route:

Together with my friend-Magda we booked the afternoon slot leaving from the Victoria Coach Station , Gate 0, at 5p.m.

Our vintage Routemaster bus drove around Central London and we were able to see some of the City’s greatest places of interest including:

The London Eye, Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St James’s Park, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, The Royal Albert Hall, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Harrods and many more.

The Atmosphere:

The atmosphere on the bus was a warm and welcoming. Our hosts were two lovely French attendants-J.C. and Marie Antoinette. We were sited at the upper deck (table 9). Each table is secluded enough to feel intimate. We had a great view of some of the City’s most beautiful monuments and other tourist attractions.

At the beginning of the tour, our friendly server offered us a hot drink from a large selection of the teas and coffees. Our tea arrived in a wonderful BB Afternoon Tea Bus’s cup.

The menu:

Our High Tea was accompanied by a selection of mouth-watering, sweet and savoury delicacies including:

  • Macarons
  • Mini Cupcakes
  • Sweet Pastries
  • Scones
  • Sandwiches
  • Mini Quiche

They were arranged attractively on the stand. A highlight for me was a deliciously moist quiche and a small salmon canapé.

Duration:

The London sightseeing tour lasts approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes (depending on traffic). We were back and ready to re-join the hustle and bustle of Central London at 6:30 p.m. .

Price:

The BB Bakery Sightseeing Afternoon Tea is £45-48 per person. In my opinion it is worth every penny as it combines both sightseeing and a divine afternoon Tea experience. You can buy vouchers for this experience on:

http://shop.bbbakery.co.uk/

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Overall experience:

I loved every minute of our 90 minutes BB Bakery Sightseeing Afternoon Tea. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is visiting London and wishes to have a more exclusive sightseeing experience. I would love to try some more Afternoon Tea experiences from BB bakery.

I hope you enjoyed reading this review.

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Pauline