new month, new country, new plans!

Ciao.

So I am now in Italy. I met my friend Massimo this morning and am doing practical things while I wait for him to get off work.

I UPDATED SOME OF THE PICTURES! I AM ALSO TRYING TO ADD SOME VIDEOS, but they arenàt there exactly yet! So look backwards. I still need to put pics up from the dead camera though.

Quick update:
After Pag, I was in Plitvice National Park in Croatia. I have since made it to Trieste, Italy where I am staying with my old colleague in Ireland named Massimo. It will be awesome to catch-up with him. He is the first person I have seen from my job in Europe since I left, and the third person on this trip that I knew before I got here. I will be here until either the 4th or 5th when I will be exploring Bologna and Venezia (Venice) with the guidance of my Italian backpacker friend I met in Pamukkale, Turkey! Then the 8th I go to Frankfurt and meet my friends on the 9th for the World Cup!


Some stories:
Last I wrote it was the 2nd day in Pag with Nick and June. That day was a Sunday which just meant that by the time we made it out and about, everything was closed. We had wanted to try some of the famous Pag cheese, paski sir. It is common that people produce this cheese (described in the last entry) in their homes. Some residences have signs up inviting complete strangers to come in and try/buy the cheese and even their wine. We found a sign near Novalja (which is supposedly party central when REAL summer starts). A few minutes later we had a kilo and half of Pag cheese. We ate TONS of it the next days to the point where we were cursing its name!

The next day we had an early wake-up because we wanted to make way towards Plitvice National Park. I have been told by smarter people than I that it is actually Plitvicka Jezera (note: most of the place names I type are missing accents and markings because I type in English mode since I am faster there since Croatian keyboards rearrange their letters. So here the c should have a v-shaped thing on it). Regardless, we made it THERE early and got a some exploring in. We weren't the only ones there though, by far! There were scores and scores of 14 year old Croatians and 60 year old French couples; in Croatia, these two travel together, with no hesitation.

Walking around the parks was beautiful, despite the overcast present that day. Sick of the Pag cheese, we didn't eat too well that day so we actually left late in the afternoon, but not before I got my ass kicked by a 14 year old Croatia girl. When the boat to cross the river came, we were in front of the line. I walked up first and was hoping to get the front row corner seat since it had the best view. Instead, I felt a nudge and then a sudden blow to the kidney and before I realized what happened, I looked up to see her smiling face in the corner seat. I cried the rest of the day.

Later that night we decided that since it was our last night to try to stay somewhere completey off the beaten path, but still with bus/train access for me, and a nice highway for Nick and June to return to Dubrovnik the next day on. We chose, of all places, a town called Gospic. We were the only tourists at all there, and this was not abnormal as it was in Pag since usually tourists are there. This town clearly had suffered from the wars. Large buildings on the main street were abandoned. Bullet holes remained in some of the structures. But after running around to discover the travel times and room rates, we finally settled on a cheap Irish pub to conclude CROATIA 2006!!!! wheeewwwww!!! at. As we drank, the outdoors erupted in what sounded like bombs and gunshots! Instead of ducking for our lives, we joined everyone else in running outside to see what the commotion was all about. There was a fireworks display for a solid 5 minutes celebrating the national championship just achieved by the local girls basketball team. So the night was festive and after saying some difficult goodbyes to Nick and June, I was on a bus at 5:30 am en route to Trieste, where I type.

In Italy, I'm a man without a name! Someone Italianize my name quick!

b-rad


p.s. I don't know the full exacts of what remains in my time in Europe, but here is what I do know.

Vague remaining plan:
*June 1 meet friend in Trieste
*June 2-4 hike with friend near Trieste
June 4/5-7 Venice/Bologna to meet friend i met in Pamukkale, Turkey
**June 8 flight from Venice to Frankfurt
Jun 9 - opening day of World Cup, meet 3 friends in main Frankfurt airport,
pick-up van rental
Jun 10-11 - heading towards Amsterdam in the van. Holland's first match is
the 11th so we want to watch it (on TV) there... We have a hotel booked in Haarlem
Jun 12 - Going to USA vs Czech Republic in Gelsenkirchen!
Jun 13 - probably driving all night the previous night to Berlin to party during Brazil's opener versus CROATIA!
Jun 14-15 - maybe drive towards Prague? These days are undefined
Jun 16 - Try to be in Stuttgart for 2nd Holland game and stay with my
friend(?) or at least hang out
Jun 17 - Going to USA vs Italy in Kaiserslautern
Jun 18 - 2 or 3 friends are returning van to Frankfurt to leave. I'm going to Munich to the Brazil (the biggest partyers) v Australia (the most travelers abroad!) game, and meeting my friend Michael (from IPDPS conference in Greece earlier this trip).
Jun 20s - Croatia again somewhere to see Zvonimir. Definitely Zagreb, perhaps Murter?
July 1 - Denmark arrival?
July 2 - Roskilde Festival near Copenhagen, Denmark
July 6 - Denmark departure to Berlin?
July 9 - world cup final in Berlin
July 9 -12 en route to Frankfurt in Germany. Stop in Hamburg/Minden?
**July 13th I leave from Frankfurt.

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