Tom Livesey Profile

Tom Livesey
Tom Livesey.

I only started WHS hunting in 2013 but I'm getting there slowly. I write about my visits at https://whstravellers.wordpress.com

The UK is a good base for a WHS-er because of its abundance of cheap flight connections to airports in the world's densest continent for WHSs. Unlike others on this site I love to fly, and prefer to arrive at a destination by air, always at a new airport if possible.

Visited Sites Tom Livesey

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Legend

  • Cultural
  • Natural
  • Mixed

Recent Reviews Tom Livesey


Edinburgh

Tom Livesey United Kingdom - 10-Feb-17

Despite being a Brit this was my first time visiting Scotland when I travelled with friends in December 2016.

After checking in to our accommodation in the heart of Old Town we first visited the cathedral, named after St Giles. It is smaller than I expected from such an important city, but that probably stems from the fact it was built in an area that was already bustling, in the heart of Auld Reekie (as it was nicknamed for its smell). We stopped off beside a statue of Adam Smith, the father of modern economics and a face you can see on the £20 note (although ironically not on the Scottish version).

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Gorham's Cave Complex

Tom Livesey United Kingdom - 10-Feb-17

I travelled to the UK's newest WHS at Gibraltar in October 2016, particularly enjoying walking across the airport's runway after having landed on it 30 minutes before! I have for some time wanted to visit one of those few former outposts of empire that remain under the sovereignty of the UK, so was glad when this site was inscribed to have a good reason for travelling to one.

Unfortunately my experience of Gorham's Cave Complex was a fairly tangential. The visitors' centre is not yet open and I was unable to secure either a museum-facilitated tour or a boat ride to peer in from the sea. Given these constraints the best I could do was to walk down the Mediterranean Steps and have a look inside Goat’s Hair Twin Caves.

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Laurisilva of Madeira

Tom Livesey United Kingdom - 10-Feb-17

Madeira was my first stop on a December 2016 tour of Portugal and Spain. One experiences this WHS by hiking the ‘levada trails’, which are walking routes that follow man-made irrigation channels known as levadas. The levadas generally flow horizontally along the contours of the hills, with occasional descents down the slopes.

The most striking things about driving up from our hotel by the coast up to the laurisilva forests in Madeira’s uplands were the changes in weather and vegetation. The temperature dropped by about 10 degrees and the types of plants we saw changed as we ascended. It was as if it was still summer down at sea level but further up – as the temperature fell – the leaves had turned brown and autumn was well and truly underway.

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Alcala de Henares

Tom Livesey United Kingdom - 10-Feb-17

Alcala de Henares

My December 2016 day in Alcalá de Henares was not the most exciting one I've ever had, though I enjoyed spotting the storks that live all over the city's tall buildings.

Although this is still an active university city there wasn’t a lot to do on an overcast weekday in December. I took a look around the archaeological museum and the main university building, but that was pretty much it.

The city does have one of the better UNESCO logos I have seen, carved in along with its name in large stone blocks in the centre of a roundabout just outside the city walls.

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Toledo

Tom Livesey United Kingdom - 10-Feb-17

Toledo, visited December 2016, surprised me to the upside. I had done little research on it in advance of my one-night stay so when we turned up and found a charming medieval city with more than its fair share of winding alleyways I was very impressed.

We caught a coach to Toledo from Madrid. The El Greco museum (reopened since Els's visit) is excellent - particularly the series of Apostles with Jesus in the centre. For food I can recommend the newly-opened Mercado de San Agustín.

As a culture-rich former capital, Toledo is a popular tourist attraction. To me it felt like Venice without the canals. On our second day we woke up to a city shrouded in fog, making it feel like we were travelling back through the mists of time.

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Profile Data

Name
Tom Livesey
Country
United Kingdom
Most Impressive
Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza
Proposal
Works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel

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