hungary...

is really flat. really. and there are fewer cognates in this language than any other written in the roman script that i have come across. words and phrases that people dont recognise if you try and say them and hope that they will understand:

1. bank
2.pommes frites
3.the international gesture for ' can i have the bill please?'
4. please dont put that artificial spray cream on the top of my cappucino

More on the philosophers on the morning thing- great truths of life are often revealed by people who know best: hostel receptionists : ' trust your instincts and always remain optimistic'- the best so far.

more as it happens
rx

the story since the last time

Maribor, Slovenia

bus to barcelona genova venice
nights without sleep
cycling in trieste @ 2am
ljubljana
downhill for 150 kms
sick
picnics on the river
philosophers of the morning
remaining optimistic
BIG bowls of soup
no gulasz yet
dirtydirtydirty clothes
iwka
postcards from the edge
clean socks:)

ok iwka wants to go. Hungary is waiting for us.

rx

cunning linguist

Antequera, Spain

This is what the old lady said to us as we arrived yesterday at the Hostal having spent five hours riding uphill in the baking sun from the coast on a mountainside road: "!este carretera con todas las curvas que hay¡"

This could be taken in one of three ways depending on the context in which you hear it- they are:

1) literally: " with all the curves on that road!"
2) with a little interpretation: "that road has all the curves in the world!"
3) bearing in mind that kurwa means ´slut´ in polish:" with all those ´ ´ that there are!"

Its all about about context people.

sore upper arms

Estepola, Spain

dear dad,

three things id like to thank you for:

1. enjoying the small things in life like coffee on the side of the road.
2. how important the sea is in order to maintain ones sanity.
3. allowing myself to enjoy getting up early in order to get on with the day.


three things i wouldn´t like to thank you for:

1. an obsession with saving money whilst travelling.
2. an obsession with worrying about everything.
3. an obsession with how safe my passport is.

it takes someone else to point these things out to you by the way: )

First day on the bikes was great. like i say sore upper arms. got kitted out in gibraltar yesterday and it was fun for the first three hours this morning- until we had to ride on the motorway. tom- it is NOT fun when a large truck comes by, and the slipstream does NOT pull you along and make you pedal less hard. instead it causes you to feel like you are standing blindfolded in a train tunnel with the train coming at you straight on and missing you only by inches.

other than that sea and sand and horrible holiday homes. tomorrow we head for the mountains.

rx

locomotion ´tom style´

no africa. plane tickets to evade visa problems too much. it appears bicyclation is the way forward. where does one get a tandem?

problems problems

no wisa for iwka- the moroccons dont like it that she isnt going to cover her shoulders. and also because she is polski. maybe we could have checked this before coming all the way here no? so we sit in a cafe in algeciras and ask ourselves some questions. que frustracion.

options: fly to dakar. go back to poland. any suggestions? at the moment we wait for the senegalese consulate in madrid to open to call to see about visas so we dont make the same mistake again. thus our intelligence increases with each step. brilliant. this is why humans are superior beings.

but the coffee is good in the morning and so is the sunrise over the just-out-of-reach atlas mountains across the straight. must count for something.

more as it happens.

asterix

jerez de la frontera

Amazing. I finally figured out that my entire way of looking at spanish people has been influenced from a very early age by none other than the character from asterix who comes from spain and has the long horns.

If anyone can let me know his name i´ll say olé on your behalf to the next person i meet wearing said hat.

melodrama

it begins today really. and without trying to be overly melodramatic these are the things that i have to do before taking the first footstep eastward:

• visit the payroll department
• buy new socks (short, black)
• wash three shirts
• tell the students they have passed
• return my library book
• recharge my phone(£5 only)
• get some sleep

for tomorrow is another day

who am i really?

me

layout is king

which is why i need this post to make sure that all the links on the right are aligned just the way i want them. too few posts and it goes back to the original

free pizza

for lunch today. five more days to go five more days to go