You know how I said my next blog entry was coming from Bergen when I wrote last? I LIED. Most of my trips away have literally been over seas, so I tend to forget that trips that don't involve boarding a plane are still are still in fact, trips. Such a trip, is a weekend away in Newcastle. It was really to nice travel within the UK for a change, something I don't do enough of, but plan to correct this year. For a start, you don't need your passport, you don't have to pack stolen hotel shower gel bottles into a tiny, clear zip-lock bag, you don't need to bring an adapter with you, you can use your iPhone normally without being charged through the roof for it, and you can enjoy a ride with ... read more

I wasn't originally going to blog about a 20-hour stopover in Seoul, but looking at my photos and experiences, I've just about got enough material. Besides, I've done it before. What I haven't done before is visit South Korea. Coming in on the plane, you see all these rather dry, brown, perfectly cookie-cut islands on the way into Incheon. From the plane, they look like models, as if you're about to land on the set of Thunderbirds or a Japanese puppet horror movie. Speaking of puppets, Seoul is only a mere 48km from the demilitarised zone - the border with North Korea which is home to one rone-ry man. You almost can't believe how close South Korea's capital city is to the most heavily militarised border in the world, and arguably the world's most combustible strip ... read more

I was surprisingly perky the next day. I could even eat. Walking through Ljubljana to the train station, I noticed that the city was awash with school kids who all had their faces and arms smothered in graffiti. Dule had told us last night that yesterday was the last day of the holidays so perhaps this is some kind of Slovenian freshers ritual. Anyway, we caught a train to the small town of Divaca, the closest town to the Skocjan Caves. We were a bit lucky on arrival - there was a free bus waiting to take us to the caves. It didn't get us to the caves fast enough for the 2pm tour though unfortunately, so we had about an hour to kill. To kill it, we started walking up a path that circumnavigated the ... read more

This isn't the first time I have been to Slovenia, although the preposition "to" is perhaps misleading. Back in the days of 2007, I travelled through Slovenia en route from Venice to Pula, but never set foot on Slovenian soil - i.e. I never got off the bus. Therefore, as per my own rules about visiting countries, I have never been to Slovenia. Until now. I had always heard that Slovenia was a beautiful place - Bled in particular (I had seen the photos) - and was great for outdoor activities. This holiday would be a little different, as Davies and I wanted to try some of the sporting activities on offer. Getting to Bled was a bit of a mission - flights to the capital Ljubljana are fairly expensive because Ryanair don't fly there, but ... read more

Whenever I told anyone about my bank holiday plans, the most common response was one of surprise. "Haven't you been to Rome yet?" With a reputation as a fairly seasoned traveller, particularly in Europe, perhaps it was understandable for people to assume that I have been to one of Europe's major tourist cities. This weekend, I was finally getting the monkey off my back. People would also have been surprised that I arrived at Stansted Airport without any drama. The drama this time lay with Sags - I didn't hold out much hope of him making it. Luckily our flight was slightly delayed and he ended up making it comfortably. Touching down in Rome, I hate how Ryanair boast about how they're the "on-time airline". If you give yourself thirty minutes more than you actually need ... read more