Victoria Peak is the highest peak on Hong Kong island. Locally known as The Peak, it gave a superb view of the Victoria Harbour as well as other neighbouring islands. I trekked up there twice during my six-day stay, blocked sinus notwithstanding. I was glad to have repeated the experience since the second go was on a clearer day and right before sunset; it was beautiful.

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Work took me away to Shenzhen for a few days recently, and for my maiden trip to China, I was pretty much ensconced inside a fancy hotel throughout the period. I wish I had seen more of the city but each day, I was up and on the go pretty much between 7am and 11pm with little down time in between. Nonetheless, I made some effort to escape the glittering chandeliers for the very modern city filled with skyscrapers.

A couple of hours walk barely took me anywhere beyond the couple of blocks around the hotel. The distance that seemed doable from the map I’ve secured from the hotel was dauntingly further, and it did not help that I got lost at some point in an urban park and none of the exits (except the one I came in through) were accessible. A lot of walking hopelessly in circle until I found the way out…

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I imagine this could qualify as what the French would say, “jamais deux sans trois“? We spent a couple of hours in Florence in transit, then a couple of hours in Parma also in transit, so why not spare two hours in Padua in transit too? We managed to locate a left luggage at the train station, so we could pretty much move freely in that time.

The only time I was in Padua previously, I was hosted by a friend and was driven and guided everywhere. We got around easily and I didn’t need to figure out where I was or the distance between places. Everything seemed so doable. I was optimistic that F and I could see a good bit of the city, like we did when we were in Florence, before hopping on the train to Bassano del Grappa.

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A second day of whirlwind Italian sightseeing continued, this time to the heart of Tuscany. F and I were en route to Lucca, which requires at least a train change in Florence, and since we would be at the train station already anyway, why not take advantage of the time gap between trains to take a quick glimpse of the birthplace of Renaissance?

We were there sufficiently early in the morning that we could enjoy an external admiration of the prominent Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore among relatively thin crowd. Its green, pink, and white marble façade was breathtakingly elegant, and we also marvelled over the large brick dome – quite a feat of engineering when you consider the timeline of its construction. One of these days, I’ve got to visit it properly. This was my third trip to Florence and I’ve yet to step foot into the cathedral!

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It has been a good decade since I last visited Rome. I have forgotten just how enormous the buildings are, how many churches and cathedrals you can find within a stone’s throw, how chaotic everything could and would be, and how much I enjoyed hearing melodic Italian around me. However, I recall vividly the sheer number of people who flock to the main sights (even during the “shoulder” season)…

F and I started our two weeks trip to Italy with a quick stopover in Rome. How quickly? Just a little over a day. Frankly, I did not have the courage to brave the August crowd in the August heat, but when our schedule necessitated flying into Rome (but also out of Rome), it also seemed silly not to give F his first quick tour of the Eternal City.

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To spend only approximately 36 hours in Dubrovnik is too short, especially when this time frame translates sub-optimally to 1.5 days of activity time. We saw the old town in a rather cursory manner, without additional time to understand the culture, to visit any museum, to admire churches and their hidden compounds, and to explore the coastline by kayak.

But hey, we had not intended to visit Dubrovnik initially either. It was through a stroke of luck (and flight arrangement) that we ended up here. It gave us a taster of what it could be like and teased us to return, sooner rather than later. We do not yet know when that may be, but we will relish it when the next opportunity jumps at us.

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In search for clearer water than those surrounded the town of Kotor, F and I hopped onto a local bus that took us to Perast, a small town (or is it village?) northwest of Kotor. The bus deposited us by the side of an undistinguished motorway and had us wondering if we were told to get off at the wrong spot, when we realised we were at a level above the town. Off, downhill we went.

Perast is as quaint as it can get, surrounded by grey, rocky mountains and deep blue sea. Unlike Kotor, we were not jostled about by scores of day-trippers and it felt relaxing to be here. The water was a bit choppier but it was clearer too. The only downside I guess would be the lack of proper beaches. We did find one at the north-western end of the marina which was completely packed, and further south, well, we’d have to launch ourselves into the water from small piers-slash-parks by the waterfront.

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Our summer vacation this year is broken into two parts; the first, a shorter trip to Montenegro, and the second, a slightly longer one to Italy later next month so I can also attend one of my best friends’ wedding. We flew in and out of Dubrovnik, given reasonably-priced flights in comparison to those into Montenegro, and we were not that far away from the border. We arrived in Herceg Novi within the hour after our plane landed, which included crossing border controls that sit strategically with a view of the Adriatic sea. Not too shabby a workplace.

We had not intended to be in Herceg Novi initially, but due to transportation scheduling etc (long story and I won’t bore you with the details), we found ourselves with a few hours to quickly explore this coastal town that sits near the entrance of the Bay of Kotor. We deposited our luggage at the main bus station for a small price of €2, took the street past the adjacent cafés that leads downhill, and reached the Nikola Ðurković’s Square after a few minutes walk. Standing before us, the city gate with a clock tower that is the threshold to cross to get into the old town.

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We may soon be running out of interesting and new places to visit in the vicinity of F’s hometown. Each time we travel east to my in-laws’, we’ve always borrow one of their cars on one of the afternoons and explore places within an hour or less of driving time. The distance that we’re stretching, however, is getting longer and longer. We may have to start doing day trips rather than an afternoon away…

Our most recent trip to the hometown saw us driving out along the coastline and sought out Piriac-sur-Mer, a quaint village on the peninsular of Guérande. The centre of the village is pedestrianised, making it very pleasant to visit on foot, down along the main streets and continue along the sea wall, past the parked boats and yachts, and a well-loved merry-go-round which (sadly) danced to the tunes of the 80s.

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We had two hours to kill after returning our Vélonecy bikes following a day of bike-about Lake Annecy and retrieving our bags from Marc’s cellar. With tickets back to Paris via Chambéry, when we spotted a regional train due to leave for Chambéry pretty much right away, we did not hesitate jumping on it. That should give us time to quickly explore the historical capital of Savoy, buy something for dinner, and grab the capital-bound TGV.

Located in a valley surrounded by mountains, the medieval section of the town is within a short walk away from the train station. It is compact and can be easily visited on foot within an hour or two. The many heraldry-based flags hung conferred an atmosphere of the past, and I was half-expecting some knights to ride down the streets in armours and all set to joust each other! It was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday evening when we were there, with few people and even less traffic around.

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