I’m in the process of migrating and consolidating information from different places where I have visited to this page. It is a work in progress because it will take me a while. If the hot link is not active (not in blue), it means it has to be updated yet.
Europe
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- London — like many of my European trips, it is a comfortable city to start a journey.
- oh no, it is snowing.
- looking for King Cross
- a visit to an old friend — The British Library
- Gladstone’s Library, Wales — I booked myself a room at the Library before I purchased the plane ticket. I felt I have come home when I found myself alone in the Library late at night.
- Hawarden, Wales. The village where the Gladstone’s Library is located.
- Chester — a quick stop between Gladstone’s and Birmingham. I wish I had more time.
- Birmingham
- Quick tour of the city core.
- Bull Ring and Grand Central Station.
- Canals
- Central Library
- Munich
- A quick stopover in Munich before the overnight train to Zagreb.
- More photos from Munich
- Last batch from Munich
- Zagreb
- Overnight train from Munich to Zagreb
- First impression— except for a couple bombings, the capital of Croatia managed to escape from any major damage from the War of Independence in the early 90s. Though not as well visited as Dubrovnik, it has plenty to offer.
- Zagreb at Night — travelling in low season means a fairly quite night life in the city.
- Day 2 in Zagreb — highlighted by some sumptuous food at the Heritage Restaurant.
- Free Spirit Walking Tour — like many European cities, the free walking tour was excellent.
- The Museum of Broken Relationship — such a simple idea. Lots of interesting contributions.
- Day 3 in Zagreb — like most European cities, plenty to see within a walking distance of old town.
- National Library of Croatia — not long ago, it is easy to visit libraries around the world. Alas, post 9/11, too much security check for the hassle.
- Festival of Light — an amazing night despite of the poor weather
- Market at the Main Square.
- Dubrovnik
- City Walk Part I — a truly amazing medieval walled city. The first set of walls were erected in the 9th century.
- City Walk Part II — quite a number of buildings were damaged during the siege in the War of Independence but you would have to look hard for the evidence of the carnage now.
- Short video of the Old City taken from the Wall.
- Part II of the video.
- Dubrovnik at Night — the architecture has a different kind of beauty at night.
- A Rainy Day in Dubrovnik
- Cable car up to Mt Srd — a great view of the Walled City of Dubrovnik
- A small public library
- A day at the museums
- Last batch of photos before leaving Dubrovnik
- Side trip to Cavtat — a seaside town on the Adriatic Coast about 15 km south of Dubrovnik.
- Toulouse
- Random walk from the Main Train Station to Old Town.
- Another stroll around Old Town.
- Chapelle des carmélites — chanced upon this marvalous church on a side street.
- Saint-Félix-Lauragais — one of the many Cathars’ sites dotted in the Occitanie region of France.
- Foix — day trip to another Cathars’ sites. This also happened to be the coldest day on this trip.
- London — like many of my European trips, it is a comfortable city to start a journey.
- Lisbon
- Bertrand Bookstore — According to Guinness World Records, Bertrand is the world’s oldest operating bookstore
- Mercado Da Ribeira — a lively, modern food market for foodies. I believe the building was once a palace.
- Cascais — a quick regional train ride from Lisbon. This seaside town has a number of attractions. The highlight for me is the the Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães library.
- Biblioteca Cameos — a local library
- Street Arts or graffiti — Lisbon is home of some very colourful street arts.
- A short stroll around the POETS Hostel where I stayed.
- National Panatheon in Lisbon is located in a former church that was built in the 17 century.
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Monastery of São Vicente de Fora — a very short walk from the Pantheon, this majestic monastery atop Alfama is definitely worth the climb to visit.
2017 March
- Madrid
- Salamanca
- Amsterdam
- Ypres
- At 8:00 pm every night, the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres. Except for the years during WWII, The Last Post has been played in this small town every night since November 11, 1929. This was the 30361th times the unknown soldiers were being honoured on this daily ritual.
- Cotswolds
- Rosedale Abbey
- Some claim Castle Combe is the prettiest village in England.
- The Village of Bisley
- Unthank Hall
- Lindisfarne
- Bamburgh — a town just south of Lindisfarne
- York
- Cuddy’s Corse
- West Witton (Old Star Inn)
- Ripon Cathedral and the Fountain Abbey
- Beverly Minster.
- A 7 km hike to see the stunningly beautiful Rievaulx Abbey
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Hiking from Ravenscar to Robin Hood’s Bay and back today.
- An epic hike: climb over the moors from Rosedale Abbey to Lastingham for lunch. Then walked over to Hutton-le-Hole. About 12km but climbing elevation equivalent to about 48 floors.
- Encounter in Lake District
- Durham
- A drive on the Yorkshire Moors
- Wolverhampton
- London
- Fenton House — An impromptu performance with one of the 22 different keyboards in the house.
- Paris
- Barcelona
- Madrid
- Porto
- Lisbon
- Bairro Alto
- Alfama
- Oriente
2014 August
- Budapest, Hungary
- Bratisslava
- Vienna
- Munich
- Edinburgh
- Baltic Sea (cruise)
2013 December
- Amsterdam, Holland
- Lisbon
2013 March
2012 Summer
To be added: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Krakow, Bucharest, Istanbul, Bursa, Milan, The Hague, Bruges, Paris, Toulouse, Arles, Avignon, Castres, Region of Normandy, Granada, Cordoba, Lisbon, Coimbra, Porto, and Edinburgh.
Asia / Australia / Oceanic
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Australia — (Sydney, Hobart, and Melbourne) (Dec. 2018)
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New Zealand: Queenstown, Milford Sound, Wellington, and Auckland (Jan. 2019)
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Singapore (Jan. 2019)
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Thailand: Bangkok, and Kanchanaburi (Jan. 2019)
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Laos:Vientiane, and Luang Prabang (Jan. 2019)
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Hong Kong (Jan. 2019)
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Macau (Jan. 2019)
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China: Changsha, and Shaoshan (Jan. 2019)
2017 August and September
- Manchuria
- Singapore
- Bangkok
- Hong Kong
- Macau
2016 December
- Xiamen
- Kinmen Island, Taiwan
- Chaozhou
- Hong Kong
To be added: Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Melacca, Beijing, and Shanghai.
North America
2017 December
- San Francisco
- Japan Town — come here for the food but also come here to read the plaques chronicling one of the dark chapters of American history.
- University of Berkeley — I first visited Berkeley in the late 1980s, it was one of the earliest trips. It was fun to re-visit after all these years.
- Presidio — this former army base has been transferred into a recreation area.
- A free walking tour around Presidio
- Chinatown — The San Francisco Chinatown is one of the oldest in N. America.
- Sea Cliff — the western edge of San Francisco.
- Haight-Ashbury — goofy as ever
- More from the Hippieland.
- University of San Francisco —
- Houses of San Francisco —
- Houses of Worship —
- Lands End — a hike around Sutro Heights Park and Lands End
- The Streets of San Francisco —
- Arion Press — a tour of probably one of the few remaining independent printing presses.
- American Bookbinders Museum — although it is a small museum, it is definitely worth the trip if you are a bibliophile.
- City Light Bookseller — visiting another old friend.
- Fisherman’s Wharf — very popular spot but a bit too touristy for me .
- A perfect day for a hike —
2017 July
- Ottawa / Thousand Islands
- Philadelphia
- Stowe Vermont
- Eastern Townships, Quebec
2015 December
- San Francisco
- Carmel
- Big Sur
2012 July
To be added: New York City, Boston, Vermont, Maine, New Haven, Finger Lakes District, Pittsburgh, Madison, Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Madison, Las Vegas, Portland, Vancouver, Nelson, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Eastern Townships, Saint John, St. John’s, PEI, Halifax,
Africa
To be added: Casablanca, Fez, and Marrakesh.