Story behind the photo - Cromer

When I first arrived in Norwich, I didn't know how long I would be there for, as I didn't know how long my work contract would be for. As it turned out, I found out after 3 weeks that my contract would only be for a further 2 weeks. Wanting to make the most of the time I had left to explore the area, I asked my work colleagues where would be the best place to see the Norfolk coast, and they recommended Cromer - I was told while this was not the most beautiful spot on the coastline, it was the easiest to get to via public transport.

I visited Cromer for the day, and found it to be a pretty town. As someone who used to live on the coast back in Australia, it was definitely nice to see the ocean again - even though it was a slightly different colour to what I'm used to. There's a lifeboat museum in Cromer, which was an interesting visit, and is where this photo was taken. RNLI stands for 'Royal National Lifeboat Institution' - a volunteer charity who provide sea rescue throughout Britain. You can go here for more information about them.


(PS for anybody following along who was expecting this post yesterday, my apologies - I just couldn't get the photo to load last night, and there's not much point to the post without a photo, is there?)

Story behind the photo - Sandringham

Sandringham (or, to be more correct, Sandringham Estate) is located in Norfolk, near the town of King's Lynn. It belongs to the Royal Family, and the current Queen spends the New Year period here each year. No having a car (and having to rely on public transport), it was a bit of a challenge to get here - three buses and about 2.5 hours in total - but it was definitely worth it, to see the beautiful house and grounds. And there is an interesting museum on the grounds too. This photo is of the main house at Sandringham, taken from the grounds.

More musical discoveries

An unexpected bonus of living over here has been hearing music from bands that I never would get to hear back home. Most recently, I was at the Strawberry Fair (a community festival), and spent a very pleasant couple of hours in their acoustic tent. These are the bands that I heard and enjoyed:

As you can probably tell, my musical tastes kind of fall very much in acoustic/folk type stuff for the most part....but I like most music really. It has the ability to take me back to where I was where I first heard it....I couldn't imagine a life without music.

Story behind the photo - Norwich

Following an amazing 3 week introduction to some of the sights of Europe, it was time to get back to reality and start working again. After all, I've gotta fund the travelling somehow.....right? I'd been fortunate enough to line up a job before I left Australia - not something I think would happen now - which was in Norwich. Norwich is located in Norfolk, about 2 hours by train direct from London (except if you try and get there on a Sunday - then it will be a train, a bus, a train and another train ride!)

I was in Norwich for five weeks all up, and enjoyed exploring in and around a town that's a little less 'touristy' then others in England - by that, I mean that you wouldn't think of it as an immediate tourist destination, but it is still definitely worth a visit. This photo was taken on my second visit to Norwich Castle. Built in the 11th century, the castle was used as a prison for a time. Today, the keep (this was the most defended part of a castle) still stands, and is used as a museum. You can also climb to the top of the keep and get some great views over Norwich.

Achieved: visit somewhere else in Switzerland

This was a couple of weekends ago now, but I achieved something else off of my travel wish list - visiting more of Switzerland. I visited Basel, which is a town right on the border of Switzerland, France, and Germany. I chose Basel because, when I was on the BMI website they were advertising that they were just starting up flights to Basel, and the price was reasonable.....so I figured, why not? Basel is not as 'touristy' as some of the other places I've visited, but I still enjoyed myself exploring the town. Here are some photos from the trip:

the silver statue/monument shows the point where France, Germany and Switzerland  meet

the village on the left of the bridge is in France. the village on the right is in Germany

some street art in Basel

there are a few of these ferries that cross the Rhine - they are attached to a cable and just use the river currents to get across.

Rathaus (town hall)

inside the paper mill in Basel (its a museum and still a working mill)

the bridge on the right is the 'old bridge'

Basel Zoo

Story behind the photo - London (Tower of London and Madam Tassauds)

Firstly I just want to explain the title of the post: I have my photos filed by location on my computer. If I visited a few locations in one day, then I group those photos together. (just in case anyone was wondering).

After the completion of the tour, we returned to London. We had a couple of nights there (so one full day) before heading off on the next stage of our adventures - of the two friends I did the tour with, one was heading off to do more travelling before returning back to Australia, one was staying in London to look for work, while I was heading off to start my new job. On the last full day we had together, we visited the Tower of London and Madam Tassauds. Madam Tassauds - be prepared for queues, and lots of people. I would imagine if you've visited one somewhere else in the world, you don't necessarily need to visit the one in London.

This photo, however, is taken from inside the Tower of London. Best known today as one of the major tourist attractions in London, the Tower has been used a both a castle and a prison. The Crown Jewels are stored there today, and the Tower is guarded by the Yeoman Warders (Beefeaters) - it is well worth taking one of their free guided towers. Through the trees in the photo, you can see part of Tower Bridge, which is right next to the Tower of London