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Posts Tagged ‘Beach’

Singapore Photo of the Day: Sunset at Tanjong Beach

Posted in Asia, Beach, island, Photography, Sentosa, Singapore, singapore photo of the day, sunset, tanjong beach, Travel, travel photography, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Tanjong Beach

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Oh, Valencia.

Posted in Architecture, Art, Beach, cake, cathedral, City Breaks, Dance, Food, gothic, grafitti, Landmark, modern, Photography, Roman, Spain, spanish, Spanish, street performance, Travel, travel photography, Weather, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 23, 2012| 1 Comment »

Sun. Paella at La Pepica. Roman architecture in the city centre. Spontaneous street parades. Independent designer street vendors. Reflexology from my beach chair. 14 girl hen / bachelorette party. Sangria. Cava.

A great weekend in a beautiful city with a wicked group of ladies. I really do love Spain. Although Seville is so far my favorite Spanish city, it does lack a beach, a quality Valencia delivers highly on. Unfortunately my fancy pants camera is in the shop. Again. Well, technically it’s not in the shop anymore. It’s being held ransom in UK customs. Here are a few shots I took with my extremely vintage iPhone. Let me know what you think.

We were greeted at the airport by these lovely gluten free, vegan hen cupcakes. What a great way to start our journey.

Valencia has a thriving night life and the old city at night is absolutely breathtaking.

The silly sunglasses man made out like a bandit on us. Here is the normally gorgeous Anna giving the rest of us a fair shot at looking beautiful too.

Valencia Beach. If you get a reflexology on the beach, pick the lady with the Dora the Explorer bag and flowered hat. The rest pale in comparison. Kind of like standing next to Anna when she's not wearing those ugly glasses.

After some partying and beach time with the ladies, I took a later flight so that I could explore the old city myself. I am so glad I did as I ran across many spectacular moments in the short span of a Sunday afternoon.

The Cathedral.

The Cathedral.

The Cathedral.

Torre del Micalet.

Couple at Torre del Micalet.

City view from Torre del Micalet..

Fountain in Plaza de la Virgin

Child vs. pigeon standoff in Plaza de la Virgin.

A bit of modern architecture mixed in.

Valencia street view.

Random street performance. These ladies were amazing.

Clarinet player in the street performance band.

Costumed men joining the street performance.

And now I’m finding it difficult to get back to the mundane tasks that life is requiring. I guess that’s what Monday is all about. What do you think the people of Valencia are doing right now? With a current 24% unemployment in Spain, perhaps I should stop day dreaming and get back to work…. for now.

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Lyme Regis

Posted in Beach, Boating, British History, fossils, Free, Travel, Weather, tagged , , , , on March 1, 2011| 2 Comments »

Sometimes I get caught up in London life and forget to explore the rest of England and the UK. Of course there are the normal places that attract global tourists like Bath or Stonehenge, but the lesser known locales give you an opportunity to understand the region in a totally different way.

OK, I have to admit that if we hadn’t been out visiting Flora and Jam for the weekend, we wouldn’t have gone out of our way to go to Lyme Regis. But we were having ourselves a city break in that area anyway, so it seemed like a great place to explore.

The town is located on what is known as the Jurassic Coast and is famous for fossils. Some of the first dinosaur skeletons discovered in Britain were found here in the 1800s and today you can see people combing over the shores for a great archeological find. Or a lost contact lens. Whichever.

The town is a touch of kiss me quick with an arcade and sea side dining but interesting for a wander.

Seaside snacks

Colorful spaces for rent along the shore.

Docked boats

Lampposts advertise fossil heritage.

I watched several people head off to the waves with their wetsuits and surfboards from beneath my many layers of winter gear. Amazingly, surfing in the UK seems to be a well participated activity. I suppose the temperature is what creates a divide between the mild enthusiasts and the passionate. I love water sports, but there’s no way you are getting me into the UK seas in winter.

Crazy person enjoying water sports.

We shifted through rocks in a bit of our own fossil hunting. We came across loads of pieces of broken pottery, beautiful stones and a touch of asbestos, but nothing of which to make our millions by selling to museums.

Flora on the search

Hooray! I think we found a fossil?

Walking back through town, I seemed to be the only one interested in things like the door to the old lockup. It gave a very medieval and quintessentially British vibe to the experience. I’m always amazed at how small the doors are and hence how short the population was.

The door of the old lockup

Well Lyme Regis, it’s been fun. Perhaps one day we will meet again.

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Day Trip to Brighton and Contemplations on Habitat

Posted in Beach, Brighton, Summer, Travel, Weather, tagged , , , , on September 2, 2010| 1 Comment »

Back in May as the summer began, Boyfriend and I decided to take a day trip down to Brighton to check out the scene. We hopped on a train from London full of other beachgoers. The weather had just begun to get warm and nice and everyone around was buzzing with the promise of summer. Coming from a climate where summer constitutes two-thirds of the year, I tend to take such things as a day at the beach for granted. The whole of Southern England was fully taking it in.

Brighton Pebble Beach

We dipped our toes in the freezing water and I immediately felt awe for those brave enough to swim. After an hour or so of laying around and having someone’s child throw pebbles at us, we decided to have a walk around and check out the rest of what Brighton had to offer.

But where do I fit my beach towel?

The beachfront was simply overwhelmed. The ice cream stores were packed and the restaurants were drained of menu items.

Hope you wanted tiger prawns for lunch.

Thankfully, there’s quite a lot more to Brighton than the water. We stumbled upon a park, cute homes, groovy looking shops and restaurants. Once away from the droves of people on the icy beach, I was really digging it. I’ve been told the nightlife is quite the scene. As we embark upon Fall, I’m thinking this is a good thing.

Brighton, not all beach.

Groovy looking shops abound.

The excitement and crowds over what I considered to be a mildly warm day scared me. It’s occurred to me that although I have traveled quite a bit and have spent months at a time away in Europe or mountain climates, I have never fully experienced the seasons.  I have only been a visitor, popping in for a while and then returning to my natural habitat. I imagine how odd it was for explorers or immigrants before today’s globalization. It must have been difficult for them to wrap their heads around their new home and the weather. Humans adapt, but it’s not without effect.

As for me, I am learning to recalibrate what warm is and trying to soak up the sun while it is around. I’ve developed a plan for my impending Seasonal Affective Disorder that involves lots of trips to the Mediterranean and vitamin D supplements but I think the best plan is to learn to embrace it.

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