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Gobustan Day Tour (Mud Volcanoes)
The original plan for the day was to go to Gabala, but for some reason, that trip was canceled. With the recommendation of the Baku City Tours company, I joined the Gobustan group tour instead. The Gobustan group tour package is a whole-day activity headed by a professional tour guide and includes pick-up and drop-off in shared transportation by air-conditioned minivan, as well as entry tickets to different sites. For lunch, we were taken to a countryside restaurant that served local cuisine. This part added value to our tour as we had the experience of having our meal with some locals that indicated we were indeed having authentic Azerbaijani food…
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Castle Combe, Stonehenge and Bath England
I have here below links to the three short video clips posted on my YouTube channel regarding our visits to Castle Combe, Stonehenge and to one of the most beautiful cities in England – Bath. Castle Combe 2) Stonehenge 3) Bath More videos will be posted shortly. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel. For more details about my travels, please check my book entitled INSPIRED TO TRAVEL; TRAVEL TO INSPIRED – A TRAVEL MEMOIR.
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A visit to the capital of Switzerland
More on Switzerland, the country that I admired the most when it comes to spectacular scenery. It is a nation that has clean and beautiful countryside, nice people, as well as inspiring history. It is just to name a few of the reasons why I honestly love Switzerland. There is no better way to know more about this wonderful and rich country than to visit its capital city – Bern, even just for a day. Bern is the de facto capital and the fifth most populous city in Switzerland. It traces its origins back to the twelfth century with much evidence of the medieval architecture from that time preserved in…
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The Significance of Train Journeys
For a tourist, there’s no better or more exciting way to explore Europe than to travel by train. Out of the many options of mode of transport to choose from, such as car, bus, or plane, undoubtedly, train travel is the most convenient and most reliable. It is a highly commendable mode of transportation for sightseeing unless you prefer to hire a car and drive on your own. Travelling by train gives you the freedom to easily move from one place to another not only in big cities but in remote rural areas as well and provides the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the countryside. Whenever I step…
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In love with Switzerland – A day in Geneva
Geneva is the second most populous city after Zurich and the French-speaking part of Switzerland. It is a global city, a financial centre, and a worldwide centre for diplomacy due to the presence of many international organisations headquartered including Europe’s United Nations and the Red Cross. CERN in Geneva is the birthplace of world wide web (www) as we know it today. It was invented by an English engineer and computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. I only had one day scheduled to explore Geneva, which, unfortunately, really did not do it justice considering its magnitude in history and the many interesting things to see and do. Still, I’m so…
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Ahoy Czechia!
I stayed in the Ibis Hotel during the first few nights in Prague but decided to extend my stay, hoping to do an extra day trip to a town called Karlovy Vary. I was interested to see the place featured in the movie Last Holiday where the actress Queen Latifah’s character Georgia decided to spend her remaining days on Earth. This was after being mistakenly diagnosed with having a rare brain condition and only having a few weeks left to live. She decided to spend her last funds on a luxury holiday in the Grandhotel Pupp to meet her favourite famous celebrity chef Didier. However, unlike Georgia, my ending was…
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Veni, Vidi, Venice!
The Merchant of Venice, The Tourist, The Italian Job and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, these are just some of the movies filmed in Venice. I was so excited to finally visit Venice from my few days’ stay in Florence following the footsteps of Robert Langdon in Dan Brown’s novel, Inferno. Luckily, I arrived in the morning at Santa Lucia Station which is just five minute walk to my hotel. After having my breakfast at a coffee shop next door, I hastily went to Piazza San Marco or St Mark’s Square, as if I was thrilled to witness a Carnival in Venice. Venice is the birthplace of the famous…
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Salzburg “The Sound of Music” Tour Experience
“The hills are alive with the sound of music . . .” Salzburg is where the movie The Sound of Music was filmed. It may have been released in 1965, almost a decade before I was born but I must admit that I have seen this film several times. It stars the adorable Maria (Julie Andrews), with the Von Trapp family; the father played by Christopher Plummer. When I decided to travel to Austria and naturally Salzburg I made sure to pre-book The Sound of Music tour. I simply had to watch this classic film all over again. Luckily,…
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The Birthplace of Eau de Cologne
One of the things I did when I arrived in Cologne, Germany was to visit the famous place that is said to be the oldest fragrance factory – the birthplace of Eau de Cologne. Like any other individual who works in the perfume industry, I too was excited to visit the Farina Fragrance Museum. “I have discovered a scent that reminds me of a spring morning in Italy, of mountain narcissus, orange blossom just after the rain. It gives me great refreshment, strengthens my senses and imagination.” Johann Maria Farina, an Italian-born perfumer, wrote to his brother Jean-Baptiste when he created a fragrance that would become Eau de Cologne (water…
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A short visit to Yerevan
Armenia: It is one of the oldest countries and the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion. My visit to Armenia was hassle-free as it’s one of the countries that didn’t need a pre-approved visa for us Filipinos. It was something that I was pleased about as I did not have to worry compared to previous difficult experiences when applying for visas. My partner and I decided to spend four days in Armenia by taking just over a three-hour flight from Dubai to its capital city – Yerevan. We were both excited as neither of us had been to the country in any of…
