Category Archives: traveltuesday

Travel, Beach, and Sandcastles

Another Edition of Travel Tuesday with my cohost Belinda and I decided I wanted to skip forward in my recap of Wales and share with you one of the reasons I love going to the beach.  My family loves going to the beach.  From the west coast of Monterey, to the island of Oahu in Hawaii, to Seaside Heights at the Jersey shore on the East coast, to across the pond to pebble beaches of Brighton, and now over to the beaches in Wales.  It is all about being near the ocean, smelling the salt in the air, and enjoying our time at the seaside.  
We ended up going to the beach twice during our week in Wales which made me conclude that I could easily come back every year just to spend two whole weeks at the beach.  Honestly my sons would be quite happy about that.  With everything we did in New Jersey last Summer, some which were not that cheap, they preferred the free visits to the beach the most.  One of their favourite things to do, well after running into the ocean to body surf a million times, is to build sandcastles.  Last year they had an amazing time with Nonna using all the neat buckets and shovels for sandcastle building.  There is just now limit when it comes to creativity and will power.
While we were in Wales I was inspired by two builds from other patronages of the beach.  Though not big and intricate, they were simple and beautiful.  The first because the kids who had built it took the time to bring little flags for which to decorate the castle.  They even had the Welsh flag with the dragon on it.  The second was a speedboat because what could be a better setting for one than the beach? 

The folks at Woolacombe Bay Holiday Parks put together a lovely infographic about The World of Sandcastles and Sand sculptures.   It is all part of a Sandcastle building competition where you can take part, send in a photo, and win a holiday at one of their four holiday parks for up to six people!

Infographic presented by Woolacombe Bay Holiday Parks
Q: What has been some creative builds you have seen at the seaside?
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A Compass Rose
A Compass Rose


Here’s how it works:
 1. Share a post about travel! From road trips to trips abroad and from past travels to dream vacations. You can write about travel tips and tricks, favorite places to stay, or anything in between! Just make it about traveling somewhere!
 2. Grab the lovely button.
 3. Linkup goes live every Tuesday at 8 am GMT.
 4. Hop around and meet new travel loving bloggers! Link up will be open for a few days, make sure to check back to visit some of the newer travel posts!
  5. Please only one linked up post per blogger. Save other posts for future linkups!

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My sponsor today is no stranger to the world of travel.  Selena has been to over thirty countries and she plans to double that number in the next five years! Now that is a goal I would love to join in.  I was so excited to find out about Selena when she found my blog because we have a lot in common. We are both US Air Force brats that moved around a lot as kids and now both live in England.  I find her story really inspiring to myself.  After her daughter left the house her life evolved to finding love again, moving overseas as an expat, and now exploring the world.  I am just attracted to people who love life and love seeing all it has to offer.  I think you will love Selena too!
Recommended Posts by Selena:
Be Friends with Selena: Blog | Twitter | Bloglovin
*photography belongs to Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007 – 2013 All rights reserved | http://www.bonnie-rose.co.luk 

Crickhowell Town, Wales – Travel Tuesday

This is my first post about our trip to Wales for our 10th Wedding Anniversary.  We drove from where we live in Bath, England to Dollegau, Wales.  Instead of driving straight through we decided to stop somewhere halfway so that the kids could all get out and run around for a bit.  It was in the town Crickhowell, Wales where we got out and met up with our friends.  Up to this point Wales had been seen from behind the glass windows of the car in awe.  The countryside is so beautiful and dotted everywhere with sheep.
Upon arrival in Crickhowell we found the remaining ruins of a castle that became the majestic backdrop for the childrens’ park in town.  Adjacent to the playground a cricket match was going and there was a neighbouring field of sheep. It could not have been a more perfect setting for our first experience in Wales for this trip.  
There were five kids among the two families and they had an amazing time playing together despite the rain.  At one point the rain was just coming down in buckets while they screamed and ran and enjoyed every drop.  All in all it was a lovely place to stop and definitely worth a look for this week’s Travel Tuesday post. 

A Compass Rose

A Compass Rose


Here’s how it works: 1. Share a post about travel! From road trips to trips abroad and from past travels to dream vacations. You can write about travel tips and tricks, favorite places to stay, or anything in between! Just make it about traveling somewhere! 2. Grab the lovely button. 3. Linkup goes live every Tuesday at 8 am GMT. 4. Hop around and meet new travel loving bloggers! Link up will be open for a few days, make sure to check back to visit some of the newer travel posts! 5. Please only one linked up post per blogger. Save other posts for future linkups!

Recent Travels in the UK

This is one of my favourite photographs I have taken over the last week.  It is a photograph of my sister with my two sons staring at the Tower Bridge in London.  Usually the focus should be on the landmarks of the place you visit, but for this one I wanted to capture the moment.  My sister, a fellow Third Culture Kid (TCK), lives a highly nomadic life as well.  She currently lives in DC working as sommelier though will be overseas again come the spring.  In my family we never really know when we will see eachother next or where in the world. So capturing this lovely moment of her with my sons at this age was so important.  I love to capture all the things that travelers and tourists take on the cameras but I equally like the people and moments for our visual memories.

I am looking forward to sharing our recent travels in the UK over the next several Travel Tuesday posts.  We spent a week in Snowdonia, Wales; two days in Notting Hill and throughout London, England; and will be going up to the place of my birth which is Oxford, England today.  So many places in a short time with family can be a bit overwhelming.  But for us we just took each day at a time and made sure savour each memory.

Q: How do you make the most of your short travels and trips?

Found Love. Now What?

Found Love. Now What?


Here’s how it works:
1. Share a post about travel! From roadtrips to trips abroad and from past travels to dream vacations. You can write about travel tips and tricks, favorite places to stay or anything in between! Just make it about traveling somewhere!
 2. Grab the lovely button.
 3. Linkup goes live! Every Tuesday at 8 am GMT.
 4. Hop around and meet new travel loving bloggers! Link up will be open for a few days, make sure to check back to visit some of the newer travel posts!
 5. Please only one linked up post per blogger. Save other posts for future linkups!

Il Cimitero delle Fontanelle [Travel Tuesday]

I had lived in the city of Naples twice for a total of six years before I went back to visit last summer.  As life would have it one of my military wife friends from Hawaii was now stationed in my hometown.  I had so much fun getting to visit with her in a place that meant so much to me.  The highlight was having her show to me some aspects of bella Napoli that I had never experienced before.  One of which was seeing the Fontanelle cemetery, which until recent times had been closed off and private any visitors.  
The Fontanelle Cemetery is an ancient cemetery located in the Sanita district in Naples.  It gets its name because of the presence of water sources back in ancient times.  The cemetery includes 40,000 body remains that were victims from a the plague in 1656 and cholera in 1836.  
There is something known as the ‘Pezzentelle’ which had provided people with the ability to adopt and placement of one of the unknown skulls which then ‘corresponded to a soul abandoned in exchange for protection’.   Which is why you will see many skulls in the photos below not apart of the mass pile but decorated or put in special boxes.  It was a really interesting sight and I really enjoyed getting to see it.

 TRAVEL TUESDAY! 

Together with my cohost Belinda from Found Love. Now What? 
a Weekly Travel Linkup. Share your Travel stories and wanderlust addictions.


Grab button for A Compass Rose's Travel Tuesdays

Code below or Feel free to save this button to your computer and upload it in your post. 




H e r e ’ s   h o w   i t   w o r k s :  

1. Share a post about travel! From road trips to trips abroad and from past travels to dream vacations. You can write about travel tips and tricks, favorite places to stay or anything in between! Just make it about traveling somewhere!
2. Grab the lovely button.
3. Linkup goes live! Every Tuesday at 8 am GMT.
4. Hop around and meet new travel loving bloggers! Link up will be open for a few days, make sure to check back to visit some of the newer travel posts!
5. Please only one linked up post per blogger. Save other posts for future linkups!



*Image original to A Compass Rose blog by Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved | www.bonnie-rose.co.uk




Pompeii: The Lighter Side [Travel Tuesdays]

If you caught last week’s Pompeii post, The Darker Side, today is the continuation post of Pompeii, the Lighter Side.  If you have not heard my personal connection with Pompeii and the area around Naples, make sure to check out last week’s post for Travel Tuesdays.  I really enjoyed Pompeii and took hundreds of photographs.  So it has been hard to pick out the favourites to share with you on the blog.  I just cannot wait to return again with my sons so that they can experience the history left behind. 
Q: Have you ever been to Pompeii? 
 TRAVEL TUESDAY! 
Together with my cohost Belinda from Found Love. Now What? 
a Weekly Travel Linkup. Share your Travel stories and wanderlust addictions.


Grab button for A Compass Rose's Travel Tuesdays

Code below or Feel free to save this button to your computer and upload it in your post. 


                                                    
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So happy to introduce you to my Cohost for Travel Tuesday who is also my sponsor this month!  Belinda of Found Love. Now What? is an expat blogger living in Wales.  If you have not checked out her video logs yet, I highly recommend it when you visit her blog.  Her first VLOG: A little Advice on Long Distance Relationships is great as she refers to herself as LDR Veteran.  

Her blog: http://www.foundlovenowwhat.com/
Additional Links:



*Photography belongs to Bonnie Rose of Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved | www.bonnie-rose.co.uk


Pompeii, the Darker Side [Travel Tuesdays]

I spent a total of six years growing up with Mount Vesuvius, a dormant stratovolcano, in the distance of where we lived near the bay of Napoli.  The infamous rolling humps loomed in the background like a familiar shadow, sometimes hidden by a haze. This sleeping giant has an eruption cycle of about twenty years, though it has been sleeping ever since it’s last appearance during WWII in 1944.  Mount Vesuvio,  as it is known in Italian, is still considered one of the most dangerous in the world as millions of people today live so close to the crater.  
While some people may take school trips to the local fire station or zoo, growing up I took field trips to climb the top of this volcano or visit the haunting remains  of the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum.  When you factor in the times we frequented these sites with visiting family and friends you could imagine the many times I would have been to the historical sights in my past.  However it was on my husband’s first trip to my hometown of Napoli, that it became my favourite to date.  I played tour guide, photographer, and even model during the hours we visited Pompeii around this time last year.  
Usually when I see traveler’s photographs of Pompeii it is of the remaining structures outside in the daylight and bright sun.  While I have those more picturesque holiday photos too, I would like to show you a different side of Pompeii.  The kind  that makes you think of the destruction caused by Mount Vesuvius.  I invite you to view the darker side of Pompeii with me as you travel back through time.
This will be a part one of a two part series, 
to be followed by the Lighter Side of Pompeii in the near future. 

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link up! 


*Photography belongs to Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007 – 2013 All Rights Reserved | http://www.bonnieroseblog.co.uk
*or information regarding the use of photography by Bonnie Rose please get in contact.