Vacation 2010 - Italy & Africa

Countdown for the trip has started :) I have less than a month and so much is still open, mostly worried about visas and plane tickets, not so much about other arrangement (like housing or tours).

Overview of the initial plans go as follows:

30.08-5.09 ITALY ... few days in Venice, on to Padova, Bologna/Verona visits, wedding in Arqua' Petrarca, more of Venice
6.09-14.09 ZIMBABWE ... Bulawayo, Matopos, Hvange, Victoria Falls, Harare
15.09-24.09 TANZANIA ... Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar, Arusha, Ngorongoro crater, Serengeti, Lake Manyara National Park ... and who knows what else :)
25.09-1.10 MOZAMBIQUE ... lots of beaches and islands, some national parks perhaps. this is still a bit open :)
Arriving to Tallinn on the 2nd of October!

As my vaccination passport is basically full of all sorts of shots and vaccines I only need one to be renewed + malaria pills (I'm a bit afraid of those, but gotta deal with it I guess).

Zimbabwe visa is being processed, Tanzania and Mozambique one will get from the border hopefully :) All the plane tickets between different countries have been purchased, local ones have been booked but not purchased yet. Zimbabwe plans are quite clear and confirmed. Zimbabwe is ongoing and Mozambique is quite open still.

Going to Italy with my friend Kelli, Africa trip will be together with Tiina. Tiina is doing a wonderful job contacting all the needed people and getting itineraries arranged - thank you :)

Long weekend in Spain coming up

On Wednesday I will be leaving to Spain for a long weekend, will be back late night on Monday. You ask what the plan is? The plans are grand once again. Just as a side note, there will be a time when I'm gonna go traveling and I can say "there are no plans, absolutely none" :) Someday this will be the case - promise I have made to myself :D

My route will be Barcelona-Valencia-Benidorm-Barcelona. There are 3 goals for this trip:
1) to visit my friend Oleg who moved to Barcelona about a year ago and now happily lives there
2) to celebrate Kaspar's birthday, he is living in Ireland for a year and is flying down to meet me in Spain
3) to say hi to couple of my students who are in a training camp in Benidorm
Quite grand huh :) ?

But so the plans-plans:
- leaving Tallinn on the evening of 24th and will arrive in Barcelona just before midnight, meeting Oleg and Kaspar at the airport and will camp over at Oleg's place
- spending a day in Barcelona on the 25th
- renting a car on the 26th and driving south during the day with all three of us + Oleg's flatmate, hopefully will make it to Valencia in the early evening. Celebrating Kaspar's birthday and staying in Valencia for the night.
- will head to Benidorm on Saturday, morning of 27th, and will stay there till Sunday evening
- driving back to Barcelona on the evening of 28th
- flying back to Tallinn on Monday afternoon, on the 29th and arriving a bit before midnight

Wish me/us luck :)

Ending the topic of Dubai

Got back from Dubai already two weeks ago and have forgotten to close the topic :) Getting back home was hundred times easier than getting there. Nap at the plane was much deserved, nice and peaceful. Spent the layover in Riga uploading photos and watching movies. Due to the time changes on the way there my notebook showed a bit incorrect time and I almost missed my flight to Tallinn. Oh well :)

Afterthoughts about Dubai - good place to go for a long weekend I'd say. There is not much to do besides shopping and few sights, other than that one gets bored there quickly. There is quite a bit of luxury there, but one needs to look for it, it isn't everywhere and sometimes it isn't even accessible. I've heard that there is not much local culture there - i'd have to say the opposite, but again, one must look for it. Dubai is a desert city, with few green areas and with looots of sand flying around :)

It was a great week, thank you Jaana and Dominique for showing and taking me around!

Now on to booking my accommodation and rentals during my trip to Spain in two weeks.