darkjedi's VirtualTourist Home Page

When I was young I grew up close to a railway line, a great transport junction. I lay in my bedroom in the late evenings and I could hear the horns of the night trains and the clickity-clack across the road bridge. We were city dwellers, for years our lives had been static, mostly unchanging, but the night trains reminded me there were vehicles that could take me far away, to mountains, forests and seas.

Now whenever I see a train, I am stirred by the ghost of those endless nights and the wanderlust I enjoyed as a young boy.

The first time I went abroad alone was so scary, but I was determined not to waste another week off staying at home and doing nothing. I seemed to be set into doing this for years. So I chose Amsterdam, Holland, as its near to England, there are lots of ways home if something goes horribly wrong, and I knew many people spoke English! Now I have a travel virus and don't want the vaccine!

2007 - Amsterdam, Gothenburg, Pisa
2008 - Venice, Caen, Berlin, Oslo, Bologna, San Marino
2009 - Dublin, Vienna, Bratislava

NEXT:
Aug 22 - Amsterdam
Oct 16 - Budapest or Lisbon


Note: All photos are taken by me and all destination reviews are places I have actually been inside or past.

A little more adventurous than Amsterdam, I chose Gothenburg in Sweden simply because it was really cheap to get there via an offer Ryanair was doing at the time. The airport is built out of the city and required a 30 minutes bus ride into town despite the name Goteborg City Airport. Everything went well, planes on time, bus easy to get into city, hotel booking ok too and only a ten minute walk from the Bus Terminal. I found Goteborg to be a lovely place, and the weather was fantastic when I was there. About three days is enough to see most of what you want to see if you don't hang around. The people were very friendly and spoke English very well no matter where I went, even in the smaller shops. I have no hesitation in recommending this city to anyone thinking about Sweden, as a good cheap starting point. Despite warnings that everything would be expensive I found them to be 15-20% higher than the UK to it wasn't too bad but would have been a problem if I had stayed longer.

I have returned to Scandanavia and stayed for three days in Oslo, Norway. What an amazing place, full of great museums and monuments of every kind and a good tram network to get around by. In the three days I was there I managed to see 7 of the Top 10 attractions and they were all amazing. However a big downside was the price of everything. All being much more expensive than anywhere else I have visited so far. Based on my trips here so far I have no doubt I will be returning to Scandanavia again soon.

Our local airport 30 minutes away in Bournemouth flies to Pisa and back once a week, so it seemed a good idea at the time to make it an easy trip. Wow what a magnificent place, the tower and its surrounding buildings are truly awe inspiring and nothing like what I was expecting. Sat on the grass in the Campo de Miricali in the autumn sun, you can just drift away and imagine yourself in another time watching the colour of the buildings change from white to a golden shade as the sun set. The city looks a little run down, but that soon becomes part of its charm, and I soon discovered all of Italy looks that way. Venice too has that look, although the graffitti that seems to plague other Italian towns is strangely subdued here. Venice is very different from every other city in the world because of its location so its hard to compare with anywhere. Bologna is such a rush compared to the other Italian cities I have visited, so many people always rushing about, it reminded me of London so much.

Nothing has matched the awe inspiring first sight of the Pisa tower but Italy is still an amazing placeand it has rapidly become my favourite country to visit. My Italian is just as useless as my German but I get by am always learning a few new words every time I go back there.

Now that I have been to a few of the capitals of Europe, I will try and push myself into being a little more adventurous. One of my next trips will involve travelling to one city and then returning from another one.

Travel broadens the mind.
He that travels far, knows much.
Much travel teaches one how to see.
The journey of thousand miles begins with one single step.
Bring me the horizon.
If your mind wanders..... follow it.
If you come to a fork in the road... Take it.
Do not hesitate, pack your bag and go, doesn't matter where.
Who lives sees much, Who travels sees more.
If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.
On the plains of hesitation lay the bones of countless thousands.

Airport floors are our friends.
Flight delays increase our anticipation.

Greece ............................ 21 days
Germany ......................... 18 days
USA ................................14 days
Italy ................................ 11 days
France .............................. 7 days
Austria .............................. 6 days
Ireland.................................4 days
Norway............................... 3 days
Holland .............................. 3 days
Belgium ............................. 2 days
Sweden ............................. 2 days
Slovakia ............................. 1 day

An optimist is a pessimist who is not aware of all the facts.
Yes officer, she said it was a good idea at the time.... and I believed her!