Rakov Škocjan
Here is an example of an area I remember visiting as a child and have only vague recollections of it. It is a stunning area in the karst region of Slovenia - the same region where the world famous Postojna caves and Škocjan caves are located, however the Rakov Škocjan park albeit less known to the regular tourist, is still a must see.
Rakov Škocjan
The photos you see are from a part of the Rakov Škocjan that might not be for the faint hearted or extremely worried about rocks falling on your head.
Oglej or Aquileia in Italian is a small village in north-eastern Italy close to the holiday town of Grado (Slovenian: Gradež)
It is the home of the Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia which houses the largest and stunning piece of mosaic I have ever seen. Restaurateurs have manufactured an elevated platform and glass walkway inside the basilica allowing you to still walk in the cathedral without walking and ruining the precious mosaic on the floor.
This is a stunning castle with surrounding estate close to the northern Italian city of Trieste , close to border with Slovenia .
The Miramare Castle is a stunning Carl Junker designed 19th century castle near the northeastern Italian city of Trieste and was built from 1856 to 1860 for Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and his wife, Charlotte of Belgium, later Emperor Maximilian I and Empress Carlota of Mexico.
This is an old favourite of mine and apparently for many Brits as well as during my short visit there saw countless UK reg cars on the roads.
The Savica waterfall is part of the Sava Bohinjka river which is joined by the Sava Dolinka near Radovljica to form the Sava river . That in turns flows into the Danube at Belgrade which discharges into the Black Sea.
The 71-metre waterfall is fed by the Triglav Lakes and flows into the Bohinj lake .
Tuesday. Almost not worth mentioning as I was going to go back home to Haverfordwest . The train from Paddington was strikingly fast and it looked like we were in Bristol in no time. It feels like ages when driving.
However I was supposed to change trains in Newport, Gwent and they have done some modifications to the station and platform assignments meaning I had to cross to the other side using lots of steps to reach the footbridge.
Saint Paul's Cathedral
Monday. Did some more walking round London and did the touristy view of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Fat Tyre bike tour guide told me that the view from the top of the cathedral was much more impressive than from the London eye. I surely was not disappointed. The tour was not that bad.
Village Deli in Bermondsey
The one thing I wanted to do on this day is to go for lunch in Bermondsey .
BT Tower captured from Oxford Street
Sunday. Nothing much planned for this day. Did do some shopping but came to Oxford street to early – nobody told me they opened the shops at twelve so I spent some hard earned money at a well-know American coffee franchise called Stardollars or something. The best was left for last as I went to the Natural History Museum and put on a pair of skates after about 17 or 18 years and didn’t fall once.
Westminster Hall
This was a Saturday and the big part of the day was dedicated to the John Rutter ’s Christmas Celebration at the Royal Albert Hall . This was the second one I have attended and even though the last one I went to was last year it did not feel like a repeat from the previous year. The only difference was to be the Christmas dinner I signed-up
M25 parking lot on December 18th Photo: TOMMY HINDLEY
There were plenty of warnings about possible weather problems before I set off from Haverfordwest in the SW Wales to Stansted airport on December 18th. There was very little snow in Pembrokeshire and the airport was open. There were absolutely no problems up to the M4 exit for Slough.
Then it all started to slow down and by the time I got to theM25 exit on the M4 the traffic stopped.
You know when you sleep in a strange bed and it takes a night or two before you get used to it. That was exactly what I was doing when at about 6am the first morning the hotel, where I was staying, had its fire alarms go off. When I got into the hall outside my room I saw a lot of sleepy-looking heads popping out from behind the doors trying to find out what the hell was going on.
