I learn new card games...

Yes, dear readers, instead of going out and seeing the city yesterday, I played cards. I've learned Spoons, Cribbage; re-learned Speed and Bullshit.

It was a fun day and I only left the hostel to get food.

Oh, and I got the job for critiquing the manuscript, so I will be here for at least another seven days. It clocks in at 187 pages, single spaced, and it will take me about a week to get through it a couple times and make comments. I've never worked on anything this large before, so it will be interesting to see how it goes and how long it really takes. The good news, though, is that after six nights in the hostel, the nightly rate drops. Yay.

Today, I will be going to a museum and definitely going to the beach. I'm walking around with someone else, so these things are definitely going to happen. Otherwise, it would be more card games and manuscript-reading.

Today, I will put my feet in the Black Sea. Today, I will put my feet in the Black Sea. Today, I will put my feet in the Black Sea.

As I sleep even more...

I managed to walk around for a bit today.

And then I took a nap.

And then I talked for hours with the American guy now sharing my dorm room. How is it I never get a dorm room to myself for more than one night...? Funny thing is, hotels are cheaper than hostel dorms here. Though, I prefer to have people to talk to, so the hostel is the best option right now. The American guy told me of a lovely little place further south in Bulgaria, and it sounds like a blissful place to hide out for a week. Very, very, very small (200 people), lovely surroundings, cheap accommodation in a private home and a nightclub in the middle of town. He's been travelling for about four years, so of course he's a hero to me. He did teach English for a little while, but still... How jealous am I??

I will make it to the beach tomorrow. I will make it to the beach tomorrow. I will make it to the beach tomorrow.

Really and truly.

On towards relaxed bliss and a little bit of cash

Ahhh. After getting my blog and email fix yesterday, I bought some food and headed back to the hostel. Talked to some people there, then took a nearly five-hour nap. Woke up about 10.30pm, and went back to sleep about 2am. Woke up today around 10am.

And I'm still a little tired.

Though, today I'm walking around a bit and seeing what makes Varna Varna. I will probably walk towards the beach a little later this afternoon, and wish it were sunnier so I could pull out the swimsuit and sarong and sunblock.

As it is, I will walk around a little more and probably take another nap. I wasn't kidding when I said I needed to recover from Bucharest.

Oh, and I may stay a little longer than intended here in Varna. But that's just because I think I've talked myself into a little job, that would pay fairly nicely. I've met someone with a novel that needs some serious editing, and I've offered to critique the whole thing and do some very basic editing. For a very lovely fee. I figure I could do it in under a week, and being that I'm running rather low on cash, this cash infusion would be most welcome. I should find out quite soon about whether or not he's really going to hire me for this.

So, here's to me staying in Varna an extra week...

A new country and a lot of sleep

Little did I know I was heading in to a country with a cyrillic alphabet.

I am now in Bulgaria. Varna, to be exact.

I just arrived yesterday evening. I made a mistake with the train I took from Bucharest, and arrived in Ruse about 20 minutes after the last train of the day left for Varna. A bit muddled by the cyrillic signs, I took a taxi from Ruse to Varna. It's about 200km, and was a little over two hours. Not toooo expensive, really. At the time, I figured it was a better option than finding a hotel and then catching a 6am train this morning. So, the money I was thinking of using for a private room or hotel somewhere (I need this little luxury) was used on the taxi, and I'm hoping to have the hostel room to myself tonight. I slept for about 11 hours last night, and the only other person in my room is leaving today, so I'm crossing my fingers.

As to the last days in Bucharest, they were only more like the early ones: drinking, dancing, laughing, laughing. I had an unbelievable amount of fun with the guys there. My last day, the group of us went to a bbq at the apartment of a British guy and his Romanian girlfriend. Her and I ended up playing backgammon for a bit. Which is really cool -- I was a very, very good player as a child (my dad was a tournament player and taught me how to play). Though, I was ok on Sunday. I won a few, lost a few.

Bucharest was a blast, and I'm still working on writing it all out in my private journal, because I don't want to forget a minute of it. Well, maybe the minutes when I found my deodorant stolen (??!!) and the incessant chattering of the Nigerians in the room -- when people were sleeping. But you get the idea. Another one of the guys headed to Istanbul yesterday. Another two are staying on for a few extra days. Hopefully one will find his punky girl and the other won't be sought out by brothers of the girls he's juggling... And hopefully another won't get in to anymore trouble (remember the apple and eggs guy? Well, in the course of three days: he got bit by a wild dog and now has to stay in Romania for 30 days for rabies treatment, the next day he sprained his ankle, the next day he broke a window at the hostel...).

And so now, dear readers, I am in the former Communist summer vacation hotspot. It seems like a nice place (I've only just woken up, found a bank and found this internet cafe).

It's just not summer, nor is it hot...

Bucharest by night

Oh My. I've gone out clubbing last night and tonight (it's the wee hour of 4am, and while tired earlier, a little dancing and a little more alcohol woke me up...).

Like Argentina, and a few other countries, the alchol licensing laws are either generous or non-existent. Which means I'm back in a country where things start late and run later. Bliss!

And I have more travel stories from other people. While I'm a bit awake, I don't think I quite have it in me to relate them. Before clubbing tonight, a group of us went to someone's flat, and that turned in to a party.

I drank a local liquor. Warm. Yum. A little potent to sniff and initially taste, but quite smooth and no shocking aftertaste.

I smoked from a hookah. Apple. Tasty.

I drank homemade Romanian red wine. Yum.

And I met some really cool people. Including a British guy who lives with a Romanian girl. He has the most fantastic imagination and I hope he sits down to write a book. He has a blog I will check out later, so look for the inevitable link to appear on the A Little Linky Linky portion of my sidebar.

And of course, there's K. Wanting to appear in my blog... Seemingly a quite interesting Brit, though I haven't gotten a really good story on him yet... K, fess up!

Oh, and I finally made it to the Parliament building, aka the People's Palace. So, now I can leave Bucharest satisfied. Though of course, I will be sad to part ways with the people I've met. They really are the funnest bunch of people I've met in one place. It's a mystery if any of us will search each other out in the future, but it's been great fun and I'm still laughing so hard I nearly cry several times a day. Bliss.

Time for a little sleep...

Who needs creativity...

...when you have the Elvis Villa Hostel in Bucharest?

I could write a book of true stories, which few people might actually believe are true because they are so outlandish, and make tons of money.

If only I had a mini voice recorder...

Let's say that I've met a CRAZY French guy (yes, the one who came in stinking drunk the other night) who has been to Senegal, Ethiopia, and many other strange places. He's chased Ethiopians down the street after they tried to mug him. He reportedly also organizes circuses. Words cannot describe him in a simple paragraph. All I can do is say we all laughed and shook our heads so much and bent over laughing, it was like a new dance move.

Let's also say that a slightly older (40s?) man, who is reportedly 'looking for a European woman to take back' to the US, eats apples and hard-boiled eggs constantly. I've heard that people have seen him take his jacket off, and apples fall out. Oh, and the police were at the hostel this morning. Several of them. Apparently looking for him. He says he didn't do anything...

Let's say there is a Swedish guy, also a little older. He started telling stories about other hostels, though he began by telling a horror story of three Moldavian guys who snored loud enough to wake up the world. And yes, he was wearing earplugs. This story was corroborated by the American man listed previously. One story was of a very muscular black man, who fell out of his top bunk (this happened in SF), stood up, and then just whipped it out and peed on the hardwood floor of the hostel room. Or the story, which really is scary if you think about it, of an Arabic guy in a German hostel, who spent three hours early one morning, talking non-stop. The only words that were recognizable were Allah, Fundamentalism and Terrorist. This was also within a year of 9-11. The Arabic guy was asked to leave the hostel the following morning, as so many people were spooked.

Let's say another guy (I can't tell if he's British or French -- he speaks English with a working class accent, but also perfect French) told me a story about a From the Monarchy British girl that was at the hostel a few days before I arrived. She had a luxury suite in some hotel, but stayed at the hostel for a few days, because she "wanted to see poverty". Folks, this is not going to Romania to see the poverty in Romania. She wanted to witness poverty by spending time IN A HOSTEL. He's also spent time in Kossovo, Croatia...drinking at a bar with the police force. The police force which still had their semi-automatic weapons slung over their shoulders...

Let's say there is a guy from Texas, who looks a lot like Owen Wilson (he's the blonde one, right?). He speaks both Portugese and Spanish, and said he'd pegged me for a hi-tech refugee, when we first met and talked for a bit. He told a story about how it's possible he was very close to getting thrown off the Chain Bridge in Budapest, and into the Danube river. I haven't yet got any other really good stories from him yet. He did spend part of yesterday at the orphanage, playing football with the kids. He's a pretty cool guy.

Let's say, that in talking to these guys for about an hour last night, I laughed more than I have in weeks, and given that I've been very upset about something personal, it was a very welcome change for me and I was nearly crying from laughing so hard.

When they ask me to join them for a drink tonight, I'm going.

And hopefully I'll find my little notebook, and then I'll be writing down bits of these stories all night long.

Or until I'm so drunk I can't write anymore.

It's worth saying that while I enjoy Bucharest, I'm probably going to stay here until Sunday, just to be around these guys (I've only met one other girl staying at the hostel...) more.

And to think I was only going to spend one full day, and two nights here...

Varna can wait!

Have I found Buenos Aires in Eastern Europe??

Oh, how it felt like Buenos Aires today. The weather was very warm (or, at the beginning of Spring, 24 or so feels very warm), the crazy drivers did their thing -- with a lot of honking at everyone, and I walked the city. The city also is one for partying late in to the night, as evidenced by my rude awakening at 6am this morning, as the two French guys I shared a room with last night (I'm in a new room now) stumbled in to the room, reeking of liquor and carrying on talking to each other. Oh, I said something alright. And, I got an apology when they saw me this afternoon. So, the balance is redressed and, since I've had a lovely nap, no hard feelings.

I did not expect to like Bucharest, as I've read mixed things about the city, and people have told me mixed stories, too. I've only walked around a little today -- I spent a great deal of time in the National Gallery museum -- but initially, I like this city. I am meant to be leaving tomorrow, but I didn't get to see the Parliament building or the Peasant Museum, and I really would like to.

So anyway, I think I'm going to chill tonight and just read or see what the guys are watching in the tv room. Apparently there is quite a selection of dvds the hostel has for us poor travellers to watch...

Pelicula pochoclera anyone?

New city, lost post

Sorry dear readers, but yesterday I spent quite a while writing a rather long post about the castles and palace I visited on Sunday, only to have the computer decide to crash, and then the connection be so weird (it was Windows *95*...) that I couldn't recover the post. Sorry, but I'm not going to re-type it right now. I've written most of it out in my personal journal, so if a book really does come out, then you can read it then... :) Suffice it to say, Bran Castle, known more famously and incorrectly as Dracula's Castle, was really cool, and Pele's Castle was magnificent.

So, on to current events. Because I couldn't find out about train times to Bulgaria at my hostel (I took a nap yesterday instead of going to the train station to research...), I decided to come to Bucharest for a couple nights, and then head on down to Varna (on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria). I'm a bit tired of moving around so much, partly because I've only stayed 3-4 nights in each of the two places since I left Budapest. So, if I like Varna, which is rather small and certainly not the happening summer haven it is (due to the obviously not swimming-friendly Spring weather), I may stay there for a week or more, and THEN head to Istanbul. Also, missing ANZAC day in Istanbul might make lodging a wee bit easier to find. I love Australians and Kiwis, and they are great to go out with, but I really would prefer to know I can find a place to sleep -- that doesn't blow my budget...

I slept poorly last night (there was a guy in the room that snored even worse than I reportedly do -- and I was wearing earplugs and he still woke me up several times, think the sound of a chainsaw... -- and I've recently been told my snoring isn't what it once was), so I slept for a while when I got in to Bucharest today. I woke a little while ago, found some food, and now here I am, slave to email and my blog that I am...

I have to say, though, I felt right at ease with my crazy taxi driver. He was making lanes, wildly changing lanes and nearly clipping jaywalkers and cars alike. Almost on a par with the taxi drivers of Buenos Aires. [and as a side note: I do NOT condone hitting pedestrians, whether they are jaywalking or have the legal right of way. I speak as someone who has been hit TWICE by cars, and both times I was in a crosswalk with the right of way...]

So tomorrow, I will walk around this city of contrasts. There are many buildings still scarred by bombs or in various states of serious disrepair, sometimes alongside lovely, majestic buildings. Also, the second [to the Pentagon] largest government/adminstrative building is apparently here, too.

I will discover the state Ceausescu left this city in.

To the next bit of Transylvania, I come

So, I am now in Brasov, which is also part of Transylvania. I was asked via email, so to clarify: Transylvania is a region of Romania, located mostly amongst the attractive Carpathian Mountains.

Brasov is the location of the Dracula Castle, and I will be visiting it, and two other castles, tomorrow. It's not raining here (yay!), like it has been in Sighisoara, so hopefully the excursion won't be a muddy mess for me. Remember, it's just a pair of faux-leather (they look better than they sound) loafers and jean jacket for me. Of course, being from Seattle, I do NOT have an umbrella.

Anyway, I'm just checking emails, and am off to find some food (I forgot to buy any food to eat while on the train, a two-hour-ish ride, and my lunch consisted of a chocolate Milka bar...).

So, again, as long as it doesn't actually have blood in it, I'll be set for lunch...

Blissful relaxation

I am in love with my bed.

Really and truly.

I have been sleeping here better than I have since I arrived in Europe, and naps are again a part of my daily life.

Sadly, I leave tomorrow.

Though, through a twist of Hungarian train pricing fate, I may come back through here. [It was significantly cheaper to buy a return ticket than it was to by a one-way ticket.] Not likely, but a possibility.

This is a tiny place, perfectly suited to the foggy and drizzly rain of the last couple days. Since I still only have my poor, battered jean jacket, as soon as it gets more than slightly damp, I'm on my way back to the hostel so it can dry out. I found a Barbara Kingsolver novel on the bookshelf (Prodigal Summer), so I've been blissing out on her use of language and the story itself. I'm not a Nature Girl, but I'm so taken with the story I could even consider spending a summer in a Fire Lookout or in a rural town.

Maybe.

Aside from the new, nosy, American girl in my hostel room (her and her boyfriend(?) return to the room while I'm reading, we all say hi and do our own, quiet things. When I finish a chapter, discover my jacket is dry and start preparing to go out, it goes something like this: her: where are you going? me: to check email and eat. She says nothing more, and it's worth mentioning neither of them introduced themselves. 98% of the time, I really and truly dislike coming into contact with other American travellers -- especially young (under 30) ones), everything is really wonderful here. I'm blissed out on excellent sleep, I've taken some lovely photos, I've visited the graveyard on the hill, I've managed to not twist or break my ankle on the many uneven steps up to the citadel (and the internet cafe) or on the uneven, very old cobblestone streets.

Now, it's time to decide where to eat dinner. I'm favoring going to the Restaurant Dracula, even though my guidebook says the food is only mediocre.

It's in the same building/house that the man later known as Dracula, aka Vlad the Impaler, was born.

I just don't want to eat blood sausage or blood pudding...

Transylvania

...is pretty cool. The town I'm in (barely over 20K people) is really lovely, picturesque and quaint. My hostel is nice, small and blissfully quiet. It also has NEW, blissfully comfortable mattresses. I managed to have the entire dorm to myself last night, and I had probably my best night's sleep since I've been in Europe. I slept for nearly 11 hours, and I just didn't want to get out of bed, it was so comfortable. The guys who clerk there are pretty cool. They shared some wine with me last night, and we swapped various stories (travel and other) for an hour or so. I heard about the vegans that visited, and were appalled at the bbq the hostel hosted the night they were there. Well, what can a vegan expect when a bbq is advertised, the hostel staff go to market, select a [live] pig, have it slaughtered, bring it back and put it on the spit?

So. Have had the images on my digital camera burned to CD, so I can now begin to take more pictures here. It's a very warm day, and the light is perfect for taking photos.

As I mentioned previously, Romania is not part of the EU. The standard of living here is bleak in the countryside. I saw people hoeing enormous fields, by hand; people working in fields with scythes; horse-drawn carts (because it was the only form of transport available for them); gypsies on the train. A couple people I've met have informed me the average wage for a Romanian is about $100 USD a month. However, the child beggars at the train station can reportedly make a lot more than that, because of all the handouts the tourists give them. Some of the places we passed, before where I arrived, were bleak. Truly bleak. I've heard that Bulgaria is much of the same, so it will be interesting to see there. I'm on my way towards Istanbul, and am making stops along the way, instead of just taking the realllllly long train ride directly there. Yesterday was dominated by a 9+ hour train ride, and the thought of the 36 hour, Budapest to Istanbul ride was just not appealing. Especially as I'm travelling alone and am going through plenty of places with gypsies.

In any case, this is a bit of a wandering post, so please forgive that. I'm still in the throes of having had a blissfully perfect night's sleep.

Oh, and in case you haven't already noticed, there are THREE posts written today.

Finally, I will be posting a large number of my travel photos to iphoto.com. If you are not someone already on my personal email mailing list, or someone who's asked for specific photos, please send me a private email and I will let you know when the photos are posted.

So, off to walk the hills and steps of this town I go.

Last day in Budapest

...was really wonderful. The gorgeous boy and I woke up early (I set my alarm....) and started out at 10am. Returned at 7.30pm. Rested and ate. Then went out for another two-hour walk in the night. We had a really great time together, and were magically not needing time apart by the time we returned for the final time to the hostel (11.30pm-ish). It really is bliss when you find someone you can spend that much time with, and not need space apart.

As a little recap, we started by going to the Communist Statue Park. It's actually a bit of ways away from the city centre. It's quite interesting, though. At the fall of Communism, the Hungarian government moved all the Communist Statues into this outdoor park. The weather was overcast and intermittently light rain-y, which felt quite fitting. I got clay mud all over my shoes, and we laughed about that for hours. People constantly kept staring at my shoes through the rest of the day. We also visited Heroes Park, which I'd already been to; walked a bit through another park; walkedwalkedwalked (he has a rather fast walking pace, and was very kind and matched my pace -- especially when my ankle got sore and I had to walk a bit slower). After eating dinner and resting for about 90 minutes, we went for a slow walk along the banks of the Danube. The walk was beautiful -- there are lights on different bridges, the Royal Palace is tastefully and beautifully lighted, different monuments on the Buda hills are tastefully lit. While nothing Romantic happened between us (other than just some nice chemistry), walking along the Danube in Budapest at night is quite romantic. Almost as pretty as walking along the Seine at night.

I should also mention I was in a bit of rare form Monday. As in, Silly Shana was the dominant personality trait. It was a lot of fun and there were many laughs throughout the day.

We ended by exchanging emails (there are photos to share), and I have his phone number in France (he's a student), a little hug and I gave him a little kiss on the cheek. I have an invitation to visit Colombia, and I extended an invitation for him to visit Buenos Aires while I'm there in the future. I frequently joked throughout the day:

I'm Shana, and I'll be your tour guide today. If you look to the left...

In fact, he did it a little too, as we shared different information about Budapest that we learned over the time we were there. Quite fun.

Hopefully, we will see each other again, in France if not in South America, and we can take turns being tour guides for each other.

It was a blissful day.

On leaving the EU...but not Europe

I certainly did not expect to see a rather large team of Hungarian border control/military when I was crossing the Hungary-Romania border. Then, when the train was in Romania, the same thing on a smaller scale happened with Romanian border control/military. Interestingly, to me at least, was the purple camo outfits the Romanian border control/military was wearing. I'm not a fan of camo, but the purple was not as ugly as the green.

Oh, and Romania is not EU.

Sunday, lovely Sunday

So, the day begins with a little chat with the Colombian boy I'm smitten with (and who sleeps feet-to-feet to me in the bunk attached to mine).

Then, I went on a long walk. I visited a really nice park, which is on an island in the middle of the Danube. Think Ile St Louis in Paris, without the flats and filled with green spaces. There weren't a great deal of people in the park, mostly couples with kids, older couples and the ubiquitous Hungarian rollerbladers [side note: rollerblading is HUGE here -- there are always rollerbladers on the street, even in the rain...]. And because I haven't really spent much time walking around on the Buda side of Budapest, I set off there after my long stroll through the park. Since I was rather hungry, this was not a good idea. Zarva [closed] signs everywhere. Eventually, I came to a subway station that would take me to my hostel, so I hopped on and went to the local Subway. Only because I knew the Subway would be open and able to give me a reasonably healthy and fairly nutritious meal. It's a good six hours later, and I'm still full.

I've spent more time chatting with the gorgeous Colombian boy (I say boy, because he really is that young), showing each other pictures we've taken (ahhh, the mingling of fingertips while we both held a camera...). It sounds like we both are interested in going to a couple of the same places tomorrow, so I'm hoping to spend my last full day in Budapest with him, at least in part.

Another travel crush. Blisssssssss.

Lazy day...yay

Had the most wonderful lazy day. Finished a book, went out only for a food run and to buy a train ticket, and for a post-nap (I woke up at 9.30pm...) walk, because a couple people in my room were going to sleep.

Oh, and it's been lightly raining here part of the day here. Quite lovely and refreshing. The air is rather dry here, and I fought a bit a dehydration (thank you Gatorade and Powerade for saving the days) the first few days I was here. The rain will also help clear the haze.

In case you're interested, I'm going to the Transylvania region on Tuesday. Because I can't resist:

Eye vant to suck vour blooooooooooooooood...

Thai food in Budapest...surprisingly good!

As I lead the life of a budget traveller these days, which means my meals generally come from grocery stores (bread, salami, chocolate, water, cheese, fruit) and are [weather permitting] eaten in parks. However, once or twice a week I will take myself out to a nice dinner. Tonight, being a Friday night that I intentionally didn't have plans for (I'm tired -- a result of sleeping in a easy-to-move bunk, with a girl above me who moves A Lot during the night), I decided to have one of my Meals In A Nice Restaurant.

Now, I've had mixed results with Thai food in Europe. To wit, the pad thai in a restaurant in Manchester was really sweet and had no zip or real flavor. Thai food in London was surprisingly good at a Thai buffet, which is usually a recipe for disaster, but I was realllly hungry and it was even cheap.

Tonight, I had a lovely beef in garlic sauce, with vegs, dish. Very tasty, if not spicy. But while so often non-spicy Thai food doesn't have much flavor, this restaurant was the exception to that. And, I had enough beef to make up a small steak. So, yummy and protein and iron rich all in one. I'd been hesitant because there weren't many people in the restaurant.

Such a lovely surprise.

To report on the day's activities: I walked a lot (big surprise there). I took a short funicular car ride to the Royal Palaces, walked across the Chain Bridge (the first permanent bridge between Buda and Pest), had my hair flying in millions of directions in the wind, sat on a bench close to the RP and read my Harold Robbins book (go on, smirk all you want -- I'm desperate for reading material and it was one of the few English books at the hostel...the other one I picked up is a very well-written, but very disturbing novel (Iain Banks first book)(I did find a book shop with English language books today, but I wasn't prepared to pay fifteen or more dollars for one of the books I was interested in reading -- I wasn't That Interested in any of them))). Took another lovely nap (see previous comments about not sleeping soundly in the night), went on walk and then out to dinner.

Now, time to write in my private journal, read some more, then find the earplugs and catch and early night's sleep.

I've switched bunks...

My life as a cat

I will swear that in a previous life, or as an alter-ego, I was/am a cat. [side note: I also swear that one of my alter-egos is that of a Bond Girl.] I love my naps, I work on not rushing through life, I watch the birds (even if I can't name them) and I stretch. Occasionally, I swipe my claws, most of the time though, I try to be in a lovely state of purring.

All I really need is a relaxing environment, some other cats to chill with (or, the occasional, cat-friendly dog...) and a bit to eat. Don't know that I'd lap milk from a saucer, though. That is certainly not something I would do for the general public, if you catch my meaning.

So. Now that I've had my lovely afternoon catnap, it's time for my pre-dinner, pre-dusk prowl.

Meow.

Can I stay?? Pretty please??

I really love Budapest. It's everything I imagined it would be. Only, the language is really difficult. I've been here a few days and I still can't remember how to say 'please' or 'thank you' on command. I just smile a lot, and that works really well.

I visited the cemetery today. Really, one of the most beautiful cemeteries I've visited. There is quite a contrast between the older graves and the newer ones. There are some very, very creative headstones. To wit, there was one in the shape of an abstract sculpture, with an inset of beautiful stained glass. I took so many photos I'm back at the hostel, because I hadn't finished walking through the cemetery, and I filled up my digital camera card...

And the weather is so beautiful! I took off my jacket and have been walking around in a sleeveless top. My Argentinian suntan is starting to be nurtured by Hungarian sun.

How lovely.

A couple bactrackish notes

I appreciate the support some of my commenters have thrown my way publicly, and the emails friends have sent me privately. Really, I do. However, I am not happy that the comment section of my posts has become a forum for name-calling and threats, and that my blog has been the only means of communication I have with the person who is so upset.

In light of this, all existing posts will very shortly no longer have comments posted, nor will new posts have an option for comments to be posted. As time and tempers pass (most especially my own), I may reinstate the comment feature.

In the mean time, if you have a comment on the blog or would like to contact me, feel free to email me. I've even created a new email just for blog correspondence, and it's posted on the sidebar. If you read something you take objection to, send me an email and we can *discuss* it. Otherwise, ignore me and say nothing.

I've also decided to reinstate the posts I temporarily took down. They will return in their original forms. If You feel the need to burn my belongings in an effigy or to slash my paintings and drop the ribbons from your balcony: Go. Right. Ahead. I'm beyond caring about those belongings. While one of the paintings is a personal favorite of mine, I have photos of it, and since, well, I painted, I feel pretty confident about being able to recreate it if I choose to do so at a later date. You have no power of me just because you have some of my things.

Otherwise, enjoy reading or stop visiting this blog. This subject is now closed. Full stop.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming

To answer a question I know several of you have, I spent last week in Bratislava, Slovakia. It's quite a lovely city, and was a perfect place to hide out after London, and also to care for myself as I had a pretty severe cold. So severe, that when I left London, I could barely say a word. It was awful. Immediately after arriving in Bratislava, met a lovely woman from the UK, and it turned out we were booked in to the same hostel. We had a nice time hanging out some of the time, and we went to see Falstaff at the Opera House one night. Nicely performed opera, beautiful opera house and amazingly cheap tickets. The opera was very much a place to see and be seen, as nearly everyone was Dressed For The Opera. Think what you may of Slovakia, but there is a lot of new money in Bratislava. To wit, there are boutiques selling clothing lines such as D&G and Versace. This was a bit surprising to me.

Now, I am in Budapest. I've wanted to come to this city for ages, and it's one of the two places on my European leg that I have been most excited about. This is a beautiful city and I could easily fall in love with it and live here for a while.

The Danube runs through both Bratislava and Budapest, and it's interesting to see the difference in current. In Bratislava, the current is exceptionally rapid. To wit, I saw an entire tree being carried by the current in Bratislava. Here, the current is still swift, but doesn't appear to be so rapidly swift as in Bratislava.

I'm still in the final stages of recovering from my awful cold, so have mostly just went on a few long walks since I arrived in Budapest yesterday.

And to belatedly answer a comment post from Fifi about travelling: travelling around when you don't speak the language can be frustrating. When I was in Bratislava, I just asked one of the girls from the hostel to write down "One-way ticket to Budapest, please." for me to take to the train station. Turned out the international ticket agent there on Sunday spoke some English, so I didn't need it. I generally find that I talk much more with my hands and through facial expressions, when I'm in a country where I don't speak the language. To wit, I made motions of blowing my nose in order to find a travel packet of facial tissue at a little shop today. A smile goes a very long way when you don't speak a language. I was in a little museum in Bratislava (a clock museum -- very, very cool), and the retired lady minding the museum and I had this rapport and affection based just on smiles and hand gestures.

I suppose it really is just about being open to where you're at, not expecting everyone to speak English and having patience. Perhaps a little creativity, too. Even if you don't speak a language, you can almost certainly be able to buy a travel ticket just by bringing out a map and pointing to your destination.

So, I guess the best advice is to go forth and travel, armed with a smile and a kind disposition.

Apology, v2

Again, I apologize for not discussing this with you previously to any post, and I sincerely apologize for the tone of the Apology post. It could have been handled differently and I will temporarily take it down and repost an edited, kinder version at a later date. I was wrong to post something so potentially inflammatory, and in that, I was wrong. I will also apologize for not saying more during the trip, in an attempt to try and defuse the difficulties that existed then. It was clearly a mistake to not address the situations as they happened. Again, a mistake on my part that I feel poorly for.

I can only sincerely apologize for these errors in my judgement and ask for forgiveness.