Saturday Cycle ride in Essex villages

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง We cycled out of the beautiful historic village of Ingatestone with its 11th century church and cycled through the woods towards Highwood and then to the pretty village of Blackmore where we stopped for morning tea and cakes. Then through a series of little villages: Norton Heath, Willingdale, Fyfield (where we hadย  lunch at the Black Bull), Birds Green, Shellow Bowells(!), Roxwell, Newney Green, then past the Agricultural College and into towards Chelmsford on the lovely cycle path by the river. I wasย on the train that leaves Stratford at 9:25 getting…

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Sibiu

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ดย ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ดย ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด We arrived Sibiu late in the evening. It was raining heavily at that time . Our residence was just next to the historical center. I had one full day to spend in Sibiu, weather was fantastic. Initially I thought of visiting Lake Baleaย  and then cable car to waterfall and transfagarasan highway. Transfagarasan highway closes in November so there is no way to drive through. I latter decided to stay put and visit the historic center instead. I left my hotel after breakfast and left for Astra open air museum. The…

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Sighisoara and Viscri

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ดย ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ดย ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด This was our last day at Brasov. The day started sunny and bright. I went for a walk in the town. I crossed the town center walked toย Bastionul Graft, this is a part of the wall that once used to surround the city. Then I walked up the stairs to the upper tower .ย The White Tower (Turnul Alb) is located directly above the Bastionul Graft.ย Turnul Negru or black tower can also be reached from the canal path. This two towers were used once to keep watch on Brasov. I booked a…

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Bran Castle – The land of Dracula

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ดย ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ดย ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด Bran Castle is one of the man touristic attraction in Romania. Transylvania is full of fortified castles and churches , so in that respect this castle is more of tourist trap. Bran castle was built somewhere between 1200 - 1300. It was used by different kingdoms In 15th century anglo-saxons based in Brasov got the possession of the castle when Hungarian kings failed to repay their loans. From 1920 it became royal residence of Romania. It became the favorite home and retreat of Queen Marie, who ordered its extensive renovation conducted…

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Braศ™ov

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ดย ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ดย ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด I decided to skip Bucharest and head straight for Brasov. Brasov is considered the outdoor capital of Romania and can be a good base for Transylvania . Travelling with 1 year old baby makes travel planning very hard , so I decided to take it slow this time but still it was harder than I imagined. The flight to Bucharest from London was 4.5 hours. We took the train from Bucharest Nord at 17.45 . The train ride was supposed to be just over 2.5 hours but due an incident on…

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Around Glasgow

๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟย ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟย ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ We did Clyde river Cruise yesterday. It was a very long day , came back to my hotel at 12 in night. Our flight was at 8 in evening , so decided to take the day easy. We checked out from our hotel at 10. Our first destination was "city chambers" , however 25th Sept was festival holiday in Glasgow , so it was closed. Next we walked from there to Glasgow cathedral , built before theย Reformationย from the late 12th century onwards and serving as the seat of the Bishop and…

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Clyde full day cruise

๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟย ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟย ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ This was a hurriedly planned trip in and around Glasgow. We left on Saturday evening, our bus from Victoria terminus was at 10.30 PM. It was a overnight journey we reached Glasgow around 8.30 in the morning. Our ship MV Balmoral was supposed to depart from Glasgow Science center at 10.30 AM. The weather was not great , it was cloudy and started drizzling soon after we reached Glasgow.ย  We used rest rooms at bus terminus to freshen up and went for our ship. This was her last cruise for this…

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North Ireland – Giant Causeway

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง We left Derry in the morning toย Ballymoney . On the way we saw Dunluce castle. The iconic ruin of the castle sitting on a rocky outcrop , connected to mainland via a bridge. In the 17th century Dunluce was the seat of the earls of County Antrim and saw the establishment of a small town in 1608. Our next stop was Carrick-a- rede (rope bridge).ย Connected to the cliffs by a rope bridge across the Atlantic Ocean, Carrick-a-Rede Island (home to a single building - a fisherman's cottage) is the final destination.…

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Sunday Cycling from Northwood to Uxbridge

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง This was a 27 mile linear Chilterns bike ride starting from Northwood tube station (zone 6) at 10.50am taking in Rickmansworth, Sarratt, Chenies, and Denham before finishing at Uxbridge tube station on Sunday 3rd September. The route was on a mixture of country lanes, minor roads, parks and canal paths as well as cycle paths. The ride also included a couple of hills which is unavoidable in the Chilterns. There was an early coffee stop at Batchworth Lock cafe Rickmansworth then a short climb to the village of Sarratt where we…

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North Ireland – Derry

๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฎ๓ ฉ๓ ฒ๓ ฟ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฎ๓ ฉ๓ ฒ๓ ฟ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฎ๓ ฉ๓ ฒ๓ ฟ๓ ง๓ ข We had an early morning flight from Stanstead to Londonderry . Our hotel was next to river Foyle , with a great view of the other side of the river. ย It is the only remaining complete walled city in Ireland and one of the finest example of a walled city in Europe. Our first stop was walking over city walls.ย The Walls areย approximately 1 mileย (1.6 km) in circumference and which vary in height and width between 3.7 andย 10.7 metresย (12 and 35 feet), are completely intact. There are 7 gates out of which…

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