Our Travel Blog

The observation decks at both the Top of the Rock and at the Empire State Building offer incredible views of the city. If you have the time, we’d recommend going to both of them, but what if you don’t have the time, which one should you choose? No matter which one you choose, you won’t go wrong, but we’d recommend the Top of the Rock if we had to decide. There are several reasons that we would choose the Top of the Rock over the Empire State Building, although in the end it is probably a personal choice.

Outside of Rockefeller Center

View from the Empire State Building

On the Top of the Rock with the Empire State Building Behind Us

View from the Top of the Rock

The observation deck at the Empire State Building is an iconic experience that has provided views of New York City for almost…

Walking through the ruins of Tiwanaku brings both a sense of fascination and yearning for more. This once great capital fills you with a sense of mystery, both because of the seemingly impossible building methods used by the inhabitants over two-thousand years ago as well as the lack of knowledge that we’ll ever have because of the condition of the ruins.  Unfortunately, many of the stones that originally made up Tiwanaku are now used in the walls of the homes in the surrounding villages.  It has also suffered from a lack of preservation by the Bolivian government, which doesn’t seem to have the same sense of history, despite the fact that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Walls of Tiwanaku

Temple Statue

Entrance to the Sun Temple with the Statue in the Center

As with pretty much everything that we visited while in Bolivia, when we walked through the…

Siena is one of those cities where travelers go explore for a day when they are in the region. This is because it’s a smaller town with less to do than its neighbor Florence. During the Summer, it brings in many visitors when they host the famous Palio horserace that takes place in Piazza del Campo. 

Pubblico Palace

When I first arrived, I went on a walking tour for a few hours. If you would like to see what tours are offered in Siena, you can click here. They offer a variety of different tours from walking tours, wine tasting tours, and full day tours to multiple small towns in the area. I really enjoyed all the history and information provided from my tour. Definitely don’t skip on doing a little research and learning about Siena. It’s not only beautiful but has an interesting history.

Fonte Gaia

Many…

We had just over two hours to stretch our legs whilst in transit at Hong Kong airport. As it was early morning many of the airside shops and cafes had not yet opened so we settled for McDonalds where we had some hot drinks and took an opportunity to catch up on the news on our iPads. Our Cathay Pacific flight to Manila was delayed by 25 minutes but this short delay was insignificant and didn’t really matter.

Waiting to board our flight to Manila

Our gate was located about a 15 minute walk from the food court providing us with a little more exercise. The aircraft was an older style A330-300 with quite small seat back screens. The seating configuration was 2-4-2 and as we were by the window, we did not have a passenger next to us. All seats on the flight seemed to be taken, mostly by…

It was a bright, sunny morning as I left my home to begin the first leg of my holiday. I met up with my son and we enjoyed a leisurely meal together in the centre of Manchester before continuing on to the airport by train from Piccadilly station.

A sunny afternoon in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester

We had arranged to stay at the Holiday Inn Express Manchester Airport, a tried and tested hotel that we use frequently. The hotel is located a few minutes drive from the airport with a shuttle bus being available from outside the railway station at £3 per person. We were just about to use the courtesy phone to arrange transport when two more people appeared who were also staying at the same hotel so we all decided to take a taxi together as it was slightly cheaper. Our fellow passengers had been visiting Edinburgh and the…

From its Old Town architecture to its burgeoning café culture, Bratislava is now becoming a must see destination for those travelling across Europe.

We want to provide you with some of our favourite parts of Bratislava and give you some advice that will save you time and money.

Flying to Slovakia?
The M.R. Stefanik Airport is closest to
Bratislava. From the airport you can get into the city centre for around €1 on a bus, which is far cheaper than paying for a local taxi.

Note: Remember before you get on the bus – buy a ticket and validate the ticket on the bus otherwise you could be fined!

First Stop – Bratislava Castle Likened to an upside down table, Bratislava Castle is perched high above the cityscape. Whilst the castle has been a fortress for former monarchies, it now has opened its doors to the public and now contains a museum. Whilst…

The thought of standing in a snow carpeted Red Square on a cold winter’s day seemed appealing, so we booked a few days in Moscow.  It’s necessary to obtain a visa before arriving in Russia and this can dissuade potential visitors from travelling.  To help demystify the process I’ll explain how we went about it.