Travel with me

Travel snapshots from Toonsarah

  • Home
  • Destinations
    • England
      • London
      • Newcastle-upon-Tyne
    • Europe
      • Albania
      • Austria
      • Bulgaria
      • Estonia
      • France
        • Paris
      • Germany
      • Iceland
      • Italy
      • Jersey
      • Latvia
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Spain
        • Seville
      • Switzerland
      • Ukraine
    • Beyond
      • Africa
        • Botswana
        • Cape Verde
        • Gambia
        • Kenya
        • Morocco
        • Namibia
        • Senegal
        • Tanzania
        • Zimbabwe
      • Americas
        • Belize
        • Canada
        • Chile
          • Rapa Nui
        • Colombia
        • Costa Rica
        • Ecuador
          • Galapagos Islands
        • Guatemala
        • Jamaica
        • USA
          • New Mexico
          • New York City
          • Washington State
      • Asia
        • DPRK
        • India
          • Kerala
          • Rajasthan
        • Indochina
          • Cambodia
          • Laos
          • Vietnam
        • Japan
        • Nepal
        • Oman
        • Syria
        • United Arab Emirates
        • Uzbekistan
  • Themes
    • Architecture
    • Art
      • Crafts
      • Street art
    • Colour
    • Dark tourism
    • Eco-tourism
    • Food & drink
    • Gardens
    • History
      • Ruins
      • War
    • Landscape
      • Coast & seascapes
      • Deserts
      • Mountains
      • Rivers
    • Nature and wildlife
      • Animals
      • Birds
      • Plants
        • Flowers
        • Trees, forests and woodland
    • People
      • Culture & tradition
      • Street photography
    • Travel in general
  • Photo galleries
    • Themed galleries
    • Travel galleries
  • Postcards from the road
  • Challenges
    • Photography challenges
      • Just One Person
      • Lens-Artists
      • Mid-week Monochrome
      • Monochrome Madness
      • Nature Photo Challenge
      • One Word Sunday
      • Photographing Public Art
      • Pick a Word
      • Squares
      • Sunday Stills
      • The Changing Seasons
      • Words of Wisdom
      • Cee’s challenges
        • CBWC
        • CFFC
        • CMMC
    • General challenges
      • Monday walks
      • Writers’ Quotes Wednesday
    • Challenges archive
      • Bird Weekly
      • Friendly Friday
        • The Friendly Friday Challenge: how to join in
      • Friday’s Foods of the World
      • Life in Colour
      • One-to-Three
      • Ten photos
      • Thursday Trios
      • Thursday Doors
  • About me
    • Contact me
    • ‘Always Write’ interview
    • My love of travel
    • My photography
      • Photographic techniques
      • My photography journey
      • Video
    • Disclaimer & GDPR
  • Archive
  • Home
  • Destinations
    • England
      • London
      • Newcastle-upon-Tyne
    • Europe
      • Albania
      • Austria
      • Bulgaria
      • Estonia
      • France
        • Paris
      • Germany
      • Iceland
      • Italy
      • Jersey
      • Latvia
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Spain
        • Seville
      • Switzerland
      • Ukraine
    • Beyond
      • Africa
        • Botswana
        • Cape Verde
        • Gambia
        • Kenya
        • Morocco
        • Namibia
        • Senegal
        • Tanzania
        • Zimbabwe
      • Americas
        • Belize
        • Canada
        • Chile
          • Rapa Nui
        • Colombia
        • Costa Rica
        • Ecuador
          • Galapagos Islands
        • Guatemala
        • Jamaica
        • USA
          • New Mexico
          • New York City
          • Washington State
      • Asia
        • DPRK
        • India
          • Kerala
          • Rajasthan
        • Indochina
          • Cambodia
          • Laos
          • Vietnam
        • Japan
        • Nepal
        • Oman
        • Syria
        • United Arab Emirates
        • Uzbekistan
  • Themes
    • Architecture
    • Art
      • Crafts
      • Street art
    • Colour
    • Dark tourism
    • Eco-tourism
    • Food & drink
    • Gardens
    • History
      • Ruins
      • War
    • Landscape
      • Coast & seascapes
      • Deserts
      • Mountains
      • Rivers
    • Nature and wildlife
      • Animals
      • Birds
      • Plants
        • Flowers
        • Trees, forests and woodland
    • People
      • Culture & tradition
      • Street photography
    • Travel in general
  • Photo galleries
    • Themed galleries
    • Travel galleries
  • Postcards from the road
  • Challenges
    • Photography challenges
      • Just One Person
      • Lens-Artists
      • Mid-week Monochrome
      • Monochrome Madness
      • Nature Photo Challenge
      • One Word Sunday
      • Photographing Public Art
      • Pick a Word
      • Squares
      • Sunday Stills
      • The Changing Seasons
      • Words of Wisdom
      • Cee’s challenges
        • CBWC
        • CFFC
        • CMMC
    • General challenges
      • Monday walks
      • Writers’ Quotes Wednesday
    • Challenges archive
      • Bird Weekly
      • Friendly Friday
        • The Friendly Friday Challenge: how to join in
      • Friday’s Foods of the World
      • Life in Colour
      • One-to-Three
      • Ten photos
      • Thursday Trios
      • Thursday Doors
  • About me
    • Contact me
    • ‘Always Write’ interview
    • My love of travel
    • My photography
      • Photographic techniques
      • My photography journey
      • Video
    • Disclaimer & GDPR
  • Archive

Follow me

Follow Travel with me on WordPress.com

Topics I’ve touched on

africa animals architecture art birds black_&_white buildings bulgaria cffc chile cities colombia colour costa_rica dprk ealing england flowers france friendlyfriday Friendly_Friday history india just_one_person_from_around_the_world landscape lens-artists Lens_Artists_Challenge london Monday_Walks nepal new_mexico north_korea paris people photography photo_effects PPAC ruins Street_Art Street_Photography Sunday_Stills usa views village wildlife
  • Food & drink,  Sunday Stills,  Themed galleries

    Gallery: cosy coffee breaks around the world

    November 30, 2021 / 53 Comments
    Two cups of coffee

    Sometimes it seems as if Starbucks is taking over the world. Wherever we travel, apart from in North Korea of course, we come across branches of this ubiquitous chain. But we don't go in. Even at home it’s a place we choose to avoid, preferring to support our local independent coffee shops. And when we travel the same rule applies. Even in Seattle, the birthplace of Starbucks, we refused to visit the first ever branch in Pike Place.

    Carry on reading

    Or what about ...?

    Dark table with lots of small dishes

    Gallery: Dining in (Japanese) style ~ kaiseki

    March 6, 2021
    White window shutter and green leaves

    Eating out with a conscience in Indochina

    April 17, 2021
    Man frying insects at a food stall

    Exploring the street food of Phnom Penh

    April 3, 2021
  • Dark tourism,  DPRK,  Lens-Artists

    Some short stories from the Hermit Kingdom

    November 28, 2021 / 33 Comments
    Factory gates with propaganda signs and various buildings

    We visited many strange and wonderful places on our tour of North Korea. But this is a short story about a place we didn’t visit. The Hungnam fertiliser factory was first established in Hungnam by the Japanese in 1927 and reopened by the Koreans after having been destroyed in the Korean War.

    Carry on reading

    Or what about ...?

    Row of huts in front of a larger modern building

    Dreaming of reunification in North Korea

    March 26, 2023
    Huge statues of young women holding a stone map above an empty road

    The Monument to the Three Charters for National Reunification

    September 18, 2021
    Long empty tunnel with subdued lighting

    Jersey under occupation: the War Tunnels

    July 28, 2021
  • Crafts,  Culture & tradition,  Photographing Public Art,  Seville

    Gallery: Majolica, the ceramic tiles of Seville

    November 27, 2021 / 40 Comments
    Tiles painted with a bull's head

    Spain, along with its neighbour Portugal, is home to some of the most beautiful tilework in the world, and much of it originates in Seville. Or more accurately, in the Seville barrio of Triana. Known as Majolica, or sometimes Talavera, after the ceramic centre of Talavera de la Reina in Castilla, these tiles have been produced in this country for hundred of years. Made initially for churches and palaces, the art later spread to homes, adorning floors and walls.

    Carry on reading

    Or what about ...?

    Sign saying Tinkertown

    ‘While you were watching TV’

    May 20, 2022
    Man's hands working with tin

    Using our hands: handicrafts around the world

    April 27, 2021
  • Friendly Friday,  People,  Travel in general

    Friendly Friday: meet some amazing guides (part two)

    November 26, 2021 / 17 Comments
    Banner with photo of a man in black and white football top

    As I said last week, this is the last in this series of Friendly Friday: meet … challenges, as I’m planning a shake-up for the New Year. So I’m finishing the series by introducing you to some of the most amazing, wonderful, helpful and knowledgeable guides I’ve met on my travels.

    Carry on reading

    Or what about ...?

    Rustic blue house

    Stepping back in time in Bulgaria

    June 5, 2021
    View down to an Italian town square and hills beyond

    Postcards from the past: a small town in Italy

    November 14, 2020
    Banner heading with photo of African man

    Friendly Friday: meet Cheikh, a guide in Senegal

    July 16, 2021
  • Lens-Artists,  Seville

    The bliss of returning to the air

    November 24, 2021 / 46 Comments
    Cityscape with river in the distance

    I believe I’ve mentioned once or twice in this blog that I love travelling! It’s the thing I’ve most missed during the past two years, when the world has been turned upside-down. Yes, I know that sadly worse things have happened to very many people than a few missed trips abroad. But the fact remains, I’ve missed travelling, and I know many others have felt the same.

    Carry on reading

    Or what about ...?

    Black and white photo of a man on a park bench eating

    Gallery: favourite people photos of 2021

    January 5, 2022
    View of a city with river and modern architecture

    The astounding architecture of Pyongyang

    November 7, 2021
    River with small boats and rocky cliff

    A day on the Nam Ou

    July 3, 2021
  • Colour,  Sunday Stills,  Themed galleries

    Gallery: what’s in a name? Burgundy / Beaujolais / Ruby reds

    November 23, 2021 / 30 Comments
    Dark red hollyhock with raindrops

    A brief extract from one of my favourite poems by one of my favourite poets to introduce a gallery of burgundy-red images. Of course this colour takes its name from a red wine, the French Burgundy, but we might just as well use the name of any other red wine to describe it. Indeed, according to Wikipedia, the French themselves tend to instead call the colour Bordeaux!

    Carry on reading

    Or what about ...?

    Colourful paper lanterns at night

    Gallery: let there be light

    September 21, 2021
    Cobbled street of colourful houses

    Gallery: Guatapé, town of the zócalos

    April 11, 2023
    Blue and turquoise mosaic

    Gallery: feeling the blues

    November 11, 2021
  • Friendly Friday,  Oman,  People,  Travel in general

    Friendly Friday: meet some amazing guides

    November 19, 2021 / 30 Comments
    Banner with photo of a man in Arab dress

    A local guide can make or break the travel experience. A good one will not only smooth the path and tell you about the sights you are seeing, they will also share something of themselves. Spending time together you will get to know each other and learn more about the country than you ever would from reading guidebooks, from the perspective of someone who lives there. They will be able to introduce you to some insider secrets: a little-known site; a café or bar frequented only by locals; a short…

    Carry on reading

    Or what about ...?

    Two men in a rowing boat

    Keeping North Korea clean and beautiful

    March 13, 2021
    Sun setting over the sea

    Gallery: enjoying serene views in Costa Rica

    February 19, 2022
    Rocky coastline

    Stunning landscapes of Iceland: the day the sun shone

    October 29, 2021
  • Architecture,  CFFC,  Culture & tradition,  DPRK

    A look inside the Grand People’s Study House

    November 18, 2021 / 20 Comments
    Large building with green oriental roof

    Nearly all the great buildings and monuments of Pyongyang were built to mark a significant event linked to the Great Leaders, usually a birthday; and Kim Il Sung was especially fortunate on his 70th to be honoured with three such gifts. This special event was marked with a grand library, a triumphal arch and a tower.

    Carry on reading

    Or what about ...?

    Ceramic tiles with blue border and brown lion and castle

    A visit to the Real Alcázar of Seville

    December 29, 2021
    Yellow Victorian house

    Gallery: the Painted Ladies of Cape May

    October 10, 2020
    Panoramic cityscape

    The best views of Paris?

    September 12, 2022
  • England,  History,  People

    Looking for Thomas Hardy in Dorset

    November 17, 2021 / 22 Comments
    Bronze statue of a seated man holding a hat

    It would be hard to visit Dorset without at some point coming across the name of novelist and poet Thomas Hardy. He is inexplicably linked to the county, so many places in which featured in his novels. On a recent visit to the county I found links to Hardy everywhere.

    Carry on reading

    Or what about ...?

    Ruins of a church

    ‘Baptised in the blood of so many good men’

    October 13, 2020
    Statues of four young men

    Roll up, roll up! A Magical Mystery Tour

    August 26, 2021
    White flowers in front of an old house

    Gallery: the White Garden at Sissinghurst Castle

    June 23, 2021
  • History,  London,  Sunday Stills

    Ruislip Woods: ancient woodland in suburbia

    November 15, 2021 / 39 Comments
    Path through green woodland

    When the Domesday Book was written, in 1086, what is now the pleasant London suburb of Ruislip was known as Rislepe, ‘leaping place on the river where rushes grow’. The book also tells us that it had more pigs than human inhabitants. These pigs roamed the extensive woodlands; and Ruislip Woods remain to this day, although smaller than they once were.

    Carry on reading

    Or what about ...?

    Bronze statue of a seated man holding a hat

    Looking for Thomas Hardy in Dorset

    November 17, 2021
    Stone statue on a plinth on a grassy hillside

    Admiral Lord Collingwood, a forgotten hero

    April 25, 2021
    Large palace with lots of people and flower bads

    Gallery: a farewell to a monarch

    September 16, 2022
Load More

Follow me

Follow Travel with me on WordPress.com

Subscribe to blog via email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,356 other subscribers.

Read my featured blogger interview

Logo for blogging feature
By Marsha of 'Always Write'

And my answers to Bren’s ‘five at five’ questions

Lady in a hat and red top sitting on rocks

Some favourite photos

Man in a turban with fishing nets
Fisherman in Fort Kochi, Kerala
Two elephants in long grass
Okavango elephants
Blue glacier edge
Glacier Grey, Torres del Paine, Chile
Elderly woman in black hat and sunglasses
In Santiago, Chile
Very large statues of North Korean Leaders
Statues of the Great Leaders on Mansudae Hill, Pyongyang
Water reflecting the sky with clouds and low sun
Approaching sunset in the Okavango Delta
Feet of huge metal sculpture, with man standing beside
The feet of the Angel
Large moai with row of more behind
The ‘travelling moai’ and Ahu Tongariki
Man in knitted hat by water, black and white photo
Waiting for the ferry, Banjul
Mountain reflected in a lake
On the road to Dyrholaey
Sunset at Wahiba Sands, Oman
Squirrel with a conker in his mouth
In Walpole Park, Ealing
Silhouette of a man in a gateway
Looking out from Bundi Palace
Blue and pink bird on a dead tree
Lilac-breasted Roller, Chobe NP, Botswana
Buddhist monk in orange robes with mobile phone
Monk at Wat Nong Sikhounmuang, Luang Prabang
Man sleeping in a tuk tuk by a carved stone wall
Tuk tuk driver by the Terrace of the Leper King
Close up of flamingo with head tucked under
Flamingo (Jersey Zoo)
Lady with baskets of fruit sitting by a canal
In Hoi An, Vietnam
Small fishing boat with a man in it, on a large lake
Lake Atitlan
Wet street and two people with bright pink umbrella
Street in Lucca, rainy day – edited

Some topics I’ve touched on

africa animals architecture art birds black_&_white buildings bulgaria cffc chile cities colombia colour costa_rica dprk ealing england flowers france friendlyfriday Friendly_Friday history india just_one_person_from_around_the_world landscape lens-artists Lens_Artists_Challenge london Monday_Walks nepal new_mexico north_korea paris people photography photo_effects PPAC ruins Street_Art Street_Photography Sunday_Stills usa views village wildlife

Archive

  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020

You may have missed

  • A postcard from Norway: crossing the Arctic Circle
  • Gallery: a May selection (2023)
  • Gallery: London from the top of the Shard
  • Gallery: finding peace while travelling
  • Gallery: finding peace in the park

Follow me

Follow Travel with me on WordPress.com
All images and texts copyright Sarah Wilkie - 2023 ©
 

Loading Comments...