The Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) in Beijing is a vast, UNESCO-listed imperial garden from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It is located in the western suburbs of Beijing, and 15 kilometers away from central Beijing. It covers an area of 3.009 sq. km, three quarters of which is water. The Summer Palace is renowned for being one of the largest and best-preserved imperial garden in China, it is regarded as a “Museum of Imperial Gardens”. It features Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. IT is the former summer retreat of emperors offers scenic landscapes, the 700-meter Long Corridor, and the Marble Boat, making it a premier tourist destination.
While the cost to enter the palace is modest, about £8, the lines to buy tickets are often long and you need to carry Chinese cash. Pre-book online to gain access by Tickets QR and enjoy the imperial garden at your own pace.
Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square is an open square in the centre Beijing, it is one of the largest public squares in the world. Tiananmen Square was originally designed and built in 1651. It was enlarged to four times its original size and cemented over in 1958. It covers an area of 100 acres (40.5 hectares), and each flagstone is numbered for ease in the assembly of parades. The square gets its name from the massive stone Tiananmen meaning “Gate of Heavenly Peace”. It was first constructed in 1417, this was also once the main gate to the Forbidden City and is situated at the northern end of the square.
On a tiered marble terrace in the centre of the square is the Monument to the People’s Heroes. The museum on the east side of the square is the National Museum of China. This was created in 2003 by combining the former Museum of the Chinese Revolution and National Museum of Chinese History. To the south of the Monument to the People’s Heroes is the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall in which the body of Mao Zedong lies in state. Further south is the Front Gate (Qianmen). On the western side of the square is the Great Hall of the People. It is the site of the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress it contains a meeting hall with more than 10,000 seats and a banquet hall capable of seating 5,000.
Due to its immense size Tiananmen Square has been the rallying point for student demonstrations for decades. Two of the most notable were the May Fourth Movement (1919) and the Tiananmen Square incident (1989).
Firstly and foremost John and I wish you happy festivities wherever you are in the world .
2025 started slowly for us. John had two eye operations which slowed our travelling down. We also had a February deadline for another of our books – “50 Gems of Bedfordshire” it will be published February 2026 by Amberley Books. …I think this will be about Johns 30th book with Amberley Publishers…and my 2nd!
In April we headed to Norfolk with my Dad. We hired a lovely bungalow near Sheringham for a week. What a lovely week it was, meandering around our beautiful countryside.
May saw John and I heading to Portugal and Southern Spain….we fell in love with Praia de Luz ….wonderful apartment for a week, super beach, restaurants and “Jackson Mystery Tours” around the countryside….(that’s Johns name for exploring and getting lost).
A wonderfully relaxing and “chill out” time.
We travelled up to Spain and spent time in an intriguing village called El Rocio….a real throw back place on the edge of a national park which is home to the highest number of Iberian Lynx in Spain…needless to say we didn’t see one…but we did very much enjoy our time there.
We travelled on up to Seville for a week…hiring a strange apartment in a residential block. We enjoyed the Cathedral, horses and carriage sight seeing, a river cruise and a flamenco show.
Driving back into Portugal we stayed a week in a holiday complex apartment near Albuferia….ummm not one of our best accommodation choices…. But we made the most of it with beach days and exploring the area.
Back in the UK we had a variety of days out with Dad, such as a coffee on a longboat on the Grand Union Canal
The end of July we headed for Devon. A fantastic occasion which saw my sister as a truly radiant bride as she married Mark….a day which was such a happy occasion.
September came and yippee! we were off to South Africa…..
Much joy as we met up with good friend Gill and our dearest Cora
Then off to Kruger for 3 weeks of heaven…..this year we started at the most southern point and went right up to the northern tip……Mother Nature blessed us and we saw some truly magnificent sights…
Our cameras didn’t stop clicking…but we did take a few shots of people..
And of course there were some fantastic sunsets…
Back to the UK we went with Dad to the New Forest in mid November…although it was cold it was still fabulous to see the ponies and we sat watching them on several occasions from what was my mums favourite spot….a joyful occasion we repeat every year…
As we reach the end of 2025 there is nothing left to say except to wish all our followers a Very Happy 2026…we hope your year is filled with adventures, laughter and love.
We woke up after a very comfortable nights sleep in the Protea Marriott Midrand hotel….our deluxe room was mega comfy…even managed to get the temperature right… I forgot to mention that on our way yesterday we saw the fairly magnificent waterfall mosque…
We had a really nice breakfast of bacon, sausage, egg, toast followed by yogurt and fruit and a nice cup of coffee. Returning to our room we packed up and loaded the car before heading to our friend Gill’s for the night.
It was an easy trip, having got a bit lost yesterday my dearest Cora had given me strict instructions last night .. … “Mum! Do not go any other way ….get on to the N1 Johannesburg, where it splits stay N1 Bloemfontein take the first off ramp to Rivonia, head towards Morningside clinic ( my son had been born there) and take the turning to Gills just after the massive billboard….then you’ll know where you are”…… “yes darling” I meekly replied…….i followed her instructions to the letter and 11 minutes later we were at Gills.
We unpacked the car, gave Gill all the bits we hadn’t used…which was quite a bit as due to quite a bit of cold damp weather we hadn’t cooked as much as we had anticipated doing… we stashed the pillows back upstairs in the spare room cupboard and prepared the cool box with all the cooking stuff in it to be stored in Gills garage. At this point John came in from the garden as it started to rain heavily.
Gills garden is a hive of bird activity. There is a Southern masked weaver making a nest right outside her patio.
After the rain stopped we went to Chillies Mall. There’s a great car wash in the underground car park …150 rand (£6) for an SUV inside and out …. pensioners rate…so we dropped the car off and went upstairs for lunch at ocean basket.
Great seafood platter for 3 …yum, yum…needless to say we ate it all….
After lunch we collected the car and went back to Gills for a restful afternoon, chatting late into the night.
Morning came all too soon. The packing was completed two cases, two hand luggage’s and a Woolies back with our fleeces in. ……a little story about the cases….. last year after we came back from Sri Lanka we treated ourselves to 2 new suitcases …our old faithfuls which we’d brought at Tesco 10 years ago had finally expired with a hole in one and the wheel broken off on the other….so we purchased at reasonable expense two new bright yellow ones from John Lewis….we took them to the Caribbean last Autumn and the wheel collapsed on one and the zip burst open on the other….they had a 5 years ago guarantee so I went to Milton Keynes (45 minutes away) …. I showed them the pictures of the damage ..we had hearty discussion about whether it was poor quality goods or rough airline handling eventually they agreed to change them…I selected two others, silver ones, but they said I should have brought both the old ones back …I had only taken one as parking was a distance away and I couldn’t see how I would manage two….so I asked them to put the silver ones aside and I’d go back the next day with the other one…when I returned with the second one the following day they had sold the silver ones…I was not amused…. They agreed to waiver the delivery charge so I paid the extra £120 …they were each £60 more than the original one but I was told they were far better quality….sure enough they arrived the following day…We used them in Portugal and Spain and then this trip….oh dear…. One of them came off the plane dented and the plastic was cracked open. Since then the zip on the other has opened at the end you can’t see and it won’t zip closed….so once again we will have to have them wrapped at the airport to get them home and once again I shall be taking them back to John Lewis…these cases are not fit for purpose…surely a suitcase should be able to withstand a trip on a plane and why give them a 5 year guarantee if they are so badly made…..they weren’t super cheap at £140 each …….grrrrrrrr
Anyway back to reality….we had a very nice breakfast with Gill…thank you very much…then we sat chatting in the garden while John took loads of pictures of Urban wildlife and nature …
All too soon it was time to say goodbye to Gill…it’s always sad. We headed back to the Protea Marriott Midrand and booked into the same room.
Cora had said she would call and have tea with us. It was a wonderful surprise when she breezed through the door and joined us in the bar…..that lady brings an aura of positivity wherever she goes….her smile forces everyone around her to smile …she is beautiful inside and outside… we were so privileged, she had lunch with us and we spent all afternoon chatting until 6.00 pm ….How she managed to clear her diary and make so much time for us is beyond me….it was a very special time…then it was time for another goodbye…
After a rest we had a light supper and retired to bed.
The morning brought sunshine. We had a lovely breakfast again and then chilled in our room until checkout time. John took some pictures around the hotel.
We booked out and sat in the lounge area…writing this blog…in an hours time we head for the airport, drop the car off and fly home…Stuart has already WhatsApped me to say he will meet us at the airport….our holiday will then be over…..what a fabulous time we’ve had….i’ll blog how the flight went tomorrow….then we will blog our sightings data, our final costings and our accommodation reviews over the forthcoming week.
Thank you to everyone who has followed us…if you have any questions or need help with bookings feel free to contact us at 2jsworldofadventure@gmail.com
For flight and accommodation contact Maisie Morton or Sean at DialAflight
+44 1618418179
If you mention us Jenny Jackson and 2jsworldofadventure they will give you a really good rate.
Finally once we have sorted the photos we will be asking you to rank them so we can select your 13 favourites for this years calendar ….this year if you are in the UK you will be able to order one of these……more about that in future blogs💕
Yesterday we set off from home for a 3 week holiday. It is to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary. Those of you who know us will remember John proposed to me in the Caribbean.
We flew directly to Miami..good flight…spoilt by the huge queue to get through immigration….just under 2 hrs we made it through…for the first time ever we used Uber for a lift to our hotel in Fort Lauderdale…it was $68 a good price…..how were we to know that there are several Marriott Courtyards of Federation Highway !! Another Uber for $21 got us to the right one. We were exhausted and went straight to bed…..Unfortunately our old red 10 year old cases had expired and we had brand new John Lewis yellow ones….one is already smiling at us!!
We woke up very early 3.00am ….Uk time was 7.00 am body clock all adrift! After the necessary trip to the bathroom we both managed another long sleep and finally made it down for breakfast at 9.30am…USA time. We used our new skill to call another Uber and for $45 he took us to the port…dropping us at pier 21 to embark on the Enchanted Princess. Wow!!!… to say we were amazed is an understatement…the queue for the terminal went right the way to the end of the pier and back around again. It took us an hour to join the end of the queue and another hour and three quarters to embark on the ship…nearly 3 hours most of it queueing in the hot sun….come on Princess that is not good enough…..they should have allocated embarkation time slots like they used to, so that customs scanning doesn’t get overwhelmed … the actual embarking with Princess staff and getting our medallions was only a matter of minutes. After dropping our carry-on bags off in our cabin…..an obstructed view balcony especially selected as it looks over the middle of the roof of the lifeboat…so I can’t look down and feel seasick…..there is always method in my madness!!! ….we hotfooted it up on to the sun deck for a Key West Cooler mocktail…”Cheers everyone!” And a light lunch – hummus, pitta bread, olives salad. Followed by fresh melon and pineapple…….lovely….two glasses of water and we are ready to fight the crowds for a slot on top deck to watch the sail away……..The usual array of singing, dancing, shouting, cheering, the “love boat tune” played on the ships horn and the pilot boats guided us out of the port 50 minutes late but yeah!!!! We are on our way.
Deciding we needed a rest we descended to our cabin….and our suitcases were already inside awaiting the unpacking….John kindly helped me and we soon had it all in the draws and wardrobes and the cases stashed neatly under the bed. Our cabin Steward for the next 20 nights came and introduced himself…”Lucky” from the Philippines. I think we are lucky because he instantly said he’d change the bar fridge for Diet Coke and he went and got us a kettle for our early morning coffee….which incidentally I bring with us….he also made certain that our shower has a flexible removal pipe, as I don’t like the fixed ones which don’t allow you to deep clean individual areas!!!!! I was very impressed with him so he will be lucky as I can already feel a big tip going his way..
So far so good….we have booked a table for supper at 6.20 every evening, so hopefully we won’t have to queue…but if we do we do…..
Two sea days now, then an island which is new to me..Tortola….but in the mean time let’s eat, drink and be merry…..
Last nights show, in the theatre, was a musical tribute to some of the biggest icons for the last 70 years…. It wasn’t the best we’ve seen… only two sang and the rest was recorded backing vocals and dancing… nothing really to write home about so I’ll leave it there and move on to Day 5 ….
This morning we woke without the alarm and got up… hard decisions to make… does one put ones one peice swimming costume before breakfast and hope you don’t need the toilet or does one change on the beach…. Ummm … I risked it and struggled into rent a tent!! Pulling a large T-shirt and my standard white baggy linen trousers …. Right! ready for breakfast… we couldn’t decide which restaurant served breakfast so once again we braved the buffet. This time we tried the other side and although it may have been my imagination it seemed less manic. I spied a free table and endeavoured to reach it, politely asking a gentleman, who was sat in the aisle with his adoring 15 strong family around him, to “excuse be” whilst gesturing Incase he didn’t understand me…. No response!!! Well!!! There’s some truth in the saying “if you can’t beat them join them” !!! So mustering all my strength I barged passed his chair almost catapulting him under the table .. all done with a lovely smile and an “oops so sorry”… I think he got the idea and shuffled his chair in to let John pass. Yeah! We have a table … from there on breakfast was quite simple…. Noisy but at least we could get to the food. …….. oh no !!! I did need the toilet … so I raced back to the cabin whilst John finished his coffee… dilemma overcome and we still make it to the theatre for our excursion in good time even though John is shaking his head at me in dispair…. Obviously not convinced that my tactics were brilliantly executed !!!! Bus Numero 12 was called luckily our French is better than our non existent Italian so when the caller forgets the English we still have some idea of what’s going on…
Today is our beach day…. I just love swimming in the sea so I am like “tigger” bouncing and bounding around. The coach took about 20 minutes to get to an area above a Sandy beach resort. It was Makris Gialos Beach and the beach facility was called Costa Costa beach. The track was quite steep and wound down onto a lovely yellow Sandy beach. Two loungers and a parasol were €30 , which we willingly paid…
We quickly stripped down to our swim suits and went straight into the sea… a few of our fellow beach goers squealed as they paddled in the cool ripples. But we are British we are made of stronger stuff than that !!! Out we waded and 1..2…3… we were in…. It was lovely , only taking seconds for our bodies to acclimatise to the temperature of the soothing sea… we swam, bobbed about and enjoyed the submergance.
Some considerable time later we took up residency on our loungers.
We did a repeat of this 3 times. Our lounger time was spent people watching and laughing in amazement at the adaptation of a paddle boat.
A lovely time spent on the beach. John played in the sand for a while !!!
We changed out of our wet costumes and meandered up to the bar for a Coke Zero.
We returned up the steep track and fortunately the bus was already there. He had just prevented a couple from embarking but I blew him a kiss and he opened the door…. I was probably the only person who had thanked him when he had dropped us off… he also turned the aircon up and gave me the thumbs up I blew him another kiss…
On returning to the ship we had a quick salad lunch and a Magic Island Mock-tail in our nearest bar before retiring for a siesta…. I went out like a light and only woke in time to shower and change for supper.
Now let me tell you about the shower … it is a sort of triangle with the longest straight side being about 2 foot and the other straight side being about 18 inches. To wash one’s hair you need to stick your head in the corner under the water meaning your derrière pushes itself out and becomes shrouded in the shower curtain. The opposite happens when you wash your derrière with your head pushed against the shower curtain… it really would pay to be a contortionist… if anyone has found an easier way to use this tiny shower I am open to ideas!!!!
Having completed the task, dried hair, ‘booted and suited’ we headed for the dining room…. Once again we had a wake view in Salem’s area. A nice menu allowed for a pleasant meal.
A quick night cap and we’re off for an early night as we have a busy day tomorrow….. So after applying copious amount of moisturiser to my lobster pink front, back and nose!!!!… we will say good night until we reach Bari.
2 J's World of Adventure 