If first impressions count for anything, my friend and I were wondering what we had let ourselves in for when the driver who picked us up at airport zigzagged through…

Guizhou is in southwest China, a flight of just under 2 hours from Hong Kong. In December 2015 when my partner and I were in Hong Kong we joined a local…

 I do not normally visit the same place twice. However Vienna is one of the few cities where I happily revisit just to see those beautiful palaces! My first visit…

Royal Olympic Hotel A memorable trip started with the hotel. I have a very good reason to be pleased to have chosen Royal Olympic for the recent 4-day break for…

When my partner and I accompanied my sister and her husband to Vienna, we decided to take in another city for a couple of nights. It was a toss-up between Český…

Lianzhou is a county in northern Guangdong province in China. I never heard of the place until I joined a tour to Huangchuan River Three Gorges with my sister, her…

I love sunshine and warm weather when on holiday but I happily made an exception for Iceland in late February 2016 hoping to see the Northern Lights. In the event the…

This post is part of a series called Around Italy Alberobello, Puglia is home to “trulli,” whitewashed stone huts with distinctive conical roofs. Alberobello is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for…

This post is part of a series called Around Italy Matera in Basilicata was the scullery maid that becomes a duchess, the Cinderella that became the belle of the ball! Chosen…

This post is part of a series called Around Italy Lecce is known as “Florence of the south”. It’s easy to see why!   I first visited Lecce in 1988…