Countryside Trip

Cape Town known as the Mother City, is also the second largest city in South Africa. Visiting this city can be a unique experience not only because it is well known internationally but also for its significant history and beautiful scenic spot for tourists. Nestled in the suburbs of famous table mountain and bordered by appealing beaches, the city with endless attractions, is an amazing destination for nature lovers.

The Twelve Apostle’s Beach in Cape Town.

1) Table Mountain

Table Mountain is often described as a mysterious and numinous spot in Cape Town. Known as the most prominent feature of the city, Table Mountain is also a world famous landmark. This splendid view of this majestic mountain is noticeable from any parts of the city; ships and people still consider the mountain as a beacon to find directions. Sculpted from sandstone, this giant mountain is 1086 meters tall at its highest point. With a flat acme measuring nearly 3km, Table Mountain offers its visitors numerous breathtaking views of the city and beaches from its peak.

2. ) Two Oceans Aquarium

This largest Aquarium of South Africa housing more than 300 marine species attracts many tourists, to experience a new atmosphere with live marine animals. While enjoying the impressive and informative display in the aquarium, you can watch seals swinging underwater or view the colorful fishes swimming calmly. In one corner the gift shops sell some of the excellent souvenirs, books, and videos, on the other side Bay front Blue restaurant serves lip smacking delicious seafood.

3) Camps Bay Beach

As a part of Atlantic Ocean, Camps Bay beach has a stretch of white sand bordered by lines of palm trees and bushes. There are plenty of places to stay; many of the best Cape Town villas are located opposite the beach. While on the beach, you can get the magnificent views of a spectacular series of mountain peaks and the Twelve Apostles; just only 10 minutes drive from the city center, this beach is the one of best beaches in Cape Town. The beach is lined by a chain of finest restaurants creating a festive atmosphere in the area and offering scrumptious African cuisine with varieties of sea foods.

4) Victoria & Alfred Waterfront

Victoria & Alfred Waterfront are one of the oldest locations of Cape Town’s harbor. As one of the Cape Town’s prime attractions, this active harbor is bordered by many restaurants, pubs, bars, cafes and also 240 souvenir shops for those crazy shopaholics; even the 18 movie houses with an IMAX screen up to five-story-high, gives best experience to the movie lovers.

Don’t miss swimming and kite surfing at Cape Town. This is simply a perfect place to spend a countryside trip. Right guys?

When you bring some gadgets with you when you travel, I do the same. Aside from the personal things I bring with me every time I travel, I always make it sure that I also pack my important travel gadgets in my bag. My trip would be incomplete without these stuffs. One tip to share with you guys before you take off, always check online or read some travel books to get inform in advance about the place you will be visiting.

Here are some of the important gadgets I have in my travel bag;

Pens and A Notebook

Oh yes, I always have ballpoint pens, highlighters and a notebook or journal where I can write notes especially about interesting sights we visited during our trip. I also have an address book with emergency phone numbers in my backpack.

Digital Camera

This gadget is already a part of my daily gadget. Wherever and wherever I go out from the house, this is always packed in my bag. Whether I go shopping, visit a doctor, go walking around, attending parties and other activities, my digital camera is always with me. How much more when I go for a trip? I always love to take pictures as remembrance for my travels. Besides, it is always nice to remember those places we visited and take back memories by looking at the pictures we took during our travel.

taken in Wiesbaden, Germany during our visit last November 2010

Netbook or Laptop

Most hotels are having wireless internet connection now. In some hotels, it is even free of use. You can obtain the Username and password at the hotel reception. I can also check my emails and update my travel blogs while I am on a trip because I always bring with me my netbook. I can also watch on a bigger screen the snapshots that I took during my trip. I love this gadget!

Cellphone

Anywhere I go this gadget is always in my shoulder bag. I even bring with me two cellphones sometimes. The other one is with camera and the other is just a normal cellphone. We never know when emergencies happen. It is always an advantage when we can call our friends or members of the family about the said emergency.

Cash , Debit Cards and Credit Cards

I believed this is the most important one. Don’t forget to bring cash and your debit or credit cards. There are these so-called FX Currency cards where you can withdraw money anywhere around the globe and in any currency. I am always reminded that if we travel, we must avoid if possible bringing a lot of unnecessary things. Instead bring a lot of cash when you can. It is also advisable not to use debit cards but credit cards are safer as debit.

Lastly, don’t also forget to pack your battery charger, cellphone charger, electrical converter and adapter plugs. Make a checklist if possible so you won’t forget any important travel gadgets.

Rome is the capital and the largest and most populous city of Italy. This image was taken when we were on top of the cupola of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Amazing view despite of my very ordinary camera.

There are a lot of beautiful places to see on earth. There are a lot that are worthy to see and to explore. There are also a lot that are included in my travel wishlist. Whenever and wherever you go, there are always cheap vacation packages that you can find. Whether you are looking for affordable accommodations or cheap flights to Auckland, to Paris, New York, London, Oslo or any destinations worldwide, you can always find one that best fit your needs and budget.

Let me share you a bit about sightseeing in Auckland and what are the things to do and experience in this so-called “City of Sails”.

Harbour Bridge

This is considered to be the iconic symbol of Auckland. It connects Auckland and the North Shore. The Harbour Bridge has a Box truss design and has eight lanes. Its construction begun in 1954 and was finished in April 1959. I wish to cross this bridge in the future.

Auckland Town Hall

This is one of the historical buildings in Auckland and one of its famous sights. It is located in Queen Street in downtown Auckland. Administrative functions such as council meetings and hearings are held in this building. Its Great Hall and Music Chamber are also use as entertainment venues.

Don’t miss to see the organ in the Town Hall. It is a “protected object” in New Zealand and also its largest musical instrument. It was was built by Orgelbau Klais of Bonn, Germany.

Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World

How you would love to see and experience different sea creatures? This is one of the things I would love to experience in Auckland, its public aquarium. Visiting the Underwater World and Antarctic Encounter can be an interesting experience. I will see if I can join the fish in a shark encounter in my future visit.

View of central Auckland, New Zealand by Joseph Watkins

Auckland Domain

How about walking in one of the largest parks of the city? I would love to have a good sight of the harbour and the volcanic island of Rangitoto. Before I forgot, don’t you know that Auckland is also known as the “City of Volcanoes”. Auckland Domain, being the oldest park of the city is also one of the major tourist attractions in Auckland. I can imagine myself strolling there!

The “City of Sails” has still a lot of things to see and to discover. The ones I mentioned above are only some of them. If you are a museum fan, you can also visit the Auckland War Memorial Museum or the New Zealand National Maritime Museum. A walk to One Tree Hill or Mount Eden can also be a wonderful experience especially seeing the volcano cones. There are just a lot to see in this city and it is up to you to choice which is which!

The city-state of Monaco is a very interesting place to visit. It is the second smallest country in the world by land area, next to Vatican in Rome, Italy. I cannot exactly described my excitement when I visited this place last month. I love it there!

I love this place! This is the Port of Monaco. I took this image when I was on the Palace. It was truly a very memorable trip last April 17, 2011.

This was taken during my second visit last August 2010.

This is the Hohenzollern Bridge, called in German as Hohenzollernbrücke. It is a bridge that crosses Rhine river in Cologne, a city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. This bridge is accessible to rail and pedestrian traffic, after its reconstruction being damaged during the second World war.

This is how a German Autobahn or highway look like. Some have four lanes, other have three. We were on our way to Bayreuth in Bavaria, Germany for a sightseeing last 2009.

Bavaria, officially known as the Free State of Bavaria or Freistaat Bayern in German, is one of the 16 states of Germany. It is the largest state of Germany and is located in the southeast part of the country.

It can be very cold in this part of Germany because part of it are the so-called Bavarian Alps, the mountains in the region. Here are fascinating winter images taken in Bavaria, Germany.

I thought to only see these amazing and fascinating images in the movie but I did see and experience it right now. such a very romantic scenery!

The blue skies above the snowy grounds!

The castle tower of Schlossberg is the only visible remains of the castle. Schlossberg is a castle ruin in Hohenfels, a municipality in Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany.

Let’s begin our country side trip in one of the beautiful cities of Germany. Heidelberg is the fifth largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg (written in English as Wuerttemberg). It is located in the south-west of the country. Heidelderg is known for its famous tourist destination due to its romantic and picturesque cityscape’s character. Included in the list are the Heidelberg Castle and the baroque style Old Town.

The Heidelberg Castle is a famous ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps.

view of Heidelberg from the castle ground.

These images are personally taken during my visit last August 2010.