Добрий день from Ukraine

9/23

I continue to be a less than prodigious writer.  In my defense, I have been on the move a lot of late.  

I was able to get my transit visa for Belarus from the embassy in Lithuania with relatively little hassle.  On the other hand, getting in and out of the country was a little more complex.  It is often said that Belarus is a place where the USSR never really died.  From my border crossing experiences I would the border guards have attempted to keep some of the Soviet spirit alive.  It's a fairly lengthy story and deserves a post of its own.

Minsk was an interesting place to spend a day and a half.  Stalinist architecture dominates the main avenue of the city and Soviet symbols are found everywhere.  At the same time there is no shortage Western brands.  The dichotomy is fascinating.  A McDonald's can be found a block down from the still-functioning KGB building.

I'm now in Kiev, having arrived here on Monday morning.  My first day was mostly spent sleeping off the effects of the overnight bus from Minsk.  No matter how many times I take overnight buses it seems that I always end up spending the next day recovering.

I spent my second day here exploring the city.  I will continue doing the same today.

Tonight I hop on the overnight train to Odessa.  Hopefully this provides a more restful experience than a bus.  I expect it will.  Train travel, like most things, is cheap in Ukraine.  For $20 I was able to get a 1st class cabin.

I anticipate I will only spend a day or two in Odessa before I continue on to Moldova.

Labas from Lithuania

9/16

 

In the past week and a half I have made my way from Prague through to Krakow and Warsaw in Poland before landing here in Vilnius, Lithuania.  

Blazers fans probably best  know Lithuania as the homeland of Arvydas Sabonis.  Despite his Hall of Fame career, we still all wonder what would have happened had he arrived in Portland.

Beyond Sabas, there are plenty of other things that Lithuania has to offer.  I'll be getting in my share of old buildings and communist sights.

It looks like I will be heading to Belarus this weekend.  Barring disaster, I will be picking up my visa tomorrow.  I had to do quite a bit of legwork to get in for what will amount to a day and a half in Minsk.  Since my visa is only good for 48 hours I will be heading to Ukraine after Minsk.

I'd also like to give a shout out to my friend  Emily.  She was the one who alerted me to Lake Bled, so I have her to thank for that stopover on this trip.  I'm glad I listened to her advice.

Farewell Adam

9/8

I'm back to traveling on my own once again.  Adam headed back to the States on Sunday.  We had a good three weeks together.  Ultimately our route was as follows:

-Ljubljana, Slovenia
-Trieste, Italy
-Venice, Italy
-Florence, Italy
-Fulpmes, Austria
-Munich, Germany
-Nuremberg, Germany
-Dresden, Germany
-Prague, Czech Republic

We saw and did a lot in that time.  Looking back on it, it feels like it was a lot longer considering what all we did.  I'm hoping it won't take me forever to get back into writing regularly so that I can post on all of these places.

I'm wrapping up my time in Prague today and taking the train to Krakow.

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Lake Bled, Slovenia

Grüß Gott

8/28

I continue to do a poor job of keeping this blog updated of late.  I've found that working on it while traveling solo is easier simply because I have more time to myself.  I will eventually get caught up and return to making the larger standard posts.

Adam and I are Munich right now.  We spent yesterday around the 1972 Olympic Park and BMW headquarters.  The BMW Museum kept us engaged for several hours.  It has to be one of the best company museums I've been to.  Lots of information and plenty of vehicles on display.

We arrived in Munich from Fulpmes, Austria, a small town near Innsbruck.  We had only planned on spending two days in Fulpmes, but that turned into four when realized how much there was to do in the area.  We hiked every day and got to do some via ferrata climbing.  The scenery is absolutely stunning in the area.  My 26th birthday also happened to pass while we were there.  The hostel staff and other guests made it a memorable one by having an American  themed dinner.  Pizza, hot dogs, and nachos seem to be the world's conception of American cuisine.  I can't really argue with that.  It was a good dinner and I was happy to spend my birthday the way that I did.

Ciao Italia

8/22

The last week has been very busy as Adam and I have bounced around Italy and I have had very few opportunities to sit down and write.  In this time we’ve stopped in Trieste, Venice, and Florence.  Being the peak of tourist season, we contributed to the huge crowds in the latter two cities.  Trieste was relatively quiet and provided a good spot to stopover for a day following Slovenia.  

As you might expect, we put quite a few miles on our feet as we tried to take in the sights in a limited amount of time.  Luckily for me, my feet have gotten accustomed to this.  Adam, on the other hand, has had to adjust pretty quickly and his feet are not as happy about it.  The upside to all this walking is that Venice and Florence are great cities to explore on foot.  Navigating narrow streets and alleys is as much a part of the experience as the museums and cathedrals.

I have finally activated my rail pass.  I appreciate the relative comfort of a train after a month and a half of traveling mostly by bus.  Possibly the biggest benefit of rail travel in this region is the scenery as you move from place to place.  In a single trip I have been able to see both the Tuscan countryside and catch a glimpse of alpine South Tyrol, all while having space to spread out or walk around.

From Italy we are headed to Austria where we expect to spend a few days in Innsbruck followed by a few days in Salzburg with a possible daytrip to Liechtenstein.  As always, our plans are fluid and only time will tell exactly what we do.

A wild Scrap Daddy appears!

Some things never change

The entire reason for me being in Ljubljana at this particular time is to meet up with my good friend and former apprentice Adam Permann.  Adam and I spent our time in the Marines together in the same platoon and then later trapped in the Charlie Company armory.

Anyone who has listened to more than few of my military stories is bound to have encountered Adam as a character.  He was quite possibly the biggest malcontent in the Marine Corps and a steady source of entertainment.  Traveling with him should be a bit different from my recent solo excursions.  We will be riding the rails for a whirlwind trip from Ljubljana to Prague via Italy, Austria, and Germany.  

Adam made a typically grand entrance when we met up in Ljubljana by knocking over a broom in our hostel, loudly complaining about his experience at the Paris airport, and wondering aloud if numbers meant the same thing in Slovenia as in the United States.

Our second day together was spent at romantic Lake Bled.  We walked around the lake, visited the lake's lone island, and explored the castle overlooking the area.  Adam managed to get threatened by a monk brandishing a large stick for repeatedly touch a map on a wall.  I doubt that will be the last time he draws the ire of someone over the next three weeks.

Živjo from Slovenia

8/15

The last week and a half has seen me zigzag from Kosovo to coastal Montenegro to Sarajevo to Zagreb before finally reaching Ljubljana, Slovenia, this morning.  I enjoyed my time in everywhere I went, even though it was often brief.

The first legs of this journey were done via overnight buses.  These always seem like a great idea as a way to save on accommodation, but I usually end up paying for it by spending half the next day sleeping.

The last leg of the journey between Sarajevo and Ljubljana was covered in the relative comfort of trains.  My train between Sarajevo had a few issues however.  The window in the compartment was such that it would not stay locked down.  Actively holding a window for hours did not seem that appealing, though it might have beat being in a stuffy compartment.  Thankfully I had a fix in the form of 550 cord.  It's often claimed that duct tape is that universally hand piece gear, however the military will teach you that its actually 550 cord that has the most uses.  I always travel with a bit of it.  Usually it serves the function of a clothesline, but in this case it helped me (and my compartment mates) avoid suffering through an international train line.  

The other issue with the trip came when a station further down the line had some sort of fire.  This created a significant delay and ultimately a 9 hour ride turned into a 12 hour one.  I would have preferred more time exploring Zagreb over sitting in the middle nowhere in Bosnia, but it was only a minor issue.  Happily, the train between Zagreb and Ljubljana was clean, efficient, and arrived right on time.

Здраво (Zdravo) from Macedonia

8/3

I left Albania today after spending four days in Tirana.  I really enjoyed my time in Albania.  I didn't know what to expect of Albania before arriving.  It was a pleasant surprise.  There will be more detailed blog posts on it to come (I promise!).

 

From Tirana I headed to Skopje, Macedonia.  It took about 8 hours via bus.  The time passed fairly quickly and the scenery was beautiful.  The biggest shock for me during the ride was to see rain.  I've gotten so used to the hot weather in Turkey, Greece, and Albania that I had almost forgotten that I might see rain while traveling.  It was only for a short period after crossing into Macedonia.  We'll see if encounter it again.

I expect that my time in Skopje and Macedonia will be brief and then I'll head on towards Kosovo.  As always though, my travel plans are subject change.

The mustache when it was just a wee lad.  [Feel free to forward this head shot to your talent agent friends.]

In a final bit of news that should disappoint everyone, my mustache stayed behind in Albania.  I'm clean shaven now.  It had a good run of nearly four weeks.  Perhaps it will reappear later in my travels when I again feel like scaring away women and children.

Goodbye Turkey, Hello Greece

7/23

 

Yesterday I took the ferry from Bodrum in Turkey to Kos in Greece.  It took about an hour to cross the 3 miles between the two.  Kos is pretty popular vacation spot in part because of it’s proximity to Bodrum.  I took another ferry from Kos to Kalymnos, a smaller nearby island.  I’ll be spending a few days relaxing here.

View from my room in Kalymnos

Kalymnos is supposed to be a low key affair.  It’s well known for rock climbing.  I don’t plan on doing any climbing myself.  I’ll probably spend my time at the beach or driving around on a motor scooter.

I enjoyed Turkey quite a bit.  It didn’t take me long to realize just how big of a country it is and how little of it I actually saw.  It’s on my list of places to return to.  The sights, people, and food all contributed to my sentiments about the country.  I’d recommend it without hesitation.

My Australian traveling mates for the last week and a half also deserve a shout-out, like “What up, mates?”  Ryan and Paul were a lot of fun and a lot of help.  Best of luck to them as they continue on their travels through Turkey.

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With Ryan and Paul at Ephesus

Picking Up and Moving Again

7/18

I left Selçuk yesterday after spending two days there and took a bus to Pamukkale.  I'll be checking out the travertines and ruins of Hierapolis.