kjlb
kimberley brown Joined: August 28th 2007
Logged in: March 12th 2011
Logged in: March 12th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
ribbon twirlers
Melbourne - Beijing Day 1 Wednesday 23/9/09 To all my friends and family around the world. This blog entry is a little longer than the others, so if you are not interested, perhaps just look at the pictures :) DAY 1 ITINERARY: Check in at the airport bound for Beijing. On arrival into Beijing you will be met by your friendly tour guide. Your hotel will be Novotel Beijing Sanyuan Hotel. We left home at 3am in the dark on a cold Wednesday morning, for the airport. Our first of seven flights in 2 weeks, was from Melbourne to Sydney. This flight went well, but once in Sydney we had a small problem, our flight was delayed and delayed and delayed again due to a dust storm. And so there we waited for our flight from ... read more
Some boats in the harbour at Hvar
The smell of salt water & fish is definitely the first thing that springs to mind to describe the air along the coast of Croatia. It was warm and sunny (almost hot), and so very different to the weather that I had left behind in smelly soggy London. A week spent exploring Croatia and its islands sounded to me like a perfect place for a holiday...and it was! I arrived in Split, a small city, which was originally built around the Diocletian palace (a palace/fort built for the retired Roman emperor Diocletian) where the locals sought refuge centuries ago. Wandering the historic center of Split you can still clearly see the Roman walls, squares, and temples. Recently, the main street or centre walkway of Split was fixed up and modernized...much to the locals disapproval but I ... read more
The Blue Mosque
Turkish delight...yummmm! I have been wanting to go to Turkey for years...and finally it was time to visit Istanbul. Having flown across the world almost half way back to Australia...I arrived late Friday night in Istanbul, and on leaving the airport, my travel buddy and I were forced to figure out the train/tram system straight away. 12pm on a tram in the middle of Istanbul with my luggage was a precarious situation to be in...but we managed to find the little family run hotel that we were to stay in, fairly easily. It was a rather cute hotel actually...more like a large house. A young Turkish couple had just built their dream 'hotel' (3 levels and about 6 bedrooms in total) and so we were one of the first guests that they had. Only 1 of ... read more
Stockholm
I actually had no intention of going to Sweden. My housemate and very good travel companion managed to buy tickets for only £15.00. So....off to Stockholm we went, the capital of Sweden. With no high hopes and no expectations of what I would find in this city, I didn't find much. It was cold and raining for the entire time I was there, which didn't make my experience any more magical. And not to sound too cynical, as far as tourism goes, Stockholm to Sweden is really what Canberra is to Australia. It is a city, with not very much for tourists to do or see at all. Stockholm Palace was the highlight of my weekend and about the only notable historical building there to see. On my little walk to the centre of the ... read more
Scotland
ok...so i am really sorry that it has taken me this long to write another entry. It has actually been a couple of months since i went to Scotland, and as a result, i have forgotten most of what i wanted to write. This will therefore be a fairly short entry...and then you can all stop procrastinating and get back to your work. I have a couple more entries to write now...so i'll leave you with this one and talk to you soon! **************************************************************************** After a weekend in Ireland and another week at work. Daniel (my cousin) and I decided to take advantage of cheap air travel and flew to Scotland for another weekend adventure. Edinburgh was a very beautiful old city and a lot bigger than i had imagined. We spend Saturday on a bus....literally, ... read more
The Spire of Dublin
My cousin Daniel came to visit me in London and we decided to take a couple of little weekend mini-breaks away. Our first weekend away was to Ireland (Dublin) and we had such a great time!! It may have taken us a good hour and a half of aimlessly walking the streets to try and find our hostel, but it was totally worth it to be able to experience Guinness in Ireland!! And yes, I did spend most of my time wondering where the lepricorns lived and where I could find one (or catch one), but I also got to experience a cute little country that very patriotic and green. Up early Saturday morning to board a coach for a trip around the land. It was a full day drive, and I am guilty for falling ... read more
Our Bus for the day
Another sunny long weekend in London....what to do..... I really wanted to go away somewhere exotic for our May day long weekend, but the trouble is that all the airplane and accommodation prices increase! So I decided to stay home (in the UK) and explore more of the English countryside with one of my housemates. Monday morning, bright and early, I boarded a coach at Victoria Street Tube station armed with our cameras and backpacks and set off for a full day adventure around England. If was fun being a tourist for a day, and other people on the bus on holiday from USA and NZ were interested in talking to us about what it's like to live in London... About an hour west of London is the largest inhabited castle in the world, Windsor Castle. ... read more
The Real Platform
Saturday was the sunniest day of the year so far. I think it managed to almost reach 30 degrees! Yes thats right! About time that it was my turn to gloat about the sun being on MY side of the world...And being the Harry Potter fan that I am, I thought I would spend the day running around London in the sun, and find all the famous sites from the movie. The first stop was Kings Cross Station. Now for those of you who have never seen Harry Potter, you may find this a bit boring....but for those of you who have, it was so exciting! Kings Cross Station was where Harry left to take the train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. The bridge shown in my photos, is in the scene where Hagrid ... read more
Our Hostel
So while trying to book a flight to Turkey for ANZAC day, I came accross some cheap tickets to Krakow. I wasn't too sure about what was to be expected of Krakow, but after I Googled it, I realised that perhaps this city won't be too bad to visit after all. Friday night after work I headed straight for the Express train to the Airport. Only a 2 hour flight and I was in Poland. Another Language, another currency and warm weather! When we arrived at the airport in Krakow, we took a shuttle bus and express train into the city centre where our hostel was. We were staying literally just 20 metres from the market square. Walking out of our quiet hostel onto the street was like stepping through a teleport back in time! I ... read more
