“It’s all too beautiful” – Small Faces. Despite what the tourist brochures and obvious tourists tell you, Northern Ireland’s charm lies not in Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway!! Nor in the Bushmills Distillery and the Carrick a Rede Rope Bridge! Even though I promoted them to the hilt myself many times and continue to tell…
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Here is a full list of My Printed Book Anthology By Jonny Blair (1980 – 2024) Backpacking Centurion Series – A Northern Irishman’s Journey Through 100 Countries My first book series is Backpacking Centurion which covers my journey from country 1 (Northern Ireland) to country 100 (Tunisia), from 1980 until 2015. This series of four…
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“I loved her enough to forget myself” – Truman Capote. So the story goes that I had Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and this ain’t no love story, though weirdly it could and should be. Actually, probably it is. The books will get that; the blogs won’t. There’s too much magical mystery at play here on these…
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March 2024 saw me finally arrive in Gagauzia. My oh my what a journey! This is a fully autonomous republic in eastern Europe, which borders Moldova. I crossed the border by marshrutka from Chisinau in Moldova to Comrat in Gagauzia. Comrat is the capital city of Gagauzia and I toured the city’s top 12 sights.…
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“I follow the Moskva down to Gorky Park” – Scorpions. On a brave spring day in March 2024, I celebrated an odd moment of freedom here, actually on a glory day. 26th March 2024 to be exact. This was my day of freedom from the world and the disasters of the previous 10 years. And…
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“Shouting at the world you’ll never change. But it’s what’s inside, you’ve got to rearrange” – Andy Cairns. A 2014 Jonny Blair once shone his light on perky Moldova 🇲🇩. It was November 2014 when I first crossed by nighttrain into the extraordinary world of Moldova. Memories aplenty, and there did it all go wrong?…
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“Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son” – Iron Maiden. I wrote about some musical backpacking sights of London before. On that trip I backpacked Pulp, Oasis, The Clash, The Beatles and Iron Maiden. Sadly the day I visited Iron Maiden, the pub of their birthplace, was shut for renovation. I was there on 1st January…
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“Drowned in love ❤️ and false kisses; a gathering of no meaning” – Manic Street Preachers. I never really thought I’d ever return to Bucharest, which capitals Romania. I mean, I was already here 4 times in the same month back in 2014. November 2014, I backpacked Bucharest 4 times that time. But Don’t Stop…
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In a resounding acknowledgment of Dublin’s commitment to innovation, sustainability, and cultural richness, the European Commission has selected the Irish capital as the European Capital of Smart Tourism for the year 2024. The decision, announced after a European Jury meeting in Brussels in late November 2023, marks a significant milestone for Dublin and positions it…
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In total, I have been to Scandinavia on 6 different trips, swallowing Sweden (7 times), Denmark (6 times), Finland once, Norway once, Iceland once, Faroe Islands once as well as the lesser recognised Christiania and Ladonia! It was mostly in snow, and with a real winter beauty! There are lots of options for travelling in…
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