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Welcome to my travel log! You will find here a lot more than in the travel reports, stripped from political correctness. Enjoy! 
Dec 09, 2009 07:00 PM Ustka (PL) - an early Christmas
Since, I will be working through Christmas holidays, I decided to take a break early. It has been a while since I was in Ustka in December. It is colder than I would like, but weather is nice. There is enough sunshine and the air is fresh. The resort is definitely quieter than it is in the summer. Very understandably! Groups of pensioners and visitors to the many sanatoriums wander in the town and take their exercises on the beach, facing the winds and bearing with the screeching seagulls.
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Dec 05, 2009 07:00 PM Lake Como - Menaggio (IT)
Today, I decided to visit Menaggio for the first time. Weather is not great. It is almost raining. Cold wind exacerbates already low air temperature and light mist hanging in low impacts the visibility. It looks like more snow fell in the Alps during the night. The streets are even quieter than yesterday. It is Sunday and absolutely nothing is happening. There is only one bar and a couple of restaurants open in the town. Most hotels shut their doors until March 2010, and the only visible signs of life are the Christmas decorations. A large Christmas tree stands on one of the squares and red carpet runs from the square along one of the main alleys passed one church to another.
It is still a very pleasant town. Its main quality are the narrow alleys and the long lakefront promenade, from which the views of the Alps, Varenna and Bellagio are incredible.
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Dec 04, 2009 07:00 PM Lake Como - Varenna & Bellagio (IT)
I descended to the Lake Como in the late autumn time, almost winter, for the first time. It is great to see how the atmosphere of the area changed compared to the summertime. It is also superb to see the snow in the Alps. It is cold, I have to admit, and the streets are empty. Nothing is happening. Many restaurants, bars and shops, and even hotels, have closed for winter. The air is almost eerie. The lake is also calmer. The ferries are still running, but not so frequently, and I thought I could visit both Bellagio and Menaggio on a single day today, but it was not possible. The ferries just did not play to my schedule.
Bellagio is extremely different from what it was in the summer! No crowds browsing in the shops are gone, and only small bunches of Spaniards and Americans wander around the alleys hoping to spot George Clooney or Sharon Stone.
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Nov 28, 2009 07:00 PM London Eye - They still call it a flight
Although no longer a British Airways' enterprise, they still call the ride on the London Eye (aka Millennium Wheel) a flight. I had been on the observation wheel a number times, but this time, it was my cousin and his son from Berlin, and my very good friend from Grenada, whom I joined on the escapade. A hint - if one buys a ticket online (a limited offer only), one receives 20% discount. It was a very cold day, it was about to rain, but the visibility was decent and the massive queue was running at a decent pace. Not too bad, actually. The experience was exactly the same as all the other times I went up in one of the capsules. Once, it was with champagne and finger food, but that was a corporate event. Other than that, I almost felt like there was not much to it anymore. If they took the wheel and moved it to a different location along the river every now and again, the experience would have been different every time... And imagine this - the Millennium Wheel was only to be there for a short time to celebrate the year 2000!
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Nov 09, 2009 07:00 PM Slovakia - 99th country on the clock of the travel reports
If Slovakia is 99th country covered by my travel reports on Globo, which country should be the 100th? Should I wait until I go to a new place or a country I had been before but long time ago, and then come up with a story. Or should I pick one from the twentysomething countries, I have not covered yet? Like Costa Rica, El Salvador, Turkey or Mexico maybe? Hehe, there is not enough substance for those, perhaps, and those trips happened long time ago. So, I guess I will wait. But hopefully, if all goes well, I might hop somewhere worth writing about in the near future.
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Nov 08, 2009 07:00 PM Bratislava (SK) - cold today
Although not per the official meteorological measure, Bratislava felt colder today. Yesterday's forecast claimed that it was going to be sunny on this Monday morning. Well, it wasn't!
Before going home in the afternoon, I decided to climb (hardly, it was a walk really) the castle hill and check the Slovak national monument. It was an easy hike uphills. I was not sure where the entrance was - I spotted two gates from the side of the parliament building. So, sheepishly I passed under the gate closer to the Danube side, and without being stopped I found myself at the foot of the castle within the brown stone walls. I snapped the New Bridge from the ramparts and the Old Town below. I corrected English of a young woman scribing menu on the blackboard of the Hrad Restaurant (great view of the Old Town from their terrace) and proceeded closer to the castle. Only to find out that the restauration efforts had not been completed. And looking like it was going to take them a few months more to finish. So the castle was closed. I lingered a little bit longer among the turning trees of the park at the foot if the royal residence and descended back to the Old Town for lunch.
On my first day, I spotted the original Slovak Pub located in a rustic little house somewhere in the historic centre and I wanted to try it. But I could not find it again!
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Nov 07, 2009 07:00 PM Bratislava (SK) - at the wobbly UFO 95m above the Danube
Today, I decided to go up the New Bridge's UFO observation spot (saucer) to see the capital from above. Weather was a mix of sunshine and worryingly thick, grey cloud. The ride to the top of the bridge was €6.50 and the observation deck on the top of the saucer was open-air, which was great for photography. One could not see as far as the advertised 100km due to rather poor visibility, but it was a great and windy (and cold!!) spot to view the city. The restaurant and bar inside the saucer was interesting and wobbly. It was shakkking all the time, and whenever a large vehicle passed through the bridge 95 meters below, the plastic glasses on the plastic shelves rang. The tables and chairs were also made from tranluscent, clear plastic for appropriate weight distribution. Anyway, it was a great feeling. I had a great caffe latte and a superb coconut mojito (all €10.60).
Then, I descended and walked along the Danube and crossed over to the north bank via the rapidly ageing Old Bridge. The old town was packed with Travellers from all over the world, which was a massive change from the night before boasting empty alleys and atmospheric subdued street lighting.
The main square (Hlavné Námeste) had free wi-fi, so convenient for Skype chatting and submitting this travel log.
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Nov 06, 2009 07:00 PM Bratislava (SK) - it's been over 20 years!
Last time I was in Blava, as Bratislava is affectionately called by its residents, I was a boy scout. It was 1986. Czechoslovakia was still on the map!
When Bratislava came up on Ryanair's map with £10 all inclusive return fare, I decided to visit the city again. I have been hearing that they had done great things to it. Particularly to the old town. I guess my expectations increased over time. But what I really wanted was a weekend away, some sightseeing and wandering in a familiar style of Central European historic town. I packed my black shoulder bag, took my camera, jumped on the Stansted Express train, and switched on the 'on-the-road mode'. Weather in London was fantastically better than the forecasted one for Bratislava. I was hopeful however, that they got it wrong and I was going to see some sunshine in Slovakia, too.
And it was not too bad. I landed on the evening. It was not sunny, but it didn't rain. Then, the darkness came quickly, and the nicely lit old town charmed me. Just as I was struggling to find my hotel...
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Oct 22, 2009 02:00 PM London (GB) - autumn sunsets
Sadly, summer is over and it will take over eight months at least for it to come back. Well, but today, weather was great in our fascinating, diverse and vibrant city. With temperatures climbing to 17C degrees, ain't bad for the end of October. Global warming, huh? At least sunsets over the River Thames make it a nice sighting. One of the good spots to see them is the Canary Wharf Pier. Oh, that spot also boasts a few good places to eat, including one of London best steak houses - the Gaucho Grill. And a word of warning - the Royal China Restaurant, which is also there is rather terrible - I highly recommend to avoid it!
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Oct 17, 2009 02:00 PM Ustka (PL) - Getting prettier
Ustka's local authorities have recently received an award for the second best place in Poland in creating EU-sponsored projects to boost the local economy and improve the standard of living of the local community. Indeed, considerable amounts of money have been spent in renovating the old town, whose street layout had not changed for centuries.
Weather was good, so I went to see the effects of the work. And yes, this little summer resort is getting prettier. There is still rather much to be done, to bring Ustka on par with some of the extremely photogenic coastal resorts of England, France, Germany, etc. But, if all goes well, and the old town is going to be saved in its entirety, a few years from now, the town might actually get there. I was also glad to see that the recent mighty storms did not ruin Ustka's grand seafront promenade, and the beach was spared too. Both of them.
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