in transit

Wednesday, December 19, 2001 9:08 PM
well, here's our latest, after a crash erased the first version. (lucky you, this one's shorter).

three consecutive days of rain in istanbul dampened our spirits, so we decided to leave. the route took us through bulgaria and into romania. the train we were in was basically a metal shell with vinyl benches--no heat, no lights, no frills. we lay in our sleeping bags, watching our breath, chattering silently to ourselves "thiis is an adventure, this is an adventure," a technique that worked so well we still believe it was one.

turkish delight on a moonlit night

Tuesday, December 11, 2001 1:05 PM
We found our ferry from Rhodes quite quickly in the harbour though we had some doubts as to whether or not it really was our ferry when we saw how small it was and how it reared up like a wild stallion as the waves rolled into it. A Saskatchewan Canadian next to us on the upper deck informed us cheerfully that he had thrown up on the ride to Rhodes earlier that morning. We decided to wait with eating until we arrived. At the border, upon docking, I gave my passport up temporarily, withdrew a cool $200 million, bought two little stickers for our passport books for $160 (not even scratch and sniff though) and kept the other $40 million as pocket change. While walking back from the ATM a group of men surrounded me.

ode to a grecian urn

Friday, November 30, 2001 2:32 AM
We left italy by ferry after accidentally eating a bunch of raw bacon, and slept most of the way on the floor (it was a night ferry) after talking to some montreal'ers. we had to wait in the bus station in Igoumenitsa for an hour and a half, where an albanian lady fed us oranges and we met a man name leon, who was going to athens. we talked briefly and he decided to go to the next town with us. we arrived Ionina and made our connecting bus by about 3 nanoseconds--it was actually pulling out as we ran up and jumped on. The seats were all full so we sat on our packs feeling something like cowboys as the bus rattled through the pindhos mountains.

the boot

Sunday, November 25, 2001 10:45 AM
so from switzerland we hopped on an overnight train to florence. italy for the first time and it seemed to me to be more distinctively different than alot of the other countries we've visited so far. Here are some stream-of-consciousness impressions: plaster walls, chipped and peeling, history exposed, shuttered windows, metal bars and grates, carved door frames, sculpted door knockers, tall three to four story buildings crowding and close, up to the river, into the street, arches, olive trees, sun-speckled clouds, winding, twisted streets, coloured marble, undulating cobblestone.