vagranting

it’s no secret that i’ve run into so problems with technology on this trip, but this is the big one. my laptop just went out of warranty last month, and now the fan has broken. this is a very bad thing. to put it bluntly — no fan = computer melts, burns my lap. a laptop fan unfortunately has to be replaced with anther one which will fit the particular brand a make of laptop, this is no costly item, it’s just nowhere to be found near me and i don’t really have the ability to wait a week for shipping.

so, the show goes on. we’re tyring to work out a solution so that i can still do the work i promised to do somehow before i get back home, but (sadly) don’t expect any new photos until then. the itinery continues as originally planned, minus switzerland because of the high expense.

on recent locales: budapest was lovely, similar to prague, but with it’s character. vienna was a little dull, but perhaps i was just in the wrong places? venice was like the most beautiful maze ever designed.

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just saw the bourne ultimatum and it was excellent. i have to say it felt pretty cool to have visited every city in the film, bar turin, italy (and taken a lot of the same journeys too). actually turin is pretty much on the way from rome to zermatt, switzerland. hmm…

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i am presently in prague, with one day left before heading to budapest. i’m feeling about 300% more optimistic than when i wrote the last post. but before i get to that: what’s happened since then? well, after being ravaged by all the mosquitoes in milan, i flew and german railed my way to berlin.

berlin was fantastic. i got to meet the korean side of the family for the first time, which was wonderful. my second cousin soo-youn and my grand uncle and grant aunt were extremely gracious hosts, making me feel very at ease and welcome immediately. i couldn’t have had a better time — such a contrast from being sick and alone and wanting to go home. it was also the first time in six months that i’ve been in a car, which felt oddly unfamiliar after so long. i’m really looking forward to seeing them again in switzerland.

my time in prague has been unproductive, but relaxing — so not entirely wasted. i was wary after my experience in morocco, so i wasn’t sure what to expect from my first eastern european city. thankfully, it’s turned out to be very safe, clean and orderly. there’s a very good public transit, it’s affordable and of course, also gorgeous. the only thing it could do without is the throngs of tourists, crowded like vultures around every landmark, but then of course i’m not really being part of the solution. i shall put up some pictures soon. i’ve also heard good things about hungary, so i’m very much looking forward to that too.

italy looks to be the tricky part, as even in my short stay in milan i got to experience the frustration of italian disorganisation and slow-service. i waited in line for a bus ticket to the airport for 25 minutes (missing one bus) only to be told when i got to the counter that they didn’t take credit cards for airport bus tickets, despite having signage for major credit cards right on the service window! venice in particular seems ludicrously difficult and expensive to stay overnight, so i am looking into staying outside and making a day trip in. anyhow, we shall come to that problem as it needs resolving.

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let me begin by saying this: i really want to go home right now. in fact, i have felt this way for the last week or so. as glamorous as backpacking around europe may sound, the reality is far less appealing than the fantasy. forever underslept, the countless hours spent waiting in airports, train stations and bus stations, having to negotiate a new transport system, maybe even a new language, every couple of days — it gets old.

that being said, i realise that i’m at the last stretch, and as such, new factors are being brought into play — my funds, patience, enthusiasm and immune system are at an all time low. things which wouldn’t have bothered me so much before are now grating on my nerves. having 25 euros for a week’s food is no fun either.

of course, i realise if i were to leave now (even if it were possible), i would later regret it. there is still 5 weeks left to see some amazing cities and have new experiences — hopefully even a decent coffee!

anyhow, the point of this post was not to whine (although i needed to get it off my chest), but to fill you in on some of the stranger experiences of the last few weeks. so without further ado, here are a few things which stick in my mind in the surreal category:

• walking some kilometres to the only open restaurant, then ordering an cheeseless anchovie pizza by sheer ineptitude in reading foreign menus.
• having to eating at mcdonalds because everything else is shut on weekends.
• being woken by a homeless person, after passing out on a public statue in barcelona. then finding out that said homeless person killed a bus load of people in mozambique by drink driving. giving the homeless person some coins and running away.
• communicating through hand gestures alone with a very chatty spanish hotel proprietor. then being over charged by said proprietor but unable to communicate effectively enough to complain.
• wandering, zombie-like around neighborhoods for hours without aim but to kill time, in a stupor of tiredness (in multiple cites).
• recovering from food poisoning, deciding to buy something safe and light, like bread. then buying a loaf filled with exotic cured meats by mistake.
• being kept awake on a late night bus ride by a samuel jackson film, dubbed in spanish, played at the volume of a small aircraft.

also, my final itinerary is now set: berlin, prague, budapest, vienna, venice, florence, (possibly piza,) rome, dublin, london, hong kong — home!

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