Puerto de la Cruz is part modern resort, part historic harbour village. And it’s surprisingly green too. Walking around town, and we did a lot of that when the weather was drab, we were impressed by the way locals kept their gardens tended and how even the smallest of green spaces had been kept spick…
Tag: Gardens
Zurich: Churches and gardens
It was our final day in Zurich and raining again. But we filled it by exploring chilly churches and tropical palm houses. I slept late so we dispensed with breakfast and got ready to check out of the Hotel Europe – a lovely place with charming hosts but somewhat lacking in very necessary double glazing. A…
Japan: A day of temples in Kyoto
Kyoto is a city bursting with history, glorious temples and gardens of exquisite beauty. The challenge for visitors is to narrow down this embarrassment of riches, to select the handful of attractions to visit during a short visit. We’d already visited some of Arashiyama’s great draws but with just one day left in the city it was…
Japan: A visit to James Bond’s castle at Himeji
I’m a huge James Bond fan so I couldn’t go all the way to Japan without paying homage to a castle that 007 himself visited back in the 1960s. The film was You Only Live Twice, Bond was Sean Connery and Himeji Castle was a ninja training school that he visited with the boss of…
Japan: A beautiful garden in Kyoto’s Arashiyama district
Could we ever escape the overwhelming crowds of Kyoto? Would the attractions on the edge of the city, in Arashiyama, be less busy? Not really as it turned out because, let’s face it, it’s a district that boasts some of the city’s most picture-perfect destinations. However, we did find peace and quiet in Okochi Sanso,…
Exploring Tokyo’s gardens
Tokyo may be one of the biggest cities in the world, full of gleaming towers and urban sprawl, but it also has many glorious gardens. And the best Japanese gardens are, without doubt, among the best gardens to be found anywhere in the world. They’re designed to reflect the natural landscape and the spirituality of…
A shrine and the bright lights of Shibuya in Tokyo
We’d always known that Japan was going to be a cultural and linguistic challenge for a pair of Englishmen. And while we’d end up bemused by much in Tokyo during our first full day of exploring the city, at least we could go to breakfast in our Hilton Hotel confident that we’d conquered the punishing jet…
A cemetery, a murder and a musician in Savannah
Too much high living, rich food and booze had taken their toll on my guts so I didn’t feel too perky on our Sunday morning in Savannah. I steered clear of breakfast and watched Graham tucking in instead. But there was no stopping the sightseeing. Our first stop, with temperatures again high, was Bonaventure Cemetery,…
A day touring Charleston’s historic plantations
After a day of exploring Charleston’s historic heart it was time to drive into the countryside, to visit a couple of the plantations that helped the south so rich and so notorious for slavery. The road to Drayton Hall took us through industrial and nondescript suburbs, along dual carriageways lined with fast-food joints and out-of-town stores. Later…
San Francisco: Cycling around Golden Gate Park
We never got round to crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on our visit to San Francisco, making do instead with a catamaran trip across the bay to the city’s finest landmark. However, we did cycle round the park that bears its name. Golden Gate Park is represented by a big green blob on maps of the…
Scotland in the spring: To Cawdor Castle
It’s surprising what gets classified as a tourist attraction in some parts of the world. How about a shop? That’s where we found ourselves on a wet morning on our last full day in the Scottish Cairngorms, guided by the local tourist board’s ever-optimistic marketing blurb. It was billed as the Scottish Heather Centre but…
Marrakech: The lush Jardin Majorelle
Fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent had a home in Marrakech for many years and, with his partner, helped restore a famous city garden. Our visit to the Jardin Majorelle turned out to be a highlight of our holiday. Located outside the old walls of the Medina, in the Ville Nouveau, we walked to the gardens one steamy morning…
A short break in the historic French city of Angers
Give me a good history book and a glass of wine and I’ll be a happy man. She-Wolves by Helen Castor turned out to be a particularly good read, the story of three of England’s great medieval queens and their various battles to make a mark in a male-dominated world. But it also introduced me…
Hong Kong: Kowloon, from top to bottom
It would be a day of striking contrasts – of beautiful gardens and choked and dirty streets, of seclusion and overwhelming crowds. But that’s probably like every day in Kowloon. After several days exploring the islands of Hong Kong, it was time to stick to the mainland so in the morning we took the metro…