Heather on her travels

In Podcast 26 I spend a week in India, visiting a charity project that I support through my church here in Bristol. From Hyderabad we travelled to Kurnool with our contact Father Pratap Reddy and visited some of the villages where he is supporting the education of the poorest children and developing community projects to help the people there. You’ll hear about our visits to schools, hostels and rural villages seeing for ourselves how donations from overseas were being used and making a big difference to people’s lives.

In Episode 25 in my travel podcast series, I talk to travel blogger and podcaster Gary Bembridge about cruises: everything you might need to know if you’re planning a cruise for the first time. We cover booking and planning your cruise, the different types of cruise you might consider, what your typical activities on a cruise might look like, as well as what to wear and how to budget for extras like excursions and tips. Gary’s a real cruise enthusiast and he’s now been on over 20 cruises so he really has some great tips and advice to help you get the most from your first cruise.

In Episode 24 I travel to Texas with my family in the spring. This episode is the first of my Texas podcasts covering Houston and San Antonio. You’ll hear all about the Houston space centre where we took the tram tour to see the giant spaceship workshop and learned about the NASA Space Programme. From Houston we drove down to San Antonio where we visited the Alamo, cycled along the river to see the Spanish Missions and took a nightime stroll along the buzzing River Walk. We also spent a very enjoyable day on Picosa Ranch which was was once the home of Texas Governor John Connally, and has now been turned into a luxury ranch where we enjoyed pretending we were cowboys for a day.

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/cabot-tower-brandon-hill-bristol-video/ I climbed Cabot Tower on Brandon Hill in Bristol that is now open for you to climb to the top for a panoramic view of Bristol

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/ Staying in Austin, Texas in our home-from-home holiday rental through http://www.homeaway.com/ and all the things we did in Austin including Barton Springs Pool, South Congress Avenue, Zilker Botanical Gardens, The Texas Capitol  Music Credit: Texas ain't big enough by Charley Earley & Never2Late Licenced through MusicAlley.com

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/food-guernsey-sark-video/ 10 delicious foods to try in the Channel Islands on Guernsey and Sark including Crab sandwiches and salad, seafood and lobster, Guernsey Gache and cream teas, Guernsey bean jar washed down with Randalls beer or Rocquettes Cider http://www.visitguernsey.com/ http://www.sark.co.uk/

Read the article at http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/girona-old-town-wimdu/ Girona is in the Costa Brava region of Spain and is a gem of a city that's often overlooked by people rushing to its larger sister, Barcelona. We stayed in an apartment booked through http://www.wimdu.com/ in the old town near the cathedral. Pretty pastel houses overlooking the river and the cathedral on the hill are the icons of Girona and it's the perfect place for a short break.

In Episode 23 in my travel podcast series I talk to travel blogger and journalist Leyla Giray about her experiences travelling solo all around the world and the book she’s recently written called Women on the Road. In the podcast we discuss the barriers that women in their 40 and 50s feel that prevent them from travelling solo and how they can overcome their fears. We talk about how to stay safe on the road, what to wear, the best places to stay and the destinations that work best for women travelling on their own. And as Leyla says, there’ll never be a better time to travel, so if you’ve been thinking about it, that time is now!

Staying at JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country - a luxury resort in Texas just north of San Antonio with something to please everyone. http://www.jwsanantonio.com/Read the article at http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/jw-marriott-san-antonio-hill-country-texas/

A review of great clothing for stylish travellers from Anatomie http://www.anatomiestyle.com/ http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/

Hotel Sorella is a European inspired, Boutique Hotel in the City Centre Neighbourhood of West Houston, Texas and is conveniently located if you want a lovely place to stop as you pass through Houston or as a base to see the City.  http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/  http://www.hotelsorella-citycentre.com/

Outdoor activities such as gorge scrambling and climbing the Tors that we enjoyed on Dartmoor in Devon, while staying at Woodovis Park

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/ Staying at Buckshead eco-cottage in Shropshire in the unspoilt Clun Valley, with an interview with owner, Trevor Wheeler about how he designed the cottage to be eco-friendly, a visit to the local nature reserve where he grazes his highland cattle and a walk along Offa's dyke. Buckshead eco cottage can be booked through http://www.oneoffplaces.co.uk/ http://www.buckshead-ecocottage.co.uk/

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/picosa-ranch-resort-texas-video/ Picosa Ranch is the former family home of Governor John Connally, Governor of Texas and is now a luxury ranch for hunting, shooting, riding and other outdoor activities http://www.picosaranch.com/

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/bluebell-wood-priors-wood-bristol-video/ Walking through a bluebell wood in Bristol at Prior's Wood near Portbury, Bristol - hope you enjoy the birdsong

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/hotel-valencia-riverwalk-san-antonio-video/ We stayed at Hotel Valencia Riverwalk in San Antonio that is well located to see all the sights such as the Alamo, Spanish missions, La Villita and other attractions on the Riverwalk

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/park-inn-houston-video Review of the Park Inn Hotel Houston North where we stayed in April 2012. The hotel makes a convenient and comfortable stop if you are heading to or from Houston Intercontinental Airport http://www.parkinn.com/hotel-houstonnorth

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/lessons-from-auschwitz-holocaust/ My daughter's trip to Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland with the Lessons from Auschwitz Project http://www.het.org.uk/

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/ Interview with Camilla Parkner, Head Chef at Michelin Star Restaurant, Basement in Gothenburg, Sweden about what makes the food special in West Sweden Read the full article at http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/gothenburg-basement-review-vide/

I’ve slept everywhere from a tent in the back garden to a luxury hotel, but I must admit that serviced apartments such as the  Laystall Apartments by StayManchester.com were a new experience for me. Once the industrial powerhouse of the north of England, Manchester is full of old warehouses that once manufactured the goods that were sent all over Britain’s colonial empire. With Britain’s industrial decline, the old mills and warehouses have fallen silent silent but many have been renovated and converted into modern apartment buildings.

Having spent the morning on some serious sightseeing at the Hohensalzburg fortress, it was time to relax and soak up some spring sunshine at the Mirabell Gardens on the other side of the river. We came at it by a rather circuitous route, walking parallel with the river and looking for a way in, passing by the childrens’ playground and the public toilets, rather than coming in by the more usual entrance, just opposite the house where Mozart lived.

In Travel Podcast Episode 19 I visit Egypt where I spent a week travelling with a friend who lives inAlexandria. I took a walking tour of the city where many of the houses are crumbling away and where we bumped into a wedding procession hooting horns and letting off fireworks. We drove west to the popular holiday resort of Marsa Matrouh and turned south-west to the desert oasis of Siwa near the Libyan border. I found Siwa to be a truly magical place and we explored the old mud brick fortress of theShali, visited the ancient tombs at Gebel al-Mawta or the Mountain of the dead and watched the sun set over the lake at Fatnas island.

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/ We stayed at the White Horse Inn in St Wolfgang, Austria, known as the setting for the famous comic opera of the same name. As we arrived the May Day festival was in full swing and we enjoyed hearing the bands playing and drinking lots of Austrian food and wine. The hotel has a wonderful setting right by the lake  and you can swim in the lake from there as well as use their indoor pool and pedalos. Read the blog post http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/white-horse-inn-weisses-rossl-st-wolfgang-austria/

When they renovated the Ibsens hotel in Copenhagen the bit they didn’t change was the iconic red neon Hotel sign and that just about sums it up; a little bit retro, a lot of modern design, a smattering of vintage and a big part of the neighbourhood.

In Episode 18 in my travel podcast series, I talk to Sherry Ott about the Mongol Rally and her adventures driving from London to Mongolia with three other travel bloggers. I met Sherry, who blogs at Ottsworld, in London just as their Social Media Syndicate (with Deb and Dave from ThePlanetD and Rick from Midlife Roadtrip ) were preparing to leave England starting from Goodwood. Now Sherry’s safely back from the Mongol Rally we caught up and heard about their adventures driving on dirt roads when the tarmac ran out, through rivers and over rickety bridges, although all this seemed tame compared to what happened to some of the other teams. In 5 weeks they made it to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia where all the Mongol Rally cars were sold to raise money for charity and there were not one but three finish line parties to celebrate the achievement

It’s a while since I read Thomas the Tank Engine as a bed-time story to my kids, but if I was making the Schafburgbahn steam train into a character from that book, I’d say it was a cheerful little engine with a few stories to tell. Who wouldn’t be put in a good mood by chugging up the mountain with fabulous views of the surrounding mountains and Lake Wolfgang below?

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/ My video diary walking part of the Tour de Mont Blanc through France and Switzerland. This was the second year I walked part of the TMB with a friend, we plan to keep going until we've finished it all. Read the full article at http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/video-diary-tour-de-mont-blanc-2011/

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/ A panorama from the Shali fortress in Siwa oasis, Egypt - the walled city was buit in the 13th century from mud brick and salt rock but now only the walls of the old houses remain.

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/ Panorama from the top of Gebel al-Mawta, the mountain of the dead where a hill on the edge of Siwa oasis in Egypt is a honeycomb of tombs dating back to the time of the Romans and Ancient Egyptians

http://www.heatheronhertravels.com/ What clothing you need for treking in the mountains, as  I did when I walked part of the Mont Blanc trail in France and Switzerland

On our recent trip to the Greek island of Zakynthos or Zante we took a boat trip through Laganas bay, famed as a nesting area for the Loggerhead or Caretta Caretta turtles. Sadly we didn’t spot any turtles on this trip but we did have a great day out sunbathing, swimming and snorkelling around the little coves and sea caves along the coast

If you’re arriving late on a Friday night into Manchester by train as we did, you’ll be relieved to find that Macdonald Hotel Manchester is a conveniently short stroll from Manchester’s Picadilly station. The 4 star Macdonald Hotel Manchester is part of a UK wide group of hotels, although I had never stayed in one before.

When I stayed at the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park I learned that what makes a top hotel really outstanding is not just the luxurious decor, not just the delicious food and elegant public areas but the service of staff who make it their mission to please you in every way they can.

When I toured Lebanon last summer we drove an hour north out of Beirut to stop at the coastal town of Byblos or Jbeil which is ideal to visit as a day trip. The city has a long history and became important as a city state and trading port under the Phoenicians thousands of years before the birth of Christ.

Episode 17 in my Travel Podcast series takes us for a long weekend to Copenhagen in the early summer. You’ll hear the sounds of the children’s carnival that we came across while shopping, and the gastronomic specialities from Smørrebrød to Michelin star cuisine, that have given Copenhagen such a reputation as a foodie destination. Just like the Copenhageners we got on our bikes and took the train to visit the Karen Blixen Museum at Rungsted, cycled back along the coast road and enjoyed the band and old fashioned amusements at the Tivoli Gardens. We also took the canal tour to see the sights of the harbour area, such as the Royal Yacht and the Little Mermaid and had to duck to avoid banging our heads on the low bridges of Nyhavn.

I was recently featured on Tripfilms in their Better know a Member series and now they've been kind enough to nominate me for theirApril Film-maker of the month award. If I'm April's chosen film-maker of the month then I get a cool prize of a tour or hotel stay on which I get to make some more videos for your pleasure.