Vincenzo pulled up at the roundabout, I chucked the bag in the boot, and we're off for Milan. The journey begins here. It's a sweltering 32C and the car has no air conditioning, but we stop for a few breaks on the road, where I get a beer and he gets a fag. By 7pm, we reach Milan and easily find the hotel above Rolling Stone, after some seriously dodgy parking! Then down to a local brewery to get some buffet dinner and fresh tasty beer, like you can't find in France. Then off to see Gogol Bordello in the Milan [View Full Entry]

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Lvov, Ukraine, 22nd October, 06:00 Up early to get tomorrow evening's budget flight from Warsaw to Belfast. I have to make it over the EU border and cross the entire length of Poland today. Fortunately I shored up on food at the supermarket yesterday. I leave some money for Marusha and a quick note in a napkin (I can guarantee that girl doesn't get the reward she deserves for all her hard work) and then walk up to Lvov station, bag on back, in the cold dawn air. At the station, they're forming my train, and I wait patiently by while [View Full Entry]

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The train pulled into Lvov at about 6.30 and I headed for the hostel on foot, hoping to check in and possibly catch a nap. Unfortunately, Marushka was asleep when I arrived, so I cruised the internet for a while, went to an orthodox mass downtown and was about to take a nap when a couple of people arrived at reception, also looking for Marushka. Failing to find her, we decided to have breakfast at a local hotel, which was free for them. Breakfast was a bit of traditional food, plus some coffee and we asked for a beer each as [View Full Entry]

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Arrival, couchsurfing and check-in The train pulled up in Odessa at dawn, disturbing my sleep. Exhaused, I headed upstairs to the station waiting room, paid the 3 glivna entrance fee and fell asleep on the comfy chairs for several more hours. Then back downstairs, for some negotiating to get my bag into left luggage. And then into town for some breakfast. I'm supposed to be meeting Katerina to have my first couch-surfing experience at 3 pm. Until then, I walk the town, seeing the important stuff, having some breakfast, coffee and lunch at the various places. There's a lot of restaura [View Full Entry]

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October 17th - Arrival and meeting Jason The train arrived really early in the morning, at about 6am, before dawn in Sevastopol. Fortunately, the town bus starts early and as per-Jason's text I made my way to Malahov Korgahan, where he has got out of bed to meet me, and we headed back for some more sleep, followed by breakfast. He took the afternoon off, I sleep for the morning, and we head out to Balaklava on a series of Mashrutkas after lunch time. This was the first warm sunny day I'd seen since Slovenia, where I'd lost my sunglasse [View Full Entry]

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October 15th - Trip, arrival and homecoming Down to the station on the double and onto the morning express to DP. Apparently the Ukrainian version of an express train is simply one which runs during the day with really uncomfortable seats, because it doesn't seem any faster or slower than the usual night trains. I have rather a lot of difficulty with my seat, its not written obviously on my ticket and my understanding of Russian isn't great. I asked the original doorman by making a seat with my hands, and he told me what I thought meant 15. Turns out [View Full Entry]

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Saturday 13th October, arrival and Kyiv The overnight train pulled in at half-seven and we walked out to the sound of military marching music into the mighty, marble-vaulted voxhall of Kyiv. Time to get some breakfast, but first I spend an hour arguing with the staff at the station's left luggage while I try to off-load my bags. Eventually it works, and I head down the road, getting some local porridge (eurgh) and pancakes (mmm) for breakfast. Then a walk around the botanical gardens, the university district, the government district and down past the stadium, wandering in the cold mo [View Full Entry]

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The Journey to Lvov I just about made the train in Krakow and had a pretty uncomfortable journey to the border town of Przemsyl. The small carriage was packed for the 4 and a half hour journey. The atmosphere was imposed by the guy sitting beside me, a massive man with ape-like features who was listening to bad techno on cheap headphones at maximum volume. He was rigid with sitting legs splayed out, and his heavy breathing filled the carriage. In his shadow sat two old ladies, and facing us sat 3 upright, very conservatively dressed, clean, neat and obviously religious [View Full Entry]

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11th October - Journey and Evening The journey was everything you'd imagine from an Eastern European train. The train moved slowly to Krakow and two old men filled the car with smoke as I slept. Arriving in Krakow, I tried, but failed to find the hostel Aga recommended. Fortunately, I met a fellow backpacker who recommended me to the best hostel I encountered on the whole trip, called Momotown in the Jewish Quarter. After check-in and a quick chat to a friendly Aussie traveller in my room, I gave Amadeus a call and accepted the job in Nice. This required me [View Full Entry]

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8th October - Arrival Evening In true Polish style, myself and Aga headed straight for the pub, since the train to Gliwice wasn't for another hour. It was good to meet again, and Aga's English was pretty-much perfect thanks to a two year stint in Newcastle. In fact, she'd even picked up a hilarious Georgie accent on a few words :) After a nice beer and a status update, we headed back to the station and on a rickety old train to Gliwice, where we walked down to the dorms. This was an experience in itself, I hadn't stayed in student [View Full Entry]

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