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95 photos from Cologne
(North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)
2010-12-04
A second trip to the German city of Cologne, where we visited the Cologne Cathedral, the christmas markets and the shopping streets.
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63 photos from Geysir
(Southern Region, Iceland)
2013-02-28
Geysir, sometimes known as The Great Geysir, is a geyser in southwestern Iceland. It was the first geyser described in a printed source and the first known to modern Europeans. The English word geyser (a spouting hot spring) derives from Geysir. The name Geysir itself is derived from the Icelandic verb geysa, `to gush`, the verb from Old Norse. Geysir lies in the Haukadalur valley on the slopes of Laugarfjall hill, which is also the home to Strokkur geyser about 50 metres south. Eruptions at Geysir can hurl boiling water up to 70 metres in the air. However, eruptions may be infrequent, and have in the past stopped altogether for years at a time. Tim and Miaomiao visited the geyser site during their trip through Iceland in the winter of 2013.
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1035 photos from Antalya
(Antalya, Turkey)
2023-10-14 - 2023-10-21
Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. It is seen as the `capital of tourism` in Turkey, with a record 13.6 million tourists passing through the city in 2019. Located on Anatolia`s southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish city on the Mediterranean coast outside the Aegean region with over 2.6 million people in its metropolitan area. The city that is now Antalya was first settled around 200 BC by the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon, which was soon conquered by the Romans. Roman rule saw Antalya thrive, including the construction of several new monuments, such as Hadrian`s Gate, and the proliferation of neighboring cities. The city has changed hands several times, including to the Seljuk Empire in 1207 and an expanding Ottoman Empire in 1391. Ottoman rule brought relative peace and stability for the next five hundred years. The city was occupied by Italy for three years in the aftermath of World War I, but was recaptured by a newly independent Turkey in the Turkish War of Independence. While the city itself only has modest elevation changes, Antalya has high mountains in all directions to its interior. We visited Antalya in the autumn of 2023.
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113 photos from Sounion
(Attica, Greece)
2009-03-13
Cape Sounion is a promontory located 69 km SSE of Athens, at the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula in Greece. Cape Sounion is noted as the site of ruins of the ancient Greek temple of Poseidon, the god of the sea in classical mythology. The remains are perched on the headland, surrounded on three sides by the sea. The ruins bear the deeply engraved name of English Romantic poet Lord Byron (1788-1824). The site is a popular day excursion for tourists from Athens, with sunset over the Aegean Sea viewed from the ruins a sought-after spectacle. Tim and Miaomiao visited Cape Sounion on the last full day of their trip to Athens, in March 2009.
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82 photos from Goa
(Goa, India)
2004-10-05 - 2004-10-09
Goa is India`s smallest state in terms of area, and is a former Portugese colony. Two of its most important cities, Panaji and Margao, were visited, as well as some of Goa`s many beaches.
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631 photos from London
(England, United Kingdom)
2024-04-30 - 2024-05-04
On this trip to London, we visited the Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Greenwich, the British Museum, Buckingham Palace and Westminster.
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686 photos from Edinburgh
(Scotland, United Kingdom)
2016-10-26 - 2016-10-30
Edinburgh is Scotland`s second most populous city and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The 2014 official population estimates are 464,990 for the city of Edinburgh and 1,339,380 for the city region. Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is home to the Scottish Parliament and the seat of the monarchy in Scotland. The city is home to national institutions such as the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery. It is the largest financial centre in the UK after London. The city`s historical and cultural attractions have made it the United Kingdom`s second most popular tourist destination attracting over one million overseas visitors each year. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, and the extensive Georgian New Town, built in the 18th century. Edinburgh`s Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We visited Edinburgh in the autumn of 2016.
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220 photos from Side
(Antalya, Turkey)
2023-10-19
Side is a city on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. It includes the modern resort town and the ruins of the ancient city of Side, one of the best-known classical sites in the country. Modern Side is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Manavgat. The great ruins are among the most notable in Asia Minor. They cover a large promontory which a wall and a moat separate from the mainland. The colossal theatre complex of the 2nd century is less well-preserved that of Aspendos, but it is almost as large, seating 15,000–20,000 people. It was converted into an open-air sanctuary with two chapels during Byzantine times. The well-preserved city walls provide an entrance to the site through the Hellenistic main gate from the 2nd century BC. The colonnaded street had marble columns whose remains can be seen near the Roman baths, restored as a museum displaying statues and sarcophagi from the Roman period. The agora includes the remains of the round Tyche and Fortuna temple. The early Roman Temple of Dionysus is near the theatre. At the left side is a Byzantine Basilica. Other buildings include three temples and a nymphaeum, a grotto or fountain building of elaborate design. We visited Side on a day trip from Antalya in the autumn of 2023.
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72 photos from Qionghai
(Hainan, China)
2016-07-17 - 2016-07-18
Qionghai is one of the seven county-level cities of Hainan province, China. Although called a `city`, Qionghai refers to a large land area in Hainan - an area which was once a county. Within this area is the main city, Qionghai City. It is located in the east of the island at the mouth of the Wanquan River, 86 kilometres from the provincial capital of Haikou. It has an area of 1,692 square kilometres and in 2010, it had a population of 483,217. We visited the city on our way from Haikou to Sanya.
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337 photos from Copenhagen
(Capital Region, Denmark)
2018-03-18 - 2018-03-19
On this second trip to Copenhagen, Tim visited the Bella Center, Copenhagen Central Railway Station, City Hall, Nyhavn, Frederik`s Church, the Kastellet, the statue `The Little Mermaid`, the Rosenborg Castle Gardens, the Rundetaarn tower, and other sites in the city center.
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91 photos from Mycenae
(Peloponnese, Greece)
2009-03-10
Mycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 6 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north. From the hill on which the palace was located one can see across the Argolid to the Saronic Gulf. In the second millennium BC Mycenae was one of the major centres of Greek civilization, a military stronghold which dominated much of southern Greece. The period of Greek history from about 1600 BC to about 1100 BC is called Mycenaean in reference to Mycenae. In March 2009, Miaomiao and Tim visited the ancient citadel of Mycenae and the nearby tomb of Clytemnestra as part of a day trip from Athens to the Argolis region of Greece.
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96 photos from Pearcedale
(Victoria, Australia)
2014-09-11
Pearcedale is a town in Victoria, Australia, 50 km south-east of Melbourne`s central business district. Its local government area is the City of Casey. At the 2011 Census, Pearcedale had a population of 3,871. Local attractions include an angora goat stud and knitting mill, an iris nursery, and the Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park, which allows visitors to see endangered Australian animals. We visited the Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park on our way from Melbourne to Phillip Island.
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119 photos from Porto Cristo
(Baleares, Spain)
2019-10-17
Porto Cristo (or Port de Manacor) is a small town on the eastern coast of Mallorca. It is 13.8 km from the town of Manacor and is within the Manacor municipality. The village is located in a major tourist area between Costa de los Pinos and Cala Murada. Its small bay opens to the southeast and seems almost closed on the right, by a large rock called Es Morro de Sa Carabassa. At its end, a lighthouse built in 1851 rises. Porto Cristo remains a modern but unspoilt all year round location. Though in no way a primary tourist destination in Mallorca, Porto Cristo promotes itself as a quiet resort and tries to encourage foreign visitors. The main tourist attractions are two sets of caves, the larger Coves del Drach and the Coves dels Hams. We visited the town center of Porto Cristo and the nearby Safari Zoo during our holidays in Mallorca.
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64 photos from Changping
(Beijing, China)
2017-08-11
Changping District, formerly Changping County, is a district situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing. Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometres, contains two subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns (five of which are suburbs of Beijing) with total population of 614,821. About 34 km from the city center, Changping is renowned for its numerous scenic spots and tourist facilities, like the Min dyanasty imperial tombs and the Datangshan museum. It is rich in natural resources, mineral products, and rural products. Tim visited the Chang Ling site of the Ming dynasty imperial tombs in Changping.
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45 photos from Bamenda
(Northwest, Cameroon)
2005-10-20 - 2005-10-21
Bamenda, also known as Abakwa and Mankon Town, is a city in northwestern Cameroon and capital of the North West Province. The city has an estimated 446,000 inhabitants. Bamenda is known for its cool climate and scenic hilly location.
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162 photos from Sanya
(Hainan, China)
2012-01-27 - 2012-01-29
During our second visit to Sanya, we visited the Sanya Nanshan Dongtian Park and spent some time on the beach.
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46 photos from Loudi
(Hunan, China)
2009-09-09 - 2009-09-12
Loudi is a city located in central Hunan province, China. It is situated about 110km south west of the provincial capital of Changsha and is considered a small to medium size city within the province. The population of Loudi is just over 4 million while the city proper itself has a population of 1.3 million. We visited Miaomiao`s grandparents at the countryside near Loudi.
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76 photos from Limbe
(Southwest, Cameroon)
2005-10-22 - 2005-10-25
Limbe (1858-1982: Victoria) is a seaside city in the Southwest Province of Cameroon. Limbe was founded in 1858 on the southern slopes of Mount Cameroon by the British missionary Alfred Saker. According to the 2001 estimate, the population was 84,500. Tim visited the beaches of Limbe as well as the Limbe Wildlife Centre and Limbe Botanical Gardens.
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1082 photos from Dubrovnik
(Dalmatia, Croatia)
2022-07-28 - 2022-08-04
Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean, a seaport and the centre of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Its total population is 42,615 (2011 census). In 1979, the city of Dubrovnik was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in recognition of its outstanding medieval architecture and fortified old town. The history of the city probably dates back to the 7th century, when the town known as Ragusa was founded by refugees from Epidaurum (Ragusa Vecchia). It was under the protection of the Byzantine Empire and later under the sovereignty of the Republic of Venice. Between the 14th and 19th centuries, Dubrovnik ruled itself as a free state. In 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence, Dubrovnik was besieged by the Yugoslav People`s Army for seven months and suffered significant damage from shelling. After undergoing repair and restoration works in the 1990s and early 2000s, it re-emerged as one of the Mediterranean`s top tourist destinations, as well as a popular filming location. We visited Dubrovnik in the summer of 2022.
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170 photos from Shangri-La
(Yunnan, China)
2009-09-06 - 2009-09-07
Shangri-La County is a primarily Tibetan county in northwestern Yunnan Province in southwest China and the capital of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The county was formerly called Zhongdian County but was renamed in 2001 after the fictional land of Shangri-La in the 1933 James Hilton novel Lost Horizon, in an effort to promote tourism in the area. The local Tibetan population refers to it by the name Gyalthang. We visited the town in September 2009, as well as the nearby Tiger Leaping Gorge and Potatso National Park.
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23 photos from Foumban
(West, Cameroon)
2005-10-19 - 2005-10-20
Foumban or Fumban is a city in Cameroon, lying north east of Bafoussam. It has a population of 83,522. It is a major town for the Bamoun people and is home to a museum of traditional arts and culture. Foumban is known for its political significance in the formation of Cameroon's history and its cultural, tourism and economic potential. There is also a market and a craft centre, while Foumban Royal Palace contains a museum with information on Ibrahim Njoya who invented a new religion, Bamum script, and the artificial language Shümom.
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152 photos from Madrid
(Madrid, Spain)
2005-09-27 - 2005-10-02
Tim travelled to Madrid for the ECCB 2005 conference. He visited the Plaza Mayor, Royal Palace, Parque del Buen Retiro, Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, and more.
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21 photos from Wéris
(Luxembourg, Belgium)
2017-10-14
Wéris is a village in the municipality of Durbuy in Wallonia, Belgium. Till 1977 Wéris was a municipality. The village is a member of the organisation Les Plus Beaux Villages de Wallonie. It is well known for its megaliths, including dolmens and menhirs. There is a `Museum of Megaliths` in the centre of the village. There is a three-mile alignment of standing stones and chambered tombs that include the Dolmen de Wéris and the Dolmen d'Oppagne, as well as the Menhir Danthine, the three Menhirs d`Oppagne, and the Tour Menhir (destroyed). Other megaliths in the area include La Pierre Haina, the Lit du Diable (Devil`s bed) and the Pas de Bayard capstone. We visited the Dolmen de Wéris.
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975 photos from Saint Petersburg
(Northwestern, Russia)
2013-06-20 - 2013-06-26
Saint Petersburg is a city in Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. In 1914 the name of the city was changed to Petrograd, in 1924 to Leningrad, and in 1991, back to Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg was founded by the Tsar Peter the Great in 1703. From 1713 to 1728 and from 1732 to 1918, Saint Petersburg was the Imperial capital of Russia. In 1918 the central government bodies moved from Saint Petersburg (then named Petrograd) to Moscow. It is Russia`s second largest city after Moscow with 5 million inhabitants. Saint Petersburg is a major European cultural center, and also an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. Saint Petersburg is often described as the most Western city of Russia, as well as its cultural capital. It is the northernmost city in the world to have a population of over one million. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is also home to The Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. We visited Saint Petersburg during our Russia trip in the summer of 2013.
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160 photos from Mutianyu
(Beijing, China)
2023-07-19
Mutianyu is a section of the Great Wall of China located 70 km northeast of the center of Beijing. As one of the best-preserved parts of the Great Wall, the Mutianyu Great Wall used to serve as the northern barrier defending the capital and the imperial tombs. First built in the mid-6th century during the Northern Qi, the Mutianyu section is older than the Badaling section of the Great Wall. During the Ming dynasty, construction of the present wall began, building over the previous wall. In 1569, the Mutianyu Great Wall was rebuilt and till today most parts of it are well preserved. It has the largest construction scale and best quality among all sections of Great Wall. Built mainly with granite, the wall is 7 to 8.5 meters high, and its top is 4 to 5 meters wide. It possesses unique characteristics in its construction, with densely placed watchtowers and uter and inner parapets crenelated with merlons. Today, this section of wall is open to visitors. There are three methods of ascent and four methods of descent to choose from. Besides utilizing 4000+ steps, visitors may also choose between a two-rider chairlift or four-rider gondola lift up from the foothills to the level of the wall. An alternate method of descent is by single-rider personal wheeled toboggan. We visited the Mutianyu Great Wall on a day trip from Beijing in the summer of 2023.
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35 photos from Lorne
(Victoria, Australia)
2014-09-12
Lorne is a seaside town on Louttit Bay in Victoria, Australia. It is situated about the Erskine River and is a popular destination on the Great Ocean Road tourist route. Lorne is in the Surf Coast Shire and at the 2006 Census in Australia had a population of 967, but this figure grows during the holiday season. We visited Lorne, the nearby Memorial Arch at Eastern View and a viewing point at the Cumberland River Holiday Park during our day trip on the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne.
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206 photos from Roskilde
(Zealand, Denmark)
2018-03-19
Roskilde is located 30 km west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 50,000, the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. Roskilde has a long history, dating from the pre-Christian Viking Age. Its UNESCO-listed Gothic cathedral, now housing 39 tombs of the Danish monarchs, was completed in 1275. With the development of the rail network in the 19th century, Roskilde became an important hub for traffic with Copenhagen, and by the end of the century, there were tobacco factories, iron foundries and machine shops. The cathedral and the Viking Ship Museum, which contains the well-preserved remains of five 11th-century ships, attract more than 100,000 visitors annually. In addition to its tourist attractions and its annual rock festival, Roskilde is popular with shoppers thanks to its two centrally located pedestrian streets. Roskilde has the oldest operational railway station in Denmark. Tim visited the Roskilde Cathedral, the Viking Ship Museum, the Roskilde Railway Station, and other sites in the city center.
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673 photos from Cinque Terre
(Liguria, Italy)
2013-10-04 - 2013-10-07
The Cinque Terre is a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera. It is in the Liguria region of Italy, to the west of the city of La Spezia. `The Five Lands` is composed of five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. The coastline, the five villages, and the surrounding hillsides are all part of the Cinque Terre National Park and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Over the centuries, people have carefully built terraces on the rugged, steep landscape right up to the cliffs that overlook the sea. Part of its charm is the lack of visible corporate development. Paths, trains and boats connect the villages, and cars cannot reach them from the outside. The Cinque Terre area is a very popular tourist destination. The villages of the Cinque Terre were severely affected by torrential rains which caused floods and mudslides on October 25, 2011. Nine people were confirmed killed by the floods, and damage to the villages, particularly Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare, was extensive. Tim and Miaomiao visited all five towns of the Cinque Terre in the autumn of 2013.
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