Week 29: Ugh

It's weeks like this that redefine homesickness.

13/10
So I planned on getting my new glasses in Genova on Monday but
apparently most places are closed on Mondays there. I had to go to
Fiumara, a mall quite a distance from the city centre to find an open
glasses shop but luckily I was able to order a pair and they were
ready for me on Wednesday. Obviously losing my glasses in the first
place bummed me out but then having to stay in Genova for more days
than I had planned and having to shell out a fair chunk of change for
a new pair of glasses didn't help.

After I had ordered them I decided to walk back a different way than I
had taken to get there. That's a really stupid idea when you're not
familiar with the city and your map doesn't cover the area you're in.
I finally came across a metro stop which had a map in it. So I after
I misread the map I decided to head up a street which was definitely
not the street I wanted but I followed it to the end anyway. At the
end there was a trail leading past gardens going up the hill. It's
common for there to be steps leading up the hills for walkers instead
of following the significantly less steep road. But these steps
quickly turned into a trail. The prospect of a small nature hike
lifted my spirits and I held onto the belief (and still do) that if I
continued up I'd eventually come to another road. However, when I
heard cautionary grunting up the hill I got a little scared. But it
wasn't on the path, so I continued some more steps. Then there was
some movement in the bushes and grunts up ahead of me. At that point
images of being impaled by boar's tusk on a trail in Genova filled my
head, so I turned tail and scrambled back down the path the way I
came. I eventually returned to the metro, gave in and bought a ticket
back.

14/10
Despite the fun the evening before losing my glasses, forgetting my
Nalgene bottle on the train, the cost of new glasses and getting no
reply from Brian at Can Masdeu (place I plan on visiting in
Barcelona), I was definitely feeling depressed. I wandered around the
city center some more and visited their very old light house which
allowed for some nice photos.

15/10
The best old buildings are the ones without tourists. I wasn't
picking up my glasses until later in the evening, so I went hiking in
the hills behind the hostel which have several abandoned castles.

I was at the highest peak at noon which was pretty cool because the
noon bells from the surrounding churches floated up together (there's
a lot of churches).

I'm might be gutsy, stupid or both but it seemed like a good idea to
walk into an area where there was a hunting party. I figured the
worst that would happen was that they'd tell me to go back but they
didn't seem to care and I passed other hikers in the area. Although I
could have been mistaken for a Sasquatch I felt confident that I
wouldn't be shot.

The next fun experience happened when I returned to the hostal. I was
approaching the doors from one direction and two cops were approaching
from the other. I guess because I look like a shifty terrorist they
stopped me and tried to question me. This is tough to do when I don't
speak Italian and they don't speak English. Eventually one of them
continued into the hostal and one waited with me. The whole time I
was cool because I knew I hadn't done anything but when he asked for
my "documento" I got a little uneasy. That's all I needed, some cop
stealing my passport. But I gave it to him and he returned it after
looking it over. A few minutes later the other cop returned with a
cook who I assume called them. She took one look at me and then
seemed to tell them I was not the one they wanted. I think she said
something about three people loitering about playing instruments. So,
I continued into the hostal, dropped off my camera and set out for
Fiumara to get my glasses.

Happily, they were ready when i arrived. They're definitely not as
good as my last pair but I was in a jam and to buy something. But I
can see!

It was back up to the hostal to grab my bags and then down to the port
to board the ferry for Barcelona.

I ran into Eric, an American I had met in Torino, so it was nice to
have somebody to talk with on the 18 hour trip.

16/10
Got to Barcelona at 14:30 and headed for my hostal. Eric was going to
stay with his cousin who was renting an apartment for a few weeks with
another friend.

I didn't figure I'd seem them again but ran into them a couple hours
later at the market when I was some dinner, so I hung around with them
for the evening. We went to a couple bars and got fairly pissed.

17/10
I wandered around Barcelona and saw some pretty parks and La Sagrada
Familia which is pretty impressive. Then I went to Juicy Jones, the
only vegan restaurant in Barcelona. It's very similar to Fresh in
Toronto and it was nice to have full vegan meal compared to my recent
diet of bread, apples, and celery.

The guys met me at the hostal and we joined the Flamenco and tapas
tour hosted by the hostal. The flamenco band was awesome; I could
have watched that all evening but it was only a half hour. The "tour"
continued and turned into a crawl and I got more and more pissed. We
were given a stamp to get us into a disco later that night but when I
wandered off on my own trying to get there I got lost.

The rest of my night was spent trying to orientate myself to get back
to the hostal while fending off prostitutes.

But the event of the night was when I was I robbed. I don't even
remember how it started but some guy was walking with me acting all
friendly. He was chatting to me about something and I was still
trying to walk back to the hostal but obviously he was sizing me up
because, all of a sudden, his hand is in my pocket going for my
wallet. He pushed me to the ground and I got some scrapes but I
lunged for him and he threw my wallet on the ground after getting the
money out of it. It could have been a lot worse. All I lost was the
cash; still have my cards.

I suppose it sobered me up a bit because I continued on without
anymore hassle and got to the hostal.

18/10
I'm really getting sick of hangovers and definitely need to curtail my
drinking habit.

But I headed over to Can Masdeu; Brian emailed me the day before, so
I'm psyched for that.

It's a bit intimidating because there are so many residents (25
adults) and Spanish is the language of choice (which I don't speak).

On a completely different note, the best movie title I have ever seen
is Sexykiller, a movie in theatres here, and judging by that title, it
may be the best movie ever.

Still alive,
Kasza

Sent from my iPod

Week 28: Six Months Already?!?

Ya, so I'm horrible at updating this blog consistently these days
(then again my friends' blogs are more stagnant than mine). It's
mostly because it doesn't feel like anything noteworthy or interesting
is happening. Anyway, I shall cover what has happened in the last two
weeks since I left Earthworm/England.

I attempted to travel directly to Geneva in one day but due to
multiple train delays I was stuck in Paris for the night. I figured
I'd go to the same hostel as last time but being as I got there
slightly late (9pm), they were full. I rented a locker for the night
and dumped my bag, planning on strolling the city until I had to
return to the train station at 6am. I only made it to about 2am until
I was too tired/bored and headed back to the hostel hoping to hang out
in the dining room for a few hours. They did me one better and let me
crash out on the bench in the lobby, so I got a few hours sleep.

I arrived in Geneva later that day with no more hassles and headed
over to Clos Voltaire which is a student house that accepts coach
surfers. I was lucky enough to hook up with them through a friend of
Cath's. Unfortunately, I missed a killer party that night as the lack
of sleep caught up with me. I knew it was through a combination of
hearing the Russians talking outside my door at 4am and seeing people
still milling about at 9am when I got up.

I decided to check out the UN while I was in town but two buildings
devoted to international burocracy is hardly intestring. In
retrospect I don't really know what I was expecting.

From Geneva I headed to Rabten Choeling which is Buddhist monastery/
Tibetan learning centre situated on Mont Pelerin overlooking Lake
Geneva. It was absolutely beautiful there. Basically all I did for
that week was read books on Buddhism and hike around. A very chill
and enjoyable week. The leaves started turning while I was there and
it snowed in the mountains across the lake which just added to the
beauty.

I've just finished two days in Bern which is almost eerily clean and
pristine (all of the buildings look like they were just painted the
day before I arrived and there's not a speck of dirt on them. I guess
that cleanliness, not to mention technology (museum doors are sensored
to open as you approach) comes at a price; namely admission to all
galleries and museums was always over ten francs (too steep for me).

I'd say the highlight of Bern was going to see The Dark Knight
(despite the"reduced" admission of 12 francs); soooo good. I was
ready to run around and beat up Bern's criminals when I got out of the
theater but I couldn't find any, so I just went back to the hostel.

I crossed over into Italy mid-week and now after spending two days
each in Torino and Roma, I'm heading back north up to Genova. Torino
is a suprisingly large city (especially after being in Bern), so
there was a lot of walking. But I got to go to their museum of
cinema which was pretty wicked (regular museums get tedious pretty
quickly, so it was nice to be at one which was different). If you
ever end up in Torino/Italy, I highly recommend going there, at the
least just to see the exquisite building.

Halfway along the train ride down the coast from Torino to Rome I
peered past the sand and watched the sea for a bit. As I was doing so,
I noticed two objects bobbing in the water. I quickly realized these
objects were human heads and a couple hundred meters later I saw other
people in bathing suits, in and out of water, and I realized the
significance of this: it's hot enough to swim! Ah, southern Europe,
I'm happy to make your acquaintance.

I have had two beautiful days in Roma, enjoyed good company and went
out each night. In that lies the problem; I got unnecessarily trashed
on the Friday night and while dancing like an idiot at the bar, my
glasses flew off my face not once but twice. The second time we were
unable to find them, so I have to buy a new pair of glasses now. I
have pair of contacts (dailies) which I'll wear until I'm able to a
glasses store in Genova (most stores are closed on Sundays in Europe,
especially Roma).

It seems like the tourists outnumber the natives which gets a bit
taxing but the sights are quite beautiful, so I grinned and beared it
(now, if I lived there, I'd probably shoot somebody: me or them).

I'm wrote this on a train and emailing it from front of a cafe. I
don't think I'll have a chance to upload photos for a week or two, so
they'll have to wait.

Peace,
Kasza

Sent from my iPod