Exploring the world, one place at a time
No trip to Venice would be complete without a visit to its most famous square, the Piazza San Marco, and the iconic sites that surround it, the Basilica di San Marco, the Palazzo Ducale and the Campanile. So after cruising down the Grand Canal, we disembarked at San Marco, where we stopped to take some... Continue Reading →
We started our first full day in Venice by exploring the canals near our hotel in the Cannaregio district, snaking our way over the bridges and along the deserted canals, while soaking up the area's eerie stillness. As we got closer to the Rialto district and the Grand Canal (below), the city, unsurprisingly, became increasingly... Continue Reading →
I didn't have much of a plan when I went to London, I had lots of vague ideas about different places I'd like to visit, but nothing set in stone and I found myself changing my plans on a whim during the trip. One of the places I'd thought about visiting was St Paul's Cathedral.... Continue Reading →
One of my favourite things to do in Porto was visiting the city's many, highly decorative churches. From pretty tile-clad exteriors to breathtaking gilt carved interiors and superb views over the city, there was a lot to marvel at. But of all the incredible ecclesiastical buildings we visited (and we saw quite a few!), two... Continue Reading →
For the last two and a half years, I've had an ever-growing list of posts lingering in my drafts folder that I held off publishing while we were in the throes of the pandemic, and it's got to the point where I haven't been sure what to do with them as it's been so long.... Continue Reading →
In early March 2020, I spent a day in the Gloucestershire spa town of Cheltenham. Two weeks later we all went into lockdown and this post has sat languishing in my ever-growing drafts pile since, as it didn't feel quite right to publish it at the time when we couldn't leave the house. So in... Continue Reading →
The elegant manor house, Plas Newydd, is the ancestral seat of the Marquess of Anglesey. Situated on the banks of the Menai Strait on Ynys Môn (the Isle of Anglesey), the stately home boasts superb views of Snowdonia National Park and is surrounded by park and woodland that's home to an array of wildlife, including... Continue Reading →
The banks of the River Thames to the south-west of London are dotted with stately homes and grand palaces. From Kew Palace to the Duke of Northumberland's Syon Park, to Marble Hill House and the majestic Hampton Court Palace. So when I was browsing through the National Trust's handbook and came across Ham House and... Continue Reading →
The Basilica of Saint-Denis to the north of Paris has been top of my Parisian bucket list for a good 20 years and I was determined to finally visit it last summer. The magnificent basilica is the resting place of almost all the French kings and queens, with 43 kings, 32 queens and more than... Continue Reading →
When I asked one of my Paris-based friends what I should do in the city, the first thing she said was go to the Fondation Louis Vuitton. So after my morning visiting the Musée de l'Orangerie and over-indulging at Angelina, I hopped on the Metro to the Bois de Boulogne on the Western edge of... Continue Reading →
Little Old World 