My Year of the Life of Leisure

And so it ends

2005-08-07T23:29:00.000-07:00

My dearest darlings. This is the final post for this blog. My year of leisure will end in approximately 30 minutes, after lasting some 11 months and several days.

Tomorrow, a renewed relationship with the alarm clock begins, as I start working full-time.

Oh, the pleasures of money coming in to my bank accounts!

So, I've toyed with all sorts of ways to close this blog. I've periodically jotted down notable things I've done or seen, that I thought would look great on the backcover of the book I dream this blog may become one day, when combined with my personal journal. In case this doesn't happen (I know more than a little of the publishing world, and what does and doesn't get published...), here are some highlights and tidbits for you, dear reader.

* Going to the opera in Bratislava
* Languages learned: un poquito de castellano
* Languages lost: nearly all of my French, until I arrived in Paris
* Words lost in English: countless, and I'm still rediscovering them
* Watching a blind tour group at the Iguazu National Park in Argentina
* Learning that a smile and hand gestures will solve nearly all language barriers (cleavage also helps...)
* Countries visited: 17
* Friends made: many
* Visits from friends, no matter how anticipated, can easily go awry
* Friends lost: 1
* True friendships will not be stopped by difficulties or disagreements or blog posts
* Romances/flings: 2.65
* Arriving in London on 7 July
* The icebergs in Patagonia
* The kindness of Argentinians
* Discovering the allure of Eastern Europe
* Visiting my first mosque
* Value of relaxing and losing stress: infinitely priceless

And so, because I've learned that I prefer not to say 'goodbye', I won't.

Instead, I hope that you all follow my new adventures in my new blog:

http://girlwanderlust.blogspot.com/

Grazie mille for reading, and I hope you continue to read.

Hasta luego. A bientot. See you soon!

The stars all seem to weep

2005-08-07T23:24:00.000-07:00

RIP Ibrahim Ferrer.

A good friend and I were lucky enough to hear him perform live. He and I danced half the night while listening to Senor Ferrer sing like a playful angel.

I will remember that night forever (I hope).

Several moments of silence, please:

RIP Ibrahim Ferrer.

The weekend in review

2005-08-07T22:49:00.000-07:00

As to my weekend, it was truly great. I went to Yakima to visit the best friend that moved. Her new place is very nice and already a cosy little home.

I also looked up a friend from college, that I travelled to Europe with in 1998, and we saw each other a couple times. She has two children now (both gorgeous). It was strange to hear children call her 'Mom'. I should mention that we hadn't seen each other in about six years, and talked in about five. I definitely want to keep in better contact with her, and I will definitely be visiting her again on future trips to Yakima.

Friday night saw me drinking wine at a "Hops Festival". I surely didn't know that 52% of the hops that Anheuser Busch uses are from Yakima. I learned that grape and hops production are now larger industries than apples in Yakima.

And the wine is great.

Between guzzling a couple glasses of wine, I watched the men and women cruise each other, men ride around in cute little tractors, beauty queen contestants and people eating corndogs.

It was fun.

I got drunk.

We watched the fireworks, then headed out. Partially so we could avoid the drunken traffic smash that would was inevitable a couple hours later, and because we'd had our fill of the festival.

We avoided the traffic and made it home in time to watch the young boys (20ish) light a small fire in their barbecue, and have it grow higher and higher and then we watched the embers float in the wind onto my friend's roof. Stupid boys. Very stupid, indeed. (The weather at 10pm was still in the upper 80s, in a city with drought-like conditions.)

The roof didn't catch fire and I'm still here...

I came back in time to make it to a bbq at a friend's house, then we went for the first of our walks. We're going to start walking 2-3 times per week.

I've missed walking. It's been too long, and I'm about to be chained to a computer... Though, I'll be getting paid!

I'm finally starting to hit a stride with a new routine.

Though, would of course much rather be hitting a stride in a country where I don't speak the language...

Mood=giddy

2005-08-04T23:33:00.000-07:00

The last 24 hours have been very good to me.

1. I have a date with Bachelor #3 for next Thursday;
2. I got the full-time (3-5 month) job (YAYY);
3. I ran into a friend I haven't seen in some 16-17 years, and we're going to meet up hopefully soon;
4. I spent the evening with a good friend;

All in all, a very nice 24 hours.

And tomorrow, I'm off for the weekend to spend the weekend with one of my best friends. That I'm taking a three-hour Greyhound trip to see her illustrates the veracity of our friendship. (I rather dislike American Greyhound.)

But, I'm still giddy from the last 24 hours. I'm rather looking forward to meeting Bachelor #3. We talk easily and laugh often.

So now, dear readers, I sign off. I will be without email until I return on Sunday evening sometime. Imagine!

Wish me luck in the dry heat of Yakima. It's supposed to be 100F tomorrow...

Eek!

On bad timekeeping skills

2005-08-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

I was gently chastised earlier today. Justifiably, too.

For so long, I've been in the habit of making plans on the fly, and since there was rarely another plan to conflict, didn't think much about it.

Now, though, I'm learning the 'you need to think before saying yes' lesson. I'd made plans with one of my best friends (she's the one that moved out-of-city) to go see her and her new place this weekend. Then, a couple days later I made afternoon plans with my other best friend for Saturday.

Mucha mea culpa.

Thankfully, I was let off with a light chastisement from my friend.

I've started writing things down in a little book I carry in my purse.

On interviewing

2005-08-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

No, it's generally not a good idea to get flummoxed or tongue-tied, which is what happened to me (a little) during the second, group interview today. The first was fun and laugh-filled. To be clear about this, this is a company I did a temporary project for a year ago, so I actually know these people a little.

I'm pretty sure the position is mine (esp since the experience I have from last year makes me a much stronger candidate for this), but still feel a bit weird about how the second interview went. It's really pretty rare for me to be tongue-tied, and the questions weren't really unusual for an interview. Just out of practice, I suppose.

I should hear back within a couple days.

My good luck charms (and my mobile phone) are not leaving my side for the forseeable future.

!Buena suerte para mi!

Lesson learned

2005-08-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

That is, to trust my gut feeling.

Because I'd been wondering if I was too hasty with, let's call him Bachelor #1 (B1), I was chatting with him yesterday, and wrote this. What transpired made me angry. Very angry. After going for a bit of a walk, and venting with a good friend, I calmed down. After a good night's sleep, I've realized that my original decision was correct -- and for even more reasons than I originally thought.

Next!

B3 is calling me tonight, to make plans to meet. He literally makes me laugh out loud with his emails, and I look forward to having dinner with him.

B4 is scheduled to return to Seattle tomorrow, and should be contacting me then.

(I have three good luck charms in my purse now.)

Aha...yes, I can be gullible sometimes

2005-08-01T00:28:00.000-07:00

So, the friend is not a father. His email was a bit of a joke. Ha ha.

Went on another date. It was fine. No lightning bolt of chemistry, so don't know if I'll see him again. I really do believe in the Lightning Bolt of Chemistry. Physically, he's not really what I'm looking for. We also ran out of things to say to each other after a couple hours.

Am I being too picky? Perhaps. But I have a pretty solid idea of what I want, so there you go. I'm willing to make certain concessions if I feel the lightning bolt, though.

So, my quest for a guy continues...

Wish me luck.

(ps found the Turkish good luck eye, and it is now in my purse and goes everywhere I go)

The difference nine months makes

2005-07-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

For me, it's utter relaxation and a lot of incredible experiences and stamps in my passport.

I've often thought about nine months being time enough to have a baby, and how my trip can be considered my baby. Perhaps a stretch, but there you go.

And now I've just been sent photos by a friend, and apparently he is now a father. I just received a bunch of photos, including him looking pretty adoringly at a newborn girl (with the message "This is what I've been up to.").

Wow.

How things change.

Whheeeeeee

2005-07-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

Everything is moved. Boxes in a friend's basement. [Now] half-unpacked boxes in my new bedroom.

Who knew I had so many pieces of clothing? (especially red clothing) I thought I'd ditched a lot of clothing before moving, but apparently not...or perhaps I just need to ditch even more.

The old house in West Seattle is now empty, save a couple half-consumed drinks in the fridge, a couple rolls of toilet paper and a broom. A moment of silence, please:

Thanks.

So, now time to unpack a bit more.

ps yes, I have gone out this evening -- I'm not just sitting chained to my laptop or being a slave to my boxes... :)

Little updates everywhere

2005-07-30T06:36:00.000-07:00

I was offered the job yesterday. No big surprise, but it was still very nice to hear "I'd like to offer you the job" be said. Won't start for a couple weeks, though, which is nice in a way.

One of my best friends yesterday expressed surprise that I still believe in "The One", as in a dating/relationship context. I do. I also believe there is more than just one "The One". I suspect he thinks I was perhaps too finicky and hasty in my handling of the man I went out with. Sometimes I feel this way, too. Che sera sera.

I've had some reasonable responses to my last dating ad, and am in correspondence with a couple people. For some reason, I'm attracting Tall Men. Like 6'4", 6'6". I'm more or less 5'5". The man I went out with last Friday night was 6'2", and I felt like I was barely at his chest level...

And yes, I really am writing this at 6.40am. I woke up an hour ago, and just haven't been able to go back to sleep. Kill me now. Especially since I'm moving today, and was looking forward to spending the afternoon unpacking. Not napping.

Sing along with me: Shana gets to unpack and have her own space! Shana gets to unpack and have her own space!

Wheeeeeee!

On Dating (or at least, trying to)

2005-07-29T12:04:00.000-07:00

Whoa. I think it's about time to get myself out in to the real world and try my odds there. Perhaps a couple weeks is too little, but I'm just not receiving the kind of responses that I'm interested in. Yes, I've had what could perhaps be called many responses to my ads, but honestly, I've gone on one date. Most of the guys that respond and I think "wow. Nice email." end with me looking at their photo and thinking "Not so much, even if my only options were you and a lunatic." OK. So maybe the guys aren't *that* bad, but perhaps you understand my meaning. I do believe looks are important, and the guys that respond to my ad are mostly not what I'm interested in.

Now, I look at photos first. If I can't imagine kissing the face, then it's a no. Without exception.

This means, once I move tomorrow, I will be doing things away from the computer. There is a lake not too far from my new place, and I will start walking there and see what happens (I mean, there was something potent in the air around the Seine, so I'm hoping that it was something potent to bodies of water, and not just a French thing...). I also plan on getting back into dancing again soon. In short, I am going to start trying to meet as many new men as possible.

I really don't want to be single now.

Oh. This is sooo much fun! >smirk<

Wheeeeeee...or wait, maybe not so excited

2005-07-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

So, I have a job interview this afternoon and a job interview on Tuesday morning. Unless I have convulsions during the interviews, or behave in a Linda Blair-esque fashion, I'm 95% certain both of the jobs are mine.

Wheeeeeeee! I will have a paycheck soon.

Saaadddddddd! I will have to wake up on a schedule soon (and not because the dog wants food at 6am).

These are the very, very last days of leisure.

It's been a very good and very memorable (almost) year.

Jobwise

2005-07-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

So, I'm still waiting for a call on the contract job [with the company I did almost the same thing for before I started my trip]. The bureaucracy at this place is amazing -- I think it's been a good two months since I first heard the position would be available, and there was a question of whether I'd be back in time for the beginning of it... In all fairness, though, the extra time has given me more leisure and the opportunity to really go through each and every box to prepare for moving. And I've had tons of time to chill with the cats, spend way too much time online chatting with friends and just surfing in general (I missed my laptop -- dear Edith) and spend a priceless quantity of time with one of my best friends.

I'm also scheduled to call a woman today, to talk about a couple-nights-a-week job. The second job is easy -- just answering phones for an upscale pizzeria, to take delivery orders. When I was at university, I had a similar job for several months. Low-impact. Easy money. It ain't for forever.

Still haven't decided on what the new blog will be called. I imagine I will focus on that once I've moved.

You can't escape your past

2005-07-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

Well, sometimes.

So. I've had several occasions to be using craigslist for various things. Trying a little dating, hiring people to help me move, giving away and selling random things. (And no, I'm not going to mention the various freaks that have sent me rude messages. At least, I'm not going in to details.)

Even with emails to the personal ads, I've found that I still write in the Amazon.com style that was (apparently) embedded into my psyche. That is, emails always begin with one of the following:

Thank you for responding to my email.

I appreciate the time you took to respond.

Thank you for resending your photos.

And now, I have to think of some equally polite thing to write to a guy who I've emailed with a couple times, who finally sent his photo. A fine enough looking man -- just not for me.

I'm beginning to feel like I'm overly picky. Though, I know I won't be fully happy with less than what I desire. I went out with a guy on Friday, and while it was a nice date and he's a wonderful guy, it just wasn't perfect. We've agreed to work on being friends, and I truly hope that happens. (I'm actually a bit sad it isn't going to be more, because he is a great guy. But what can you do when you don't think they're the right match for you?)

Anyway. You may wonder why I brought that up. Well, it's a segue. Another guy responded to an ad I've placed, and he also works at Amazon.com. Though, I'm not going to meet him. Calling me at 11.42pm, kinda drunk, to have a First Chat: Not. So. Smart. He sounds like a former Frat Boy, and that's enough to make me run for the hills.

As a side note, I'm mostly writing about the dating stuff because it's far more interesting than me expounding on the intricacies of going through boxes, marvelling at the amount of random and useless junk I moved (Oh! A Twix wrapper! Oh! Clean paper napkins! Oh! Useless receipts! Oh! Dried up pens! (you get the idea)), repacking and moving said boxes. I move into my new place on Saturday, which I am rather excited about. It's a wonderful house, a great dog and the woman who owns the house seems pretty cool. And I finally get to unpack and have my Very Own Space! This thrills me in ways I don't have the right words for.

So, wish me luck avoiding spiders in the boxes, and in finding the right guy.

(I need to find my Turkish good luck eye.)

More about re-entering my 'old' life

2005-07-25T04:52:00.000-07:00

Now, I really can't say that I'm living my 'old life', because I'm so very much not living that life. Though, I don't know how to succintly say it in another way, so there you go.

I've missed my music. I've been listening to Stigmato, Inc; Trainspotting 2; Arabic music. And that's just today. Music is an integral part of my daily life, and while I loved the music I had with me, it wasn't enough.

Next time, I will have an iPod and all of my music. Sin excepcion!

I must say that I'm also highly unused to having recurring items in my schedule. For example, dvd night on Monday's at one of my best friend's house. Yesterday, I told my other best friend that I would spend tonight with her and she said she would take me out to dinner. To make it worse, this happened last week. To make it even worse, her landline is on the blink, and I can't call her... Though as this is her last week in Seattle, I might just cancel on the dvd night and spend the evening with her. I know it hasn't hit me that she will be elsewhere next week.

Won't it be fun when I start working and have a Much Bigger recurring event in my life...?

It was a strange feeling of lost...

2005-07-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

...when I was on my way back to the US. I knew what to expect in Seattle -- where I was initially staying, my friends, my mother, perhaps rain, perhaps sun, the inevitable job hunt, moving my things. Though, it still felt extremely odd, and a strange feeling of lost, to be on the flight from London to NYC. It was as if my previous life and what I'd previously known was waving at me from afar, and yet I couldn't recognize it and I pretty much knew I didn't want to re-approach it. [Of course, the exception to this is seeing my friends and my mother.]

It was also weird to know that this Grand Adventure of mine had drawn to a close. The lifestyle of moving around [on average] every 4-5 days was quite normal for me. Imagining being in a city for six or seven months was startling and [not necessarily in a good way] shocking.

[As a side note, I must admit that I was looking forward to being able to unpack my bags and not have to lock them up every day before leaving my hostel or hotel.]

Though, it goes without saying that I am looking forward, very much so, to putting some much-needed cash in my bank accounts. All the signs indicate I will be working probably within a week, and I'm strangely looking forward to that (see money note above). Of course, I had some money set aside for my return stateside. The quicker I start working, though, the more of that money will be siphoned into my Pay Off Part of the Credit Card Debt and Return to Europe funds. I know I plan on teaching, yet I still want to have more money than will cover my airfare and a month or two of living in Eastern Europe.

But back to my US re-entry. I managed to beat the worst of the jetlag within 24 hours. Initially, travelling from early in the UK morning until midway through the PST evening seemed like a horrid way to spend a day (I really loved the British Airways flight from NYC to London -- leaves at 9pm EST and arrives at 9am GMT). In the end, my flight back worked out quite well. My hideous NYC layover was eased by the arrival of my oldest friend at JFK, and we went to lunch and spent about two hours together. I love my friends. By the time I boarded my flight from NYC to Seattle, the initial jetlag was already hitting, and once I arrived in Seattle, I was able to stay up for a few hours and go to sleep at a normal time for me (midnight-ish+). Woke up at 5am the next day, took a couple naps, and by Wednesday was back to my 'normal' schedule.

Perhaps that was a little long in the description, but there you go. I don't know that I've ever mentioned it, but I do not compose these entries in advance, and I very rarely go back and alter anything other than a typo. I just sit and write and whatever is written is just that.

I pretty successfully avoided most culture shock my first week by not venturing outside of my friend's house, unless I was with her or on my way to see friends. I did precious, precious little wandering around downtown or anywhere else. And I tend to believe that by secluding myself in that way, I managed to help beat the culture shock I knew was waiting for me. I must admit, though, that I am still shocked at the outright rudeness and imperialistic attitudes sported by much of the population here. As an example, earlier this evening I walked to the local grocery store, and a woman and I were about to walk into each other. She moved slightly, I moved a little more. My hand-carried basket lightly touched hers. I looked at her and said 'sorry'. She didn't look at me and said 'yes.' Hunh?

So, I know this is probably not the level of detail some of you may have expected or wished for, but this is at it is right now. If you really want to know more or have specific questions, please do write to me via the link on the sidebar.

As to my last week or so, I've house/dog-sitted for the last few nights (for the woman I will be moving in with (in a truly wonderful house, on a street about nine blocks from the street I grew up on); gone on a date; finished Harry Potter 6 (and absolutely can't wait until the final one -- it will be truly amazing); found out I will be contacted for an interview for a couple month contract job (and I've been assured the interview is more of a formality, as I'm a shoo-in for one of the positions); sorted and got rid of more of what I packed from my apartment; moved most of the remaining boxes to their new home in another friend's basement (again, behold the power of good friends -- especially ones who say that if they sell their house, they will personally move your boxes to a storage facility). OK, so while I really didn't move the boxes, I hired the guy who did that and hired a van that a friend drove. [as another side note: I've learned the beauty of hiring people to do the things you don't want to be bothered with. If for $12/hour, you can hire a strapping young man to handle the work of moving boxes heavy with books or other items, why on earth would you do it yourself?? !que bombone!

So now, I'm off to hopefully find a copy of my last resume on my computer and spiff and update it up a bit so I can have a fresh copy for my interview. It also sounds like I would likely start working within days. Oh, the joy expressed by my bank accounts!!!

And yes, dear reader, that means that I must finally decide on the new blog name, as this blog will definitely end when I begin working. For that will mean no more leisure for me.

For the time being, that is.

Back in the USSA

2005-07-16T04:11:00.000-07:00

Heh. So, sorry I haven't written this week.

Though, I've decided to maintain this particular blog until I start working. It makes sense, as that will most officially be the end of leisure for me...

This week has been filled with some lovely, non-jetlagged sleep, seeing a few friends and buying the Harry Potter 6 book last night at midnight. Oh, and I've thrown myself into a little online dating. The first round was a bust, though I think there is at least one [rather attractive by his photos] guy that I will be meeting. He dances.

While it may be surprising, I haven't experienced much in the way of culture shock. Though, I've also done a rather nice and effective job of sheltering myself this week. I'm staying at the house of one of my best friends, and have only been leaving to meet other people.

I can tell you though, that I'm still disgusted by the level of morbid obesity here and the level of blatant and careless rudeness here.

Though, I've also been rather culture shock'd by the homeless population here in Seattle. There is a lot less homelessness in Europe and the beggars there behave a lot differently than in the US. They tend to be more docile and humble, instead of breathing fumes of cheap booze in your face and looking you in the eye.

In any case, I need to get going on HP. There's a contest going between a couple friends and I, as to who will finish first...

The one cool thing of travelling so much yesterday

2005-07-12T00:17:00.000-07:00

...is that I saw friends in three cities, on two continents, in three different time zones yesterday. I shared hugs with all three.

This is really, really cool (and unusual for anyone).

Safe and sound and jetlagged

2005-07-12T00:11:00.000-07:00

So, I lied. There will be more than one more post to this blog. There is just so much to say and I don't want to just work on writing the Mother of All Blog Posts.

I'm back. I'm jetlagged (woke up at 5am...though, part of that was do to a cat licking my neck (and no, that isn't a metaphor for anything, it really happened)). It's weird to be back in the US. Very weird. So many people are incredibly fat and incredibly rude. I can already feel the culture shock waiting to rear its head once I go out and about in the city.

I wrote on my flights until my pen exploded, and left with with massive ink stains on my hands and the seat next to me (thankfully unoccupied). I don't quite know how I will divide what I've been writing about between this blog and the next, but it's coming. I promise.

I'm piggybacking on someone's wireless right now. I think it's my friend's immediate neighbor, but I'm not sure.

Back in the US less than 24 hours and I'm already breaking rules...

Last Saturday in Europe

2005-07-09T09:51:00.000-07:00

Today, went to visit St Paul's Cathedral with my friend here in London. He illicitly took many photographs in the Cathedral (insert Mission Impossible theme music here...). It's an incredibly beautiful cathedral, and even burnt-out-as-I-am on cathedrals, I'm glad I visited.

I've bought a new suitcase, and it is full. Which is scary to think I've bought that much stuff. Especially since I have sent a couple small packages back to Seattle, here and there. So it goes.

Tonight, not exactly sure what I'm doing. Definitely going to dinner, maybe a movie and another walk around.

London seems back to normal. Though, I rode the tube a couple times today, and it was remarkably empty for a Saturday. It even went through the Edgware station, which was a bit uneasy for me, and my friend and I just looked at each other when the station was announced.

So. I'm off to call one of my best friends (and probably, I'll be waking her up...heh), and then write in my personal journal and then decide what I'll be doing this evening.

I suppose it's obvious I'm a bit tired. Went out for dinner and a couple drinks with my friend last night, and stayed up much later than necessary, watching British tv.

I will definitely be kicking the tv habit when I return to the US....

The morning after

2005-07-08T05:20:00.000-07:00

...and most things seem back to normal. Bus service re-started yesterday evening, and the tube is running in several places.

Not like I'm planning on taking public transport right now, though.

It seems like I heard an above-average number of ambulance sirens this morning, from my hotel. Though, I'm fairly close to St. Mary's Hostpital, which is where most of yesterday's casualties were taken.

I've also heard helicopters flying over Paddington several times so far today. The Paddington tube stop is only one stop from Edgware, where one of the bombs went off.

It looks like most everyone is going about their business as normal, and I intend to do the same. Which means buying a couple dvds for a friend, and a suitcase for all the things I've bought and stored at my friend's flat.

As a side note, I will admit to being more than a little bit nervous about flying to NY on Monday. Though, I try to reassure myself that:

1. Now is the safest time to be flying from London, what with the massive extra security everywhere now;
2. British Airways has an impeccable flight record;
3. Once I'm on the plane, there's very little I can do. If fate steps in, then fate steps in.

So. Am off now, and will write something more later, after I've been out in the city.

These shoes were made for walking, and they're going to walk London again.

London, interrupted...but only temporarily

2005-07-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

So, I've just spent the last two hours or so walking around part of London. Not as many people are walking down the streets; the buses are running again and packed with people; TONS of people are crammed into the pubs and bars; many shops and restaurants and other businesses closed early.

I've been taking pictures of all the closure signs on businesses. None of them actually say they are closed because of the "bombings", but because of the "incidents" of the day, or the "transportation difficulties", or something equally polite and oblique. I have about ten so far, and I hope to get some more before heading back to my hotel.

I didn't get a great deal of sleep last night (I was enjoying an evening alone...), and after walking for miles and miles today (I did a lot of walking after initially getting here), I'm rather exhausted and my ankle can't take much more.

I'm very interested to see how London is tomorrow. My sense is that as much as possible, everything will be at normal. Otherwise, obviously, the terrorists will have succeeded.

OK. Off to find a snack and then back to my hotel so I can climb the three narrow, semi-steep flights to my tiny room and watch tv that I can actually understand when the dialogue is rapid...

Again, Long Live London.

I'm in London and safe

2005-07-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

I took the Eurostar from Paris to London late this morning. The main bombings happened before I left Paris, and I didn't hear about them until well after the train departed from Paris. All the information I had was gained by eavesdropping on some phone calls of a British couple in the seats in front of me.

All public transportation in Central London is closed, and the streets are flooded with people walking and trying to catch taxis. I had to queue for nearly 90 minutes (at the train station) for the taxi I took to my hotel.

One of my friends here in London went through one of the bombed tube stations less than an hour before it was bombed. My hands were shaking when I got off the phone with him.

It's such a bittersweet day, as yesterday was so full of jubilation because London won the bid for the 2012 Olympic games.

Long Live London!

From the mailbag: aka, what I really think about the end of my trip

2005-07-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

So, I just responded to an email from a friend, and as I was writing my response, I realized it would make a good post for the blog.

The question was:

"How do you feel now that your trip is coming to an end?"

Now, I know I've written about being listless and the shopping, but I don't know that I've concisely or fully answered this question for you, my dear blog readers.

In general, I'm (of course) sad that this is ending. On the other hand, I'm greatly looking forward to seeing my friends and my mother, and putting some money in to my bank accounts. Since I'm also planning on returning to Europe in February (yes, I'm personally aware of how cold it is then...) to try my hand at teaching English in Prague, it feels like this return to the US is merely a little interruption of my Grand Adventure. And as C-E pointed out a couple times, when one thing stops, another thing starts, and that when returning to Seattle starts, I can start planning the beginning of the next holiday/my teaching adventure in Prague.

Which brings me to: while I was writing the email to my friend, I realized that the beginning of this trip marked an enormous turning point in my life. This may sound obvious and I think I had an idea of this when I started the trip, yet it's now just really sinking in, just how big this change is and how much this trip has affected my life. Even if for some reason (brilliant job, grand love affair, ???) I don't return to Europe as planned in February (or so), my life is forever changed. Especially if I return to Europe, it will further illustrate how much my life has changed since I came up with the idea for this trip while sitting on the malecon one morning in La Paz, Baja (Mexico). While I could be sitting reading someone else's blog, in a condo that I've recently purchased (which, if I haven't mentioned it, was the option I had -- put money into property or take this trip...taking the trip was a very, very quick decision), I'm not. And I am so very, very glad that I didn't let anyone sway my decision to take this trip (and people tried) and that I didn't let anyone else's doubts that I would actually make this trip (several people either said this or behaved in a way that made it obvious they felt this way) influence me with their views. I'm eternally thankful to the friends who stood behind me every step of the way, and never once doubted that I would make this dream of a trip a reality. Granted, this trip is not the original version I planned (that involved hitchhiking on sailboats...), but I made the trip. I created a Grand Adventure for myself and lived a life I had only read about and dreamed about before. Yes, I had a certain amount of [healthy] fear about making this trip. Though, I feel stronger for having jumped into the unknown and created the life I've lived.

I also know now, more than ever, that living in a foreign country is a high priority for me. Whether I do it by teaching English, or by finding an international job, or by marrying a foreign national (hey, it could happen) or finding a couple million dollars somewhere, this is the next Big Thing that will happen in my life.

So, here's to me having created something fantastic and incredible, and to me planning the next stop of the Grand Adventure I started last year.

Cheers. Salute. Sante. Salud. Chink chink.

It ain't over yet.

How very funny

2005-07-06T05:53:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in an internet cafe in a Paris suburb. In the cafe, a couple people are arguing in a mix of French and Arabic, and the woman uses "Que boluda!" in the middle of the argument. Of course, that got my attention...since I know what that is.

I've used the masculine form of this in my blog, back in the Buenos Aires Days. It's not very nice, and it's a particularly South American (or so I've been led to believe) insult. The Lonely Planet (boo, hiss) guide to Argentina lists it as a particularly Argentinian insult, and a Colombian guy I met knew what it was, too.

It's just particularly funny to listen to an argument in Arabic and French, and then hear a South American insult thrown in.

Though, I want to learn how to swear in Italian, so maybe it's not all that strange.

Or, learning some insults in Arabic would be really cool.

The possibilities are elegant and boundless!

New blog: Coming Soon!!

2005-07-05T10:05:00.000-07:00

In anticipation of this "year" of mine coming to an end, albeit a month or two early, I've created another blog. I've enjoyed recording my life via this blog, and from what friends and virtual friends have said, they've enjoyed reading about my life, too. So, this is to say that mid-July will not be the end of my blogging days!

The new blog is linked on the sidebar, and content will start appearing in it in a couple weeks. I know people forget things, so I'll post another message about this after my final YOL post.

Please update your links!

On needing a break from vacations

2005-07-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

So, I am starting to realize I have travelled a little too long without a proper break. Granted, there was the two-week stretch in Varna, but one of those weeks was spent critiquing a manuscript, so it wasn't all Lie In the Watery Sun and Pretend The Beach and Sun is Hot kind of week. You can only travel so long without stopping for a little while. Or, at least this is what I have discovered is true for myself. I've become a bit numb to seeing beautiful things, and this feels like a crime when I'm in cities with many beautiful things to see.

I'm back to listless again. I have no desire to see any of the monuments or museums in Paris (whether I've visited them before or not). Well, I kinda wanted to revisit the Musee d'Orsay today, but I've been fairly tired and fighting a tiny cold...so I didn't go.

Though, I will admit going in to the city with the express desire of buying a handbag I saw a few times and have thought about frequently. I bought the last one (though, not in the raspberry-red color I coveted). I also sent a few lightweight, but bulky clothes items home. The backpack is just about bursting, after the shopping I've done here, and I just don't feel like getting the extra bag [I know I will need before flying back to the US] here, and lugging them both to London. The lazy bit of me would rather pay to mail things back, and deal with buying the extra luggage in London. I just can't be bothered with such things right now.

I also realize that had I not needed to change my return date by a couple weeks, that I would be languishing on the beach in Portugal.

So, now I'm off to languish on the bed of my Paris hotel room, and think about things like "do I go to London tomorrow or Thursday?" and "do I call C-E and see if he is free tonight...?"

Decisions, decisions.

Merci beaucoup!

2005-07-04T05:46:00.000-07:00

So, it goes something like this:

After lunch, a movie [Sin City] and a walk through the Tuileries, I stopped and sat on a bench next to the Seine. When I started to walk towards the train station, a guy on a bike [that I couldn't see] said something to me in French. I ignored it. Then he said something to me in English. And I ignored that. Then, he started walking his bike alongside me. My, I was pleased to discover how attractive he is! Of course, we went for a beer, and it was a MUCH nicer time than the beer I had on Saturday night. All I could think about was kissing him...(that he bears a resemblance to Liev Schrieber only made me want to kiss him even more...)

And yes, this was the prelude to Holiday Romance 3. It was wholly different from my other experiences, and I did new things and enjoyed them all. It was filthy in the best possible way...and that is all I will say about that. Though, he also played the guitar for me, and made me honey tea in the morning. Merci beaucoup C-E!

Now, the decision is whether to go back to my hotel to change my clothes and come back to Paris in the evening, or whether to continue walking around and just return in the evening. Je ne sais pas.

Vive l'amour a la 19ieme arrondissement!!!!

Saturday night in the St Germain

2005-07-03T06:12:00.000-07:00

So, lazed about most of yesterday. Though, I did make it to a lavaderie so I could wash some clothes and have clean underwear.

In the evening, I took the train in to Paris, with the plan of walking around and perhaps seeing a movie. Seeing a movie was out, because the last train back is at midnight... So, I started walking down the St Germain. I paused to watch a sculptor sculpting vegetables (very lovely -- think of it as temporary art, like a bouquet of flowers), and was fairly promptly asked by a man to join him for a drink.

No, dear reader, this recent convert to the pleasures of Holiday Romance did not have a Parisian HR. There were different little red flags that came up, and I decided that he was not the best man for more HR for me. He was nice enough and interesting enough, but the seduction technique (if it can even be called that), was rather poor, and mentioning that you think you might be an alcoholic: not the best way to pick up a woman...

Still, it was a nice evening and it was pleasant to drink a couple drinks in a cafe on the Rue St Germain, have an interesting a varied conversation (art to politics to travelling to jobs to me explaining what Amazon.com is to a non-computer user) and watching the people walk by the cafe.

Am now off to go in to Paris and see a movie, and (probably) visit Les Tuileries -- aka My Favorite Paris Park.

Bon journee!

Bits and pieces

2005-07-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

I have discovered it *is* still possible for me to walk too much and have a sore foot. I've walked quite a bit the last few days, mostly without my ankle/foot brace, and I'm paying the price. And, I was walking with the brace today. I'd had a thought of going to a movie tonight (I haven't seen a new one in ages, mostly because the countries I've been in dub foreign movies, instead of subtitle them). Though, I'm feeling rather tired and the muscles are a bit sore (and no, they're not sore from me perusing the sale racks in the shops...), and I'm thinking French tv and an early night are just the thing.

Today, I also met the friend of a friend for lunch and a bit of a walk. Interesting to meet someone who is just starting a 13-month trip -- and at this point he's planning on spending all the time in Europe. My mind boggles at the possibilities of that. To be able to have so much time here, and to be able to stay someplace for a few weeks or a month, and still have plenty of time for other places....mmmmmm....blissful!

A little bit about the neighborhood of my hotel: [I mean this in the nicest possible way] It is Immigrant Town. I am certainly one of the few white people walking around. Though, it is different than the immigrant neighborhoods I saw in Italy or Germany, as the residents here are not first generation immigrants, as they all speak French as native speakers. I've found some lovely Turkish food and I have a very nice relationship with the guys in the internet cafe. They charge me about 1/2 the going rate for the internet, and round down when I use for less than a 30 minute block of time.

During my time in Paris, I've managed to avoid running in to many tourists. The main exception to this is when I'm going to or from my RER (regional transit train) stop in Paris. The station is located very close to Notre Dame. Otherwise, I've mostly been brushing elbows with French ladies in the shops, and random French people on the streets. I've been mistaken for French more than a few times, and I've had a couple very brief conversations in French (thankfully, my French has resurfaced in my mind, since I arrived in Paris, and it hasn't been mixed with too much Spanish...).

Every time I go in to Paris, I see the Eiffel Tower from the train, and cross the Seine in a couple different places.

I saw a parked car with a window bashed in, and with a stereo conspicuously absent, on my way to the internet cafe just now.

While I've received a number of comments from men on the street (along the lines of "vous etes tres jolie"), I have not found a Frenchman for romance. Which is just as well as I'm PMS'ing a bit and have been periodically cranky over the last few days. I've stocked up on chocolate from the local grocery store.

There has been very cool weather, and some rain, the last two days in Paris. It makes it easier for walking around, and certainly for trying on clothes (since it is certainly no fun to try and determine if something is just a bit tight, or if it's just stuck to your skin...). It's also nice to sleep under the covers, instead of just lying on top of the comforter.

So. Sorry if this seems like a bit of a telegraph post. I realized I've only been writing about shopping-related things, and wanted to add a little variety. And I readily admit I'm rather tired and flow of writing is not high on my list of abilities right now. I haven't written in my personal journal since my last full day in Milan. Shame on me!

And finally, I'm off to call my mother, as it's her birthday today and while I'm on the other side of the world from her, I'm not a neglectful child...

Happy Birthday Mom!

Where do I go?

2005-06-29T15:01:00.000-07:00

So, I have no fixed plans for between this Friday night and next Saturday morning. I'm booked in to my current hotel through Thursday night, so I either need to stay longer or leave Paris. I'm considering staying an extra two nights, just to do some sightseeing and so that I'm not travelling on Friday or Saturday (I'm sure I've mentioned how I truly dislike doing this).

Places I'm considering going:

Morocco
Nice
Brighton Beach
Wales
Berlin
Portugal

If you only had 11 days left in Europe, where would you go????? Suggestions can be emailed via the link on the sidebar.

Mille grazie!

Internal conflicts

2005-06-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

So. Now that I've nearly reached the end of this trip, part of my just wants to hop on the next plane and return to the US. Of course, I would much rather stay here in Europe. But the idea of earning money instead of constantly spending money is very seductive, and the sooner I start earning money, the sooner I can return to Europe.

I hope to return to Europe in February, or so, and look for a teaching job then. I would try to do so in Milan (for the obvious reason and for the reason that I really liked the city), but I've heard that the pay for English teachers is about half of what it is in Prague, and the cost of living is certainly higher. So, it is looking like I will go to Prague, save some money, then either travel some more or move somewhere else to teach English. The future will tell.

I have no idea where I am going on Friday (which is when I'm supposed to leave my hotel). I'm toying with the idea of Morocco or Spain or Portugal. Or perhaps some other place I haven't even thought of. If I leave on Friday, I will have a week somewhere, as I plan on arriving in London on Friday or Saturday next.

I still just want to buy a suitcase, go to London and pack it up and get on the next flight outta here.

What's happening to me???

Soldes: friend or foe

2005-06-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

Soldes, for you non-French speakers, means "sale". Today, the crowds in the shops was heavier and there was a bit more of a battle-like feel amongst the shoppers. I shudder to think what it might be like on the weekend...

Today, the shopping booty was much smaller than yesterday. I did find a lovely ring and semi-matching earrings, which was nice. Though, they were unable to resize the ring to fit my ring finger, so I have to wear it on my middle finger. It's probably one of the larger rings I've ever purchased, so I think wearing it not on my ring finger will work fine for it.

My feet are reminding me that it's not necessarily a good thing to walk around for hours, two days straight, wearing sandals. I think I have a new blister on my left foot. Though, I think the sandals are more comfortable than my waiting-to-be-thrown-away-before-I-leave-London loafers. I bought the loafers in Glasgow, cheap, and they have served their purpose. And it will mean I there will be one less pair of shoes in my backpack, so I will have a little more space.

Now, time to read the Paris Vogue and Elle, and lust over clothing and jewelry that is outside of my current budget.

Paris shopping

2005-06-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

It can really take it out of a girl... :) I found some lovely things today (including the second red, linen skirt I've bought since I was in Italy...). I saw two pairs of shoes I would like to call my own, though I put off any decisions until tomorrow. I was only shopping in one area today, and I want to look around more before committing to more purchases (like the jeans I mostly liked in one store today). My backpack is filling up again, and if I find more cool things tomorrow and the next day, I'm sure another package back to the US will happen.

It's cool to come to a city where I have a general sense of direction, immediately upon arriving, and where I know where important things, like good clothing stores, are at...

Wish me luck for shopping tomorrow!!

ps Heard from Him. Unfortunately, his schedule was difficult this weekend and it prevented us from meeting. Though, his email left seeing each other again open for the future, and I'm very glad about that! I want to go on another motorcycle ride (and no, that isn't a metaphor for something else, though that would be More Than OK, too...in which case I'd say: I'd like to eat cherries with him again).

Demain, Bonjour Paris!

2005-06-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, tomorrow I am going to Paris.

Yippeee!

For once, the train is cheaper than the flight (but only because I waited an extra day to book the flight -- the fare went up €100...eek). Though, it will be very nice to see the French countryside during the day. I remember it as being very beautiful.

Now, time to go buy my train ticket and then come back to the hotel for a nap (head a little sore) in the air conditioning, and then go out for a walk and a meal once the high heat of the day has abated a little bit.

I can't wait to see Paris again!

The Agony and the Ecstasy

2005-06-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

No, dear readers, did not hear from Him today. And I called him and he said he would call me at my hotel or stop by. I must admit I called him earlier today, after a slightly strained call yesterday, and I knew it was a grand mistake as soon as he responded to my voice. Still, the other night is a beautiful memory, and cherries will never be thought of the same way again. Though, I fear I will not see him again before I leave Milan on Monday.

Che sera sera.

The ecstasy was going to a fabulous party this evening. Someone I met online, in the same way I met Him, invited me to a party being thrown by a French guy he knows. The French guy is part of a small band, and there were songs performed throughout the party. Very, very cool. I wish them all the best with their music. I met some really cool people and am sad that I will not see them again before I leave Milan. For instance, the slightly crazy Italian guy that put on some girl's heels, and walked around and danced for quite a bit longer than you might think. And then a plastic cup became lodged on one of the heels. Very, very funny. Or the Sicilian guy who went on about why he loved Sicily so much (even though he didn't have all the English words to fully explain himself, but I understand what he meant), who was also quite a flirt.

It was a great party and the perfect pick-me-up after the agony of checking my email today and hoping to find a message whenever I would stop by the hotel today. Some things are not meant to be, but it is so much nicer when they are tempered with fun things like great parties. I even did a shot of vodka (which I hate, but is nicely tempered if you have a piece of cantalope to eat immediately afterwards (sort of like limes and tequila)), mixed in with a bunch of Italian and French wine.

I hope my head doesn't hurt in the morning...

I think I'm going to Paris on Monday. I'm going somewhere on Monday, though. I adore Milan, but it is time to leave. Especially if He doesn't get in touch with me tomorrow... I adore him most of all, but it was either a One Night Thing, or I was a little too forward with trying to contact him to see him again. The latter happens when I get excited about someone and only have a very little time left in the same city... So it goes.

To be clear, I didn't sit around my hotel all day waiting for contact from Him. I went to the Monument[al?] Cemetery, and it was absolutely magnificient. One of the best cemeteries I've seen, though I still believe the one in Budapest is the best I've visited. I took as many photos as my memory card would allow me to. Afterwards, I went on a rather long walk (see the first of yesterday's posts), and got a mild sunburn. It is rather hot and humid here -- I can only fear what July and August are like in Milan.

So tomorrow, don't know when I will wake up, and I imagine most everything will be closed (this *is* a Catholic country...). Perhaps lie in bed and watch Italian tv, finish my last new book in English, sleep, and do some writing. I've caught up a lot on my personal writing, but there is still quite a bit more to do.

Che bello notte! The night makes up for the day.

A happy bit of news

2005-06-24T12:45:00.000-07:00

I've for so very long wanted to be able to post:

I believe my ankle is finally, finally normal.

Though, I will continue to wear the ankle brace on travel days when I'm lugging my bag around.

I'm walking around a lot more without my ankle brace, and it's not getting sore or swollen. I even mis-stepped with it a couple days ago, and it twisted slightly but didn't get inflammed and it didn't hurt. After so long with having to be so very careful with it and continuing to think it was tender, it was an incredibly pleasant surprise to have it behave like it used to.

All together now: Hip Hip, Hoooorrrrraaaaayyyyyy.

The view from the Duomo

2005-06-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

Is quite simply, utterly magnificient. I went to the Duomo yesterday, and wanted to go to the roof, but my digital camera batteries started to die, and I wanted to make sure I could take plenty of photos.

And am I glad I waited. I had thought the roof area would be small-ish, sort of like the one at Notre Dame. How wrong was I... There is much more than just a passageway around a spire. I've never been so close to so many gothic flying buttresses in my life (my old art history teacher would likely be pleased that I can remember what a flying buttress is). The views of Milan are incredible, and it is also incredible to be able to see so much of the architecture of the Duomo. It's also interesting to note that many of the gargoyles and little statuary on the spires have thin metal bits sticking up from them -- presumably to prevent birds from nesting. The spires look so delicate, as if a strong wind could break little pieces of the stonework away. Yet, the Duomo has been around for 600 or so years, if I remember correctly. I heard someone say that it was the fourth or fifth largest church in Europe.

Such grandiosity is awe-inspiring.

Oops

2005-06-23T14:44:00.000-07:00

I heard from Him. There was a delay in responding for very valid reasons, and I believe him (he'd already mentioned some of what is going on in his life). My initial opinion of Him was accurate and I'm very sorry to have doubted it (but, after bad experiences with some men in the past, it is understandable, yes?).

We will be seeing each other again. We both want to get to know each other more.

Why does this happen at the end of my trip???

Perhaps I should seriously research teaching English in Milan (I've already done a cursory informational search)...

It's embarassing to admit that someone I like this much has so much sway over my mood.

Though, taking a brief nap helped, too.

Perhaps I will stay here longer.

My heart is swollen with happiness.

Restless

2005-06-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

So. As I'm in the throes of trying to arrange a few things for my return to Seattle (mobile phone, lodging, job being the Big Three), I'm starting to feel restless. I think there's also a certain amount of restlessness since this is the end of my trip. Some of you might think that the last few weeks would be a whirlwind of activity. I'm finding that I'm going back to my Lazy Way of Sightseeing. As in, seeing perhaps one thing a day.

Today, I met someone for lunch. It was cool and he invited me to a party this Saturday night.

I'm planning on leaving Milan on Sunday, though I don't know where I'm going. I'd like to go to Paris for a few days, but finding lodging there is rather difficult and I don't think I even want to know what hotel prices are like there...

I also feel a little restless because after a little proper romance (in retrospect, the Turkish Interlude was just that, an interlude), I want more and I don't think there is to be more with the man from the other night. He really is a great guy. A shame.

Oh well. I suppose I just feel like the kid in the candy shop...a kid that is given a dollar one day and is able to have candy (after not having good candy in a Really Long Time...), and then is hoping the same person will give them a dollar a couple days later. Perhaps a poor analogy for this, but I'm sure you all get the idea.

Or maybe the restlessness is just an indicator of not wanting to let go of this nomadic life of mine. Sort of a pre-mourning for this nomadic life.

I need to get this restlessness out of my system, so I don't squander the end of this holiday.

I need to dance.

Milan, x2

2005-06-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

So, now I actually have time to see a bit of Milan. That is, see Milan not on the back of a motorbike...

After a short nap this morning, I went to Pinacoteca di Brera. An art school that also has a very, very nice museum. I saw it listed in an Italy guidebook at His flat last night and remembered seeing it listed in mine. In any case, it was an interesting trip, as I hadn't seen any signs directing to the museum [from the entrance to the building that I used], and I ended up walking around the art school for a while. Which was actually pretty cool. I walked past students, art being sold in the hallways, student art just being displayed in the hallways. I found a really lovely enclosed garden that students were lunching and smoking in.

Eventually, after feeling lost and mistaken that there was actually a museum there, I saw an admin office. The museum is on the first floor, not the ground floor.

It is an exceptional museum and has some key pieces of Italian renaissance art. There are also some very, very beautiful Modigliani's, that I was very sad not to find postcards for in the gift shop.

After spending some time online, I was off for another, proper nap. I'm back at the i-cafe again, hoping for emails from various people. I'm in the midst of searching for lodging in Seattle, searching for free lodging in Paris (there are a couple websites I know of where people list couches and spare rooms that they are willing to let people use for free...one of these is how I ended up meeting Him, even though I didn't end up staying there the night I originally was looking for (which brings me to another idea in my head: using online research for accomodation as a source for dating -- someone I emailed in Seattle about a room in his flat mistook something I wrote that he interpreted as a suggestion that I would be a Friends with Benefits (though still paying rent) in his flat; I cleared this up, as it wasn't what I meant at all, and I think it's a funny story and an interesting idea (the lodging search/dating thing)) and just regular correspondence.

Anyway, spent part of the post-nap evening reading a book I bought in Germany. The novel I was intending to write is a contemporary version of a novel from 100 years ago. I happened to find a novel that is billed as exactly that, and of course I couldn't resist buying it to see what that author did with the storyline. It is, indeed, a rewrite of the novel I covet. Though, while well-written, I think it relies a little too much on people being familiar with the earlier novel, or willing to accept that you're unable to empathize with the main character. She's vacuous, yes, but the novel is written in third-person...

In any case, it's interesting to see what someone else has done with the novel. And because I think my version would be much more timely and interesting (of course I feel this way...), it feels like a little kick in the pants to get me started working on it again.

OK. I'm hungry now, and this i-cafe is hotter inside than it really is outside.

Bellisima notte

2005-06-22T02:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, that was me *again* on the back of a motorcycle late, late last night and this morning. The man has more than one bike, and the bike last night was a later-model Moto Guzzi. A dream of a bike.

Later, he fed me cherries.

Love Italian Style: Yes, Italians do it better.

No sleeping in Milan tonight...

2005-06-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

To clarify, I am returning to Milan this evening. Late this evening. And it's looking like I have an even later date...

I am so impatient to get to Milan!! He wanted to take me to hear his band practice and then to a party, but my flight doesn't get in until almost midnight.

I can't wait to see those eyes and that smile and...

In German news, I've had a fantastic time with my friends and will be sad to say goodbye to them. I also went to the Gutenburg Museum today (bet *you* didn't know Gutenburg was a Mainz man...), and that was really, really cool.

Now, time to take a quick shower and finish packing a couple small things in my bag. Then, I will be counting the minutes until my plane lands in Milan and I arrive at my hotel. And then I will change into one of the sexy new tops I have and put on fresh perfume.

Perhaps He will surprise me at the airport!

I am such a romantic optimist...

A sad tidbit

2005-06-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

I only have 20 days until I return to Seattle.

Really, it's 19 plus one travel day. The day I leave London, I leave very early in the morning...

Mourning flowers can be sent to me via email...

I can't believe this trip is coming to a close.

I suppose that means I just have to start planning the next one in more detail...

On blissful weekends

2005-06-20T03:05:00.000-07:00

Aside from a rather byzantine journey to Germany on Saturday, my weekend was blissful. It has been an incredible treat to stay with friends and to even just be around people I've known for longer than three hours or three days. And oh, to be able to indulge in Girl Talk with a really cool girl I met in Buenos Aires.

Saturday night, I was taken on a pre-dinner walk through the city, and then there was dinner (German food - yum - I had a steak (also, the region I'm in is known for its wines, and I can attest to this -- I had the nicest white wine (and I rarely drink white wine these days) that I've had in a very, very long time)) and then for a walk along the Rhine, before ending up in a beer garden (love the German beer). It was an exceptionally long day for me, and the evening was perfect. It was surreal for a bit, finally being around more than one friend at once, and also because I met them all in Argentina. But as I think I've written before, I will (and have before) travel across the world to see my friends.

Yesterday, we went on a drive along the Rhine, through many small towns and what I imagine can accurately be called hamlets. Very pretty, very warm, very lazy walking. We were able to avoid most of the tourists (wow, the number of tourists buses on a Sunday afternoon...), which was exceptionally nice.

It's been a laid back weekend, and as I've probably said far too often, I'm so pleased to be with some friends again. It's one thing to email or im with friends, and it's another to get a hug or look into their eyes when they speak to you or have them show you around their city.

The poor souls are all at work today, so I will be exploring the city on my own, before meeting up with them this evening.

And I'm very much looking forward to going to Milan again...

Alas

2005-06-20T03:03:00.000-07:00

The Friday night date did not happen. You can't stand between a man and his career...

I'm flying back to Milan tomorrow night.

Here's to happy reunions...

Yes, that was me last night on the back of a motorcycle in Milan

2005-06-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

So, am now in Milan. Very lovely and it seems everyone is very well-dressed. I feel like I can only wear a couple things, since it's the end of my trip and most of the clothes I have with me (except for the nice ones) are a bit worn.

Though, I think I have an outfit for tonight. This is because I may have a date. In a story I will perhaps tell another time, I'd met a Milanese man by email the day before yesterday. He took me out for a drink last night, and I'm hoping to see him again tonight. Conversation consists of a mix of Spanish and English (his Spanish is much better than mine -- more verbs and vocabulary). He has very gorgeous eyes, and is well, gorgeous anyway...

I'm going to Germany tomorrow to visit some friends, and I suspect I will be returning to Milan on Tuesday or Wednesday... If I see him tonight, it depends on how that goes. If I don't see him tonight, I'm pretty sure I'll return because I want to see him and he's said he wants to see me, too. And judging by our 'goodbye' yesterday evening, I believe him.

In walking around news, went for an evening walk last night (after the drink date). Walked by La Scala, which I'm sure has a phenomenally gorgeous facade. The facade is currently covered in scaffolding for repairs or cleaning. Alas. Walked by a great many shoe and clothing shops, and my bank accounts are happy that the shops were closed....

I now have several blisters on the bottom of toes and the bottom of my left foot, from my new sandals. Note: need to use baby powder (which I have) on feet when walking around in shoes with a leather lining (don't know how I forgot this (ok, maybe I was a little dreamy because of kissing), but I did).

So, I'm wearing my more comfortable, and much worse-for-wear, loafers and I will shortly be going on another walk. It's sunny, there's humidity (which, strangely, I miss from Argentina) and I have time before this evening.

Though, if I meet up with him tonight, I will be wearing the sandals.

On NOT seeing David

2005-06-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

So. My guidebook says the Galleria Dell'Accademia is open until 8.15pm.

Ummm. No.

I arrived, after stopping to buy the CDs (yay!!! even though one is only a single, because there is not a full cd out yet...), and a pair of sandals (oh, so comfortable and stylish, too!), I figured I'd have about 90 minutes to see David and the some of the Slaves statues.

Wrong.

The Accademia closes at 6.50pm, and the entrance was already locked when I arrived at 6.30pm.

I think I will just stand and ogle the oxidized David statue in the Piazzale Michelangelo, which is right by my hostel.

I've also seen a forgery of David, as part of the Victoria and Albert Museum's (London) Forgery Collection, back in 1998. Does that count???

I think my museum-going experiences for Florence are just doomed...

On NOT going to the Uffizi

2005-06-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

Yes. I know it's a crime. However, after waiting in line (on a gorgeous, hot, sunny day) for 90 minutes and not moving at least 1/2 way through the line, I gave up. I plan on going to Milan tomorrow, and if I wake up early enough and have the energy, I will try the Uffizi before catching my train. Otherwise, I will sadly give the Uffizi a miss. My guidebook recommends reservations to go to this museum, but the reservations are sold out for this week...

In any case, I will hopefully find a CD shop today, and buy the two Italian CDs I want, and then go to the Accademia, and hope the lines to see David aren't as ridiculous as those at the Uffizi.

Since I didn't imagine the line at the U would be longer than one hour, I didn't even put my book in my bag...

At least I will (hopefully) have new music to listen to while I wait at the Accademia...

Florentine Mix

2005-06-14T09:21:00.000-07:00

Oh, to have been able to go to the museums yesterday!! It was a lovely sunny day -- the kind of day that you don't mind waiting in the sun. Though, I did do quite a bit of walking around and I visited the Duomo. As much as I really Don't Care If I See Another Cathedral or Church, it was really lovely and stunning -- from the tessera'd marble floor, to the high, high ceilings, to the inside of the fantastically painted dome.

I also bought a[nother] purse. I'm still on the lookout for shoes, but surprising have not found an affordable pair that I like. I've found €80 *sandals* that I like, but I don't have that kind of budget for sandals...

Today: Rain, and lots of it.

I had planned on getting an early start to try and beat the museum lines, but with the rain and a minor sore throat this morning, I decided to finish my book [that I started yesterday -- 700 pages......]. With the sun peeking out around noon, I 'started' my day. And now, a mere 90 minutes of arriving in the city center, it looks like my day is finishing.

The rain has started again. And of course, I'm wearing a completely inappropriate sleeveless top under my (of course) jean jacket.

Normally, the rain wouldn't bother me so much (after all, I am from Seattle), but with the sore throat and no cheap way of dressing warmer and protecting my throat, I will shortly be headed back to the hostel. Just as well, really, as I need to catch up on a few days journal writing, and that will take a while.

And I only have one more book in my backpack, anyway... I've been saving the Carl Hiassen, because I enjoy his books so very much. He's one of the few writers that can really make me actually laugh out loud while reading. I read a variety of Literature and contemporary fiction. Though, I've been pretty deprived of Literature for a while, and as much as I enjoy Chick Lit, I'm quickly starting to weary of it. Simply, it's generally easier to find in hostel book swap shelves than anything remotely challenging and deeper thought inspiring. If you catch my drift. I once picked up a Barbara Kingsolver novel, and was blown away by the exquisite writing. Why can't I find more like that???!?

I've become quite tangential these days, haven't I?

Anyway, I started a post last night, but my time on the hostel computer ended, so it was lost. I'd wanted to share the sunset from last night. It was a dusky, muted violet color, and lasted for ages. Shapes of clouds added depth and changed the violet-ness. It was truly beautiful and I rue that my camera didn't pick up the duskiness of the sky (side note: my camera does exceptionally well in low light situations, and it picked up a lot more light than what I could actually see with my eyes -- as such, the end result photo is much different than what I actually saw).

The only thing to mar the beauty of the sunset was The Americans. American college kids have Arrived in Europe. And I tell you, I don't like them one bit. I'm not found of hearing group sing-alongs to 'With or Without You' or impromtu singing of 'She Rocked Me All Night Long' (at least, I think that's the title of that song). And my god, can they drink!! I went to the bathroom about 5.30 yesterday morning, and saw dozens and dozens of beer cans and wine bottles littering the terrace tables. While reading by flashlight last night, I heard a couple get back to a tent close to mine. She was drunkenly berating him for something and it was getting towards fighting words. I think he caved a little and then distracted her by romancing her. I was thankful for the quiet. She told him (and all the tents surrounding theirs) that she was probably going to get sick 'later'. Thankfully, she had the grace to either avoid the bushes or to sleep through the night. Though, I know she woke up with a massive hangover because I heard her complaining about it this morning...

Then, there was the guy from the tent directly behind mine. Getting sick in the bushes (I've mentioned that I'm staying in a tent on a campsite, right?!), around 1am. At least it didn't smell, and today's rain will wash away, or at least dissipate the sick, instead of sun coming out and fermenting it. Ick.

Anywayyyyy. I was going to head to Milan tomorrow, before going to Germany on the weekend to visit some friends I met in Argentina. However, I am determined to see David, and I can't *not* go to the Uffizi Museum. That just is not possible.

So, my jacket is soaked and the thunder and rain seem to have slightly abated. For the moment.

Which means it's time for me to run to the bus stop and head back to the hostel, put on some warm and dry clothes (I only have a little cardigan...), curl up under my blankets and catch up on my journal writing. I've made a pact with myself that I cannot start reading another book until I catch up on my personal writing.

As a child, one of my father's friends once told me if I ran fast enough, I could run between the raindrops and not get wet.

Wish me luck!

Bologna gets better

2005-06-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

Though, my day yesterday was still pretty wrecked because of the nap I took. I did walk around a bit yesterday and today, and some of the old parts of town are very lovely. University is either just finishing or just finished, and there are tons of students roaming the streets and tons of flyers for apartments, bicycles, scooters, etc for sale or for rent for the summer.

I've started shopping.

I wanted to go to the Ducati Museum today, but when I was checking for hours, I saw the fine print that said viewings were by appointment only. Alas.

Tomorrow, I will be on the train to Bologna and a hostel that has no lockouts or curfews (YIPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEE).

And I will get to see if all the hype about David is warranted or not. I remember when I saw the Mona Lisa, I thought it was lovely, but it didn't resonate with me as much as other classical paintings did. It's like someone fifty years ago thinking Dostoevsky was brilliant, but when I tried to read D several years ago, I thought "this is why there are now editors..."

In any case, I'm happy to be on my way out of Bologna, even if I didn't get to go to the Ducati Museum.

Vroom

Lightning strikes Venice

2005-06-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've ever seen lightning up close before. You might not guess that it is rather shiny.

No. I wasn't hit by lightning, though when I was on the bus, crossing a bridge, I could see the lightning and it was pretty darn close. It looked like it was hitting some of the smaller islands. And it looked shiny. I felt empathy for the poor folks in the airplane flying below cloud level -- the plane was obviously headed towards the airport and lightning was cracking all around it.

Today was much better on the shopping front. I only bought one thing and it wasn't glass! I now am the owner of a lovely, small Italian leather purse.

I'll be sad to leave Venice tomorrow (I'm heading to Bologna), but my cash flow will greatly improve. It also helps that I'm going back to hostelling again.

Yesterday, I walked around (more) and went to the island of Murano. Murano is the center of the Venetian glass-blowing industry, and if I may say so myself, I exercised considerable restraint. This means that what I bought wasn't for myself.

I also stopped at the cemetery (well, the vaporetto did, so I hopped off). It's not as interesting as I might have imagined an Italian cemetery might be. Though, it was the most flower-filled of any cemetery I've visited.

In the evening, I rode the vaporetto through the Grand Canal. Very beautiful. Very romantic (pity that I wasn't in the company of a lovely Italian...). Walked around the main island (really, set of islands) for quite a while, then vaporetto'd back. I managed to take some really cool photos (including a couple in black and white and sepia), and I'm quite pleased with them. Venice at night really lends itself very gracefully and beautifully to black and white photography. It also helps that my camera does beautifully in low light situations -- the photos I took would never have been possible with a flash.

So anyway, a light rain continues to fall and I'm debating on whether or not to go back to the city (I'm staying in a Venice suburb) and search for Harry's Bar. The write in me says YESYESYES, and the tiredness in me (I walked around for several hours today and I have not had a nap...) says SLEEPEARLYSLEEPEARLY!

All I know is that I'm going to Bologna tomorrow, and Florence pretty soon thereafter. Oh yeah!

Amo Venezia

2005-06-04T14:48:00.000-07:00

I LOVE Venice.

I LOVE Venice.

I LOVE Venice.

People often ask me which city I've liked most. Or sometimes which cities. Buenos Aires, obviously. Budapest. While other cities I've enjoyed, there haven't been any cities other than these two that really struck something deep within me.

However, that was until today...

The Italians love beautiful things, and it seems the Venetians most of all. I've been to Rome before, and enjoyed it (except for the lack of trees or other greenery inside the city). I've been to Cinque Terre and enjoyed the beach. However, I was completely unprepared for Venice.

I love that there are precious few cars inside Venice. Basically, you can only find them on the very outskirts, by the bus station, as absolutely no cars are allowed within the city (as if they could drive over water or through the mostly tiny passageways..). I love that the best way to get from one place to another is the vaporettos (water buses). If I could afford it, I would ride in a gondola and be all super touristy and get the punter to sing for me. I love that many buildings are all sorts of vivid, muted colors. As a walker, I love that this is a walking city. There is no way to see this city well, unless you walk. And walk. And then walk some more. Though, if you have problems walking (injuries or if you can't walk), then this is not the city for you, as any walking involves walking up steps to cross the endless bridges that connect this city together. I love that there is art everywhere -- from sculptures on building facades, in shops and great museum collections. The art is more than that, yet it is difficult to explain. It is as if the art and beauty are just *infused* in to every single thing here.

I want to learn to speak Italian and live here.

I haven't even made it to Florence or Milan yet.

I'm sorry Buenos Aires, but I think you've been usurped as the place I want to be most of all... Lo siento muchissimo!!!

And much as I'd love to go dancing tonight, 1. My guidebook says that there really aren't any good discos here, and 2. I want to wake up early and visit museums tomorrow and walk even more and take more boat rides up and down the Grand Canal and just walk around even more.

Oh, and I know I'm going to blow my budget here... I've already bought a gorgeous Murano glass necklace (from a street vendor, though, so it wasn't terribly expensive), and I've seen other bits of jewelry and small glass bits [that I think I can carry safely without breaking] that I would love to have.

I haven't even started to look in the clothing shops...

I may have to detour in to Slovenia so that I can live incredibly cheaply for a week, to recover financially from what Italy is going to do to my finances.

Though, I may very well just throw caution to the wind and break out the Mastercard...

I LOVE Venice.

I LOVE Venice.

Amo Venezia.

My Gauche Life

2005-06-03T05:09:00.000-07:00

I've realized my life this week is a bit fantastic. And I mean fantastic in the true sense of the word.

Let's recap.

Friday: fly to Istanbul, from Kusadasi
Monday: fly to Brussels, from Istanbul
Wednesday: fly to London, from Brussels
Friday: fly to Venice, from London

It's a lot different when I'm taking trains and buses, but traversing the European continent like this, within the space of five days (really), seems a bit gauche.

I've found myself starting to choose my words and descriptions of what I'm doing a little more carefully, after seeing some truly incredulous and High Jealousy looks. It's just that this life has become normal for me, and this doesn't seem that incredible to me. Granted, this week is a bit unusual with all the flying, though, it doesn't seem like the most incredible thing possible.

I almost chose to fly to Marrakech today. That would definitely have made this week a much more incredible.

[Of course, I didn't book my flight for Venice until about midnight last night...]

Now, off to find some lunch and enjoy this new bit of London sun (I don't think I've ever been in London when it's been sunny and warm...on this trip or when I was here in 1998). Of course, it's getting sunny just as I'm getting ready to leave. Apparently, it was also quite sunny and warm the few days immediately preceding my arrival here.

Am I only meant to be in London when it's grey, cold, snowy or rainy?

Visiting old colleagues

2005-06-03T04:19:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday I went to Cambridge, to meet a lady I used to have a working relationship with when I worked at Amazon.

It was wonderful to meet R, and she took me to a lovely place called The Orchards, a literary hotspot back in the day, and then to lunch in a pub. I can't tell you how much I was dreaming of traditional British food when I was on my way here. I had a lovely steak and mushroom pie. Mmmmmmm.

I went in to storytelling mode, and we both had a good time laughing over my stories.

After, I walked around Cambridge a bit. Though, I didn't really want to pay to walk around the campus, so I didn't. Also, many buildings were just plain closed, as end-of-year exams are going on right now. Still, had a very lovely walk through a gorgeous park, had some student hit on me by speaking French to me, found a book that I've really been wanting to read and had a great time meeting R.

Interesting Cambridge tidbit: students are not allowed to drive. Hence, there are bicycles and cyclists *everywhere*.

She almost took me hostage aka Too Many Stamps In My Passport??

2005-06-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

And I'm talking about the customs lady at Heathrow today.

CL: Where are you coming from?
Me: Brussels.
CL: And where before Belgium?
Me: Turkey.
CL: Who is this address for? [I'm staying with a friend for a couple nights, and you have to put down your address on the incoming custom form.]
Me: A friend.
CL: [flipping through my passport] Is this the person you stayed with on your visit here in February?
Me: No, he was out of town.
CL: [Continuing to flip through my passport] How long will you be in England?
Me: 2-3 days.
CL: Where are you going then?
Me: Maybe Croatia. Maybe Florence. Haven't decided yet.
CL: Where else have you been in Europe?
Me: UK for six weeks, Eastern Europe for about two months.
CL: When do you leave Europe?
Me: Two months.
CL: What do you do?
Me: I'm a writer.
CL: What kind of writer? Fiction, non-fiction...
Me: Mostly fiction.
CL: How did you get the money to finance this trip?
Me: Part inheritance and part stock from my previous job.
CL: Where did you work?
Me: Amazon.com.
CL: Thanks. Enjoy your visit.

I know I've left a couple sentences out, but this is really about how it went. I've *never* been grilled like this upon entering or exiting any country.

I can't tell you the joy I felt unloading so much from my bag today! And I still intend to take another pass at it to remove a little more. While I intended, in July, on purchasing another bag to carry my travelling booty home, it's clear I need that bag NOW. The little backpack I already left here is full, as is a tote bag that I'd prefer to carry with me further (it's a perfect size for beach excursions...).

Though the funny thing is: I'd completely forgotten some of what was in the bag I left here two months ago. I pulled out a skirt and cardigan I'd *completely* forgotten about...

Tomorrow, I'm off to Cambridge to meet a lady I had quite a bit of contact with, while I worked at Amazon. She was also just in Turkey (not that far from where I was last week, really), and since the other ladies I dealt with will unfortunately not be available, we will be able to (she said this, so I can't take credit for coming up with this):

Talk Turkey.

Is anything ever open here??

2005-05-31T13:10:00.000-07:00

Now, when I walked around yesterday evening, I attributed nearly everything being closed to this being a city where everything closes early. To wit, I walked around for ages last night, and saw many, many cafes and restaurants CLOSED.

Today, went in to the city about 3pm, and cafes were closing and shops and other restaurants were closed. Again.

I don't understand.

After much misdirection, made it to the Atomium. Pretty cool. But disappointing in that it is under renovation and it's impossible to climb to the atoms and look at the view. I was there and gone in about five minutes...

Though, am happy because I finally found a shop to buy hair conditioner in. Surprisingly hard to find in the city center (???).

Tomorrow I will be off to London, where I will be able to [drumroll please] finally lighten my backpack. I am SO looking forward to this.

Oh, and Mo, I did fit the cushions in. Thanks for the note!

I think I'm just going to chill in my hotel room tonight, and see if there is a British tv show on to watch. That isn't dubbed in to French or Dutch.

If it's Monday, it must be Belgium

2005-05-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

I thought the national language was French but it also includes Dutch, and maybe another language.

I'm already trying to think in French. The passport control guy was asking me questions in English and I was replying in my French -- without really realizing it. He was very sweet and didn't point out what I was doing and let me realize it on my own...

Some street signs are in Dutch, others French, and still some others in English. I can't help but be a bit confused.

It's strange to be in a Western city, but it's kinda cool. Except for the price differentials...

The advice of strangers

2005-05-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

In Romania, I met a couple Euro men who warned me about how the Turkish men would react to me. "You are their dream" said one, though I attribute some of that sentiment to shameless flattery. "They will love you there" said another, who I tend to trust a bit more than the first guy. The second guy also gave me advice on how to get Turkish men to leave me alone. "If you say you are married, they won't care. If you say you have a boyfriend, they won't care. However, if you say you have a *Turkish* boyfriend, they will leave you alone because they respect only other Turkish men."

It worked.

In a bout of trying to see just how much I can fit in to my already super-packed backpack, I decided to go out and buy a couple cushion covers. After a little bargaining in the third shop (I walked out of the other shops because they wouldn't bargain...and this *is* a bargaining town), I agreed to buy a couple. I was told how beautiful my [bright blue] eyes are and how beautiful I am. It goes without saying the conversation followed like this:

Shop Owner: Are you married?
Me: No.
SO: Ah, he [shop clerk] is looking for someone to be his wife.
Me: I have a boyfriend/
SO: Ah, but that is not permanent. Surely you could go out with SC.
Me: He is Turkish.
SO: Really? [said with a slight look of awe and admiration]
Me: Yes, he is very lucky.
SO: Yes, he is. Bad luck for SC, though.

It went on with more of the bad luck/good luck theme for a couple minutes. Especially as he tried to sell me a necklace with the pattern of the Turkish good luck symbol (I already have one of the charms). I then pointed out that I only wear one necklace, and that it is also a good luck charm. This is mostly true. I do have a New Zealand greenstone necklace that I really never take off anymore, though I do occasionally wear other necklaces. For those of you unfamiliar with NZ greenstone, it is good luck if it is presented to you as a gift, though it is not bad luck if you buy it for yourself. Mine was a gift from one of my best friends, after he went to NZ.

In any case, that is a bit tangential, but there you go. I'm in a country of tangential and subterfuge-filled conversation and it's obviously gotten under my skin.

Now, time to see if I can find any ice for my ankle, as I've walked quite a bit today (the Bosphorous was resplendently gorgeous and startingly blue), and it's a bit sore.

I'm putting off seeing just what kind of tricks I need to use to find space for what I bought...

Perhaps I just need to pull out my little Turkish good luck charm and see how much luck I can have today...

Back to Istanbul

2005-05-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

Yep. Made it back to Istanbul today. And the sore throat has already started to return.

Thank you pollution!

It's cool to be back someplace familiar, and it was really cool to be so warmly welcomed back by the staff here.

I'd so love to go dancing tonight, but I'm pretty tired. I'm probably going to snore quite a bit as it is, and I do try to be considerate of the others in my room...

Oh, bliss! Whilst writing this, I'm also IM'ing with the Colombian darling from Budapest.

Speaking of bliss: after a rather strange and frustrating couple of days of bizarre interaction with NC, he also (to my surprise) came to see me off at the airport. He was particularly sweet, and the goodbye was very simple and touching. I had been rather angry and frustrated at him, but his gesture of coming to the airport, after having just recently finished working a 12 or so hour graveyard shift, was especially touching. But then, I talked to him a couple nights ago asking what was up with his weird behavior, so...

In any case, it was a lovely send off. Especially as it was so utterly and completely unexpected. It was a gift.

Just like it was a gift to be so warmly re-welcomed back in Istanbul.

I head to Brussels on Monday (no, not on Wednesday...), then London on Wednesday. It will be strange to be somewhere where I can actually understand and speak some of the language (French in Brussels) and where I won't have to preface queries to strangers with 'do you speak English?' (London). Though, I will be very sad to leave Eastern Europe.

Though, I'm thinking my next stop after London will either be Croatia or Florence. And then I will definitely go to Germany to visit some friends there.

I can also tell you that I will *not* be looking forward to living on the British Pound, no matter how briefly I'm in London...

Kusadasi's newest table dancer...

2005-05-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

...is me.

I went clubbing last night, and had quite a fun time.

Went to three clubs, and the last one was the most fun, and where I was dancing on tables. The club was showing Kill Bill 2 on the video screen, and I have to say that it certainly makes for interesting background viewing. Especially when you're spinning around and suddenly see Uma Thurman taking a Samurai sword to someone's torso...

Though, I've learned my lesson about taking things men say at face value in a Muslim country. The Manager/Owner thankfully seems to have picked up on the 'I'm not interested' messages I was subtly sending. There is a waiter at the hotel that I'd talked to a little a couple times, and he is the one I went dancing with last night. I'd foolishly assumed an invitation to go dancing was just that: an invitation to dance. Given my personal wariness of going clubbing by myself in a country where I don't speak the language or know what the protocol of showing up to a club alone as a woman is, I accepted the offer.

It wasn't too long before The Moves were unleashed.

To his credit though, he was pretty gracious and more respectful than I might have imagined, when he tried to kiss me and I said I wasn't interested. I respect that he didn't become aggressive or anything like that. Though, I have now been repeatedly told I've broken "a Turkish heart" and I repeatedly rolled out with "porrrrr favorrr". So it goes. I reminded him he would probably meet a new girl today, somewhere, and that his chance of love would be renewed today. Kind of sappy, I know, but it seemed to help. It took him about five minutes to even say that he wanted to kiss me -- and all through those five minutes, I knew what was coming.

And finally, the mysterious sun reappeared today. Quite lovely and not too warm. Which means that instead of doing anything particularly interesting, or going on an excursion for the first time this week, I lounged by the pool for a couple hours. I am perhaps more tan than I've ever been in my life.

Today, I met an older (70ish) British woman in the hotel cafe, and I plan on going out with her and her friends tonight. She sings karaoke and dances every night of the week here. She is a sharp lady. She's also had The Moves put on her by the guy I went dancing with last night...

Which makes me feel less bad about not even giving him a peck on the cheek. He's obviously quite cheeky himself.

Turkish Delight

2005-05-26T06:18:00.000-07:00

OK. You knew that title was coming...

I got to see the night clerk last night. Or, I should say, rather early this morning. I did naughty things in naughtier places, and was quite delighted.

Though, it is time for it to end with him. We share a certain amount of interest, but not that much, in reality. He's still quite lovely and I think it's better to end the last couple days on a good note instead of trying to put life into something that doesn't really have it. Let's call it what it is: a mini travel fling. I will still be pleased to hear him call me 'baby' though...

If you haven't already heard (you heathen), Liverpool won in penalty kicks last night. There was only one other guy at the hotel actively rooting for Liverpool, and the hotel owner was cheering for Liverpool (I'm pretty sure because I said they were my team to cheer for). Mind you, I watched the game with about 6-7 Turkish guys. One of them shared some sunflower seeds with me. I covertly sneaked glances at Night Clerk, whilst leaning away from Manager [who had taken the seat next to me].

Tonight, I'm scheduled to go clubbing and I'm rather looking forward to it. Perhaps I will meet a lovely new boy to flirt with.

Oh my. Spring Fever has finally arrived for me!

Now, I just want the sun to come back out again. It rained part of yesterday, is overcase now, and all I want to do is go to the beach or sit by the pool.

Perhaps I'll just head to the Turkish bath today, instead. A full body massage sounds delicious!

Oh no, aka Baklava for Dinner

2005-05-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

So, last night the hotel owner offered to take me on a driving tour of the city. Today, given the onset of light rain, I decided to say yes. Even given qualms that he fancies me. It quickly became apparent that he was thinking of it as some sort of date. As soon as I said yes, he said something to the effect that the "heavens were helping him".

Uh oh.

It was a nice tour. We stopped for tea at a lovely spot near/in Efes (Epheseus) and he took me to a baklava cafe on the way back. I had to try *all* the baklavas, which was about six. I don't think I will be able to eat anything for hours. And now I have a sugar high...

Then on the drive back, he offered to take me to a lookout spot that has a lovely view of the city. I would love to go. However, seeing as how he described it as a romantic view of the city at night, I declined.

He's lovely to chat to, but I am not at all interested. Especially since my daydreams are revolving around the night clerk...

What kind of mess have I gotten myself in to???

Now, time to sneak of to watch the European Football Championship match.

Hopefully alone!

Don't fence me in

2005-05-25T06:11:00.000-07:00

I will admit the following is a bit of a plagiarism of an email I just sent to one of my best friends. Though, it's something I've been thinking about for a while, so there you go. You are about to visit the inner me a bit.

One of my two best friends has just informed me she is intending to move to a different city. This is why I have to return in July -- because she is the one that is storing the 20 boxes or so of belongings I kept from my apartment, and I will have to move them elsewhere. Or perhaps I will get rid of even more stuff. I can't remember what I have in some of the boxes and to me that signifies that I can probably live without whatever those items are.

My other best friend sent me an email saying that he occasionally fantasizes about leaving Seattle for somewhere else. Part of it is based on his wanderlust, part of it is based on wanting to create a fresh life elsewhere (like what my other best friend is doing).

As to me, the longer I travel, the more I feel a strong desire to not 'settle down' someplace for longer than a few months. A friend of mine used to say that I'd lived in Seattle too long (this was spurred by me being able to accurately count in my mind the number of streets between us and the restaurant we were going to -- it was about 12), and that I needed to move to another city. I used to think that he was just trying to impose his own lifestyle of moving cities every few years. Now, I think he was right.

It's fair to say that my last year in Seattle was a sea change for me. [note: if you don't know what this is, search google for 'sea change shakespeare'] I have mixed feelings about going back to a city to 'settle' with such memories. Those memories, of course, are not currently fresh in my mind, largely because I've been travelling around, meeting new people and not in regular contact with most of my friends. The longer I travel, the fewer of my friends keep in contact with me, which I think can be telling of the friendship. Or, as someone pointed out to me when I was in Argentina, it could also be a sign of them not being in contact because I am so far away, in a sort of polite 'out of sight, out of mind'. In any case, I feel like I've learned who are truer friends, as opposed to ones that write very erratically or immediately after I send one of my monthly emails (and the people that do this are increasingly fewer and fewer each month).

But I digress.

I have found there are very few people I truly miss. I don't want to get in to the specifics of whom I do and whom I don't, in the effort to not hurt any feelings. Also, in not missing some people as much as others, it does not mean to me that I don't care about those people.

I've found that after travelling around for so long, that I'm pretty much loathe to return to Seattle to 'settle' again. I know the current plan is to go back for several months, and then come back to Europe and work on finding a teaching job. However, I know how I am and I know that I can't predict what may happen when I return. Perhaps I will come across a brilliant job and decide to stay longer because of that. Perhaps I will find a brilliant man and fall in love again. I love travelling, but my ties to Seattle are so strong (it is where I was raised and where I lived for nearly my entire life) that it can be difficult to actually get up and go when I've been there for a while. This, in combination of a large group of friends that either haven't travelled as much or like I am now, or just don't share teh wanderlust I have. I know many people with what I consider 'static' lives. While most of them are happy that way, I realize that I wasn't entirely happy that way, and I know that right now, that is not something I desire At All.

I'm always so much happier when I'm out travelling, experiencing new things and meeting new people. I've so very much enjoyed hearing other people's travel stories, and meeting people that travel is vitally important, too. For so long, travelling for a long time was this fantastic dream of mine, and one that very, very, very few people I know could really relate to. At one point, I had to have a rather long conversation with someone that I had spent a great deal of time with, to explain to him why this was important to me. He couldn't understand that being a Career Girl was not the life I want. He was, as he once said, on the way to Yuppie-dom, and he just really didn't seem to grasp that while that that was fine for him, it wasn't the lifestyle choice that would make me happy. This conversation was also especially disconcerting because we had been rather close for several months, and I had imagined he knew me well enough to be able to understand why I would say it was important. That he couldn't imagine the importance to me of travelling for an extended period of time was a shock to me. Aside from him, it also came to my attention that other people never believed I would make this trip. Which just goes to show how little those people knew me (and I thought at least one of them in particular knew me very, very well). I have other friends who never doubted my trip, and they are the ones that I tend to be closer to. They understand what travelling means to me, because they tend to feel the same way about it. As my mother said when I told her about this trip: "I know you will do this. Once you set your mind to anything, you do it." Which is how I ended up in Australia for two months in 1989-1990, how I ended up putting myself through college [after initially dropping out and working for a few years], how I came to Europe the first time, and how I came to do many other things in my life.

But again, I digress.

Perhaps I will move with the one friend to another city, and try that out for a bit. Creating a new life from scratch is so appealing to me right now. My life this past seven or so months has been ruled by freedom and new experiences, that I'm loathe to return to what I know. Perhaps I will try to convince the other friend to move to a new city with me. I hate the idea of not living in the same city as at least one of my two best friends. I have a great, great deal of history with both of them and I would not want to let the history run thin because of geography. And the phone bills would be monstrous.

Perhaps you may consider this aversion to living in Seattle a matter of running away, in consideration of my allusions to my last year in Seattle. I once wrote a post about that year, but it has languished in draft status for months, and I don't know if I will ever post it here.

I'm still a commitment-phobe in some ways. I need to feel a compelling reason to live somewhere, and right now, I'm not sure that Seattle is compelling enough for me. I'm very happy being an urban nomad.

And to be clear, this post is not about me being unhappy. It's just about something important that I've spent quite a bit of time thinking about over the past several weeks.

Now, I believe it is time to return to the hotel swimming pool. Quite lovely and has a fantastic panoramic view of the city.

Oh, and I *will* be watching the Euro Championship football match tonight. And then hopefully spending a bit more Quality Time with the lovely boy from the other night... Before I leave, I want to go dancing with him.

He is the other thing constantly in my mind these last 30 hours or so. And so sweet the thoughts are!

We interrupt our regular programming...

2005-05-24T06:55:00.000-07:00

...to announce our interpid traveller has finally found a little holiday romance. And I'm here for four more nights, so I'm hoping to see, ummm, a little more of this guy. Not necessarily someone I would date in regular life. But weighing in at attractive and interesting and knows how to dance and one who gives mighty nice head massages...there you go. I woke up smiling.

Now, my most pressing decision is: beach or hotel pool?

Oh, and a change of what will happen in July

2005-05-24T05:15:00.000-07:00

I was originally starting to seriously plan to go to Prague before I left, to look in to teaching English there. I met some women on a train that currently teach there, and they made it sound imminently possible to make a reasonably good living doing so, and that there is A Lot of demand for English teachers there.

However, something has come up in Seattle, and I need to deal with it in person. It's not serious in a bad way, just serious in a I-Need-To-Deal-With-This way. I suppose it's possible I could get another friend to take care of it. Though, that would be an act of great kindness and the teaching demand will still be in Prague if I wait 5-6 months before returning to try and teach. And yes, that answers your probably question: I plan to return to Seattle for maybe 5-6 months, earn as much money as possible (know of any lucrative jobs??) so I can pay down my credit card a bit and just save some cash for another flight to Europe, then head back to Europe and Prague to see about finding a teaching job. If it falls through in the end, at least I'll travel for a month or so before re-joining the Real World of a Regular Job.

That is, I would be in that world until I had enough money to start travelling again...

Clear blue skies [mostly]

2005-05-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

Oh. Yeah.

I headed south today, incidentally flying on an airline that Holland will no longer let fly land in a Dutch airport -- due to safety reasons (again, Mom, hope you're not reading this...). I am in what can be classed as a Beach Resort (witness the cruise ship in the harbor and strikingly close proximity to Greece), and it seems ok. Though, I haven't walked around much -- just showered, had something to eat and am now enjoying the coolness of an internet cafe. It's really hot right now, and I want to wait a bit more before exposing my sensitive Irish skin to this sun. Even with sunblock and an existing tan, it's still pretty intense out there. I *do* want to enjoy the sun, and not have to sit in my hotel room the whole time because I got massively burnt on the first afternoon here...

On to the trip here. The flight was fine and the plane looked fine. Don't know the exact details of why Holland is anti-Onur, but there you go.

I also think I have about the worst luck with arriving in some places. On the way to Varna (and I'll repeat this story in case I missed blogging it when it happened), I made a mistake with the train connections, and ended up choosing to take a 45 euro taxi ride from Ruse to Varna. An expensive little trip, as the train ticket would have cost about $4... But, given the alternative of staying in Ruse and losing the next day because of the train times (6am or 4pm), I opted for the taxi trip. Expensive, but the rest of Bulgaria was so cheap, it kind of evened out in my favor anyway.

Arriving in Plovdiv at almost 10pm, I took a taxi from the train station to the hostel. Mostly, because I knew it was a couple kilometers and I did not have a map -- so walking was not an option. I couldn't see the meter clearly in the cab (thank you stick shift), and it turned out he didn't turn the meter on. This is always a recipe for a scam. I was charged 8 Leva, which is only about $3 or so, so theoretically it wasn't too bad. Until someone and I took a taxi to the train station, and that fare was 1.80 Leva...

And then there was today. To backtrack to yesterday, I was at a travel agency getting information and plane tickets to my current destination. While I was originally going to take the bus here, I ended up flying because it wasn't that much more expensive, and it saved a great deal of time and added comfort. However, contemporary highway robbery is alive and can be found at the Izmir airport.

The travel agency rep made it sound like there were regular and frequent bus shuttles from the airport to Kasadasi. This is not true. The only way out of the airport was seemingly in a taxi or by stowing away on an obvious tour bus going to an unknown destination. I couldn't even see a bus stop for a regular city bus. In the end, I paid 80 lira (about $58) for a 60km taxi ride. Even to just go to the bus station would have been 50 lira...

I will certainly be researching cheaper ways to get back to the airport for my return trip.

After the taxi ride today, it just goes to show the adage of bad things happening in threes. It was the third thing to go awry in well under 24 hours. It started last night with an asshole of an Australian getting all pissy about the overflow sleeping arrangements for the hostel (a story about accomodation that I won't go in to full detail here), that ended up with him waking me up at 2.45am, him trying to berate me for something not my fault and something I did that was not done with malicious intent, and had conversation bits like this:

Me: [not saying anything while he rants and strokes his own broken self-esteem by spewing vitriol at me]
Him: Don't you have anything to say?
Me: No. There's nothing I can imagine saying that will make any difference to your view. It's pretty clear you've already made up your mind about how you feel.
Him: You have a point.

It ended with him doing what I suggested in the first minute of his self-serving rant (yes, I am still residually pissed and outraged) and him saying:

"Well what I can expect, you're American."

Oh, the torrent of retorts that I bit my tongue from saying then and the acts of backpacker terrorism I considered this morning while he was still sleeping...

The second act of awry was the oaf in the seat next to me, on the plane, spilling half his cup of coffee on my leg. I'm thankful that: 1. the coffee was served lukewarm; 2. I was wearing dark jeans that already need to go to the laundry.

Though, all is well now. I'm ensconced in a nice hotel (double bed!!), doted on by hotel staff (again, behold the power of a smile, red hair and a strappy top), and am in a lovely, hot locale on the Aegean coast.

And to think one of the Mancunians that read my blog said that it was all so nice, and that there wasn't anything harsh written. [I told him to check out the March/April archives...] It's mostly that I don't take too personally anything awry that happens these days. But when it comes in threes...I can't help but be a little more absorbent to the bad stuff. But like I said, I'm in the Town of Sun and Beaches and Very Close Proximity to Greece, so how can I still be upset? The Answer: I'm not.

Finally, it's off to explore this place a bit more properly [than what I saw from the taxi] and get some more sun.

Istanbul is Constantinople

2005-05-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

Which is the only They Might Be Giants lyric that I know.

The last couple days have been rather un-eventful, in the full meaning of the word. Yesterday, the weather was quite spectacular with rain periodically during the day and a great lightning storm in the evening. I'd mildly tweaked something in my left knee the day before, so I did precious little yesterday, in an effort to let it heal. I have a dance injury in my right knee, and I really don't fancy having problems with *both* my knees...

Today was weird because I had to wait to move my bags to another, unfinished hostel (same owner). Then, I had to decide where I'm going tomorrow, which involved about an hour research online, then over an hour in the travel office. I'm flying south, to the Aegean coast of Turkey, and will probably hop over to one of the Greek islands for a day or two. In other words, I'm off to Lands of Beaches. Awhh Yeahhh.

And to backtrack a couple nights, imagine my surprise when the seven people moving in to 'my' room where seven Mancunians. Guys. It was a bit startling at first, and the hostel owner (despite my protestations that it was ok and I really didn't mind sharing a room with guys (by that time I'd talked to a few of them and discovered they were pretty cool and I'd sensed the odds of unwanted funny business in the middle of the night was pretty minimal)) stated: 'It is not right.' In the end, I kept my bed for that night and last night. Those boys are pretty cool. They are here for the Football Championship this week and their enthusiasm for the game is pretty contagious. I also joined a conversation they were having last night, where they were explaining various aspects of Islam to another British girl. It was really quite interesting, as I'd only known a tiny bit about Islam. I only know a tiny bit more, though I do have a great deal more respect for their faith. When one of them told me one morning that they hadn't been able to sleep, and they heard the 5am call to prayer and then they went to mosque to pray, I hadn't originally been sure if they had been joking or not. This is before I knew they were all Muslim. In any case, I suppose this is just a long paragraph to state that I met some really cool guys. I feel like I found several pals and I also appreciate that I learned some things that I didn't know and that were rather enlightening to me. Oh, and one of them looks A Lot like a good friend of mine (Aephemera on the links), so it's been kind of odd and reassuring to be around someone that reminds me of one of my very good friends from home.

They noise in the streets is already reaching Low Crazy levels. I can only imagine what it will be like here in the next few days... Those Mancunians will be going crazy...

And I will be chilling (or more likely, baking) On. The. Beach.

Bellydancing in Istanbul

2005-05-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, I went to a bellydancing show last night. The dancer was reasonably good, but she didn't dance in the way that I expected, based on bellydancing I've seen in movies and such.

And yes, I was beckoned to the floor and I danced. I kept my shirt on, unlike the men that were beckoned. It was pretty cool, and not too embarassing as 1. I was able to mimic her dancing to a reasonable degree and not look entirely foolish, and 2. the club was populated almost entirely by hostelers. Eventually, many of us were just dancing since it was a club, and only nominally 'bellydancing'.

I want to buy some bellydancing music. A woman I used to work with once mentioned a friend of hers was trying to get her to take a bellydancing class, and since she mentioned it, it's always been in the back of my mind as something that I think would be really cool to do.

Anyway. Today, went to the Grand Bazaar. Oh, such a Shopping Mecca! Over 4000 shops and booths. I bought a couple small things and will definitely be going back and thus testing the capacity of my beloved backpack. If only I could be in Istanbul *after* lightening my backpack in London (this will happen in a couple weeks)!!! Though, I have seen DHL offices here...

Aside from the pollution being pretty vicious here -- under 24 hours and I already have a sore throat from the poor air quality -- I think I need to get out of here before I end up buying the biggest suitcase in the bazaar and paying exorbitant excess-weight charges on my flights that will take me back to London...

A lot of random bıts from my head

2005-05-17T06:24:00.000-07:00

I haven't spoken to anyone (asıde from a couple words here and there - ın a broken mıxture of Englısh - French - Spanısh) sınce early Monday afternoon. Hopefully thıs won't sound too selfısh or strange - but I've really enjoyed thıs. Granted - I stıll check emaıl and wrıte ın my blog - so I suppose I'm not entırely cut off from socıety...

Note that I have no ıdea what combınatıon of keys on thıs partıcular keyboard wıll gıve me a comma - so I'm usıng dashes ınstead. Forgıve any stıltedness thıs may cause.

When I was leavıng Bulgarıa - there were tons and tons of brıllıant red poppıes lınıng the road.

I thınk I've counted maybe fıve other tourısts ın Edırne. Three were at the mosque yesterday - two are guesses based on clothıng and facıal appearance (I mean - even gıven the preponderance of Western clothıng here - how many people would have an authentıc-lookıng NY Yankees cap and a t-shırt that says 'skı or dıe'?). It's a nıce change -- though I'm feelıng lıke I really stand out wıth my red haır. Whıle obvıously artıfıcıal red haır ıs de rıgeur ın other places of Eastern Europe - ıt ısn't ın Edırne. I may just be the only redhead ın town...

Oh - and accordıng to the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree websıte - I am now ın the Mıddle East -- not Eastern Europe. Mom - I hope you're not readıng thıs...

Whıle the hotel I'm stayıng ın ısn't terrıble - I wouldn't recommend ıt to anyone demandıng a spotless room or many of the women I know. It took some ıngenuıty and creatıvıty to fıgure out how to 'flush' (and I use that term loosely - very loosely) the toılet. My method seems to work well enough. Last nıght a man I hadn't seen knocked on my door - and ınvıted me down to receptıon for a cup of coffee. Whıle smokıng a cıgarette through several of hıs mıssıng teeth. There ıs a lıttle bolt on my door - and I use ıt every sıngle mınute whıle I'm ın the room - though orıgınally that was because the lıttle lock on the door - well - ıf I threw my weıght agaınst the door from the outsıde - the door would lıke crash ın. I feel my stuff ıs safe - and of course I'm leavıng thıngs ın such a carefully - slıghtly mussed way - that I would ımmedıately know ıf anyone had even touched them. I do thıs ın hostels - too - so thıs ısn't some new and neurotıc behavıor of mıne.

I am ınevıtably the only female ın an ınternet cafe here. My unusual presence ın my current cafe prompted the clerk to brıng me a cup of tea. Presumably for free. He even brought over some specıal hardware he thought I mıght use (I'm not).

There does not seem to be many women (of any age) that walk around here. ESPECIALLY at nıght. I haven't had anyone follow me - but I've had several men say thıngs to me (though not ın a threatenıng way).

I've been thought to be German (based on my physıcal appearance) at least four tımes now. After one person that I corrected gave me an odd look - I've been tryıng out sayıng I'm Brıtısh. The people I've met (who mostly speak only slıghtly more Englısh than I can Turkısh) don't seem to be able to tell the dıfference ın accent.

Tomorrow I wıll head to Istanbul. I'm quıte lookıng forward to that - and not because I wıll lıkely stay ın a hostel and be around other Englısh speakers agaın. I'm really dıggıng Turkey.

And to close wıth - I watched some local coverage of the Cannes Fılm Festıval. What's wıth Natalıe Portman and her shaved head?? She looks gorgeous as ever - but why??

My first mosque

2005-05-16T06:23:00.000-07:00

I am in Turkey. (so pardon any strange typings, as there ıs a dıfferent key placement, and addıtıonal letters for the Turkısh alphabet.)

Specıfıcally, I am ın Edırne. A very lovely place (thanks E for the recommendatıon!), and very warm. I ımagıne ıt ıs close to 80 outsıde and I am lovıng the warmth.

Now, I have stood outside a mosque, ın Morocco. Today, though, was the fırst tıme I've ever entered one. It was beautıful, peaceful and stunnıng. Lots of glass lamps hangıng down, a fountaın ın the mıddle of the mosque that people drank from, breathtakıng mosaıcs and what I can only call 'decoratıve art'. The scarf that I use as a belt for my jeans was also quite handy -- to be respectful, it was necessary to cover my head. Voila! Another use for my scarf. The only thing I feel poorly about, was takıng photos ın the mosque. I wasn't sure ıf ıt was approprıate, and after seeıng a couple other people doing so, I dıd as well -- albeıt wıthout a flash. It wasn't untıl leavıng the mosque that I saw the sıgn that saıd no photos. I felt especıally ashamed, as I certaınly took about 30 photos...

I've spent the rest of my tıme walkıng around, gettıng honked at by men drıvıng cars, and wonderıng ıf my sleeveless top ıs really approprıate to wear ın a largely Muslım country. I have seen exactly one other woman (Turkısh) wearıng a sleeveless top. Though, I couldn't ımagıne wearıng even short sleeves ın thıs weather...

Speakıng of Turkısh men: I was warned about them -- by two other men I met ın Bucharest. Specıfıcally, I was told Turkısh men would be besıde themselves over me. Whıle I took thıs wıth a graın of salt, I have found thıs to be basıcally quıte true. Though thankfully, I've had precıous few men say anythıng to me. Yet. I'm sure thıs wıll change once I arrıve ın Istanbul.

My fırst taste of the admıratıon, I wıll admıt, came at the Turkısh border. I was travellıng vıa coach bus, and we had to take all our belongıngs off the bus and put them on a bench for ınspectıon. It went wıthout sayıng that you opened your bags fırst. I saw bags beıng probed, hıt (?!) and otherwıse ınspected. When the well-dressed ınspector came my way, ıt all changed. Whıle ıt ıs not truthful to say hıs eyes bulged, ıt ıs truthful to say hıs demeanor changed. He stopped mıd-sentence, offered hıs hand. 'Where are you from?' he asked ın Englısh. 'The US,' I saıd as I smıled. 'You are very beautıful' he saıd as he held my hand a few seconds longer than really necessary. But then, he just gave me another, very large, apprecıatıve smıle and then went off to the next bag -- after completely ıgnorıng my bags. Completely.

And to thınk that I'd been worrıed the customs ınspector would make me fully unpack my oh-so-carefully (lıke puzzle pıeces) backpack...

Behold, the power of a smıle and cleavage-revealıng shırt!

Back to life

2005-05-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

Feeling more lively today. I hate feeling lost like I did yesterday.

Now, I'm just trying to figure out a plan for the next 2.5 months. "2.5 months in Europe" you think. You think you have tons of time. Throw in that you want to spend a month in Portugal, and one month (after the two weeks I will probably spend in Turkey) is what you have left. There are people to visit in that month, and other places I'd still like to visit. It goes without mentioning that I WILL be shopping before leaving Europe. Depending on something going on in Seattle, that something will probably have me returning to Seattle then to take care of some stuff. This will put the kibosh on my Prague teaching [perhaps] plans...at least for the immediate future. If I go back to the US in July, then my tentative plan is to work my bottom off, save wads of cash, then return to Europe. Slumming from one hostel to the next, meeting cool people and seeing the sights is now 'normal' to me, and I'm loathe to give it up.

So, my goal today is to try and figure out a non-breakneck itinerary (though, I fear Portugal will become a two or three week trip...) and to work on some of the mysteriously lacking-until-now fiction writing.

It was a bright and sunny day...

Listless and lost

2005-05-13T05:23:00.000-07:00

I am listless. I want to stop moving around for a while, but I don't necessarily want to do the Portugal Month quite yet. I fear that if I go to Portugal now, I will just stay there for a couple months. What to do?

I'm meant to be going to a very, very small Bulgarian village tomorrow. Though, I might just go to a small town (there is a difference...) in Turkey.

I don't know what to do.

I continue having bizarre dreams, with yet more celebrities in them. I dreamt Bono and I were hooking up...and I've never found Bono particularly anything in the looks department. I had a strange dream with Susan Sarandon, which involved her graphically giving birth to some kind of Rosemary's Baby Alien. I've rather a lot of dreams where I'm being chased (and I know what this type of dream means, and I'm baffled because I do not feel that way at all).

I don't know what's going on.

Anyone have suggestions for what I should do? I'm really at a loss, but haven't found a place that seems lovely for a couple very quiet weeks alone and hopefully get some serious writing done. Plovdiv is nice, but doesn't feel right for this. This is a horrible scenario, I want to be somewhere relaxing so I can stop moving for a while, but I don't know where to go.

And to be clear, I am not depressed or sad or anything like that. Just listless and weary of moving around so frequently. Of course, I'm looking forward to an impending trip to London, so I can significantly lighten my backpack. Though, I don't think the state of my backpack (which really isn't bad at all...) is responsible for this.

Help.

Picturesque Plovdiv

2005-05-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

Plovdiv is gorgeous. Specifically, the Old Town.

My hostel is in the Old Town. The streets are what can be called cobblestone...though, they are really just large, brick-y rocks. Definitely dangerous for my ankle. ESPECIALLY when walking at night, because street lights are not frequent. I've looked like a hunchback while walking back at night.

Today, I walked to the top of the hill (not a mean feat, but not an easy one, either). Quite lovely, quite picturesque. Or as my guidebook describes the Old Town, "a painter's dream and a cartographer's nightmare." Very true. There are Roman ruins scattered about, wild cats running wild, a lot of locals and a lot of peace. While walking down the hill, I passed a Roman amphitheatre. How I would love to see something performed there (it was obviously still in use, as there were speakers and lighting equipment around), but I will be leaving here tomorrow or the next day. Probably.

Funnily enough, I never used the map today. I was happy to wander about, and then take a marathon-length nap in the afternoon. I don't know why I'm taking so many long naps these days. I don't know if it's because:

1. People have been waking up and leaving the dorm early in the morning;
2. I had the room to myself today (and hopefully will tonight);
3. I'm just really tired
or
4. Some mysterious reason I have yet to discover

Oh boy. The thunder pounded the sky here a few minutes ago, and now the downpour has started. Seattle girl that I am, I do not have an umbrella, and I still only have the jean jacket.

It will soon be time to run to the closest restaurant and hope the storm passes, so I can get back to the hostel without being drenched.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the dear little salamander that I saw in the hostel this afternoon. I was leaving my room, and noticed movement on the floor. The first floor (second floor for you Americans out there) is rather dark most of the time (energy conservation), so it took a few moments to get a good luck at what was moving. I was very happy it wasn't a speedy spider...

I just hope I don't walk across the little guy in the middle of the night...

Strange dreams

2005-05-10T15:10:00.000-07:00

So, I took a nap this afternoon, and I dreamt I met the guys from Car Talk. How I came to dream of this is a mystery, though I remember being all gush-y and sycophantic. I seem to remember they were staying in the same place as them, and I was beside myself because I was able to hang out with them.

Now, I adore Car Talk, but I don't know if this would really be my reaction if I got to meet the guys.

Still, it was a memorable dream.

And to answering inquiring minds, I did make it out of Varna yesterday. I'm now in Plovdiv, which is maybe the 4-5th largest city in Bulgaria. What I've seen is really lovely and interesting. Though, my guidebook doesn't have a map for this city, and the hostel doesn't have tourist maps (???!!!), so I didn't do much walking today. Simply, I had no idea which way to walk to see anything of interest. Experience with London shows that if you don't know where you're going, you have a good chance of seeing things you would prefer to miss. Granted, Plovdiv is a lot smaller -- but if I get lost, I need to be someplace I can at least find a taxi...

Someone in my dorm room has given me their map, since they are leaving tomorrow morning, so I will be out and about rather early (that is, before noon) tomorrow.

I'm leaving Varna tomorrow...really!

2005-05-08T05:56:00.000-07:00

So, I've succumbed to Olympic Level Laziness. I've done little the last couple days, a few minor walks, finished one book and started another, sat and gabbed with people.

I've found out the train times, know the name of a good hostel, and have 90% packed my bag.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of the green pastures of Bulgaria, and going to a larger city. I've heard great things about Plovdiv.

After Plovdiv, I will head to a tiny little town and hopefully work on some writing. After that, I will head to Turkey. I'm not necessarily going to Istanbul straightaway, but within two weeks I will arrive in Istanbul, which I'm greatly looking forward to.

I swear the next post will be written from a different city...

Still, still, still in Varna

2005-05-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

I am completely finished with the critiquing project. I finished my comments yesterday, and they were read and discussed last night. He's quite pleased with my critique, and I'm quite pleased about earning some money for the first time in seven-odd months.

So, I am now free to leave Varna. Though, I don't like travelling in rain or on Fridays and Saturdays. And considering I'm a little cramp-y and moody, tomorrow is looking like another Varna day. Really, where I want to go involves about 7-8 hours of travel, and I just don't feel like managing that tomorrow. And I have a flexible schedule, soo...

If anyone is coming to Varna (like my readership is *that* large...), I can also recommend a new hostel. It's grand opening is tomorrow. It's called Gregory's Backpacker's Hostel. It's a little out of town, but they have free train/bus station pickup; a beautiful location (can't beat the view); a great patio; the best sofa I've seen in a hostel; really cool, young Brit owners. I know all this because I tagged along to a bbq at their place today. And the wife looks like Sarah Michelle Gellar, so I was pleased to fantasise I was partying with Buffy...

Anyway, so this is the end of my Friday night -- IM'ing with a friend and sitting in the local internet cafe...

I need to pack my bag...

Critiquing in Bulgaria

2005-05-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

I've been busy the last couple days, finishing up my critique of the novel. In fact, I've just now finished writing up my comments. I will sleep on them, so to speak, and see if I have anything new to add in the morning. Tomorrow, I will hand over the comments and commented-upon manuscript to the author, and we will discuss my critique within a day or so. Then, I will stay in Varna a couple days, to give him time to read through all my comments and think about them, and ask any questions as he sees necessary. Once I leave, that's pretty much it. My job will be done and I will be paid.

Have I mentioned I'm looking forward to being paid?? ;-)

In other news, a couple days ago I visited what can best be described as a Thermal Pond, on the beach here. There is a thermal spring there, and the only way to describe where people sit and enjoy the thermal water is: pond. I was definitely the sensation there. Most of the men were over 50, and there were only two other women there -- one in her mid-40s, another well over 50. I had my swimsuit on under my regular clothes, and when I pulled my t-shirt over my head, I saw a whole set of heads whip towards my direction. I was very happy I was there with two guys from the hostel. Their presence surely warded off anyone approaching me or hassling me.

Overall, Varna has been an alternately profitable and lazy place for me to be. I've discovered a lovely park here, but I'm perfectly content to chill out in the hostel and talk to people or take naps or just lie in bed for three hours before getting up and taking a shower and leaving my room (I say my room, because I've had the dorm to myself for the last three nights, and will again tonight -- yipppppeeeeeee!!!!!).

So, while I'm eager to finish this critiquing job and get my butt out of Varna, I will also miss the lazy lifestyle I've come to enjoy here.

Though, I will say that with approximately three months remaining in the European leg of my trip, I'm starting to think that isn't much time at all. Not much time at all.

Does anyone want to finance my Living Abroad Life???

Karaoke in Bulgaria

2005-05-01T11:08:00.000-07:00

Oh my. Last night was Karaoke night. People who know me probably know I don't sing in front of other people (unless there are at least 10 other people screaming lyrics...). My voice makes caterwauling sound nice.

As such, I never planned to sing last night. This is not to say that I did, but I started to consider it. Karaoke in Varna is not like Karaoke in the US. You do not go up to a stage to sing. You sing from your table, and every table had 1-2 microphones. Oh, and you do not sing alone. If you choose a song someone else knows, you may find yourself as part of a duet, trio or a much larger group.

Back to my singing ability, though. There were people singing there that made my worse-than-caterwauling voice seem ok. Everyone was having a fantastic time and I never noticed anyone cringing in the bar -- except sometimes the people I was with. We were a mixed group of Kiwis, a couple Americans, Australian, French, Quebecois and another Bulgarian. The owner of my current hostel and E, another American (one of the very, very few I've met and found very cool (and who is now under the new A Little Linky, Linky to other travellers section)) sang a heart-jumping rendition of Africa. And yes, I have a couple fantastic photos... Only one other person at the table sang with a mic. All of us started hollering lyrics to an assortment of songs, including a Romanian song that's quite popular and has some easy lyrics in the chorus, the theme to Friends, Bon Jovi. You get the idea.

Nearly everyone in the hostel left today, which is a bit sad (though, there were a few people I was quite happy to see go). Though, I now have a dorm room for my very own tonight, unless someone shows up this evening. So, as in everything, there are pluses and minuses.

I'll be here for a few days yet, as I still have to finish my work on the previously-mentioned manuscript. It's weird to be 'working', though I must admit that doing a 'job' like this doesn't really feel like work to me. It will probably be a couple weeks before I actually get to Istanbul -- mostly because E gave convincing arguments for the peaceful-ness and beauty of a couple places he's visited, and I will be visiting one or both of the places. And I'm not one to spend only 2-3 nights someplace...unless it's awful and I need to escape. I have no idea what this will be doing to my planned itinerary to Western Europe. Though, I'm thinking that may very well be cut very short. I've enjoyed Eastern Europe a great deal more than I expected, and it's very interesting to visit EE countries that are now part of the EU, and then ones that are not (though, Bulgaria will be EU in 2007). After I stop in London, I'm thinking I might fly to Stockholm and see the Swedish Sirens of Buenos Aires, then take a boat to Finland, then another boat to St Petersburg, and then work down from Estonia through norther EE. There are a few people I will visit in Western Europe, but I'm even considering just doing a little whirlwind tour through Western Europe for one month, which would give me an extra month to visit EE. I will also state that the month in Portugal is non-negotiable for me. However, given my flexibility and commitment-phobia, if I find another place that would be lovely for a month in the sun on the beach, I may go there. But I'm REALLY wanting Portugal, so it will probably be Portugal.

If I could stay in Bulgaria for longer than 30 days within six months, that place might've been somewhere around here (though not Varna, because it's a little dull -- except for the people I've met).

Anyway, I want some chocolate now. Which means I'm signing off...

Oh, and I did...

2005-05-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

...make it to the beach. I now have a picture of me standing in the Black Sea.

It was cold.

I learn new card games...

2005-04-29T05:02:00.000-07:00

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...

2005-04-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-27T06:17:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

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...

2005-04-21T04:47:00.000-07:00

...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??

2005-04-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-13T05:37:00.000-07:00

...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

2005-04-13T03:24:00.000-07:00

...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

2005-04-13T03:20:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-09T15:26:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-04-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-07T10:32:00.000-07:00

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??

2005-04-06T07:07:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-05T06:43:00.000-07:00

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.