Places I’ve been…

These are some places I’ve visited along the years….

Europe:

-Hungary – Budapest – passed one of my first interviews there , nice city , very nice architecture , well preserved city .

-Austria – Viena – needless to say how beautiful this city is .

-Germany – Munchen , Frankfurt , Hamburg , Kiel , Warnemunde – traveled by taxi , by train and with the cruise ship I was working on.

Warnemunde…

-France – Paris , Bordeaux , Bergerac , Marseilles , Avignon , Monaco , Monte Carlo , Cannes , Villefranche , Saint Malo , Pas de Calais , Le Havre , Montbazillac , Corsica Island ( Ajaccio ) – one of my favourite countries , first of all because I speak the language , the food is very good , the wine , well , has no match anywhere else , because I have some friends as well .

Le Grand Casino – Monaco

-Poland – Gdynia , Gdansk – quite nice for a medieval city.

-Belgium – Zeebrugges , Bruges – to rainy for me…

-Holland – Amsterdam – one of the best places for shopping!

Nemo Museum – Amsterdam

-Denmark – Copenhagen – If I would be able to choose where to live , this will be No.1.It is clean , well organised , quiet , has a lot to offer , very nice cafe’s , very nice people.

Little Mermaid

One fantastic fountain

Nyhavn – the Old Port

-Sweden – Stockholm , Visby

-Finland – Helsinki – many young people around , students and a very good fish market – a place where you can have some very interesting dishes.

The “Ice Bar” – for the conoisseurs…

-Estonia – Tallin – Medieval town with a beautiful square , with many restaurants and terraces and so many churches !

The FUTURE is NOW !

- Norway – Oslo , Bergen , Flaam , Vijk , Allesund , Hammerfest , Honnigsvag ( Nordkapp ), Longyaerbien Island , Tromso , Trondheim , Geiranger , Alesund – This country I have been able to visit – again – during my work on various cruise ships for about 5 years every year….another place to be !

-Groenland – Nuuk , Umanak , Kakortok – A strange place to live but I bet that during the night one would be able to see the most amazing sky !

-Iceland – Reykjavik , Akureyri – some of the best clubs are to be found in Reykjavik , believe it or not with special mention to “Astro Club”.

-Feroe Islands – Torshavn

-Great Britain – Dover , Southampton , Guernsey Island . Gibraltar – If you go to Britain , well , make sure you have enough pounds on you…..

-Spain – Barcelona , Cadiz , Malaga , Valencia , Alicante , Almeria , La Coruna , Bilbao , Ibiza Island ( Ibiza ) , Mallorca Island ( Palma de Mallorca ) , Menorca Islad ( Port Mahon ) , Tenerife Islands ( La Gomera , Gran Canaria , Lanzarote ) – Hola Sunny Spain ….for the one that looks for sun , sangria and tango.

The Fruit & Spices market in Barcelona

-Portugal – Lisbon , Porto , Faro , Fatima , Madeira Island ( Funchal ) , Acores Island ( Ponta Delgada ) – go to Lisboa and Fatima !

-Malta – La Valleta

-Italy – Savona , Genova , Livorno , Civittavehia , Roma , Florence ,Pisa ,Napoli , Pompeii , Ravenna , Venezia , Palermo , Messina , Taormina , Olbia , Catania , Salerno , Sorento – Buongiorno a tutti ! Needless to say , I guess , what one can find in Italy besides a very good espresso ristretto , the Vatican and – Oh yes – the Fashion Stores !See Pompeii and you will have the quintessence of the Roman Empire , the Italian Nation and going further the European Histroy , the Culture , the source of it all.

street view in Pompeii

Villa del Fauno – the biggest and most beautyfull in Pompeii

Il Colliseo

“Pieta”

Toscana / Tuscany …hm , the wines !

-Croatia – Dubrovnik

-Cyprus – Lymasol , Larnaca

-Greece – Athens , Piraeus , Salonic , Mykonos , Katakolon , Santorini , Creta , Rhodos – If one goes to Katakolon , make sure you try and have a break for lunch at one of the many terraces in port , then have a look at the jewllery shops on the main street .

-Republic of Moldova – Chisinau – I’ve spent 11 months over there in Chisinau , people are very nice , there are only a hand full of good restaurants …not much else due to the regime that still runs the country and because of the 60 or more years of comunist leadership…oh , try and go visit the “Orasul Subteran” ( the “City Underneath” ) which is one of the biggest wine cellars in the world – it hold almost 3.5 million bottles of wine , some of them very old – and you’ll pass by Cabernet Street , Chardonnay Alley and so on….extraordinary!

Chisinau Office

-Ukraine – Odessa , Yalta .

-Russia – Sankt Petersburg – Russian History and Culture Capital – some of the “must see” Hermitage Palace / Museum , Pushkin Palace , St. Isaac Cathedral , Peter & Paul Cathedral , Ekaterinburg and many others.

The October Revolution War Ship

Peterhof

Bonus…two docked russian subs

 

Africa:

 

-Marocco – Casablanca , Agadir – In Casablanca one would be very amazed to find a Negresco Building – one of the richest Romanians around 1920′s and founder of Negresco Hotel in Cannes !..the building in Casablanca is a true art deco building which , at the time I visited was painted in green?!?!?….No comment…

-Algeria – Algiers

 

Middle East:

 

-Turkey – Istanbul , Bodrum , Antalya , Marmaris

-United Arab Emirates – Abu-Dhabi

Asia:

 

-Thailand – Bangkok , Pattaya – all is smooth as silk ( Thay Airways credo ) , amazing cities , amazing culture !

Bangkok at night and Bayoke Sky Tower Hotel – I’ve been to the top of that hotel

Bangkok Sky Train

-Union of Myanmar – Yangon ( Rangoon ) – I’ve spent 2 years in this country and despite its regime ( Military Dictatorship / Junta ) at the time I was there it looked like it will open and become a free country ….it did not happened .From 1998 to the year 2000 I have been able to travel around the country around the cities and found a profound religious people , mostly buddhist , very kind , always with a big smile on their faces …truly a special place in my heart to whom I will dedicate a particular part of this book !

Kandawgyi Palace Hotel Yangon …that’s right it’s not a temple

Shwedagon Pagoda at sunset

Public Transport

The Royal Lake , Kadawgyi Palace Hotel and some of Yangon skyline

Kandawgyi Palace Hotel – Royal Bungalow …honeymoon best choice ever !……by far! ( jacuzzi by the bed , outdoor shower , private swimming pool – I could not advertise a much more suitable place than this )

…bungalow pool….anyone?…

-Popular Republic of China – Xiamen , Hong Kong.

-Singapore – Merlion!

 

United States of America :

 

-Miami , Fort Lauderdale , Key West – despite the popular belief that U.S.A. was a place of contradictions for what I’m concerned ….I did not like the places visited to much , still there is something about it …if you look close enough , one will be able to find interesting pieces of architecture ( with special mention to Art Deco ) , food is cheap but not sophisticated unless you go to a 5 star place / establishment .

Fort Lauderdale / Miami area from the sea

street in Key West

art deco building I think…

Downtown Miami ( the building to the right is the hotel I stayied in for about 2 weeks – Riendes Hotel nowadays Continental Miami Bayside Hotel ) …and Yellow Cab

 

 

Caribbean & South America :

 

-Bahamas Island – Nassau

Atlantis Hotel

-Dominican Republic – Catalina Island ,La Romana ,Marina ,Altos de Chavon – That would be a place where rich and famous find their quiet spot , either in a villa around Marina and Altos de Chavon , or where they park their newest acquisitions when it comes to boats and yachts .The Marina is a place with very good restaurants ! Very high standard in quality !

Cigar maker…I’ve sampled a few from that gentleman…very good ones!

-U.S. Virgin Islands – St. Thomas – Cruise Port at its best …lots of tax free shops.

GTS Infinity docked at St. Thomas Cruise Terminal

-Puerto Rico Island – San Juan – the Dragonfly Restaurant is one of the establishments where I found some of the best dishes I’ve ever tried , some very good wine and ….the best service provided by an outstanding waitress by the name of Veronica.

street view in Old San Juan

I would mention the shops and the Cigar Shops in particular ,among the best in the area!

-St. Kitts Island – Basseterre

-Antigua Island – St. John.

old house , first picture taken as I came out of the ship….

-Santa Lucia Island – Port Castries

-Barbados Island – Bridgetown

-Martinique Island – Fort de France – Legion Etrangere….

-British Virgin Islands – Tortola

-Mexico – Costa Maya , Cozumel Island – Cozumel …would that be a place to find a romanian restaurant???…well yes!.. believe it or not there is such a place and without having a extended menu that establishment is full every day ( mostly crew members , Romanians working on cruise ships ).

…did I tell you about that Romanian restaurant in Cozumel….well , here it is…Dracula naturally …

odd place to be in…

-Curacao Island – Willemstadt – colorful…