http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/John---Miranda/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from John Miranda en-us Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:13:09 +0000 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:13:09 +0000 We arrived back at the Bus Station in Belgrade after 3 days in the north. The arrivals is across the road in a separate section and the missing onslaught of taxi touts from the airport are all there in force. We ignored the clamour and proceeded to walk up the hill towards Republic Square to get a bus to our accommodation a word of warning if carrying a large rucksack the hill is steepOne of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Serbia/West/Belgrade/blog-441843.html We entered the world of Cyrillic bus timetables in the bid to relocate to Novi Sad capital of the autonomous region of Vojvodina. The timetables of course meant absolutely nothing and it was just a case of scrolling down until finding what Novi Sad looked like on the Cyrillic translation we had written down. In the end it was all quite straight forward we were directed from one ticket booth to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Serbia/North/Novi-Sad/blog-442048.html Belgrade apart from a few perceptive pieces in the travel sections of the weekend broadsheet newspapers and a growing reputation amongst the dedicated followers of the club scene it doesnrsquot usually get a glowing press. As a rule it seems to suffer from the reputation which the previous tensions in the area brought about and unfortunately our visit coincided with some more international b http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Serbia/West/Belgrade/blog-429691.html The second Twenty20 World Cup comes to England. A series of warm ups group and Super 8 games at each of the three venues Lords Oval and Trent Bridge. The two Semi Finals were at Trent Bridge and the Oval with the Final at Lords.The cunning ICC plan to rid the tournament of the lesser cricketing nations came unstuck after Ricky and the boys failed to read the script. Milinga the Slinger and hi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/blog-408076.html A good description of Dorset in February except for the clamour to enter the all new replacement Woolworths store being opened by Chris Evans which is obviously a big thing in Dorchester. Dorchester made a favourable impression although is arguably a parking nightmare at certain times. The Hardy plaques of interest are in abundance and no doubt connoisseurs of the novels will find many buildi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Dorset/blog-381984.html We set off north along the shores of Loch Lomond towards our next base at Inveraray a whitewashed village in the shadows of Inverary Castle. We checked into the YHA amongst the walking fraternity. As activity is somewhat weather dependent we left some flexibility as to whether we headed straight to Oban through the Glens or went hunting stones near Kilmartin. Wersquod advise anybody to do th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Oban/blog-425631.html A lot has happened in the 2 12 years since the last current blog in Malyasia and Singapore. The bad news is that travel has been secondary except for a few berief sojourns in the UK the good news is that there are still two to travel The blogging recommences with a Charles Rennie Mckintosh view of the Glasgow world. The photos are based on a brief tour of the main sights as featured on the w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Glasgow/blog-381983.html A tale of two cities Buda and Pest. It's also a tale of two visits 1997 and 2001. We arrived on the train down the scenic Danube from Bratislava into the not so attractive greeting point that is Keleti Station. In the days before the internet made having a good look round online before the trip it was an arrival into the unknown. We opted for the underground metro and took the train to the la http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/blog-428597.html Talk to Frank. It's easy If you take a break from your refreshments in the Old Town of Bratislava I won the World Cup Frank was found aimlessly wandering the streets as part of his prematch warm up routine. Chelsea were in town to play Slovan in the old European Cup Winners Cup and as accommodation of a 5 star nature was a bit tricky to locate back in 1997 the team were based right in the he http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Slovakia/Bratislava-Region/Bratislava/blog-428118.html The mists had descended as we made our way on to the Otago Peninsula. The main focus was to see the albatross fly at the colony at Tairoa Head. Wersquod checked into an on site van at a caravan park at Portobello and had some very disappointing Speights at the Portobello Hotel although the Blue Cod chips from the fish hut next door hit the mark. It was NZ24 to get into the albatross colony http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Oamaru/blog-425030.html The tourist dollar seemed to wane somewhere between Te Anau and Riverton and it had definitely disappeared by the time we reached the boundaries of Invercargill. In fact Invercargill on a Sunday was officially closed. There was little evidence of the much fabled bad hair and checked shirt comments which have since been withdrawn from all good travel guides presumably on threat of being suedhel http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Southland/Catlins/blog-371633.html Queenstown is brash big brother to Wanaka the self styled adrenalin capital of the world. If you want to practice risk activities in a way that European health and safety probably wouldnrsquot allow this is the place. There is every conceivable opportunity to bungy jump skydive white water raft free fall and jet boat all at a price. If you opt out they seem more than happy to relieve yo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Te-Anau/blog-369310.html It was an early start for shuttle bus to the train station to catch the TransAlpine across to Greymouth. There was a steady stream of hail stones falling as we boarded amongst the massed ranks of Japanese who were fitting the train trip into their 5 day itrsquos Thursday so it must be Arthurrsquos Pass NZ itinerary. The fact that most were sound asleep within an hour of leaving suggested http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Franz-Josef/blog-369252.html After a consideration of the alternatives we bought an Inter City bus pass for the North Island and headed to Waitomo. It was a very different experience to the Greyhound services in Australia and it was like being looked after by a long lost Uncle with a full explanation of the rules of the vehicle and a fascinating description of how to use a service station.Whilst I am sure there are those w http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington-Region/blog-369234.html The first experience on NZ soil was an unmitigated disaster. What started out as a leisurely midmorning flight from Sydney to Auckland was delayed beyond all comprehension and eventually landed at about 10.00 pm in the driving rain in Auckland. Wersquod experienced a mere 3 brief showers in the three months in Australia so the cold and wet didnrsquot brighten the mood. The situation was comp http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Northland/Cape-Reinga/blog-361525.html Niagara Falls another border town but at the opposite end of the spectrum from Tijuana. The town seemed to have tried to corner the market as Canadarsquos combined answer to Gretna and Las Vegas. As well as an unparalleled view of the Falls the opportunity to gamble and tie the knot.The Falls themselves rank in a lowly place in the hierarchy of waterfall height but represent a pretty impres http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Niagara-Falls/blog-359639.html Mexico if only for one day. Tijuana is a typical border town that thrives on offering anything imaginable that is either not quite acceptable or down right illegal on the US side of the line. The only qualifiaction required cash The formalities were quite straightforward just walk through the gate. We parked the car in one of the large parking lots just by the border and strolled on through http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Baja-California/Tijuana/blog-359631.html The flight of the condor across the Andes to the long thin country. Santiago is a sprawling metropolis tucked in the shadow of the Andes.The similarities were many with Buenos Aires although in the same way as evident in Montevideo the people seemed less focussed. This was clearly evident in the hotel where a singular question brought a pause and a measured response but two questions without t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Santiago-Region/Santiago/blog-358534.html This blog should be another series of photos showing a South American country as a hot bed of football. I know this is a difficult concept to visualise after those shots of an overflowing Estadio Centenario but at least the games went ahead as planned. A lesson to those planning a Rio footballing experience give yourself options. Flamengo would surely play a big home at the Maracana wouldnrsq http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Paraty/blog-358480.html It was only a short hydrofoil across the River Plate and Monty needed a postcard from the epicentre of Mont world. Colonia was the initial destination almostly directly across the River Plate. A world away from Buenos Aires the town was asleep in midmorning as we arrived. If venues such as Cafe Tortoni were trapped in Edwardian Britain Colonia was somewhere in the middle of the 17th century http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Uruguay/District-of-Montevideo/Montevideo/blog-355803.html