Back in Dublin.....back to the States tomorrow

Greetings. We are back in Dublin where this whole adventure began almost two months ago! We had to drop in for a quick internet stop, so that we could get proper directions to our hostel for tonight. Our flight leaves tomorrow at 2:30pm Dublin time.......following an 9 hr. flight and a 5 hr. time change....we'll get into Chicago at 4:30.

We ended up chilling in our nice apartment in Waterford for the remainder of our time in Ireland. There was a deal for staying three nights.....and we just couldn't pass on that. We were warned that Galway was in the midst of a horse race that would leave us with a very busy city and no place to stay. Other places to visit didn't pique our fancy enough to stray from the comfort of our apt. On our last day, we did venture out a little more. We toured the Waterford Crystal Factory. It was pretty interesting and apparently world famous. If it weren't one of the only things to do in Waterford, we may have passed...but...as it was....it passed the time, and it was nice to do something touristy again. We didn't purchase any of the outrageously expensive crystal, although my grandma said she may have some....which I will promptly put my claim on upon returning. We went out to a movie in the evening.....the winner of the Cannes film festival....."The Wind that Shakes the Barley". It is about the struggle for Irish independence....couldn't have asked for a more fitting flick....and it was pretty good. We did talk about a few things that make a film festival winner afterwards (things this movie had).....1)end at a weird moment 2)no corny lines 3)plenty of loose ends. Dave and I are both looking forward to watching Miami Vice when we get back...probably not a quality flick...but the kind that gets the blood pumpin'......and the kind I usually prefer.

After the movie, we prepared a hodge-podge Indian dish (noodles, Pad Thai sauce, fried egg, string beans, pineapple, and onion). We feasted over "The Truman Show," which was on the tube. A good night's sleep.......train ride to Dublin......that pretty much catches you up.

We will now track down our hostel....waste away the day....get up tomorrow.....bus to the airport....and fly back to the States. Can't wait to see all of my friends and family again! 'Til then....much love. Josh

It's raining, it's pouring....it's Ireland!

Last post was from the sauna/internet cafe in Rennes.....I'll catch you up from there. We took a train to Roscoff (our port city). First stop was to Irish Ferries to buy our ferry ticket....which was a whopping 75 euro....100 dollarsish....which is outrageous for a ferry....Irish ferries is by far the most expensive and worst ferry company we have encountered. Second goal was to pass the time away until our ferry left.....a day later at 7:00pm. We......hit the public library (to read our own books...since all of theirs were in French).....watched a cheesy Christian music concert (husband and wife) at a local church....strolled the streets.... We slept outside in a park by the ocean to save some bucks. It got cold and a little wet (dew)...but, it wasn't too shabby. In the morning, we spent time in a little cafe to warm up and pass time. Hit the public library again....Dave got his haircut while I sunned by the pier. A grocery store stop before the boat finished up our time. I indulged in soem peanut butter and jelly. Peanut butter is not a european thing (exception being Holland)...so...a small jar of Jiffy ran me like 5 bucks...but....pb and j on a nice french baguette rocked pretty hard.

The ferry was pretty standard. We snuck into the DaVinci Code movie that was playing in the theatre. It was good....but....a different experience when you've read that book....steals some of the suspense. We slept in a hallway (foot passenger rates are cheaper...and come without a "real" place to sleep. In the morning, our class difference was emphasized by the small child passing and telling his dad...."hey dad....they don't have a cabin". Ferries may provide one of the best modern obvious class distinctions.....I guess planes are another......long distance travel in general maybe. It wasn't too bad.....way over-priced....but....we slept fine....and awoke in Rosslare.

In Rosslare, I enjoyed some authentic fish 'n chips in a portion large enough to feed a small army....or a hungry backpacker......it was good...although, I still think that Long John Silver's rocks pretty hard in comparison. We then visited our old friend Martin (you may remember him from an early post). He was thrilled to see us.....spoiled us with another "spot 'o tea (tay)"....more drawings of boats (he was drawing when we came in)....and some cute Irish pins he had purchased from a good cause of some kind. He is a trip....a real Irish bumpkin....and exemplary of the Irish hospitality we have enjoyed along the way since.

The furthest we could make it yesterday was to Waterford....not very far inland but better than nothing. The train was replaced by a van due to low turnout. I really enjoyed the ride. We got to see the Irish countryside and pass through some quaint small towns. On the bus we met a guy who was heading to visit his parents......who turned out to be a huge help. He found out we didn't have a place to stay (a situation made dire by the rain). So.....he had his mom drive us to a B&B and a hotel. The B&B was the reasonable option at around 42 bucks a night...but still high for us. We hit a grocery store to get a bite...and ask about other options. The store was getting ready to close...and gave us free dibs at any leftover bread items (we each got two small loaves....a muffin...a pastry)...and recommended a place right behind the store. The place....something Manor.....is student apts that are empty now due to summer. We paid around 30 dollars each......and expected something fairly drab. We were led upstairs to a fully furnished pad with a bedroom for each of us......and each bedroom has its own bathroom and shower! We have TV (in English!)......pots and pans......it's just ultra-sweet. So....we slept in before assessing how to tackle our last few days. It is still raining.....we are getting the true Irish experience.....which makes backpacking just a drag (I have a raincover for my pack that helps...but....'tis still a big pain)....so....we will stay at the posh pad again tonight before making it to Galway via train tomorrow. We will then have one day/night in Galway.....return to Dublin (we have our hostel reserved there already)...and fly home on Tues. It is tough to see Ireland in our typical quick-stop manner, because the public transportation is not equal to that of the mainland unfortunately. However, we are both ready to head home...and not overly disappointed by being stuck in nice digs (as opposed to hustling around and not knowing where we will sleep).

I am very much looking forward to returning to my beloved homeland (land of the free, home of the brave, and bestower of free refills on drinks!). I have dreamed about meeting up again with "mee mum" at the airport in Chicago enough that I may have zapped myself emotionally already. I was lucky enough to catch her on the phone this morning......

I wouldn't expect too much action on the blog before we return....possibly a post from Galway....possibly one before we take off from Dublin....but...the internet is terribly expensive here.....and we are erring on boring (in lieu of wet and unproductive back and forth travel)...so, we'll see. Enjoy the weekend all. Can't wait to return home and see everyone.

Much love,
Josh

PS-Dave decided to keep going on the Taize posting...so...you can check out his for that info....and mine for the boring travel details.

A slighter longer blog from Rennes

The ferry schedules do indeed hate us......there was one from Cherbourg today, but early enough that we couldn't catch it. The next ferry leaves from Roscoff in two days. We cut our losses by finding a hostel that has....a shower....and a kitchen. We enjoyed a nice shower before heading to the market to dream up some food concoctions (thinking curry chicken with pasta maybe....) before wasting time in this internet cafe slash sauna....it is boiling in here. The kitchen at the hostel opens at 6pm.

So....Taizé. Getting there proved to not be a problem. There is a bus from the closest train stop that heads regularly to Taizé. This wasn't surprising once we found out (at our welcome) that the community welcomes between 3,000 and 6,000 visitors each week (our week was closer to the 3 grand....although the week after us was slated to be closer to 6). It really is an international affair. We were 2 of about 8 Americans there our week. There were probably 25 countries represented. Thousands of people from countries all over the world converging in Mid-Southern France to pray and live together.....kingdom stuff going on for sure. We were initially surprised by the lax nature of the place.....our schema for understanding an event like this was church camp.....you can smoke....they sell beer at the concession stand......no dress code (which lead to some scandalous outfits)....asked to come to all things....but not required. So...odd to start with those differences......but....there will always be those there for reasons other than those supported by the community.

For the first day, we felt fairly isolated....odd for being around that many people...understandable when you realize there were many languages going on......none of them English. We would soon learn that while english was the first language of very few.....it was the second language of all....so....we could communicate well in that environment. Our small group reflected on this fact briefly....and we realized that is probably a post-WWII thing...because not many parents of our fellow group members speak english.

On day 2, we were put into small groups. Our group consisted of 2 Dutch, 2 Germans, obviously two silly yankees, one Swiss, and a Serbian group leader who got pushed into the role....and was hilarious. Oh man...trying to sum up a week...this is tough....and...the French are against outside influences on their culture....so......A) there is not much english spoken hear as opposed to other european countries B) their keyboards are messed up beyond belief.....for the French reading this....adopting QWERTY (which to prove my point took me about 25 seconds to type) will not lead to the downfall of your culture....it just makes sense. The period should not need a shift key.....and you should not have so many symbols tucked away everywhere that you need an alt and an alt-gr. The @ symbol for instance is alt-gr and 0......e-mail addresses are a blast.

Done with my rant.....our group was awesome. There was a truthfulness I have never found in this environment. I might attribute it to the openness of Taizé or maybe the need to speak directly when using a second language....but......some of the conversation was simply amazing....and the mix of cultures was huge. The girl from Serbia was talking about what her family went through during the bombing.....which was carried out by.....the US a few years back. And......we could joke about it.....which is odd unless you understand Serbians joke about everything. She mentioned the bombing....we said sorry.....in a......we both realize that we could't help it way...and she just kept chatting. But...what beauty in us coming together to worship like this.......

I am not being cheap....but.....it is so hot in here....I will move on with what I can....but....I will be cutting off soon.

So....from our small group we started to team up with a group of about 6 Dutch folks that were there for the week....we ate meals together....played games to waste time....and at the end of the week always went to worship together.....they were......tons of fun.......we learned a lot about each other all week. Did you know....the Dutch think peanut butter and jelly is odd.....in the same manner we may think their cheese and jelly is odd....... They spoke great English, which made communicating easy....and fun, since their accents were super-cute....and we both found ourselves explaining different unique phrases to each other......"let the cat out of the bag" in English is "the monkey came out of the sleeve" in Dutch for example.

I won't try to skim across other details, but I will save some fuel for future blogs. Tomorrow, we will train to the cost, where we will buy our ferry ticket....then spend a night and a day waiting for said ferry to depart. Here's to being stuck in France for two extra days....but being close enough to seeing my beloved American soil and loved ones so soon that I don't too much care! As an interesting sidenote.....we were on American soil in France when we visited the American cemetary at Normandy.....the land of the cemetary was officially given to the US by France in gratitude of the US efforts to free Europe....beautiful stuff.

A quick "we're ok" from Rennes, France

Howdy,

I hate to make this such a quick post, because there is much to be said.......but.....we must return to the train station shortly to try to catch a ferry to Ireland.

The last week has been spent in a monastery in France called Taizé. It was superb........great enough to deserve many posts...it would be an injustice to even try in the few minutes I have here. In short, we met a group of Dutch folks who proved to be our family for the week....and we already miss them very much (and are scheming ways to get to the Netherlands and visit soon).

We left Taizé early Monday morning.....rode on trains all day....made it to Pontorson....our resort-style campsite from many weeks ago....only to find the town mobbed by vacationing French...go figure. Everything was full, and we ended up camping in the lawn of an apartment complex....free....and it worked out ok. We are now in Rennes, attempting to find a ferry to Ireland....there are two ports......one that leaves today and will be difficult to reach by departure time.....one that leaves in two days and would be easy to reach tonight......ferry schedules hate us.....and the feeling is mutual.

We are both itching to get back home....it didn't take me long to tire of traveling....although it has gone in phases, and I've loved most of it.....Dave just reached the "tired of traveling point" a day or two ago. We have a week to pass before heading home.....in Ireland....rough, eh?

Fresh news......I am excited to return to the Best Western on a part-time basis shortly after my return to help fill-in for a vacationing night auditor for a month....then hopefully take a part-time position helping to manage reservations. It will be nice to make some money instead of spend it......although, time with family and friends will be my foremost goal....my work schedule will fall in line with that goal....but....can't wait to see all those great folks again.

Much love to all.......we will blog more in depth within a few days.

When in Rome....

Yes...I have had that title on my mind....for awhile.....and I'm stoked to finally whoop it out. Sidenote: If you haven't seen "Anchorman" with Will Ferrell, it has a very funny part concerning his use of "when in Rome...."......you must check it out.

Ok.....last blog was in Greece. Let's pick up from there. We slept on the overnight ferry from our island (Paros) back to the mainland (admittedly with the help of some local wine). In our attempt to get to Patras (the necessary port city to make it to Italy), we made our first train mistake. We were supposed to ride the intercity metro from Athens to Corinth...then take a train from Corinth to Patras. We realized that our intercity metro was going the wrong way....of course...jump off....get back on in the other direction, right? Well....wrong. We got off only to watch our metro switch directions.....turning back towards our intended destination of Corinth! We were saved by an amazingly graceful and helpful train attendant who worked for about 30 minutes to get us hooked up with another intercity metro and train combo.....

My suspicions of the ferry to Italy being expensive were confirmed. We finally practically begged a guy at one of the offices for the cheapest ticket.....we were typically quoted about 50 euro....we ended up with a special student discount down to like 33! We have had such great people helping us out along our journey. On the ferry, we met two nice Canadian girls (Shannon and Beth)....two travelers who actually deserve to have Canadian flags on their backpacks. We enjoyed each other's company with dinner, some card games...and the sheer enjoyment of having some fluent english-speakers with which to hold conversation. The ferry was high class...very nice...and not very busy. David and I burrowed out places among some chairs in a lounge (you couldn't even tell we were hiding out there with our sleep pads and sleeping bags). It was nice and comfy. The girls stayed in the room full of airplane-like seats...they got invaded by a large group of kids at our stop at Igomonitsa.....although, we were lucky enough to remain alone and softly slumbering in our own personal lounge.

We arrived in Bari, Italy in the morning. On our way to the train station, we were greated by a great Italian guy a little older than us....named Fabio. He saw us checking our map and offered to help out....then walked us around for the next two hours! It really has been astounding how nice ordinary folks....or those working in train stations and all....have been. I have a new sense of hospitality after being the lucky recipient of some great help along my journey. We reserved our train to Rome and dined with the ladies at an authentic Italian restaurant of Fabio's recommendation. It was the traditional Italian lunch....starter of olives, cheese, and a slice of smoked ham......2nd course of rice and mussels dish (a Bari dish).....3rd course of random fried sea creatures (squid, calamari, etc).....4th course of watermelon......5th course of a delicious little pastry......6th course of strong coffee (like espresso).....all served with house wine and a bottle of water. We knew we had beat our budget for that day in one meal...but, it didn't end terribly.....15 euro per....about 20 dollars or so.....and....an authentic Italian meal.

We left on our train for Rome. Shannon and Beth stayed in Bari awaiting their ferry to Croatia. We got to listen to some Italian on the train.....I would say it is the most beautiful language I have heard thus far...very lyrical.....enjoyable to the ear......I can understand some from similarities to Spanish......very little...but....still a beautiful language.

We arrived in Rome at 9:30 (train was 1 hr. late). First item of business was to book the overnight for tonight to France. We expected to take the Rome to Paris...which we found out was full for the next like 4 nights...and expensive, since the only option was sleepers...but, the nice ticket guy told us we could take the overnight to Nice, France...then go from there. Your typical ticket taker would say...."full...next". This guy.....another big help.

We headed out for a place to sleep at like 11:00.....in way over our heads without realizing it....Rome is the ultimate big city...especially on a Friday night. After many failed attempts....and some more begging....we ended up with the most expensive of our nights (20 euro each...still not terrible), and Dave slept on the floor of the kitchen. The guy had one bed left....we offered to sleep on the floor...he took us up on it...if we'd buy the bed for 25...the floor for 15....so, we split the difference.....went for it....and I owe Dave a good night's sleep in the future. In the morning, we enjoyed showers before hitting the city. Rome is chock full of sights. Even the minor sights are.....major...and huge....and plentiful. We worked our way down our list of must-sees...ending with some things we had never heard of. An all-day metro pass for 4 euro got us around all day.

First stop....the Vatican...specifically St. Peter's. The wait (queue) wasn't too bad...only about 25 minutes or so. You pass the square where the Pope makes addresses on your way in.....then...you enter the gigantic Basilica. We have seen a load of splendid churches on our journey. You may be able to fit more than 3 or 5 of them inside of St. Peter's. Michaelangelo's Pieta welcomes you quickly (although it is now behind glass.....an axe-wielding crazy went at it a couple years ago). From there, you can wander for days looking at all of the detail. It doesn't seem as ornate as other churches we've seen.....but....it is....it's just that everything is so large. Take your typical thoughts of a european cathedral.....expand that a few times....neat for sure...and free....but....

....where they get you is by combining the Sistine Chapel with the Vatican Museum. The Vatican Museum costs 8 euro for students...but...you have to buy that admission to see the Sistine Chapel....but...a must-see. I won't try to describe this. It isn't beyond words.....but....it is just a room with everything painted in great detail. We read that despite popular thought that Michaelangelo painted laying down on scaffolding.....recent scholars believe he stood...craning his neck....and messing up his body enough to start his life's demise.

We caught a quick tourist-trap...a movie about Rome's history...with moving seats like you'd see at Disney. The moving seats added nothing.....but.....the movie was fairly interesting.

This is where a typical post about a big city might end......a few sights....not Rome. We moved on to the Coliseum.....a 50,000 seat mammoth.....again....huge....pretty sweet...silly to try to explain it too much. We strolled around for a bit....and avoided the guys dressed like gladiators who charge you 5 euro for a pick with them standing in front of the Coliseum.

We checked out the Spanish steps before coming here to inform all of you of our current exploits....which have obviously been many since our last post. It stinks to have to glaze over so many days quickly....but.....'tis the nature of our current dash through Italy.

Rome is also pricey....we have spent about triple our budget today...the one great buy was gelato (2 euro). It lived up to all of the hype....we enjoyed three scoops on a stroll to the metro.....mesmerized by its goodness (it's like ice cream.....creamier.....totally awesome). Our lunch was some classic Italian pizza (less doughy than American pizza...always better toppings...tomatos...feta...olives...mmmmmm) and some pasta.

From here, we will catch the overnight to Nice, France......train to Lyon.....and get a bus hopefully....taxi maybe...to Taize. We will be there with the brothers from Sunday to Sunday...before taking our last week to get back to Ireland. I would doubt internet while at Taize....so....assume I'll be back on next Sunday or so...but, I'll let you know if it is earlier. We have had a busy couple of days of travel....I am looking forward to being in one place for a whole week! Much love to all.....appreciate all that you have.....and spread love wherever you go.

A lesson from the Greeks

The Greek know how to live! After sunning for most of the day yesterday....and cruising in the buggy, we walked around and found an out-of-the-way little restaurant with live music. The music was good....traditional Greek tunes....and the place started out fairly dead. Then, two groups poured in to fill the place. We were the only non-Greeks in the place. We partook in some bread, dip, and wine....and watched the atmosphere change from casual dining to all out Greek party. First....one lady dancing (traditional Greek-type dancing). Second.....a small circle. Third....a line of dancing circling the restaurant......then, we were pulled up into the line! It was incredible! We got cheered as we circled the room....we even got "ohpahed"! After a few trips around the place, we returned to our seats to watch the action. At the height, there was a main circle dance.....and two other places with a few people dancing. Everyone in the restaurant knew every song......I can't think of anything that would come close to this in the States. The Greek seem to know how to really enjoy life to its fullest..... One of the groups was a mentally-handicapped night out......and I discovered a quality in a woman that currently tops my list of attractive qualities.....genuinely nice treatment of the handicapped. There were a few girls that worked with the group who made sure everyone had a good time.....danced with all of the folks there.....incredible. This may not be numero uno on my list of attractive traits....but...I can't think of any that beat that at the moment....so....it is for now. The whole time there was an incredible experience....very Greek....very awesome.

We decided to stay on schedule and move on from Greece. So, we have enjoyed the day, but we will hop aboard a ferry tonight from 1:30am to 6:00am to return to the mainland. From there....a train to the port town of Patras....another ferry to Italy.....train to Rome.....Rome for a day......overnight from Rome to Macon (France)......bus to Taize. I will give an early warning that from Sunday of this week to Sunday of next week...there may be no posts. I don't think the internet is a priority at the monastery : ) We may have a quick post from Rome or so....but...we'll see.....

So today we enjoyed the beach and cruising in our buggy. The only negatives about the buggy were.... it didn't like steep hills to well (we'd cruise up at like 10mph)......it would get hot and the engine would sputter at times....and the front fender fell off (and was subsequently crushed into pieces by our back tire and the car behind us), and we are now hoping the buggy rental folks don't track us down. We parked it across the road....traded the key for Dave's license....and headed straight to the internet place. The fender isn't too obvious....but...we'll just hope they don't notice for the time-being. It really wasn't anything that was our fault anyways........

The island of Paros has been a great experience. I would recommend the Greek islands for a honeymoon/vacation for sure. We have been lucky to have a few days here....

Cheers to all back home. We have the rest of the day to waste....a shower at the campgrounds......a gyro or two.....then lots of travel on our way to Taize with a day-long stop in Rome to check out the sights.

Better than ok in Greece (Island of Paros)

Sorry for the lack of recent updates (Mom)....we were in the midst of a lot of trains and busy traveling...we made sure to get on today for some quality typing : ) Let's see....last blog was in Meteora, Greece....but, just a "we're ok".

Meteora is in the heart of mainland Greece. It's main draw are a set of monasteries that perch atop these large rock formations that jut seemingly straight up from the ground into the sky, home to hermits since the 11th century. There are 6 monasteries still in operation up among the peaks. We stayed in a campsite a short distance from the bottom of the mountains for cheap....Greece has finally lived up to camping-price expectations...a site is around 7 dollars. You just set up your tent anywhere in the camping area...and can have use of the showers and bathroom facilities also. Camping Vrachos (the one at Meteora) even had a fridge for common use along with a restaurant and a pool. Upon return from the bathroom on night 1, we were invited to breakfast by our neighbors (a German couple, early 20's, traveling Greece on holiday....Felix and Leah). They were incredibly hospitable.....made us breakfast in the morning, and we had drinks the next night with them before heading to bed. Such nice folks.......Leah mentioned coming to the States sometime for travel....I put in a good word for a quick stop in the midwest, but we'll see. We visited one of the monasteries, and after a little further hiking, enjoyed one of the greatest views of my life. We basked in the beauty of our surroundings and the sun for an hour and a half..... It's one of those many views we've been spoiled with where you question the ability of your eyes to take it in......views that the human eye almost gives up.....it admits its inadequacy and says....you gotta feel this....you can't just see it....amazing stuff. I took some good pics...but.....they won't do it justice.

I was on one of the rocks sprawled out shirtless (probably looked passed out from drinking....even though it wasn't the case), when a Japanese camera crew approached me. They kindly asked for some shots without the sprawled out shirtless American....and I obliged. The host of the show sat all diva-like on a rock while the camera crew hovered around getting different angles and the such......a pretty funny site. We talked with the host for a bit....it was a Japanese travel show highlighting the railways of Greece. We have found that the Japanese love to travel Europe....many Japanese tourists about everywhere we go. That was siting number one of the host (who might be fairly well-known in Japan...who knows). Siting number two would be on the train to Athens in the morning........siting three at the Acropolis. We had a good laugh together on the third run-in and got a photo together. He had a great personality....very fun......if we see him again...I may suspect stalking.

On our second morning in Meteora, we actually woke up before noon....no, nothing wrong.....just had to catch an early train to Athens. We woke up at 7:30......and caught the 8:50 train (we were a little early, because we thought the train was 8:30). The next 6 hours were spent on a dirty, crowded train.....on the floor in between cars, because all of the seats were taken (were weren't alone though...many folks were on the floor throughout the train). The train we took was the cheaper...nastier one. There was another that was quicker and nicer...but it cost twice as much.

So.....into Athens in mid-afternoon......with some quick trips on the Athens metro (which is absolutely fabulous...very new...only covers small area so far...but....really clean and nice)....we were at the Acropolis. For all of those ignorant of the area as we were...the Acropolis is an area that includes the ruins of the Parthenon and a few other buildings.....the Parthenon being the most famous. The Acropolis sits on a hill looking over the city....the view exposes how huge Athens is.....enormous. The city seems to not to go up as much as others....but out much much more....as far as you can see in every direction. I am glad to have had the opportunity to see the Acropolis.....including the Parthenon and Temple of Goddess Nike....theatre of Dionysius (old and new).......and it feels wrong to badmouth it at all...but.....I dunno. It is under construction (which it may have been and will be for quite some time according to signs describing the process posted around the site), and in its current condition, it takes a good imagination to envision the area in its former glory. With that said, I have seen the birthplace of modern western civilization....neat stuff....but....a big city...so.....we had to be back out quickly......for cheap backpackers....I would recommend this highly......get into the city.....see the big sites that interest you....get the heck back out. I really enjoyed doing Bucharest and Athens that way. We hope to do Rome in a similar manner.

So....in and out of Athens....and on a ferry to the island of Paros. There are many islands....we chose based on recommendations from different Greek folks we ran into along the way....but still a fairly random choice. The ferry was from 10pm-3:30am.....we napped on the deck, although it became a little chilly after awhile. Arriving at 3:30am in a new city is never advisable....but it worked out. First, we were offered pensions for around 15 euros.....the city obviously knows and works the ferry schedule (despite its extremely odd late-night disembarkation). So...that was an option, but we went cheaper. We found camping for 6 euro....set up shop and slept from 4am 'til around 10. We just got done walking the strip and arranging a dune buggy rental for the day. This portion of the trip would definitely fall under the splurge category. Our ferry was around 30 dollars.......(30 to get back also)......dune buggy for the day was like 25 dollars each. But......the splurge is worth it. Our camping is cheap and there are plenty of markets for cheap eats.....and authentic gyros...which in Greece are around 2.50USD....makes a great quick meal....mmmmmmm. Here's our quandry. We are planning a week in Taize, France at a monastery (I've probably mentioned that at some point). The typical stay is from Sunday to Sunday. We either.....A) stay on the island today and tomorrow and hurry off to Taize....we would then have a week to pass on our way back to Dublin for our flight. B) enjoy the island for a few more days....hit Taize our last week, but have to leave one day early to scoot back to Dublin for our flight. The island is so nice...and so cheap (now that we're here)......it may also mean that we miss the Cliffs of Mohr.....unless we could work it out to see that on our way back to Dublin. We're thinking it through right now......we have booked our pre-flight hostel in Dublin...close to the airport.....so...that is a good start in the "back to the US" part of our trip.

I'm sorry for the straightforward nature of this e-mail......we've been traveling a lot....without much that is too entertaining. This is not entertaining necessarily...but, I just remembered I wanted to blog about it. When we reserved our dune buggy, the worker was suprised we were American when we gave him our driver's licenses! He said, "you're well tanned and such...I didn't think you were Americans". That was worth a quick chuckle...since that is the only time I've heard that with exception of being thought Australian once. Now...to work some more on that tan. We have been in the port section of the island thus far....must hit the fab beaches before the good sun is gone!

A quick "we're ok" from Greece

We are closing in on our internet deadline...have been doing some trip planning and the such.....and just wanted to let ya'll know we are ok. We made it to Thessaloniki and continued on to Meteora (famous for some sweet mountaintop monasteries that we will visit tomorrow). Camping tonight.....and doing fine.......much love.

Not so stuck in Bulgaria

Our goal was Greece, but the first stop had to be Bucharest...gotta go through the capital to get anywhere. In Bucharest, we ran into two fellow American travelers with similar travel plans! I overheard their attempts to get to Greece....soon realizing they must also stop in Sofia, Bulgaria (the capital) on the way, and we hit it off right away. Ani (the mom) and Kristina (daughter) are from San Diego. They are on week 2 of two months worth of travel, sound familiar? I guess Dave and I are almost on week 6 of two months now....and...he's not my mom....but...we were glad to find fellow americans to hang out with....they were glad to have some men to offer protection. We've been together ever since. In Bucharest, we burned some time by wasting the rest of our lei (Romanian currency) on a beer....McDonalds...snacks for the train, before heading off at a little past 7. We began in the same car (the 6-seat arrangement)....along with a nice young student traveling home (Macedonia) for the summer. At a stop just inside Bulgaria, most of the train disembarked.....leaving us with extra room. Dave and I each had a cabin to ourselves (we could sprawl out on three seats each). The girls took an open cabin next to us......'twas great luck. Our luck soon ended when our train was about an hour late getting into Sofia. We were supposed to catch another train that would take us to Greece (Thessaloniki) at 7am.....our train arrived at around 7:30. This has all been one big paragraph.........random paragraph change now.....

The train to Thessaloniki, which we must pay for (Eurail is not valid in Bulgaria...and we need to save our travel days), turned out to be reasonable. We made it to Sofia for around 30 USD.....we will make it to Greece for 20.....so....fifty extra dollars to see Greece....not too shabby. But, the train didn't leave until 10:10pm....remembering that our train got in at 7:30am...being the observant reader you are....you know we had (and still have) some time to kill. The good news is that Bulgaria is now the cheapest country we have visited. I'll fill you in with prices as we go. For one, I am now using the internet for about .60cents/hour.

We hit an open-air market that was quaint.....the shops each hold a fairly random collection of items for sale.....exception being the delicious olive stands....and decadent fruit offerings. We then hit a park for a short nap....the smog of the city has driven my allergies into overdrive...which gives me the ability to sleep anywhere (the park in the shade) at anytime ('twas about noon). We have continued to wander for most of the day....with the primary intent of finding a movie theatre. The movies here are typically in english with Bulgarian subtitles. We found a new mall which had a theatre....but...the mall had opened before the theatre. The mall was extremely new and clean....so was the theatre....so fresh in fact that it opens thirteen days from now. Here's my mall rant.......Dave posed the question a few days ago, "architecture can often show a people's emphasis...what they think is important.....it's obvious that at a certain period the answer to that would be a church (there are beautiful churches everywhere)...what is today's?" (maybe not his exact words, I will admit). I answered then....the mall....and it seemed to hold true today. From the architecture of this city...it is apparent that the new object of worship is the mighty dollar (here...the lev). In a city that is obviously decades behind financially with many people trying to get by selling any sort of mixture of goods that they can obtain (we saw one lady with bug killer and batteries at a small stand)....the mall stands high and proud as a beacon of the new hope....that the consumption of goods.....can create fulfillment and happiness. Big surprise...that is not the case. I remember watching a video in one of my college classes about the nature of modern advertising. The voiceover told us how if someone from the future where to try to learn about us (us being the american culture...possibly the world culture) from our advertising, they would believe we are a very mystical people...and very magic-oriented. This is because our advertising shows that goods bring change and happiness. The next interviewee (a comm theorist.....smart guys...those comm guys) said that it was so silly, because we know the key to happiness......what an odd thing to say...right? He knows the key to happiness? His answer.......social interaction. Now, we could all pick that apart all day long......for one, it isn't an obvertly spiritual answer that many would prefer. But, if we just take that in the context of the consumerism that has become the new world religion....it holds some strong countercultural truth. If we continue to believe that consumption is the key to happiness.....we need to wake up. And if we continue to neglect the people in our lives who truly bring us happiness (and don't have a money-back guarantee or a price-tag) we are doomed for failure.....or atleast a piss-poor excuse for life. Off the soapbox....I promise.

As a funny tag to that rant.....although it could lead to another.....we saw two middle-aged moms who either A)didn't understand what the english on their wears meant B)were crude for moms. The one had a large bag that said "Large Fuckin' Tote Bag" and the other had a shirt that was advertising for a fishing company.....the main logo, "Master Baiter"....brilliant.

The other rant might not be a rant necessarily but an observation at the least. It seems that distinct "culture" should be put on the endangered species list. There are exceptions to this (I would guess the Middle East for one...although, not necessarily) and some are resisting, but american (maybe not distinctly american...but definitely pop culture) culture is continually squashing a lot of cultural diversity. Dave and I realized today that many of the distinct parts of certain places we have visited are actually quite....miniscule. I mean...is fact that Germans put mayonnaise on their fries that big a deal? Interesting, yes....but....miniscule in comparison to some of the bigger differences we....didn't catch....or existed but have been being pushed out by a world that is continually more connected...and thus more homogenous. We have still learned boatloads....but...that is definitely one of the things we have learned.....the world is becoming more similar. The cause....mass media possibly? Will it stop?...maybe the course of world events will put another culture on top? I dunno...but interesting.

After the mall, we happened to run into.....a perfect mix of what we needed....an independent little place that had.....a movie for us to watch (in a little cinema atmosphere)...and cheap internet. The 4 o'clock movie was supposed to be french with bulgarian subtitles, but since we were the only people interested in a movie at that time....they showed one that was in english with bulgarian subtitles...."A Good Woman." I hadn't heard of it before, but it passed some time...and the writing was very witty. The movie was around 2.75USD for admission. We had pizza as a snack earlier.....maybe .90cents for a good-size piece....it had feta, black olives, and tomato....simply delicious.

So....on to Greece tonight. We leave at 10:10pm tonight, and we will arrive in Thessaloniki, Greece at around 5am. Of course, we don't have a plan after that, although a beach sounds nice....along with a shower and my first authentic Greek gyro.

We have about 2 weeks left on our own before heading to Taize.....about another night with our fellow american travelers...they are going to Lebanon to visit family (flying out from Athens) in a couple days. Much love, Josh

On to Greece....fo real this time

After our short traveling respite in Sinaia, Romania....Greece beckons...and we must answer the call. After a few long train rides (here to Bucharest: 2-3 hrs., Bucharest to Sofia, Bulgaria: overnight, Sofia to Thessaloniki: 7am 'til 1pm), we will be in the land of many islands...and gyros (as if we haven't already had our fill of gyros...these won't have french fries on them I guess)! Unfortunately, we also leave the land of low prices....closer to reality.

We enjoyed a nice night's sleep in our pension before waking up (noon of course) and grabbing some pizza for lunch. Pizza is on about every menu...even the nice restaurants. Dave enjoyed a pizza with pineapple and banana....kinda a weird one...but, he loved it. I had quatro formaggio (four cheese) that may threaten to give me a heart attack before I hit the border...but...it was also pretty tasty...and that thick cheese will keep me full through a couple train rides. We had some delicious baklava for dessert last night after trying the Irish restaurant in town (we had chicken curry....ok...but the taste was pretty weak.....although, the beer was exceptionally cold...as a side-note...we haven't really experienced the dreaded warm beer of Europe.....only a few times...but it didn't seem to be on purpose...just that it hadn't been in the fridge long).

I was glad to see France win last night. Portugal, also masters of the flop.....teamed up against Italy (godfathers of the flop) would have made for one of the worst World Cup Finals I could imagine. Still rooting for France to take the Cup.

Much love to all.....we will be on trains for all of the day today, tonight, and tomorrow....but....might be on to post after enjoying Thessaloniki.

We registered for Taize online a few days ago. I am excited about the experience....as well as the stability of being in one place for a week. Check out www.taize.com for details on Taize and the like.

Nothing profound...just a hello

Surprisingly enough, with a day consisting of blogging, sunning, reading, eating, and watching the World Cup game....not much incredibly interesting happened yesterday.

I will note that I was disappointed with Italy's win. I can imagine slightly less deserving teams for the final, but it would be tough. I have never seen so many flops (for the non-soccer savvy....flop: when a player pretends to be hurt to elicit a favorable call from the ref) as last night. The Italian soccer players obviously have side jobs as bad actors...but....it worked to create a slow-paced game that was to their advantage. I mean, should a team that the US tied (after receiving like 50 illegitimate red cards) make it to the finals of the World Cup? There's my rant. Dave and I are rooting for France from here on out.

Here's a good one..... Dave did not bring swimming gear, and we have hopes of hitting atleast one beach in Greece....so, that was a problem. I have some gym shorts that will work just fine. David decided that he should go with the native style and buy a speedo (I like to refer to it as a man-thong...or man-panties). We found a store with some different options, and he went into the fitting room to try a few on without realizing how gross that was. So....he tried on a few and asked for me to grab a different size for him. As I perused the man-thongs, a woman came up to me speaking Romanian....to the tune of....."you can't try those on" would be my guess. I'm not sure if they were privvy to the fact Dave was abusing their poor merchandise at that very moment....but....when he came out....we quickly jetted to the dirty glares of all the workers. He was the one doing nasty things in the dressing room with his man-panties, and I got blabbed at in Romanian. I really don't enjoy being talked at in a language I can't at all understand.....although, I've become accustomed to looking clueless (I'm quite good at it) to stop the onslaught. Today, we headed back out to another store and found the poor victim. I feel for the small piece of navy spandex that is now confined to a life of cradling David's......body. To his credit, it definitely is the european style.....

Today's lunch was a hot dog with french fries as the main topping.....odd but still pretty tasty. A fav dessert in this region is a set of wafers cradling a layer of fudge. David did't like it, but I've had one daily....they run about 50 cents and are made locally.

We caught a little bit of Walker Texas Ranger this morning before heading out...and the question beckons......if the almighty Chuck Norris faced off with Steven Seagal.......who would come out alive? Don't even think about them joining forces...then, we'd all be in trouble......

Off for now. Peace.

The Shaorma

Happy 4th of July to everyone. I hope all are enjoying the day off with family and friends...and some good food. It is obviously not even a blip on the daily life radar of Romania...but, we will toast to our beautiful homeland tonight over dinner (have I mentioned it is easy to toast over quality beer that is widely available for less than 1USD/pint here?).

Our sleeping location is stable for the night, and our tummies are full, so.....this blog will be slightly more specific than others....

I shall start with the basis for my full tummy....the shaorma. In Budapest, we had gyros (3 times) that were pretty standard in their contents....cheaper in price than we had previously experienced (around 2.50). Here in Sinaia, Romania, we were greeted with something looking much like a gyro...but boasting a slightly reduced price (2.00) and a left-of-center composition. The shaorma is composed of french fries, chicken meat (cut from a large rotating roast like a gyro), onions, lettuce, red peppers, mayo, ketchup, and mustard deliciously wrapped in a pita-style bread. The result is nothing short of cheap-backpacker culinary heaven. We have now had this for a meal about every day, although sometimes venturing into uncharted territory to cheaper options. For about .90 cents USD you can have a sanwich cascaval, which consists of french fries, a slice of cheese, lettuce, ketchup, and mayo stuffed into a bun. A similar variation replaces the cheese with ham (still around .90 cents USD). The shaorma is a good hearty meal. The sandwich cascaval and similar variations merely assuage hunger for short periods of time (a pre-late dinner snack or possibly a full-enough-stomach-to-fall-asleep treat). Welcome to the world of the shaorma....I won't be surprised to see fries on all my sandwiches by the time this trend spreads rapidly to the US in the next few weeks.....

To wash down our shaorma, we had Pepsi Gold. Is that in the States? I think it is out in coordination with the World Cup?! It was interesting........kinda like a Pepsi-Sprite-Vanilla taste. It was cold....that's numero uno on my drink qualifications....so....good enough for me.

Today was our first up-before-noon day in awhile. Dave couldn't sleep and woke up with a shower and some reading before I welcomed the day. Around 10, we went to a park to bask in the sun. We both finished our books with an afternoon reading session, but we found a classics section (the only thing to be found in english) in a local bookstore. I bought the first of the Last of the Mohicans Series (The Deerslayer)...Dave bought a Charles Dickens book...Old Curiosity Shop.....each were about four dollars. After reading those and switching, we should make it to the end of the trip.

It will be difficult to make this story funny out-of-context....but I will try (mostly because Dave said it couldn't be done). Let's start with the punch-line....a quote.....Cory Vought, "Dude, take the butter off the tank".

Laugh now, because the context is coming. We were outside the D-Day Museum waiting on our taxi...eating bread and butter, when the resting butter got in the way of a tourist taking pictures of the tank. Ha, ha. Even if you just laughed inside....my mission was accomplished : )

It has been a relief (yet slightly depressing) that American music dominates the majority of European airwaves. It is typically hip-hop, but last night we heard Kenny Rogers in our restaurant and Willy Nelson in the market on our way to our pension. Even in some highly ethnic environments.....as authentic a restaurant as one can find....it is not surprising to hear rap or hip-hop.....the Black-Eyed Peas....Shakira.....

In our current location, the two english-language channels are the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. Who know that "Animal Detectives" could be so interesting? We have watched plenty of documentaries and Steve Irwin in the last few days....the pure quality of which is always tainted by the fact that any english on TV is beautiful to our "I don't know what the heck you are trying to tell me" ears.

Well......the one-hour time limit on my internet is coming to an end. Happy 4th. We plan on a nice dinner tonight, then the football (soccer) game at 10pm our time. Much love.

Josh

Margaritaville following a....nice hike

I was thinking of a title to show that we were relaxing for a day or two....Margaritaville came to mind (I've also been cruising the Sirius stations...and that was one....).

I would like to thank everyone who has been keeping up on this blog.....it makes it a little more fun to type when you know that others are reading along. It also shows what a wonderful, supportive community (in the sense of all the people I have.......I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have so many great folks who care about me....love you all. Ok...getting homesick and a little teary...must move on.

Kevin and Cory......you must e-mail us and let us know how the rest of your trip was....Kevin...how was your route home via London (we may have to resort to that if running behind time-wise following Taize). And.....Kevin....my mom said no picture CD yet....slacker.

We had quite the adventure yesterday. A hike in the Bucegi mountains was the plan for the day...with some possible camping at the top...sounds nice, eh? (It was...but....crazy at times). The peak is 2000m. The cable car options are 1400m or the top...2000m. The cable car ticket-seller didn't speak much english, but a guy in line did....so....we asked him about our options (it is often the case that someone in the same line as us ends up doing some translating for us). He was soft-spoken and kinda shy of his english, but he tried. He said that there was camping by a hotel at 1400m, but then as straight as could be added, "but, sometimes there are bears". Possibly the language barrier.....possibly his shyness...but...it wasn't delivered in the manner I would expect. "but, sometimes there are bears" came out the same as......"there may be some traffic on the interstate today". The rest of what he said was definitely a blur, since in my mind I was just thinking, "oh my God....bears....." (the only thing he might have said that was worse for me would be snakes......maybe panthers....or poisonous bears). But...I do remember him commenting about the low trees at 2000m, so that it would be bad for camping. So...what did we do? Of course...take the cable car to 1400m....hike through bear country up to the bad camping area....a no-brainer. Brains in the off-position at that moment...... So.....we arrived at 1400m and started hiking....brains still in the off-position, because we just kept hiking and hiking. All in all....we hiked for about 3 hours through fog that made it possible to see about 20 yards in front of us....no further....oh ya...the incline was about 40 degrees...and I have thought that out to prevent distorting it....a good 40 degree incline. It got colder the higher we hiked....but was only a cool breeze at the top.....

After the grueling hike, we found a short respite at Cabana Miorita....there is a system of Cabanas along the Bucegi Mts....this one was described as the "Queen of the System" by my book. We chilled downstairs in an out-of-the-way portion of the bar for a couple hours. The mts. are in low-season, because it is primarily a skiing region. It seems that in the low-season...the workers just sit around and get drunk and pester would-be guests. We ventured upstairs to the restaurant to check out the menu when we were "greeted" by a drunk man with one gold tooth. (I will take a quick aside to say that the folks we have met along the way during our trip have been extremely nice and helpful. Sometimes when we are lost....we don't even have to ask for help.....people just approach us to offer advice). There's the aside.....this guy was an a**hole. We tried to ask what time the restaurant closed......he started jabbering in Romanian and started leading the way somewhere....we thought "maybe he's leading us to a sign with the hours on it"....NO....leading us outside...where he continued to mumble in Romanian....we are guessing he said something along the lines of "this is not a museum...it is a place to eat and drink beer...." He then left with the door closing behind us. Customer service at its finest I'd say.... So....we had been kicked out of the "Queen of the Cabanas"....an undeserving title it seems. Again...brains were off. We started walking to another cabana of unknown distance or location (and it was now pretty chilly) when we heard some voracious barking in the distance (again....fog like pea soup...couldn't see at all)....a nice pack of wild dogs...then one coming up behind us. I've watched that crazy dog-talker dude...so...I established dominance. It is amazing what a couple of explicit words directed at a canine and his canine mother will do to stop some barking. So...the two dogs that made it through the fog realized I was the king of the Carpathians...they followed awhile...until I told them not to and called them some more choice words. We were heading back to the a-hole at the cabana to try to get a bed.

A nice bed for the night.....but alas...another drunk worker. Our books said that the 12-room cabana was about 15000 lei....5 bucks. Oh no......only 2-bed dorm available for 2 million (60 USDish). Nice. After pretending to leave twice...then getting out our guidebook, we were down to 200,000 lei....which is about 6 or 7 USD/person.....alright. We were the only two in the 12-bed dorm....which was fairly comfortable. But...it was about 8 o'clock, so we headed to the bar to play pool (about 1.50/hour) coupled with a pair of Carlsberg's (my new fav. beer) for about 2 dollars each. That was fun. We played pool for about 2.5 hours on our one-hour's pay.....but the place was dead, so I doubt that mattered much. There was a group of drinking workers in the corner...but..we were the only guests for the night. We are terrible pool players...but....thus equally matched. To end the fun, our drunk asshole friend came over...babbled in Romanian.....tapped his watch.....made a sleeping gesture.....then stomped off. Somewhere along the lines of....time to go to bed? Need to pay for more pool? I dunno.....we plopped the supplies and our empty beers down on the table next to him and headed to our dorm. During this internet time, I plan on badmouthing Cabana Miorita in all possible venues. I'm glad we didn't try to camp.....'twas cold. Since we were the only ones in the 12-bunk dorm....we stocked up on blankets from other beds and bundled up. Read before bed.....I am now on "The Life of Pi".....it's a page-turner for sure.

Woke up around noon with hopes of an easier downhill hike......but no. We got off our path.....and found a.....steeper...more rocky path. I don't know how to describe the good portion of this path....but......steeply downhill......5 foot drops every 10 yards or so. It was pretty rough...and then.....a good 15 foot drop.....it was do-able without packs....but...keep in mind...this whole story takes place with our 35-40 pound packs tethered to our bodies. So....we made it over to a similarly steep....almost straight down path....but it was covered in grass. We went down backwards by grabbing handfulls of grass for support. From there....we got back on the path....back down to the 1400m cable car...and back to the city, but....it was a good hike....some fun pool.....a warm bed in the midst of a cold mountain night....and a hike both ways that I wouldn't have predicted we could pull off, but did.

After that fun...we have decided to chill in Sinaia a few more days before moving on to Greece. We were on our way to our first pension when an old couple that was walking next to us (not for the purpose of bothering us....just coming back from the market) offered us a room. We now have a room for the next 3 nights for about 7 USD/person/night....not a bad deal. We also have cable to catch the two world cup games coming up tomorrow and Wed. I was sad to see England and Brazil lose (my picks for the cup).....now....I'm buying on France...they looked very good.

We priced out the trip to Greece....we have to pay, because our pass is not good in Bulgaria....and we will save rail days. It's not terrible....we will head to Bucharest (close to here...so...only a few dollars). Bucharest to Sofia (capital of Bulgaria) is like 40.....Sofia to Thessaloniki (Greece) is around 30. Seventy dollars to experience Greece....not too shabby. From Greece...a ferry to Italy....but...that's getting too far ahead of myself.

Thanks to all in my blogging audience. Here are some things that I miss and you should definitely take time to appreciate while in Indiana......fresh cantaloupe, juicy watermelon, corn on the cob, ice in your drinks, good air-conditioning, Christ Church, and all the wonderful folks that I love.

No Dracula....Sinaia instead (per a drunk Canadian)

So....our last night in our Elvis Hostel in Brasov we ran into a very drunk Canadian in the mood to order pizza.....we were as hungry as ever...so.....we were game, of course. The pizza was outrageous.....first of all...huge....and the toppings included about everything you could imagine (fried eggs, olives, onions, hunks of cheese). It was pretty excellent.....and definitely filled out stomachs that we've realized shrink (and are thus easier to fill) after we go barebones on our eating for a few days. So...some good pizza....and over pizza the drunk Canadian recommended Sinaia Castle over the Bran Castle (Dracula's Castle). I say...always listen to drunk Canadians, so...we are currently in Sinaia, Romania.

Upon arriving yesterday, we checked out the monastery at Sinaia as well as the castle....both were pretty sweet. The castle is more ornate and restored than I've ever seen...hard to believe....and we only saw about 6 rooms or so (I'm guessing it is what they have restored thus far). Here's an interesting racket....so, no pictures inside of the castle. We're on our little tour (in German...all the English tours were done for the day), and one of the guides says...hey...you want to take pictures? Sure. We are then led to an incredibly attractive guide who spoke good english...and led us to places where we could take pictures. Then, the first guide left and another guide was like, "how much you want to tip the lady?" Tip? Huh? "You tip the lady for letting you take pictures?" "How much is normal?" "You tip the lady...whatever you want". So...we gave her the equivalent of about 1.50 USD each.....to which she responded "well...not enough but....." as she walked off. Not a bad little racket they had going.....but....note to her....if you're going to pull that off...have a number in mind for when we ask for the norm......and....don't pick out poor smelly backpackers. Anyways...I did get a sweet pick standing in front of a fully-armored horse and rider (worth a buttload we were told).

I've been meaning to mention the money situation here in Romania. There is old lei (1USD=30,000lei). You can imagine that is a pain...to divide by 30,000 to figure out prices in a language we can understand. Then...there is new lei....drop four zeros (so, 1USD=3 lei). You can imagine...very confusing. And...the new lei is made out of plastic...feels like normal fresh dollars...but...we saw a water fountain yesterday....and it had lei in the bottom....along with the coins.......but....plastic...so....also waterproof...weird. Once you get through the dividing and what-not....you realize the prices are pretty great. Let's see.....our room (for last night and tonight)...a private room in a house (a pension I guess you might call it) is 10 for each of us/night. Steak dinner for Dave last night was about 6 dollars. Beer at the store is......3 pints for about a dollar.....the local brew is Ursus or Ciuc....Ciucas also. We slept in this morning and ate a gyro for lunch that was about 2 dollars. So...enjoying those prices. There are two great soccer games on tonight....well...in the US...during the day...but....England/Portugal and Brazil/France. I loved the penalty shootout last night between Germany and Argentina. So....chilling here for the day...maybe some hiking tomorrow. We will soon make our way to Greece...