To wrap up my travel stories in Italy, I’d like to recommend wholeheartedly the top 5 cities of Italy that I head over heels in love with. Italy is always the Europe country that had given me lots of great memories and travel dreams, ever since my first visit to Italy 13 years ago. When it comes to planning for an Italy holiday, there are overwhelming tourist destinations that could easily spoil you right at your first sight! So, picking the right destinations for your period of travel and purpose of travel would always be a matter of the utmost importance.

I traveled to Italy last year for the second time. To explore Italy to its fullest within a very limited period, I had to plan an itinerary that could cover 5 best Italian cities while still involving the least intercity traveling. I had a lot of funs and memories from the trip eventually that I could call it a successful holiday. For those who are planning for a same trip with similar time constraint, here are the top 5 Italian cities in my itinerary that could be your choice either:

1) Venice – One of the city that I love most in Italy is definitely Venice. Venice is an island compo consisting of 118 small islands separating each other by canals. It is sited along Adriatic Sea in Northeast Italy. Not unexpectedly, it is also the most valuable island in Italy, as researches has revealed that Venice is sinking by 5mm each year and by the Year 2050, most parts of Venice would be underwater!

2) Florence – A frugal but relaxing weekend destination in Europe that I would recommend would definitely be Florence in the Tuscany region of Italy. Tuscany is the capital of arts, culture and romance of central Italian region. If you are spending your weekend in its regional capital of Florence, you are about to explore one of the best art, culture and architecture city in Europe, or maybe the world.

3) Greve In Chianti – If you are a wine lover and don’t quite like the ever crowded city environment in Florence and Pisa, Chianti region is where you must visit for at least a day in Tuscany. Chianti is the wine region in Italy producing the famous Chianti Classico wine bearing the authentic Gallo Nero (black rooster) label.

4) Pisa – Apart from Florence, sienna and the highland wine region of Chianti, the next place I love to visit is Pisa. It is the capital city of Pisa Province located on the mouth of the famous River Arno before joining to the Ligurian Sea in western coast of Italy. The main attraction of Pisa is definitely the world famous Leaning Tower. However, a slow walk around the city centre had really surprised me with many other architectural and artistic marvels of this beautiful city.

5) Rome – Rome is a huge city with many districts. However, most of the attractions are located within the small historic centre of Rome, which includes the Old Rome and Colosseo Districts, and is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Rome. With uncountable immensity of its archaeological and artistic treasures, include many beautiful palaces, millenium-old churches and basilicas, Roman ruins, obelisks structures, remarkable statues and fountains design, Rome is Europe’s 3rd most visited city.

Don’t get me wrong. These 5 destinations were the best options for what the combination of time and money that I had on my last visit to Italy. There are many more exciting cities that certainly worth any traveler’s visit. Verona, Milan, Naples, Sienna, Amalfi Coast, Southern Italy, to name a few, are equally great! You can read some of them in my Italy travel section. If you are planning a trip to Italy and Europe, check out my planning guide first on how to plan it perfectly. – Travel Feeder, your ultimate photo travel guide to Italy

Well, some of the foods listed here may originally from other regions of China instead of Beijing, but their popularity among tourists and local people and their authenticity made them deserve a spot in my top list here.

Beijing is one of the most frequented travel destinations in the world. Millions of visitors are flocking into the city every year. It is so popular among travelers mainly because it is the capital city for both ancient and modern China for more than 2000 years which inherited an unbeatable richness in historical features that wow travelers from not only Asia but all over the world.

However, UNESCO World Heritage sites are not the only attractions in Beijing. Beijing has also one of the widest varieties of light foods or snacks on offer which often been overlooked by tourists. If you are visiting Beijing in a packaged tour, you will probably miss out on many of those good foods since your tour guide will not bring you to those alleys or stalls that far away from the hot tourists spots. I was lucky to have more time on my self guided tour to Beijing that I was able to walk more and found more great authentic Chinese foods around the city.

Here are some of the top local foods I would recommend to those foreign travelers should try in Beijing (I had actually tried more foods than these but only those I think are good deserved my recommendation):

1. Beijing Roast Duck – Perhaps the most well known local dish of Beijing, Beijing Roast Duck is the ‘must-try’ delicacy for those coming to Beijing. However, there are too many restaurants selling it everywhere in Beijing, so choosing the best can be a headache. Quality of Beijing roast duck is all about the taste of the duck itself and the crispiness of its skins that being sliced to serve separately. I’ve tried a couple on my Beijing travel recently. Quanjude is the most famous restaurants chain selling roast ducks. They have many branches in Beijing. They even sell them as vacuum packed roast ducks in supermarket! The other equally popular restaurant chain in Beijing is Bianyifang which is slightly cheaper at around RMB200 per whole duck and they claimed to be the oldest. Both restaurant serve slightly different taste of Beijing Roast Duck but they are equally great and they are the best roast duck that I’ve ever eaten (I’m not really craving for duck meats but I do eat quite a lot of them everywhere.)
   
2. Candied Hawthorn – Or being called BingTangHuLu (冰糖葫芦) in mandarin, candied hawtorn is really popular among locals and tourists in Beijing. It is traditionally a stick of Chinese Hawthorn fruits wrapped with candied , though you can find other fruits are being sold as an alternative. The most important ingredient to me is the hawthorn. The quality of hawthorns justify the quality of the Bingtanghulu, which is why the same food I tried in Shanghai didn’t taste as good! It should cost around RMB2 to RMB4 per stick which is cheap!
   
3. Deep Fried insects – Have you ever seen live insects being sticked but still crawling? You can see them in action when you pass by Wangfujing Snack Street or other marketplaces in Beijing. These sticks of various live insects are displayed in front of their store. You ought to choose any of them and the vendors will deep fry them for you! Want to try? It costs RMB5 per stick (RMB25 for scorpions). You can also find them in DongHuaMen Night Food Market.
   
4. Goubuli buns – Tianjin Goubuli (狗不理) buns is arguably the most famous juicy pork meat stuffed buns you can find in Tianjin. Now you can try them in Beijing too! Served in a steam tray portion of 9 buns and cost RMB45 that comes with a bowl of plain porridge, it was the most expensive buns I’ve ever tried in Beijng, albeit they are really tasty. Goubuli buns restaurant that I went to is located at Wangfujing street opposite the Quanjude Beijing rost duck restaurant. You can choose other cold salads as appertizer as well.
   
5. Roasted local nuts – Wang Lao Tou is arguably the best shop selling all sorts of roasted nuts including chestnuts, almond, hazelnuts, flower seeds and others. A lesser known shop to foreigners located along Tiantan East Road, this more than 100 year old little shop is always packed with patrons coming from all parts of Beijing. According to its owner, Wanglaotou used to be the exclusive nuts roaster for the ancient Chinese imperial family! I’ve tried the chestnuts and almonds and they taste marvelous! Their roasted chestnuts are as good as, if not better than, the Qiulixiang Chestnuts, which is next.
   
6. Qiulixiang Chinese chestnut – Qiulixiang chestnut shop is the most celebrated little shop selling only Chinese chestnuts in Beijing. Located at the Southern end of Nan Lou Gu Xiang Road, you will always see long line of people queuing up for the chestnut. Selling for RMB15 per 500g, they are definitely not the cheapest chestnuts you can find in Beijing, but they are among the best. I still personally think Lilixiang of Suzhou is slightly better, cleaner shells and sweeter.
   
7. Yao Ji Chao Gan Dian – Yaoji Chaogan restaurant is especially famous among local Chinese since 30 years ago. Even the US vice president Joe Biden stopped by for a meal here. Chaogan, or stir-fried liver (炒肝), is the signature food over here, which is a bowl of pork liver and intestines is served in a mushroom broth thickened with mung bean starch, and topped with crushed raw garlic. Yaoji was by far the best snack restaurant that I’ve been to in Beijing. They serve great local foods that you can try them all at one place. Normally the restaurant is packed with local people who came from other parts of the city and other regions. It is located at the corner shop, Gulou Dong Dajie, Dongcheng district which is at the East side of Drum Tower. Definitely worth paying a visit!
   
8. Luzhuhuoshao and Ludagun – Luzhuhuoshao (卤煮火烧) is pot stewed pig’s intestine with baked wheat cakes. There’re three liangs of pig’s intestine and two liangs of pig’s lung in it. It’s a little bit salty and hot. You can try it in Yaoji restaurant also which tastes good, if you like animal insides. Ludagun (驴打滚) or Rolling Donkey is a kind of cake made of bean-flour and is a famous Islamic snack in Beijing. It is made from steamed glutinous millet or sticky rice, scattered with fried bean-flour and filled with red pea. Both you can try it in Yaoji Restaurant.
   
9. Spring rolls, fried stuffed Intestine and Fried Rings – Another 3 popular snacks that you can try in Yaoji Chaogan restaurant. Prices are RMB8, RMB 5and RMB1.50 respectively, which I think is reasonable.
   
10. Zhajiangmian – Fried sauce noodle, or Zhajiang Mian (炸酱面) in Mandarin, is a famous local food available in various regions in Northern China. We tried the Beijing variant when we visited the city last month. It is basically a bowl of thick local made noodle served with dark soy sauce mixed and fried with pork cubes. It is so famous in Beijing that you can find one shop or stall selling them at almost each and every corner of shops. It’s worth every visitor to Beijing a try.
    
11. Dao Xiao Mian - dao xiao mian (刀削面) or Knife Shaved Noodle is another famous type of noodle that one can find in Beijing. Different from other types of noodle that made by rolling and cutting by mainly machines, DaoXiaoMian are made by hand shaving off thin slices of a ball of dough by knife, and as such, none is identical, and they have a nice, chewy texture. You can find it in many local restaurants and they normally served in soup.
    
12. Wangfujing Snacks Streets – Wangfujing Snacks Streets is a tourist populated snack street located along the Wangfujing Shopping Street in Beijing DongCheng area. The entrance gate is beautifully crafted and built to resemble the ancient Chinese architecture. Combining 5 alleys together selling foods and souvenirs, tourists can find most of the local Beijing foods and snacks at one single place, albeit they are not necessarily authentic and tasting good. It should not have been included here but it at least give you a rough idea on how those foods are like.
    
13. Donghuamen Night Foods Market – Donghuamen Night Food Market is another food market in Wangfujing area located along DongAnMen Dajie on the West of Wangfujing street. There are nearly hundred food stalls lining up in a row selling only foods and drinks and you can have more varieties here than in Wangfujing Snack Street which is not too far away. Its opening hours is strictly from 6PM until 10PM at night. After which the local authority will come to block the street and start cleaning and washing up the place. The price is not the cheapest you can get but if you are lucky, you can grab last minute deal in half price or more when they are closing at 10PM. Visiting this place is not purely for good food but to experience the “Eat as you go” fun!
    

That’s all the top foods that I think is worth to try when you are visiting Beijing. Make sure you walk more and off the beaten track on your travel and you will discover more unexpected but greater foods than those appear in front of the famous tourist spots that are normally pricey and don’t taste as good. – Travel Feeder, your ultimate photo travel guide to Asia

Hi there! I’m back! I’m finally back from the breezy cool Beijing to my stuffy warm Kuala Lumpur. It was a perfect Beijing trip with plenty of joyful moment and memorable experiences. However, weather was far from perfect as Winter is approaching and travel sites were covered with thick fog, which made visibility much lower than what I would prefer. Otherwise, my travel plan for the hotel, the itinerary, the foods were all turned out nicely, if not as planned.

Here are my favourite 5 photos that I took on my travel to Beijing. All these 5 photos were shot with my Nikon D7000 and Nikkor 10-24mm UWA lens. Also included are EXIF information of each photo for your reference.

1) The Forbidden City.

Some EXIF info: Shot in Program Auto mode, Shutter speed set to 1/125 Sec and Aperture f5.0. Focus distance 10mm. ISO 100. Manual White Balance set to Cloudy. No flash fired and +1/3 exposure stop being compensated with Matrix metering.

2) Badaling section’s The Great Wall.

Some EXIF info: Shot in Program Auto mode, Shutter speed set to 1/60 Sec and Aperture f4.2. Focus distance 18mm. Auto ISO 360. Manual White Balance set to Cloudy. No flash fired and +2/3 exposure stop being compensated with Matrix metering.

3) Temple of Heaven.

Some EXIF info: Shot in Program Auto mode, Shutter speed set to 1/200 Sec and Aperture f7.1. Focus distance 24mm. ISO 100. Auto White Balance. No flash fired and +1/3 exposure stop being compensated with Matrix metering.

4) WangFuJing shopping street at night.

Some EXIF info: Shot in Program Auto mode, Shutter speed set to 1/60 Sec and Aperture f3.8. Focus distance 13mm. ISO 800. Auto White Balance. No flash fired and +1/3 exposure stop being compensated with Matrix metering.

5) Autumn scene in Yonghegong Lama Temple

Some EXIF info: Shot in Program Auto mode, Shutter speed set to 1/60 Sec and Aperture f3.5. Focus distance 10mm. ISO 125. Manual White Balance set to Cloudy. No flash fired and +1/3 exposure stop being compensated with Matrix metering.

Overall, Beijing is a great city to explore with full of attractions and places to visit. There are also overwhelming supply of local foods with stalls and shops selling them around each and every corner of Beijing’s streets. I will cover the story of my Beijing trip here in the short future. Make sure to subscribe to this blog’s feed for free story update. – Travel Feeder, your ultimate photo travel guide to Europe

There are many attractions worth every traveler’s visit in Venice. Venice is a big city of Italy consists of 6 Borough including the historic island, Lido island, and other 4 in the mainland. If you have just a few days to explore the city, try concentrating on the main historical island, as it is where most of the tourist attractions are located. Instead of rushing endlessly, it would be more fun and memorable to stay on just the Venice Island and explore it to the fullest, especially by walking.

Venice, often enough being referred to the historic island, is a relatively small but highly frequented pedestrian island consists of 6 administrative districts. One can walk from one end to reach the other in half an hour. So if you know which district is best to explore Venice, you would certainly enjoy your visit to Venice. Here are the top 5 places to visit in Venice Island, if limited time and budget is your concern.

1. San Marco – One of the 6 districts of Venice island, San Marco is definitely the most heavily touristed area of Venice with many popular attractions among tourists, or tour groups, which include the iconic St. Marco Square, St. Marco Basilica, The Bridge of Sigh, and San Giorgio Maggiore church across the Grand Canal, to name a few. No vacation travel to Venice would complete without visiting San Marco. There are too many hotels, restaurants and shops in the area to feed your soul.
   
2. San Polo – The smallest districts, San Polo is one of the oldest parts of the city, having been settled before the ninth century. It has been the site of Venice’s main market since 1097, tourists can spot numerous shops selling Venetian products from leather, bakery, gelato to Venetian masks. The prominent tourists feature of San Polo is Rialto Bridge, which connects San Polo to the eastern bank of Grand Canal and San Marco district. San Polo is also a great area to stay in Venice with much cheaper accommodation but relatively close to main attractions as well as the main St. Lucia Rail and Piazzale Roma bus station.
   
3. Santa Croce – Santa Croce is another district occupies the north west part of the Venice main island. Piazzale Roma at the North end is the last stop for any road vehicles to the island, with the only car parks and bus station found on the island. Towards the south eastern part of the island, tourists can explore the older part of the city with various historical architecture and churches that iconize the Venice. Staying in this area is near to catch your early trains to other part of Italy and is also cheaper than the rest of the island.
   
4. The Grand Canal – Being the most important access from mainland to the city centre of Venice, Grand Canal is the largest canal found on the island, stretching from the main Santa Lucia railway station at North West to the San Marco Square at South East. It is also the route of Venice water taxi and water buses connecting the various main parts of the island. Taking a water bus from one spot to the other for can let you admire the facade of those beautiful buildings lining along both sides of the canal. Visitors can also find lots of Gondola along the canal.
   
5. Cannaregio – Cannaregio is the 2nd largest district of Venice island occupying the whole Northern bank of the Grand Canal. It is also where most of the local people staying in Venice Island nowadays. Apart from the touristic route from the Santa Lucia station to the San Marco Square along the side of Grand Canal, going off the beaten track into the residential area elsewhere can let you explore the insight of the city culture where you can find and experience the local markets, shops as well as restaurants for the local people. Main attractions in the area include the second largest canal besides Grand Canal, the Cannaregio Canal, Ponte Delle Guglie, the main bridge crossing the canal, and the Venetian Ghetto, the Jews community in Cannaregio area is also worth a visit.
   

All above photos were taken with Nikon D60 attached with Tamron SP10-24mm Ultra Wide Angle lens. Click here to view more travel photos of Venice. These are actually 5 areas of interest in Venice island. I’m not targeting to any single travel attraction here as exploring Venice should not be limited to landmarks or icons such as St.Mark square or Bridge of sigh only. Travelers must explore Venice by areas as a whole to appreciate the true culture and history of this City of Romance of Italy, and trying the various local foods on the island is also a must of your travel in Venice. – Travel Feeder, your ultimate photo travel guide to Europe

Guest Post

Belgium is one of the most underrated holiday destinations in Europe. There are so many reasons to visit this amazing country; from beautiful cities to fantastic festivals and world-famous chocolate, this small country has it all. Although by no means exhaustive, here are my top 5 reasons why you should visit Belgium.

Festivals and Christmas Markets

Belgium hosts so many festivals that throughout the year there is almost always something happening. If you’re a fan of rock music you should know that Belgium hosts Rock Werchter, one of Europe’s top music festivals that features four days of world class performances. The city of Ghent holds the annual Gentse Feesten which is a very popular music and theatre festival that attracts over 2 million visitors every year.

In November and December the Brussels Winter Wonders is open and includes rides and the famous Christmas market where you can buy all sorts of Christmas gifts, novelties and souvenirs.

Beer

Belgium has hundreds of unique breweries that produce some of the world’s most famous and unusual beers. Trappist monastery beers are one of the more popular peculiarities and by regulation require the involvement of Trappist monks in the brewing process.There are also the lambic beers which are created by spontaneous fermentation, using wild bacteria and yeasts!

With so much variety, it’s fortunate that you don’t have to go to every town to try every beer and instead you can attend one of the many annual beer festivals. The Brussels Beer Weekend is one of the most popular of these festivals and offers an opportunity to taste and enjoy a vast range of authentic Belgian beers.

Chocolates, Moules and Frites

Belgian chocolates. If you aren’t conjuring up the mouth-watering images and flavours already then you either have ageusia (the inability to taste) or have simply never tasted them! This is not some marketing ploy either, Belgian chocolates are genuinely different from other chocolates in a number of respects.

The Belgian chocolatiers still use traditional chocolate making methods and shy away from modern techniques like adding a lot of milk and sugar. They do not let the chocolate cool before it is finished so as to preserve as much of the flavour as possible. Chocolates aside, Belgium also has great “moules et frites” (mussels and chips) which do well to compliment the delicious beer on offer.

Cultural Attractions and Night Life

Belgium has a number of great cultural attractions and oddities. The ‘manneken pis’ (literally “little man pee”) is one such oddity and is quite simply a statue of a small boy peeing into a fountain! When the festivals or seasonal celebrations are running, the statue is dressed up in costume for the duration of the event.

If you’re looking for something slightly more civilized you needn’t worry, Brussels is home to the famous Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. In this museum you will find an abundance of famous Flemish works including a wealth of paintings by Van Dyck and Ruben – a must see for all art fanatics!

Other notable cultural attractions include the Musical Instruments Museum which exhibits thousands of fascinating musical instruments from across the globe, as well as the Belgian Centre for Comic Strip which features unique exhibits as well as an extensive library.

Architecture and Historical Cities

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Belgium is the architecture which has been meticulously protected, restored and maintained by the Belgian people over the centuries. The effect of this is an unparalleled medieval atmosphere in Bruges where crisscrossing cobblestone streets are complemented by peaceful canals, and with the city’s impressive fortifications you can be safe in the knowledge that the Viking marauders will not get to you.

Gravensteen, also known as the “castle of the count”, is a picturesque castle in Ghent which has stood for over 800 years and has been used in the past as a courthouse, a prison, and even a factory. The castle has been restored to its former glory and is well worth visiting.

If you value the book over the sword I’d recommend taking a look at the Cathedral of Our Lady, a magnificent Gothic styled cathedral in Antwerp. The cathedral dominates the city’s landscape, making it useful for navigation if you get lost!

So ask yourself this: why haven’t you packed your bags, booked your flights and your travel insurance for Europe yet? – Travel Feeder, your ultimate photo travel guide to Europe