627 photos from Istanbul
(Istanbul, Turkey)

2010-04-02 - 2010-04-07

Istanbul (historically also known as Byzantium and Constantinople) is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.8 million. Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural, economic, and financial centre of Turkey. It is located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents. In its long history, Istanbul has served as the capital city of the Roman Empire (330–395), the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). The city was chosen as joint European Capital of Culture for 2010. The historic areas of Istanbul were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985. Tim and Miaomiao visited many famous sites within Istanbul, such as the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace, the Galata Tower, the Süleymaniye Mosque, the Church of St. Savior in Chora and the Grand Bazaar. They also did a boat trip to the nearby Princes` Islands.

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117 photos from Phillip Island
(Victoria, Australia)

2014-09-11

Phillip Island is an island about 140 km south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria. Named after Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales, Phillip Island forms a natural breakwater for the shallow waters of Western Port. A 640 m concrete bridge connects the mainland town San Remo with the island town Newhaven. In the 2011 census the island`s permanent population was 9,406. During the summer, the population swells to 40,000. 60% of the island is farmland devoted to grazing of sheep and cattle. Phillip Island is a tourist destination visited by 3.5 million people annually. The Penguin Parade at Phillip Island Nature Park, in which Little Penguins come ashore in groups, attracts visitors from all over the world. They come to see one of the few areas where this species of penguin can be seen. The western tip of the island contains the Nobbies Centre, which offers a view on the The Nobbies and the Seal Rocks, home to Australia`s largest colony of fur seals. We visited the Phillip Island Chocolate Factory, the Nobbies Centre and the Penguin Parade.

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421 photos from Athens
(Attica, Greece)

2009-03-07 - 2009-03-14

Athens, the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world`s oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. The Greek capital has a population of 750,000 within its administrative limits. The Athens Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) is the 7th most populated LUZ in the EU with a population of over 4 million. A bustling and cosmopolitan metropolis, Athens is central to economic, financial, industrial, political and cultural life in Greece. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state. A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato`s Academy and Aristotle`s Lyceum, Athens was also the birthplace of Socrates, Pericles, Sophocles and its many other prominent philosophers, writers and politicians of the ancient world. It is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy. The heritage of the classical era is still evident in the city, represented by a number of ancient monuments and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon on the Acropolis. Tim and Miaomiao visited Athens and the nearby harbor city Piraeus, together with other Greek places, in March 2009.

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52 photos from Los Gigantes
(Tenerife, Spain)

2018-12-30

Los Gigantes is a resort town in the Santiago del Teide municipality on the west coast of the Canary Island Tenerife. Its main feature are the giant rock formations, Acantilados de Los Gigantes, that rise from the sea to a height of 500-800 metres after which the town has been named. Los Gigantes means `The Giants`. The town has a marina surrounded by concrete walls to dampen the effect of the rough seas around the area. A small black sand beach lies between the rocks and the marina. The marina has a boulevard with many restaurants. Close to the harbour is a lido. The cliffs at Los Gigantes, Acantilados de Los Gigantes in Spanish, are one of the island`s major tourist attractions. There are three viewpoints in the village, the main one on main road to towards Tamaimo, another above the sports club and a third on a coastal path around the Hotel Barcelo. The village has many small shops and restaurants servicing the tourists that visit the area, especially on the one way road loop around church and plaza, and also near to the marina and beach. Each year, in February, there is a carnival which parades through the village. We visited Los Gigantes on the second last day of 2018.

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117 photos from Barcelona
(Catalonia, Spain)

2006-08-17 - 2006-08-18

Barcelona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008, while the population of the Metropolitan Area was 3,161,081. We visited the Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, the Ramblas, and Camp Nou.

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36 photos from Bruinisse
(Zeeland, Netherlands)

2019-04-20

A fifth visit to Bruinisse, where we went crab fishing.

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132 photos from Driebergen
(Utrecht, Netherlands)

2017-12-28 - 2017-12-29

Driebergen is a former village and municipality in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is first mentioned as Thriberghen in 1159. The former municipality of Driebergen existed until 1931, when it merged with Rijsenburg, to create the new municipality of Driebergen-Rijsenburg. In later years, due to growth of the villages of Driebergen and Rijsenburg, the villages themselves also merged, to become the single town of Driebergen-Rijsenburg. Since 2006, Driebergen-Rijsenburg is part of the new municipality Utrechtse Heuvelrug. We dined at the Michelin star restaurant La Provence, and spent the night at Castle Sterkenburg.

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364 photos from Reykjavik
(Capital Region, Iceland)

2013-02-26 - 2013-03-05

Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland. Its latitude, at 64°08` N, makes it the world`s northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay. With a population of around 120,000 (and over 200,000 in the Greater Reykjavík Area), it is the heart of Iceland`s economic and governmental activity. Reykjavík is believed to be the location of the first permanent settlement in Iceland, which Ingólfur Arnarson is said to have established around 870 C.E. Until the 18th century, there was no urban development in the city location. The city was founded in 1786 as an official trading town and grew steadily over the next decades, as it transformed into a regional and later national centre of commerce, population, and governmental activities. It is among the cleanest, best organized, and safest cities in the world. Tim and Miaomiao visited the city during their trip through Iceland in the winter of 2013.

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189 photos from Xi`an
(Shaanxi, China)

2007-11-02 - 2007-11-04

Xi`an is the capital of the Shaanxi province in the People`s Republic of China and a sub-provincial city. As one of the oldest cities in Chinese history, Xi`an is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China because it has been the capital (under various names) of some of the most important dynasties in Chinese history. Xi`an is the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and known as the site of the Terracotta Army, made during the Qin Dynasty. The city has more than 3,100 years of history, and was known as Chang`an before the Ming Dynasty. We visited the Huaqing Hot Spring, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Terracotta Army (inside the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum), the Drum and Bell Towers, The City Walls, the Muslim Quarter (with the Great Mosque), and more.

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127 photos from Efteling
(North-Brabant, Netherlands)

2017-04-02

A sixth visit to the Efteling, in the spring of 2017.

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95 photos from Douala
(Littoral, Cameroon)

2005-10-15 - 2005-10-30

Douala is the largest city in Cameroon (with more than 2 million citizens) and the capital of Cameroon`s Littoral Province. Home to Cameroon`s largest port and its major international airport, Douala Airport, it is the commercial capital of the country. Tim started his Cameroon trip here in the autumn of 2005.

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37 photos from Den Bosch
(North-Brabant, Netherlands)

2007-04-30

A second visit to the city of Den Bosch, during Queen`s Day 2007. The festivities were in the city center and near Saint John`s Cathedral.

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95 photos from Amersfoort
(Utrecht, Netherlands)

2020-02-15

A sixth trip to DierenPark and DinoPark Amersfoort in the winter of 2020.

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64 photos from Tilburg
(North-Brabant, Netherlands)

2018-09-14

A visit to the Natuurmuseum Brabant and some spots in the city center of Tilburg.

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142 photos from Amsterdam
(North-Holland, Netherlands)

2019-07-24

A second visit to the NEMO Science Museum in the summer of 2019.

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233 photos from Nusa Dua
(Bali, Indonesia)

2017-05-18 - 2017-05-27

Nusa Dua is an area in the southern part of Bali, Indonesia, known as an enclave of large 5-star resorts. It is located 22 kilometers from Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali, and administered under South Kuta District. Nusa Dua means two islands (nusa `island`, dua `two`), because there are 2 islands in the bay of Bali Tourism Development Corporation area. On the southern side lies Peninsula Island, and on the northern side lies Nusa Dharma Island, which is smaller but shadier, and which contains the Pura/Temple Nusa Dharma. We stayed in the Inaya Putri Bali hotel, shopped in the Bali Collection shopping mall and visited some other spots in the town.

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21 photos from Biesbosch
(North-Brabant, Netherlands)

2018-05-12

De Biesbosch National Park is one of the largest national parks of the Netherlands and one of the last extensive areas of freshwater tidal wetlands in Northwestern Europe. The Biesbosch consists of a large network of rivers and smaller and larger creeks with islands. The vegetation is mostly willow forests, although wet grasslands and fields of reed are common as well. The Biesbosch is an important wetland area for waterfowl and has a rich flora and fauna. It is especially important for migrating geese. We visited the Brabant part of the Biesbosch in the spring of 2018.

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160 photos from Antwerp
(Antwerp, Belgium)

2018-08-11

On this ninth visit to Antwerp, we visited the Antwerp Zoo.

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113 photos from Agra
(Uttar Pradesh, India)

2004-10-12 - 2004-10-13

Agra, visited by Tim in October 2004, is a city on the banks of the Yamuna River in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the home of one of the modern World Wonders, the Taj Mahal. Other highlights (and UNESCO World Heritage Sites) include the Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. In the nearby city of Sikandra, the Tomb of Akbar the Great was visited.

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87 photos from Amsterdam
(North-Holland, Netherlands)

2019-01-26

A visit to the Walking with Dinosaurs show at the Ziggo Dome.

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131 photos from Hellevoetsluis
(South-Holland, Netherlands)

2019-05-24

Hellevoetsluis (population: 39,000) is a small city and municipality on Voorne-Putten Island in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Hellevoetsluis is located on the Haringvliet with the sea, beach and dunes close by, on the extreme southern edge of the Rijnmond and Europoort areas, close to the broad Zeeland landscape. The name translates as `lock at the foot of the Helle`. The Helle was a small local river which disappeared over time. We visited the HistoryLand museum in Hellevoetsluis in the spring of 2019.

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57 photos from Den Bosch
(North-Brabant, Netherlands)

2014-03-23

We visited the Noordbrabants Museum, with expositions on the history of the province, Vincent van Gogh and Jheronimus Bosch.

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113 photos from Sounion
(Attica, Greece)

2009-03-13

Cape Sounion is a promontory located 69 km SSE of Athens, at the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula in Greece. Cape Sounion is noted as the site of ruins of the ancient Greek temple of Poseidon, the god of the sea in classical mythology. The remains are perched on the headland, surrounded on three sides by the sea. The ruins bear the deeply engraved name of English Romantic poet Lord Byron (1788-1824). The site is a popular day excursion for tourists from Athens, with sunset over the Aegean Sea viewed from the ruins a sought-after spectacle. Tim and Miaomiao visited Cape Sounion on the last full day of their trip to Athens, in March 2009.

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621 photos from Melbourne
(Victoria, Australia)

2014-09-10 - 2014-09-18

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia, with a population of 4.35 million. It has been ranked the world`s most livable city since 2011. Founded on 30 August 1835, it was declared a city by Queen Victoria in 1847, before becoming the capital city of the newly created Colony of Victoria in 1851. During the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the world`s largest and wealthiest cities. After the federation of Australia in 1901, Melbourne served as the interim seat of government for the newly created nation of Australia until 1927. An international centre for performing and visual arts, Melbourne is often referred to as Australia`s cultural capital. It is home to many of Australia`s largest and oldest cultural institutions such as the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Museum, Melbourne Zoo, the National Gallery of Victoria and the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building. We visited Melbourne in September 2014.

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736 photos from Bangkok
(Bangkok, Thailand)

2016-07-25 - 2016-07-30

Bangkok is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply About this sound Krung Thep. The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres in the Chao Phraya River delta in Central Thailand, and has a population of over 8 million, or 12.6 percent of the country`s population. Over 14 million people (22.2 percent) live within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region, making Bangkok an extreme primate city, significantly dwarfing Thailand`s other urban centres in terms of importance. Bangkok traces its roots to a small trading post during the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 15th century, which eventually grew in size and became the site of two capital cities: Thonburi in 1768 and Rattanakosin in 1782. Bangkok was at the heart of Siam`s modernization, during the later 19th century, as the country faced pressures from the West. Our visit to Bangkok in the summer of 2016 included the Grand Palace, the Bangkok National Museum, the Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World, the Erawan Shrine, and more.

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142 photos from Efteling
(North-Brabant, Netherlands)

2017-12-16

Our second visit to the Winter Efteling, in the winter of 2017.

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111 photos from Efteling
(North-Brabant, Netherlands)

2019-07-03

Another trip to the Efteling in the summer of 2019.

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32 photos from Tilburg
(North-Brabant, Netherlands)

2017-05-07

On this third trip to Tilburg, we visited the Kikker exhibition at the Natuurmuseum Brabant again.

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