CompuServe Messages

to anyone who gives a toss <g>, just so I don't get into digressions about my (slightly) megatrip/vacation in obviously inappropriate sections of the forum, I thought I'd mention it here. I'm back in a hotel room in Southern California, looking for a more permanent home, following a 5 week, 10 country, ~6000 mile, overland jaunt around Europe – gosh my feet are tired <G>. Starting in frigid England and having visited family and friends (yes, I still have a few there) we set off for warmer climates. Travelling by boat, train, bus, and tree frog, we wreaked havoc in Belguim, Amsterdam (Netherlands), Mannheim (Germany), Innsbruck (Austrian alps), Brindisi (Heel of Italy), Corfu (North-West Greece), Rome (Italy), Nice (French Riviera), Barcelona (North East Spain, close to Southern France), Interlaken (Swiss alps), Paris (you tell me?), Ashford (Gateway to not yet open to the public "channel tunnel") and Sheffield (family home in England). Phew, I'm exhausted and will require at least another month off to recuperate and become fully, like way, laid back in SoCal again. We slept, for the most part, on trains, in cheap hotels or youth hostel type accommodations. Although, we could have afforded better I suppose, we found we'd meet far more interesting people that way (and we surely did). Plus, I'm much happier sleeping in a room full of strange, but friendly men and women, than paying 5-10 times more to be isolated from the riff-raff. One small complaint: the beds were mostly those damned metal spring things that sag in the middle – I'd rather sleep on a board or the floor, in fact we put the mattresses on the floor in Rome rather than endure the discomfort. I learnt a new sport. It's practised by international business travellers and backpackers alike: "international name-dropping". This is where you have a conversation and get "points" for throwing in the names of as many unusual and impressive destinations as possible in a seamless and natural way. The winner is the one who impresses his opponent so much that they admit defeat by saying something like: "Gosh, my travels seem so insignificant compared to yours." I found out I was quite good at this and proved a worthy adversary, even to new-age, English academics who seem to spend 6-months of the year travelling. Tough to beat people with that kind of advantage. Michele Bousquet would probably be a major player <g>. Favourite city: Barcelona. It's reasonably good value (though not as good as 1980), vibrant and safe street-life at night, architecturally astounding with it's modernist and gothic buildings (Gaudi's work is mind-blowing), good food with a variety of paella's (rice dishes) and bocadillo's (french bread sandwiches – thanks for the tip, Ana) even for a vegetarian. Runner-up: Rome. An interesting historical building or monument around every corner, most-likable and funny people. Least favourite city: Amsterdam (permissiveness gone amuck – massive drug and prostitution cultures). My wife hated it and insisted on leaving after just one night – possibly something to do with stumbling in on a gay-orgy in our youth-hostel dormitory room. But being frequently and legally offered heroine and 20 varieties of hashish may have soured things too. We had some good moments, though, and I probably would have liked it a lot more 10 years ago. I think we stayed in the wrong part of town <g>. Runner-up: Paris. Exhorbitant prices, but otherwise quite interesting. Favourite mountains: Swiss alps. Switzerland is rumoured to be very expensive but we did OK by staying in a great, inexpensive youth hostel in Interlaken and walking everywhere else. We hiked up from Lauterbrunnen to the North Face of the Eiger and it's glacier, then down to Grindelwald. Approximately a 15-20 mile hike with 6000 feet ascent and descent – smokers should take the train <g>. Best of vacation: Corfu, Greece. This is a great island for package tourists and backpackers alike, although we tried to avoid the former. September was a good time, since July and August supposed to be insane with moped and scooter noise driving you to distraction. The sea on the west coast is warm and very clear and is widely considered to have the most beautiful beaches in the Med – I won't disagree. I noticed a lack of large numbers of fish and wildlife – I think the Corfiots (locals) have caught/shot and eaten most of them. The prices are good value and probably the second best in the Med, after Turkey, except that car, motorcycle, and boat rental was more than America (although OK for the Med area). We stayed in double rooms: one was really nice with own bathroom and shared kitchen for about $12, one was less good but made up with an elevated, panoramic view of east and west coasts; and it was in a real greek-village (Pelekas), with real people – it cost a mere $9 per night (shared bathroom, no kitchen facilities). I hope I haven't waffled too much, but remember, this is after all the Take 5 section. Martin