Canary Islands

The Canary Islands are under the Spanish rule. The Islands are very close to west Morocco. The Canaries are volcanic islands and have 7 main islands. I’ll rank them from largest to smallest. The islands are Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro.

Tim and I visited 2 of the 7 Canary Islands. We stayed at the Gran Canaria to celebrate Tim’s Dad’s 70th Birthday and afterwards, we travelled to Tenerife.

Things that I have noticed about the islands are that it is a holiday destinations for Europeans and especially the Brits. So, you’ll find British food served everywhere. The canary food is different from mainland Spanish food and their spices and sauces are unique. They’ve got something called Cactus Sauce/ Jam. The fruits and vegetables are so delicious because they are grown locally and the islands are volcanic soil. Canary Islands are so cheap compared to mainland Spain so you won’t be spending much and the islands offer amazing holiday packages.

I think Gran Canaria is much more beautiful than Tenerife. Yes, they may have the same nature like any Canary Islands but they are so different. Gran Canaria is an amazing place to visit to relax and have a great time sunbathing on the beach. They have amazing restaurants to try and is more of a chilled island. Tenerife on the other hand is more of an activity place and a party island and just filled with tourists.

I will write about both trips on separate blogs. Lucy, my sister-in-law has been to 4 Canary Islands and she said the Gran Canarias is the best one so far and that the vibe of the islands are different from each other.

September 19, 2018October 6, 2018

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Art in Baku

We travelled with my architect best friend Mimi and we dedicated one whole day to visit all the art museums and galleries. Little did we know that we picked the worst month to visit Baku. All the art galleries and museums were closed that month and we didn’t even know why. We walked a lot that day from one museum to another but the doors were locked and we even crossed a motor way LOL to get to one which was closed. Even the famous Museum of Modern Art was closed.

The main placed we wanted to visited were Museum of Modern Art, National Art Museum and YAY Gallery and all were closed in the month of October but we managed to check out some quirky cafes and witnessed amazing building architecture (especially Zaha Hadid) and statues.

Baku is one city that would be amazing to visit for Art Lovers. Hopefully, we get to visit it again and check out the art works.

July 8, 2018July 8, 2018

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Azerbaijani Cuisine

Azerbaijani cuisine is very similar to Middle Eastern, Russian and Georgian but it’s filled with BUTTER. On our first day, Noor took us to a restaurant called Dolma. Dolma is actually dishes which are stuffed with rice and minced meat. We of course ordered that and it’s similar to the Arabic one but the taste is slightly different and very BUTTERY.

Our favourite dishes are Dolma which is stuffed vegetables, Azerbaijani Plov (I kept removing the raisins) it’s a rice dish served with plum, Qovurma which is kinda similar to Indian korma and our ultimate favourite AZERBAIJANI CHICKEN SAJ. THAT DISH WAS AMAZING and it’s enough for 3 -4 people. Tim and I ordered it once and he ordered it again with Mimi. The picture will speak for itself.

Azerbaijani cuisine is quite interesting to try and if you ever visit, pleaseeee order the AZERBAIJANI CHICKEN SAJ.

June 23, 2018

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Our favourite hangout place in Tbilisi

We really didn’t have much time to explore Tbilisi but for some reason we kept going back to Agashenebeli Ave where the ‘I LOVE TBILISI’ sign is located and we had an amazing Khachapuri over there. The two nights we spent in Tbilisi, we went to loane Shavteli St. where there are a lot of pubs and restaurants.

Our last night in Tbilisi, we all went for shisha aka Hookah at Shardeni St. and danced the night away. The street is filled with nightclubs and shisha restaurants so I’d highly recommend those two areas for a night life.

We truly love Tbilisi

June 17, 2018

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Georgian Food from Georgia the Country

I’d say Georgian cuisine is one of my favourite. It’s a mix of European, Middle Eastern, Armenian and Russian which I find incredible.

Being half Palestinian, I add a lot of pomegranate in my dish. Whether its syrup or the seeds itself and it’s very similar to Georgian. Their kebabs and their salads are just rich with pomegranate and gives a sweet flavour to a salty dish and lots of sumac.

One of my favourite dish to have for breakfast is called Khachapuri. There are two types of Khachapuri. One is from Adjora region also called Acharuli served with egg and cheese and Khachapuri from Imereti region which looks like a pizza. I liked both but honestly my favourite was Adjora. YUMMMMMYYYYYY!!!!

If you love cheese then you must try Imeruli cheese which is added to the Khachapuri but having it by itself it just heaven.

Tim and I were very fond of the beetroot pkhali with walnuts. We had it at a restaurant in Tbilisi called Kafe Leila, it’s one of the best restaurants I visited around the world and till today my mouth waters every time I think of that place. Everything we ate was delicious and the cafe is vegetarian/vegan friendly. I can go on and on about their food but honestly, there is nothing like Georgian cuisine. I assure you, you will not be disappointed with their food.

June 14, 2018June 14, 2018

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Places to visit in Azerbaijan

We booked a tour for the whole day which included the Mud Volcano, Gobustan Park, Fire Temple, Bibi-Hebyat Mosque and the Fire Mountain.

Mud Volcano

Land form that erupts mud and gas. There is no lava and the eruption is caused by hot water deep below the Earth surface. I highly recommend you visit it because it’s one of the most interesting places I’ve visited. Very unique experience.

Gobustan Park

In 1930, a group of miners discovered the stone formations, carvings and man-made caves which is now available for the public to see known as the Gobustan Park.

There are approx. 6000 rock engravings and it believed it dated back 50,000 years. The place shows settles, burials and inhabited caves which were held during the period of the last Ice Age.

The engraved art works on the rock consisted of men, animals, dances, warriors and pictures of sun and stars. There are more but we didn’t really get to see them. The park is preserved by Azerbaijan government and it is registered with the UNESCO World Heritage site.

Highly recommend to visit the Gobustan Museum which is located near the ancient park. Over there you will learn a lot about the history and the objects which were used by the Homosapiens and about animals that inhabited the land once upon a time.

Bibi-Heyat Mosque

The Bibi-Heyat Mosque is also known as ‘The Mosque of Fatima’. It is a historic mosque built during the 13th Century. The mosque includes the tomb of Ukeyma Khanum a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and is now a spiritual place for the Shia Muslims.

Ateshgah

Baku Ateshgah also known as ‘The Fire Temple’. It is a religious temple in a town called Surakhani. The temple was a holy place for Hindus, Sikhs and Zoroastrian. The temple was built during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Yanar Dag

Yanar Dag translates to Burning Mountain. Natural gas fire blazes on the hillside and the flames jet almost 3 metres high.

You can visit all those 5 places in a day.

June 1, 2018July 6, 2018

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Bellion Travels – 48 Hours in Armenia

So not a lot of people know we’ve been to Armenia so whoever didn’t know and is reading this post, SURPRISE!!! Tim and I visited Armenia.

It was long before it became a touristic destination. We booked our trip 3 days before our flight not knowing what to do or where to visit. All we knew was that Yerevan is the capital. So I quickly skimmed through places to visit in Armenia and wrote down Garni, Genocide Memorial and Yerevan Square.

We knew we were going there for the weekend so on day one, we explored the city of Yerevan by foot and discovered amazing local stores and restaurant which was located underground because of the cold weather.

After enjoying a delicious lunch, we took a taxi to the Genocide Memorial. Keep in my mind, our taxi driver didn’t know a word of English and he called his son to translate. We get there and pay our respects and head back to our taxi.

He then made hand gesture asking ‘Where?’, I looked at the list and said ‘Garni’. We ventured to the place forgetting what Garni offers and its location. As we headed outside the city and up to the mountain, Tim and I looked at each other in confusion. We asked again in a one-word question ‘Garni?’ and he just nodded. As it started getting darker and also started to snow; Tim got worried and I got excited because I’ve never seen snow before. We then got to Garni and were completely astonished by a Roman ruin on top of the mountain.

We then headed back to Yerevan and went to the Russian Cinema. Of course all the movies were in Russian and the subtitles were in Armenian so we just had different coffees at several coffee shops in the area.

Armenia is one place Tim and I will always remember because unplanned trips are the best and most memorable.

September 26, 2017September 15, 2017

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LONDON – City of Inspiration and Creativity

Sadly we had 2 days in London which I personally think is not enough to explore the city. I believe if I ever moved there, I will never get bored of that place. There are so many things to see and restaurants to try. We managed to be proper tourist and visited the main attractions like Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, London Eye, London Dungeons and Madame Tussauds.

During our second day in London, Tim and I visited Borough Market where we had Spanish oysters, Turkish coffee and French cheese. Later that day we met up with my friend Elise for dinner in Carnby. Tim and I also did some shopping at Harrods and Oxford Street. I was amazed by how many GGC nationals were there shopping, it felt I was back in Dubai.

The main thing I love about London is the blend of modern and history, similarly to what I felt about Istanbul. London is a perfect place to be creative; everything is spectacular like the architecture, roads, art, museums… I can go on and on. Speaking of museums, Tim is a physicist and is in love with science however on the other hand, C’EST MOI oh well I’m like Penny from The Big Bang Theory. So while strolling the streets of London, I asked Tim if he can take me to a museum. Tim just smirked and said ‘Oh I know where to take you’ and YES!! We ended up going to a SCIENCE MUSEUM. Ladies and Gentle, that’s my cheeky husband. Anyway I got to learn the history of vehicles and the only thing that amazed me in that museum was the glow in the dark room.

London is in my top 5 favourite cities in the world, I can’t wait for my next visit and explore more.

I LOVE LONDON

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July 22, 2016July 28, 2017

Nissreen4 Comments

Palestinian Refugee Visiting the UK

Before travelling to the UK, I had extremely low expectation of the country and especially London. Many factors led me to think like that, starting with the way I’m treated in Dubai, everyone I know complains about the British weather, also the stereotype that British people are as cold as their weather and finally the visa centre for giving me a hard time and rejecting my first application for minor reasons.

Anyhow, Tim and I landed in Heathrow airport and it was my first visit to the UK and amusingly the lady at the passport control counter cracked a joke about my travel document saying “it’s been ages I haven’t seen one of those”. FYI, I have a ‘travel document’ which is issued by the Lebanese Government for Palestinian Refugees and is still HANDWRITTEN. She also advised us that in our next trip, I get to stand in the EU/UK passport line. My reaction was ‘OMG! This is the first time anyone at passport control treated me in a nice and respectful manner’.

Besides the fact that my travel document is handwritten, it is only written in French and Arabic (يا الله / Oh Mon Dieu). The amount of crap I receive at airports and of course being interrogated and waiting for translators to translate my enormous booklet. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very proud to be PALESTINIAN but passport control are just pain in the @$$.

After landing in London and passing immigration feeling like the queen of the world, everyone I interacted with was nice. It felt weird at first but later made me feel very welcomed. Before heading to Hayling, we stopped at a rent a car in London and everyone who worked there were a racial mix of Asians and Africans with a strong British accent.

After spending days in the country side, Tim and I decided to stay in London for 2 days before flying back to Dubai. Honestly, I was impressed by the lovely city, country and the British people. Everyone was friendly, helpful and polite. I fell in love with the people, British culture and the UK weather LOL.

July 22, 2016July 28, 2017

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UK – A Day in Reading, Watford & Oxford

We planned a fun outing with Tim’s college friends Ryan and Gina who are extremely down to earth and are very friendly. We’ve organised an outing to hit some golf balls up at Watford, Hertz.

Before heading there, Tim and I made a stop at Reading early in the morning for coffee and muffins and went for a walk around his area. He used to live there before moving to Dubai.

After having our breakfast we headed to Watford to play golf at a place called ‘Top Golf’. Yeah! I looked like a complete loser but I enjoyed it.

After playing for hours, we decided to drive to Oxford for lunch and explore the area.

July 22, 2016July 24, 2017

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Category: Europe

Canary Islands

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Art in Baku

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Azerbaijani Cuisine

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Our favourite hangout place in Tbilisi

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Georgian Food from Georgia the Country

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Places to visit in Azerbaijan

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Bellion Travels – 48 Hours in Armenia

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LONDON – City of Inspiration and Creativity

I LOVE LONDON

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Palestinian Refugee Visiting the UK

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UK – A Day in Reading, Watford & Oxford

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