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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! 
Apr 13, 2008 02:00 PM Armenia - very soon
Soon after Iran, I am planning to go to Armenia. Again with bmi and their magic ticket. It will be a very short visit to take an advantage of a longer weekend in the UK, incorporating the Late Spring Bank Holiday - the last Monday of May. I will therefore have only time to explore Yerevan and perhaps make a side trip to one or two grand monasteries, those amongst the very first Christian ones, which look very similarly to this one I saw in Georgia.
I realise that the political situation has not been great lately (something to do with elections) and that curfew has been imposed on many regular civil liberties like gathering and even movement. I certainly hope things will come down, and I will have a jolly good time.
I will partly rely on the Lonely Planet and do hope the guy employed by the guide, who very recently confessed to have completely made up his editions of the Lonely Planet guidebooks, did not write the one I am taking to the Caucasus...
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Apr 06, 2008 02:00 PM Iran, I'm coming soon
Hopefully with no visa problems (provided I use my Polish passport for this trip!), I will be entering Iran on the first Sunday of May. I had difficulty to get in touch with the Iranian Embassies across Europe to confirm it, though. Nowhere would they pick up a phone... curiously. Well, I checked with a few websites and the IATA requirements and I should be fine. I should be allowed to stay for 7 days.
Courtesy of bmi that awarded me the ticket and which changed the timetable (now arriving at IKA and not THR and about 2 hours earlier), I was able to change my itinerary, which now should look like this: Tehran > Yazd > Shiraz > Persepolis > Isfahan > Tehran > Bam > Tehran. So, I got a little excited about this short holiday.
Next step would be to book the internal flights with Iran Air, which rather conveniently have an sales office on Piccadilly, just across the Ritz Hotel. I'm making time to do it this week. And then, it would be nice to find out about the hotels...
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Apr 05, 2008 02:00 PM Sevilla, Kingdom of Spain
From Córdoba, I will be travelling to Sevilla. This is where I stay overnight between 26 and 27 April. I have never been to Sevilla and I am very excited. I almost went there on my one before last trip to Andalusia, but I never made it.
I hope I will be able to sample some Saturday night fever, if there will be some.
I would like to see the Alcázar obviously, the cathedral, Torre del Oro, Torre de la Plata, Torre Abdelaziz, linger around Plaza de España, and then I don't know. I just let myself loose... I will study a bit more to make sure I make most of my time in Sevilla, but I will again just wander about.
If any of the Globies are around, let me know - it would be great to go for a drink!
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Apr 05, 2008 02:00 PM Cádiz, Kingdom of Spain
I will be visiting Cádiz, amongst the oldest settlements on the peninsula and a historical port in the south of Spain on Sunday 27 April. I know that they used Cádiz to double for La Habana, the Cuba's capital in many films, apparently in one of the James Bond 007's, too. I am curious too see how that was possible, so I will bring my memories from Cuba with me.
I have no idea what I am going to do in town. I will probably climb the Torre Tavira to get the orientation and then just walk along the ocean front, have a peek into the Catedral Nueva, I don't know. But as usual I will just wander around in the little streets hopping from one cafe to another.
If any Globies will be around in Cádiz on that Sunday, let me know I would be happy to chat over coffee, sherry or brandy - the originals from Jerez de la Frontera...
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Apr 04, 2008 02:00 PM Córdoba, Kingdom of Spain
On 26 April, I will be in Córdoba for a few hours, on my way to Sevilla. I drove through Córdoba back in 1996 on my way from Morocco to Madrid... to cash a cheque. My friends and I ran out of money, and the only way to get some for the petrol and some food was to cash a Eurocheque that I had buried in my wallet.
I am sure Córdoba changed since then, and this time I will have almost three hours to explore something. I do not have a plan, but I guess the obvious choice would be La Mezquita. It will be Saturday, so I hope everything will be open. Then, I think I just wander about the town, let myself lost. This is my favourite kind of visiting places. Perhaps I might even stop at the Synagogue.
If any of the Globies will be in town, let me know - we'll go for a coffee...
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Apr 01, 2008 02:00 PM I'm going to Berlin again
On the first weekend of June, I will be in Berlin again. I hope weather will be great, so I could take some great pictures and sit in many bars outside probing several hefe-weizen beers. Weather will also determine whether I will go to the picturesque (and UNESCO-listed) Potsdam. It will probably be too soon for the artificial beaches along the canals, but if they are there, I will definitely would like to check them out. I only tried one very briefly a long time ago.
If any of the Globies are around in Berlin on the weekend, let me know if you like to meet for a beer or two.
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Mar 30, 2008 02:00 PM London Heathrow Terminal 5 - Spectacular Failure
I am not brodcasting this for pleasure, but to alert travellers to the current situation and the future operations at London Heathrow Airport in the next six months or so.
The British airports operator BAA opened the new terminal at London Heathrow - Terminal 5 (T5). The terminal will host British Airways exclusively and as many as 50 airlines will be swaping terminals during the next six months. The Terminal 2 will soon close. Airlines will be moving around according to their alliances, and for example Star Alliance will use Terminal 1 with few airlines operating from Terminal 3.
On the very first day of openening, the terminal failed miserably. The luggage handling machinery and personnel let down thousands of travellers and led to many flights cancellations. Passengers flew without their luggage, and a considerable backlog of bags mounted in the terminal. People are urged to not travel with hold luggage or try to avoid flying with Biritsh Airways for the time being. Flights continue being cancelled and bags being lost. British Airways apologised twice already.
Public transport in London has also changed to move people to the new terminal as well as keeping transport going to the old ones, too. The Piccadilly Line will operate six trains an hour to T5 and six trains an hour to T4 - all trains going via Heathrow Central for T 1,2,3. Heathrow Express trains from Paddington will no longer serve Terminal 4. Heathrow Connect trains will not serve T5 for the time being. A number of bus lines have changed, too.
More details can be found on: http://www.tfl.gov.uk
So, I would travel lightly and not with BA if possible...
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Mar 24, 2008 07:00 PM No travel at all!
Sadly, I did not manage to go anywhere this Easter after I had to cancel my short holiday in The Sudan owing to delay in visa issuing. It was too late to book anything else during this busy time, and I was not prepared to pay £1000+ for such a short trip, even if it was for Rio de Janeiro!
So, instead I spent the four days on a couch. I know, it is very sad, but hey, at least I posted five new travel reports: a trilogy on Peru with a supplement; and one on Plovdiv of Bulgaria. It's not the same, but I enjoyed writing those as part of me was reliving those trips. Particularly the memories on Peru came back nicely.
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Mar 14, 2008 07:00 PM No Sudan this Easter
It is now official. My visa will not arrive in time, if it arrives at all. I should have applied for it in Berlin and not in London!! Anyway, I therefore had to cancel my flight to Khartoum, and so far I failed to secure a flight somewhere else. It is busy around Easter, so I fear I will not be able to go anywhere, actually. I checked availability for Rio de Janeiro, Muscat, Amman, Larnaca, Gdansk, and there was nothing!
One year, I went to Scotland for Easter, so maybe I will do something in the UK. If I can get transport over the Channel, perhaps I might go to see my friends in Belgium. I don't know.
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Mar 12, 2008 07:00 PM Sudanese visa - an unfortunate end of a saga?
I checked with the Sudanese embassy in London that no approval for tourist visa has arrived from Khartoum as yet, and therefore I should not count on its arrival before my scheduled departure to The Sudan, i.e. 20 March 2008. It has been taking over 7 weeks and I am losing faith that I will visit the country this Easter.
This means that I will not see the Meroe Pyramids, pictured here. Such a shame!
I am about to change my plans altogether given the circumstances. It will not be easy to get a flight anywhere equally exotic in such a short time for Easter and to a country where I will not require visa or could obtain one on arrival. I am considering the following options:
Jordan, Oman, Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), Cyprus, Dubai or perhaps Azerbaijan.
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