"MY HOMEPAGE :-)" mel_bee's Profile

Nottinghill Carnival 2002

WELCOME....

Hi! Thanks for visiting my homepage!
I have changed my email and haven't been on Virtual Tourist for quite some time so apologies for any unanswered questions or requests.
As you can see from my travel pages, I love travelling and I'm always busy dreaming up future holidays.
Hope you enjoy looking around and I look forward to hearing from you!
Mel :-)

PLEASE NOTE MY PAGES ARE UNDER CONSTANT CONSTRUCTION !!

WHAT'S NEW?? MY TRAVEL PLANS

Christmas Market in Vienna

New Year in Bruges

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

MY FAVOURITE PLACE...

Mountain walking daytrip up Schneeberg

...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 miss it every day!

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!!

FAVOURITE HOLIDAYS.....

enjoying Turkish tea

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.

RECENT TRAVELS

On a lake cruise on our wedding day

2010:
* Taken a visiting friend on trips to Belvoir Castle, Rufford Abbey and Sherwood Forest.
* Been to the Peak District for my birthday (Derbyshire, England) - for coffee and a visit to the craft centre in stunning Monsal Dale, a riverside picnic at Ashford in the Water and a trip to the Bakewell Pudding shop in Bakewell.
* Spent a sunny week touring the South West of Cornwall

2009:
* Went to the Peak District (Derbyshire, England) - for a walk in stunning Monsal Dale and a trip to the Bakewell Pudding shop in Bakewell.
* Spent a week in the north of Brittany (France) visiting gorgeous medieval Dinan, coastal Dinard, the historic Mt St Michel and the surrounding coast and countryside. I ate some of the best crepes (pancakes) I have ever had too.
* Spent a week in Britain's beautiful (although unfortunately very rainy) Lake District. We saw a red squirrel, hired out a motorboat on Lake Coniston, went walking round Grasmere and Rydal Water, saw Wordsworth's grave...
* Celebrated the New Year in Bruges, Belgium. Stayed in an old summerhouse in a city centre garden. Sang songs at midnight on T'Zand and visited some new pubs as my favourites were closed during that time.

TRAVEL MEMORIES

View of the town centre of Siena

2006-8:
European winter interrail holiday to Vienna, Geneva, Swiss mountains, Zurich, Salzburg, Budapest, Bratislava, Stuttgart and Heidelberg too!
* Weekends in the Cotswolds, Peak District, Yorkshire, Norfolk, Paris, Brussels, Bruges, the Lake District
* Day trips to London, Brussels, Cardiff, York, Salisbury, Leeds,
* Longer trips to the Lake District, Jersey and Vienna.
* Spent time exploring our local area and showing it to friends from around the world.
* 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.
* Spent the honeymoon in Scotland - five star Hotel in Glasgow, holiday cottage on the Isle of Skye, tours of the Outer Hebrides, two days in Edinburgh.

2004-5:
*Return trip to Vienna.%L
* Lots of UK trips to visit family and friends in London – Harrow, Knightsbridge, Greenwich.
* Seaside student life in %L[http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/41013/4d3b4/]Brighton
*Friend’s graduation in Oxford.
* Daytrip Lille.

2003 – My Final Year Living Abroad:
* Prague and Schneeberg with family
* Tuscan minibreak – wine and icecream.
* I explored the area around Vienna and took short trips to the wine region of Slovakia and beautiful Lake Balaton region in Hungary.
* Switzerland - Zurich and Lucerne – lakes, cog railways and mountains.
* Brussels, Paris. London, Amsterdam and Bratislava for my 30th.
* New Year celebrations in Prague with family.

Read more on my pages...

ABOUT ME.....

Cat in a Turkish book bazaar

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!

TRAVELLING AND ME...

Blue chocolate cats in Lille

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....

Intro Updated Nov 19, 2012
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Comments (77)

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Rabbityama Apr 25, 2011 at 7:27 PM

Have a happy birthday!
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a2lopes Apr 26, 2009 at 9:15 AM

happy birthday Mel and many happy retuns of the day. Greetings from Lisbon.
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joiwatani Dec 3, 2008 at 5:17 PM

Congrats! You are VT featured member today!
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lina112 Apr 26, 2007 at 2:16 PM

Happy Birthday Mel, have a wonderful day. Lina
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DAO Apr 26, 2007 at 12:11 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
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roamingpaddy Apr 26, 2007 at 11:30 AM

Birthday greetings to ya Mel from Ireland :)
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manevska Apr 26, 2007 at 7:06 AM

Happy Birthday! Greeting from London!
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gogonicetrip Apr 25, 2007 at 11:56 PM

Hello Mel Wishing you a wonderful birthday. Greetings from Japan.
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sayedaburas Apr 25, 2007 at 10:50 PM

♫•:*¨`*:•Happy birthday to you♫♫Happy b-day to you♫HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ღMELღ ♫♫Happy b-day to yoou•:*¨`*:•♫ I wish you not only a happy year, but also happier maany returns (~_~)
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mary2u99 Apr 25, 2007 at 6:06 PM

Happy Birthday to you & enjoy your day. :-) Hmm.. edible cat!