From the Nile, the Old Cataract Hotel looks grand, perched on the granite bluff above. If you’ve seen Death on the Nile, it will also look familiar. My oldest daughter enjoys sipping tea in old world hotels, preferably while wearing a big hat, looking mysterious. Uniformed guards at the gate inform us we have to [...]
A to Z of Sophie’s World
Travel ABCs are going about the travel blogging circuit these days. Fun idea! Always interesting to know the personality behind a blog. Thanks for the tags,Jenna and Michael. Here’s my travel ABC: A: Age of first international trip: At 11, I went to New Orleans with my mum and brother to visit our aunt. It [...]
Reading the past with the Rosetta Stone
The British Museum is one of my favourite museums in the world. Yet, like many museums in the western world, the British Museum should probably return some of the artefacts to their country of origin. One of these is the Rosetta Stone, a stele from 196 BC. It belongs, if not in Rosetta, at least [...]
The largest ancient religious site in the world
Situated right outside Luxor, Karnak Temple is the largest ancient religious site in the world. An impressive avenue of ram-headed sphinxes connects it with Luxor Temple. Karnak is a place of records: everything here seems to be the biggest and tallest. Its scale defies description. The first pylon (gate) alone is 42 metres high (like [...]
On the road in Egypt
Getting up at 0345 is not particularly child-friendly. Luckily, my daughters are easygoing. They look forward to sailing the Nile and seeing Egypt. A six-hour flight later, we land in Hurghada. Now, I won’t knock Hurghada, because I didn’t see all of it, but apart from beautiful beaches, grand resorts along the Red Sea coast [...]
Carnival of Cities for 1 June 2011 – from Abu Dhabi to Athens
Welcome! I’m happy to host this edition of the Carnival of Cities! After publishing the 18 May 2011 edition on Perceptive Travel Blog, Sheila Scarborough handed the baton to me. Without further ado, here’s a virtual tour of some of the world’s wonderful cities. Travel bloggers from around the globe presents: Cities in the [...]
Stories of flying
Recently, a friend of mine was on a plane hit by lightning. Seemed scary enough, but the pilot had quickly explained very calmly that it was nothing to worry about. A bit later the plane landed safely. Most of my airline stories have been more funny than scary. And whenever I’m bored, I snap pictures [...]
Blog carnival: Your favourite place on earth
It’s my great pleasure to host the 10th Lonely Planet Blogsherpa Carnival. For this edition, I asked my fellow bloggers: Which is your favourite place on earth? Is it a country, a city, a village, a beach, a hut, a mountain, a hotel? Do you return all the time – or do you dream of [...]
Welcome! I'm Sophie - writer, dreamer, negotiator, wanderer, mum - in search of the world's curious places. Mostly with my daughters, sometimes solo.
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Autumn leaves in Kew Gardens
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Three Terrific Christmas Markets
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From Aberystwyth With Love
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A Quirky Christmas Market in Paris
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Facades of Cartagena – a photo story
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Winter family fun in Oslo
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Where in the World: a travel quiz
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Sunday snapshots – Sunrise at Taj Mahal
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Scenes from a Bahraini mall – empty elegance
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No more: The natural bridge of Aruba
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Ynna: Wow! Simply Amazing. And i will definitely visit ...
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Tiffany: Great post! Who knew there were so many fun thing...
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Cam: We just did a post about our travel wish list and ...
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Nicole Schuman: Kids really love snow! Maybe that\'s why to get th...
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Turkey\'s For Life: I\'m sold. No shortage of things to do in your nec...
