Birthday this year

It was my birthday two days ago. However, I haven't really done much celebration, apart from going to the countryside. Also, because it was such a sunny day, I felt that I must seize the chance.

Living in the UK for almost ten years. However, I still haven't been to many places around Bristol. Stroud is one of them. It is in the famous Cotswolds area and takes 40 minutes to drive from Bristol. If you prefer to see the lovely countryside view and have a relaxing hike, Woodchester is the place to go.

When we followed the 'Scenic Route', the picturesque village view was available within a minute. Carrying on driving through the Route, we walked around a 'never ending' green field and woodland. I really enjoyed it a lot.

Last but not least, what kind of thing can you imagine below?

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London's Interesting Market - Camdon Market

Yesterday was Good Friday, I wish you to have a happy Easter.

Since last year I went to London with my sister-in-law, we have decided to visit London once per year if possible. We went to Borough Market last time, so we hoped to find another market, especially where it served lunch. We tried Camdon Market.

Soon after we arrived at Camdon Town tube station, I was attracted by the funky decor on the wall. However, we were really hungry; we needed to find food quickly. Thanks goodness that we managed to spot an area with loads of food stalls soon after crossing a river.

The food they served were from around the world: Italian pasta, German sausages, sushi, curry, jerk chicken etc. It was hard to make a decision as we wished to have a bit of everything. The sellers were very helpful and kept giving us simple to try until we were happy with our choice. There were also some tables and seats available so we could eat properly.

If you have a chance to visit London, go there! You can also shop around as I've heard that the goods in Camdon Market is quite cheap.
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Natural phenomenon @ Severn Bore

There is an interesting nature scene called tidal bore. According to Wikipedia: 'A tidal bore is a tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave (or waves) of water that travels up a river or narrow bay against the direction of the river or bay's current.'

There are only a few places in the world you can see this phenomenon and one of them is at the River Severn. My husband and I deliberately drove to Gloucester to see this famous bore at the beginning of this month and here is the recording of the bore:

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Waterfalls in Brecon Beacons

My husband has mentioned before that when the sun comes out, the UK is a really pretty place, and there is no need to fly elsewhere in Europe for the weather. I totally agree with him. Since the weather was nice again here, it was time to travel around the country.

This time, we went to Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, which is not far from our home. The area of the entire park is about 1,344km². After reading the National Park website, I decided to find some waterfalls near Pontneddfechan village in order to have a pleasant walk but also enjoy the cooling effect of the water spray.

There are several waterfalls in the village. However, the outstanding one is Sgwd yr Eira (meaning: Waterfall of the Snow, pictures below). Not only is the largest one in the area, but also you can walk behind the waterfall to feel the power of the falls without getting too wet. 

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Jurassic Coast

The weather for the last few weekends were unbelievably good. My husband decided to give me a surprised trip, drove me down to Lulworth Cove last weekend, which was around two hours drive down south from Bristol.

This Cove is part of the Jurassic Coast. Thanks to the sea erosion, nowadays the Cove looks like a horseshoe shape. When we arrived, I couldn't believe how clear the water was. It was a hot day. Luckily, there were some gentle wind blowing from the sea. We found a good place to sit down and enjoyed the lovely view.

If you like hiking, Jurassic Coast would be one of the good area to do so as it is 125km long, takes about 4 days. However, we only had an afternoon to walk around. We 'strolled' all the way to the famous Durdle Door. There were a bunch of youngsters climbing up the Door and jumped down to the sea. They were so bloody brave!

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While the weather was good...

Monday, 6th May 2013   Highest Temperature: 19C    Sunny

It always happens that the first Monday of May is a bank holiday in the UK. The MET Office predicted that the weather on this bank holiday would be lovely and hot. When my husband asked me whether we should visit somewhere inland or a seaside, I immediate suggested to go to the seaside without much thought. It was because we haven't had nice summers for the past few years - it was cold and often rained. Some places even got flooded. So, since it was such a pleasant day, we enjoyed a stroll at the British seaside.

We went to Burnham-on-Sea. It is located in the south west of England. The beach was quite long, but the pier was the shortest in the UK!

It seems that children had a lot of fun that day. They could either play in the water or build sand castles. For adults, they made use of the unique opportunity to have a sunbathe and relax.

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Borough Market London – Must

Borough Market has a long history. However, despite living in the UK for almost 10 years, I had never heard of it until I read an article a few years ago on Yahoo Hong Kong! 

This lovely Market is located under a railway bridge at the London Bridge tube station. When arriving, the first thing I saw was a large pan full of delicious-looking paella slowly cooking in front of me. Then, walking further inside, my eyes were attracted by the wide variety of colourful food all around. Many sellers couldn't wait to give tasters of their fine products hoping that you would take out your wallet to buy some. 

Not only does the Market sell lunch boxes and desserts, but also fruit and veg, uncooked fish and meat. The Market itself is not a massive one but it is clean and has a lot of high-quality produce. Even non-foodies would be tempted to wonder around, exploring what's on offer, without realising the time. If you want to walk around the whole Market, make sure you visit on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, and allow an hour at the very least.

Borough Market's website: http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/ 

 

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Bradford-on-Avon

When planning a trip to the UK, you may think of the well-known cities like London, Edinburgh, Manchester and Liverpool. However, there are many lovely towns and villages in the UK which are worth to pay a visit, for example, Bradford-on-Avon which is located nearby Bath.

According to the history, people started to live in this village from the ancient Roman period. However, the local buildings have a strong sense of English style architect.

As the name suggested, the River Avon runs through this town. If you have time, you may wish to enjoy the scenery of Avon by following the proposed routes from the local town map.

Note: It takes around 15 minutes to go from Bath to Bradford-on-Avon by train. If you would like to find out more traveling information at the UK, please feel free to contact me.

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Having English breakfast with The Mad Hatter

When I went to Bath last month, I was dying for a lovely English Breakfast. Somehow I picked The Mad Hatter Tea Party cafe. The Mad Hatter is one of the characters from a well known English story 'Alice in Wonderland'. The cafe's decor was very cute as it had some pictures and ornaments from the story.

If you are traveling around the UK, you must try this famous traditional English Breakfast. It normally consists of bacon, sausage, egg, baked beans or tomato, and toast. Sometimes you might even have mushrooms and hash browns / fried bread! As long as you stay in B&B (Bed and Breakfast) in the UK, the B&B host should cook you such a breakfast in the morning. If you are the kind of person who likes to spend every single minute visiting places, this full breakfast meal might save you time as you probably won't need lunch afterwards!

The Mad Hatter Tea Party cafe is on the Orange Grove street, nearby Bath Abbey.

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Bath 'sponsor' trip

A few months ago, Visit Bath ran a video competition called 'Bath in 60 seconds'. I entered, and was very surprised and delighted to discover that I had won it! My husband and I traveled to Bath already this year, so we knew this city quite well. The prize included two nights accommodation in a luxury apartment, free entry to most of the Bath attractions, and a comedy show with a dinner for two. We couldn't miss it.

Bath has a long history; it can be traced back to the ancient Roman period. The Roman Baths is a place that tourists should not miss. However, as we had been there already, we instead decided to take boat trip along the River Avon. Since it was a beautiful sunny day, we tried both available boat trips. If you are thinking to visit the River, I highly recommend you try Bath City Boat Trips.

Most of the museums at Bath close at 5pm. When we first arrived, we didn't know what to do for that evening. By chance, we picked up a leaflet for a "comedy walk" called Bizarre Bath, so we decided to give it a go. There were more than 40 people who joined this 90-minute comedy tour. Our performer used jokes and tricks to take us around the city. It was one of the highlights for us.

Note: It takes 1.5 hours to go from London to Bath by train. If you would like to find out more traveling information on Bath or the UK, please feel free to contact me.

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