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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! 
Jul 06, 2009 02:00 PM China Holiday - accommodation booked
The trip to China is getting ever closer. Today, I managed to secure bookings in hostels and a hotel in all destinations but Lhasa, as I still have no permit to enter Tibet. I was a bit nervous that it might be hard to find affordable rooms in Shanghai around the total eclipse, but it was not. Actually, I managed to navigate to the webpages, find hotels/hostels and book them within a space of just 15 minutes. Such a different experience to that one about Montenegro...
In the first ten minutes I booked hostels in Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu and Beijing. The remaining five minutes took me to find a room in Datong, which proved harder than anywhere else in my itinerary.
In Datong, I could not find a hostel, so I would have to stay at a 4* hotel. Something tells me that I will not find many travellers there, unless they all had the same issue with securing a backpacker spot.
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Jul 04, 2009 02:00 PM London - the O2 Arena; Madonna's tribute to Michael Jackson
I was lucky enough to get a concert ticket for Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour, whose first installment I saw last year, at the O2 Arena in London. Public trasport was terrible, as the Jubilee Line was closed for mysterious engineering work (the line extension from Westminster to Stratford, incl. North Greenwich for the O2, is only 10 years old). However, Thames Clippers and the O2 worked out river transport enhancement to move the thousands of concertgoers. There were express boats running between the O2 and Waterloo, and free shuttle between the O2 and East India Dock, connecting with the Docklands Light Railway.
It was my first time at the arena, world's most popular entertainment venue, and I loved it. One does not have to queue anywhere, but can comfortably sit in one of the many pubs, cafes and restaurants until the very last minute...
Madonna was only a few minutes late and delivered ravishing show. In the middle of it, she played a tribute to Michael Jackson by playing snipets from his most recognisable songs, having a dancer dressed in Michael Jackson's famous attire and performing his signature moves, including moonwalk, and calling him "the greatest performer the world has ever seen". It was a very nice touch indeed. At the end of the concert, Michael Jackson's songs were played as the crowds were leaving the arena.
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Jun 29, 2009 02:00 PM China - the trip is getting closer. Visa obtained.
Today, I got my Chinese visa. Since the introduction of the Visa Application Centre, the cost of the visa more than doubled. Although the visa itself is £30, the processing costs of the centre are £35, which means that the total cost makes the Chinese visa one of the most expensive visas in the world. The single entry visa is valid for 30 days of holiday, and the visa expires three months after the date of issue. The application process, however, was fairly simple, without questions asked, and the payment was taken on the day of passport collection. The centre accepted debit cards, which was good for me, as I did not expect the centre's fees to be so high. The visa was ready in four working days.
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Jun 26, 2009 02:00 PM Venice (Venezia) (IT) - rain & sun
When I arrived from the Treviso airport (coach, return ticket €10, must be purchased in advance) Venice was soaking in rain. I was not pleased. It rained so badly, that I decided to acquire an umbrella, and I had never done it before during my travels. Well, I wanted to take photos, and that was going to be possible only with a brolly. And yet, at midday, the sun came out big time and turned Venice to a sauna almost. It was so humid! Sweating like some fur animal but happy, I could take my pictures.
From my last visits to Venice, I remembered that the gondoliers could be grumpy and often aggressive about their business. Not this time. I found many, who were witty, good humoured, and smiling a lot. A ride in a gondola like that was going to be a different experience!
Piazza di San Marco was however turned into a concert venue, with plastic chairs set in the centre, which was not contributing to the usual charm of the place. I climbed the bell tower for the first time, and it was a good place to take some panoramic shots.
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Jun 25, 2009 02:00 PM Venice (Venezia) (IT) - Here I come again
It must have been over ten years, since I last time visited Venice, the city that boasts the perfect entry to the world. Ryanair, with their €20 return including all taxes and charges, lured me into this trip. I absolutely have no plan, and I am not sure what I am going to do, but at least I will take some updated photos of this unique and extremely picturesque city.
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Jun 21, 2009 02:00 PM Dubrovnik (HR) - what's left to say?
Eleven years ago, when I first ventured to Dubrovnik, it was charming and sufferable. Few groups wandered about the old town, but it was manageable. The Croatians were preocupied with their performane in the Football's World Cup, as their team was doing really well. They took their TV sets outside and with great passion supported the boys. The atmosphere was electrifying. And it was not unfeasable to take a photo of entirely empty main street running from the bell tower to the fountain!
Not on this visit! According to my estimates, there might have been 6,000 to 8,000 people at a time trottering on that street alone! Only spontaneous rapid downpours of rain cleared the throughfare for few minutes.
Fortunately, no signs of the Balkan War were visible anymore, and it was jolly good to see that the city had recovered completely. With pint of lager costing £4.20 surely this must have been easy! My oh my, a pint of lager cost more than pizza! And that was four times more than in Montenegro. Ouch!!
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Jun 20, 2009 02:00 PM Budva (ME) - real beach resort with a historical gem
Budva welcomed me with so much rain that it could be mistaken for the tropics. It bucketted continuously all for hours On such a day, walking about the city trying to discover its qualities was not easy. However, the old town complete with a castle and a couple of really nice churches, predictably a maze of narrow stone alleys, had so much charm that weather affected it only slightly. Sitting in a cafe under a large umbrella listening to thunders growling and the raindrops banging was really atmospheric!
The beaches of Budva were empty that day. Well, people were missing, but the equipment; parasols, deck chairs, matteraces, sunbeds; were all there waiting for the sun to come out and call in the sunbathers. They had to wait until 5pm for it. And when the sun came out, the shiny pavements of the old town reflected the visitors and the colourful window shutters. But the joy lasted 1h only.
Had the old town been less attractive, it would have been little reason to come to Budva on a rainy day, actually. The new town had nothing to offer. When it stopped raining and the hot sunrays dried my shirt, my trousers, my bag, my hair, but not my feet, I was happier. Much happier! I even started contemplating of going back to Sveti Stefan to take some photos, despite the entire island being closed. Before I could make up my mind, the sun hid behind a thick layer of dark cloud.
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Jun 20, 2009 02:00 PM Sveti Stefan (ME) - closed down!
Going to Sveti Stefan on Sunday 21 June 2009 was not a great idea at all. It was nothing short of a disaster actually. Weather was classic bucketing down. Temperature dropped below 20C and it just would not stop pouring down! Not even for a second! Not only was a soaked head to toe, I did not dear to pull out my camera for photos. It was such a shame, since Sveti Stefan was such dramatically situated place. And yet, to add insult to injury, the entire old town on the island was locked and it was impossible to visit its treasures inside, like the famous Church of St Stefan. Had I not crossed the line and let my almost vintage camera face the downpour, I would most definitely call the escapade a total waste of time.
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Jun 19, 2009 02:00 PM Kotor (ME) - at night...
if Kotor appeared quiet in the afternoon, it was heaving at night. That was because the local crowd, mainly teenagers and twentysomethings, flocked into the old town to visit the bars, and sit on stools if only just to be seen by peers that they could. It was completely different picture and felt like the old town suddenly turned into a giant open-air dance club/lounge. Weather was about to catch up with the forecast of rain and thunderstorms and the night sky flashed with lightning every few seconds. Still adding to the club ambiance! Luckily it remained dry. It was so cool to layze on a sofa at one of the lounges listening to local pop music, looking at the illuminated city ramparts climbing up the mountain and watching the sky light up violently but without a sound. It was so surreal, wonderful, incredible and utterly thrilling!! With every single flash of white light, mountains that surrounded Kotor showed their sillhuettes like giant ghosts, who were waking up to close on the old town. Life was good again! It was the most beautiful thunderstorm I had ever seen in my life! There are absolutely no words!!
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Jun 19, 2009 02:00 PM Kotor (ME) - Montenegro's gem
If Croatia has its Dubrovnik, Montenegro has its Kotor. What a lovely little place?!
Kotor is an extremely picturesque town in the north-western Montenegro, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. White walls surround the sandstone and marbel palaces, churches and tall tenant houses.
I really could not put my finger on any specific place to call it my favourite spot. It would have to be one of the piazzas (trgs), I think. The one with two churches, a large one and a tiny one, was particularly lovely. But the two just behind the main gate, both with the view of the town's clock tower were very animated, too.
I would expect many more tourists. The town was relatively quiet, and although I came just before high season, it felt like Montenegro us still to be discovered... The impossibly narrow streets of the old town were empty and almost eerie. The many cafes and restaurants, with their tables on the pavement, did not see many customers at all. And even though I was late with my own escapade to the country, it made me feel good (almost) that I might have just been one of the first (or the second) to give Montenegro a go. I actually thought that the 007's Casino Royale would have triggered more tourism.
And I am baking in the sun. Those forecasts predicting rain and thunderstorms were so wrong. What rubbish!! I will come back to London with burnt nose, I am sure!!
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