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The National trail along the banks of the Thames has a few interruptions but provides a chance to see the river at its best. A highlight is to cycle from Putney Bridge to Weybridge taking in Richmond Park and Hampton Court - do it on a weekday and the path is virtually deserted. Too tired to cycle back? Stick your bike on the train and head back into town.
Beside the river. www.sustrans.org.uk. Various tube/rail along the route.
Theatre ship with bed and breakfast facilities and bar. Totally unexpected cross cultural place to stay. Tone Holmen, one of the owners, is a great cook and speaks perfect English and Spanish, the ambience is terrific and the price of a bed for the night is reasonable for Oslo. The beer isn't very expensive either. The fjord is usually calm and it's a delightful experience to sit and look out over the sea while enjoying a cool lager and listening to some Afro-Caribbean music. Very near the main shopping centre, kindly hosts and lovely views.
www.bedandbreakfast.com/norway/ms-innvik.html
Phone 47-22-382397
Great, free collection of plants from all over the world. If you are fed up with the relentless drinking of lager and trips to the Tivoli Gardens, try this. Perfect for a family and great for a simply relaxing couple of hours without having to spend vast amounts of money.
The place that houses Michelangelo's statue of David. There is other stuff in the building but this is the reason for going. Now he has been cleaned he looks great. The kids will like it - he has no clothes on!
The real tip is to book your tickets before you begin to queue. Get your hotel to do it, for a specific time or you can do it on the internet before you leave home. If you don't you will queue for hours along with a load of Americans who have not read their guide book info properly. There is a separate - and much shorter - queue for pre-booked tickets. Yes, it costs you 3 euros more per person but it saves hours of queuing.
Via Ricasoli 58-60
Tel: 055 2388609
This is the big Dome on the cathedral. You can go up to the top and look out from the viewing platform, over Florence. Simply the best sight in the city. It takes a fair amount of queuing - check times and make sure you don't leave it too late - and the climb to the top can take up to 20 minutes, but it is brilliant. Not only do you get a 360 degree view of the city but you see the inside of the Dome in close up, on the way up and way down. The one unmissable sight in Florence, in my opinion.
Ufficio del Duomo
Tel: 055 2302885
www.duomofirenze.it/index-eng.htm
Along with the road along the Amalfi coast and the highway from LA to San Francisco, the Great Ocean Road in Victoria is one of the world's best coastal drives.
Starting at Torquay (SW of Melbourne) it travels nearly all the way to the Sth Australian border. Driving along it, you discover the breath-taking coastline of south-west Victoria by travelling on one of the world's most scenic roads through an extended area that includes the world-famous Twelve Apostles, the Otways rainforest, Bells Beach, and the Surf Coast.
The road goes thru Lorne and Apollo Bay, the coastal cities of Warrnambool and Portland, and through the historic villages of Port Campbell and Port Fairy. The road itself was built by returned WW1 diggers and a memorial dedicates the road to these soldiers
(and roadmakers).
It starts at Torquay..an hours drive SW of Melbourne
www.tourism.net.au/Victoria/Ocean/
Incorporating the Planetarium, the ScienceWorks museum in Melbourne brings a new slant on science... it's not boring, it's not drab, this museum of science brings excitement to this topic!
With hands-on exhibits, live demonstrations, tours, activities and shows, science has never been quite this much fun and also you can have fun exploring the mysteries of science and today's technology. It's a great place for kids too with lots of things for them. It's close to the CBD (1 km over the Westgate bridge) and parking is free.
scienceworks.museum.vic.gov.au/
2 Booker Street Spotswood, Victoria, Australia Ph +613 9392 4800
A tree full of shoes. No, this hasn't been sanctioned by the powers that be - in fact, they've removed the shoes in the past. But still they keep appearing - and make for quite a surreal sight.
Armstrong Park, in Heaton. I'm not going to tell you exactly where as part of the fun of the shoe tree experience is finding it!
Go up the TV tower and you'll get a fantastic view of the city. Enjoy the Soviet-era fun of the space race style building and wonder about the strange giant babies crawling up the side of the tower.
In Zizkov, a residential area to the east of the city. Take the tram straight from Wencelas Square.
A small lake in which you'll see a quite preposterous number of toads in the springtime (April/May). An unusual sight given that it's so close to the city centre.
Why not help a few across the road before they're killed by passing cars?
You can stop in the bar for a drink on your way back, warm in the knowledge that you've just saved a few amphibious lives!
Go to Belmontas on the eastern edge of the city (5 minutes by taxi from the centre, or a nice cycle ride on a sunny afternoon). Here you'll find a newly-built and rather spectacular riverside complex, consisting of outdoor bars, cafes and restaurants.
Cross the river via the bridge and walk along the adjacent road northwards, away from the river. It shouldn't be long before you see/hear the toads! After a couple of hundred metres you'll come across a lake on the right - this is where they're heading to breed.
The waterfront, known as the Pier Head, is home to three architectural gems, the Liver Buildings, Cunard Building, and the Port of Liverpool Building, known collectively as the “Three Graces”.
The M62 or via the Mersey Tunnel will take you into the city centre, by rail at Lime Street or even by air at John Lennon airport
A fairytale castle from 1607 in the heart of town in the King's Gardens (Kongens Have). Houses the crown jewels and crown regalia in the basement and the rest is a museum telling the story of the Kings of Denmark over 300 years.
A great museum letting you get close to the exhibits.
Located in Kongens Have. 65 kroner for adults. 20 kroner for kids aged 5-14. www.rosenborgslot.dk
This downtown area by the lake is a great place to visit in the summer. As well as a great place to walk by the side of Lake Ontario, you can catch the ferry across to the Toronto Islands, watch an open air performance for free, browse a craft fair and eat food from various ethic menus.
The obligatory boat trip up to the falls. Yes, you will get wet (hideous yellow plastic coverall is supplied) and is not recommended for those suffering motion sickness.
You do get a close up of this impressive natural feature however.
Want to trylu appreciate Prague? want NOT to be stuck in a toursit trap? Think Troja! this beautiful graden suburb, hoem to the world's most demanding embassies has many beautiful pensions waiting to provide you a base so that you can make the best of both holiday worlds in Prague: (1) with tram, bus and metro services to which you the 12 minites journey to the center every 5 minutes (if you don't want to walk by the dreamy Vltava river, you can make the most of the urban legends in the bustling center, and (2) when you want to wake up in rustic repose and spend a day reflecting on the beautiful things in life, you will find yourself surrounded by rollign vineyards, botanical gardens, one of the world's largest parks, the Vltava river not to mention villas to challenge any by Gandon & Co. Check it out as your next Prague base - you really will find yourself in luxury for a fraction of the price of palces in the centre: CZK800 per night being th eususal (en suite) room rate; Njoy!
www.villatroya.cz www.mapy.cz (type "Trojska 88" in the first seacrh box you see on top).
In the winter many squares are transformed into skating rinks - in the good-old fashioned sense. Lazy circles, rosy cheeks, laughing kids.
Two of the best bets are the Kongens Nytorv in the centre of town and Frederiksberg Gardens.
It's free, but skate rental will set you back 40 kroner or so.
Kongens Nytorv - city centre.
Frederiksberg Gardens - ten minute bike ride from the central station.
Traditionally a summer pursuit, the world-famous Tivoli now opens from mid-November until after Christmas.
A veritable winter wonderland. Don't miss it if you're in town at that time of year.
Tivoli is between the central station and Town Hall Square.
www.tivoli.dk
Hemingway, upon recieving his Nobel Prize, admitted that the lady should have won. Karen Blixen. Out of Africa.
Visit her home and grounds north of Copenhagen.
It's a lovely, personal museum in honour of a much-loved writer and personality.
Combine it with a trip to Louisiana and Kronborg (Hamlet's castle). They're all on the same rail line.
www.karen-blixen.dk/engelsk/default.html
You've read the play, now see the castle! This was Hamlet's gaff and even though it's not the same castle it's still cool to go home and say you saw Hamlet's castle, isn't it? 200,000 people a year think so. A lovely day trip with the train along the north coast. Combine it with a visit to the world-renowned art gallery Louisiana.
Elsinore is Helsingør in Danish and it's a good 45 min. north of Copenhagen on the train. But the views are great - from the train and the castle.
Sticks n Sushi is a local chain that has the concept well under control. Stylish, Euro-Japanese and trendy. They have four restaurants and they're all cool and good. They have a super kids menu that puts sushi into reach of the up and comers.
Both restaurant and take away.
In Vesterbro - Istedgade 62.
In the City - Nansensgade 47.
For the other locations check their website:
www.sushi.dk
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