Fairytale Castles Around the World

Bran castle, Translyvania Romania (the famous Dracula castle)

Peles castle, Sinaia Romania

What makes castle so intriguing to most people?

Perhaps, it is always associated with prince and princess living happily ever after in fairytales.

Perhaps, it is the grandeur.

Or perhaps, it is the symbol for most ancient cities.

Of all the castle I have visited before, Neuschwanstein remains my favourite and the most fairytale like castle. No wonder even Disney 'borrowed' the idea of their theme parks castle from this one.

Some of the famous castles from the places I visited so far..

Hmm.. I shall write another one of palaces next time.

Linlithgow castle, Scotland (birthplace of Queen of Mary Scots)

Edinburgh castle, Scotland

Alnwick castle, England (one of the famous Hogwarts filming location)

Kronborg castle, Denmark (the setting for Hamlet)

Frederiksberg castle, Copenhagen Denmark

Segovia alcazar, Spain (one of the Disney's castle inspiration)

Cordoba alcazar, Spain

Seville alcazar, Spain

Palais of Pena, Portugal (not exactly a castle)

Prague castle, Prague

Neuschwanstein castle, Germany (the famous castle of them all)

Wawel castle, Krakow Poland

London Most Famous

the famous London Underground

Gonna be a short entry on some of the sights and sounds when I was in London recently visiting a friend after my business trip in New York. I have been to London numerous times but seeing London again from the eye of a tourist indeed bring out some surprises. But my all time favourite of London landmark would be the Tower Bridge since I love bridges! That will be in another dedicated entry.

Picaddily Square which reminds me of Trevi fountain in Rome


the famous red bus (L) and St Paul cathedral (R)

Oxford, England (16 Nov 2008)

Radcliffe Square

After Bath, we took a train to Oxford to pay my friend a visit. We crashed at his place to save back on the accomodation and forced him to be our tourist guide..muahahaha.

Oxford is well known for the town where Oxford University is situated. There are many colleges and Christ Church is famous for the dining hall of Hogwarts from the Harry Potter film. And to get into the dining hall, tourists need to pay and queue. Another landmark worth visting is the St Mary's church tower whereby the view from up here was astounding. We could see the whole of Oxford town and the Gothic structures. Hogwarts School from Harry Potter books were inspired from Oxford itself. Oh btw, JK Rowling is from Edinburgh :)

Most of Oxford students travel by bicycle and according to my friend, bicycle theft was quite common here. There is also a famous shopping outlet in Bicester.

famous Jamie Oliver's eatery


Radcliffe square


Oxford is full of Gothic structures




the town


the university bookshop, that's where I gotten my sweatshirt


Christ Church (meadows building)


wet autumn


inside the Christ Church, dining hall not yet opened for visitors


famous Hogwarts dining hall




where the headmaster and teachers sit


inside the church



view from the St Mary church tower








another filming location for Harry Potter

Bath, England (14 Nov 2008)

Bath is a town located about 100 miles from London and 15 miles from Bristol. From London, take a train from the Paddington station and stopped at Bath Spa. The journey will be approximately 1 1/2 hours. However we took a flight from Edinburgh to Bristol for a weekend which we planned to cover Bath, Oxford and the Stonehenge. It was mid of autumn and the whole countryside was in golden colours of red, orange and yellow. It was a lovely sight just to stroll along the river and immersed in the Roman Bath history.

We stayed at hostel nearby to the train station which is considered cheap by UK standards..about 13 quid. Besides the Roman Bath, other attractions are the Royal Crescent which according to my friend, it was the filming location for Sense and Sensibility. The Georgian house can be overwhelming for those who have not seen them. Later on, we loitered around the town and head back to the Bath Abbey for a night shot on the landmark before heading back to our hostel.

view from the upper level in Roman Bath







view from the lower level


one of the few 'pool'


the exterior


the town


On the way to Royal Crescent. The lovely fall colours


Royal Crescent


See the crescent..my camera cant take a wide angle of the view




More Georgian house


Pulteney Bridge


Autumn leaves


view of the river

How to get there:

Take a train from the Paddington station from London and stopped at Bath Spa

Train ride is approximately 1 1/1 hours

The town is accessible on foot