Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Holiday in Barcelona

Holiday means gong somewhere. I chose Barcelona. This Spanish city with UNESCO world heritage sites is decorated with a combination of ancient buildings and modern architecture. I stayed in the Front Air Congress Hotel which is 4 star with gym and spa. I must say £55 a night is relatively cheap, compared with the same grade hotels in England. The only drawback was that it was not in the down town. I had to take the bus 72 route from hotel to the centre of Barcelona. It was only Euro 1.35 per ride( one journey £2 in London). Saving money, I bought 2 days travel card, enabling me to take bus and metro as many as I wanted. Their underground network is rather smaller than London counterpart. Basically, no need to worry to lose the way for someone who has been familiar with London transport system.

During my stay, I made new friends. I met a couple from Toronto in hotel restaurant. Both of them were well over 60. They were in Paris before Barcelona. We chatted and later we enjoyed the dinner together. Spanish fine red wine boosted our conversation. Next morning, a young girl called Yumi from Japan asked me something in the hotel lounge. She was on her own. She visited her friends in Oxford for 7 days before coming to Spain. She was a sale assistant from Nagoya. We took sight seeing bus together. She was quite friendly. The only issue was her English with many pauses and stops. But it did not matter for that evening when we enjoyed Spanish foods and then went to spa.

You can see some photos I took.



the view from Montjuïc ( 'Hill of the Jews')


Cruises. Barcelona has a major port in Europe


A women statue who I don't know.


Columbus monument


Date trees


Casa Mila' or La Pedrera (built between 1906-1912)

More photos, click here


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Sunday, September 06, 2009

Bournemouth and Brownsea Island

Previously, we intended to go to Isle of Wight in this weekend. But the plan was changed and today we headed towards Bournemouth which is a nearer place. Late summer saw the crowd of locals and visitors walking in the shopping centre and sea front of Dorset’s coastal resort town. As I expected, its town centre was not too much different from the counterparts of other English towns. There were usual shops and stores. I popped in to Borders book shop to buy Jamie Oliver’s Italian cook book as my colleague recommended. The interesting thing was that there were only pop, rock and some classic CDs on the music shelves. No R&B and Rap songs for some reason. Perhaps, it needs some more time to get updated to a world class cosmopolitan place.

It was within a walking distance from town to the sea front. After passing through a park, where there was a huge balloon, raising visitors 500 feet into the air to view the English Channel and Dorset countryside, we saw a rather small pier. Cloudy sky was not a perfect weather for beach lovers. But there were a few people swimming. Some were enjoying with surfing boards.





Brownsea island is the largest of the islands in Poole harbour with 500 acres. With £10.50 per head boat tickets, we had an opportunity to lean Bournemouth’s long sand beach and cliffs on our way to the island. Other boats and yachts were also around with different directions.



Now the island is under the control of the National Trust although it was private island in the past . It is naturally beautiful.



View Larger Map

The National Trust website said:

Peaceful island of woodland, wetland and heath with a rich diversity of wildlife

• Fine walks and spectacular views of Poole Harbour
• Home to the endangered red squirrel
• Famous for being the birthplace for Scouting and Guiding
• A haven for wildlife, including Sika deer and wading birds
• Trails and Tracker Packs for young smugglers and explorers
• Escape the noise and stress of modern life and discover nature in this unspoilt setting

I believe it is worth visiting there at last one time.

If you want to see the full set of photos, click here

Thank you

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Clay, Pool, Hardy and A Harbour

This morning, I was doing a minute research about clay as an attempt to find out the history of the Blue Pool encouraged me to do so.

Ball clays are kaolinitic sedimentary clays, that commonly consist of 20-80% kaolinite, 10-25% mica, 6-65% quartz. They are fine-grained and plastic in nature. They are mined in Devon and Dorset in England. They are commonly used in the construction of many ceramic articles.

The ceramic use of ball clays in Britain dates back to at least the Roman era. More recent trade began when clay was needed to construct tobacco pipes in the 16th and 17th century.

The name "ball clay" is believed to derive from the time when the clay was mined by hand. It was cut into 15 to 17-kilogram cubes and during transport the corners of the cubes became rounded off leaving "balls".

It can be said that the Blue Pool is one of the historic places of past time clay business.
The Blue Pool is a lake in the Furzebrook Estate, a 25 acres (100,000 m2) park of heath woodland and gorse near Furzebrook in Dorset, England.

The pool is a flooded, disused clay pit where Purbeck Ball Clay was dug from the 1600s to the early 1900s to make smoking pipes and tea pots.

I must say the place was amazing. Well maintained. At the same time, it looked natural. Tall pine trees were growing well, beautifully guarding the blue lake. Birds were singing. It is claimed that there are wild animals inhabited , such as rabbits, badgers, squirrels, deer and sand lizards. It was drizzling. So I did not have a full range of chance to explore the area.


A request for the wood ant. British people are kind enough to save ants and their work.

An ant nest (British wood ants there)
The color of water ,which is varying from green to blue, is due to clay particles.
Pine trees

You can see the Blue Pool photos I took yesterday.

Well, I went to Hardy's home before going to Blue Pool. To be honest, I did not know Thomas Hardy until a friend of mine from Bath mentioned about his name and novels last month.

Thomas Hardy(2 June 184011 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet of the naturalist movement, although in several poems he displays elements of the previous romantic and enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.

This is what he was described in wikipedia.

According to the Thomas Hardy society founded in 1968, he was born at Higher Bockhampton near Dorchester. During his lifetime he composed nearly a thousand published poems and wrote fourteen publised novels including ‘Far From the Madding Crowd’ and ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’. He died in Dorchester on 11 January 1928. Much of Thomas Hardy's work is based on Wessex, the South and West of England.

Unfortunately, when I got to Hardy's cottage, where he was born and raised, now under the management of the National Trust, it was found out that the small museum was not open for the public. For some reason, opening days are from Monday to Thursdays and Sunday only, what I leaned later. Why not on Saturday? Still misery. Anyway, I had a chance to walk around nice and quiet surrounding woodland area. I saw some families with their dogs enjoying the place like me.

Hardy's cottage

cute tiny wild fruits, close-up view (ရႊန္းမီအတြက္လက္ေဆာင္)

Here are some more photos of Thomas Hardy's birthplace.

After visiting above two places, I headed to Poole harbour to take boat photos. As it has been 6 PM, all deep sea boat services had already finished.




Reference:
http://www.bluepooltearooms.co.uk/index.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy
http://www.hardysociety.org/

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Holiday makers and their health

Nowadays, holiday means going somewhere. My domestic lady spent 2 weeks in Spain. My colleague came back from Barbados last week after taking a bargain deal from lastminute.com . Sarah is a nurse from work. She was visiting Sidney according to her email. It can be said that going holiday is part of a human right. People do it regardless of their social and financial status. People with medical condition also enjoy their holiday.

A week ago, I saw a 78 year old man at emergency medical department who came in with acute breathlessness. He was recently diagnosed as lung cancer. He was from Lincoln, northern England. In east, once diagnosed as cancer, they are not willing to go far away from their home. They may stay inside the house. They may be praying for their health. They may be waiting for their time quietly. But in west, people try to live in their normal life style as much as possible.

Yesterday, a noisy air ambulance landed at hospital heliport, bringing a 69 year old man from the cruise ship which just arrived from Mediterranean with over 200 holiday makers. He had a heart surgery previously. His doctor advised him that air travel was not suitable for him. He did not stop and he kept going by cruise ship . Now he is in hospital with a massive collection of fluid around the heart. Of course, there is little or nothing relationship with travelling and his condition. But he might die if his condition deteriorates in the middle of an ocean where it is out of reach of air lift.


Coast guard

A German tourist is also in hospital. We had to use body language before interpreter arrived. The language barrier might lead to something went wrong. Anyway, he is fine now.

The most annoying holiday maker was from Lancastershire. He is 72. He has a long term air way problem. He drove his car along with his partner . He came down to see his daughter in Poole. He had a shortness of breath while staying at hotel and he needed hospital admission . He brought his medications with pill box. Unfortunately, there was no name on it. We did not know what tablet/capsule is what medication. He did not know either. We tried to contact his GP. But only answer phone as it was out of hour. The issue was sorted only after 12 hours when his GP was available in next morning.

Some people appear to consider their health condition briefly when they prepared for their journey. This might impose a risk. Personally, I would advise those with medical conditions should get a copy of their medical summary including medication list from their GP before going holiday.

Friday, June 19, 2009

2 days in Bristol

ALS means Advanced Life Support. Yesterday, I took ALS course. It is an intensive course under the management of UK Resus council. We have to retake every 4-5 years. I took a few years ago. So it was the time to take it again. It is a mandatory course for the professionals working in Acute and emergency medicine. Fee was £390. There are many centres across the UK. I chose Bristol as I had never been there before. I booked at Premiere Inn for £68 a night. After 2 day extensive practice and the test at the end of the course, I got exhausted physically and mentally. I thought it was more tiring business than PLAB and MRCP exams.

My mentor congratulated as I passed the test. There are many causalities. I mean some candidates did not pass. They have to redo after some time.

For me, only pain was parking fee. I left my car in NCP (Natinal car parking), costing me £30 for 24 hours. Premier Inn provides parking place (£8 for 24 hours), but no space on my arrival. Anyway, I am happy. I have done a task successfully. My course fee was funded by my deanery. :) Well, I still need to claim it.




the Premier Inn where I stayed over night. Fortunately my room was at the top floor (17). So good view.


inside the room


A view from my room. That is Bristol


Another look





University Hospitals, Bristol . A view from Education centre.


Some candidates

Monday, April 13, 2009

Jurassic coast

The 95 mile-long Jurassic coast is the world heritage place in southern England. It is very beautiful and interesting coastal area running from Devon to Dorset county. Cliffs, Arch and cove, formed by limestones, have been attracting over one million of visitors every year. I am one of them. Yesterday, I went to Lyme Regis and Lulworth cove.


Yesterday's my road trip. A: Lyme Regis, B: Lulworth cove, C: Home, London docklands.
A to C: just over 160 miles, Not too bad. (Singapore-Kuala Lumpur 219 miles)

Lyme Regis:
Yesterday, loads of Easter holiday visitors. Parking places with full of cars. So I had to leave my car 1 miles away from the beach.


Holiday makers


Sailing in Lyme Regis


Can you see me?


Life boat is stand-by to rescue me. No worry. A kid donating some money.

Lulworth Cove:
From Lyme Regis, we drove to Lulworth cove, where we went hill climbing so that we could enjoy the spectacular view of cove and around.


The cove and cars, the view from half way to the hill.


before reaching at the top of the hill.



I was on the top of the hill


Going down now. I was on the similar hill you can see. Interestingly, those 2 hills are human breast shaped

Reorganised above photo in chronological order @ 19:00 GMT 13/4/2008


Here are photos I took





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Thursday, April 02, 2009

One night trip

It was one night trip. Yesterday, I drove to Sheffield to see my friends. Sheffield is just over 260 miles away from my place according to navigator. More or less the same on Google map. But it took up to 5 hours 30 minutes to get there because of loads of road works on M1 motor way and nasty traffics.

I just get back now after stopping at several service stations. So total time was nearly 7 hours. Like driving in Burma. It was when I was 24. I drove (our driver was sitting next to me) from Yangon to Mandalay. I think distance was about 400 miles. I left Yangon at about 0430. I saw Mandalay airport at about 5PM. It was my best ever record . But I found out that the coconut oil tank put in the boot had already broken.


A is Sheffield. B is my work place.


Travel Lodge: £43 per night for single. (extra £10 if double) B/f and parking fee excluded. But fair enough as it is only max 10 min walk from Sheffield central. Night life was nice.


in city centre


A tram

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Leeds

After hectic on-call nights, today I' am free. I read something in the morning. Afternoon, I could not keep staying inside any more. So I drove and chose nearby Leeds to visit. Leeds is a big city only 20 miles from my place. Basically, west Yorkshire was England's top industrialised place until most factories moved to China and other oversea destinations where cheap labourers available . It is a well developed area and big cities like Manchester, Sheffield, Bradford and Leeds are not far from each other within 1 hour drive.


View Larger Map

I went to Kirkstall Abbey, which is 2-3 miles away from Leeds town centre. When I checked with wikipedia, it is described as follow.

Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in the western outskirts of Leeds in Yorkshire, set in grounds which are now a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded c.1152 and was over seventy five years in construction. It was closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the auspices of Henry VIII. The ruins have been painted by artists such as J.M.W. Turner.


Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds


Fogging afternoon in Leeds Kirkstall Abbey park

From there, I headed for Leeds town centre where Tom tom instructed me to drive in counter-flow of traffic. It also kept asking me to turn into close roads. Bugger!. I remember it also confused in central London.

I saw a sea of people in town centre. A full range of age groups, from teenagers to elderly people with wheel chairs. Wondering if the UK is in actual economic recession? Maybe its early phase? They must be Christmas shoppers. I bought a Cross ball pen with rubber grip and a Red Herring shirt from Debenhams.

It had been nearly 2 hours walking around at town centre, from one shop to another. So I was starved. Fancy a meatball baguette and a cup of latte. Unfortunately, I lost my way and took nearly half an hour to find out the shop. As a result, I had to pay parking fee £8 for over 2 hour (2 hours and 20 minutes actually). Charges are 1 hour £2.80, 2 hours 5.20 and 4 hours £8. On my way home, it was not too much traffics. Some photos are here.

X-mas lights ont he street



Taxis and buses in Leeds. London Buses are red, you know



X-mas shoppers. Air temperature was 2 degree C



Inside Victoria quarter shopping mall

Some more photos are available in my album. Better view with slide show.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

A Rail Trip

I have never been beyond Bournemouth in south east England before. Yesterday, I went to Dorchester by train as I had an appointment. It was 6 hours trip in total from my work place in west Yorkshire. I bought a return ticket online for £115 in advance which was a standard one. After collecting the ticket at the station, I was waiting for 16:30 train. Well I left work a bit early. I saw many secondary students putting on different ancient costumes, waiting to go back to nearby towns. I overheard that they participated in a show " Romeo and Juliet " at their school. From Yorkshire to London, I took the National Express train line which has got power source for laptop and wifi access. I arrived the King Cross station at about 19:20, from where I took the tube to Waterloo. Too much crowded in Waterloo as usual. I quickly bought my supper which were a baguette and a cup of black Kenco. And then I took South West train to Dorset. My destination was DCH, Dorset County Hospital. It was mid night when I got to my over-night accommodation provided by hospital.


My route


My Kenco. Fortunately, no person next to me.


A gentle man working while travelling


I was also revising Jason's Driver 2


On south west train


Hospital guide


Parking tariff at DCH