Winchester

Winchester is a city in Hampshire, in southern England, one hour by train from Waterloo rail station of London. It is one of the most historic cities of England as it used to be tha capital of Wessex and England for some time before London.

It is very famous mainly for two things. For its Cathedral, which is the longest Medieval Cathedral in Europe and for the King Arthur's Round Table in the Great Hall! More posts to follow about these!

Let's see some photos of the centre of the city.

The Westgate is one of the first things you see coming from the rail station.

The High Street, which after a while becomes a pedestrian road.

The statue of King Alfred the Great, who reigned the Anglo-Saxonic kingdom of Wessex in 9th century. He is the only English King with the epithet "the Great".

The river Itchen.

More posts to follow about Winchester's Round Table and Winchester Cathedral.

Some useful links for the visitor:

Visitwinchester.co.uk - The official tourist information website of Winchester.

Map of Winchester - From the tourist information website.

Winchester-cathedral.org.uk - Winchester Cathedral's website with tourist information.

Hantsnet.gov.uk - Hampshire County Council's webpage for the Great Hall.

Southwestrains.co.uk - South West Trains webpage, with information about trains and ticket prices to Winchester.

Cambridge

The town of Cambridge is 80 km north-east of London, in the county of Cambridgeshire, and the trip by train from King's Cross station lasts roughly for 1 hour. Trains are quite often, 2-3 per hour and the ticket is not much, a return ticket booked the same day will cost you around ₤18-19.

Cambridge is world-wide known for its University. Built in 1209, it now has 31 colleges and it is consistently ranked in the world's top 5 universities.

Punting in the river Cam is a very famous activity in Cambridge. You can hire a boat with a punter, or you can punt yourself, if you dare! The river gets quite busy so be aware of... collisions and keep your hands inside!

Bicycles are widely used by students and residents. The photo is taken in the rail station cycle parking.

In the centre of the town you find the Great St Mary church...

... and the market place just in front of it.

King's College is one of the most famous colleges of Cambridge University.

King's College Chapel is also one of town's landmarks. You can visit both King's College and its Chapel, but it's better visiting the colleges website (see below) because during some periods (eg. exam period) it's closed to tourists. The admission ticket costs around ₤5.

Clare College is just next to King's...

... and I strongly recommend visiting its gardens, for a ticket of just ₤2!

The round church of Holy Sepulchre.

The Eagle Pub is also well known. It sports a so-called RAF bar, whose ceiling is full of graffiti dated back to World War II, from soldiers of RAF and USA Air Force. It is also said that it's the pub where Francis Crick and James Watson announced the discovery of the secret of life, ie the structure of DNA!

Useful links

visitcambridge.org - The official tourism website for Cambridge, UK, for information and maps.
Cambridge in Wikipedia.
cam.ac.uk - The website of University of Cambridge.
kings.cam.ac.uk - King's College website with opening times and tourist information.
Free audio walking tours of Cambridge.
A city centre map, from the official tourism website [pdf].

Barcelona

Some photos from a trip in Barcelona few months ago. Unfortunately the time again was limited, so I can only present you some of the famous landmarks of the city.

La Rambla. A big pedestrian road where you can enjoy your walk. A part has flower shops, another one bird and pet shops, lots of street artists and animateurs.

La Placa de Catalunya (Catalonia square).

The statue of Christopher Columbus.

Two famous buildings of Barcelona, designed by the well-known Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi, Casa Battlo...

... and La Pedrera (aka Casa Mila).

La Sagrada Familia, also designed by Gaudi, has been building since 1882. Estimations indicate it will be finished in 2026. The church is enormous and you can't fit it in a pictures from so close.

La Bouqueria Mercat St. Josep is a Market near La Rambla.

Camp Nou, the home of Barcelona F.C.. Mes que un club, more than a club.

Palau Nacional, the National Palace, now houses the National Art Museum of Catalonia.

El Corte Ingles, Spain's largest department store chain.

The Cafe Zurich.