Road trips, mountain walks and holidays

Visiting Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset We have visited Abbotsbury Swannery twice; the first time at the end of March and the second time at the beginning of May when new swans and other birds just had the first new babies born. Either of the visits was nice and we would go there again even just to have a nice walk around and enjoy this peaceful relaxing place in the company of these amazing creatures. The Swannery was established by Benedictine Monks in the 11th century where they farmed the swans to produce food – how practical! They say that the Abbotsbury Swannery is home to the world’s only managed colony of nesting mute swans, although that is not the only thing you will find there. From the entrance gate, you will have to walk almost one kilometre (about 2,400 feet) to reach the colony of swans; free car parking is located in front of the entrance. On the way to Swannery, you will find other attractions such as a labyrinth and a small ricing arena where usage of pedal-driven mea...

West Dorset About an hour's drive from Bournemouth to the west there is a really beautiful small town West Bay . The trip itself is very nice because West Dorset has amazing scenery; on almost all routes you will drive up and down hills. Sometimes, from the top of the hills, you can see the English Channel and even the coastline. West Bay is a small resort town, located to the south of Bridport, about 15 miles from Weymouth, with its own pier, harbour, marina and tourist attractions for visitors of all ages. There are many guest houses, hotels, self-catering cottages, apartments and camping parks in and around West Bay. The area is part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site; the whole length of the Jurassic Coast coastline is almost 100 miles (154 kilometres). The history of the town started when a railway was extended from Bridport to Bridport Harbour in 1884; the new harbour station was named West Bay. Soon after that, they started building villas and houses to attract tou...

Scotland and the amazing beauty of its islands While living in London, I had many conversations with Brits about Scottish islands, especially about Isle of Skye. Almost all of them knew about the Isle of Skye, although not many of them had visited this beautiful island located in the northwest of Scotland. Perhaps, because it is so far away from the UK – more than one thousand kilometres. However, the nature of the Isle of Skye is so unpredictable that you know either you may enjoy a nice holiday or weather conditions would challenge you all the way through while you are there. We accepted the challenge and went there for our early summer holidays. I must admit that we have chosen early June for going over to the Isle of Skye, knowing that there may be a chance to get some sunny days there during that time of the year. After being on the Isle of Skye already twice now, I can tell that it is one of the most beautiful places in Europe. Because of the people living there, because of natur...

The first morning on the Isle of Skye On the next morning after arrival on the Isle of Skye, we had an early walk towards the coast (not to mention that the coast is almost all around). The path led us to the nearest bay, discovering a beautiful view of a small local harbour where many fishing boats were parked. Such an amazing and quiet early morning scenery for our first day of holidays! The biggest surprise upon arrival to Skye late evening and later driving around the Isle of Skye was an observation that almost all roads are very narrow with frequent passing places. Of course, there also are wider roads, although the narrow ones are predominant, and you should note that when planning trips around the Isle of Skye. It may take way more time to get from one place to another because you may have to stop at many passing places and wait for oncoming cars very often. The good news is that traffic intensity on Skye is not as heavy as on average in the UK. Dunvegan Castle Our first major t...

Visiting London The capital of England and the United Kingdom London has many interesting and even unique sites, but I will start with bridges. There are 24 bridges across the River Thames in London . The oldest is London Bridge, which was made from wood initially, but afterwards rebuilt in 1209, 1831 and 1973. Probably, the most famous is Tower Bridge, which was built in 1894 and is known around the world. One of the most interesting bridges, in my opinion, is the Millennium Bridge which is a pedestrian bridge, connecting St. Paul Cathedral and the Tate Modern Art Gallery. A very beautiful scene appears if you look at the bridge from the art gallery to St. Paul Cathedral. However, you can cross the river using any of the other bridges (except a few railway bridges) and every time panoramic view will be different and equally interesting. Parks and gardens Despite being a large city, London is very green. There are lots of small gardens and large parks even in the city centre. The larg...

 English cities The United Kingdom is a country, which you can visit many times and every time you will discover something new. The same applies if you are in London . Just to mention that London contains 4 (!) UNESCO World Heritage Sites – the Tower of London, Kew Gardens, a complex consisting of the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, St. Margaret’s Church, and Greenwich. On this page there are just two very short episodes from many visits outside London, although we have visited many many more - check this blog for other places. Oxford Oxford is one of the most beautiful cities in the UK. The city is widely known for its medieval Oxford University. Buildings in Oxford demonstrate an example of every English architectural period since the arrival of Saxons, but especially impressive are the buildings of the University of Oxford . There are roughly 100 major academic departments, which are overseen by the four academic divisions: Medical Sciences; Mathematical, Physical and...