"So many places to see, so little time !!!" Durfun's Profile

The 'birth' of durfun...

We went to Krakow in April 2005 to celebrate my brother's stag.

Looking up information on Krakow led to my accidental discovery of VT, and the rest is all here ....................................

So, that's the quick story about the birth of 'durfun'
>>> motto is to have ALL 'DUR (the) FUN' in life !! <<<

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TO SEE THE PHOTOS OF MY BROTHER'S WEDDING REGISTRY, INDIAN CEREMONY, & GRAND RECEPTION, PLEASE REFER TO MY LONDON PAGES >>>

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2006, the year of serious travelling .....

*** Please be patient with me, I'm scanning old pics from my earlier travels ***

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My trips for Feb/Mar 2006 were:

1. Laos
2. Cambodia
3. Vietnam (meeting in Hanoi, courtesy of Jonny, JonnyVN from HCMC!)
4. Singapore
5. Malaysia (meeting in KL, courtesy of 'sporty' Chia, chiabh)
6. Thailand (meeting in Bangkok, with Nick, expatbangkok)
7. Jordan

I had VT meets in Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur, and Bangkok; I think they're a wonderful idea, because other than just touring a place, you get to meet & chill out with the locals, and get further 'insider' tips from them!!

In fact I started off properly by attending my very 1st one - on the 21st of Jan 2006, in London. Jennifer ( Jenniflower) had planned an elaborate weekend to receive her friend keida84. IT WAS A TOTAL SUCCESS, ABSOLUTELY FAB PEOPLE AND GREAT FUN.... can't wait to have many more of these !!

Interested parties should check out the pages on vt meetings.. [i only started doing so very recently]

Trips for May 2006 were:

8. Spain (Euromeet2006)
9. Portugal

July 2006:

10. Bulgaria (VT meeting!)
11. FYR of Macedonia (VT meeting!)

Fabulous London meeting on the 19th of August to welcome Vinka (Vinka), and Zdenka (Nykaenen) from Croatia. By pure chance, we had two other foreign VTers in London at that time & so they too joined us - Ida (Dyesebel) from Switzerland, and Dragana (viddra) from Serbia. Now, surely that can only happen in a busy capital like London!

Trips in 2007:

1. Romania - March 2007 !
2. Croatia - December 2007!
3. Slovenia - December 2007!

Trips in 2008 (another 'heavy' year :)

1. Sweden - June 2008!
2. Norway - June 2008!
3. Denmark - June 2008!

4. Berlin, Germany - September 2008!
5. Finland - September 2008!
6. Estonia - September 2008!
7. Latvia - September 2008!
8. Lithuania - September 2008!

9. Milan - December 2008!

Trips in 2009:

1. Iceland - March 2009!
2. Salzburg, Austria - May 2009!
3. Cote D'Azur, France - May 2009!
4. Monaco - May 2009!
5. Belfast, Northern Ireland - August 2009!
6. Dublin, Republic of Ireland - August 2009!
7. Turkey - October 2009!

Trips in 2010:

1. Greece (was long overdue!) - March 2010!

Trips in 2011:

1. Bahrain - January 2011!
2. UAE - - January 2011!
3. Malta - planned November 2011!
4. Egypt - planned December 2011!

To check out my travels / photos / tips / etc, do visit my albums or travel pages.

HAPPY V-TOURS ....

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SOME KEY SIGHTS IN LONDON & THE SOUTH EAST

Hampton Court Palace

Outside the Palace Front Gates

The lavish & stylish palace of King Henry VIII, with it's stunning royal apartments & enormous gardens.

Many other royals since also had this place amongst their residences.

Hopefully many of you would know of Henry VIII, who was coerced into marrying his sister-in-law, Catherine of Aragon, following his brother's death. He always struggled with this, being a devout religious man.

Eventually, to gain Henry a male heir, his aide Thomas Cromwell's solution was breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church, thus establishing the Church of England (Protestants, having protested!).

After the death of Henry's 3rd wife, Cromwell convinced him to marry Anne of Cleves, whom Henry resented from the start. Eventually, disenchanted, Henry had Cromwell executed.

Cromwell had by this stage become a very powerful Finance Minister, & had this Palace built for himself. Henry felt jealous of it's overt grandeur, and sensing this, Cromwell presented it to Henry to appease him. However, this did not save Cromwell from the block (the very man who suggested Ann Boleyn's execution!)

Other facts Henry is (in)famous for:
(a) having 2 of his 6 wives beheaded, the 1st of which was Anne Boleyn, mother of the famous and successful Elizabeth I.

(b) suggesting the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots (Mary de Guise's daughter) to his own son Edward VI, when both were still infants. The motive was to thus acquire the Kingdom of Scotland. Mary de Guise was against this, and had young Mary raised in France, thus flouting a Treaty (and bethrothal) signed with Henry, becoming the target for several attacks by England.

Edward never ruled for long, and after Mary Tudor (daughter of Catherine of Aragon), and unfortunate Lady Jane Gray, Elizabeth I was coronated as Queen of England.

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The lovely landscaped gardens at Hampton

Birds feeding at leisure ....

This was taken in the lovely landscaped gardens of Hampton Court Palace.

To some extent, especially with the Long Water, these gardens bear some resemblence to La Chateau de Versailles.

Notice the shaped trees in the background, in the photo on the left.

Perfect place for a family picnic.

The Fabulous Leeds Castle Estate

The Castle and the Lake

This place is definitely worth visiting; roughly 50 miles South East of London.

There are preserved remnants & foundations from medieval times here. On display here is the world's first wooden equestrian statue!!

By tradition, this place was always presented to the consort of the ruling King. Towards the end, ownership moved over from the Royalty to other Aristocrats. Latter owners have their roots in Virginia, USA.

The last owner and occupant, Lady Bailee, of the Standard Oil aristocracy, donated this enormous estate to The National Trust. What a noble lady!

There's a lovely portrait of her with her two elegant & attractive daughters in one of the rooms.

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My 1st ever VT meet.. London 21 Jan 2006

Posing & advertising with Stephanie & Gerry

Jenniflower had arranged this meeting in Piccadilly for that Saturday.. and 88 VTers turned up from all over the world.

What a great experience it was to share stories with such a motley 'crew'!

Stephanie (VT-mum) had come over to this meeting from California with her hubby Gerry.

The dynamic duo..

Carmen shocked, now that she's lumbered with it!!

Carmen ( Carmela71 ) & Stace ( Beach_dog ) took it upon themselves to arrange the forthcoming Euromeet in Marbella for 5th-7th May 2006.

It was more like Stace pushed Carmen into doing it by announcing that she had happily & willingly volunteered...

Poor Carmen, there was no backing out now, considering the 88 witnesses!!

Plenty of notice, so all the diaries came out...

My 1st ever Overseas VT meet.. Hanoi 16 March 2006

Donald, Jonny & (a publisher)?

During my South East Asia tour, I arranged a VT meeting in Hanoi for the 16th of March & even had attendees lined up, when Hien, ( hientonkin ) suggested going to a "propaganda art book launch" that Jonny ( JonnyVN ) had posted in the Vietnam forum..

I couldn't understand what that could have been about, so I checked out the weblink. What Alan Duong (Mosaique Living Rooms' co-owner, other partner is Donald Berger) had achieved impressed me, so I diverted the VTers to this place!!

What a great evening it was!! Superb themed bar, knock-out drinks, and mouth-watering finger buffet!!

Intro Updated Jan 23, 2011
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om_212 Apr 5, 2012 at 11:35 AM

Happy belated birthday, Darshan! all the best in your next year. hope all you wishes and travel plans come true. with best regards, Olya

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balhannah May 9, 2013 at 9:50 AM

Hi Darshan! Yes we are, at Innsbruck at the moment. Not going to England this time, but will be going to Scotland later in the trip.
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  Durfun May 9, 2013 at 10:15 AM
  
  Wow. I guess your farm is producing a bumper crop to fund all this ;-) Will you ski @ Kitzsteinhorn?? AT is gorgeous.. will remind you of Bavaria.. Did you love Vienna? Enjoyed the desserts? :-)
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  balhannah May 9, 2013 at 10:18 AM
  
  We loved Vienna. Didn't have dessert as their meals are huge! Would you believe there isn't much snow around, even after a long winter
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- Traveling in Iceland in May<\/a>\'. I appreciate your advice." data-reportAbuseItemOnPageDetails="Comment #3, ID=10058540" data-anchorFragment="?showComment=10058540#comments" data-reportURL="http://members.virtualtourist.com/members/reportAbuse/" data-contentTitle="Thanks for your answer to \'Traveling in Iceland in May<\/a>\'. I appreciate your advice." data-photoURL="" data-commentAuthor="AsukaM http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/173b7c/" data-authorName="AsukaM" data-authorProfileURL="http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/173b7c/">Report abuse
AsukaM May 7, 2013 at 11:28 AM

Thanks for your answer to 'Traveling in Iceland in May'. I appreciate your advice.
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mahiwin May 2, 2013 at 2:26 AM

:)
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lmkluque Apr 30, 2013 at 1:35 PM

Thank You Marabuzo for the thoughtful birthday greetings!
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Donna_in_India Apr 23, 2013 at 3:56 AM

Definitely have the worse jet lag going TO India. Arriving in the middle of the night makes it a little difficult to go out sightseeing and I can't stand lying in bed for hours trying to go to sleep! Going to try a few of the suggestions I got here and on FB and see if anything works. I'd hate to walk around in a daze for the first few days....!
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theguardianangel Apr 10, 2013 at 9:42 PM

It's now or never... Happy birthday! All the best!
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  Durfun Apr 16, 2013 at 10:47 AM
  
  Thank you :-)
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iblatt Apr 7, 2013 at 12:00 PM

Happy belated birthday - at least it's your birth month still! Ilan
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  Durfun Apr 21, 2013 at 9:32 AM
  
  Thanks for the b'day wishes, Doc :-)
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Fen Apr 6, 2013 at 10:45 AM

Belated Birthday wishes for you Mr D :-) How have you been..? Take care Fen :)
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Florida999 Apr 5, 2013 at 5:04 AM

Happy belated birthday!
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  Florida999 May 6, 2013 at 6:55 AM
  
  It was great! But almost a year ago...I really need to update my VT pages lol!
  We went to Germany ( Berchtesgaden and visiting relative in Rhineland), Paris, Salzburg and Belgium
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  Durfun May 6, 2013 at 7:06 AM
  
  No Romania then??