Armchair travel - Part 2

Since we're all still stuck at home, I am doing another virtual travel post with 10 photos of beautiful places to feast your eyes on. And while you're reading, you can start to dream about and plan your next trip. We won't be locked down forever, I am sure of that.

August 2013

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA

It is hard to capture the essence of Yellowstone in just one photo because the landscape is so diverse. It changes continuously and no scene is like the next. I loved its wild beauty and all the amazing natural wonders like geysers, hot springs, waterfalls, canyons and forests. The roaming wildlife was an added bonus. Unfortunately, we did not get to see any bears.

June 2007

Burano, Italy

There is no denying the beauty and grandeur of Venice but there is an air of melancholy about it. Neighbouring Burano, on the other hand, has to be cheerful on even the stormiest days because its houses are painted in the most vibrant of hues. Wandering around Burano felt like walking into a painting by an exuberant child. I have nothing but lovely memories of the afternoon we spent there. And a bracelet of lime-green glass beads that I cherish greatly and wear often.

November 2007

Vienna, Austria

Vienna's imperial past is immediately apparent in its magnificent architecture. As the capital city of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Vienna is a rich city with palaces and churches gleaming like pearls. Vienna is not one of those busy cities that leave you breathless because people are constantly jostling and pushing you this way and that. On the contrary, there is a slowness to its pace that is extremely calming and it felt really safe and welcoming. Vienna is renowned for its coffee culture and a slice of Sachertorte is de rigeur. I may have been guilty of eating a slice every day when we were there.

March 2009

Paris, France

I still have a hard time deciding what I like best about Paris: the broad avenues designed by Baron Hausmann, the intricate metal emroidery of the Eiffel Tower, the Gothic splendour of Notre Dame, the magnificence of the Louvre or the fashion-houses and jewellery shops along the Champs Elysees.  For want of a better word, but one can't really describe Paris in one word, it is magnifique. I think I left my heart in the artsy neighbourhood of Montmartre, in the 18th arrondissement. Presided over by the huge basilica of Sacre Couer, that rises above the buildings like a haughty swan surrounded by puny ducklings, it has an innate charm that is instantly endearing. 

July 2010

Chicago, USA

Chicago is probably the biggest city that I've visited up to now in the US and it remains my absolute favourite. This probably has to do with two things: Chicago was the first place in the US where I met my husband and it is on the shores of Lake Michigan - which gives me the illusion that I'm close to the sea. I am not a city girl but Chicago has good vibes. It agrees with me.

October 2009

San Gimignano, Italy

We had arrived in San Gimignano on a late afternoon in mid-October. Most of the visitors had already left for the day and the streets were practically empty. And I just wandered around and around, relishing the quiet and the medieval ambiance. I felt like I had been transported back a few centuries. It's a really amazing place and I didn't really want to leave. I made San Gimignano a promise that I would be back. A promise I still need to keep.

May 2012

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina is where beauty goes into overdrive. It feels like whoever created it kept piling on the charm. Taormina is perched on a hill-top with breath-taking views of the sea and, in the near distance, the looming hulk and smoking top of Mount Etna. The sheer-cliff face adorned with abundant vegetation on which the town is located, cascades into the sea and high above it, the slopes of a mountain ridge reach for the sky. It is awe-inspiringly pretty but is also, without a doubt, Sicily's most notorious tourist trap. 

July 2015

Washington D.C., USA

Washington is full of enormous buildings, grandiose monuments and some of the most amazing museums in the world that are free of charge. We visited most of its iconic landmarks like the Washington Monument and Lincoln memorial, the Capitol building and the White House but, by far, I enjoyed the Smithsonian museums the most, especially the  National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of the American Indian.

July 2016

Glastonbury, England

As an avid fan of the Arthurian legend, I have always wanted to visit Glastonbury and its ruined abbey where the mortal remains of King Arthur are purported to lie. The little town of Glastonbury is definitely an interesting place to visit but, due to my obsession with Arthur, we spent most of our time there exploring the ruins of the abbey, which has its own turbulent history. My only regret is that we did not have time to visit Glastonbury Tor which is located on a hill outside the town and which has its own fair share of legends. But, at least, I was able to view it from the car as we left Glastonbury. 

July 2014

Windsor, England

Windsor is famous for its castle and for the Royal Weddings that take place in Saint George's Chapel, the church that lies within the castle precincts. The castle is open to the public and so is the royal chapel in which lie buried some of the former kings and queens of England such as Henry VIII and his beloved queen, Jane Seymour, and, more recently, George VI (father of the present queen), the Queen-mother and Princess Margaret. St George's Chapel seems to be second only to Westminster Abbey as the preferred resting place of British monarchs. I will not bore you with details of how much I enjoyed the tour of the castle but the town of Windsor itself is equally enchanting and we had a really enjoyable day there that ended with an enormous plate of fish and chips at one of the local pubs.

Related posts:

• The untamed beauty of Yellowstone
• Wednesday Wanderings: breezy, beautiful, bewitching Burano
• Christmas markets
• Wednesday Wanderings: the streets of Montmartre
• Wednesday Wanderings: art overdose at the Louvre
• Wednesday Wanderings: a walk on the Champs Elysees
• Reflections in a bean
• Majestic Chicago
• Medieval Manhattan
• Fabulous Fridays: trendy Taormina
• Taormina's Greek theatre
• Taormina, ti amo
• Ten things to do in and around Washington D.C.
• Glastonbury Abbey: the legend and the history
• A day trip to Windsor

I hope you are enjoying these virtual mini tours of some of the places I have visited. Let me know whether you enjoy them so I can do a few more.