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07/20 Burgen, Norway
11/28  Pamukkale, Turkey
08/05 Salzburg, Austria
09/11 Milan, Italy
09/10 Portofino, Italy
09/30  Freiberg, Germany
08/01 Gloriette, Vienna Austria
12/02  Istanbul, Turkey
06/28 Bodo, Norway
08/14 Heidelberg, Germany
09/26  Frankfurt, Germany
10/27  Matala, Crete Greece
11/06  Nikolaos, Greece
10/11  Pompeii, Italy
09/12 Lausanne, Switzerland

07/20 Burgen, Norway

I wandered through the station lingering on familiarities.  It’s amazing how routines destroyed time and sped things up.  There were so many unexpected avenues, detours, new faces and outright pleasures that it seemed as if it had been months since I left here, not days.  I got talking up with a couple on the train that had been reading the same travel guide and discovered out we were going in the same directions. 

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11/28 Pamukkale, Turkey

Walked up one of the local hills and watched the sun rise over the valley.  Then I took a trek back to the pools to get a few pictures without people climbing all over in them.  They were so beautiful and unique.  Shallow petal shaped pools with large expanses that had the texture and the look of snow.  I expected the crunch of snow but was met with the resistance of rock.  I sat alongside them for rest of the morning, just day dreamed and enjoyed the view.

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08/05 Salzburg, Austria

First words out of Jim mouth were a story about last night’s kiss and he presented it in such a way as if it was supposed to disturb me.  He had the idea I was interested in a particular lady and as the night wore on, that he had won the war.  I explained first that we are not in a competition, second I had no interest in either of the young women or I wouldn’t have retired alone early and third that he was an asshole to even consider it.

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09/11 Milan, Italy

I found a good cup of coffee on the square in front of the Duomo, sat there and caught up on my journal while I watched Milan wake up around me.  The morning light danced past its arches onto the adjacent building.  It was a breathtaking sight, absolutely gorgeous, a very unique structure.  I spent some time queuing inside and then sat along the edges of the square.  I discovered an excellent restaurant just not far from the Duomo and relaxed to a bottle of wine. 

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09/10 Portofino, Italy

We traveled into Cote D’azur, then into San Remo.  The weather was just perfect.  It couldn’t have been any better with the white sand, blue water and cypresses dancing in the breeze.  Another day beckoned us to swim.  We stopped off in Ventimilia in search for an open bank.  There too we hung around the waterfront and just let the days slip away.  We arrived in Genova late one night and ran into a bit of difficulty locating a room.  This is par for the course. 

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09/30 Freiberg, Germany

I found a gorgeous room in Fribourg that overlooked the main square that surrounded the church.  It had a lovely café out front and was an ideal location to watch foot traffic and to catch up on my journal.  There was a gentleman who showed up playing the harmonica and really put on a show.  Talk about envy, “I wish I could play like that”. 

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08/01 Gloriette, Vienna Austria

One thing was for certain, I needed a shower.  Sleeping out with element guarantees one thing, we were up early, so we took advantage and started searching for a room.  Luckily we found a room in the area that accommodated our needs, but we couldn’t check in until later that afternoon, so we reserved a room.  They were kind enough to watch our bags, allow us to scamper off and tour the city. 

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12/02 Istanbul, Turkey

We continued munching on nuts up to the entrance to the Topkapi Palace, the heart of the Ottoman Empire.  I naturally avoided the circumcision room.  I was very impressed with the jewels on display.  The sultan’s armor had diamonds and emeralds the size of baseballs.  I have a lot of respect for somebody who can step on battle field with jewelry of that value and not get raped.  We crammed a lot into one day and I was dead on my feet so we didn’t wander far from our hotel to find food. 

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06/28 Bodo, Norway

I picked up a pair of apples and a few candy bars for the trek, while Jim checked the train schedules.  “Track four, ready to go” said Jim.  After a minute or two with no train, it dawned on me that Jim most likely misread the schedules and picked the wrong platform.  I retrieved the schedule from Jim’s bag, “I’ll hold the bags, you go check platform six” I bluntly stated.  In the tunnel between the platforms I could hear Jim’s echo, “Its going!!” 

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08/14 Heidelberg, Germany

It was a perfect day for drinking beer.  We found shade within the Hafbrouhaus.  While we downed a few beers alongside a couple of pretzels, our waitress dropped a hand full of mugs behind me and they shattered on the floor.  A few pieces of glass had jumped up and cut her ankle.  Since I’m a man, it was  my job was to rescue her.  I picked her up to the humming of the crowd and carried her into the kitchen.  They brought Jim and me a free beer. 

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09/26 Frankfurt, Germany

With all the time I’ve been spending on trains I started to find it difficult to sleep without the cluttering of wheel against rail.  I had an address of a hostel in Frankfurt that somebody had suggested along the way.  It was late and dark when I reached Frankfurt and I didn’t have the best luck making sense of the piece of paper I was carrying. 

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10/27 Matala, Crete Greece

With the birth of a new day we began to head back to fetch our bags from the hotel.  Beyond all odds we managed to fit all of us and all the baggage into one cab.  Two of us had to lie across laps in the back seat.  Our taxi driver slid in an eight-track and we were off to the airport.  I found it odd that the stewardess confiscated only the US passports and then forced us to sit in specific seats, “the American” section.  I guess in case of hijacking that would better protect the locals.  I believed my eyes closed for just a second but when they opened we were landing in Crete.

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11/06 Nikolaos, Greece

I woke to the sound of wind that seemed to be gaining strength.  It sounded like cats crying in the distance but no, it was closer.  I went out onto the balcony and noticed two of our lady friends down in the street trying to get somebody’s attention.  Apparently the door was locked and they had no key.  We had an early boat and needed to get moving.  Elspeth discovered her girlfriend never made it back from last night and she presumed she may have gotten lucky.  Either way she wasn’t going to hop on the ferry without her, so we left the two behind.

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10/11 Pompeii, Italy

I rose early to get a head start on the tourists and encountered a thief with a taxi.  Once we reached Pompeii he tried to double then rate we agreed on.  I wouldn’t give him a dime more so the argument continued until I was imposing on his next victim.  A few impolite gestures and more than a few choice works as he sped off.  I looked around and noticed I was the only person wandering about the ruins but it was still early in the day, which was kind of a weird feeling.  After about an hour or so I saw another individual and then two young men wandered up to me and inquired if I had any hash to sell.

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09/12 Lausanne, Switzerland

I enjoyed traveling on trains through the darkness of those mountains.  When there was nothing else to do and I was tired of writing, I just stared at the passing shadows from the darkness of my compartment.  I reached Lausanne early in the morning and walked into some confusion.  Apparently the airport in Paris was on strike and that had a domino effect across Europe.  Every form of information service had a line leading out its door.  I noticed a young Finnish girl waiting in one of those lines. 

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