zizkov's VirtualTourist Home Page

Special message for mystery visitors:

Hi, my homepage seems to be getting an unusual number of hits - that I suspect are from people who may not have been looking for this page. So if you are arriving here by accident, why not drop me an email and let me know. (dvorak.at.lineone.net). Whilst you are here, why not look around: there is a lot of interesting stuff on Virtual Tourist. You could even join up (it's free!) and contribute.

In order of roughly the length of time I have stayed in them - Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, France, Catalonia, Denmark, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Liechtenstein: also Wales and England. Strangely I have never reached the nearest foreign points of Netherlands or Ireland: I keep meaning to, but end up somewhere else. Probably Estonia next time.

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Update: Since then I have been back to Paris and Barcelona, and finally reached the Netherlands. Well, 100 minutes in Amsterdam City between planes. As there is direct flight starting Edinburgh to Prague, looks like Estonia will have to wait.

Big Trip 03: Detailed below.

Update July 05: And since returned to Spain, visited Greece twice, and also Cyprus and Hamburg.

Having the feeling I'd like to get back to CZ, see some more of the country, and maybe some more of Slovakia. And I had the crazy urge to go to Japan (luckily, I stopped myself). Or maybe some more Greek Islands. And I still want to get to Estonia sometime.

Here are a few favourite pictures:

Bass Rock; Slovakia; Loch Voil; Prague; Falkirk; Barcelona; Edinburgh; Kefalonia

Sometime though I wonder - am I so eager to see there, I miss here? If so many people want to see here, shouldn't I have a look as well?

I'm seeing it now from the tops of some hills and mountains - almost deleriously early summer green - but compared to the travels in Scotland of some VTers from overseas (and even Down South) I have barely scratched the surface.

The picture at the top is the Falkirk Wheel - just a few minutes from my home.

Quit my job and headed off, currently in Cesky Krumlov in Bohemia, been in Italy (Rome, Siena, Florence, Venice), Prague and Ceske Budejovice so far, and plenty more to go.

And onwards to Bratislava, the Vysoky Tatry, Krakow, Berlin and Bruges. Now back home, and looking for something worthy of my (ahem) talents, to fund the next trip (and some of the last one).

Now working for Thomas Cook, selling holidays for Thomas Cook TV (check your Sky/NTL listings! many bargains!) so immediate future trips may well be of the 'where I can go cheap at short notice' variety. Already been to Puerto Rico (er, the Gran Canaria one, not the Caribbean). Still, plenty of material from past trips still to post (if I can just get than darned scanner working correctly).

Update: Well, it turned out that selling holidays was not one of my fields of excellence. Fair play to TC, they saw me out the door with enough to enjoy an extended period of leisure - which alas, may soon have to come to an end, especially if I want to be travelling anywhere.

Autumn now, and I had heard that it was to be an exceptional year for leaf colour - which is turning out the case. Wet spring and hot dry summer has produced a very high sugar concentration in the leaves, which is apparently what produces the rich colours.

Christmas Eve, the first snows of the winter. And as it turned out, almost the only ones. How long, I wonder, untill we no longer have the snows at all?

There are two pubs over that wall, y'ken.

Not that I mind a bit of heat and sunshine. As I type this, 16:09 July 14, it seems almost dark outside, with the heavy grey clouds. We have been fooled into thinking we have a summer by a few glorious hot and sunny days - the kind where you can sit out and it is still light to around eleven at night (if the midges don't get you of course).

Last week I was enjoying the glorious blue skies of Kefalonia. There were actually a few clouds, rolling over the mountain top, or in the distance over Zakynthos. But they were only to provide visual interest, not the threat of a good soaking. And I think I could get used to this as the view to accompany my breakfast each morning.

And here we can see a typical Scottish Spring flower... ok not really, its more normally found in the Amazon, but seems to be thriving quite well in my kitchen. The plant is about 18 inches tall and hopefully will have six or more flowers.

And for every ten people with no idea what that title means, there will be one singing "In a big country, dreams stay with you.."