Late 80's and early 90's I spent many weeks on the beautiful Greek island of Crete. In August '95, January-February '97 and April '99 I visited Lithuania and Latvia, which are not overcrouded with western tourists, unlike our neighbouring Baltic capital Tallinn, Estonia. During the spring break '96 I visited San Francisco, CA. In May '96 I spent a few days in Iceland on my way back to Finland after one year of studies at Yale University.
In July '96 I visited Tokaj, Eger (the home of Egri Bikaver) and Debrecen in Hungary, as well as Sighisoara, Brasov, Targu Mures and Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania.
In summer '97 I had a great holiday in Bulgaria. The small villages of Rodopi and Pirin regions are really worth a visit.
In summer '98 I spent some time in Czech Republic, Slovakia, southern Hungary (around Pecs) and Romania (near Arad).
Summer '99 was also the time for Czech Republic (Prague, Brno), Austria (Vienna), Hungary (Györ, Eger, Budapest) and Romania (Baia Mare which later became famouos for its spillage and Bucharest) as well as a separate journey to Crete.
During the year 2000 I vistied Tartu (EST), Naxos and Santorini (GRE). In autumn 2000 I spent three weeks in Northern India (New and Old Delhi, Varanasi, Gorakhpur) and Nepal (Pokhara, trekking to Annapurna Base Camp, rafting in Kali Gandaki river).
In fall 2001 I was 3½ weeks mostly in Laos (flights via Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok).
In 2002 I spent one week in Crete, a few days in Sachsen, northern Bohemia, northern Portugal and Galicia.
In April 2003 I made a beer oriented trip to Slovakia and Vienna. In summer there were two beer oriented trips to Tallinn (Õllesummer) and Belgium (Brusseles, Bruges, Pipaix, Lembeek). In October-November 2003 I spent 3 weeks in Cuba visiting Havana, Matanzas, Varadero, Santa Clara, Sancti Spiritus, Camaguay, Santiago de Cuba and Viñales.
In January-February 2004 we took cheap Ryanair flights to Jerez de la Frontera, Spain and visited Jerez, Arcos de la Frontera and Ronda. In May and December 2004 I took cheap Ryanair flights to London: tasting independent brewery real ales (link to a report in Finnish). In July 2004 I visited Dublin for 5 days. In September 2004 I visited Dubrovnik, Split, some Dalmatian islands (Croatia), Mostar, Sarajevo (BiH) and Kotor (Montenegro).
In Janyary 2005 I visited Stockholm for the first time since early 1990s. Late January 2005 our Beer Society Hämeen Tummat ja Vaaleat made its 10 year anniversary trip to Riga. In Easter 2005 I spent 3 day in Berlin visiting some Berlin microbreweries. In October 2005 I visited Morocco.
In 2006 my longer journeys were to the Basque Country, the Republic of Mari-el (Russia), and Macedonia (FYROM). There were also some trips to the Baltic States.
In 2007 I visited Stockholm (Feb, Sept for SBWF), Dublin (March), Riga (3 times), Venstpils & Kuressaare (May-Jun), Klaipeda, Liepaja, London (Aug for GBBF) and Sicily (Sept).
In 2008 I visited Bremen for three days early March and late September and Norhern Portugal (Porto, Coimbra, and Guimaraes) late April. In summer 08 I visited Pärnu, Viljandi, Mustvee (Lake Peipsi) and Tallinn. In August 08 I visited local brewery Stallhagen and apple "wine" yard Tjudö at Åland Island.
In April-May 2009 I visited Bremen and Scotland (Edinburgh, Craigellachie and Dufftown in Speyside during the annual Whisky Festival, Portsoy, Carbisdale Castle and Stirling).
Last modified: Tuesday, 26-May-2009 16:24:21 EEST