This ain’t no “Friday’s Featured Food” for yousens so it’s not. But to keep with the alliteration, I’ll rock it out on a Friday and it is food, I’m just not “featuring it.” You may not have built up an appetite reading my previous Chernobyl Exclusion Zone posts. So after visiting Reactor Number 4 (ouch)…
Read MoreRolling hills, and verdant slopes studded with magnificent examples of Hapsburg architecture, make Austria one of the most favoured tourist destinations in the world. A rich cultural, musical and intellectual heritage come together with modern attractions to make Austria tourism magnet it is today. The winter sports capital of Europe, Austria beckons the avid skier…
Read MoreWhile backpacking in Ukraine I was able to go on a free night tour of Kiev, the country’s capital city. I was staying bang in the centre of the city at Tiu Kreschatik Hostel. I heard about a free tour starting daily at 12 noon outside the earth monument in Liberation Square (Maidan Square) so…
Read More“There’s silence in the air, there’s silence in the ground. A presence moving through the rivers in the moonlight. Desolation all around. The wind blows through abandoned buildings, photos scattered on the floors, possessions of a vanished population. Safe haven for my soul.” – Tim Wheeler (Ash) Of course, it wasn’t the song from my favourite Northern Irish…
Read MoreIt was one of those travel days with a more dark and sombre tone. Certainly not the type of place to take selfies at and feel completely happy about. But if you read the first part of my day tour of German Nazi Concentration Camps with Mosquito Hostel in Krakow, Poland: Part 1 – Touring…
Read MoreIt doesn’t get much more crazy than heading on a backpacking journey to “Reactor Number 4”. Indeed, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone attracts less tourists per year than Antarctica, North Korea and Iraq. Here there are 13,000 tourists per year. That’s only 35 people per day on average! And I mentioned in parts 1 and 2…
Read MoreI don’t write about Italy as much, despite having visited the country seven times on my travels. I’m planning to visit Italy again this year, in June on route to France for the Euro 2016 football tournament to watch Northern Ireland in. Italy is one of the best countries for food. I love pizza, any…
Read MoreCasinos around the world are growing in popularity and there are many cities now enjoying the benefits of these hugely revenue generating venues. Thankfully where there are great casino-based venues there is also great entertainment as well as places to eat, drink and be merry. We take a look at just some of the top…
Read More“Your joys are counterfeit. This happiness corrupt political shit” – Richey James Edwards. So in the fourth installment of my trip to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, I report on the journey driving down a Soviet built “road” through a dense forest to a radar system, often known as DUGA 1. This part of the tour seemed less…
Read MoreWhen I arrived in the city of Kraków in Poland, it was time to delve into some Jewish history. Yes, I have spent a hat-trick of weeks backpacking through Israel and Palestine, but here, Jewish history is a huge thing, for sad reasons. Kraków has always had a large Jewish population and a Jewish neighbourhood.…
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