| Today | Me | Links |
Tuesday, May 28, 2002
5:18 PM
where: budapest
how: dirty
music: abba
my feet haven't been this dirty in a long long time. they're a little sore, but it's wonderful. we got caught in a rain storm and wandered buda. tried to go to the ballet but no tickets left. dinner of traditional hungarian food. itinerary mapping. but i'm tired, and really going to the baths tomorrow, and have to sleep.
Monday, May 27, 2002
1:01 PM
where: budapest
how: waiting for a massage
music: save ferris
budapest is a lovely city. more western than i anticipated, but still very eastern. which is a contradiction, i know. spent today walking around pest, looking at the architecture and the atmosphere. we went to st. stephen's basilica and paid 100 ft to see st. stephen's 1000 year old hand. catholics are bizarre...but i still found myself dipping my hand in holy water and making the sign of the cross as i entered the church, which was probably the most impressive one i've seen so far on my travels. as we skipped them today, we'll go over to buda for the baths tomorrow. life is so slow in this city, and it's lovely. the hostel is very homey...i kinda feel like we're staying in a co-op. great kitchen and shower, which makes all the difference. have free internet for 15 minutes a day, which is nice. but time for that massage...
Sunday, May 26, 2002
12:48 PM
where: budapest
how: hungry
music: low
subdued. the night train was fine, kinda fun even. it made the 15 hours quite liveable. still a little tired, but nothing major, and it's almost time to sleep anyway. i'm just glad to be clean and about to eat dinner while we plan the next few weeks of our lives. tomorrow we go to the baths and try to get rid of the knots in our new muscles that carrying our backpacks creates.
12:45 PM
where: berlin
how:surprisingly awake
music: something german
last night was a little crazy. yesterday in general was. we met some cool texans and florida-ites in our hostel and spent the day walking all over the city. the berlin wall, brandenburg gate, checkpoint charlie. took tons of hilarious photos, played in a park and enjoyed the day, especially when the rain cleared after lunch. then we went out, met some random berliner named mark who took it as his personal mission to make sure we had a good time. we ended up at a private party at a gallery in east berlin, then at a club called cookies which operated out of án abandoned bank. by the time we headed back to the hospital it was light again and the subways had started running. we didn't get tons of sleep, the six of us sprawled out on a giant bed of mattresses on the floor, but it was enough to function on. i'll definitely sleep well on the train to budapest tonight...
Thursday, May 23, 2002
2:24 AM
where: amsterdam
how: jittery
music: pa
didn't make it to the hague, but had a great day yesterday. the van gogh museum had an exhibition that included gaugin paintings, and the sum total of my wandering around all afternoon left me energized with a need to create. there's something about the bold brush strokes that pop off the canvas, creating ridges where most paintings are simply flat...i need to do something, to make something concrete. i'll start writing on the train to berlin this afternoon and see what comes. i feel so awake and alive.
but time to run off to the heineken museum, and try to find an xxx ring before we have to get on the train.
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
2:49 AM
where: amsterdam
how: sick (but moving anyway)
music: fuck if i know
today is the hague, van gogh museum, anne frank house, then dinner in china town. we may skip the hague though, as we got out later than we meant to. no going to coffee houses here, unfortunately, given a number of factors. i'm afraid i'm getting mari's laryngitis (sp?). the weather's shitty, but no worse than london, and we're going to berlin tomorrow. i've got to sit down and make a concrete list of where i have to go...it sounds like mari and lien and i will all be splitting up after budapest, so i need to be a little less flighty. i'm fine on my own as long as i have a plan.
Monday, May 20, 2002
6:32 AM
where: paris
how: exhausted
music: low
ugh. charles de gualle really is one of the most bizarre airports ever. going to find a cafe now and call lien and write in my journal and figure out how to get to amsterdam tomorrow without killing myself. need to get my impressions of ireland written down before they fade away.
Sunday, May 19, 2002
1:18 PM
where: dublin (again)
how: sleepy yet excited
music: christy moore
1. guiness really is good (like coffee, but alcoholic)
2. whiskey is still bad (but getting better)
3. canadians working in killarny are pretty good snogs
4. tomorrow i start a very long stretch in non-english speaking countries
and because of #4 i'm going to see star wars tonight. i know, i'm a dork.
Thursday, May 16, 2002
8:46 AM
where: dublin
how: smiling
music: the beatles
i missed my first flight here yesterday, which kept me penned in to heathrow for an extra three hours, and then got off the bus on the wrong side of town. but it was a fun little adventure walking across dublin with my backpack. the hostel is pretty quiet, not a lot of people there right now, but i've been hanging out with the few people there. trinity college is beautiful, but i'm glad i didn't go there for the summer...dublin itself is kinda blah, an ordinary small city. not bad, just not spectacular. the tour leaves tomorrow, and that's what i'm looking forward to.
it's weird to be able to be friendly to men again...egypt had me trained to ignore them most of the time to avoid being constantly hit on. but here you can smile, and be friendly and it won't bring on unwanted attention.
my initial impression of all this wander: it's nice to know there are always people around if you want to hang out, but you can be alone at the same time if that's what you want. do i have to go home? cause i really don't want to...
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
10:49 AM
oh, and everyone should read the economist without which i would be lost.
10:34 AM
where: london
how: calm
music: weezer
leaving for dublin tomorrow morning. hanging out waiting for my egypt pictures to be developed so i can look through them and mail them home with the last few things that i've decided i don't need and can't bear to throw away. mari left for paris and we're not sure when or where we're meeting again, probably in a week or two. so i've got ireland and france coming up within the next seven days and then it's not so clear. maybe barcelona, maybe amsterdam, definitely a run through italy before diving into eastern europe. we'll figure it out along the way. missing people a little, but i'll be home in two months or so, so that's not too long. i'm really excited about it all, even if i manage to come off as a flake in my little girl enthusiasm. i want to see everything and do everything and two months won't be enough time but it'll have to be enough for the moment. as long as i'm out of london soon, as the city is driving me crazy. i love it, but its time to be somewhere else.
Thursday, May 09, 2002
1:53 PM
where: cairo
how: wow
music: coldplay
been an intense two weeks sweeping through egypt. i can't explain it to you, this country is enough to break your heart and heal you, all at once. it went by so quickly, the summer is going to be done before i even breath again and i'll be back home but it won't be anymore. i can already feel the restlessness and the calm and the need to see more and know more. pyramids, poverty, temples, the sea, the reefs, and the sunrise and set as we floated down the nile. i'm sad to leave, but ready to live out of my backpack without a bed of my own.
