seaside | Hello from the Five Star Vagabond

Bournemouth English Seaside Resort

June 5, 2017 by David Herd

Sandy beach at Bournemouth.

Bournemouth English Seaside Resort

Bournemouth English Seaside Resort has a sandy beach unlike Brighton beach and many others of the English coast. I was there in 2007 and returned in 09 mainly to visit the Westbeach restaurant again. The Beach is long and clean. There is plenty of space to chill out. Lovely views and lots to do with places to eat on the promenade and pier.

The benefit of sand

You certainly can’t do this on a beach with stones instead of sand. 🙂

Looking east

Remember what I said? Bournemouth Beach has sand.

The pier

Bournemouth’s main attraction apart from the beach. 🙂

Bournemouth English Seaside Resort

Bournemouth Beach has sand which is a huge improvement on many English beaches.

Westbeach Restaurant

Good English restaurants, many people think they are few and far between, but here is one to consider. The Westbeach restaurant in Bournemouth is certainly worth a visit, great location on the beach, with a good menu offering a nice selection. I first visited Westbeach December 2007 then returned in 2009 so things may have changed by now.

Delicious salmon

Here is an example of the Westbeach food.

AFC Bournemouth

Huge news in 2015 for the local football club who are to be promoted to the premier league. As recently as 2008, Bournemouth sat slumped at the very foot of the four levels of the English league pyramid. Of the 92 teams spanning League Two all the way up to the Premier League, the Cherries, who began the season with minus-17 points as a penalty for entering bankruptcy with £4 million worth of debt, were no. 92. Bournemouth weren’t just on the brink of dropping out of the division structure, but out of existence altogether. Seven years later, a club that recorded an annual turnover of just £5.1 million for the 2012-13 season will be flooded with about £120 million in additional Premier League revenue.

My local bar in Thailand

My local bar in Thailand is the Cherry Bar so I guess now I’ll have to follow the Cherries. 🙂

Sadly the bar was sold in 2016 & is now called Billabong 2, life as I knew it will never be the same. 🙂

Another restaurant near the Pier.

The city has a much more relaxed atmosphere than Brighton.

Bournemouth English Seaside Resort

Also as a comparison to Brighton sand is so much more inviting than pebbles. 🙂

One final look at the Pier

Thanks for visiting my “Bournemouth English Seaside Resort” post, it is certainly a place to add to your bucket list. Head west from there and visit the delightful village of Lyme Regis on the Jurassic Coast.

Thanks for visiting my Bournemouth English Seaside Resort photo blog.

For a great hotel room rate in Bournemouth just book through THIS LINK.

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Holiday Inn

Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.

The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.

Sabai Wing North Pattaya

The best Pattaya budget hotel, 3 pools & opposite Central Marina shopping mall. For a great room rate just book through THIS LINK.

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Adelaide seaside suburb Glenelg

November 20, 2015 by David Herd

Glenelg

Adelaide seaside suburb Glenelg beach.

Adelaide seaside suburb Glenelg beach is where I decided to stay in October 2014. It is the oldest European settlement on mainland South Australia & was established in 1836.

Tram to the city

A pleasant way to travel to the heart of the city without any car parking problems.

Bay discovery centre

This building on the left was the town hall until 1997 and is now the Bay discovery centre. The building on the right is the Five Star Stamford Grand which is the number one spot to stay in Glenelg & perhaps the whole of Adelaide, use this link for a great room rate.

Old Glenelg church

The name Glenelg is noteworthy for being a palindrome.

Adelaide seaside suburb Glenelg Marina

There a quite a selection of restaurants at the marina and car parking is available in the basement.

Oyster Bar

Denis Young and I have been friends since I lived in Adelaide in 1973, strangely we have hardly changed at all. 🙂

Grind It

A very good place for breakfast, which is rated number 2 restaurant in Glenelg by TripAdvisor.

Adelaide seaside suburb Glenelg

Parkland between the Marina and town centre.

Atlantic Tower Motor Inn is a reasonable priced motel in a good location, use this link for a discounted room rate.

Cardone’s Seafood and Grill

Rated number one by TripAdvisor out of 135 restaurants in Glenelg, I had dinner there twice and it was excellent.

Stanford Grand Hotel Glenelg

This has to be one of Adelaide’s prime locations.

Apartments overlooking the beach.

What a beautiful spot.

Farewell from Adelaide.

From here I drove the Great Ocean Road to Dromana in Victoria, via the car ferry across Port Phillip Bay.

Thanks for visiting my Adelaide seaside suburb Glenelg beach photo blog

Adelaide holds some wonderful memories for me, the 2 years I lived there in the 70s were as good as any in my life. Now to explain where I’m at and how I feel, I’ll leave it up to Glenn Frey.

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Kamakura seaside city

October 22, 2015 by David Herd

Kamakura

Kamakura seaside city is a little over an hours train ride south of Tokyo. My friends & I had a marvellous day out exploring the wonderful temples and shrines. The header for this post shows my friend Kayo from Tokyo who was our guide for the day, also featured taking a selfie is Hamish Elton my friend from Thailand who was visiting Japan for the first time.

Engaku-ji Temple Kamakura

Our first stop was Engakuji Temple which is the head of a branch school of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism. It is very close to Kita-Kamakura station and houses the largest bell in Kamakura. Sadly we never got to see the big bell as that area was closed off, we had to settle for this smaller one. Check out my Engaku-ji photo blog here.

Cross the tracks to Kencho-ji Temple

This was the start of a huge day of walking, Hamish measured our steps and distance walked during the day with an app on his phone. We covered about 17 kilometres which was around 22,000 steps.

Kencho-ji Temple

Kenchoji Temple built in 1253 and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan. It is a lot smaller than during its heyday, Kencho-ji still has a large number of temple buildings, and stretches from the entrance gate at the bottom of the valley far into the forested hills behind. Check out my photo blog here on this fascinating Temple.

By now I’m getting hungry

it’s 2’30 pm and I’m dying of hunger so we start looking for a suitable restaurant. Spanish? No after all we are in Japan.

Amish

An Amish restaurant, I didn’t even know they had there own style of food. I’m surprised Hamish didn’t want to try it merely because of the rhyme. 🙂

Finally Japanese cuisine

And it turned out to be excellent, perhaps not quite Tokyo standard but very good indeed.

I love Japanese food

After lunch I had the strength to carry on with our marathon walk.

Through the tunnel to the Great Buddha

Little did I realise we had only covered about 1/2 of the 17 kilometres.

Kayo and Hamish take selfies with the Great Buddha

My friends taking selfies with the Great Buddha.

Here comes the priest

We watched this guy come down the stairs and wondered what he was up to. When he got to the bottom he spoke to a family who were illegally parked in the temples private car park and asked them to move on.

Hard to refuse this guy

He obviously has Buddha on his side. 🙂

Coffee time before heading for Enoshima

After spending several hours in Kamakura exploring the wonderful temples we decided to take a 30 minute train ride to Enoshima to see where Japan will hold the sailing venue for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Map of Kamakura seaside city

At the bottom left hand corner south of Tokyo is Kamakura.

The Villa Sacra gets very good reviews on Agoda, use this link for an excellent rate.

Lotus at the Kara-mon at Engaku-ji Temple

Thanks for visiting my Kamakura seaside city post, I’ll finish with this photo which is one of my favourites among many on this great day out in Kamakura.

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Manarola seaside village Italy

December 9, 2014 by David Herd

Magnificent Cinque Terre

Manarola seaside village Italy

Manarola seaside village Cinque Terre Italy seems to cling to the side of the cliff, it is the fourth village in the Cinque Terre and quite spectacular. I couldn’t believe how the people would sunbathe on the jagged rocks. 🙂

Manarola on the rocks

Manarola Cinque Terre may be the oldest of the towns in the Cinque Terre, with the cornerstone of the church, San Lorenzo, dating from 1338. The local dialect is Manarolese, which is marginally different from the dialects in the nearby area. The name “Manarola” is probably dialectical evolution of the Latin, “magna rota”. In the Manarolese dialect this was changed to “magna roea” which means “large wheel”, in reference to the mill wheel in the town.

That concrete looks soooo comfortable. 🙂

Grabbing some sun anywhere you can in Manarola

Narrow streets of Manarola.

Wonderful narrow streets wind through the village.

Manarola seaside village Italy

Manarola may be the oldest of the towns in the Cinque Terre, with the cornerstone of the church, San Lorenzo, dating from 1338. The local dialect is Manarolese, which is marginally different from the dialects in the nearby area. The name “Manarola” is probably dialectical evolution of the Latin, “magna rota”. In the Manarolese dialect this was changed to “magna roea” which means “large wheel”, in reference to the mill wheel in the town.

Manarola cute restaurant

Beautiful small restaurants here in Manarola.

Manarola gorgeous flowers

There is a photo opportunity around every corner.

Inportant business in Manarola

Solving the world’s problems in this seaside village.

Manarola seaside village Italy

Manarola’s primary industries have traditionally been fishing and wine-making. The local wine, called Sciacchetrà, is especially renowned; references from Roman writings mention the high quality of the wine produced in the region. In recent years, Manarola and its neighbouring towns have become popular tourist destinations, particularly in the summer months. Tourist attractions in the region include a famous walking trail between Manarola and Riomaggiore (called Via dell’Amore, “Love’s Trail”) and hiking trails in the hills and vineyards above the town. Manarola is one of the five villages. Mostly all of the houses are bright and colourful. Manarola was celebrated in paintings by Antonio Discovolo (1874-1956)

Relaxing on the rocks

One of my favourite places in Italy if not the world.

Manarola seaside village Italy

You can walk between the villages or catch the train.

Thanks for visiting my Manarola seaside village Cinque Terre Italy photo blog.

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Corniglia seaside village Italy

December 9, 2014 by David Herd

Corniglia-seaside-village-Cinque-Terre-Italy

The fabulous Italian coast

Corniglia seaside village Italy

Corniglia seaside village Italy is the third village between Vernazza and Manarola. Many people walk between the villages, lazy people like me catch the train. 🙂

Unlike the other localities of the Cinque Terre, Corniglia is not directly adjacent to the sea. Instead, it is on the top of a promontory about 100 metres high, surrounded on three sides by vineyards and terraces and the fourth side descends steeply to the sea. To reach Corniglia, it is necessary to climb the Lardarina, a long brick flight of steps composed of 33 flights with 382 steps or, otherwise follow a vehicular road that, from the station, leads to the village. Sometimes a small bus runs up and down here.

Lunch in a peaceful courtyard

The village stretches along the main road, Fieschi Road, and the houses have one side facing this road and the other facing the sea. Corniglia is characterised by narrow roads and a terrace obtained in the rock from which all other four Cinque Terre’s villages, two on one side and two on the other, can be seen. The town planning structure presents also original characteristics compared to those of the other villages: the houses are lower set, and only more recently higher, similar to those of the villages of the hinterland.

Corniglia Cinque Terre Italy

Documents dating from 1276-77 mention the existence of a castle. However, remains of the castle have yet to be discovered and the location of the castle grounds is unknown.

Wonderful old buildings in Corniglia.

The only ruins in Corniglia belong to Genoese fortifications, a stronghold on a cliff plunging into the sea, which dates back to approximately 1556.

Waiting for the puppet show

All the children getting ready for the show.

Puppet show in Corniglia

I have not seen a puppet show since I was a child.

Corniglia station with Manarola in the distance

Village clinging to the side of the hill.

Looking at Manarola from Corniglia

Manarola in the distance.

Thanks for visiting my Corniglia seaside village Italy photo blog.

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Monterosso seaside village Italy

December 8, 2014 by David Herd

Unique coastal resort

Monterosso seaside village Italy

Monterosso seaside village Italy is the first village of the Cinque Terre, or five lands as they say in English, the next one along the coast is Vernazza. The town is divided into two distinct parts: the old town and the new town. The two areas are divided by a single tunnel that caters to pedestrians and the very few cars in the town.

Monterosso

The beach at Monterosso runs along most of the coast line and is well used by tourists and locals. The beach is the only extensive sand beach in the Cinque Terre. Monterosso is a small town that in the summer months is overrun by tourists.

Pebbles on the beach

The village was briefly excluded from the Cinque Terre trail in 1948, but was re-introduced in mid-1949. This is because Italian officials considered the village too large to be considered part of the historic trail.

Sunbaking on the rocks

This really does not look comfortable to me. 🙂

A lone musician at Monterosso

The two areas of Monterosso are divided by a single tunnel that caters to pedestrians, here a busker sits in the dark and plays.

Fabulous Monterosso at Cinque Terre

During World War II, many young men from the Cinque Terre fought for the resistance against the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, and the subsequent Nazi German occupation of Italy.

Other side of the tunnel

Take a ferry to Portofino you won’t regret it.

The old town

Out of all the Cinque Terre villages this is the only one with a substantial beach.

Monterosso seaside village Italy

An interesting rock formation.

Cold beer and pasta for lunch.

Lunch in Monterossa is a very pleasant experience.

Great pasta in Monterosso

Seafood pasta for lunch was delicious.

Monterosso Cinque Terre railway station

In 1870, the Italian government built a railroad line into the city, which opened it up to the outside world. It is the main way in which people enter the city.

No sand at Monterosso

Tanned & gorgeous, shame about those rocks.

Thanks for visiting my Monterosso seaside village Italy photo blog, check out the other 4 villages.

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Vernazza seaside village Italy

December 7, 2014 by David Herd

The very best of Italy

Vernazza seaside village Italy

Vernazza seaside village Italy is the second village after Monterosso and before Corniglia. We chose to stay here because we could park the car close to the village. First records recognizing Vernazza as a fortified town date back to the year 1080. Referred to as an active maritime base of the Obertenghi, a family of Italian nobility, it was a likely point of departure for naval forces in defense of pirates.

Great food at Vernazza

In the 1800s, after a long period of stagnation, Vernazza returned to wine production, enlarging and creating new terraced hillsides. The result was a revitalization of Vernazza’s commerce. Also at this time, the construction of the Genova–La Spezia rail line began, putting an end to Vernazza’s long isolation. The population of Vernazza increased by 60% as a result. Meanwhile, the construction of La Spezia’s naval base also proved important to Vernazza in providing employment for many members of the community.

Vernazza seaside village Italy

On 25 October 2011, Vernazza was struck by torrential rains, massive flooding, and mudslides that left the town buried in over 4 metres of mud and debris, causing over 100 million euro worth of damage. The town was evacuated and remained in a continued state of emergency

Such a peaceful setting

With the arrival of the 20th century, Vernazza experienced a wave of emigration as working the land was viewed as dangerous and the culprit of disease, and the ability to further exploit agriculture diminished.

Sandstone buildings

In 1997, the Cinque Terre was recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and in 1999 the National Park of the Cinque Terre was born. Today the main source of revenue for Vernazza is tourism. However, as a testimony to the strength of centuries-old tradition, fishing, wine and olive oil production still continue to take place.

Narrow Vernazza lanes

Great atmosphere at night wandering through the narrow streets.

Busy Vernazza restaurant

This delightful restaurant was right next to my apartment.

Drinks with Jodie O’Neil and Deborah Holliday

The girls & I travelled to Vernazza Cinque Terre from Breil Sur Roya just north of Monaco where we have been staying in a friends apartment.

Lots of gossip in Vernazza

There could be some morning gossip happening here.

Vernazza seaside village Italy

The steep hills behind Vernazza seaside village Italy.

Dining at sunset

I enjoyed dinner way up in that restaurant.

Jodie and Deborah at Vernazza

My two lovely travelling companions from the Gold Coast in Australia.

Hello! I’m looking for David Herd from Australia.

In Vernazza seaside village Italy I should be so lucky. 🙂

Look no further, I’m here waiting for you. 🙂

Sadly we never did hook up, c’est la vie.

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St-Ives Cornwall Seaside Town

December 18, 2013 by David Herd

Low tide at St Ives

St-Ives Cornwall Seaside Town

St-Ives Cornwall Seaside Town voted the best by the British Travel Awards in 2010 and 2011. A civil parish and port in Cornwall. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commercially dependent on fishing.

Huge seagulls

These are the biggest seagulls I have ever seen, twice the size of their Australian cousins. If you are eating fish & chips on the beach make sure you have a loaded shotgun beside you. 😆

St Ives Cornwall Seaside Town

If you are staying at a hotel or guest house you will probably have to leave your car on the outskirts of town. The streets are so narrow you can barely get a small car through them.

Narrow streets in St Ives

St Ives really is a hidden gem, put it on your bucket list.

St-Ives Cornwall seaside town.

In former times St Ives was commercially dependent on fishing. The decline in fishing, however, caused a shift in commercial emphasis and the town is now primarily a popular holiday resort, notably achieving the award ‘Best UK Seaside Town’ from the British Travel Awards in both 2010 and 2011. St Ives was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1639. St Ives has become renowned for its number of artists.

Low Tide

St Ives was named best seaside town of 2007 by the Guardian newspaper.

The beach at St Ives seaside town

St Ives is situated on the shore of St Ives Bay, its harbour sheltered by Smeaton’s pier. Close to the harbour, its streets are narrow and uneven while its wider streets are in the newer parts of the town on rising ground. The town has four beaches: Porthmeor a surfing beach, Porthgwidden a small sandy cove, Harbour by the working port and Porthminster which has almost half a mile of sand.

Lots of restaurants in St Ives.

The town has an Oceanic climate and has some of the mildest winters and warmest summers in Britain and Northern Europe.

The Hub

It is a very popular tourist resort in the summer, and benefits from an average of 1700–2000 hours of sunshine a year.

Lots of chairs overlooking the beach

Just sit back and enjoy the view of St Ives best Seaside Town.

Soak up the sun

Blue sky, big seagulls, nice sand & plenty of restaurants.

The Stooge Inn

There are many great little places to stay in this wonderful seaside village, I got a great price through this link.

Lunch with red wine.

Here I am having lunch with Bill Austin, my English friend from Wiltshire, thanks for visiting my St-Ives Cornwall Seaside Town photo blog, I certainly agree with the title St Ives is the best seaside town.

Check out some very good St Ives hotel rates here.