Running of the Bulls Pamplona Spain

Just posted an article on my new hotels near tumblr blog Hotels near the Running of the Bulls Pamplona Spain, including a news story video from You Tube, some handy link resources, festival dates and other information if you're headed to Pamplona this week / next for what might be the most curious tourist attraction in the world, the Festival San Fermin or as it is more commonly known "The Running of the Bulls"

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MotoGP travel report pics Assen TT Circuit

MotoGP travel report pics Assen TT Circuit 2009

A visitor of Grand Prix Cities.com, motorsport travel guide,  Darin Wolfaaardt out of South Africa, wrote to me and asked a few travel questions about his intended trip to  Assen TT Circuit for the MotoGP events . I helped all I could but I couldn't have foreseen the absolutely magical experience he had on his first trip to the Cathedral of Speed, and his first experience of MotoGP Live. He's sent in a brief report of what he saw, HEARD, and enjoyed while in Assen.

From the sounds of it he had a magnificent time including getting an autograph from and being pictured with 7 times world champion Valentino Rossi after his 100th MotoGP victory!...

Those of you headed to Assen will find some of Darin's email info very informative and might also like to check out my guide to the  Assen Circuit . If you've got tips, notes, info about any of your sports travel adventures, please feel free to send them to me via my contact/social networks page  If you found this useful, other sports travelers will find anything you can add about one of your experiences just as handy. After Darin's feedback, below, you'll find a bunch of handy links for travel to Assen, Holland, and other MotoGP related stuff. 

As always, Godspeed on all your Sports Travel Adventures, Cvetko Ostroznik.

Here's Darin's input.....

....

Hello again.

My Amsterdam/Assen Trip was a huge success! Many of things seemed very unsure and didn't know if it was going to work out but I prayed for guidance and everything worked out so well. Lucky my ticket arrived Thursday afternoon, as I was flying Friday morning!

Met up my friend on the Fri in Amsterdam,he unfortunately had to leave sat morning,so rest of the weekend was alone but I slept in a Hostel called Slovenia,very good value for money and they serve breakfast and its very easy place to make friends, everyone very friendly and all travelers like yourself.

Getting to Assen from Amsterdam:

Sat morning caught the bus into central station think its bus 14 but ask hotel receptionist,very helpful. I caught a train just after 7.15am and arrived at Assen station at about 9:00. You must change over at Amersfoot station between Amsterdam Central and Assen station. Return ticket cost me just over 30 euros,and the shuttle from the station to the track is 5 euros return. Note there was no signal of what train stations were approaching and sometimes difficult to see the names of the stations so sit with other people on the train and ask them to tell you when you arrive at Amersfoot (think it was about 30min into the journey) and at Assen. But I found some Rossi fans and just followed them,easy enough,you know where they going!

When I arrived at the track and saw so many people all going into the circuit stadium with the atmosphere and I could here the bikes practicing I actually become a little emotional as this was a dream of mine and I was actually there!!! I couldn't believe it,1 year ago I thought this would be impossible. Was such an intense feeling.

Best Viewing General Admission Ticket

I had the cheapest Tickets , general admission and chose to sit above turn 2. Great spot as you can see them entering turn one go through turn 3 and 4 and see them just open up on the straight!

The sounds of the GP bikes are truly amazing, like nothing in this world and you can see the riders are pushing them to the limit every lap! Atmosphere was also great when Rossi won his 100th race!

Stuff to do around the track - if you're a lucky git! (pics below)

Being very satisfied with the day so far,the next thing I wanted to do was buy a Rossi shirt which I do and also popped into the Rizzla Suzuki tent where they actually had a competition to win pit passes after the GP race,which I entered and WON!!! I was late to get to the pits as I was on the other side of the track and there are 1000s of people leaving at that time,so it takes very long to get there,but I ran all the way in the heat of the day (was actually great sunny weather that day!) I made it just in time,dripping in sweat. I got a guided tour of the Suzuki garage,saw the bikes up close,and met Chris Vermeulen and he signed my pit pass. After that I wondered around, spotted, Divizioso, Melandri and couple others and waited outside Valentino Rossi's transporter truck for 3hrs to see him come out. Eventually he appeared and I got a photo (pics below) with him, and he signed my new Valentino Rossi T-shirt,on his 100th victory! That was the best moment of my life!! I will say all the riders I met were very down to earth and very friendly people.

So my dream came true and turned out to be even better than I imagined! Don't have many pics unfortunately as there was too much going on with me running about and I didn't have a proper camera,only my phone. Also wasn't allowed to take pics of the bikes at all! Didn't get any pics of my journey to the track unfortunately, sorry about that.

Hope this helps you a little and you enjoyed my little story, not bad for my first MotoGP race!

As I said I'm from South Africa but I'm living in England for a short while so I'm thinking about watching another race while I'm up here as its a long, expensive journey from South Africa,so thinking about the Portuguese race. Which other race would you recommend what is left of the season?

Also thanks for some of your help, was very helpful. Any other questions for me,just ask!

Regards, Darin

Related Pics from the Assen TT Circuit 2009

Related MotoGP Motorcycle Racing Links:

Related Assen & Netherlands Travel Links

A few South Africa Sports Travel Links, for when Darin finally gets home!

hotels near michael jackson memorial los angeles

hotels near michael jackson memorial STAPLES CENTER los angeles CALIFORNIA Tuesday 7 July 2009

News of the Michael Jackson Memorial Viewing and celebration of his life came today. The viewing memorial event will take place at the Staples Center and Nokia Theater in Los Angeles California Tuesday 7th July, 2009. Below are links to help fans find hotel accommodations near the event. This is subject to change at any moment so please keep your eye on the news. However, should it go ahead as announced...

Here a list of all hotels near Staples Center Los Angeles within a 20 mile radius of the venue.

Here's a list of all Hotels near the Nokia Theatre Los Angeles

Each hotel page shows distance from each hotel to the venue  venue and a local map. 

Here's a link to Los Angeles CA Hotels in general.

And all hotels in all cities in California

Should the venue change:  Anything is possible with Mike. Here's a list of hotels near sports & concert venues in Los Angeles including  Staples Center and the Nokia Theater. 

Here's a list of hotels near LAX Los Angeles International Airport from hotels near the airport.com

Tickets can be obtained by a lottery process. Fans can register for these tickets at  http://www.staplescenter.com/memorial.php People drawn for the lottery will be notified on Sunday 5 July.  I heard something about a special wrist band system for winners of the lottery. (see below for results of my attempt to register)

17,000 tickets will be distributed to the public by this process, (11,000 for the Staples Center, and 7,000 for the Nokia Theatre) Remaining tickets have be reserved for friends and family

The Jackson family and L.A. City Officials have pleaded that there be no secondary selling of tickets / scalping for the memorial event. It is not known if the body of Michael Jackson will be at the event for viewing, but the City of Los Angeles has said that there will be no funeral procession.

The Staples Center is located at: Address: 1111 S Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90015  Right Across from LA Convention Center (see above) Find Staples Center Location Area Map Showing all nearby hotels. Staples Center is marked with an "red cross" - you'll see it on the expanded map.

The Nokia Theatre Address / Location: 777 Chick Hearn Ct, Los Angeles, CA 90015 Across from Staples Center  Nokia Theatre Location Area Map Showing all nearby hotels. Nokia Theatre is marked with an "red cross" - you'll see it on the expanded map.

RIP Mike. MJJ. You were an inspiration.

Godspeed on your journey home. Travel in the light. my friend.

Cvetko Ostroznik.

http://www.hotelsnearbigticketvenues.com 

----------------------------------------------------------------

Update: I just registered for the ticket lottery. It took nearly an hour to send my infomation through with a registration note. The server, obviously was not quite ready for the overload. The registration page had the following information on it (note Tuesday is the 7th, not the 6th as in the text on the confimation page) :

"Your registration for your chance to attend the Michael Jackson Public Memorial Service has been received. If your application is successful, you will receive an email on Sunday, July 5, 2009 after 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time with your exclusive unique code and instructions on how to obtain your two free tickets to attend the Public Memorial Service.

A valid ticket will be required to enter the STAPLES Center and L.A. LIVE area on Tuesday, July 6, 2009.

The tickets will be distributed for either the public memorial service in STAPLES Center or a live television broadcast in the adjacent Nokia Theatre.

Please add info@staplescenter.com to your address book to ensure successful email delivery."

Start Finish Line Hotels near Marathons USA

I've just spent the best part of forever updating my awesome, if I do say so myself Hotels near Marathon Running Events USA page at "hotels near big ticket venues.com"

Included are geo-location links showing you the nearest hotels to the start finish lines of every major marathon in the USA. If you're a Marathon runner you'll know what I've been through, over 200 of the USA's biggest marathons are listed with official website links, where I can find them course maps, nearest airports and of course marathon downtown city hotels.

If you have a Marathon related website, I'd adore a link to the page, I'm positive, like all of my mega travel guide pages, it'll come in handy for your peeps. Please help spread the word.

If you're going to an event summer fall 2009, please send me a nice pic for my blog, and a good story if you got one. I'm a big fan of Mark and Patti's website and their marathon pics, here's Fargo 2005. Patti's a marathon traveling girl, after beating cancer a few years back, she's dedicated to beating at least 2 new marathons per year. You go girl!!!

If you just need a hotel in a marathon city you can (please) Search city hotels at city hotels index.com.

Godspeed on all your long distance running adventures,

Cvetko Ostroznik

http://www.hotelsnearbigticketvenues.com

Motorsports Dates Venues Hotels near Track July 2009

Motorsports Dates Venues Hotels near Circuit Speedway Track July 2009

Here's some of the most popular Motorsports Travel Dates for July 2009. Check out http://www.grandprixcities.com Grand Prix Cities.com for more motorsports dates, venues, travel, and hotels near the track. Below you'll find dates for ALMS American Le Mans Series, DTM, F1, IRL, MotoGP, NASCAR sprint Cup Racing & NHRA Drag Racing, and SBK events (AMA Pro Racing, World Superbike, and British Superbikes BSBK).  See all remaining June 2009 Motorsports Dates 

Also, if you're in the area, check out a full calendar of fun motorcycle dates at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course including Honda Super Cycle SBK AMA Pro Racing Weekend and AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days! See you there!

But for Motorsports fans across the world, July means the Goodwood Festival of Speed (July 3-5, 2009)

If you're going to any of these events and have some pictures / Travel Tips you'd like me to share via this blog, feel free to contact me via email, or come visit and let me know via Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace: "hotel_near".  Direct links in right column of this page.

Godspeed on all your motorsports Adventures, Cvetko Ostroznik

ALMS AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES

ALMS DATES . USA ROAD CIRCUIT HOTELS

July 18, 2009: American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix (Saturday)  Limerock Park Circuit, Lakeville, CT

 

DTM: deutsche tourenwagen masters: German Touring Car Championship

DTM DATES . EUROPE CIRCUIT HOTELS

July 5, 2009 Norisring Circuit, Germany

  • Circuit Physical Address/ Info: MC Nürnburg 30 Ziegenstr 97 D-85 Nürnburg Germany. Find Nurnburg Germany Hotels

July 19, 2009 Oschersleben, Germany

 

Formula 1 World Championship Dates.

F1 Dates . Grand Prix Tickets . F1 Hotels .

*12 July, 2009: German Grand Prix

26 July, 2009: Hungaroring, Hungary.

 

IRL INDYCAR SERIES RACING Dates.

IRL Dates . Grand Prix IRL Tickets . IRL Speedway Hotels .

July 5 2009: NY Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix, New York State

July 12, 2009: CAN Honda Indy Toronto Ontario Canada

July 26, 2009: CAN Rexall Edmonton Indy Canada

 

MOTO GP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MOTORCYCLE RACING

MotoGP Dates . MotoGP Tickets . MotoGP Hotels .

July 5, 2009: .us RED BULL U.S. GRAND PRIX - Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway, California, USA Featuring MotoGP World Championship & AMA Superbikes

July 19, 2009: .de German Moto GRAND PRIX, Sachsenring Circuit, Germany.

July 26, 2009: .uk British Moto GRAND PRIX, Donington Park Circuit, Derby, Great Britain / UK

 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACING DATES SCHEDULE

NASCAR Dates . NASCAR Tickets . NASCAR Hotels .

July 4, 2009: Daytona, Fla. Datyona International Speedway, FL

July 11, 2009: Joliet, ILL (Chicagoland Speedway) 

July 26, 2009: Indianapolis, IN IMS - Indianapolis Motor Speedway

August 2, 2009: Pocono, PA - Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, PA

NHRA DRAG RACING

NHRA Drag Racing Dates . NHRA Tickets

July 10 - July 12, 2009 (PSM) Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, Denver, Morrison, Colorado.

July 17 - July 19, 2009 Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals, Seattle, Washington

July 24 - July 26, 2009 (PSM) FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals, Sonoma, Calif.

 

SBK WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP MOTORCYCLE RACING

SBK DateS / Tickets Travel . Motorcycle Racing Hotels .

July 26, 2009: Czech Republic - Brno Circuit, CZ - Rep Tcheque

See also my new page World Sports Schedule Dates Hotels Travel 2009 - 2010 at http://www.hotelsnearbigticketvenues.com

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