Markus and Brian's Excellent European Adventure

Patrick VS Picard

Hey there peoples,

I would tell you all about London if I knew what it looked like. From the moment I've arrived, Brian and I have either been in the subway, taking in a show or chilling in the hostel planning our next move. We've decided to go on a tour of some kind, be it of the walking or bus riding variety, tomorrow after which I'll be able to tell you more about the city itself. For now you'll have to be content with the inane ramblings of a star trek junky whom has just seen his hero perform live.

As you are all undoubtedly shocked to hear, I enjoyed the play last night more than any other I have ever been to. Our seats were in the third row, meaning that I was able to see the actors and actresse's pupils dilate with those subtle changes of emotion that they are so adept at commanding. The effect was nothing short of spellbinding, and as I sat there in utter awe of the talent that these people possessed they continued to performed their art flawlessly giving themselves over completely to their characters. Raw talent alone is not enough to make a play, however, and I am pleased to report that the story was filled with enough humour, intrigue and emotion (not to mention sexual charge) to make the three hours in the theatre feel like mere minutes. Even though the show seemed to be over as quickly as it did, the mere memory of it still causes me to touch my finger tips together in a most Burns-esque manner and whisper, "Ehh-xcellent" much to the dismay of other sane people around me. I fear that this condition may be permanent, but to be utterly honest it doesn't bother me one bit because I got to see Patrick Stewart perform live and as far as I'm concerned no better word describes the experience.

Aside from the Master Builder I also ended up watching Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat yesterday. It's fortunate that I watched it before going to the master builder since it didn't seem all that good beforehand let alone after. Brian assures me that the version I was exposed to was geared much more towards children than the one he's seen in Toronto and that the music and sets weren't nearly as well done. I don't regret going to see it at all since we got cheap student priced tickets and the overall experience was still positive enough to wet my appetite for more of the same. In response to our yearning for more we plan to go see Stomp today, while tomorrow will entail general sight seeing which may include stonehenge and then Saturday night (as well as much of Sunday morning) will be devoted to the Ministry Of Sound. This is the general plan so far, but it may change at any moment, especially since we want to get as much "cool" stuff in before heading back home.

As per usual, we'll keep you updated. Take it easy,

Markus

Impulsive, Compulsive Or Insane?

Hey there peoples,

I know that I told you in the last posting that I was planning to head up to Glasgow around this time. I would be there right now, taking impromptu lessons in Scottish pronounciation if it were not for certain choices that have forced me to abandon my original plan of action. Most of the people who read this little log of ours know me very well and will not be surprised by what they read next. However, for those of you who have been sparred that conditioned and unreasoning side of me that stems from my adolescent obsessions, be warned, my next statement may upset and disturb you. I have decided that visiting Scotland on this particular trip would not be as much of a life changing experience for me as seeing Patrick Stewart (a.k.a Jean Luc Picard from Star Trek TNG) perform in a play called 'The Master Builder', which Brian and I will be seeing tomorrow. I can almost feel the disapproval seeping through the monitor, but if you only knew how deeply this series and those characters have imbedded themselves into the the very fiber of my being then you would understand how helpless I am to fight against this choice. We all have our vices and little obsessions, and for me the combination of seeing my first bit of english theatre with one of my favourite actors of all time is just too good to pass up. After committing myself to this, the only way I could have stuck to seeing Scotland was if I was content to view it framed by the window of a bus. This is not a particularly enticing option, and so I have decided to stay in Dublin for a little while longer and will be flying to London tomorrow morning.

The last few days in Dublin have convinced me that the the Irish don't know how to have a bad time. It's simply a concept they have never been exposed to, and after visiting several local bars which have featured irish music and dancing, jazz, blues, techno all accompanied by that universal sport - drinking, I am convinced that staying here indefinitely would not be an unpleasant fate in the least. The attitude is one of simple relaxation here. If you don't feel like buying a drink, don't buy a drink. You can sit and chat, partaking in the musical entertainment and it doesn't have to cost you a thing. It's a refreshing concept that I haven't seen in many other places and I am only too happy to share the mindset for another night before scooting off to London.

Anyways, I'll let you people know how the play went, albeit I'm pretty confident that I'm going to enjoy it one way or another.

Take it easy,

Markus

P.S. The title to this posting is a little bit of an inside reference. Who can tell me what it's from?

Top O Da Mornin To Ya

Hey there peoples,

It seems that Brian has been far more vigilant than I as of late to keep you informed as to our recent exploits. Instead of fighting against this new development I have decided that I am happy to continue filling this lethargic role which will be appropriately reflected through the length of this posting.

After Ireland I spent a day in Paris where I met some wonderful people with whom I made a delicious and nutritious meal in our hostel's kitchen. I guess you would have to know me well to realize just how giddy it made me to cook for a group again. The experience made me realize just how much I miss my usual access to a full kitchen. After partaking in that culinary project we all went out for a few (note: few = less than 10. I think...) and had an overall spectacular time chatting and swapping backpacking stories. The next morning brought with it over 25 hours of uninterrupted traveling, bringing me from Paris to Dublin where I was grateful to see Brian awaiting me at the train station. Brian had already been here for a couple of days, and so after a few brief introductions to the people that he had met, I felt like I was part of the Dublin crew and ready to join the par-tay.

The rest of my time here has been described perfectly well by Brian and the only thing that I would add is further emphasis on just how much the Guinness brewery rocked. Not only was the tour fun, creative and informative (Not to mention effective. I think a huge internal struggle will precede any attempt to order a beer other than Guinness from now on.), but the free pint of the famous black ale that they give you at the end of it all was by far the best glass of beer I have ever had the pleasure of consuming. Not only was the beer exquisite, but we had the pleasure of enjoying it in the brewery's cylindrical Gravity Bar which is located at the top of the building and offers a spectacular view of Dublin. If you should ever find yourself in the city, I highly recommend it.

When I'm not involving myself in the torturous activity of consuming beer straight from the brewery, I find myself booking trains, planes and ferries for my travels in the near future. I'm planning to leave Dublin on monday for Glasgow, where I will stay for 2-3 days, and then I will work my way down to London where I will return back to the land of Hockey and Maple Syrup on the 5th of August. Reasons for my choice to come home early are listed in no particular order and include:

A - My severe longing to drive my car.
B - To drive away the curse that seems to have brought only chaos and disaster
to my family in Dryden since my departure.
C - To submerse myself utterly and completely in electronic entertainment.

Okay, okay. I'm also coming home because I miss all you wonderful people so much. Instead of joining in whenever I burst into spontaneous song, people here tend to stare and then shimmy away as though I were a poisonous snake coiled to strike. My random sound effects are also not very much appreciated here and generally my random silliness just doesn't seem to be as accepted. I guess, if nothing else, this trip has helped me to appreciate those people in my life who see my nonsensical and erratic side, but call me friend all the same.

So prepare yourselves people. The crazy German is coming home soon!

Take it easy,

Markus

The Dubliners

Markus and I have met up and are kickin' it here in Dublin, yo. I've been sticking around a bit longer than I originally planned because travelling to and through the UK is going to be a challenge -- trains and ferries and buses are expensive (not covered under our Eurail passes) and travelling to Edinburgh and Glasgow before London would mean lots of headaches and cash, and not enough time to do each location justice. Plus, I'm having a great time in the city of the Irish; I've been hanging out part of the time with two American guys and a gang of 9 English girls, absorbing the Irish charm and atmosphere all around.

So, I'll be catching a flight to London a few days from now on a discount air carrier -- the easiest & fastest way of travelling, and paradoxically also the cheapest. The business is booming here; companies like Ryanair, if you book early enough, will charge you a whopping 2 pounds for some flights, excluding taxes (which aren't terribly high either). I'm guessing you fly on the wing or something.

I'm disappointed I won't get to see Scotland this time around, but Markus is making a valiant effort to get there tomorrow, I think. We'll swap stories later when we meet up again in London.

Getting back to Dublin, the city rocks my socks. There are so many fantastic bars, clubs, and live music joints around here, many offering a blend of all three. I accidentally managed to stumble into one of the most authentic Irish pubs (as I found out later) of them all, the Palace Bar, and headed upstairs after a drink. At first I thought it was empty; I couldn't hear a thing as I headed up, but walked in on an incredible experience: The place was packed with souls, all completely silent, as one lone older man (a customer, I also found out later) sang a traditional Irish lament, a haunting song telling a story of heartbreak and tragedy. The presence in the silent room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Afterwards, a 6 person band in the bar struck up some more lively Irish music, which sounded incredible.

A few days later, Markus and I checked out a live music pub for some electronic music by a small group known as God is an Astronaut. Yesterday, we visited the magnificent Guinness Storehouse for a super-thorough history and education on the black beer (and a free pint). Other highlights for me have been seeing the ancient Book of Kells & touring Trinity College, and, last but certainly not least, meeting up with an ex-colleague from Redknee, Tom. We went out to lunch and afterwards the friendly Dubliner took me on a short tour of the city. Great time.

Tomorrow I'm off to the west-coast hippie city of Galway. There's a large arts festival finishing up there, so I'll check out the street performances and catch a nighttime standup comedy show by some Australian chap. Tonight, Saturday night in Dublin! Should be cool. Later.

Fun link of the day: My eyes, my eyes!

Stereophonic

This entry's going to be a little bit different. I'll take this entry from my personal travel journal and type it up later onto the website. So, the tone of this entry will be a little different than usual; you can expect more crass language, sexist attitudes, and immodest, revisionist storytelling from the gutters of my torrid mind. Enjoy!

As I write this, I can see rolling hills of green fields pass by my train window as I chug along towards Dublin, Ireland. I'm guessing the Irish are farming the colour green over here. We're talking deep green, lush farm fields bounded by lines of even darker green trees. Obviously helped along by the rather wet climate; dark, moddy clouds blanket the hills, falling over each other as they race to see who can open up and rain first.

The Irish themselves seem to wear a lot of green too -- I saw one elderly fellow wearing a green-upon-green suit. More fitting the Irish stereotype, though, is the unexpected, universal friendliness of the Irish people. It's only been about 8 hours since I jumped off the 19 hour ferry from France, and I've already been struck up into several conversations with total strangers -- like one of our guidebooks say, the Irish need about as much prodding to talk as hemophilliacs do to bleed. Even if it's not always cheery: One depressed bus driver was getting visibly sadder by the moment as he praised how "brilliant" it was that I was backpacking Europe. He then rached some sort of breaking point and brooded in a low voice over how his life is in a rut, how he's stuck doing the same bus driving job day in, day out. He mentioned how he has enough money saved up in real estate and in the bank, and nothing tying him down; I told him he should pack up and travel as well. I think that's what he wanted to hear, anyway. Brian Glick, international traveller, inducing misery upon others 6 days out of 7 (on Wednesdays I go shopping).

Spent the day today in the fantastic, oldish Irish town of Kilkenny (whose name makes me think of South Park every time). Not too touristy, with a large castle overlooking the river. The guided tour of the castle was fantastic; maybe I can enjoy and absord more of this whole "culture" and "history" deal after all, at least as long as it's narrated by that cheeky, fun-spirited Irish accent. (Sorry, Ireland, but I just can't take the accent seriously! Even when you're swearing or threatening to knock my lights out, it sounds like there's a punchline at the end of every sentence.)

As I write this now, I'm at the hostel in Dublin a day later. (Yeah, it's a multi-day entry, deal with it.) Went out last night with a bunch of people from the hostel to the packed, cobblestoned Temple Bar area of Dublin, and drank in one of the more local-filled, authentic pubs. What a trip -- the Irish will talk your ear off, and by the end of the evening half the place was standing (or swaying) while belting out off-key lyrics to whatever was playing. Our group escaped to a small area in the back so we could actually hear each other.

Speaking of the end of the evening, it comes quick -- most clubs and bars close at 2:00am, or else no one in the country would ever get to work on time (or get there sober). Tonight, I'll check out one of the many pubs devoted to live music, and visit the Guinness brewery and the ancient Book of Kells at Trinity College during the day.

The Tour de France was an intense but short-lived experience, by the way. I headed out to the edge of Toulouse, fought through massive crowds and giant fleets of media & team cars, and was near the front to see the crowd erupt into cheers for Lance Armstrong as he was introduced on the stage. I worked my way down the course before they started to get a decent vantage point, and if I had blinked I would have missed the whole thing -- they zoomed by, with the yellow-shirted Lance in the lead, and that was that.

Headed back to Paris afterwards for a few days, and went to the Pompidou Centre to visit the Museum of Modern & Contemporary Arts. I think I'm really starting to get a taste for that stuff, though I doubt I'll ever pretend to "get" or find much value whatsoever in the break-a-mirror-on-the-floor-and-call-it-art art. Still, most of the pieces were excellent. I snuck a quick movie of an amusing piece based on The Usual Suspects that I'll post later. There were also a number of "older" modern art pieces by Picasso and Dali that were fantastic and bizarre.

I also changed my flight ticket in Paris; Markus and I were taking about the trip before we split, and we're both missing people back home quite a bit. Three months, in retrospect, is an awfully long time to be away. We'd also like to catch a little bit of relaxing before the summer ends, and I'd personally enjoy having at least a little bit of cash to buy some food now and then (or even to pay a bit of tuition).

So, I'll be heading back to Toronto on the morning of August 4th, and Markus has hopefully booked a similar flight by now. It's only a two week cut, and we figure we'll just have to come back next summer for Spain!

That's it for now. Cheers!

Addendum

I'm also posting a few pictures along with this post, which should make you media-starved junkies happy for a day or two. But, the Internet cafe here isn't making it terribly easy for me to post 'em, so a lot of the pictures I'd like to post will have to wait; these are just a few. You'll have to also crane your neck and get a few cramps. Enjoy!

Pictures

1) Markus cliff-dives off a 10 foot cliff in Corfu, Greece. He also cliff-dove off the 50 foot one, but I unfortunately bungled the photo, which really, really sucked.
2) The Pink Palace puts on a traditional Greek dance and performance during the 4th of July toga party in Corfu. Apparantly traditional Greek dancing involves rings of fire.
3) Our beach in Ios, Greece. Our campground was in the complex of pools on the left.
4) Our campground bungalow. Note that you can't see the giant black ants that infested it and forced me to sleep by the pool one night.
5) One of the major stretches of clubs in "the village" in Ios. (Kahlua Bar, Disco 69, Superfly, and the Bulldog Bar.) At night, you could barely walk anywhere; the roads were packed with people hopping from one club to another.
6) "The village." This is pretty much all of it, too! (The bars and roads are hidden.)
7) Us, before we left, hanging out with three super-hip half-Japanese girls studying in America, and two blokes from Macedonia. And if you think that photo of me is bad, you should see the ones I'm not posting. (Or, no you shouldn't.)
8) The Roman Forum, in Rome.
9) For my aspiring-archaologist Mom, a photo of several of 'em at work.
10) The Colosseum
11) I love this sign.
12) Yes, humans actually built this.
13) On the path above one of the villages of Cinque Terre.
14) Another Cinque Terre village...Vernazza, I think.
15) Lance shakes the hands of young bikers before setting off on the day's stage.
16) Lance in the lead.
17) The rest of the stragglers.
18) Castle Kilkenny, on a typically cloudy Irish day.
19) The only picture I have of Dublin so far, this is the hella-busy pedestrian Grafton Street. More to come!

Ich Bin Kein Berliner

Hey there Peoples,

Having been exposed to Berlin for a couple of days now, I can tell you with confidence that this is the kind of place that has something for everyone. The amount of renovation and fixing up that has gone on here is simply phenomenal and it's not exactly hard to see that people here have not been shy about spending money to brush away most signs of the recent past. I had the pleasure of taking a 9 hour walking tour through Berlin yesterday which went through every little detail of WW II and the cold war when Berlin was divided into 4 different regions. If ever you were curious about how the Nazis gained their power or how and from where they managed to orchestrate everything with such deadly efficiency, then Berlin is the place you want to be. The stories, the places and even the general aura of certain buildings like the SS headquarters sent shivers down my spine after the tour guide gave us vivid and detailed descriptions of exactly what went on there. It really hits home when you see some of the memorials for people who were killed trying to cross the wall with dates not yet twenty years old.

Anyways, that´s enough depressing talk for one posting. Besides all that history Berlin has museums, operas, theatres, a philharmonic orchestra and a night life to rival almost any other city in Europe. I haven´t had a lot of time here, but so far what I´ve seen and done has left me with nothing but the warm fuzzy feeling of satisfaction to comfort me. I even had the pleasure of eating at a restaurant attached to a cooking school today, so the prices were phenomenal and were I the teacher I would have to give these guys an A+ for their efforts to make my meal tasty. I'm still planning on checking out a couple of museums and then I'll be catching the night train to Paris so that I can catch up to Brian in Ireland in a couple of days. I'll let you peoples know how I make out in Frenchy land and then, if I can remember how to use a computer or what a computer even is, I'll be able to talk all about those famous Irish pubs.

Until then, take it easy,

Markus

Just Call Me Hansel

Hey there peoples,

What Brian has said is indeed true. I am back with my family being fattened up for the kill once again (as it turns out I lost 6kg between leaving them and coming back) and I plan to check out Berlin, maybe my birth town of Cologne (It's Köln in german, so no jokes about how I smell) and then I plan to meet up with Brian in Paris (I like using brackets because they make my run-on sentences even longer. Woohooo! I'm gonna sing the long song now. long long long long long... sorry).

Anyways, I promised you people some descriptions of Rome, so to counter my usual format of horrendously wordy sentences, I'm going to try things in a concise single-adjective format. Rome was:

Hot. Ancient. Crumbly. Gi-normous. Catacomby. Fat...Ph-Fat that is.

Okay, so maybe I haven't escaped the early 90s and my wielding of adjectives in such a manner has turned out to be more dangerous than descriptive. Maybe adjectives just aren't my thing. Whatever it is, I guess I'll have to resort to the old fashioned paragraphs that I am only slightly more proficient at. Alrighty then, lets cut to the chase: Rome was amazing. In fact, I would have to say that Rome has been my favourite city on this trip thus far for many reasons. Some of these reasons I dare not tell you, some might even disturb you, but what I can say is that there is simply so much that has survived here which is still interesting to look at, that it can do nothing else but blow my fragile little mind. We tried to absorb all that we could in the two meager days that we had, but upon retrospect I realize that this was not nearly enough time to do Rome justice. There is, of course, the intense and excruciating heat to contend with, but as far as history and architecture and sheer jaw-dropping, awe-struck wonderment is concerned, Rome wins my vote hands down. I think the reason that I feel so intensely about this is that I have many other places to compare it too now. I've been to greece and I've seen the condition their temples are in. Sure, the experience is still relevant and intense especially when a little imagination is thrown in on the side, but being impressed by something like the Pantheon in Rome requires nothing more than the two little eyes in my head. First of all, the Pantheon has a one up on most of the stuff in Greece because it's still standing after 2000 years. All of it. But when you see the size of the dome on this thing and consider when it was built, bewilderment is the only natural thing to follow the glance up. I mean, the pyramids are big, but at the end of the day they're a bunch of blocks piled up on one another. When I saw that dome with the knowledge that it had been built over 2000 years ago, I could do nothing more than shake my head and wonder at the ingenuity that must have been used to bring something like it into existence. On top of this you have the coliseum, the Roman Forum, countless fountains, ancient ports, ruins of every size and shape and the list goes on.

Enough of that. I guess I could have summed it up with "If old buildings is your thing, check out Rome.", but then again you should know me by now. After Rome, we found ourselves visiting these five little villages, appropriately called Cinque Terre, which lie on a 12 kilometer long stretch along the Mediterranean sea. The countryside consists of sheer cliffs and green rolling hills and is graced by the presence of the 5 small villages and vineyards in such a manner that can only bring a smile to ones face. Brian and I decided that hiking the narrow and winding path connecting the five towns was the only sensible thing to do when confronted with beauty such as this, and as a result we were richly rewarded with kodak moments galore. I won't share these pictures with you right now, but am content to string you along with empty promises that they are coming soon. What I mean to say is, "Brian has the camera and I don't know when he'll have time to post pictures".

I feel that this is the time to leave you, after being shunned and disappointment, and have only this to say to you in consolation. "your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!"

Take it easy,

Markus

P.S. I've been dying to do some inside jokes for a while. I appologize to those who don't get them.

Tour de France

I'm excited -- the Tour de France is still in town after all, and I haven't missed it. I was just confused because a) they're doing time trials today about a half hour out of town before they start on the road again from Toulouse tomorrow morning, and b) my French is a little rusty, so when native Frenchians assume I can understand them, sometimes it all sounds like bloopity bloop bloooop, n'est pas? and I just smile and nod to avoid looking like I was an idiot for striking up a French conversation in the first place.

Fun links of the day: First here, then here.

Arnie and Armstrong

I've been fantastically awful at keeping my end of the weblog up to date, limited computer availability notwithstanding. Sorry, folks. Whenever we're in Internet cafes, we need to spend a decent amount of time looking up travel info and dealing with emails before we can even think about postings. I'm also overwhelmed with all of the stories and places to share; I'm not sure where to start! I'll catch up as soon as I can.

Under the guise of being innovative and delightfully unconventional in my posting style, I'm going to save all sorts of time of covering the latest details by just pasting the email I just sent to Markus. We split up yesterday after visiting Rome and Cinque Terre over the past week, and I'm replying to an email he sent. Some details censored and omitted for your safety. Catch you guys later.

Yo Marky-Mark!

Glad to hear you made it to Munich -- I realized shortly after I jumped on the train out of Italy that we were at the wrong station in Genova. Stupid place has too many train stations and I assumed we were at the right one! I'm so proud that you spoke with those girls! Maybe you actually like girls after all! :O (Haha, you're thousands of miles from me... can't object, can't object!)

I was reading through the guidebooks like mad on the way to Nice (and I didn't intend on holding onto both, but the mad train rush didn't help; at least the Circus hostel should give you enough info on everything to see and do in Berlin), and decided I didn't want to stay in Nice after all, given our timeframe and that I'm a little beached and partied out. The best place to go sounded like Toulouse. I intended to take a night train once I got to Nice, but there was a tunnel that was closed off on the way to Nice, and we had to take a detour by bus, so I ended up missing the night train. Frantically managed to find a bed late night in Nice at a place mentioned in the guidebook, which turned out to be a nightmare...we're talking cockroaches, incredibly disgusting bathroom, and worst of all, the French! (Na, I'm just joshing those poor maligned French.)

Also met a girl from Ireland (Cork) that was super excited when I mentioned I would be there fairly shortly (at about the same time she gets home) and wants us to meet up with her and hang out with her in Cork. So, maybe we can do that, and I think she left it open to stay at her place. She seemed very cool but it was a bit odd how accomodating she was, even if I wasn't getting any sketchy mass-murderer vibes.

Anyway, caught a train to Toulouse this morning, and got to Toulouse today only to find out that the Tour de France's current stage ended IN Toulouse right about the time I arrived at the train station. I missed it, since I didn't know about it. Lance Armstrong's still in the lead, but just barely. And because of everyone in town, the only room I barely managed to grab is 40 Euros a night. Ah well, at least it's a sweet room.

Toulouse seems awesomely cool, though...120,000 students here (only about 600,000 total population), incredible culture and atmosphere, walkable everywhere, very clean, and it's a centre for high tech aeronautics, space, biotech, etc etc. I haven't seen much yet but it's got great potential so far. The two things I came for are Space City (supposedly a 'truly mind-blowing interactive space museum and planetarium' as Lonely Planet puts it, and is listed at the top of every tourism brochure list of sights), and a photography gallery that's supposed to be the biggest and best in France.

Also, I'm going to email Lindsay and Carrie (those two girls from Paris). I don't think they're here anymore, but maaaybe they are, or can tell me some other cool places to hang out.

So, my gameplan at this point is to do those things in Toulouse tomorrow and stay another night (I'm hoping I can find somewhere at least a little cheaper once the Tour de France masses ship out). Then, I'll head to Paris the next day; I really enjoyed it the first time around, and I know there are many things I'd still like to do. I'm not sure how long I'll stay there, for, so if you're still in Germany when I'm done in Paris (which seems likely), I'll head for Ireland and meet up with you there. If not, we can meet in Paris on the way to Ireland. Looks like it's best to take the ferry from Roscoff (far, far northwestern France) to Rosslare in Ireland, operated by Irish Ferries; that's the one with the 50% discount. It says advanced bookings recommended too, FYI.

Anyway, I better dash. Still want to update the weblog, plus if I hurry, I can head down to the local cinema about a kilometre from here and possibly catch a glimpse of ol' Arnie Schwarzenegger as he leaves the French premiere of T3. Crazy place this is!

Send my best wishes to your family (wish Tina a happy birthday for me!), have a great time in Berlin when you head up there (I'm jealous, so come back with some good stories!), and see you soon!

-Brian

The Good Life

Hey there peoples,

I will have to apologize for the lack of recent postings. As it turns out the computer decided to punish us for being in the greek islands and having a good time and as a result would not let us post to you, our wonderful readers, until now. The last week has consisted of a smorgasborg of activities, delicious in their nature and all to easy to consume in mass quantities. We've been hanging out in Ios, which is one of the greek islands dedicated to youths who do not bother themselves with petty concerns such as alcohol poisoning or STDs. We stayed at this place called Far Out Camping where it costs about one third of the price we're used to and the life, as they say, is good. The main hang out area consists of two swimming pools, some water slides, pool tables, foosball tables, a bar, a small restaurant, a mini mart, volleyball courts, tennis courts and much more. Not 50 feet away stretches out a beautiful beach complete with more volleyball courts, some umbrellas and sunbathing chairs which are often times occupied by some beautiful and very "liberal" customers.

As you can imagine, we were content to spend many a day lounging about, trying desperately to avert our eyes at key times so as not to appear rude, and trying to partake in the volleyball action whenever possible. The evenings brought with them the presentation of a pirated movie, some dinner and then afterwards the trek into town fuelled by the need for booze and dancing. Now, all this was well and good, but my personal favourite activity on Ios, believe it or not, was climbing one of the scenic mountains which surrounded our beach. I simply woke up one morning and decided to do it, and so with little more than the camera and a big bottle of water, I set out with the quest to be on top of this thing in short order. I didn't know that climbing a big mound of rocks could be so much fun, but I loved every second of it. It was a challenging climb, but after two and a half hours I found myself on the top of Ios, it's splendors laid out for only me to see. The view was breathtaking and the feeling exhilarating and I only wish to do more of it in the future. I've got a couple of pictures for you here, one half way up and the other of me greeting the world with outstretched arms.

Anyways, after Ios we decided to travel for three days straight so that we could get to Rome and enjoy what it has to offer. We're a little tired from missing all that sleep, but soon we'll reward you with a slew of new pictures and stories galore about the glory of Rome.

Take it easy,

Markus

Software on the Fritz

Software's misbehaving again. Sorry; comments and new postings are down until me and my team of crack server administrators can figure out what's up. We've got our best man working on finding the answer.

While I'm here, Markus and I have just about burnt ourselves out on Ios. To keep a long story short for now, Ios is the place to drink, swim, party, and engage in consequence free behavior, all in a spectacular tropical island setting. And anyone over 25 isn't allowed, it seems. We've been having an amazing time, and I can't wait to describe it more. Anyway, we're so mellow, so living the beach bum life right now that we can feel the outside world slipping away, and we know we've got to escape. Catch you soon.

Island Hopping

Hi all. Real quick update (with a much longer one coming soon). Markus and I had an incredible time at the Pink Palace. It wasn't even Greece; it was a giant North Amercian summer camp for wild college kids, except without the restraint. It just happened to be on a beautiful, mountain-and-beach covered island. I'll get back to it later.

For now, we're heading off on a night ferry to Ios, in the Cyclades islands on the other side of Greece. We spent the day in Athens. It's a complete hole, apart from the ancient Acropolis ruins, which are at least clean. A day is entirely enough. We'll spend more time relaxing and partying it up on a few of the Cyclades islands, though I'm already starting to feel a little partied out.

We also hung out with three very chic and hip American folk from Norcal (that's Northern California for all you who aren't from the Bay Area). Ryan, Jenny, and Morgan were so left-wing it hurt, which suited me just fine. We all got along great. In honour of them, I present a website I found the other day: The American Traveler International Apology Shirt.

We're off! Hopefully an update in a few days. Hope everyone's well.

The Isle of Debauchery

Hey there everyone,

You'll have to excuse the length of time from our last posting to this one, but I assure you that very important matters demanded our undivided attention the entire time. We find ourselves at the infamous Pink Palace on Corfu island, a massive hostel with the capacity to hold about 900 guests. We decided to come here because it was constantly being recommended to us by other backpackers, and after having experienced this place myself for a short while, I come to realize that these people live by the credos that if you can't remember a visit to a place, it must have been a good time. I don't think there's one service that the staff provide here that does not involve a generous portion of liquor. The bar here simply does not close, it's open 24 hours a day, ready to take your money and provide in exchange that perpetual drunken haze that so many love to see the world through. Although I'm making this place sound like one giant drunk-fest 24 hours a day, it's actually got much more going for it than that. Included in the price for the room is breakfast (which is available until 11am for obvious reasons) and dinner, which I think is offered not so much to sustain people, but more to prevent them from dying of alcohol poisoning. For a small fee any amenity that you might need can be provided, from toga rentals to leg waxing. In short, a person could easily decide to stay here indefinitely without ever having to leave, and from what I hear that's exactly how the Pink Palace acquires the majority of its staff.

As you might have guessed by now summing up the last few days require only a few words; booze, beach and party being some of the key ones. Our first day was one spent lounging on the beach, taking a dip or two in the ocean and basically doing a lot of nothing. Having previous experience with sunburns on this trip we thought we were being clever by applying a healthy dose of sunscreen before our strenuous day of slacking. Only later did we come to realize just how painful the lessons of ignorance can be, but Brian had to suffer the consequences far more than myself. I didn't have to see his burns first hand to know how bad they were, I simply had to hear the blood curdling scream that erupted from the shower the next morning. I think I've seen people with broken limbs in less pain than Brian trying to put on a shirt. For this reason we decided that a day in the shade would be a good plan, and so we both signed up for an activity organized by the palace called the car safari. I loved the car safari, not only because I got to drive along the beautiful winding roads of Corfu while putting the fear of death into my passengers (God how I've missed that), but also because at the end of the trip we got to swim at this beach with crystal clear cold water which was very soothing for the aforementioned burns.

After the car safari we ate some dinner and then went to the Toga Party thrown in honour of Canada day. They played some great Canadian music, smashed some plates over our heads in true Greek fashion and made sure that social lubricant was cheap and plentiful enough to make it a very social evening. I had a great time, met some great people and didn't end up getting to bed until about 4:30 making breakfast at 10:30 sound like far to early an endeavour. Brian and I have decided that we like this place so much that we'll stay until Saturday. After that we'll be heading off to other Greek locations, but for now we're happy to stay here and continue indulging in the pure hedonistic splendor of it all. I'm sure Brian will give you his own rendition of what the past few days have been like once the glow from his body dims enough to allow him to see the computer screen.

Hope everything is great with all back home. Take it easy,

Markus