Treading a fine line between "cool" and "wanker".

Fuck me... this video, it's a tear jerker. (I'd heard that the band are returning to the front line in Ukraine now.)



There has been the odd comment of..."well of course Ukraine was going to win." (Implying that the song itself was not good enough.) I confess, I am personally not a fan of the rapped bits but the other vocals are haunting and mesmerising which I utterly loved, and they were great on stage too.

For those who do not know how points are given, the scoring is more significant than at first glance. You see, half the points are given by a team of judges in 40 countries, and Ukraine got average points overall. It was only when the peoples' votes came in that Ukraine won by a landslide number of points from the phone ins. A political message? Certainly, but not a bad one, the people of Europe support Ukraine, albeit the sort of people that watch Eurovision. That is actually a more subtly powerful message than might be imagined at a cursory glance.

Linz! Here I am in one of the churches, where there appears to have been some sort of accident or murder, it's all roped off awaiting the police to arrive...



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So, being so close to Albania, how about another day trip? A bit of prior rummaging on Google indicated that there was a ferry to Albania from Ohrid.



Unfortunately...

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Catch up! A delayed picture review of Chişinău in Moldova. Moldova, Europe's least visited country!

St. Theodor Tiron Convent (no information available! Or indeed directions, as it was not marked on the local map I was given. Verily, tourism isn't a thing in Moldova.



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Russia and Ukraine side by side. But which one is Ukraine?



"Probably the half-naked one" (Lovely O who met up with us for a drink on the last night - she's Ukrainian, from the contested region as it happens.)

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Back to Budapest. I'm on a quest to visit every country in Europe, but Budapest is one place I have no objection to visiting again and again - I love the place!



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It's Spring in Luxembourg City!



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It's Vienna, and what better way to sightsee than topless on the back of a dinosaur?



( Warning, mahoosive post. )

Nuffink like the sight of a giant rat in the morning...



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