Portugal : Porto & Douro Valley

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡นย ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡นย ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Porto was the last stop in my itinerary. Porto is the second biggest city in Portugal. ย This place was the origin of port wine. It is also famous for its iconic bridges. In fact it is the only city in Europe which has 6 bridges. I stayed in Porto for 2 days. Weather was not at its best but there were intermittent clear sky. There are few unique charm to this city, Lello Bookshop with its amazing neo-gothic interiors (Harry Potter shooting happened here, it was Hogwarts library) . Then there…

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Portugal : Lagos & Albufeira Region

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡นย ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡นย ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น I landed in Faro airport at 12 PM. Faro is the capital of famous Algarve region of Portugal. I booked my transfer to Vilamoura from Airport.ย Vilamoura ย is one of the finest resort towns in Porugal. However due to wet weather my boat tour was cancelled . I spend the day walking around town.ย Vilamoura is famous for its beach , resorts and million dollar yachts parked at the marina . Vilamoura Marina   My next destination was Lagos. The town is famous for its old town, cliffs and Atlantic beaches. Still sea…

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Spain : Andalusia region – Seville

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธย ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Seville - Granada - Ronda Day -1 ย Sevilleย  Seville is the capital of Andalusia region. There are 17 autonomous communities in Spain, Andalusia is the most populous and 2nd largest by area. I missed my original flight to Barcelona so Iย had to knock off Barcelona and Madrid from my original itinerary and instead arrived Seville two days latter. First thing I noticed are orange trees, they are an integral part of the landscape. If you make the mistake (like I did )ย of biting one of the oranges you will understand…

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Ilulissat: Land of icebergs

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฑย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฑย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฑ I was not originally planning to visit Ilulissat.ย There was no flight back from Sisimuitย , so I decided to extend my stay ย and visitedย Ilulissat, glad that I did. This town is located approximately 350 KM north of arctic circle. This place is famous for Icefjord. It's a massiveย collection of icebergs that have calved from the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier one by one. This isย fastest moving glacier in the world (40 meters daily). This place is at its best during summer months, specially due to global warmingย glacier calving is a common phenomenon. We were…

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Paris Again

๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท This is my second trip to Paris. Shreyashi is on the way and I just returned from Chadar trek with a broken elbow. This was a very short trip . We stayed in a very comfortable hotel near Arc de Triomphe, visited Eiffel tower , enjoyed Paris streets.                  

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Edinburgh

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 started in the evening from London . This was a night bus from Victoria terminus to Edinburg. We reached Edinburgh in the morning . Our first destination wasย Calton Hill , one of Edinburgh's main hills, set right in the city centre. It is unmistakable with its Athenian acropolis poking above the skyline. There are two observatories . Nelson monument is situated on top of Calton hill which was constructed to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Latter in the day we walked across…

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Prague

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟย ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟย ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ It was an extended weekend trip to Prague and Munich. This is considered one of the most beautiful cities of the world brimming with cultural sites. Our hotel was very close to the town square . This is a historic square. The elegant tower of the Town Hall with the world famous astronomical clock, the proud silhouette of the fairy-tale Tรฝn Cathedral, the monumental Church of St. Nicholas and countless multicolored houses of many styles lend this place a unique atmosphere. Charles Bridge is a historic bridge that crosses the Vltava…

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Ireland – Killarney

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ชย ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ชย ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Day 1 It was a cloudy morning of 24th august 2012 (Friday) when we started for our Ireland trip. The weekend being a long one with a bank holiday on Monday we decided to seize the opportunity for a trip to Ring of Kerry on the south of Ireland. Our flight with Ryanair was at 15:20 from Stansted airport in London to Kerry airport in Ring of Kerry reaching at 16:45. Reaching Stansted from Barking was not that smooth as the Easy bus stop in Baker street was not that easy…

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Lucerne : Mount Pilatus and Mount Titlis

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญย ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญย ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ We stayed Lucerne for two days. First day was we visited mount Titlis. We took train toย to Engelberg then walked down to the cable car.ย  Engelberg - Titlis cable car goes up to Titlis with a change at Trรผbsee. Fromย Trรผbsee the rotating gondolas "Titlis Rotor" took us to the top. The weather was not great . It was cloudy that day so view from top was not very clear.ย The glacier cave is only a snowball's throw from the mountain station. The glistening, blue ice tunnel leads deep down into the fascinating…

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Italy – Naples and Pompeii

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡นย ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡นย ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Only reason I visited and stayed in Naples overnight was to arrange my visit to Pompei and Mount Vesuvius. Though there are few tourist spots within the city, I did not have any time to visit any of those places. Next day my first visit was to Mount Vesuvius. I arranged the trip from official tourism center, however the bus started late and then on the way driver stopped the bus and spent 1 hour smoking an talking over phone. Nevertheless it was a nice little hike from bus stop to…

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