Luckily we had our tickets from museum night which gave us fast entry so we didn’t need to queue up which was great. You get the preferential treatment if you buy your tickets online.

The ground floor is the most interesting with information on the colonies of the Dutch, their relationships with the Spanish, the Golden era and how they lost it all. There were a few open questions in my mind after the visit, such as how Suriname returned back to the hands of the Dutch after the British controlled it and how and when other colonies were returned.

Thinking of colonies I’m not sure what was happening in Amsterdam this weekend, but we saw lots of children in fancy dress with black faces, presumably it has something to do with the slave trade. I’m not to sure on their motivation for this event but it doesn’t seem like the sort of act to be celebrating.

I was surprised to see an exhibition inside of Damien Hirst. After queuing up for about 30 minutes where we were squeezed into a pitch black room. I realised that in fact this was the only piece of work. I’m not too sure what I thought of Damien Hirst’s “For the Love of God”. It did look amazing with the way the light reflects of the diamonds, Photos here of the £50 million disco ball. I’ll let you decide on this one.

We had a fantastic room which was on split floors, the lower smaller floor had a chaise longue and small eating area within the bay with large windows allowing us to overlook Kensington Palace and the green grass of Hyde Park. There was great view of the park from both the upper and lower floors, but unfortunately it was raining rather hard so we didn’t make the morning run around the park trails.

We were immediately amazed by the service from the moment we walked in. From being called your name at all times with such friendly staff and a hand written welcome letter from the hotel’s manager Andrew Pike, it is this sort of attention to detail that allowed the Milestone to be voted for the best service in the world and No.1 British hotel by Conde Nast.

The hotel is grade 2 listed and was originally built as two townhouses, the first known, Kensington House was built around 1689. It is amazing to think how big these houses would have been, to be able to be converted into a hotel which houses 45 bedrooms, 12 suites and 6 two bedroom apartments! AND this doesn’t include the spa, swimming pool, gym, kitchens, bars and entrance halls etc.

We didn’t get to try the internal Cheneston’s restaurant as we were hungry for a nice prime fillet steak. The concierge recommended Brasserie Chez Gerard which was a perfect choice as a) The steak was absolutely fantastic and b) It was only a 2 minute walk along Kensington High Street.

From the hotel all the main museums were only a short walk away so we decided to go and visit the National History Museum. Even after about 10 trips there I am still amazed by the dinosaur skeletons which are still in amazing condition after millions of years. Unfortunately we couldn’t visit the new Darwin Exhibition as it’s not opening until Friday this week. Due to the time it took to go around we were a bit too tired to see the Wildlife photographer of the year exhibition so we need to plan a return visit shortly. Maybe we can coincide this with Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland Outdoor Ice Skating

Hong Kong sits at the south eastern tip of China adjoining the province of Canton also known as Guangdong. Hong Kong is about 1080 km², comprising of Hong Kong Island Kowloon and the New Territories, including 235 smaller islands.

The primary tourist area in Hong Kong is Kowloon, here you can find almost an unlimited amount of electronics shops nestled between clubs, bars and restaurants. Some backpackers/travellers may find this area to be a little tacky, however I found it to be a very good opportunity to get orientated in more familiar surroundings.

There are some sights worth seeing such as Victoria Peak which rises 552m above sea level. This was also my very first trip on a funicular railway, to the top of Victoria Peak which offers excellent views over Hong Kong. There is also a Madame Tussauds wax works and the most cheesiest simulator ride in the world.

I remember a large night market which was on Temple Street which is worth a visit to. Unfortunately as with most markets it has fallen victim to the tourist trade but is still worth a look. There are Zoological & Botanic gardens somewhere near here too, or why not chill out at the beach at Repulse Bay

Also near here is the Hong Kong Space museum featuring an OMNIMAX projector. There was also a Museum of History and of course the Hong Kong Cultural centre which I never went to.

Hong Kong island was even busier than the mainland of Hong Kong. Most backpackers and tourists I met come to see the ships anchored off the port. There are many boat tours in Aberdeen which are very expensive but worth it. Try not to indulge in a meal on one of the tour boats as there are many floating restaurants here. Other attractions include the Central Market and the ancient Man Mo Temple.

Hong Kong, China – Travel Photos