The Traveling Tales of Jimmy Pronto

10:55 am: Go and See it
I just got back from Auschwitz. There are words to describe it, but they don't quite do it justice. Go and see what was done and what remains.

The plaque in Birkenau, where the international monument to the Holocaust is, reads as follows:

For ever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity where the nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women, and children, mainly jews from various countries of Europe. Auschwitz-Birkenau. 1940-1945

Go and see it.

09:28 am: Polish fun
Ok, this is becoming a tradition now: for the second time that I've been sent to Europe by the army, my luggage has been lost in Frankfurt. It's a bit of a pain. However, it turns out I'm a super-genius as I packed a change of clothes in my carry on bag.

Krakow is neat. There's more churches here than in Rome (or so it would seem). The city itself is pretty neat and it reminds me of Zagreb. Which is neat, because the languages are pretty similar.

This is the best birthday present the army has ever given me.

06:03 pm: Above the world
Sitting on a roof, I read. The oak tree at my back filters the sunlight and the wind. The creak of the house, swaying in the breeze, creates a backdrop for the robin's song. The noises of the city blend seamlessly with the noises of the world, all of which are distant echoes in my ears, my thoughts bounds in the novel in my hands. Spring has sprung, I am returned, and all is well. Eventually I must decent from the tree-fort, return to the world below and remember all of my worries and woes. For now, sitting on the peaked roof and feeling the air caress me and the sun warm me, I am above all of that. I am happy.

06:05 pm: To je to
One week ago last Friday I stood out on my balcony at 3 in the morning in my boxers and waved good bye to 3 people.

Last Friday I stood outside in my pajamas and said good bye to 4 more.

Today I saw all of the Canadian assets leave on a service flight.

In 2 days I leave here for good. In 4 days I'm home.

And that pretty much says all there is to say about that.

09:41 am: Plitvicka Jezera
Well, with limited time remaining here (oooo... that felt so good just to say that...) I obviously need to start photo-dumping stuff. So, here's a photo-dump of Plitvicka Jezera: a waterfall filled national park in Croatia and about 40 mins from here.

( Enjoy! )

10:55 pm: Family=Awesome
So, I did a quick walk around Copenhagen, but it turns out walking in cold, wet, windy weather is just the same here as it is back home. It also sucks just as much. The main difference though is that everything is closed because they haven't had weather like this in about 30 years. To us, it's (what's normally) the beginning of January weather. To them... trains don't run on time, planes are canceled, people are advised not to go out driving because of the dangerous road conditions.

I did get to meet my family here though. Right now I'm staying at my 3rd cousins place with her son (her great-grandfather and my great-grandfather were brothers). It's been really nice. I got to meet another cousin that I last saw when I was 6, along with my second cousin once removed (3rd cousins mother). Tomorrow the one that visited when I was six is taking me out to see some of the sights of Copenhagen with his fiance. After that, it'll be a night in a hotel then back to work. Yea work... Well, I guess the money for this vacation has to come from somewhere.

08:39 pm: Welcome to the Homeland
Well, I've made it to Copenhagen without issue and even managed to contact my cousin. She said she'll pick me up at the train station tomorrow afternoon, which is good, because I have no idea how to get to her.

Weird thing here though, the country is apparently paralyzed with snow. Flights have been canceled, trains aren't running on schedule, it's a mess.... and there's about a foot and a half of snow on the ground. Seriously. It's like -2. I love it. Seeing the snow reminded me of home (I never thought I'd miss seeing snow if February, but, now I know I do). So, with luck I'll be able to visit some family tomorrow, which should be... awesome.

09:29 am: Time to leave
Well, looks like I'm done here in Greece. Two days ago I went to Delphi and say the temple of Apollo, then yesterday I went to Mycenae and saw where the decision to launch 1000 ships for a single woman came from. Afterwords, I went to Epidaurus and got to see, and experience, the theater there. You stand in the middle, and you can be heard all around. Your whispers, tearing of paper, striking a match, all of it. It's kinda surreal.

Today, however, I leave this country for yet another. I'm off to Copenhagen for a few days. I'll try to meet up with some distant family, but I don't know if they'll be around (I fired off an email but have yet to receive a response). Ah well, at the very least I'll get to see Denmark, which should be good.

05:48 am: Athens
This entry was written at 1958 on th 20th of February

Well, the flights went fine yesterday. Got to Paris without issue, though there were several children on the plane to make for an interesting flight. Them "meal" was a decent snack. My connecting flight was delayed for about an hour so I had plenty of time before I took off for Athens. The flight over was actually really nice though. I got put next to the emergency exit, so I had a tonne of leg room, and the in-flight meal was delicious. They even had real utensils to cut the meat with! We landed around 11:30pm though, so that sucked. To top it off, I couldn't get any money from the cash machine (I was worried Visa had done something stupid, but it turns out it was just the machine) so I only had 50 euros for the cab ride. Normally, that should have done it, but it cost 60. Fortunately the cabbie was fine with just 50, which turned out to be good since I ended up having to ask the reception the next day where a cash machine was (there were none in any stores near by, nor in the hotel lobby).

So today I went for a stroll. I saw, and climbed, the Acropolis. I got to see the Theater of Dyonisus, the Ancient Angora, the Roman Angora, the Temple of Zeus, the Odeon, Hadrian's Arch and his Library, and the Tower of the Winds. It was pretty cool. Shame that everything seems to shut down around 3:00 though.

For tonight, I think I'm going to see if I can catch a walking tour of Athens by night, or maybe I'll just hit up a bar. Tomorrow I'm planning on getting up early and going to Delphi.

03:59 pm: The Final Days
This entry was written at 0958 on the 19th of February

Well, I'm now back to traveling solo. I'm currently sitting in the Dublin airport enjoying an overpriced muffin and washing it down with overpriced orange juice, but I've got about 4 hours to kill, so I might as well get something to eat. Nic just went through security and his flight should leave in about an hour and a half, so we parted ways just before they metal detectors.

We went to the Guinness brewery yesterday. It was... amazing. We learned some stuff, saw some things, and drank some Guinness. It was delicious. What's more, the end of the tour is in a bar with windows all around, and they provide you with a map so you can see all the sights of Dublin while drinking. These people are my heroes. Afterwords we wend out for an early supper and pretty much called it quits after that. We drank a tonne of Guinness and that much in you just makes you tired.

So, that brings me to today. Nic is heading home to Ottawa and I'm off to Athens.

Oh, and I apologize to those of you who know Nic because you're about to endure weeks of stories and a tonnes of pictures from our time here. They will, of course, be equaled by the weeks of stories and tonnes of picture that I will have when I get back.

02:41 pm: Punishment and Pride
This entry was written at 1221 on the 18th of February

And the Lord looked down from on high and said "Lo, thine debauchery hath become excess, and thou shalt be punished for it." And with His divine hands he did reach down and crushed my kidneys.

Yea, Friday hurt something fierce. Combined with 5 and a half hours on a train and it made for a painful day. However, we did meet up with an old friend (and cousin of Nic's) and ended up crashing on her dorm floor. She took us out to a local bar where we had Scotch in Scotchland and we learned that apparently bars in Glasgow close at something like 11:30pm. So we went early and left early and spent the rest of the night talking to Ashley's roommates. It ended up being a really good night.

We were up before the crack of noon the next day and took a cab to Glasgow Central station. From there it was a 2 hour train ride to Stanraer, then a 2 hour ferry ride to Belfast, and finally a 2 hour train ride to Dublin.

Ahh Dublin. We got a hotel in the middle of... well... everything. There are pubs, bars, clubs, cafes, restaurants, and just about anything you could ask for around here. We went for steak and Guinness (and yes, the Guinness does taste different, and better, here) at a restaurant around the corner. The best part about that though was that our waiter was from Lethbridge, Alberta. That's right, we traveled across the Atlantic and spend a load of cash just to get served by an Albertan. However, because he was Canadian I was able to do something I haven't been able to do since I left home: I ordered a rye and ginger. No strange looks, no confusion, no questions about "Are you sure you want to put the Whiskey in the Ginger ale?" Nope, I asked for a rye and ginger and then I got one. I thought I was going to cry out of happiness. Instead I drank. After that we went to another bar for a bit, but it really wasn't worth staying around for. A drink at the hotel bar was all that was left for us that night before we retired.

I'm not sure what we'll do today... but it will involve drinking. Much drinking.

10:54 pm: For Amy
There will posts later about what happened today, but that is for later. Right now, this post is for my cousin Amy.

Today, Amy is getting married.

Congratulations Amy. I wish you nothing but happiness and love.

11:13 am: English adventures
Ok, so I had an entry written yesterday, then I sorta erased it in a drunken haze.

So, two days ago we woke up and decided that hangovers sucked and that life would be better in England. So, it was time to hop a train. Well, fist I had to phone some poor girl in Ottawa and wake her up, but that's cause I wanted a Valentine. After that though, then we hopped a train to London. It turns out that they'll sell you tickets and not give you a seat, so we had to travel in the vestibule, which was actually a really nice ride. Upon arrival we located a Days Inn (and they give government discounts) and then went wandering. We found, and walked passed, the War Museum. Then we went to a mall, and tested out the tube to get back to the hotel. Miracle upon miracles, everything worked just fine. Plus we discovered a pub across the street that served the best steak around. It was an early night though, so we passed out shortly after dinner.

Then next day (yesterday) was the day for sight seeing. We got on the Eye of London and saw... well... all of London. After that we did a walk past Big Ben, the House of Parliament, Westminster Abby, Trafalgar Square, and Buckingham Palace. With all of that done by 2, we wandered down to a nice little pub called The Red Lion for lunch. Then came the adventure. With no address and shoddy website-directions, we attempted to locate the Beefeater's Gin distillery. We found it, but it was closed... VERY closed. So we made our way up the street to a pub called the Pilgrim for some gin (it wasn't a complete loss) and a chat with a few locals. After that we navigated our way back to the hotel for a quick stop in before another trip out. This time, we went drinking in Soho... because everyone seems to go drinking in Soho at some point. Our first stop was the Captain's Cabin, where we toasted the Captain and mourned his absence. Then we found our way to another pub called the Cambridge where they served lamb and booze. We decided to sample both. Unfortunately the place closed down around 11:30, so we had to make our way back to the hotel bar. The bartender was a cool Brazilian named (I'm not shitting you) Fabio and we stayed up for a couple of hours chatting with him before passing out for the night.

So, today we venture forth to Glasgow in Scotchland. Mmm... Schotchland...

11:27 am: Shoot that man...
This entry was written at 1116 on the 14th of February

Find the man that discovered hang-overs. Have him murdered. VERY murdered.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. We had breakfast in Amsterdam, lunch in Brussels and supper in Paris. I feel so... international? At any rate, we found this nice little cafe that served a very nice bottle of wine. In fact it was so nice that we had another. Then we discovered that across from our hotel was another nice cafe. They served steak and, of course, with steak must come wine. Just to make sure though, we got two bottles.

Now I'm feeling like God has come down from on high and punched me in the head.

No good can come of France.

Today we're going to head off for London and see what the Chunnel is like on the way. Without some miracle however, I doubt we'll be enjoying anything stronger than water on the way over.

Oh, Happy Valentines Day girls. Take it easy, relax, and enjoy the day. Con some poor boy into taking you out for dinner and giving you a massage. Today is just for you.

And hangovers.

11:38 pm: A day of walking
This entry was written at 0042 on the 13th of February

Today was a day to see Amsterdam by day. We walked for about 4 hours and saw a lot of the city. We went back to the same place we found yesterday to have beer and cheese (yes, it sounds odd, but tastes very good). After that there was only one place to go: the Hagen Daas store. It was so good. So very, very good. Then a power nap later, it was time for a late sandwich. A late club sandwich. With Canadian Club and ginger ale! I was so happy. Plus the waitress there was incredibly hot, so it was like a delight for all the senses (ok, so touch was not indulged to the degree I wished it to be, but hey, take what you can get).

Tomorrow we head to Brussels for lunch then Paris for supper. We may or may not overnight it in Paris... that all depends on how much of Paris I feel like putting up with. Until then, however, there's 7 hours of train ride to look forward to. Yay!

11:36 pm: And so it begins
This entry was written at 2:02 AM on February 12th, 2007

I met Mister Nic at the airport at around 1130. By 3 we had had beer, food, walked through the center of town, had a hotel, and were preparing for a nap. At 7 we got up, walked quite a ways, found the best pub around and sat drinking (and eating gorgeous steak) until about 0130.

Vacation rocks.

12:26 am: TELEGRAM
IN AMSTERDAM WITH NIC STOP EVERYTHING ROCKS STOP MORE TO FOLLOW END

02:37 pm: Flying off Again
Ok ok, so I know that I've should have posted sooner, but... well... I just haven't been in the mood really. I just uploaded the pics for my visit to Plitvicka Jezera, a Croatian national park filled with Waterfalls, along with the pics of the castle I climbed up in Serbinica. However, I don't have time to link them right now because I'm about to embark on a tour of debauchery. I'm off to Zagreb, where tomorrow I will get on an airplane to meet Mister Nic in Amsterdam. From then till the 19th, we'll be working our way towards Dublin. After that, he heads home and I got to Athens for 4 days, then Copenhagen for another 4.

I'll try to post to keep people updated, but don't be surprised if there is nothing for a while. I'll try to write entries when I can and post them later, so check the first line to see when it was written to give you an idea of what's going on (that is, of course, if you care).

Time to journey forth again.

03:54 am: Clarification on the quotations
Ok, to clarify, because this morning I learned that quotation marks aren't enough, I did not mean to imply that Bosnia (nor Croatia) are uncivilized. There is civilization and culture here that are both unique and familiar. It was simply a descriptor of another part of the world. That is all. Now quit bugging me Arijana.

Geeze... never piss off a potential lawyer.

09:09 pm: Come to Slovenia
This place is great. I spent New Years Eve in a bar six stories up, toasting the new year with champagne and kissing random girls. As odd as it sounds, it's almost surreal to be here. I mean, they speak almost the same language as they do in Bosnia and Croatia, but this city could just as easily be anywhere in the "civilized" world. Everyone speaks a bit of English, and there are tourist from everywhere. In the span of 20 minutes I was speaking 3 languages to several different groups of people. There's just enough old world here that you can see cool things like down-town market stalls along the river front, or New Year's fireworks exploding above a castle on a hill. Tonight I went out for a walk in the rain, not the cold winter rain you'd expect on January 1st but rather spring rain, warm enough to let you enjoy it. I went to the pub just down the street and had a pint of Guinness before going to McDonalds to get something to eat. The normalcy of that last sentence is enough to make me remind myself that I'm still half a world away from home. This place is perfect for a vacation though, and I cannot recommend it enough. Everything is cheap and they all want Euros, so you don't even have to change to the local currency.

This has been a good vacation.