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Published: March 4th 2007
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I used boats, buses, trains, planes, bicycle and shoe leather.Hello everyone,
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
My adventure is almost over. It is hard to believe that I have been away since early April of last year. In eleven months I have travelled 23,000 km. and that's not counting the plane flight from Canada to Europe and back. I visited twenty-five countries and wore out four pairs of walking shoes. Life on the road is filled with uncertainty--especially when I didn't plan hotels, etc. in advance. It gave me the flexibility to stay longer if I liked the place and leave earlier if I didn't. I wouldn't change a thing! Here are some funny stories that I have collected along the way.
I was in Plovdiv Bulgaria. Even though they have 400,000 people, there is no tourist information and in most cities there are no city maps. I jumped on a bus and asked if they went to "the centre" or to "central." The driver shrugged and so did the attendant who sells tickets. I thought I would recognize the town centre--it is usually obvious--but not this time. I rode for about
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You see all kinds of people travelling with backpacks. These were two Amish girls. 45 minutes through subdivisions and industrial area until the bus finally reached the end of the route. The driver shrugged at me and I said, "central?", his attendant finally said, "centrum!" Okay, I was close. They motioned for me to stay put. I offered to pay for another ticket. They were too busy laughing to take my money. On the way back--another 30 minutes--they dropped me off and I found my way to the middle of town. The next morning, I set out around nine, jumped on the first bus and guess what? Same driver and same attendant. "Centrum!" they both said, amid a handshake from the driver and a hug from the attendant. We were old friends.
There is no consistency between train stations or train tickets. I bought a train ticket for travel a few days later. I always show up early and just go to the ticket counter, show my ticket and ask which platform I should go to. So I said, "I have a ticket for the 10:07 train. Which platform is it?" The agent frowned at my ticket and said, "that isn't the time, that's the date (July 10) your train isn't until 12:30."
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This was "The Film Hotel." The Marilyn mannequin had a fan to blow her dress. The restaurant named its dishes after movies. The rooms were named after film stars and each was decorated with photos of the star. I stayed in the Marlon Brando. Train travel is amazingly efficient. I took a side trip in Germany and had to take three trains. I told the ticket agent that it couldn't be done-- only five or ten minutes between each train. Each transfer there and back was like clockwork. I stepped off one train and on to another. Buses run the same way.
I really like taking night trains. I sleep well, they are economical and I don't lose a day sitting in a stuffy train. Sometimes they collect passports shortly after you board and then hand them back the next morning all nicely stamped. But not always. On one train, they hammered on the door at 4:30. An authoritative voice said, "passport, please." I just got back to sleep when they knocked again to give it back. I just got back to sleep and they hammered again--this time it was the country I was entering that needed to see my passport. At that point I just got out my book and stayed up.
I used local buses. One day in Bratislava a fellow got on the bus with the cutest puppy. I asked if I could pet him. I was squatting
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In Vienna. What a way to earn a living. It's 40C and I'm dressed like Mozart. down, loving him up, getting my face licked when the bus lurched forward. I fell backward on my backside and slid backwards until I finally came to rest against the back row of seats. Some of the stony faced Slovaks even laughed--but then so did I.
Hotels. I have only stayed in expensive hotels when I have been forced to. For example, if I would be arriving late, I booked ahead through a travel agent. They only deal in expensive places, so I would live in luxury for one night, but then move the next day. There is one place that stands out in my mind. The sign said that they had air conditioned rooms. The clerk demonstrated how the air conditioner worked. It was one of those freestanding units in the middle of the room. He explained that the tray would fill up with water and I would have to empty it. No big deal, I thought. What he didn't tell me is that it took only four hours to fill up with the high mid-July humidity. The first night, promptly at 2:00 a.m. an alarm sounded and the room immediately got very warm. In my groggy state
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Damn wig is itchy. I realized that it must be the air conditioner. I got up, balancing the tray of water while juggling a set of keys and trying to get the door open. You guessed it--I had a room with a shared bath. I managed to dump the water, made my way back to my room and got the system working again. At 6:00 a.m. I went through the same routine. During the day I planned my schedule around getting back to my room within four hours to "service" the air conditioner.
You'll see a picture of the tackiest tourist attraction. The tackiest souvenir goes to the Rila Monestary in Bulgaria. This is amazing centuries-old monestary way up in the mountains. The church is ornate and really beautiful. It is not unusual to see candles for sale in churches, but inside the church, right next to the candles they were selling bottles of cold water. The computer-generated label had a picture of one of the icons along with the words in Bulgarian, "Holy Water." I drank the whole thing, but I didn't feel any holier.
The things that I thought would be a problem--getting robbed or ripped off-- hasn't happened beyond
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That's it. Off it comes. Besides, Mozart never wore sunglasses. a couple of dollars. I lost a pencil, broke a few pairs of cheap sunglasses and this winter lost a pairs of gloves. I thought it would be hard to find English language books. Again, not a problem. Some cities have book stores of nothing but English books. I was concerned about getting sick. A one-day cold is about it. However, I didn't expect to get as tired as I did. I learned to slow down my schedule--one tour or museum per day instead of trying to see everything. After I arrived in Bratislava it was more than two weeks before I felt normal. I had no idea I was so exhausted. My biggest challenge on the road? Laundry. Laundermats don't seem to exist in Europe. I got in the habit of rinsing out things every day, but sometimes things got pretty grungy.
Some final thoughts. I discovered that people aren't much different anywhere you go. They might do things differently, but deep down we are pretty much all the same. Most people are pleasant and helpful. Most people are proud of their countries no matter what kind of shape their country is in. I am so grateful to
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Elvis isn't dead or living in Tweed. He is busking on a street in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. the women in Eastern Europe who welcomed me into their homes and their lives. I learned so much. I am grateful to the many people who stopped to help a confused traveller with directions. I am even more grateful to the ones who went well out of their way to personally take me to my destination. I am even more grateful to the young men who took me to my destination and carried my suitcase as well!
Many people here are interested in the heritage of Canadians, Americans and Australians. They explain that they are Polish or Dutch and no matter how far back you go, they are still the same nationality. They find it fascinating that most of us are a mixture of many things. The way they is ask is similar to the way we ask what breed someone's dog is. The most common question that I had as a Canadian was how Canadians and Americans got along. Second most common question? "What's with the French?"
I have learned to admire the resilience of the human spirit. I can't imagine ever being the same after living through three years of daily bombing. This is what happened
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This young couple let me play with their dogs. The puppy on her lap (five weeks old) is a mountain dog and will be the size of a Newf. to the people of St. Petersburg. They boiled their shoes for food. They ate their family pets. They watched their children die of starvation. But they never even considered giving up.
How do you start to re-build your city when there is nothing left to re-build? This is what happened to the people of Warsaw. 80% of their city was levelled. Instead of giving up, they said, "where do we start to get our home back?"
I have started to understand national pride. Imagine waking up one morning and being told that your politicians had agreed to move your borders. Forget the nationality that you grew up with--you are something else now. As a Canadian, I can't even imagine that and we don't have a thousand years of history behind us.
After seeing so many cemeteries and memorials, I appreciate the sacrifices of so many young lives in the name of war. Somehow I don't care which side they fought on.
I feel great gratitude for living in a country that has never been under air attack. Imagine not knowing whether your home would be there the next day.
I am grateful for living in
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At a bus station in a village in Bulgaria. This old dear ran the washroom. Note the roll of toilet paper in the tree. Her customers walked down a trail to an outhouse. a country that the rest of the world respects. These days it is hard to be an American in Europe.
I am glad to live in a society that supports volunteer community work. There is virtually none of this in eastern Europe. They either don't understand the concept or can't imagine doing something without payment. One person told me that she was told to take her volunteer experience off her resume because European employers thought that she wasn't too bright if she got talked into doing something for nothing.
I am glad we have a distinctive flag. My flag pin and suitcase sticker has been a door-opener for some great conversations. Mind you, when people just wanted to talk to me about immigrating, I wish I had left the pin at home!
I am glad to be heading home and starting the next chapter of my life in my new home in Kingston. I'll be flying out this Tuesday, March 6.
Thank you to everyone for following my adventure.
Bye for now,
Donna
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gary
non-member comment
holier?
i suggest that water indeed made you holier. your last entry is the perfect prayer for lent. go figure :-)