http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18959 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18959 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18782
I have always pointed them out to my husband and sighed longingly at their charm, (there is something almost 'expensive accessory must-have' about them, like the latest pair of Marc Jacobs).

This trip to Tuscany we got behind the wheel and did a convoy tour in one! Absolutely hilarious!

"Again again again!" I wanted to squeal like an over-indulged child as we said goodbye to Paola (our little red head-turner) at the end of the glorious trip.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18782 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18537
Oh yes, and a bunch of cars. Some really old ones, and some sporty ones, and some two wheelers (i.e. motorcycles), and some movie ones (James Bond cars!), and firetrucks, and old buses, and...well there's a lot. I think most of them are in running order, too. You can take a ride in an original London double-decker! Its exhaust stinks: do they use yesterday's fish batter oil to run the thing!?

The palace is a large mansion, some of which is open to poke around. The guides are very knowledgeable and helpful. The lord and lady still live in the place. Sometimes, you can sneak a look at their private apartments. In spring, the gardens and paths are awash with daffodils!

If you gift-aid your admission, then you get free re-entry to the motor museum (but not the rest of the place - although that is discounted).]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18537 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18534
At regular times through the day there are feedings and handling sessions, for example, to sit and hold bunnies, and to groom the horses. There is a large collection of gypsy wagons to see, too.

There is a cafe on site with both indoor and outdoor seating. Just watch out for the roaming peacocks who like to steal your chips! Admission is reasonably priced for such a lot of things to do.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18534 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18156
On summer weekends there is the Kwakoe Afro-Caribbean festival, which makes Notting Hill look like a family picnic. Football, food and kaseko and no multicultural pretensions.

When you get really hot and even the ginger beer don't work, take a dive in the sparkling clear waters of the Gaasperplas.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18156 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17993 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17993 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17909
We (or more accurately our daughter Emily) were treated like VIPs and invited into homes, given tips on how to survive the souks and all because we'd been cunning enough to come with a child! Kids make travelling easier, if you have the right attitude.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17909 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17599 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17599 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17064
You can either stay in the tourist resorts along the coast or the capital, Banjul, but either way, as the country is so small, to get to either place shouldn’t take any more than 20 minutes to get to by taxi. They have specific tourist taxis, which the tour operators recommend, however I caught numerous ‘normal’ taxis and these are completely fine (and cheaper).

The tour operators also recommend that you do all of their activities through them, and while I would certainly recommend some of these, especially the roots tour, which travels up the Gambia river by boat and goes to where the slaves were captured and held before being shipped of to the Americas - I would befriend the locals and get them to take you out; this is what my friends and I did, as there are licensed juice sellers on the beach by the hotel.

After buying juice from them we decided the best way to get to know the Gambia is by letting people that live there show us so we arranged for two locals to take four of us out to dinner in a place they recommended. We also wanted to go on a safari so we got them to organise a Jeep trip to a safari park. We obviously paid for transportation and food and anything else but this would still be cheaper than doing it through the tour operator and it is helping out the local economy.

People in the Gambia are some of the friendliest you would ever meet, in fact an expression I often heard was ‘it’s nice to be nice’, and at no point did I ever feel remotely threatened, even at police stops everyone was extremely courteous.

As an example of how safe it is my friends and I decided to go to a bar about three miles away from our hotel so we decided to go there by foot alone along the beach, by the time we got there it was pitch black so walking along the beach was quite an adventure and when we got to the bar the owner gave us a free lift home.

When you go to the markets you would obviously have to haggle with the price but this is to be expected and is part of the experience but the market sellers are never overly forceful or aggressive.

I had the lucky experience of being on the beach on my last night when the president threw a party to celebrate him being re-elected, so there were local tribes dancing and playing music with lasers and fireworks, it was such a great parting experience. To sum up my experience and the Gambia itself, in order to go into the cordoned-off arena where the President and performers were, I merely asked a soldier if I could go into the area and the solider allowed me to, that is how nice and friendly the people of the Gambia are.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17064 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16414
It's an all-you-can-eat-and-drink restaurant, with a dark ages theme - skins on the ancient stone walls, rough-hewn wooden tables, help-yourself-to-wine from the barrel kind of place, labrynthine and bacchanalian in atmosphere - musical floorshow with lots of audience participation.

All-in for 39 euros; unbeatable fun and totally unexpected in its rarefied surroundings; a perfect ending to a day of trawling around the museums.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16414 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16377 These are not modern digital prints, but real photographs. It's the best fun you can have in Berlin for two euros!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16377 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16054
In addition, there are quite a few competitions where our farmers and country folk can show off the best bull, pig, horse or who can cook the best sponge or grow the best pumpkin.

Sheepdog and poultry competitions are favourites. City kids also have a chance to see new lambs or piglets or chooks. There are enough circus rides, face painting areas and handicraft stalls to keep everyone happy.

Adults have flamenco, hip hop, capoeira performers, belly dancers and others to keep them entertained.

And of course, there are fireworks at night. Everyone should go and don't forget to grab a ShowBag.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16054 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14954 Travel company Riga Out There have just launched this exciting activity as part of their new 'unusual things to do in Latvia campaign'.

Once each film group has made its film, it is given the opportunity to present their film at one of Riga’s leading cinemas with critical feedback given by one of Latvia’s top film directors.


You do not need to have any film background - just turn up in Riga with a group of friends and start dreaming of film stardom!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14954 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14858 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14858 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14480
Much more real and fun than the Pelourinho.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14480 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13209 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13209 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12926 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12926 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12920 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12920 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12847 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12847 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12815
There are lots of theories on how the festival started; one is that it began in 1945 with anti-Franco protests, although any link between Franco and tomatoes remains ambigous. Another theory is that it started when two friends had a stand-up knock-down argument while sharing a meal. The argument quickly reached food-throwing proportions, infected acquaintances and nearby diners, moved out into the street, spread through the suburbs, progressed to neighbouring towns and eventually wound up as an annual event that attracted 'mata throwers from all corners of the the world.

The most likely explanation is that it started as a juvenile class war between bare-footed Troskyist macarras and el-ivy leaguers staying at Papa's summer house, the latter passing the former in a provocative way - that is to say, within tomato-throwing range. Like gangs of adolescents anywhere, it soon became a point of honour and a mark of tribal loyalty to make a stand at the tomato-stained barriers. As the event turned into a national event it lost its hostile political edge and became, instead, an unbridled Dionysian riot of flesh-baring bodies covered head to toe in tomato goo.

The standard uniform is an old T-shirt, old shorts and eye goggles. T-shirts with bullseyes printed on them are not recommended. Nearly 140 tonnes of tomatoes are trucked in from around the countryside and the argy-bargy begins with the firing of a rocket. An hour later the end of the festival is announced with the firing of another rocket and the clean up of the tomato-slimed streets begin.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12815