SCOTLAND'S HERITAGE: DRYBURGH ABBEY

The series of Scotland's gems continues....

A few weeks ago, I visited some beautiful sites on the Scottish borders. One of them was the Dryburgh Abbey, built in 1150 by white-clad Premonstratensian canons.

Click here for more information about the Abbey.

It was a lovely day and, luckily, very quiet. If you are able to spend some time in Scotland, I would suggest to become a member of 'Historic Scotland'. The membership gives you access to a large number of historic sites all over Scotland. The Historic Scotland website is a good place to start looking when planning to visit historical sites.

My photo album shows interesting images of this impressive Abbey. Have a look at the photos and feel free to leave a comment on my blog site.

Hot weather map

Have you wondered where the best places are to escape the cold weather between Christmas and New Year? It always takes me ages to find a place to escape but the most popular places cost a fortune! No pity for the small earner who lives in a cold country?

Luckily I came across a website that shows on a world map where the 'hot places' are. It's a good one and it's called 'Worldreviewer.com'. Have a look at their website if you are nosy and if you want to spend New Year's Eve in warmer climate.

Oh and please let me know if you find a good deal for a week in the sun between Christmas and New Year. I've not yet given up :-)   (For flights from either Glasgow or Edinburgh airport, Scotland).

Happy searching!

SCOTLAND'S GEMS - TROSSACHS

A few weeks ago I went to Loch Katrine where I spent the day with hubby John cycling along the Loch. It was a lovely day and on the way to the Loch, we stopped at Doune Castle for a short visit. This lovely 14th century castle has a lot of charm and is definitely worth a visit. For more information about Doune Castle click here.

The Trossachs are one of my favourite areas in Scotland, not far from Glasgow and Edinburgh. Definitely worth spending a few days while travelling Scotland. There is so much to do and to see and if you are an outdoor person, you definitely won't be disappointed.

I have, again, uploaded some photographs I took while cycling around Loch Katrine. Other photos show the Doune Castle in it's full beauty. Just click here and you will be taken to my travel photo album on Facebook where you can view all my photographs.

Enjoy!

Linlithgow

My husband and I went for a nice walk along the Union canal today. We ended up following a path that led us to the Avon river. It was so beautiful, we continued walking along the path on the way home.

West Lothian is amazing! There is so much to discover and for nature lovers, the ideal place to recharge your batteries and to rewind.

To see the pictures, click here. The quality of the photos is not the best as I used my iPhone to take them but they will give you an impression of what this lovely place looks like.

Let me know what you think!

G. xx

More travel updates shortly!

Dear readers,

Apologies for not having updated my blog for so long.

I have just finished my university studies, moved house and started a new job. This was all happening at once - hence my absence....

It won't be long and I will post new travel stories onto my blog, with interesting stories and photographs.

Furthermore, if you would like to share your stories with other readers, feel free to drop me a line and I am happy to publish your story. Simply send your input to atravellersdream@gmail.com
and I will post it as soon as possible.

In the meantime, check out the latest video of my social networking event in Edinburgh.

All the best,

Gordana

ANDALUCIA

Dear reader

It is the time of the year when I think of holidays. I'm still at University and I am getting exhausted and fed up with studying. What I miss most is the freedom to travel whenever I want. Unfortunately, my studies and my assignments won't allow me to travel anywhere until I finish my course, which is at the end of April (yippeeee!).

But this won't stop me thinking of a nice and warm place with lots of culture and sandy beaches to relax.

This year, I am planning a trip to Spain. In fact - I won a 7 day holiday to Spain, including flights and accommodation. How good is that???

I have the choice to go to Tenerife or to Andalucia. Years ago, I went to Almunecar in Andalucia (twice), to learn Spanish for two weeks. Almunecar is a beautiful little village by the sea, with lovely restaurants and small shops, approx. 2 hours north of Malaga.

Although I have already been to Andalucia, I am still considering going again as this time, I am planning to visit places like Cordoba, Seville, Granada and perhaps Tarifa (depending on how much time we have).

Has anyone been to any of these places? Or do you live in one of these villages/cities/towns?
Could you perhaps recommend some nice restaurants and must-see sights?

The best time for me to travel would be sometime in the second half of May 2011.

I look forward to your feedback, tips and other comments.

Thanks a lot!

IRELAND - preview

Info about my trip to Ireland will be coming soon!

Travel stories wanted

Dear reader,

Have you recently been on an adventure or a holiday with a difference? Would you like to share your story with other travellers?

I am looking for people who want to share their stories with my readers so please send me an email with your best travel story to atravellersdream@gmail.com and I will publish it in my blog.

Pictures would be great too so feel free to attach your favourite photographs to your email.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks a a lot!

PRAGUE - DAY 2

On the second day in Prague we did a lot more than on our first day (naturally, because we had the full day to discover other parts of the city).

We took the metro to Malostranska from where we continued on a tram journey to the Prague castle.

The Prague castle is the largest castle in Europe and therefore we dedicated most of our time wandering around the castle, visiting the lovely Basilica of St. George, museums and exhibitions, also part of the castle as well as some buildings that belong to the castle.

You can buy different tickets, depending on what you want to see. John and I went for the 'small' tour for the price of CZK250, which included the following:
- Old Royal Palace
- Basilica of St. George
- Rosenberg Palace

For almost double of the price you can add the following to the tour:
- The Story of Prague Castle
- Convent of St. George - National Gallery
- Prague Castle Picture Gallery
- Powder Tower

For more detailed information about the Prague castle, click here.

We must have spent at least 2.5 hours at the castle if not more, so plan enough time for the castle visit.

There is a summer palace we wanted to visit too but it is much further out and you have to take a tram to get there. Unfortunately, John and I could not find it. It was clearly marked on our street map but when we got off the tram stop we were suppose to get off, we could not find any signs for the summer palace.

Several streets are leading into different directions and it was way too cold to check them all out so we left after approx. 10 minutes of wandering about. To be honest - I doubt that it was open at all as it was the end of January and this sight might only be open during the summer.

I recommend to ask at the tourist office for advice before you start exploring the city :-)

Nevertheless, it was an interesting journey on the tram. I love people watching and interestingly, there were more old people on the trams than young ones, and I am talking about the locals, not tourists.

Back to Mala Strana, still on the west side of the Vlatava river, also called the 'Moldau' in German language, we took some photographs of the front of the Charles bridge.

Before we went for a walk over the famous Charles bridge, we went to a lovely restaurant for lunch. I was keen on trying the Czech goulash with their famous dumplings so we both ordered two portions of lovely goulash and two pints of local lager. It was delicious!

The stroll over Charles bridge was interesting but immediately, John and I knew that we should come back at night when all the lights are on. Especially that particular night when we were there as it has been snowing during the day and we were hoping to get some lovely photographs taken (don't forget your tripod!).

Because we had a very late lunch, we did not feel extremely hungry but we were craving for cakes so we walked around the old city until we found a nice cafe bar called Cafe-Cafe. The cakes were mouthwatering and the ambience was really nice. We ordered two amazing looking cakes and a bottle of lovely green Veltiner white wine and looked at the photographs we took during the day.

Our hotel had a small sauna which could be booked for private use so we warmed up in the sauna after we returned to the hotel.

Later in the night, after a quick nap (we were exhausted from all the walking around with freezing temperatures), we went to the Charles bridge again and took some fantastic pictures. We were extremely lucky as there were only very few people on the bridge. It was approximately 11.30pm and around -2 degrees Celsius. Lovely!

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at another bar for a shy good night drink.

The next day would be as exciting and busy as the previous day but we had only 3 days and wanted to make the most out of it.

So watch this space for further updates!


--> Photos of day 2 of our Prague visit

PRAGUE - DAY 1

As promised, here is the first part of my travel report from my recent visit to Prague.

Many of my friends have been to Prague and they said that it was a lovely place to visit so I finally managed to travel to Czech Republic's capital too.

Luckily, Jet2 offers direct flights from Edinburgh to Prague. We left Edinburgh on a Thursday morning (7:30am) and  returned on Sunday evening around 8:30pm. Just enough time for a city break in Europe.

Once we arrived in Prague, we took bus no. 119 to the nearest underground station called DEJVICE from where we got a connection to Nam. Miru, a metro station 10 minutes from where we stayed.

It was lunch time when we checked into our hotel and we decided to find a local restaurant for lunch which turned out to be the best pizza I ever tasted in my whole life! It was simply amazing! Staff was extremely friendly and the prices were fair. The restaurant is called MATYLDA and has its own website which you can check out for further information. It is located just a couple of blocks from the Nam. Miru metro station.

Also, check out the photo I took inside the Matylda restaurant (facebook album under Prague - part 1).

After lunch, we decided to walk into the old town. As we had only approximately a couple of hours of daylight left, we did not bother to visit the castle that day. Instead, we just wandered about and took photographs of the stunning architecture of Prague's buildings.

Even the city's large post office was located in an unusual building with lovely wall paintings. Luckily I managed to take some photographs before the security guard told me off :-)

Again, we decided to have dinner locally, to experience the real Prague and to be amongst the locals. It was pleasant and we did not have any reasons to complain. It was a rather cosy place with only locals. John and I just got something small as we felt like we were eating all day long :-)

This restaurant was also in the Prague 2 district and is called 'Restaurace U Moznych'. A chicken salad costs CZK 147 and a pint of beer CZK 39, which is around GBP 1.40 (roughly), as per 28 January 2011.

I have taken a lot of photos which you can access via facebook by clicking on the link below.

Day 2 of my report will go live shortly so watch this space!

--> Photos of Prague (day 1)

Update on Prague

Dear all,

Just a quick info to let you know that my report about Prague is scheduled to go live this weekend so watch this space!

Thanks for your patience.

City trip

My husband and I are going on a short trip to Prague later in the week for 4 days and I am very excited about it.

Many of my friends have been to Prague and they say it is a romantic city with lots of culture and history.

So watch this space......

Yours,
Gordana

EDINBURGH HOGMANAY 2011 - New Year's eve

Happy New Year everyone!

John and I went into Edinburgh for New Year's Eve. We watched the fireworks from Castle Street which is, in my opinion a good place to see them. Of course, we did not have the best view but it was not too crowded and we thought it was still lovely.

If you want more action, you can buy tickets for the party on Princes Street. Every year there are concerts on 31st December and this Hogmanay it was Biffy Clyro who entertained guests at  the West Princes Street Gardens. There is also a street ceilidh taking place on New Year's Eve which will keep you warm while waiting for the midnight gun that's being fired from the Edinburgh Castle. 

For information on what's going on during the four day Hogmanay event click here.  

--> More photos of Hogmanay 2010/2011

EDINBURGH HOGMANAY 2011 - Torchlight Procession

This year's Hogmanay was a great success in my opinion. The weather was kind to us and the 4 day event offers something for everyone.

Together with some Swiss friends who are currently visiting, we joined the Torchlight Procession on the 30th December. This is the opening event for the Edinburgh Hogmanay where people can purchase a torch at the parliament square, from where the procession starts. The event is free of charge and the money that was raised by the sale of torches will be donated to Barnardo's Scotland as well as the Radio Forth's Cash for Kids.

An estimated 25,000 people attended this event and the atmosphere was great.

The 'Son et Lumiere & Firework' draws the finale where, traditionally, a Viking long ship is set on fire. This spectacle has been accompanied by pipes and drums (traditional and contemporary). The firework display marked the closure of this event and was as breath taking as I expected.

--> Photos of the Torchlight Procession