The FIFA World Cup is 22 days away and thousands of football supporters from around the World will be descending on Germany to see the tournament kick-off on the 10th June and with the hope of seeing their Country lift the Jules Rimet trophy.

To qualify for the tournament teams are split up into the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, and Europe) and this determine which teams will play in the World Cup games. The teams who have qualified for the FIFA World Cup are then divided into 8 groups.

This year the groups are divided into:

Group A: Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador
Group B: England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago Sweden
Group C: Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, Holland
Group D: Mexico, Iran, Angola, Portugal
Group E: Italy, Ghana, USA, Czech Republic
Group G: France, Switzerland, S. Korea, Togo
Group H: Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia

The top two teams from each group advance to a second stage, known as the knockout stage. At this point, teams play against each other in one-off matches, with teams being eliminated until the quarter finals, semi finals and the finals. The losing semi finalists also play to determine third place.

FIFA World Cup Venue Information

I’ll be going you the low-down of each of the venues and I will include some useful facts and figures for those of you that aren’t football fanatics. Today, I am featuring the city which will host the final at the Berlin Olympiastadion.

Host City: Berlin
Stadium: Olympiastadion
Capacity: 74,220

Berlin is a vast city renowned for nightlife, attractions, and history. Attractions include the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate and the new National Gallery. There are more bars and cafes here than in any other European city, and the tradition of 24-hour entertainment is alive and well. Service charges are generally added to restaurant and hotel bills in Berlin, making tipping unnecessary. The cost of service should be clearly stated and visible in brochures or on menus.

Travel Safety Hints & Tips

Berlin is a safe place compared to most other cities of it’s size but still there are crime problems as well. In general no specific rules apply with the exception of public transportation and tourist areas where pickpockets are a problem. Watch your bags during rush hours and at larger train stations.

You can see it now - companies sickness record doubles – Football supporters glued to the television for four weeks and many disappointed supporters as their team gets knocked out of the tournament.

Let the battle commence (on the football pitch!)

For the last five years, my parents have gone on holiday to the Sunshine state of Florida, USA and I am trying to persuade them to visit another Country, and see new sights, and spend time away from Mickey, Minnie and the rest of the Disney characters.

Bear the following in mind that they visit Florida primarily for the following reasons:

- they like the sun
- the theme parks
- relaxing on the beach
- cheap shopping
- cheap eating out
- they occasionally take my 10yr old nephew
- they don’t want to fly for more than 6 or 7 hours

So where would you send my parents?

From time to time I receive emails from travellers asking for advice, and more recently I received an email from someone whose friend was arrested abroad, and he wanted some advice – I’m not a solicitor or legal advisor, so I am not going to provide legal advice, but my first port of call for any issue is the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) website.

The FCO has travel advice notices for over 200 countries based on the most accurate and up-to-date information available. This information is designed to help British travellers to make informed decisions about travelling abroad.

It’s important that you research your destination before you travel – and the FCO website enables you to read up on issues like;

- Avian & Pandemic Flu
- Hurricanes
- Passports & Visas
- Drugs
- Security

I am a member of the “Know Before You Go” campaign that the FCO has run for a number of years – my role is to help promote safe travel and raise the importance of planning and researching your destinations before you leave home.

I’m just a travel blogger so you can decide if you want to take my advice, but I do strongly recommend that you take out comprehensive insurance. Don’t take out basic travel insurance if your going to be snowboarding down Mount Everest, because saving £5 or £10 will be nothing when you have a health bill for thousands of pounds.

If your travelling within the EEC then make sure that you get your European Health Insurance Card, which is free and you can apply for it online. Anyway, enough of my preaching and rambling – don’t gamble with your life - be safe.

Well this week marks a new era in aviation history when this Thursday the world’s biggest passenger jet touches down at the world’s biggest international airport. The 555-seat, Airbus A380 will fly from Berlin to Heathrow for its first UK visit, after taking a minor detour.

The 240ft long plane will dip its wings as it flies over the sites that designed and made them, at Broughton in North Wales and Bristol. It will then undergo tests at Heathrow before flying out on Friday.

It was only last week that I visited Heathrow Airport, and was amazed by how many planes depart and arrive - I learnt from speaking with one of the BMI check-in staff that a plane departs every 90 seconds!

Whilst waiting for my plane back to Leeds & Bradford Airport, I saw planes from all over the World - Japan, USA, Canada, Russia, Australia and all over Europe - it’s amazing how well organised the airport is and I am glad to report that security was very good.

The culture and history are just two of the attractions to me about China, but one of my lifetime ambitions is to walk across part of the Great Wall of China – how many people can tell their grand children of this feat.

The Great Wall of China, one of the great wonders of the world, was enlisted in the World Heritage in 1987. The wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains stretching approximately 4,163 miles from east to the west of China.

I love the hustle and bustle – people riding around congested, traffic riddled streets, going about their day. I’ve always been a lover of Chinese food, the small noodle stalls on the side of the street, the smell and atmosphere is what makes it an excitable experience.

Other than Beijing, one city I’d visit is Shanghai – in recent years the Chinese government has spent millions (if not billions) on making this one of the most technology advanced cities – this has had a negative effect on the more traditional Shanghai, where locals are moved out of the old run down buildings into new futuristic homes.

Shanghai, Hu for short, is situated on the estuary of Yangtze River of China. It is the largest industrial city in China. Covering an area of 2,239 square miles, Shanghai has a population of 18.7 million, including 2 million floating population.

Known as “the Oriental Paris”, Shanghai is a shopper’s paradise. One of the musts for tourists is Nanjing Road. Huaihai Road intrigues those with modern and fashionable tastes, while Sichuan North Road meets the demands of ordinary folk.

They are so many destinations that I would love to visit, and I am hoping sometime in the foreseeable future that I will sample the culture, and atmosphere of what China has to offer.

I fell in love with the Country after watching the BBC series of Billy Connolly’s tour around New Zealand, with the breathtaking scenery, wildlife, and history. You might remember in my previous travel rant about the price of oil which has put up the price of flights to New Zealand, but after receiving an email from Mike who is the man behind Escape Campers, I am going to save like crazy to get there next year.

Escape Campers is the fastest growing camper van company in New Zealand with a modern fleet nearing 100 camper vans. Recently Escape Campers held a photograph competition, which was a great success, and really does show what a superb place New Zealand is.

Most people tend to visit Australia and then cover New Zealand, unfortunately, I decided to visit Malaysia, en-route to Sydney, Cairns, Port Douglas, and Hobart rather than visiting New Zealand – the more warmer Summer months are November to April, with the Christmas period the busiest.

I’d love to go in November 2007, and of course if I start saving up soon, that shouldn’t be difficult – I’d love to stop-over in either Hong Kong or Dubai on route to New Zealand, as these are two exciting cities that I’d love to visit.

Anyway, if you fancy visiting this beautiful Country, have a think about renting out a campervan, it’s the best way to see New Zealand, and I would imagine it’s much more fun than the traditional hotel room.

Wow, its seems like a while since I last posted here – as you might have noticed I’ve done some tidying up on the travel blog – and due to the sheer demand, I have stopped accepting articles, as there’s enough content in the travel articles section to last you all a lifetime!

Rather than listing travel photographs down the side, you can now click on the link on the right-hand menu and it’ll take you to my flickr page which I hope to load tons more photographs of my travels over the coming weeks.

Did you know also that Travel Rants has a forum?

Well drop by and say hello – it’s getting a little more busier in there, and I have two awesome moderators who keep everyone under control. So what’s new with me – well, I’ve been busy working, and organising my trip to Paris, which I will write about soon.

I’m also going to try and review a travel blog every day, so if your interested in your blog being mentioned make sure you introduce yourself and you never know, you might be famous for 15 seconds.. or more.

Whilst I’m in the blogging mood, I came across a unique website this weekend – Home exchange is a mutual exchange of homes or holiday homes, usually at the same time, for an agreed period. Quite a novel idea and features thousands of holiday homes available for exchange. If you want to find out more about this type of holiday then have a read of the homes exchange blog which is also very informative.

Well it’s 3.50am so I should head for bed…

The thought of taking kids around the World with me sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it looks like Sheila has the knack of doing this with her eyes closed. The Family Travel blog features great information and advice.

The travel blog has some of the best information about travelling either with your kids or alone that I have read on a travel blog - the family travel blog features travel plans for around the World, hints and tips on the best places to eat. If your a parent looking to take your kids abroad, or you love travel then I would seriously recommend this blog. Great work Sheila!

Travel Blog: The Family Travel Blog