a quick flashback..

During the past months I was quite busy travelling both for business and pleasure..here's a quick glance at the cities that I visited and what I liked the most about them. I've been to London, Barcelona, Skopje, Zagreb, Belgrad, Chicago and Hannover. I mean they are nice cities but I must say that London has a special place as it is a really beautiful city. Me and my wife we had limited time; only three days but we tried to see as much as possible. We stayed at the Cleveland in Westminster and the hotel was quite nice. Good value. Totally recomendable and the staff was really friendly. As London taxis can be very expensive we took the bus from Stansted Airport to Oxford Street and from there with a cab for 8-9 pounds to the hotel, which was okay. We saw a lot of nice things but I must say I was impressed the most with the British Museum. It was huge and mostly for free. After that I had a business trip to the Balkan, where I started with Zagreb. The weather was perfect and Zagreb is one of the nicest cities in the Balkan region. I visited our dealer there and they are one of the nicest guys, who took good care of me..feeding me Croatian food..however, the clumsy guy I am, I almost started a mini Balcan conflict..there was some statue of Nikola Tesla in a plaza in Zagreb and the Croats claim that he was from Croatia as he was born in Smiljan, which today lies in Croatia..back then it was part of the Austrian Empire..anyways, I wondered why Croats where claiming him for themselves when the rest of the world claims that he was from Serbia..boy, wrong question asked and immediately the guys started to counter-argue that the Serbs are idiots etc. In order to drop the tension I said..''c'mon guys..of course he's Croatian..I was just teasing you..'' anyways, my friends are really cool so it was all fine and they bought me a nice necktie in a traditional shop that was selling only neckties.., which was invented by the way in Croatia and adopted by the French calling it 'cravate'..in German we also call it 'Krawatte'..

From Zagreb I made my way to Belgrade and the weather was so stormy that night that I literally pissed in my pants as there were lightnings all over the city while I was in the air praying to whatever God was available to land me safely. I took a taxi from Nikola Tesla airport and check in at the Hotel Moskva, which is a splendid hotel. It is a bit expensive compared to other four star hotels in Belgrade but is a hotel that surely has some history and the rooms are nicely decorated. I won't go into further details as I have written about Belgrade before but I suggest you visit the Bohemian quarter which is called Skadarlija as it is absolutely worth to visit with its cool bars and cafes. After Serbia I visited Skopje and the week after we went on a family trip to Barcelona. Actually it was a bit outside of Barcelona, a small village called Santa Susana. We stayed at the Aquahotel 4 nights which had two swimming pools and a short walking distance to the beach. Me and my wife did not like it much there but our daugther was totally happy. She didn't get out of the pool the whole day and whatever makes her happy makes us happy too..the train ride takes like 1 1/2 hours from Barcelona Sants to Santa Susanna. Back in Barcelona we took a hotel in Diagonal Mar called Barcelona Diagonal Cero..it is a nice hotel with nice rooms. I have nothing bad to say about it. So it was quite busy but we are not finished yet..I will be travelling to Jakarta in September and I'm really excited about that. Stay safe everybody..!

Any suggestions for a destination? or maybe a career-change?

People, I am getting tired of this travelling business. Seriously..for the past 7 years I've been constantly travelling all over Europe and Asia. Mostly for business of course but still when does this drudgery end? For how many hours do I have to get this exposure of airplane radiation? Pack and unpack the freaking luggages..wait at the passport cue..pass through security check..uurggghhh..(and this is not Ronaldo's victory roar..!!)

Well, unless I start a different career, I am afraid I have to endure this until my retirement, which is still 15-20 years away..just to give you a hint what is ahead of me for the coming months..Utrecht, Rotterdam, Frankfurt, London (twice!!), Zagreb, Llubljana, Skopje, Belgrade, Sarajevo..that is 8 countries in 4 months..and then..we're still discussing about Barcelona, Johannesburg (really?? freakin' South Africa??). 

Seriously, I am not braggin or anything..I'm just tired.. tired of doing all the same chit-chat with different persons..talking about the same shit..it's the weather, the market, the economy, the crisis or whatever...staying at the same hotel rooms..you get the idea!

But I shouldn't complain..this is what I deserve..I opted for this..when I graduated from University I didn't want to end up as a translator..speaking so many languages and translating one stupid manual after another..no, no..I wanted to see the world. Interact with people..get to know different cultures..to have that savoir faire..yeah..there you have it.
Anyways, let's talk about something else..I will leave this travelling thing to another day..I bought a new camera recently..nothing too expensive..just one I could carry around easily..not too heavy..it's a Samsung NX300 and I must say I'm quite happy with it. It came with a 20-55 mm lens kit and Adobe Lightroom software..which was a pretty good deal I think. What I likemost  about it, is that it takes great pictures and supports wifi so you can e-mail or send them directly..one thing I could bitch about is that it doesn't have the viewfinder..but what the heck..the Rolling Stones knew that already..you can't always get what you want..

Have you watched 'Whiplash'?..well, if you're into music, you should definitely check it out..it was very entertaining and that dude can really play the drums..I mean, sure he's not a jazz drummer but still..an OK drummer..the music and acting wasn't always in sync but I didn't mind..I like underdog stories..you should check it out.

I like jazz..lot of good music out there..one of the best jazz documentaries is 'let's get lost'..it is about the faboulous Chet Baker and to me that documentary is the mother of all music documentaries. It's shot in black and white but you get to see how destructive drugs can be..Chet Baker was a real addict but also one of the best jazz musicians..check out his '56 record 'chet baker sings'...brilliant..

So, no travel stories this time..just some gibberish..next time I will write you from Rotterdam..stay safe everybody!

I just want to sit on my couch like a boss and sip on my tea!!