An excellent set of maps are provided by the CIA.
 http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook
I used them in my planning stages before I departed.

Wed, November 1 - Sleep on and off in the early morning before getting up at 7am and getting the included breakfast. Out by 7:30am to the bus station down the street to catch an 8am bus to Positano, a town built into the rocky coast. I hopped off at a bus stop at the start of the town, and not knowing where I was started to walk along the narrow roads toward the water. I was fairly high up in the town, so I could walk downwards and more towards the center. Just so you understand... this is of course carrying my pack. I finally figured out where I was, since my guidebook has a small map of the town. I took a look at a local art exhibit, next to a church in which a dog was begging outside of, perfect photo op. I then started to read with the sound of the waves crashing behind me, this is while it is lightly raining. I finally stopped when it started to come down hard. I then decided that I would head to the bus station and grab a bus to my next destination, Amalfi. The bus station was a bus stop, and I had to walk down the hill to a cafe to buy the bus ticket. I met an American couple that were on their honeymoon and drove down from Napoli (1.5 hrs trip turned into a 5 hr journey), They know wanted to return the vehicle... note, I would not rent a car in Italy since one must be extremely aggressive and a pro at cutting close turns and spots. Enough on that. The bus ride was very pretty along the coast, definitely recommended. Upon arriving in Amalfi, I found out that the it was All Saints Day (a holiday remembering the dead), so the paper mills (yup, they make paper there) I wanted to visit were closed. So, I walked about the narrow street before grabbing a calzone and buying a bottle of water at a supermarket before heading to the rocky shore to read and have lunch. I sat on these huge boulders used for breaking the waves. The 4:30pm bus I wanted did not happen since it was a holiday, so back to the boulders to read and watch the sun set before hopping on the bus at 6pm. This little stop in Amalfi was quite relaxing if you cannot tell from my actions, or lack of them. On a bus to Salerno, and the overnight trains I wanted was at 9:30pm (arrived at 7am, and the 11:30pm arrived at 8am), so I had a few hours to walk about and have dinner before hopping on the train. I opted for the 9:30pm since I was finished walking about Salerno. After dinner of a favorite Southern specialty, penne al arrabiata, I bought a slice of chocolate (looks like a loaf of bread and there are many different types) that is so prevalent in Napoli and Sorrento. Highly recommended, definitely a memorable on my entire trip... anyone who returns from Italy with a slice (more is better) of dark chocolate and hazelnut creme will be rewarded. Hopped on the train at 9:30pm, and there was only one other guy in the cabin, so we both got three seats to sleep across on.

Thu, November 2 - We finally arrived at 7am, and off I went to the main tourist office to get a map and see what was happening in Palermo. Arrived at the office, and it was closed because of "Closed because of Works". I asked the travel agency for a map, nope, so back to the train station, there was a little info office there, pissed I did not check it out, since I had to walk about 3 km (over 1.5 miles) to the closed tourist office and then back again. On the way back, I stop in and ask about the price for various Pensions I pass. Nothing worth jumping for, in the 20 dollar range. I arrive, and the same sign is there, frustrated, I ask a young girl why it is closed, and she said the 2nd day after All Saints Day is also a holiday. Great! I also inquired about where a cheap place to stay is, she asks her father (works at train station), and she says she does not know, but a small info office is open outside the train station in a little park. So, I head there and get a map and directions to various inexpensive places to stay, there is no hostel in Palermo. I walk about asking various prices, and finally settle on one, $15. The shower is a garden hose, but I did not expect much. I then walked about, noticing most stores were closed, holiday effect, but a few small street markets were open of fruit and meat. Took a photo of a guy carrying 1/4 of a skinned cow on his shoulder down the street. I always find these culturally things quite interesting. I then had been eyeing a restaurant, and had lunch there, I did not like the calamari (too much salt). I then headed to the Catacombs, heard about the corpses lined up next to each other. Could not find it, and only saw the cemetery. I then did a search for i-net, went to four different places, all closed or not in existence, great small information office, I guess they did not check this info out. I also did a search for the movie theatre, nope, could not find it either, I think it moved or was bombed, since it was not at its listed address. So on the way back to the pensione (Italian spelling), stopped in for a "bar" for a sandwich. The "bars" here serve sandwiches and normal bar drinks, but are normal places to grab a piece to eat quickly, standing only. Palermo is a fairly spread out city, and besides the main few streets, little alleys are in between, which creates an unsafe feeling. I had no problems, but I walk about always alert and consider many some sort of threat during my travels. Up 4 floors to the pensione to sleep.

Fri, November 3 - Up and grabbed a train to Milazzo for a connection to the islands north of the port town. On the train, I met an English couple, and we chatted on the ride about how good the Catacombs were... so, I decided I would head back to Palermo and check it out, since I would have a day before grabbing an overnighter to the North. Before deciding this, I had given them an unused bus ticket I had for Palermo. Upon deciding that I would return, the husband offered the ticket back, I declined and said I had given it to him and there was a chance I might not be able to return. So, since they were going to the island as well, and since the train station was a few kilometers (miles) outside of town, they offered to take me in a taxi they hired, no cost to me. See for kindness you are rewarded, giving my bus ticket did pay. Arrived at the port and we all went to buy our boat tickets, they paid for my ticket by accident ($20), and since it was all on one ticket, I paid them, but we needed to board together. So, we agreed to meet up 15 minutes before boarding time. I had an hour to wander the small town. I walked by the fish market, and saw numerous swordfish cut in half, and whole pieces of the body for sale. When you wanted a piece, they chopped a piece off the fish and weighed it. Another photo opportunity. I also bought grapes, it turned out that Sicily has some of the best red grapes in Italy, large and sweet, seeded though. Met the couple and hopped on the hydrofoil (the time difference was a third (2 hrs) between it and the normal boat (5.5 hrs) while the price was slightly more). Arrived in Lapari, largest island of the archipelago north of Sicily. I walked up the hill to the museum overlooking the harbor and town. After a ring-a-ding to Ali, I opted to hop on a hydrofoil (2 hrs) to Stromboli, known for a quite active volcano. When I was in Italy, many people I met, said excellent things about the island. It was time to find the truth out myself. Met a Florida coupe on board, and they were, in their words, "hikers". Later, I would find out the truth. They were going to Stromboli to hike the volcano, so upon arriving we immediately set straight out to the hiking office since it went once a day at supposedly 4pm. We arrived at 3:45pm, and the group had left at 3:30pm. So, we found a cheap hotel and bargained to almost $10 a person per night. After seeing the room, the couple opted to take the entire room for themselves, note it was the girl who said this and since she was the only one who saw the room, she was guilt. She felt really guilty, since the hotel had no singles, and so I departed for the owner's friend hotel, same price. It was little rooms surrounding a garden of fruit trees. Very mellow, while the previous place was more of a traditional hotel. I then went shopping at one of the 3 stores on the island. There are a whopping 300 people on our side of the island, and 40 on the other side. The only way to the other side is via boat, the volcano's cliffs block walking there. And 6 churches on the island. No nature water is present on the island, so a supply ship delivers all water (i.e. for a shower, sink use, etc). Off season note, all of the normal tourist things are not happening (i.e. rental boats, i-net, gift shops, etc), only the volcano hikes still happen. I bought the postcards at the pharmacy, see what I mean by the previous comment. Then I headed to dinner at one of the 2 places open. I was going to have a snack at the first place and then have a pizza at the 2nd place, but a Dutch couple asked to join me at my table and so we chatted and I had my pizza there. Any tourist at the island is there to climb the volcano, since the island is really only a single volcano. I want to stress how small the island is. Well, back to my room to get some sleep.

Sat, November 4 - Up and to the little supermarket to buy breakfast. At the deli counter, I saw all these various sandwiches, so I grabbed one. I did not understand the descriptions, but when I took one, the lady explained that they belonged to people, and she would make one for me. I then realized that each was labeled with a person's name, talk about a small town. I then saw a guy come in and grab one and go, no money or anything was given to the owner, maybe the island works on barter. So, I headed back to my little pensione with garden, and had breakfast. I chatted with a Californian, and then headed to the black volcanic sand beach to read on. 2 hours later, I did a little kite flying and then prepared for the night climb. The afternoon's weather was becoming progressively worse, so I had a feeling the climb would be cancelled. And it was, so tomorrow at 3:30pm, I would return again to try again, or so I thought. Me and the Florida couple then decided to walk a little bit around the base of the volcano. They quit after the trail ended and headed back, but I pushed on through tall grasses, stopping only until I came to cliffs that would require some serious climbing. On my way back, I caught up to them. So we went through a little development of houses along the beach and found this secluded pebble beach which was isolated by huge rocks on either side. We finally returned and I bought a few things, since the store next to us, was going to be closed on Sunday. Since they did not have bread, we went to the other store, and I found out they were open on Sunday, so decided I would return tomorrow for fresh bread. I then headed back to the pensione to drop off my stuff, and then headed to the second of the two restaurants open on the island. Brick oven pizza, most of the pizza in Italy is done this way. Then back to my room for a little R&R before sleeping.

Sun, November 5 - Finished the rest of my bread with the cheese, and completed the novel "The Brigade". Restocked my food needs for lunch and tonight's dinner from the supermarket, and then returned again to relax and start my next book, "Red Storm Rising". I decided to post the titles of the novels I have been reading in this journal, you can say the lawyers who were arguing in reference to the Freedom of Information Act won. Also, just so you have an idea of what I stayed in, my room along with a WC (the term bathroom is not used here or anywhere in Europe) which had separate entrance made up the little building. There were other little buildings surrounding the center garden which contained lemon, orange, and lime trees. There were a few tables and chairs spread out around the garden with walkways. Upon me relaxing in the garden, I met a couple from New Zealand in their 50's. They had gone up to the top to see the volcano in the wee hours of the night, left at 2am and returned at 10am. They said it was beautiful, and the volcano was quite active and were planning on repeating it tonight. During our conversation which talked about his work (setting up National Parks in developing countries), he mentioned that they say a tent that was not occupied, so he searched it, and saw the man's sleeping bag and hiking boots. He therefore found his passport, and brought it down and gave it to the police since the area on the top showed no signs of anyone. The police merely thanked him and took the passport and put it in a desk draw. He therefore asked me to mention when I go on the hike this afternoon to the guide about this "empty tent". Well, I had lunch and then read some more before heading over to the square near the church in preparation to go hiking. I was excited, so I arrived at 2:55pm, since I was told that the hike would leave at 3:30pm. Well, after wait a few minutes, I inquired at the hike office, and was told they left already... my jaw dropped. I said what! When? At 2:30pm, I just left pissed off and decided I would climb and catch up to them myself. Why did the Floridians not tell me... well, on the way to the climbing trail, one must cut through the town, I bumped into the Floridians, and they were in shock too especially since the hike guide said he would call him at their hotel and let them know if it was going to happen, since it was cancelled the day before. They asked as well and it was cancelled. So, the three of us left and went to the trail to hike the volcano. Once we left the level ground and started up the mountain, the girlfriend needed to take breaks every 5-10 minutes. It was extremely frustrating since I knew at this pace we were not gaining on the group, especially since they had a good 30-45 minute head start. So, I finally was asked if I wanted to separate, and we did. After 10 minutes alone, they called out to join me. So, I waited and we climbed to the top of one of the peaks (there are multiple on this volcano). On the top, we met up with other pairs of hikers and asked if they had seen the group. They did, and we continued higher until we saw them head down the mountain via a path in the volcanic sand. We stayed up for another 30 minutes are so, and then the group of 9 of us headed down the mountain via the black volcanic sand. It took us about 1.5hrs to go down and when we finally reached the bottom we all went out to eat dinner and have a drink. Then back to my room to read and fell asleep reading. Decided to pack in the morning before the 7:15am hydrofoil back to main land.

Mon, November 6 - Up at 6am and packed and then off to the boat. It was a clear day like the first day, so I took the opportunity for some photos. Hydrofoil to Milazzo, and then a train to Palermo, which was 1hr late, causing me to miss making a phone call with Ali, so I rang my mom during the siesta time in Palermo. Then grabbed a bus to the Capuchin Catacombs. I asked where the bus was for the Catacombs and an old man befriended me, and told me he would show me where it is. Hopped on the bus, and there was an empty seat, but I offered it to an old lady. The old man had sat down, and started yelling at the lady for "taking the seat" from, I tried to tell him she needed it more than I. That did not work. He started complaining to other men on the bus about this woman, so another man gave up his seat for me. Getting to the Catacombs involved a bus transfer, but since I only had 30 minutes for the transfer, the old man told me I would not make it and should come back tomorrow (there was no tomorrow in Palermo, I had repeated this a few times already). I knew it was close so I told him that I wanted to see where it was. I only needed 15 minutes inside. He would not tell me the direction to walk, so I had to wait for the bus, which finally came and I got to see the Catacombs. It was amazing, and worth every effort to head back to Palermo, especially since I would grab an overnighter to Napoli. The Catacombs was a burial chamber used for famous and wealthy people from the 19th and early 20th century. But this "burial" chamber was more like a storage chamber since the dead were lined up standing next to each other and dressed in their fanciest clothes. Hundreds of people, and some of the people were preserved using various methods. The deceased were all slowly decaying, with the one except of a little girl of the doctor who preserved all these people. He preserved her somehow, it is unknown how, but she looks like she is sleeping, and has been for over 70 years. She is only slightly orange, other than that, she is in excellent condition. Well, I finally walked back to the train station since I was in no rush, my train left at 10:40pm for Napoli. I picked up my pack at storage in the train station and boarded the train. There were four of us in the cabin, two of us have two seats across from each other so we can stretch out, the 3rd and 4th are sitting across from each other. Off to a semi-sleep.

Tue, November 7 - To get to and from Sicily, it is an island, the train is driven on to a ferry and then continues on. We did this at about 1am. At 3am, the guy closest to the window (furthest from the door), I am in the middle, the 2 others are near the door, wakes everyone up in search of his mobile phone. He thought he might have knocked it over and it fell on the ground. It turned out to be stolen from right next to him, it was on the window sill. I was sleeping with my little bag, but I was still concerned about my backpack. So, after he settled down (he was cursing up a storm in Italian), sleeping was difficult to say the least. We finally arrived in Napoli and I went off to buy my next train to Bari so I could catch the ferry to Croatia. After buying my ticket, involved two different trains and classes of service, I noticed that I was overcharged by 12000 Lire, about $6. Upon arriving in my transfer station, the customer support lady called Napoli about this, but said little could be done. She was going to leave a message at the hostel in Bari tonight. Upon arriving in Bari, I immediately went to the ferry terminal and found out that the ferry to Croatia left the following day, so I would be spending a night in Bari. I had a little pasta lunch at the ferry terminal while I waited for it to open from their siesta. It turned out that the hostel "in Bari" is actually in Palese a little town 30 minutes via bus from Bari. I could not find the hostel, no street address listed in my guidebook, and most locals thought it was closed. So, I gave up after a considerable search to ease my frustration I bought some grapes at a local fruit stand. Then grabbed a bus back to Bari and finally found and negotiated a single room w/o bath for $23. Not cheap, but the cheapest I could find at Pensione Guila. It turned out to be very loud, so it wasn't the best deal. Dinner was a slice of deep dish pizza and cookies, then back to relax at the hotel and sleep.

Wed, November 8 - Up at 5:58am, a noisy night, so I continued to doze off and on until 7am. I then packed and planned for the Yugoslavia obstacle, assuming I could not go through Montenegro. Decided to go North in Croatia to avoid it. So, off I went in Bari. First stop, a fish market. Squid is quite popular in Italy, so it is fairly inexpensive and is widely available at most restaurants. The fish market also had a vegetable portion, and a bread area, so I snacked on focaccia. Then walked through the old area near the port and visited the Basilica di San Nicola (Saint Nicholas). The church was having a service in a room underneath the church so I was able to listen to the service, mostly singing, and not worry about coming and going. I finally left after sneaking a photo and headed for lunch at Vini and Cucina. No menus, no English, and only pointing to ours for deciding what I wanted. Everyone had a set lunch, but the pasta and "meat" course varied, I opted for seafood, squid, no surprise there. At a table for six, 5 of us sat together. This was a typical Italian place, even though it was listed in my guidebook, I doubt many enter the place. My farewell to Italy would not be complete without buying some pasta to go from a pastaria (homemade pasta store). Headed to the ferry terminal since I was near by to buy my ticket for Dubrovnik in Croatia. Then returned to the pensione to get my bag and walk along the main shopping street. Tried on a pair of Italian made shoes, nixed them, and instead bought a gelato. At the port, met a racist passport control officer, trying to determine if I was Jewish. Finally through it, no ferry was there, so I asked, and was instructed to another part of the port. Walked about 20 minutes at a fast clip, nervous I was going to miss it. Abroad the overnight ferry, I had an airplane type seat, but it was broken so it went all the way back, instead of stopping half-way. On the boat ride, I saw a distant lightning storm. Well, after watching it for an hour or so, I headed downstairs for some sleep. Before heading to sleep I chatted with an Australian about her year studying in Italy. Then off to sleep.

Thu, November 9 - Up at 5:45am and through customs, and then Kate (the Australian) and I were both heading to the hostel. No one was there, but we left our bags there and went walking back towards the ferry terminal for the fruit and vegetable market. Along the way, we saw Sobe (a rooms) sign and inquired about it. It turned out to be cheaper (100 kruna after bargaining, note all prices are for two, 8kr to the dollar) than the hostel (120 kr), so we opted for that. The owner came and drove us to show us the room and then to get our bags. Along the way to the old city area inside the castle walls, which makes Dubrovnik popular, we came across an open-air cinema and walked along a costal road. Inside the castle walls were very touristy stores and very few locals actual live in the town, similar to Venice (where most live in the city of Mestre, 4km away). No cars are in the city walls, and the streets are "paved" with large white stones. Very pretty, but too touristy to make it fun to walk about, since postcards and restaurant are vying for tourists. We then walked on top of the wall and had lunch up there, we are both on a tight budget. We then both walked about some more before stopping for coffee before returning back to drop of our bags and going out to dinner. We then walked a bit after dinner and then to sleep.

Fri, November 10 - We planned to separate since she was going to catch a ferry to some islands off of Croatia, but the ferries were running once a week, therefore she opted to go to Split, and so we went to grab the 9am bus, there wasn't one even though when I asked the lady, she said every hour, obviously not, so we had to wait until 11am. At the bus station, we met a man looking for travelers for accommodation, and told of us a women in Split with a place. So, I jotted down the info and he quote a price of 150kr, then 120kr. I did no bargaining, since it was not his place, I would wait until we arrived. We headed back to the fruit market to buy more oranges (1kg [2.2lbs] for 0.50 USD) since Croatia grows excellent oranges. Then a few of them with some bread for breakfast. On the bus ride, we had to go through Bosnia-Herzegovina and stopped at a store since it was cheaper to shop there, we were there for a total of 10 minutes. We finally arrived in Split, and the man in Dubrovnik called the lady and so she was waiting even though I told him not to call her. I bargained her down to 110kr plus the use of the kitchen, normally the kitchen is off-limits since it is the owner's house. Her house was in excellent condition, I wanted to ask how she afforded such a fancy house, but decided against it, there was no way she could afford this house with the money from travelers. An all new kitchen, marble kitchen counters, electronic shutters, fancy furniture, and the list could go on. Split was a costal town with large intact Roman ruins that were in the heart of the old area and no cars were allowed in there and it was a locals kind of town. Supermarkets, butchers, and the fish, fruit, flower, and vegetable markets were all in this area. The place was not plagued with touristy shops like in Dubrovnik, also there was a walkway along the water, and cafes looking out over this street. We then went to the supermarket and bought a few things and headed back to the "fortress" how I referred to the house we stayed in, it had a sophisticated security system, for making dinner. Dinner was pasta and upon cleaning up, the lady obliged that she would clean our dishes since she was doing her husbands as well, they ate next to us. Then a little walk in north of the town walls before heading back to sleep.

Sat, November 11 - After breakfast, we checked the train departure, and then split up, :-) and agreed to meet up in 5 hours time at 3pm so we could do our own things. I walked about the extremely busy fruit, vegetable, and flower markets all right outside the walls of the Roman ruins and the old area. I then headed to the information office to inquire about scuba diving and i-net. A little fish market to complete my market viewings. I then bought various components of lunch and ate it on the waterfront street park before heading to meet up with Kate. She had walked by and seen a skating boarding c the area where we bought our ticket was closed due to lack of people in it. After the concert, we headed back to the train station to get our bags and hop on a 9:55pm train north to Ogulin, while Kate went on to Zagreb.

Sun, November 12 - Arrived in Ogulin at 5:20am, and had to wait until 7am for a train to Rijeka so I could catch a bus to Pula from there. In Rijeka, I walked about the town for about an hour and a half, visiting the market to buy breakfast of oranges, coldcuts, and bread. Rijeka is a large town, but I think it serves as a hub since this is the connection for all bus to the Croatian peninsula to the West. I finally arrived in Pula at noon. Since I planned to walk about for only 3 hours, I decided to keep my pack on. Pula has some very impressive Roman ruins, a large amphitheatre which is still used for concerts and speakers, and various our ruins (walls, columns, and churches) distributed out the town. Lunch was a health portion of two pieces of cake at a cafe where the lonely owner worked at and engaged me in conversation while I ate. Finally back to the station to grab a 3pm bus to the small costal town of Rovinj. Arrived at 4pm and the usual Croatian greeting of many old women saying "sobe, sobe, sobe" did not occur. Not a single person was there offering a room. Therefore I walked about the little town looking for Sobe signs, none. I was worried, because there was no hostel, and no inexpensive hotels in this town. And there were no buses anywhere else that had cheaper accommodation. So, after walking around the town for an hour and asking various people on the street, in stores, and houses, and receiving the same answer of "No", I walked back to the bus station to ask there. The lady working ends up calling a list of possible home accommodations. On the first round, everyone who answered said no, and she also called all the hotels, the lowest price was 272kr which was for a **** hotel, but still was the cheapest. Finally, an hour later of waiting at the bus station chatting with Elena (lady who works at the station) one woman called back and said 150kr, which was triple the normal price, on principal I said no. While I waited I bought a bus ticket the following morning at 7:40am for Trieste, Italy, going though Slovenia. Finally at 7pm (2 hours of waiting) and beginning to feel dizzy, I decided to go to the **** hotel and go out for dinner. Upon arriving, the door was held open for me and a bellboy asked to carry my bag. Imagine that, my pack. I almost wanted to start laughing there. I knew the price was 272kr, but upon arriving I asked if they had a bed, not a room. The manager said no, but could offer me a price of 244, and that the price included breakfast. I asked if it was possible not to have breakfast, nope, so he even lowered it more to 204. For an extra 23kr, I was able to have a buffet dinner as well, since I was staying at the hotel. After dinner, I headed up to my room for BBC (British version of CNN) and then to sleep at 1am.

Mon, November 13 - I set two alarms because I could not miss this bus, otherwise I would get to Trieste late, and arrive late via train to Venice for the ferry which was departing at 8pm (or so I thought) to Patras, Greece arriving Wed. Up at 6:30am and after my buffet breakfast, I headed to the bus station. Met Elena and we swapped e-mail info because her son wanted to learn English and loved computers. I only had 5kr left to my name, and it cost 5kr to put my luggage on the bus, so I was down to zero, I love ending a country with no currency left. 3 hours later, through Slovenia, and arriving in Trieste, I left my bag at the train station next door for my afternoon train to Venice. I bought my train ticket for a 3pm arriving at 5:15pm in Venice. I checked my e-mail because Elizabeth who was meeting me in Greece was suppose to e-mail me the hotel info for our meeting point. No messages from her. So, I went off to see the caste overlooking the town, Castello di Gusto. Trieste is a locals kind of town, not very touristy, so Trieste is the kind of cities I like. Called Elizabeth to leave a message to where I would be staying in Athens, but she was in, so she gave me the info. Placing that phone call took 45 minutes due to difficulty with this new prepaid calling card. So, I was short on time, but decided to have lunch at a Trattoria I ate at the last time I was in Trieste. Excellent meal, similar to in Bari, I had a general idea of what I was getting, but nothing to specific. Not a big deal since the food is excellent. I then bought a homemade salami from a street market for my 36 hour boat ride to Greece from Venice. Upon arriving at the train station, I had decided to opt for the 4pm and arrive in Venice at 6:15pm. I arrived in Venice and inquired about where the boat was. I therefore started my walk to the terminal, hesitating and then deciding not to stop at the post office before I left, because I wanted to get to the boat as quickly as possible. I asked for directions repeatedly, finally finding the correct port area. At the entrance to the port, I was told that the ferry to Patras left at 7pm and it was 6:25pm, and that the office was about a km and a half (1 mile) away and the boat departure was done another 1 km from the entrance on another dock. I therefore started to run with my pack on, which is quite difficult. I told myself that the no matter how tired I got, I would not stop running until I arrived since I could relax on the boat for 36 hours straight. Not knowing how I would get to the dock in time after arriving at the office, I still pushed on. I was also wearing my jacket, and decided I would not stop to remove it, so I ran into the office at 6:40pm extremely hot and sweating profusely. In between my gasps for air, I uttered Patras. And bought the ticket. I was then told that they would send a car to drive me to the dock, I smiled, and realized I was extremely luck to get on this boat. This was too close. In the car, I realized I had bought deck class, not even airplane seats, not knowing what I had gotten into, I started to get nervous because this ship had a camping class, tent required, and I had hoped I did not buy this ticket. In the back of my mind, I thought I could always upgrade on the boat. Deck class was a room with carpeted floors, and no chairs, which I thought was better than a seat since I could stretch out. After walking about the ship, I exchanged the rest of my Italian Lires for Greek Drachmas and then had a bite to eat in the self-serve dining room, saving my salami for the next two days. I then returned to the relaxing, reading, and sleeping room in deck class, it's all the same if you have not figured it out.

Tue, November 14 - Difficulty sleeping in deck class since the lights are not dimmed at all, but I finally get up at 7am and start my day off with a little reading. The entire day revolves around take walks about the ship, reading, and eating my salami with bread that I have been given for free in the self service dining hall. I also write a few postcards, before heading back to deck class with my sleeping sheet (sheet sewed together like a sleeping bag, a necessity if you plan on sleeping in hostels, many do not allow sleeping bags on their beds). Before going to sleep, I watched the boat port in Corfu at about 10pm for a drop-off before continuing on.

Wed, November 15 - Arrived in Patras at 7am. Patras is the largest port for ferries coming to Greece from Italy, Croatia, and Albania. At the port, is the train station, so I went by and purchased the intercity express train (2hrs) to Athens. I was meeting Elizabeth in the afternoon at a hotel in the center of Athens. I decided to take the 12:30pm train and so I walked about Patras, looking for a bakery for breakfast. Unable to find one, but finally sat down to relax in a square and a lady was selling sesame seed pretzels, so I opted for one. After a little i-net to verify that Elizabeth e-mailed me the info and find out more info about my Australian friends (Dx2) who were coming to Athens on the 16th. Upon arriving in Athens, I walked by the hostel, and checked the price and availability. Then towards the meeting hotel. I walked through a meat and fruit market, buying grapes along the way. Arrived at the hotel, and Elizabeth was napping, which I would later find out this is a hobby of hers. We went off to find a place for dinner, we decided on a local place. I had two gyros (1.60 USD), and then we went off to walk about the area called Plaka. My stomach was sensitive, so I decided no dessert. I also recommended we look around for a cheaper hotel, since this one was a little pricey. We found one around the corner for 50% less, so we made a reservation for the next day. Back to the hotel to sleep.

Thu, November 16 - Woke up feeling tired, I felt like I could not open my eyes. I therefore asked Elizabeth if my eyes were OK, and she said one looked slanted. Turned out, that my right eye puffed up. I did not know why then, days later, after my left eye swelled a little as well after eating more meat, and I met a fellow traveler, she said she experienced the same thing in the States and thought it was an allergic reaction. I thought originally the pillow had something in it, like a bug or something. I honestly had no idea. Well, we changed hotels, and then started our day. Breakfast was a pastry for me and pastry plus coffee for Elizabeth. We finally made it to the Acropolis area and split up while we walked about the area. I met a Californian that had visited an island that we wanted to go to. He also mentioned to rent a car or moped. Well, we finally departed after checking out the museum to meet up for lunch with the Australians (Dx2). We arrived late, I won't blame Elizabeth for walking so slowly and making us late. :-) Well, we decided to sit down and three hours later, in which Elizabeth said, "it was forever". I got tips for Turkey and for Northern Greece. Then I gave some pointers for Croatia. I also gave them the CD I was carrying that I made for them in early July for them, a well traveled CD. Elizabeth and I hopped on the Metpo (pron. Metro) to the National Archaeological Museum. We arrived and it was closed, so we decided to visit it towards the end of Elizabeth's trip. We walked back to the hotel so Elizabeth could drop something off, and then to Piraeus (the port for Athens accessible via the Metpo) to check the boat schedule for Naxos. We bought an 8am ticket and then went back to Athens. Elizabeth took a nap, while I went walking and catch up on the election craziness in the States and do some more e-journal. Upon returning at 9:30pm, Elizabeth and I went out to a "fancy" place for me, normal when I am at home. We actually got 2 desserts for the price of one because we both decided on the apple pie with ice-cream, so we received at first an ice-cream sundae, he forgot the apple pie portion of the order, so we got a slice of that too and we ate left us the sundaes. After this filling dinner, a short walk before heading back to the hotel to catch some sleep.

Fri, November 17 - Up and off at 7am so we could grab an 8am ferry to Naxos. No breakfast or anything. We finally arrived at 2pm, but on the boat we both had something to eat. Upon arriving, we went to the information center and inquired about accommodation. We were taken to a pensione, then another one, before deciding that the first was better. We then decided to split up since I wanted to find out about moped rentals and wander about, while Elizabeth wanted to buy food since she would be keeping the Sabbath. I finally returned after buying some food too, and cooking the homemade pasta I had bought in Bari, Italy. After the pasta dinner, we chatted and then I did some reading before finally going to sleep.

Sat, November 18 - The previous day we had joked about the church bells across from our window ringing in the morning, so it should have been no surprise when they were rung at 7:30am. Deafeningly loud since they were meant to be heard all over the town. Upon looking out the window, you could see a man pulling the rope to ring the two church bells. After our wake-up bell, we had breakfast and then I departed Elizabeth to continue my search for moped rental places. I went to one place that listed the owners home and cell number on the store window, I called both numbers and no answer. No moped places are open, they all closed down because the "tourist" season has ended. Very sad. Naxos is the largest island in the Cyclades, but it is still heavily dependent on tourist dollars. The old town area has narrow little streets perfect for wandering about and a castle on top of the hill overlooking the port. The one ruin (it has been restored too well, it does not look like a 2500 BC ruin) that is the most popular for postcards is the Portal, the only standing portion of the Temple of Apollo. So, without my moped I start to walk out of town to look at the beaches, and I bumped into Elizabeth so we walked about on the beach. We then relaxed on a stone wall facing the a little beach and I read while she napped on the wall. Three dogs joined us and played in the water. Elizabeth does not like dogs since she is afraid of them, a childhood scar. Then back to the room, for a pasta lunch and then we went off to walk about some more. I finally found a moped place, but it was only for 2.5hrs, and would cost the same as a day rental, no thanks. During our walk of the old town, we saw construction workers working on a house and using a donkey to transport material along the narrow streets. Elizabeth then returned for a nap while I continued my wandering. I finally returned to the pensione and Elizabeth and I met 2 girls staying below us. They mentioned a party tonight, so Elizabeth very excited immediately said yes. Me, I could have skipped going and spending anymore time with the girls, those 5 minutes of interaction was more than enough. Well, dinner was at a local place, and the highlight of the meal was Elizabeth getting a gyro w/o the gyro. Confused, she ordered a gyro w/o the meat. I had a Greek salad, something which I have had at every meal since feeling bad after the first night. We returned and I changed into my tux (for the hundredth time, my button down shirt) for going out to the crazy wild party, note sarcasm. The 2 girls I "liked so much" met up with the 35 and 50 yr old guys before going out, so we were a group of 6. The party was at a place called Ocean, and it was mostly teenagers and twenty yr olds. No one was dancing to the mostly American techno music, with a few Greek tunes. Elizabeth and the girls danced, maybe one other couple (2 girl) were dancing. The Greek guys would watch at an extremely close distance, and once a few danced, they would dance while smoking cigarettes. Once I started to dance, I would watch the cigarettes as they swung back and forth. I finally grew frustrated of bumping into other guys who were watching, so I walked to a corner. One thing worth noting was, Elizabeth did not do well in the guy's department, but I did not have much trouble attracting guys' attention. We finally split from the girls and the two older "escorts" and return to the pensione to call it a night at 2am.

Sun, November 19 - Up at 8am and to a cafe for breakfast, Elizabeth's wishes. Then to the waterfront to buy a few postcards of Naxos before hopping on a ferry to Santorini. If you visit Greece, Blue Star Lines has excellent brand new boats. I had a burger on board at a Greek fast food chain in order to get a kids toy. We arrived and we hopped into a car of the owner of a pensione to check out his place. Took the place, and then bought our next ferry ticket tomorrow back to Piraeus (Athens port area) and a boat tour to the volcano's "peak". The volcano blow up when it erupted thousands of years ago, and so the peak is actually lower than the rest of the mountain, that much exploded underneath it. It is extremely difficult to explain how larger the crater is since a fair amount is underwater and because it is an active volcano, the "peak" is slowly getting larger. This is an awesome sight to see, the islands and huge cliffs they sit on, it is difficult to imagine because it is so big. After buying the tickets for tomorrow, we went to grab a bus to a town on the northern part of the island called Oia known for it's sunsets viewed from on top of a castle. Well, the next bus was after sunset, so Elizabeth really wanted to go, so she opted to pay for a taxi. We watched the sunset and chatted with three of Americans. We then squeezed 5 in a taxi and headed back to the town of Santorini, same as the island name. Then we went on another search for mopeds, and since Elizabeth has not used a bike in many years, she did not feel comfortable renting a moped, the rental guy also discouraged her as well. I was going to have trouble renting since I did not have my drivers license, how ridiculous. So, again, no moped action. We meet up with the Americans, Elizabeth liked them more than I did, for dinner (veggie meal for me, still avoiding meat with the exception on the boat since my right eye puffed up after my first night of meat in Athens.) and after a few hours of that we headed back to the pensione and I did some reading and then sleeping.

Mon, November 20 - Woke up and looked in the mirror to see that my right eye puffed up slightly. I can only guess it was the burger on the boat. My guess is that some spice I am allergic to or the meat was bad, unlikely since it was a fast food joint. I decide to hold off on meat until the puffiness goes down. We walk about and grab breakfast at a bakery, then start our walk down (600 steps according to the guidebook) to the old port, where the boat tour to the "peak" goes to. At the bottom we eat our breakfast and then hop on the boat for the three hour tour. We are let off on the center island with the "peak" which is barely steaming. Elizabeth and I split up since I tend to walk faster, and the terrain is somewhat uneven. The center island is interesting, but nothing too special about the terrain. Then after 45 minutes we head back to the boat and continue on to visit "hot" springs. These "hot" springs are located in the water off the shore of another little island. Of the 25 or so people, about 10 go in to swim out to the springs. I originally wanted to dip my feet in, but this is not possible since we are a good 50m (150 feet) from the springs. The water is chilly, and the swimmers all agreed that the hot springs were not hot, were slightly warm. Not the 30C (80F) one would expect. Not one swimmer stayed out to "enjoy" the springs since the water was too chilly, so you get an idea of how hot those "hot" springs were. The "hot" springs were located on a little island with one occupant who had a herd of mountain goats. Not much more was on this island. Upon returning back, Elizabeth and I split up, she takes the cable car up, I did not think it was worth $2.50, so I walked up the steps, 20 minutes later I was at the top, and Elizabeth was chatting on the phone. We started our walk around the mostly closed tourist town, but finally found a place to have a pastry. Elizabeth was not feeling well, so she went back to take a nap. After my pastry and cappuccino, I returned to check up on Elizabeth and then headed back out to walk around and do some i-net. I finally return and we grab the bus to the new port, and find out that the cabin Elizabeth wanted, did not include the bathroom we had requested, only a sink and our bunk beds. Elizabeth immediately went to sleep, while I walked about the ship before having salad for dinner and writing a few postcards and reading. Watched the boat port in two other places before starting its uninterrupted trip to Piraeus (Athens).

Tue, November 21 - Our 7pm overnighter arrived at 5am. We hopped on the Metpo to Athens and then walked to grab the bus to Bus Terminal B to Delphi. Made the 7:30am bus by 7 minutes and arrived at 2.5hrs later and left our luggage at the bus station (a little store on the main street) to walk about the ruins. Before the ruins, we visited the nearby museum, and then continued on to the ruins. We walked around somewhat separately. During Elizabeth walk about the site, she had some comments made about her by a small group (5 or so) who had hired a guide for the site, you can say Elizabeth was not being so discreet about listening in on their tour. They wanted her to make a contribution. I tried to explain to her about being discreet. I then continued on and had a snack while sitting on a ruin, I'm sure I ruined someone's photo since I was right below the theatre, but it was one of the few places with shade. Well, after visiting the ruins, which are on the side of a mountain, a beautiful location, we headed back to the town. Grabbed a bite to eat, and then back to the bus "station", a little store. Elizabeth had another snack before we boarded a bus to the North. 4 buses later we arrived in Kalambaka and we did a little search for a cheap hotel. Elizabeth was tired so she went to sleep while I walked about the town and went looking for info on the bus and train out of the town once we visit the monasteries of Meteora. I ask the hotel manager, and his friend drives me to show me a travel agent who I think sold bus tickets. He then gave me 2 apples, I guess all my smiling paid off. Off to sleep.

Wed, November 22 - Up and off we went starting at 8:30am. Elizabeth badly wanted a sit down breakfast and her wish came true in a small hotel on the outskirts of Meteora. We then walked to the 6 remaining monasteries which are perched on top of these huge rocks. It is amazing how they are balanced on top. Elizabeth and I estimated that we walked a total of 8 miles (13 km). One of the monastery was used in the James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only. When walking to the top of the rock, the path was cut right through the rock. In the last monastery, which was a nunnery, we had a conversation with an Australian who was over in Greece for her studies abroad when she joined the nunnery. One of the promises to the nunnery, is to never leave the nunnery alive, sounds better then until you die. The nunnery was the last monastery we visited and we really did not want to walk back because of our time constraints, so I asked a friendly German couple from Berlin for a ride back to the town. We arrived in town and the next bus was at 6pm which was in 30 minutes from Triakala, the hub town 40 minutes away via the bus. So, we grabbed a speedy Mercedes taxi who drove like a maniac so we could catch the bus, 20 minutes later we arrived and were on the bus back to Athens (5.5 hrs). Upon arriving we grabbed the Metpo and found a cheap hotel to catch some sleep.

Thu, November 23 - Over a pathetic breakfast we planned how I would check the train schedule and then meet Elizabeth at a spot and make a decision to take the train or bus. Train was too slow (8 hours), so we hopped on a bus to Bus Terminal A, and made the bus to Olympia (5.5hrs) by 7 minutes. The bus took the longer coastal road via Patras, instead of cutting straight across (later we would realize why this was done, can someone say mountains and extremely curvy roads). Upon arriving at Olympia (3pm) we raced off to the site and the Archaeological Museum near the site. We left our bags at the ticket desk and after visiting the museum we headed over to the site. We saw where the original Olympics were held. Back to get our bags before the closing at 5pm, and then to the town and check what times the bus leave towards tonight's destination of Nafplio. At the closed tourist office, thank g-d the bus schedule was posted, we had 25 minutes to grab the only bus heading in the correct direction to Tripolis. A taxi driver tried to convince us that the only bus from Tripolis had already left and no more went to Naflpio, so we should stay in Olympia or we "could" take his taxi to Naflpio, Elizabeth listened and started to tell me maybe we should stay in Olympia. I thanked him and asked Elizabeth nicely that I wanted to talk to her at the supermarket and explained not to trust "too much" people who approach you with info and that we should take the bus to Tripolis and then decide what our options are. So, to the supermarket before we hopped on the bus to Tripolis (3.5hrs) later. Upon arriving, the last bus had left as the taxi man had said, 4:30pm, but we had gotten further along in our journey, so I was happy with our decision. We went to the first hotel to get a price quote, when we were informed that it was full. Weird I thought, something must be going on in town. So, to the next... full, again. Next had available rooms, but were quite expensive (almost $40), and the other hotels in the area were in the $25 range. So, off to the next one. Elizabeth was not happy with walking about searching for a hotel room, so I left her in a square to wait while I would look about for other possibilities. Three hotels later, I found one for $25. Got Elizabeth and then to the hotel. We both went out to make phone calls and then I walked about the town and did i-net before returning home for some sleep-age. Not about our verbal-age. Elizabeth and I have been talking in word-age during this trip-age. I wonder-age what others think-age. Goodnight-age.

Fri, November 24 - Up at 5:45am to wake Elizabeth up (Elizabeth does not have an alarm clock or even a watch for this trip. Let me stress how often I would think and occasional say, let's meet up at... and realize it was for no purpose. Grrrr. Well, back to the entry for the day. I finally got up at 6:30am), and then we departed the room at 6:45am to catch a 7:15am bus to Nafplio. It turned out the bus was at 7am, but they did not change the info on the schedule inside the bus station. I was pissed... but then decided to use the time to catch up on the many postcards I needed to send. While writing p-cards, Elizabeth mentioned the train, so I decided to walk to the train station and find out about if we could get to Nafplio faster via train. The answer was one connection and 10 minutes later, even though the next bus was at 10am. We take the bus to Nafplio and past it. As we are on the bus, I see a sign indicating we are leaving Nafplio (a line through the town name means that we are leaving that town, I wish this existed in the USA), so I ask the driver if we missed Nafplio, and his response is to slow down on the side of the road and let us out. We walk back into town and do the hotel comparison thing. We find a place for $15, and I negotiate to stay until 6pm (for Elizabeth on Shabbos) the day we check out, or so I thought. We go out for lunch and then head up the hill overlooking the town that has a large castle with many fortifications. We walk about and then split up while on top. Finally, we meet up for a few photos of the castle and the town below. Impressive castle and much has been restored, so there are many rooms and walls to explore. Finally, we split up since Elizabeth goes to the supermarket, and I was planning on doing some i-net. So, she took the road back to the town while I took the steps overlooking the town back down. I also went to a supermarket to buy some bananas before doing some i-net, and then looked into the bus to Mycenae for tomorrow and a gyro for dinner before walking about town in search of the new telephones that allow toll-free dialing. Oh... I definitely learn a lot about public pay-phones when traveling since in almost every country I attempt to make phone calls to Ali. Fall asleep before attempting to call Ali again.

Sat, November 25 - Today is Shabbos, so Elizabeth stays in Nafplio while I go off to Mycenae. I grab the 10am direct (extremely slow making tons of stops, but no switching) bus. The last stop is the archaeological site which covers the base, and the entire hill including the hill top and the base on the other side. There are ruins about waist high and burial circles as well. Upon getting to the top, I started to wander about the base of the other side of the hill, when it started to rain really hard. I looked to take shelter, and did so in a citadel. Appropriate since in the guide of the site, it said the citadel was used for shelter similar to what I was using it for. It rained cats and dogs for about 15 minutes before letting up. I did not mind the slight drizzling, so I left the citadel and decided to walk around the hill-top, and so I came to a path with a rock wall on either side. I walked down the path and then slowed when I came to a very long (20 ft or 6m) puddle. I was not too worried since my boots are waterproof, but once in the middle, I stepped on a stone and slipped into the center and my right boot was submerged. So, the waterproofness of my boots worked against me, keeping the water in. I finally reached the other side and the heavy rains started again and it took me about 10 minutes to reach shelter in another ruin, an underground room with an arched ceiling, referred to as the Treasury. I waited there until the raining slowed down before finally returning to the parking lot to wait for the bus. Hopped on the 1pm bus back to Nafplio and did some wandering before returning to the hotel to have a negotiation with the manager who I thought had agreed to the departure at 6pm. I tried to explain what we had agreed to, but his English was too limited and I had said 6pm, when I should have said 18:00, I'm sure that confused him greatly. Well, I agreed to pay $5 (2000 dr) more, instead of the $7.5 (3000 dr) he asked for. The room cost 6000 dr a night, so I thought 2000 dr was fair and would be passing this cost onto Elizabeth. We finally depart and go for dinner, Elizabeth has dinner, I skip since I ate the rest of the sandwich I had bought for lunch. We then grab the final bus to Athens, 8pm arriving at 10:30pm. We take a local bus to the center and head to a hotel near the Archaeological Museum. It was closed, so we go on a search of various hotels with a cap of 15000 dr. After hitting 3 hotels, Elizabeth decides to wait at a corner and I continue the search, finding gems such a one for 8000 dr, but it would have been rejected since it lacked a bathroom door and no shower curtain, and the bathroom was in the room. We finally found a good hotel for 15000 dr (after negotiation) that included a buffet breakfast, a real bonus for Elizabeth since I tend to just do a pastry or roll for breakfast not to her liking. I then make an errand to buy water and stay up and watch TV until 2am before going to sleep.

Sun, November 26 - Elizabeth's last day traveling with me. :-( We hit the breakfast buffet, I grab an extra piece of fruit and a roll for lunch, and then we go off to the Archaeological Museum. When we originally went to the museum, the day after we arrived, it had closed early, so we came back early for the museum, which turned out to be worth it. Excellent exhibits, and everything was split in English. After the museum, we headed back to the hotel to grab our bags and then off to drop Elizabeth off at the bus stop for the airport. It turned out not to be running, so she was dropped off at the Metro station in order to connect to the bus. After dropping here off, I walked by the information center to find out the schedule for the train and bus. The train was faster and cheaper, so I headed to the train station. The next train was full, you need a reservation to get on, so I had to wait another hour for the slightly slower train (equal to the bus in time 8hrs, but cheaper). On my 8hr trip to the north of Greece, Thessaloniki I read and wrote p-cards. Upon arriving at 10pm, I checked out the bus and train to Istanbul, Turkey and bought the bus ticket for the following night. Then walked about 40 minutes to the hostel. Dropped my stuff off, no one was there, so I decided to walk about until 12am, the curfew (turned out, none exists). Upon returning, no one was there, so off to sleep.

Mon, November 27 - Upon waking up, someone was there to collect payment, so I paid and left my stuff there to pick up before the 2:30am (yup, that's the right time, Tues early morning) bus. Monday was a rainy day, and since all the museums I wanted to visit were closed, I decided to make it a recharging day since I know my limited amount of time in Turkey is going to be extremely exhausting since almost every other day I will be taking an overnight bus from place to place. I walked a bit around the city, and through a few markets, including a meat market. Highlights of that market included pigs knuckles, feet, and skin. The skin was a new sight for me. I then did some i-netting and then caught a movie, Snatch. Afterwards, a little more i-net and then to the hostel where I chatted with an American who only tries to get around via hitch-hiking. Then at 1:15am off to the bus station.

Tue, November 28 - Arrived at the bus station and hopped on the 2:30am bus arriving about 13 hours later. We arrived at the Turkish border, and the visa is bought (45 USD) at the border. I carry US Dollars in all the dominations (1,5,10,20,50... thanks to my sister for recommending this). I did not have a problem, but another American did. She only had traveler's checks and Turkish money. But only American Dollars are accepted, no Greek or even Turkish money is accepted. Not accepting Turkish money in Turkey! And the exchange wanted to charge 8 USD for accepting the traveler's checks, so I exchanged with her 45USD, for Turkish money. Upon arriving in Istanbul's otogar, Istanbul's mammoth bus station, the 8 or so backpackers all headed to the Metro and then hopped on the tram to the Blue Mosque area. Half went to one hostel, while me and the rest went to the Orient Hostel. Then a little walk-about of the surrounding area, Sultanahamet. Then to a restaurant for a kebab dinner with 5 others that were on the bus from Greece. A little more walking before heading back and falling asleep before getting into bed. Woken up at 2am by a few noisy drunk guys. 2 guys switch rooms, while I stay since my stuff could not easily be packed up quickly. I'll sleep through it, and switch in the morning, that was my plan.

Wed, November 29 - Slept very little since the drunk guys seem to snore as loudly as possible. In the morning, before heading out for the day, I went downstairs to complain, and reception assured me that the three would be kicked out. So, I could stay in the same room. I then headed satisfied up to the roof top cafe for breakfast, before heading to the Topkapi Palace. I spent 2hrs inside including a separate admission fee to see the Sultan's Harem, living quarter and "entertainment" area. All the furniture was stolen when the last Sultan was overthrown, so the visit would have been a lot more memorable if anything was left inside the walls. After the Palace, I headed over to the Blue Mosque, it was closed for noon prayer. The Muslims pray 5 times a day, so one can hear the sounds of the call for prayer every few hours. I decided to wander around a few shops, in one of them near the Blue Mosque, a shop-keeper invited me in to play backgammon with him, so we played two games, the result was a tie, 1-1. I only wanted to play one game, but after the second, I said thank you and I must go. Back to the Blue Mosque I bumped into the med. student who I lent the 45USD for the visa to, so we both went off to the mosque. In order to enter, one must remove their shoes. The inside was quite cavernous and all carpeted. Also, unlike churches and temples, the inside praying area is all on the same level, no pulpit or altar. It seems everyone prays separately. After the Blue Mosque, I headed to the Aya Sofia, a church that was converted to a mosque which is located directly across from the Blue Mosque. The med. student gave me an extra ticket she had received when she visited it. The occupying Muslims, removed and covered up most of the church paintings. After Aya Sofia, I dropped into the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum (provided a good overview of the religious objects used) nearby the Blue Mosque before heading to the port to verify the location of a boat ride I was recommended to take up the Bosphorus. I then went to search for the covered market. Instead, I walked about narrow dirty streets that seemed to be wholesale shops (selling 10 identical plastic toys, or multiple sets of knifes). Before randomly finding the Grand Bazaar, which everyone talks about which I do not know why, I was on a price comparison search for a backgammon set. I do not know why, since it is a market that is designed solely for tourists, so all the prices are, yup... surprise, surprise... inflated! I finally figured out where I was, and made it back to the hostel to meet the med. student, Tammy from Boston, for dinner at a Ramadan Fair outside the Blue Mosque. It was slightly raining, so the fair was not into full swing, or even half. Highlight of the meal was the water pipe, Turkish Tobacco in a water pipe. We then headed back to the hostel to see the free belly dancing show. That 20 minutes of dancing, was not traditional belly dancing, so it was a let down, the general dancing made up for it. Off to sleep afterwards.

Thu, November 30 - Sky was somewhat clear, so I make the decision to take the boat up the Bosphorus. Tammy joins me and after a pretzel for breakfast, we board the boat. The boat ride has a few interesting buildings, nothing to write home about. The highlight of the 3hr ride, is at the final stop on the Asia side, climbing the hill to lookout from the castle overlooking both sides of the river. At the top of the hill, there were goats grazing and a pack of 6 dogs, one which followed us around for about 20 minutes on the top. Lunch before the climb was Turkish pizza, which looks like a calzone cut in half and the pizza made on one half. The thickness is the size of NYC pizza. Finally back to the boat at 3pm, we arrived at 12:30pm, and 3hrs later we were on shore and walking about the same narrow dirty street as I had walked the day before. Then to the Grand Bazaar again before heading out to dinner at a self-service place nearby the hostel. Then to the fair, since it was a clear day, the fair was packed. We watched various people (only males) ride the mechanical bull and listened to typical Turkish music. Tammy ate numerous snacks and this milk based drink at the fair, while I tasted a few of the things she bought, I stuck with a candy apple. I did not want to have any bathroom problems since I was catching an overnighter (bus) at 12am arriving at 6am in Ankara.

Fri, December 1 - Arrived at 6am in the Ankara's otogar, and immediately checked about my next destination of Goreme (Kapadokya region) and to Izmir. I then hopped on (note, I decided to carry my pack for the day instead of leaving it at the otogar) the Metro to the center to visit the two sites recommended by my Australian friends Elizabeth and I met in Athens (originally met in South America). Left the Metro, and walked up the hill to the Anatolian Civilization Museum. Provided a glimpse of the overall history of Turkey's past civilization. Then back down the hill via a street clothing market, and finally arrived after 45 minutes or so of walking. Upon arriving at the Anitkabir (Mausoleum of Ataturk), it was closed for an official ceremony, I was told it would open an hour later at 1pm. Therefore, I went off for lunch in the area. Returning, I had to leave all my bags at the security checkpoint, I still do not understand why the Mausoleum of Ataturk, their founder of modern day Turkey needs to be protected so well. Well, at the top, a 15 minute walk from the bottom, I ran out of film and since I did not have a little day pack, they would not allow it, I walked down to get my other roll. Anitkabir gives a brief glimpse into who Ataturk was and the museum also has many personal items of his (i.e. socks, shoes, under-shirt, jock strap... well not the last one, but I would not be too surprise if I had seen it). Afterwards a quick phone call to Ali before heading back to the otogar for a bus to Goreme (4 hrs). I opted for an hour later bus, since it was a million lire less, about $1.45 less. With my extra hour, I had dinner at the otogar and then hopped on a 5:30pm bus. Arrived in Goreme, and spent some time search for the pensione that was recommended, Paradise Pensione. Just so one knows who recommended this place and many other places, before Elizabeth and I left the meal that she said "lasted forever...", the Australians wrote out a list of places to visit in Greece and things to do in addition to places to stay. Could I ask for anything more, I wish I could get this for every country I plan to visit. Found the pensione and made a reservation for the tour of the Kapadokya region. Then walked about a little before returning back to the common room and chatting with a few die hard travelers, one who was planning on going into most of the Middle Eastern countries with a guitar, I wished him and his guitar the best. In Iran, it is going to be a challenge for him to get this guitar in since Western Music, and any music during Ramadan is forbidden. Good luck!, those were my final words to him. Then to my cave room to go to sleep. The area is know for their fairy chimneys, lava formed by boulders sitting on top of an area. It looks like a cone with a cylindrical base and the inside is hollowed out to make rooms for living. The fairy chimneys are no longer used for accommodation by locals, only travelers staying in places that have added some newer conveniences (i.e. electricity for light, glass windows, and heaters.).

Sat, December 2 - Up at 8:30am in my cave room and packed and set aside my stuff so when the tour is done, I can immediately go to the bus pickup area. Breakfast was apple tea, a carrot, and a few chocolate chip cookies. Well, the tour finally started at 9:30am, and we went to see the Pigeon Valley (an area with many fairy chimneys), Underground City (7 levels, ground is made mostly of hardened lava, and therefore was easy to burrow to create shelters for almost 5000 people), Valley Walk (a deep valley containing some child-like frescos in churches built-in to the mountain), lunch in the valley, a stop along the Silk Route (between Istanbul and Cairo) in an ancient resting place for camels on the trip, and Urgup (used in the beginning to film Star Wars), it truly looks like another world. I took photos, don't worry. Back to drop of the 2 day tour people, the 1 dayers went to one more place to see the sunset on more fairy chimneys. We finally returned at 5pm and I went to the hostel to get my pack and then off to the bus pickup area since I thought the bus was at 6pm. The only choice to Pamukkale was at 8pm, so I bought it and returned to the hostel for the BBQ. The BBQ was good, and then we watched sky jumping in extremely cold and windy Finland. The time finally came and I went to the bus pickup area, the bus arrived early at 7:45pm and so I was off. Comment about the tour, it was also recommended, I normally do not do tours, but since the Kapadokya region is a in a 200 km area, it is difficult to see much of it without a car or transportation, so the tour maximized my viewing capacity. Well, the bus was suppose to take 10 hours, but we arrived in Pamukkale (or so I thought) at 4:45am. A bit early..., but before leaving the bus... I asked, is this Pamukkale, the attendant getting my luggage said... yes, yes. (Note, LIAR!!!)

Sun, December 3 - Well, upon arriving and it was pitch black out, I went and bought a little breakfast. This purchase was also going to be used a question opportunity. I asked where a particular hotel was in Pamukkale, his answer was about 20 km away. I was surprised and then slowly became angrier because I had bought a bus ticket from Goreme to Pamukkale, not to Denizli (I would later find out). So, off to the bus station to figure out how to get to my next destination. The company I bought my ticket from was conveniently closed, but I inquired with others, and the earliest bus was at 7am, 2 hours from now, 5am. I was invited by multiple people for tea in their bus booths, but I declined since I was not in the mood to answer the same damn questions I am ask by anyone who engages me in conversation (i.e. where are you from, what state, NYC?, what do you study, how long have you been in Turkey, what do you like the most, etc.). While sitting in the bus station, a young man approached me and asked where I came from... I answer and he says he has a mini-van and he is going to Pamukkale. So, I follow... doubtful and on guard, and I ask how much, free. Hmmm... Well, it turns out that he picks up the various travelers to Pamukkale from Denizli and drives them to Pamukkale free of charge to his hostel. No obligation though. We pick-up a couple of other travelers and finally head to Pamukkale at 7:15am. The driver's family owns this hostel and he says we can leave our stuff for free while we walk around for the day, I had made it clear I was not planning on staying in Pamukkale, but Selcuk. Pamukkale is known for their "white cliffs", a hillside that is white as snow because of warm water containing a high level of calcium that has flowed over the hill side for thousands of years turning it white and creating this huge rock formation. I walked into some of the pools with bare feet and soaked them before heading behind the hill top to visit some Roman ruins. I sat in a theatre for about an hour reading and watching the locals attempt to sell p-cards and some fake ancient coins. Back down the "white cliffs" and got a lift back with the mini-van man to Denizli to grab a bus to my next destination, Selcuk, known for the ruins of Efes. 3 hrs later I arrived and headed to the recommended hostel of Jimmy's Place. Dropped my bag off and walked about looking at the fruit market, the bus schedule for the next destination, i-net, and at a few rugs. This was the 1st time I entered a rug/carpet store in Turkey. These stores litter all the towns and cities. So, this shop was called Nomadic Art Shop and the owner/salesman was trying to relate to me by saying his was a backpacker in the 70's and then sell me on a carpet. "A lifetime investment, pieces of original art" were some his sales phrases. The smaller carpets I liked were very nice, but in the 200-300 USD range for a 2.5 x 4 foot (1 x 1/3m) carpet. So, finally after this place, I decided to look for some i-net. I found a carpet store that was advertising i-net, turns out to be a marketing ploy to have people enter the store. There is 1 computer with a modem. Well, I entered and saw two foreigners inside and chatted with them, and then the common offer of tea (used to have you spend more time in the store), Turkish Apple Tea, please. Then, this place, Black Sheep Shop, used various techniques to encourage me to share what I liked in carpets. Then he worked it so I would look at larger carpets, and then the sell ploy. "If you wanted this, how much would be spend for it." I used my technique of talking in third person and often said, my offer is not fair to you, so I won't mention it. And if I did, I would give ranges in which I would pay and knew he would not accept. In this shop, the deal with the carpets were they were used old, a.k.a. used condition. And yet he still wanted in the 200-300 USD range. These carpets were larger, maybe 4x6 ft (1.4x2 m). His method for wrapping up the deal was to step outside since there was a couple in the store and talk about how much this sale would mean to him and that he was "badly in need of money for rent" or else he would need to take a loan for the rent. Sob story... well, his finally deal, 240 USD. I'll happily leave with no carpets from Turkey. Pressure sales is the wrong way to deal with me. Well, I finally return to Jimmy's Place, a hotel converted into a hostel, offering beds instead of rooms. Then out for dinner and back to sleep. No one was in my double, so I had a private room with private bath at hostel prices.

Mon, December 4 - Up and off to walk to Efes, the ancient city of ruins. Along the way, I grabbed a pretzel for breakfast and then completed the 3km (less than 2 miles) to the site. I then waited outside the entrance, since it was foggy and not worth the $6 entrance if I could not see anything. I waited about an hour, writing p-cards before entering at 10am. The ruins of the city were extensive, but there were too many lights on many of the ruins, ruining the affect of the ancient site. Also, the one thing that is important to be at ancient ruins is the amphitheater and the one at Efes is somewhat disappointing since much of it has been reconstructed. Another interesting thing, was that sheep were grazing in the site. Well, afterwards, I walked back to town and bought a package of the Turkish Apple Tea, which is actually a mix, bread for lunch, and then went looking for a barber. I found one to give me a shave, another traveler went for one and it was an experience. I found one, and he shaved me with a straight blade and then lit a cotton swap dipped in alcohol and put it out before singing the hair on my ears away. I would call that an experience... especially since the other traveler failed to mention this. All, I saw them do was lit the cotton swab and I thought, interesting method to disinfect the razor, but that was obviously wrong. After my close shave and burn, I returned to the hostel to get my bag and go to the bus station to catch an hourly bus to my next destination, Gelibolu. Getting to Gelibolu involved a bus transfer, and then a mini-van transfer to the port, before grabbing a ferry to the other side of the river from Canukkale to Gelibolu. On the ferry ride, a little boy traveling with his mom, gave me an orange, so I gave him one of my gift keychains from NYC. The keychain gifts were brought because of a friend (Jenna) from school suggested it. Once on the other side, I walked about and checked about the bus to Istanbul the following day after the Gelibolu Tour that was recommended from a hostel called TJ's. At the hostel converted from a hotel I had my only room. No dinner, only the bread that I had bought before my 12:30pm bus. I finally arrived in Gelibolu at 8:45pm. Then I watched the movie Gelibolu starring young Mel Gibson about the WWI tragedy at Gelibolu in which thousands of ANZACS (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), tens of thousands of British, and French were killed in battle against the Turks. The battle finally ended 9 months later with the Allies (ANZACS and the rest) withdrawing from the peninsula only gaining at the most 1.6km (1 mile) of land during the entire battle with Turkey. I would call that a major failure for the Allies. After the movie, I did some i-net before catching some sleep.

Tue, December 5 - Woke up and had breakfast in the hostel before watching the next part of the tour, the documentary explaining the battle for Gelibolu. Then, off to the tour which went to the Gelibolu Museum, and then various monuments and cemeteries. The entire tour was geared towards the ANZACS since everyone on the bus was either Australian or a New Zealander. After the tour, me and two others teamed up to negotiate a better bus price to Istanbul. Turned out that the price I was quoted the night before was the best. Left at 5:30pm and 5hrs later we were in Istanbul. We caught (11pm) the free mini-bus half way and then the tram to the area near the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet area). I was recommended to stay in another area, but since I was finally in Istanbul around midnight, I opted to stay in an area I knew. I tried another hostel, the Sinbad Hostel. Not bad, the common is large, and they have three computers. :-) My one track mind. Well, off to sleep after a night cap with the i-net.

Wed, December 6 - Up and off to check about getting to Bulgaria. I looked into the bus, one daily at 6pm arriving at 1am to Plovdiv, and the train leaving daily at midnight arriving at 11am, supposedly and costing less even with a sleeper cabin. So, I then did some inquiring about the need for a photograph for the on the spot visa issued. No visa required, I was told by three separate people. On my way to the train station, I was walking along the port from the Sultanahmet area. On my way, two undercover "police officers" approached me and started to question me. They asked to see my passport, and I refused. I told them I did not believe they were police, and I needed to see a gun or walkie-talkie. They re-assured me they were police and asked for my passport, again I said no. And said let's go to a police station and see about that. They immediately warned me to keep my eyes open for drug dealers, I said, yeah sure. And off they went. I then passed two police officers in a police car and tried to explain, but they did not want to know anything about it. Why did I know about this, at the hostel and in my guidebook they warn of this type of scam. Good to be aware of your surroundings, you've been warned. Well, after the train, I visited the Spice Market and bought two backgammon sets, one larger and one smaller in addition to some wooden utensils, a small electronic multi-game device, figs, and apricots. With all my goodies, I returned to the hostel to drop them off. Then, back out to walk about, and buy stamps, and ask in two shops for my friend Amy to see if two shop keepers remembered her and her co-traveler Jenna. Both say they did, I think only the carpet salesman and teacher did, while the other was a seller of touristy stuff. I then had dinner at a self service place, before returning for the evening to write p-cards, i-net, and figure out the next few days in Bulgaria before grabbing my overnight train at midnight.

Thu, December 7 - Arrived at the train station to find out that I had bought the highest class of cabins, only 1 car of them. My cabin (I was alone, but it had two beds) was quite fancy in terms of train cabins, my own thermostat, full size mirror, and a table to rest my bag. Just so you realize, this cost $6 for the 11hr train ride. Most people skip over Eastern Europe via plane since airplane tickets are fairly cheap from Istanbul, for less than $100 anywhere in Europe. Well, off to sleep and the border departure of Turkey occurred at 4am. Everyone had to leave the train and get their passport stamped and then onward (30 min. more )to the Bulgarian side. They boarded the train, passport and customs, a lot nicer. I got that warm and fuzzy feeling about Bulgaria already. One thing I noted was the upon entering Bulgaria, the heaters in the cabin that worked changed. I then the Bulgarian trains burn oil, there is a horrible stench if one opens the window, so the window was closed the entire ride. Upon arriving in Plovdiv, I started my questioning to buy my train ticket to Sofia for the following day. On that note, when I left St. Petersburg (Russia), I thought I had finally left Cyrillic, nope... Bulgaria and Romania both use it. Makes it extremely difficult to read anything, so I am constantly asking where things and writing out things in my little notepad. Well, bought the ticket and finally went off to find the hostel. It was about 2 miles (over 3km) away, and I walked through the town in order to reach it. I finally found the street and was standing directly in front of it, but still had to ask someone where it is, they must think that Western travelers are slow and cannot read. I then went walking about the area around the hostel, since it is in the old town area on a hill. The cobblestone streets are narrow and the various buildings are quite old in this area, that includes the hostel, which is a converted mansion. As for the hostel, I am staying on the second floor, and the doors in the entire house must be at least 12ft (3.6m) high with 20ft (6m) ceilings. Well, on the hill is an old church with frescos lining the insides and outsides, a nearby gallery containing icons (religious images typically painted on a small wooden panel), and ruins on top of the hill, and the restore Roman theatre used for concerts overlooking the city. It was quite amusing to see ticket booths next to an ancient ruin, imagine a rap concert at this Roman theatre. Well, afterwards I headed down to have dinner in a restaurant, an expensive place, total $3. I then headed to catch a movie, Klumps 2. I had checked out the times when walking about earlier. Not worthy of seeing unless it is free. Note, the theatre had row and seat numbers, similar to almost every other country I have visited and seen a movie. After the movie, did a little i-net, I have been reading about OpenBSD and IP security relating to it. Price of i-net is $0.50 an hour, how can one resist the urge. Finally back to sleep in the hostel/mansion.

Fri, December 8 - Up at 7am to walk to the train station to catch an 8am train to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. On the train ride, I met a student who worked in IT, and we chatted. He had a nice pair of mittens, that I asked him about, his parents bought them for him so he did not know where I could get myself a pair. The mittens were natural leather coloring on the outside, and sheep's wool made the insides soft. Upon arriving, I walked to the Sofia Hostel, which turned out to be full because the Peace Corps was having a meeting in Sofia. So, at the hostel I met a gentleman who had stayed in an apt. and so I went off to find it. I found it and dropped my stuff off to start my wandering of the city. Highlights of my walk were the 4th century Roman rotunda which was concerted in the middle ages to a church, Aleksander Nevski Church and it's marble carvings inside, and the market nearby selling old pocket watches from the early 1900's. The problem was they cost around $100. A wee bit too much for anyone in Bulgaria, obviously priced for Westerns or the local "rich". Ahhh, the local "rich"... it seems similar to what happened in St. Petersburg after the change to capitalism, an elite was formed by those with connections to the government. A few Mercedes and Jaguars and the word Mafia written all over them. I then want on a search of fruit and a vegetable, have not been eating too well lately... or in the future since reading menus are difficult. I plan to stick with self-service or places that younger people work so they can translate. Well, at the market I bought some bananas and carrots and then went to wait in the fruit and vegetable market across from the synagogue. I had walked by early, but nothing was visible so I was planning on dropping by at 6pm. Waiting in the market, I went to the 2nd floor and bought fresh squeezed OJ and sat at a table to drink in peace. While waiting to go to services, a man in his thirties asked to join me, or that is what I thought he said, it was in Bulgarian. He and three others sat down at the table of four. Just to preface, this was simply a sighting. Then the man who asked to sit down was passed, in a hidden manner, by the other man a gun in a holster. Ahhh, what do I do, get up immediately indicating I saw the gun, or simply continuing sipping at my OJ "mindlessly" and when I'm done depart. Well, I opted for the 2nd choice finally getting up and walking away. That was that, a mere sighting. I checked out the services at the synagogue that I originally mistakenly thought was a mosque until I saw Jewish stars on the top and on the stone walls. I arrived at services and there was only about 15 minutes left when I arrived, it turns out they started at 5pm, not 6pm. So, after a brief "service" for me, I immediately headed off to the movie theatre in order to catch the 6:15 showing of "What Lies Beneath". Then off to a little i-net before returning to sleep. It seems my addiction to the i-net is growing due to the low cost it incurs on me and my quench for reading about IP security within OpenBSD (an operating system, www.openbsd.org). I finally return to the apt. of which I am staying in the living room, but for some reason the wife does not sleep in either of the two bedrooms, but the dining room. Her husband is a cop, that is about all I know. She is also overly detailed about providing directions or instructions, I guess she likes to talk, probably is unable to with her husband, so she inflicts this on travelers. Finally, I head to sleep and plan on tomorrow's trip to the Rila Monastery.

Sat, December 9 - From the info I received when I was at Sofia Hostel, headed off to the bus station at 9am needed to get there for a 10:20am bus to my final destination of the Rila Monastery. I ended up taking bus #260 to the bus station, even though I knew which tram and mini-bus went there, unfortunately everyone I asked did not know about those, only bus 260. So, 260 it is! And I finally arrived about an hour later, though if I had know what to do exactly, I could have gotten there in half the time. Upon arriving to the bus station, a student inquires about the bus to Rila, and shows me where it is. Price for the 3 hr journey is $3. On the bus, I have my breakfast of a banana. I arrive in Rila and have 50 minutes before catching the next bus to the Rila Monastery, 45 minutes away. So I wander the deserted town, before returning to hop on the last leg of my journey to the monastery. Finally arrived, the Rila Monastery is situated in a narrow valley with snow capped mountains in the background. The Monastery is entirely made of wood, minus the stone clock tower. The Monastery is three levels and four in some places. There is also a museum on the ground level in one area of the monastery which contains a wooden cross that contains over 1500 figures the size of a grain of rice that is carved out of wood. There is also a church in the center of the courtyard that contains over 2000 frescos, to say the inside was filled with religious scenes is quite accurate. Well, after wandering about in the monastery, I decided it was time for lunch, so the easiest choice was metsukas, fried doughnuts with powdered sugar. Not a well-balanced meal, but a taste one. After "lunch" I did a little walking and sat down next to the river nearby the Monastery and did some reading before deciding that the numbness was bothering my fingers a little too much, so back to the monastery to wait for the bus back to Rila. The bus to Rila actually was continuing on to another town called Doupnitsa and there I would change for Sofia. We arrived while the bus was turning around to pull out, so we (two others were doing the same thing, Bulgarian students) barely made the change. 2 hours later I was in Sofia and took a tram back to the center before heading to the park containing the huge monument celebrating Bulgaria's 1300th anniversary and the Palace of Culture. Any ideas what that is... it's a shopping mall. I have no idea why it is called that, but it is. I'm sure something is lost in the translation. It was unfortunately closed, so I headed back toward the center of town in search of something to eat for dinner. I do not care call it dinner, since most people would not consider them that. Well, I found a self-service place, and was able to see what I was getting myself into before ordering, the way I prefer it. I then headed back for an early evening inside, getting back at 10pm in order to catch up on things (i.e. fix my rain cover which ripped when it got stuck getting off the train in Plovdiv, a few days ago, re-pack my bag because I need to put away my Middle East Lonely Planet and remove another book). Off to sleep.

Sun, December 10 - Up at 6:40am and off to catch a bus to the north to Veliko Tarnovo at 8am. I took a tram to the bus station and on the stop before I was getting off a ticket inspector did a surprise inspection. Not a worry, since I always buy the tickets for public transportation since they tend to be very little in Eastern Europe and the hassle if your caught is not worth it. In some places (i.e. Budapest) they target foreigners (heard about multiple people getting caught) since we are perceived as rich and can easily afford the fines. Three hours later I was in Veliko Tarnovo and on the bus decided that I would sleep in Ruse in the north along the border with Romania so upon arriving I bought my bus ticket to Ruse at 3pm, so I had 4 hrs in this town before going on. I asked a local the direction of the center, note it is not as easy as I make it sound. I usual find a point in a town in which hopefully everyone knows and then ask where it is. Once I get to this point, I can navigate my way around. [A common occurrence when I visit a place, thought I would highlight this for you.] On my way to the center, a "bug" (a.k.a. a local looking for travelers to stay at his place) started talking to me and said he would show me around. I explained I was leaving to Ruse at 3pm and did not need a place, but he said ok, ok. So, he walked with me and did his best to convince me that I could get to Bucharest directly from Veliko Tarnovo and that I should spend a night. I then asked him if he knew where I could get the type of mittens I need for this trip, and he of course said yes. He showed me various typical tourist souvenir shops that I knew did not have the mittens, but since he really had no idea or was hoping I would buy something because then he might get a commission for leading me to the place. I looked at two shops and then continued to the fortified hill (Tsarevets Citadel). There was an entrance fee, so my "bug" was not going to enter, but attempted two final ploys. 1) Ask if I wanted to go for a drink with him and his girlfriend, and 2) Ask if I had a coins from the countries I have visited and then asked if he could have them. The only country that I have left with money from is Italy, and only 400 lire, about $0.20. I was not about to give them to the "bug", but I explained they were in my pack, and I was not about to unpack it for him. I then wished him well and off onto the fortified hill. The hill has walls, towers, 2 bells, and numerous ruins that have survived. At the top, where a castle should stand is a single room church. On the back side of the hill which has natural rock cliffs protecting it from its surroundings, the EU was funding re-building the Kings Palace. The fortified hill would be much more impressive if the King's Palace was built on top, where the church is, but that is unlikely... unfortunately. On my way to the church at the top, I took a piss with my pack on. I meant to mention this (carrying my pack around) since the cost of leaving my bag at the bus station was 1 leva an hour, total would be 4 leva and my bus ticket to Ruse was 5 leva... obviously the price was inflated for foreigners. This is an outrageous price for locals when a days wage is around 5 leva. On principal, I did not leave my pack even though this was only $0.45 an hour. I finally left the fortified hill and headed back to the bus station. On my way back, I stopped and had lunch at a Chinese restaurant. There seem to be quite a few Chinese in Bulgaria, more than I have seen in Turkey, I wonder if there will be a noticeably Chinese population in Romania. Finally back to the bus, and this was the first time that on a bus ride there was a movie, "Random Hearts". Upon arriving in Ruse at 5:15pm (which seemed like midnight since it was extremely dark out), I headed to the train station since no buses cross the border to Romania. Outside train station, it was pitch dark, so I was not too comfortable walking around this area, added to this picture was a guy starting up a chainsaw to cut up a tree, in the dark. Ah, the city of Ruse in Bulgaria. Well, upon entering this dark building, which I was not sure was the train station, I found out that the train to Bulgaria left three times daily, 3am, 3pm, and 5pm. I thought about taking the 3am, but decided I would rather not have to stay awake on the ride to Romania, so I opted for the 3pm. I then started my search of a place to sleep. I was not sure of the direction I was heading, but after traveling a while one learns to recognize signs that indicate the center of a town. I won't go into details in this journal. Well, I found the center and started my search of a hotel, only two were listed in my guide book. The first was out of business, the second was an extremely expensive hotel of the center of the town, but I was referred by the bar downstairs of the former hotel to another place. Knowing they pretty much were going to get my business, my leverage for negotiation was quite limited. They wanted $30, I acted shocked (and explained I did not need breakfast) and negotiated it down to $15. Definitely a satisfying feeling. I then relaxed a bit in the room watching TV, they had 3 versions of MTV (American, Europe, and Russian) and VH1, so I learned little about what was going on in the world, unless you consider fashion related. Off to walk about and have dinner. I ate at a place that had roasted chicken, and each side (i.e. tomatoes, cucumber, slice of lemon, and a few other things). As you could predict I was angry and went to someone else's (a local's) table to look at their receipt, the same was done. So, I had little recourse. I paid, which totaled about $4. It was a filling meal, but this was ridiculous. I then wandered about some more before finally returning to the hotel after a night cap of i-net.

Mon, December 11 - Up at 9am, and went off to buy the train ticket to Bucharest, Romania. I was told I could not buy the ticket until a few hours before the train. I was told to return at 12:30pm for the 3pm train. So, off I went to buy a piece of bread and bananas for breakfast. I then walked about the walking street in the center of town. Many vendors were selling all sorts of stuff, mostly plastic toys and cheaply made gloves. Nothing that I wanted, but it was interesting nonetheless. As usual, McDonalds (KFC, Pizza Hut, and Dunkin' Doughnuts) seem to be the rage in Bulgaria because it is considered "American" even though it is expensive compared to local food. Outside of the McD's in the center of town is a double-decker bus from London. Quite funny to see in Bulgaria. McD's was using it for additional seating for the restaurant. I then headed back to the hotel to grab my bag and head to the train station. It turned out that the train at 3pm was late, a common occurrence said the ticket lady, and that the 5pm was going to leave before the 3pm. So, instead of 2.5hrs, I have 4.5hrs. I decided to update my journal before heading into Romania. I have walked around Ruse enough, and it is not one of the prettier towns to walk about. It is extremely industrial, and shares much in similarity with Soviet style buildings. So, hopefully the 5pm arrives on time, but the hostel I shall stay at is open 24 hrs so that is not so important when I arrived, but I prefer daylight hours, not possible since I shall be taking the 5pm train. The 5pm train was at the station on time, it simply did not leave on time, about an hour later. I have heard that bribes are common occurrences in Romania, I just have yet to experience it or see it first hand in any other country, that was before this train ride. So, it is only me and an older women in this cabin, and we are finally entering Romania and numerous officials (police at train station to enter train, exit border control, Romanian entry border control, customs, and some other police/military officer) are checking my passport and the lady's documentation. So, the Romanian entry border control looks at her documentation and she takes from her pocket 40,000 lei (less than $1.50) and offers it to him, he politely declines while looking at me and quickly looks at my passport before moving on. All the police seemed to tell each other I was an American when ever someone was walking by the cabin I was in, not the best feeling being highlighted in this way. The only official that did a thorough job, was the customs agent searched the old lady's three shopping bags, which were filled with common household stuff (soap, toilet paper, etc.), she also offered him soap to stop him from searching. That was politely declined as well. She finally "successfully" bribed the conductor, a win for her and him since she did not buy a ticket for the same trip I took valued at $5, she paid less than $1.50. She also said that the border control and customs did not take anything was because I was in the cabin. I guess they do not want Western (or maybe American) travelers to see this side of Romania. Another recent experience was when I got off the train in Bucharest, capital of Romania, I left the train station in search of an ATM, when attempting to re-enter the station, I was demanded to pay 3000 lei, ah... No, was my answer and found a way to sneak in via another entrance. I thought this was outright extortion to get into the train station, later when I inquired at the hostel, there is a fee to discourage non-ticket holders from entering the train station. Now that makes some sense. I never did find an ATM, so I was going to have to walk into the center to find the hostel. So, I asked a young couple which direction the center was, and she said take the train, I replied saying I need a bank first. She then handed me a metro ticket for 2 rides, I offered to pay her a dollar, well over the value, but she declined. So, I hopped on the metro and made it to the hostel after one transfer and a 15 minute walk. Even though this hostel was the only HI one in Bucharest, part of there marketing was free cigarettes and laundry. Unbelievable, but true. I had them do a wash for me, no dryer though, not an issue since there are heaters in every room, so everything had dried by the morning. Well, after giving them my laundry, since I still had no money, I went out to find an ATM and walk about the city. In the hostel I noticed that the local city guide, "In Your Pocket" was produced for Bucharest, so this was a definite buy. I eventually found an ATM and that local guide I wanted. The walk around the city was highlighted by a few sketchy guys asking me about something, and I doubt it was for directions. The scam in this town is to ask for foreigners passports and then ask to look at their money, and claim to take it for evidence. This occurred to a Japanese guy staying at the hostel, he showed then his passport, but not his money... thank goodness. Well, I finally returned to the hostel to watch a little TV before chatting with that Japanese guy, Shinya. He was on no schedule, only until the money ran out... and he had plenty of it, and plenty left. He had traveled for 30 months already with no guidebook and moving at his own pace, which happened to be very slow. I explained that I tend to lead a very structured trip, and since I only have one day in Bucharest (I leave in the evening tomorrow), I will be going around quite rapidly. He asked to join me, and I simply said if you feel you can keep up, sure. I left it at that, not knowing if it would really happen. Off to sleep.

Tue, December 12 - Up at 7:30am and downstairs for breakfast (bread, jam, and tea), included in the hostel price. During breakfast, Shinya came downstairs for breakfast as well and asked if it was OK to come with me, I said sure. In the past when people have tagged along with me, I would ask if the pace was OK, this time though I decided I would not ask, and simply go about my day and if he complained... I would suggest a departure. One good thing about Shinya, is he is a walker and a fast one for that matter. So the night before I had planned out our schedule for the day, and which museums to hit and how we would walk there. So, we went off to the Peasant Museum and then within the same building was the Communist Iconography Museum. Interesting, but the highlight of the museums were the captions since they were pretty obvious, "A cross", or more appropriately, useless. Shinya and I had a laugh, because I would have him guess the captions. We were suppose to go to another museum, the Village Museum which had houses as exhibits, but decided to nix the idea since the Peasant Museum had pictures of various types of houses. So afterwards we headed to a produce and meat market where we had some unknown spiced meat. I ate part of it, but it was a little too greasy for me, but a lucky dog did not think so. Then off to the Military Museum, which had an entire courtyard filled with tanks, artillery guns, a helicopter, and numerous other vehicles, quite cool. Through a few neighborhoods before embarking on a tour of the 2nd largest building in the world, the Parliament Palace. It was originally designed as the Palace for the Communist Leader of Romania then, Ceausescu, but when he was overthrown by the people, it was converted into the Parliament building. The building sits on a hill with a park on one side, which before this was a densely packed area of the center of the city. Houses, churches, mosques, and anything that stood in the way was bulldozed in order to build this huge building. There was a businessman on the tour who had lived near the Parliament Palace before his house was bulldozed, his compensation was minimal. Also, the building is 90% completed, in 1989 when he was over-thrown, the building was 80% completed (during the communist times, construction was done 24hr a day, every day), now-a-days only during the workday. The inside is absolutely beautiful with marble and wood carvings everywhere, hand-made carpets and everything was designed to the final degree, extremely impressive. After the tour, I inquired with the tour guide who was very knowledgeable of Romania about Bessarabia. Bessarabia is where my father's family is from, and it turns out that it is now mostly located in Moldova, to the east of Romania. Well, after the history lesson, Shinya and I went off to look for an eatery since it was approaching 4pm and we had only the greasy piece of meat for lunch. We headed to a place he had eaten at before, a real locals place, standing self-service's place. After having a hearty meal, $2 later we were off to a market noted in the guidebook. The market was not as exciting as I had hoped since the guidebook said it was a black market. We did though, find out where all the supermarket's in the city were, clustered together in a one block area. So, Shinya needed to pick up a few things. Turned out that vodka is cheaper than fruit juice, so which did Shinya buy, the vodka. Well, we made it back to the hostel and I donated my city guide and metro pass to Shinya with the instructions to pass the guidebook on when he left. This city guide book only cost $1 and comes out every 2 months, so it is fairly accurate. I left the hostel at 6pm for a 7pm train, and caught the bus to the station. 10 minutes later, I had arrived and bought my ticket and boarded the train. I had bought a ticket for Brasov, but Shinya had recommended Sinaia, so on the train I decided I could see Sinaia and continue on easily, but it turned out that this train did not stop at Sinaia and from Brasov (arrived at 10pm), I was going to have to wait until 2am. So at the station, I negotiated a private room price for $6. The guy then took me out to a taxi and I told him I was absolutely not paying for a taxi to his place, turns out the taxi driver was a friend. So, I arrive at the room and drop my stuff off before walking about the town. I normally would not walk around a town at 10pm, but I was planning on visiting 2 other places tomorrow and leaving in evening. So, I walked about town and did a little i-net before getting lost returning, I attempted to take a short-cut, turned out a hill was blocking my path. So, an hour later, I finally got home and went to sleep (4am). It should have taken me 20 minutes, instead 1 hour. Definitely too late of a night for me, will try to avoid doing this in the future.

Wed, December 13 - Finally get up at 9am and head to the local bus station for Bran (40 minutes later I was in the town that has "Dracula's" Castle). The castle was pretty and set on a small hill overlooking the one street town. It was actually used as a toll booth, not as a castle for defending against an army. I was able to walk through out the house which still has much of it's original furniture from the early 20th century. The castle was used by a Romanian Queen, and "Dracula", the nickname for a real person owned the castle, but never actually visited it. I then visited the museum which was associated with the castle, no one was there, so I walked through the 4 room museum switching on and off the lights as I saw it. After visiting the museum, I headed back to the entrance to the castle and did a little shopping. Buying a few p-cards, and a pair of mittens I was looking for, with the fur inside. The vendors, mostly old women, were trying hard to get my attention to look at their wares since there are probably very few travelers to Romania in the winter. Well, I picked up, out of curiosity, a hand-knit hat which probably took this old woman a few days to make. When I said I was not interested, she dropped her price to about $1.40, I almost started to laugh, because it was so cheap, I covered my mouth to hide it. I felt bad because this lady had worked so hard, and if I were to buy it, I would prefer to spend the $2 at which it was priced. Either case, I did not want it. I finally headed back to catch a local bus to Rasnov, another town having a castle. While waiting for the bus, I bought a bag of pretzels which I shared with a puppy who waited with me. The "castle" in Rasnov was situated in a lot more impressive place than in Bran since it was perched onto a large hill overlooking the larger town of Rasnov. The "castle" was more of a fortified hill with tall walls containing houses, stables, wells, and storage huts. The walk up to the "castle" was via steps which where hidden in the courtyard of some building, it took me some time to find them. One was suppose to pay upon entering, but no one was there to collect any money so I just walked in. After walking about and writing a few p-cards inside, I decided that since there was construction going on, they could use the money so I went looking in the various buildings for the ticket collector. I paid and then returned down to the town before buying some food (1 kilo of sausages, about 2.2lbs for $2) for the stray dogs I see. I grabbed the bus back to Brasov (20 min. - arrived back at 4pm) and got off at the far side of town, away from the train station. So, I grabbed a tram (couple explained that the station was about 15 min. away via tram and the last stop was the station) and checked out the times to go to my next destination, Sighisoara. Before heading into the center of town I stopped at a market near the station to buy oranges before the 25 min. walk towards the center to the room in which I was staying at. Informed the owner I would stay another night, and that I was heading to Sighisoara tomorrow. He said he was going to the local train office to check about an int'l ticket and that I could come with him to buy my ticket for tomorrow. The ticket office was sold out of reserved tickets, but I could buy my ticket up to an hour before the train left. He then chatted about the other apartments he owns and rents out to other travelers while giving me a tour of the town. He departed and I went to see what was playing at the 2 movie theatres in town. Both were not options since I had seen or did not want to see what they were playing so I headed to a pizza place for dinner. I then returned for an early night in, 10pm. A little catch-up on my previous night's short sleep.

Thu, December 14 - I originally was going to take the tram to the station, but it was a 10 minute walk to the stop and then a wait, so I opted for the 25 minute walk to the station. I arrive in Sighisoara at 10:30am and check out when the train go to Cluj-Napoca (my next destination and sleeping place). The trains to Cluj-Napoca leave at 12:36 and 7pm. So, I immediately head out to see Sighisoara, knowing I might be able to make the 12:36 one. I walk into town a 10 minute walk and head directly to the old town area on the hill. There is clock tower on the hill which contains a museum. In addition to the museum, you can see the movement of the clock which is from 1648 and still keeps time. The tower is from the 14th century, and has a lookup point at the top. It was amusing to see the various directions and distances to the cities around the world, NYC was there unfortunately I throw out the scrap paper I had written the distance on. I then headed out and outside a local kid started to chat with me and tell me "his sad story". I kept asking him about the town and the various buildings and why he was not in school. Well, I finally gave him an orange and he went on his way. My rule of thumb is only to give fruit or bread away, no money or anything else. Well, off I went to the post office to mail a few p-cards, and bought lunch, a challah which was glazed with honey. On my way back to the train station I saw a shop that refills bottles with carbonated water. I took a photo of this seltzerman before reaching the station. At the station, I bought 2 pieces of cake for dessert and then grabbed that 12:36pm train to Cluj-Napoca. I arrived at 4pm and went on a desperate search for an i-net place because I have been trying to coordinate with my friend from Hungary to meet him in Vienna or Budapest this weekend. I finally find a place and send him an e-mail saying I would meet him in Vienna (Sat. and Sun.), only to change my mind later in the evening and decide that Budapest on Monday is better. I then return to the station to find a place to stay. I know of a hotel near the bus station which is close to the train station, but I do not know where that is, so I inquire to a police officer who does not quite understand why I want the bus station, but eventually drives me to the hotel I want near it. This place was rundown and I was not going to stay there, he also says I should not stay there. So, he drives me back to the train station and the 2nd hotel is reasonable ($8 incl. b-fast). At this hotel, there was a drunk American telling me that the room I was going to share had a guy I wanted to avoid, I asked why, and he just said he was weird. Whatever... I told him. Upon entering the room there is a Romanian Playboy and the floor is littered with his stuff, except on my bed. All I hope is I can sleep. So, I drop my stuff off and head out for dinner and to walk about the town. I catch a movie, Ghost Dog (horrible, avoid it!), and then e-mail my friend that Budapest is the way to go. Back to the hotel, I arrive and the Canadian is already sleeping in the room. Off to bed.

Fri, December 15 - Wake up and the Canadian is a man in his 40's who now travels since he lives off his pension. He likes to talk and smoke, so we finally get downstairs and over breakfast I start to realize that I see signs of a man with a problem (pedophilia) and explain to him to that as a Westerner he should try to set an example and other safe sex issues. He also had previously questioned me about if I know the symptoms of syphilis or STDs. This guy has a problem he needs to work out. Well, we finally split up and I check out the train schedule to Oradea, my next destination, and then head to the Museum of Transylvania. Before hitting the museum, I visited a beautiful church, the Franciscan Church. As for the museum, it is surprisingly well organized and offers many Roman ruins that were found in the city during recent construction periods, as late as the 1980's. I then continue towards the main square and the self-serve restaurant I was going to visit is closed for a group, so I continue on to the large produce and everything else you can imagine market. At this market, I find a local place, similar to in Bucharest, standing self-service. I continue to walk about and at around 4:30pm, it starts to rain hard, so I decide being outside is not the best idea. So I take a break with a movie ($0.80), The Bone Collector (excellent). I originally had planned on going to synagogue (the building is in good condition and is located on the main street), but it is not used anymore, so that nixed that idea. After the movie, I had dinner which was chocolate cookies for an appetizer and two pieces of pastry for the main course before returning to the hotel to get my bag and head to the train station. I took the 9pm train to Oradea (11:30pm). Cluj-Napoca is a university town and caters to such, many of the stores stay open late. It also has pretty architecture and numerous parks around the town, making it a pleasure to walk about. Well, on the train I meet a Cluj-Napoca college student and her boyfriend who lived in Oradea, so they suggested a cab to the center since it would only cost $0.40. I said OK, and I thought we would share a cab since we were going in the same direction, but nope, I had my own. So, I arrived at supposedly one of the cheaper hotels, and they want $14. A ridiculous amount, since it is one of the worst hotels (*) in the town. So, I try to bargain, but not possible since it is midnight, and he knows it. So, I walk out and look at the other 4 hotels in a 5 block radius. One has private rooms for $4, and this is a better hotel (**), they are full, so I head to another place and it is $8 because I have to take a double, bargained him down from $10, even at 12:30am. This is a corner room overlooking the square and the river. The hotel itself is a bit rundown and the bathroom is shared, and pretty dirty. Before going to sleep, I walk back to the $4 place, and ask about reservation the following night, not possible, I must return in the morning. So, back to my room and to sleep.

Sat, December 16 - I woke up to the sound of music being broadcasted throughout the town. My corner "suite" with a view of the square and the river might have had a good view, but I had a light sleep since the sound of cars and trams on the nearby main street was heard throughout the night. I went out to check on the other place and it was possible, in addition to being 1/2 the price it also includes b-fast. So, I returned to get my stuff and eat b-fast, a roll and pastry, in the room while watching Zoro on TV. After swapping rooms to the Hotel Astoria, in which my room faces a courtyard, I headed to the train station to check the schedule for Budapest for tomorrow. I cannot buy the ticket ahead of time at the station (only at an office in town open weekdays) otherwise 2 hrs before. So I find out the price so I can plan accordingly on the last day to use up all my money. A man offering a ride there is charging $20, I explain the train is $13, why would someone choose the car I tell him. He lowers to $12 eventually, but since he leaves at noon, I would prefer the later departure of 3:30pm. I then walk about the town making a large circle, visiting a large market selling any household thing you could need (pipes, chainsaws, flowers, in addition to food). I buy bananas ($0.54 for 4, expensive in Romania, $.80 a kilo or 2.2lbs) and a bar of soap ($0.14). Before reaching the market, I had walked by two deserted synagogues still in decent condition, minus a few broken windows. It seems all the Jews were killed, but the temples survived. Well, after the market, I headed to the nearby citadel, in which only the walls remained. There were buildings on the inside, many of which were deserted. I got the feeling this was not the best area of town, so I departed and continued walking around the town. Upon crossing a bridge into the side of town that my hotel was in, an older lady started to walk to me, asking me all the same questions I normally get (where are you from, why are you here, etc.). She finally asks for money, I say no, but I offer her a banana. She initial says no, but after she realizes she will get no money, she decides she should take it. [Note about beggars. Most of the beggars in Romania are children, while in Bulgaria it is mostly dogs. The one difference I noted, was that dogs unlike the children never refused the food (I did not try to give dogs vegetables though.)] I was in search of a concert, so I dropped by the theatre, but nothing was on for tonight, so I headed to the movie theatre for a double feature of 28 Days (good) and The Matrix (excellent, this was the 2nd time I saw it and understood it finally. I originally saw it and did not like it.) Every country (even Bulgaria) in which I have seen a movie, the theatre assigns you a row and seat number, it seems only the USA does not do this. Well, I finally head back to my room to relax and take a shower before heading out again for a little dinner. 2 slices of pizza and a little i-net (note, I tend to write a little i-net indicating a "short" time, ;-) I'll let you decide that. Well, finally back for some sleep.

Sun, December 17 - Got up and took a walk to the deserted synagogue to take a closer look at it. Yesterday I had walked by from a distance, and this time I wanted to see the windows and the building close up. It seems that no one has been inside the building in a few months since there was a far amount of dirt built up on the gates surrounding it. The building itself has a few broken windows (no graffiti though), but overall, it seems to be in pretty good shape. Before heading to the train station (a final stop at the i-net place, in order to send Aron more instructions on my arrival and meeting point), before continuing on to the station, about a 30 minute walk. I then exchanged some USD in order to buy the train ticket for Budapest. I spent the rest on a sandwich and cookies for my 4 hrs train ride. Also, upon buying my train ticket to Budapest, it turned out to be cheaper to buy a roundtrip to and from Oradea, Romania than a one way ticket to Budapest. So, I finally left on the train at 3:30pm, and at 8pm (arrival should have been at 7:30) I started to get nervous since Aron was suppose to meet me at the train station. I had his address, but Budapest is quite large and finding it was not exactly what I wanted to do upon arriving. I therefore asked a kid across from me if he could SMS my friend and he said yes, even though there is a small charge ($0.20). Before sending the message, I realized there might be a time difference when crossing the border, so I inquired and there was, it was an hour earlier than Romania. So, it was actually only 7pm. I therefore did not send the SMS, and upon arriving, I spotted Aron. It has been at least 5 or so years since I have seen him, so it was good to see him. We then decided to walk around the mall, West End City Center, near the train station to get a bite to eat. We immediately engaged in conversation, starting off with the families and then rapidly going into a technological conversation. we finally headed home via a tram getting back around 1am or so.

Mon, December 18 - The previous night we had decided that Aron would head into work for a few hours and then depart early, since he has flex-time. I was also planning on departing in the evening on an overnighter Brno in the Czech Republic. We finally left his apartment around 10am and headed to his work which was only a few blocks away. I wanted to see where he worked and met his co-workers before finally heading out at noon. We had agreed to meet up at 2:30pm and then catch lunch with him and one of his co-worker's and roommate (yeah, amazing). Well, I grabbed a tram to the Castle area on the Buda side to visit two of the museums I missed the last time I was in Budapest, since they were closed. Upon arriving at the Commerce and Catering Museum, it turned out to be closed. So, on the way to the next one, I visited the Matthias Church with its colorful tiled roof. I had visited the church the last time I was in Budapest. Then next to the church there is a lookout point in which I sat and read my book for an hour. I then continued on the Budapest Historical Museum which contained the Old Palace's vaults. What a large museum... I finally grabbed a tram back to Aron's office and to lunch at 3pm. We went to an "American" restaurant and then took a detour to a supermarket before returning back to Aron's apt. A little later we went to a local bar to play cards and hangout. We played this game called Ulti, which is more like 40 different games combined into one large combination game. We finally went home to sleep and I was planning on heading to the Czech Republic tomorrow.

Tue, December 19 - Aron went off to work while I went out in search of the great IP calling card offered by Matav. I went to a market near Aron's house and next to that was the shopping center containing the Matav (Hungarian Telecommunication Provider) Store. I then crossed a bridge as