Posts / Entries - davidMbyrne.com

Posts/Entries

All posts/entries, for now, from 15+ years of global travel.

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

“I find it somewhat ironic that a city in which Muslims, Jews, Orthodox Christian & Catholics have lived in harmony for centuries should have such an unenviable and undeniably tragic past – Sarajevo was both the birthplace of World War I & the location for the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare.”

Belgrade, Serbia

The Balkans Party central situated on a confluence of the mighty Danube River. A quirky & likable city still bearing very visible scars from the 1999 NATO bombing during the Kosovo War.

Transylvania, Romania

Rolling rural farmland, Neo-Renaissance & Medieval Dracula castles & Carpathian Mountain resort towns.

Bucharest, Romania

Wide Boulevards. plazas, beat-up Dacias, crumbling & eclectic architecture & gargantuan concrete monstrosities from the infamous Communist era. There’s more to the Romanian capital than a desire to leave.

Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

Atop 4 hills & the location for the skyline-dominating Tsarevets Fortress, the stunning & historic former medieval capital of the Bulgarian tsars.

Georgia

High in the Eurasian Caucasus, Georgia boasts thousands of years of history, stunning mountain scenery, a unique cuisine & overly hospitable locals.

Armenia

One of the world’s oldest civilizations and the world’s very first Christian nation, Armenia impresses with a pretty capital & an array of medieval UNESCO World Heritage-listed church & monastery complexes.

Uzbekistan

Centre of the historic Silk Road, a country full of dust, unbelievably hospitable locals & even more unbelievably audacious Islamic architectural showstoppers.

Kyrgyzstan

From killing time in the capital Bishkek, a tree infested Soviet-era architectural nirvana in the Russified north, to enjoying the true Central Asia gem of Osh. A look at travel in Kyrgyzstan, the only visa-free ‘Stan.

Kazakhstan

Recapping a winter trip to Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s largest country, including cosmopolitan Almaty, the leafy former capital, & Astana, a.k.a. the Dubai of the Steppes, the futuristic capital on the northern windswept Kazakh steppe, the new petrodollar boom capital for the Central Asian region.

Humourous Signs, China

The meaning is rarely in doubt but the translation leaves a lot to be desired. A collection of humourous signs encountered on a recent trip to China.

China 2015

Recapping a sixth visit to mainland China – including the capital Beijing & the two largest cities in the northeastern & northwestern extremes of the country, Harbin & Urumqi respectively – en route to pastures new in Kazakhstan & Central Asia.

Cairo to Constantinople Exhibition, Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London, England

London, England (2014)

“It was my first visit to one of my favourite cities in 2 years. I know London pretty well but I still like to find the time to be a tourist when I’m in town.”