ritorno in italia

Tomorrow Ashly and I head back to Italia from Bucharest, Romania. The whole trip has been amazing but we are tired, and I am really excited to return to Italia... where things are a bit more familiar and I can speak the language.

But so, so much has happened since I last wrote anything. We traveled north through Pamukkale... one of the most amazing surreal natural wonders I've ever seen but was may be trumped by what we saw just a short while later. Then we stopped over in Selçuk to see the amazing Greek ruins at Efes/Ephesus.

After that was Istanbul. Cailan met us there and we had good times drinking in carpet shops with the owners and then going out to some hookah bars. Then came Kapadokya... pictures will have to come when I get home... hopefully. A fairy-tale land where ancient civilizations built houses into the strange rock formations and complete underground cities functioned on a level par to Fraggle Rock. Spectacular.

Back to Istanbul. Bought some stuff at the Grand Bazaar that we scoped out a few days prior and then off to Romania. All of the aforementioned included at least 4 night buses... maybe more and I'm just blacking them out because the rides were so rough.

Now we just spent a few days in the Carpathian Mountains and Transylvania... although it's doubtful if the real Dracula (Vlad The Impaler) even visited some of those parts. We stayed a bit in Braşov and are now back in the capital.

And now back to Italia... non vedo l'ora.

flying

Went paragliding over Ölüdeniz today and then stumbled through the ghost town of Kayaköy. Amazing.

long travels deserve relaxing days

Don't try traveling overland to Greece from Croatia... it's loooong.

We went from Sarajevo to Belgrade, Serbia. That was overnight train #1. We arrived around 6 AM and spend all day in the city. Shopping, reading, eating, sleeping in the park, wandering, eating popcorn from street vendors. I was kinda of sick from something bad I ate in Sarajevo two days before. But we did buy an amazing amount of groceries with our remaining Serbian dinars for something around the price of 9€. It was just as many groceries as I normally bought in Italia for around 30€.

Overnight train #2 turned into all day train. We arrived in Skopje, Macedonia about 3 hours late... so instead of arriving in Thessaloniki at 1 in the afternoon, we arrived around 5 and also lost an hour due to the time change. Next, 5 hour train to Athens. Thankfully that one was only about a half hour late. Get into our room after midnight and find Gabe passed out.

The next few days the wandered the city and saw the sites. Too many tourists and a stifling hot city. The Acropolis was ridiculously crowded and I was still feeling sick from something I ate a few days before. Thought I was gonna puke on masses of tourists/ancient ruins. Made it out without doing that one. I dunno which would have been better in retrospect.

Finally the 3 of us got away on an overnight ferry to Santorini. Now it has been nothing but beaches and cruising around the island on 4-wheelers. The caldera is amazingly beautiful and last night we did what everyone told us we had to do... watch the sunset for Oia (Ia). I thought it was overrated and would've been happier all the way on the other side of the island without the masses of people clambering for the best view. Otherwise I took in a lot of sun, snorkeled and saw some cool fish, and ate some amazing foods... and drank a lot of Mythos.

Gabe left this morning. Now Ashly and I are onto Crete this evening and soon across the water to Asia... well actually just Turkey but technically everything on the east side of the Bosphorus in Istanbul is Asia.

bosnia

Ashly and I Just spent a few days in Croatia on the island of Korčula. Swam in the Adriatic, ate seafood, and rented a scooter to tour around the island. We found a nice sandy beach where we spent the day in the sun.

To get back to the mainland we had to take a passenger ferry to another Croatian island. Then a bus to the other side of the island. Then a car ferry to mainland Croatia. Then we caught the train from Ploče to Mostar in Bosnia and Hercegovina. It was virtually destroyed during the 90's but the old town center has been totally restored and is full of stone streets with inlaid designs and bars, restaurants and cafes. But there are still remains of buildings all over Bosnia that just stand empty with trees growing on the inside and signs telling you to stay away as they are off limits because they could still be structurally unsound.

Early this morning we rode into Sarajevo taking the train, which climbed the mountains making U-shaped turns while winding upward above the valley below. The same is true of buildings in Sarajevo. Food is great but I don't think I could eat like this forever. Been eating ćevapi (little grilled sausages sometimes served in a pita-type bread with onions and you can get it filled with a creamy white cheese too) just about every day. Basically, if you're a vegetarian, you're hard pressed for options in Bosnia... and vegans, they're screwed.

on the move

So it's been quite a while since I've written. Here's what's happened.

Ashly showed up and we saw Radiohead in Milano. The next day we went to Switzerland to visit my friend Antoine. From there Cailan met us and we went to an immense German music festival featuring Foo Fighters, Radiohead, Sigur Ròs, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Elbow, and a billion other bands. This happened in the hot sun surrounding by a war zone of beer cans. Seriously, it was like a refugee camp by the time we left on Monday morning.

Back to Switzerland and then a good rest in Salò. Ashly met some people around the school and town. The family I'd been tutoring for had us over for swimming and a barbeque. We did a bit around the area, laid out by the lake, rode the boat up the lake and hiked around Monte Baldo. Next was Padova and Venezia for a few days... which was way too touristy.

Now it's been Slovenia for a nice little while. Quiet and green, something like 57% of the country is covered in forest. Lake Bled, hiking in the mountains around Kranjska Gora and the Vršič Pass. Been staying with a Slovene who showed me an amazing time. Just a random friend who Kyle and Dwight met in Thailand... but that worked pretty great here.

Tomorrow we go rafting in the Soča Valley and a bit more hiking. Then off to Croatia early Monday morning. There's so much more to say and write... we'll see if I ever get around to it.

big ideas, don't get any

Big things start today. First Milano, then Ashly and off to Switzerland.

Andiamo.

sardegna

The remainder of my trip in Sardegna was spectacular. The country is beautiful and has truly it's own culture, outside of Italian culture yet still a part of the nation... that's what these island nations are like though.

We spent a few days with one of Kris's students and her family. Bruna, Giuseppe and piccolo Pierpaolo showed us Sardegna's most amazing beach, Stintino, Giuseppe's hometown of Bosa, and above all else, AMAZING Sardinian food. Pizza of ridiculous proportions, a lunch of seafood that prolly could've filled a cubic mile of seawater accompanied by Sarda beer Ichnusa, mirto, and so much vino. Delicious. So much food it was stunning.

By far my favorite food from Sardegna is the flatbread, pane carasua, originally created to last for weeks so shepherds could take it into the fields and mountains without having to worry about it spoiling. But the ultimate way to eat it is as pane guttiau, where it is sprinkled with salt and olive oil and then warmed in the oven or over a grill. Who knew stale bread could be so simply amazing!!!

On Monday, the three of us took a day trip to Bonifacio in Corsica... France. It's a small, beautiful town perched on the cliffs above the Mediterranean looking out towards Sardegna. I ate the most amazing crêpe of my life from a tiny vendor and we marched all over the town and it's medieval walls.

We watched a few matches of EuroCup, drank wine, beer, coffee, and liquore in the piazzas and cafés, ate well, lived well. Sassari is a very authentic city with a unique Sardo culture and identity. Mi mancherà la Sardegna.

la vita sarda

I made it to Sassari, found Nick and Kris, and we've been having an amazing time drinking vino (Buio Buio and Cannonau), mirto (a typical Sardo liquor/digestive made from myrtle) and most of all eating delicious, strange foods. On Thursday night we ate pizza al metro (pizza by the meter). Six of us ordered a quarter meter of the pizza we wanted and they brought out a long pizza on a huge board with three of our selections. We had things like salmon and cream, different types of mushrooms, spicy sausage, peppers and onions... and so many other kinds. We chowed down and then a few more meters emerged with our last three choices. Liters of beer accompanied as well as the Sardo equivalent of moonshine... filu 'e ferru. The name basically means an iron rod because long ago the alcohol was buried, hidden underground with a piece of iron sticking out to show where it was hidden.

Last night's appetizers at L'Assassino (The Assassin) included snails in a tomato sauce, small octopi in a spicy sauce, and beef tripe in a tomato sauce. All were amazing. My pasta was a large gnocchi-type pasta filled with potatoes, cheese, and mint all in a tomato sauce. After came pig with roasted potatoes and a doughy desert filled with sweet cheese and covered in sugar.

We also spent the afternoon in Castelsardo (named for the castle that towers above everything else) where we wandered around the town, which is perched on the cliffs above the ocean and practically surrounded by water on three sides. We then hiked down some trails below town and picnicked on prosciutto, cheeses, bread and salami. The rest of the afternoon was spent sampling some locally-made sweet vino and mirto in a wine shop, beers in a cafe, a nap on the beach, and a Magnum bar, classico.

Tomorrow we'll tour some more of the island with some friends of Nick and Kris and Monday we're gonna take a day trip to Corsica. La vita sarda è veramente bella.

mamma mia!

Bright and early tomorrow morning Ryanair whisks me off in luxury and class to Alghero. From there I go to Sassari to visit Nick and Kris where we'll romp chaotically through the wonders of Sardegna. I hope my flight goes smoother than little Kevin's.

mi mancano 4 giorni

EuroCup begins on 7 June 2008. Forza Italia.