mel_bee's VirtualTourist Home Page

A new year and hopefully lots of new travel plans.

So far this year...
* am planning to spend a weekend in London with my sister
* we are going to stay in the north of Brittany, France in May.

Watch this space for more new and exciting travel news....

...IS VIENNA.

Until the beginning of October 2003 I spent 8 years living in the beautiful city of Vienna, Austria right in the heart of Europe. It's a great place to start travelling from and I made the most of living in such a good location as you can see from my travels.

I still have a lot to add to my Vienna pages and have been back to my 'second home' for 3 holidays so far. I have tried to pack as much information as possible about my favourite city into my travel pages, so please have a good look around!!

So far my favourite holiday destination has been Turkey, especially the fascinating city of Istanbul, the historical sites of Ephesus and Pergamon, the lakeside village of Koycegiz with its turtles and mudbaths, along the South West coast around Fethiye and Butterfly Valley, in the village of Kas, among the eternal flames and treehouses near Olympos(Cirali) and in the valleys and underground cities of Cappadocia.
Check out the pages for the details.

MY HIGHLIGHTS
High on my list of other places to go are also:
* Stromboli (tiny Italian volcanic island near to the north of Sicily)
*The island of Sicily especially the picturesque town of Taormina, Ferragosto at Capo St. Vito, the temples at Agrigento, the islands near Trapani, medieval mountain top Erice and Palermo.
*Malta and its tiny neighbour Gozo.
*Andalusia, (Southern Spain) especially the beautiful palaces of Sevilla and Granada.
*The stunning coastline of the Algarve (Portugal), the bridge and local port at Porto and the old town of Lisbon.
*The beautiful walled city of Dubrovnik (Croatia) and the sunny island of Hvar.
*The beautiful blue and white medina of Chefchaouen and the main square of Marrakesh (Morocco)
*The Roman mosaics in Tunis and the beautiful village of Sidi Bou Said in Tunisia.
*The national parks of America, especially Craters of the Moon, Crater Lake and Yellowstone.
* The town of Mostar in Bosnia.
*The European cities of Amsterdam with its nearby bulbfields and canals, Brussels with its chocolate and beautiful main square and the atmosphere of Paris.
*The breathtaking mountain views and the Swiss city of Zurich and the lakeside town of Lucerne.
*Travelling the Cote d'Azur in the South of France, going to the casino in Monte Carlo and seeing where they hold the film festival in Cannes.
* Prague, especially walking across the Charles Bridge at night.
*Hungary's lake Balaton as well as the thermal lake and exotic waterlillies in nearby Heviz.
*and last but not least.... my beloved Austria and the beautiful cities of Vienna and Salzburg, the town of Rust famous for storks and wine near Lake Neusiedl, the mountain Schneeberg and the beautiful monastery at Melk.

What I got up to in 2008:
The highlight of the year was our winter holiday in December when I took my husband to visit Vienna. We went by interrail and visited Geneva, Swiss mountains, Zurich, Salzburg, Budapest, Bratislava, Stuttgart and Heidelberg too! It was an amazing trip and I have thousands of photos waiting to be sorted.
We also:
* spent a long weekend in a thatched cottage in the heart of the Cotswolds
* spent a long weekend in the Peak District including walking in Dovedale and eating yummy Bakewell Pudding
* Visited London and went to the dinosaur exhibition at the Natural History Museum, went on the London eye despite my fear of heights and visited Covent Garden, Carnaby Street and Hamleys toystore
* did some touristy stuff round Nottingham including the castle and a pint in the Trip to Jerusalem pub with friends from Australia.

What I got up to in 2007:
* Went on a daytrip to Brussels and visited a brewery and the Grande Place.
* Had my hen night in London at Vinopolis and the Ice Bar on Heddon Street.
* I got married in the Lake District near to Ambleside.
* Started the honeymoon in a five star Hotel du Vin hotel in Glasgow.
* Stayed near Portree on the Isle of Skye for a week in a small cottage.
* Extensively toured the Isle of Skye enjoying the stunning scenery and visiting the amazing Three Chimneys restaurant which is very highly recommended for a special meal out (book in advance!! - and try the Marmalade Pudding with Drambuie Custard)
*Visited the Outer Hebrides - North Uist and Harris which have amazing beaches and crystal clear sea.
* Spent two days exploring Edinburgh.
* Showed friends around Nottingham and the Vale of Belvoir including Belvoir Castle.
* Spent a long weekend in Yorkshire visiting Osmotherley and Goathland.
* Spent a long weekend in the lovely Norfolkshire town of Holt visiting nearby Norwich and going to the Broads.

What I got up to in 2006:
* spent a long weekend in Bruges, eating chocolate, drinking beer and cycling to local villages
* spent time in London for my sister's hen night and wedding
* spent a few days in the Lake District

2005:
* went on a trip to explore Leeds
* spent a day in Cardiff
* had a rainy day in York
* went to London quite a few times
* visited the quaint village of Great Tew in the Cotswolds
* went to Salisbury and saw Stonehenge
* spent many an afternoon trying out pubs & cocktail bars in Nottingham.
* visited the sights and bars of Paris
* tried out Belgian beer in Brussels
* spent an afternoon wandering round Bruges
* spent a week touring the Lake District and enjoying all those tricky roads
* spent some time in Yorkshire and the Peak District
* caught up with my friends in Vienna
* visited some of the most beautiful places in Jersey (Channel Islands)

2004:
*I finally made it back to Vienna. It was great to catch up with many friends and make some new ones too.
* Throughout the year I made lots of trips to visit family and friends in London. I went walking round Harrow (home of the famous public school), went out and about in the city parks, shopping in Knightsbridge, sightseeing in Greenwich and clubbing near Picadilly. I went exploring the centre of London, to the British Museum, Tate Modern and the World Salsa Championships at the Hippodrome!
* I spent a lot of time exploring the city of Brighton, where I lived whilst studying for my Masters and also visited Worthing a small seaside town just along the coast.
*I also went to Oxford to celebrate a friend's graduation.
* I visited Lille the European City of Culture 2004.

2003
* I had family visiting and we went to Prague and up Schneeberg.
* I spent four days in the Tuscan countryside visiting a few places and relaxing in the Italian sunshine :-)
* I explored the area around Vienna and took short trips to the wine region of Slovakia and beautiful Lake Balaton region in Hungary.
* I spent a great weekend in Zurich and Lucerne. I went out on the lakes, walked for miles, met lots of friendly locals,. and even found time to take the steepest mountain cog railway in the world up to the top of Mt. Pilatus.
* I went to Brussels (chocolate and beer), Paris (all the sights and the Jardin du Luxembourg), U.K. (Easter and my thirtieth), Amsterdam (bulbfields, canals and jazz) and Bratislava (shopping and nightlife).
* I travelled to Prague with my sister and her boyfriend to enjoy the Czech New Year celebrations.

Read more on my pages...

At the moment I am enjoying being a bit of a gastrotourist and armed with a trusty AA pub guide and a willing husband, I have been enjoying the food and drink of the local country pubs of Great Britain.

I love reading, at home we are lucky to have a study room and I have shelves bursting with travel guides annotated with notes from my journeys. As you can imagine, I also love to read travel writing. Other favourite books of mine are Captain Corellis Mandolin, Hideous Kinky (the book not the film!), The Third Man (again I prefer the book to the film). I like to read translations of foreign books and I particularly like South American books such as Like Water for Chocolate.

I like to go to the cinema or get dvds out especially in the colder months. In the winter I also like to surf travel sites on the internet and listen to music curled up on my sofa with a cup of vanilla coffee...and the occasional square or two of Belgian chocolate!

As I mentioned above, I lived in Vienna, Austria for the best part of a decade. Other places I have lived in:
Brighton, South England Oct 2003 - Sept 2004
Prague, Czech Republic Sept 1997-February 1998
Nottingham, England Sept 1992 - June 1994 & Oct 1995 - June 1996

Long holidays - I have also:
- spent 3 weeks travelling in to Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam and London in 2003.
- spent a month travelling round Turkey in 2002.
- spent a month travelling round Malta and a month in Sicily with a cruise to Tunisia in 2001
- spent a month travelling round Spain, Portugal , Gibraltar and Morocco in 2000
- spent a month travelling round the USA in 1998
- spent a month studying in Budapest, Hungary in 1997
- spent a summer working in Potenza and Cava dei Tireni, in Southern Italy in 1996
- spent a month working in Berlin in 1993

Having travelled abroad quite a bit, I enjoy learning about interesting customs in other countries. I like the Easter trees they have in Austria and Germany; the St Nicholas celebrations in the Czech Republic; Ferragosto parties in Italy and the colourful summer festivals in Malta to name just a few....