It’s 10:40pm and we’re again on the train to Budapest. Maybe we’ll make it this time.

Today was pretty bad. We all (except for Rachel) have a terrible case of diarrhea. I woke up sicker than a dog today and thought for sure I would pass out sometime during the day. But thankfully I didn’t. We went to Pizza Hut but I couldn’t eat much. Saw a movie called “Malice” but I just slept. We saw Tommy Boy” yesterday for about .90¢ or $1.10 or somethin’. It felt good to laugh at American slang again.

Bought a cake & 2 bottles of wine last nite and played cards. Cliff and I drank both of them and I think that’s part of the problem today. Yuck! We’re all broke and hoping that we don’t have any more problems until we get home. But that would never happen to us. Please let us get out of here! Alive! WE JUST WANT TO GO HOME! Even Switzerland is okay! C’mon! I really feel like shit so if something happens along the way I’m going to freak out. I don’t want to deal with anything or anyone. I want to sleep and I want to get to Budapest tomorrow without any problems. All I want is Rachel in my arms and my guitar.

All I wanted to do with my life is play my music for people and show the world my point of view. But it doesn’t look like I’ll get that far due to this trip. I just want to survive. It’s kind of like my life is this train ride and my goal is to get to the bathroom but there’s just so damn many people in the hallway that there’s no way I’m going to get through. Just need high hopes, and for now I’ll just have to hold it.

It’s only noon here but I just wanted to say that I’ve never so happy to be bored in my life. I hate it here- the people (some) are nice but I never had the intention of being here. As far as I’m concerned the European trip is over, done, finito. I refuse to see any more stoopid [sic] structures or churches or museums. I know that when I get home I’ll release my stress on the first fucker that starts something with me. I never liked to fight but I have 3 months of anger built up inside me…

(Exchange rate=$1.00 to 63 lira)

{Hilarious! I’ve still never been in a fight so I wonder where all of that anger went! lol!}

10:10pm and finally okay. Here we are in Sofia fucking Bulgaria where I don’t want to be.

Okay, about last night. Sorry I didn’t finish what I was writing last night but we were ordered off the bus.

Okay, we were put on a bus with all these smelly, fat, ugly Bulgarian fucks and had no idea where we were going. My famous last words to a Yugo soldier before leaving Yugo- “I hope we nuke ‘em.” They stop at the Bulgarian border and say “Go!” There’s no light, no stores, no people. Just a road.

So we walk in the dark for a few miles until 4:00am where we met a kid who spoke English. He said to take a taxi to the train station and wait there for him. We paid $2.00 to drive a mile and followed him to a train and got on and went into a box and slept. It would not leave for another 2 hours and no electricity. 4:30am cold, tired, hungry, dehydrated, pissed off…

Woke up in Sofia about 7:30am and paid $11.00 for a train ride. Sat in the station and reserved a place to stay. 9:30am we get on a tram. Get 1 block up and a lady orders us off the tram. No English. We didn’t understand what the fuck was going on so we just called her everything in the book to her face. We called the American Embassy and they said to just walk away because the tram people bust tourists because they have to meet a quota. So we left.

Found this place around 11:30am hungry, dehydrated, tired, pissed off. Slept for a while. Went out at night for food. I went into a gyro shop and after I paid I was walking out and a teenage kid hit me on the head. I turned around and said “You got a fucking problem.” They just laughed because they didn’t understand me. If I was in the states I would’ve beat the living shit out of him but here in Bulgaria I don’t know if I’ll get my hand chopped off for it. We got some pizza and bought some cherry brandy afterwards. Happy Birthday, Cliff. What a fucking day for it.

Also, Cliff and I were joking around because Tara bought a flower for him so he held it while we held hands and pranced down the street like a bunch of flamers. Later we read in the “Let’s Go Europe” book and it said that there’s a lack of tolerance for homosexuality here. OOPS!!! Fucking Bulgarians…

Woke up and visited the inside of the blue mosque. So incredible! You have to take your shoes off because of the Turkish-type carpets covering the whole thing! Wow! Hopped on the train at 10:00am and that brings us to-------------à

11:30pm

Oh boy oh boy! I’ve never been so afraid as I am right now. It could be nothing but to me right now one half hour away from Yugoslavia I fear showing my red, white + blue nationality to police. I’ve never had luck with them anyway… We’re coming from Turkey and in Bulgaria right now wondering  if we can get visas to get through Yugoslavia. We just want to get to Budapest alive because it’s faster to Switzerland from there. It’s strange to feel this way because I’ve never looked upon my life as sacred to me until something like this happens. I know I won’t make it past 25 but come on!

Everyone is saying that if we cannot get passports they will just send us back to Sophia (Bulgaria) for a traveler’s visa from the embassy. We’re just tourist/ dumb travelers and we don’t want anything to do with what’s going on in Yugo. We just want to use the tracks that go through it. We’re on a 28 hour train from Istanbul to Budapest that left this morning at 10 o’clock. We paid 92 dollars for this fucking ride and I don’t want to come back this way again. I’m just such a different fucking person that everyone else and I don’t know if I like it anymore. I hate the looks, I hate the comments. I’m proud to be myself unlike many others, but sometimes I just wish that I could be myself but not stick out like the sore thumb of society. Now I just want to be home with Rachel and stay within my own realms for a while. But the experience was nice- it’s just not for me. I just want to get out of Yugo- if I can even get in. Jay is the only person that knows I’m here so at least someone knows. Well, we’re getting close- I’ll write the results later. Ta- Ta! Oh boy oh boy! I’ve never been so afraid as I am right now…

3:00am

Okay. This is not cool. We get to the border- Americans free. Swiss is a no go. Rachel cannot get a visa. Period. We wait at the station in Yugoslavia for, well, let’s just say a long time. Rachel gets her passport taken away. She is told to go back to Sofia (Bulgaria) without us. I don’t think so.

Woke up for brunch around 10:00am and hit the Bazaar yet again. I spent $513.00 from the 8^th until yesterday. Impossible! Oh well, sorry mom and dad! Hit MacDonald’s again and went back to shower w/ Rachel for the 2^nd night in a row. She makes bath time so much fun!

Watched a light show at the blue mosque and it was the most incredible thing I have ever seen. Pigeons were flying around it and it looked like white flickers everywhere. I felt like I was in a fairytale like Cinderella for a moment. Cool!

Went to the Orient hostel again and slept for a few hours. Went to the Grand Bazaar and MacDonald’s afterwards. Drank some beers and played cards at night. Met Rob and Troy who worked there and shot the shit until bedtime.

Well, well, well, here we aren’t. {At this point Rachel starts to write in my journal} “Actually we are in the bus to Istanbul (oh encore, FUCKING bus) but I don’t want to write in my journal now, because I want to speak with Rachel. Even if she doesn’t speak very well!!!”

Okay, anyways, it’s 9:15pm and I’m beat! We arrived at 8:00am this morning and ate some pancakes at a restaurant before hitting the tour bus at 9:30am. We went through the largest underground city in the world and it was for the city to hide in case of an invasion. Cool! This town is remarkable! The citty is literally carved out of dome rocks comme ca---à {insert drawing of said rocks} with rocks on top of some of them! Just incredible.

We took a 4km hike through this canyon and what a view! We visited 2 churches (about 500ad) and they were pretty dumb, but it really makes you want to believe it with the original pictures on the cement walls and ceiling. But they got nuts when people (and Rachel) used flashes on their cameras because it was a church, which really pisses me off when I hear stupid fucking rules like that. What a crock of shit. You can be christian but you can’t take a fucking picture?! Come on!

Anyways, we walked for what seemed like eternity before we got to some “punk sheep” which had spray paint on them, and then walked some more to a restaurant where we ate a stir-fry-type meal (with a beer, of course) and talked with some French and Australian people. It was cool. We came back and sat around at the bus stop for an hour and got on this bus around 7:15pm. Another day of yawns tomorrow…

-end 9:30pm-

Cliff in one of the 40 underground cities of Cappadocia

Rachel and I in Cappadocia

Tara and Cliff in Cappadocia

punk rock sheep!

Okay. Its 22:00 now and we’re on a bus to Cappadocia [sic]. It’s only 11hrs. no problem! Alrighty then, about yesterday. We ended up getting our laundry washed (all of it for about $2.00 altogether) around 10:30 after breakfast and MTV Europe. I watched the Soul Asylum video called “Misery” and it’s beautiful/ I love their lyric/ rhythm idea. C’est genial! Then we took a boat ride down the European side of Turkey and then stopped on the Asian side and got some waffles. I bought an awesome hat and we fed some baby cats some milk. It was the happiest time of the day.

We took the boat down the Asian side and got back around 6:30pm so it was off to Macdonald’s! We finished up and I left with a cone and ½ of my soda when just outside a little fucking beggar boy (they’re everywhere- stupid little bastards) latched onto my hand so I dragged him half a block before he let go. I gave him my soda which by that time was all ice anyways. At least I’ve got a home.

Went back to the hostile and tried to call Craig U. but no luck. So we went out for coffee and watch the Olympics with a room full of Brits and Australians so when we watched ourselves win 1^st place for guys + girls 400m relay it was hard to hold back our cheer U.S.A. has the fastest man +woman in the world. Both black, of course. We went to bed early so I massaged Rachel to sleep because I felt so bad since we started taking about Kelli L. (god forbid) and it made her bored. I don’t blame her.

Today we got these bus tickets and breakfast and more MTV and headed off the the “Grand Bazaar.” I bought so much shit- things for Jeremy S., Floyd, Jay, and Craig U., and even a $200.00 rug for my parents. I got it for $160.00. In the states it’s about $500.00 so that’s cool. We bummed around (hit BK and MacDonald’s today!) and looked at Mosks [sic] some more before getting our bags and heading off for here. Turkey has helped me to appreciate this trip a little more but T&C aren’t helping at all. I’m sick of beggars and all the perverts here- all of them. Everyone with a dick. (And some without, I guess)

I’m sick of hearing car horns all day, and stepping in garbage and dog shit everywhere. But Acumba Mattada, hey?! What the fuck- I’m in Turkey man! Only 1 more week (hey- the clock in here reads 0:00! Kick ass! I kissed my watch for you Floyd! That must be totally fucking lucky! I’m sick of military time, but there’s no 12:00am- it’s zero o’clock here!) to enjoy it so I will!

I’m going to bed now, but Rachel taught me a shitload of French tonight, so that’s cool. C’est monstre genial! Bonne nuit!

Finally a cool place! We’re in Istanbul and after all the hellish train experiences we’re finally here! We got in at around 8:30am yesterday and started walking to the “Orient Youth Hostel” when we saw all these police running towards the bus/ trolly [sic] thing all grabbing their guns. So since we were about 30 feet away we decided to watch. About 50 pigs surrounded the car and about 20 jumped in. It was so cool to see about 100+ people put their arms in the air while pigs searched for a terrorist figure. No luck. So we left.

A man offered us an apartment with 2 rooms and a shower so we thought “what the hell” so we went there and slept for a long time. Woke up around 8:30pm and hit Burger King for a change. Called my parents last night- everything’s fine there. People are very strange here- they all make strange faces and gestures to you. It’s hard to make sure you don’t look suspicious because you take the chance of the police taking you down.

Well, today we woke up early and came to the Orient YH because the other place didn’t have hot water (go figure). No problem- there’s always cool people to talk to here. It’s nice and cheap here too- $5.00 a night to stay, Marlboro smokes for .90¢, cheap smokes for .33¢ (about), Coke for .33¢, museums for $1.00, breakfast (omelette [sic], bread, jam, and coffee) for under $2.00. It was so cool to take out $100.00 and receive 5,000,000 Turkish lira. That’s 5 bills saying 1,000,000! Cool! C’est genial! C’est monstre cool! (My new word).

This place is so beautiful with its architecture and churches for the muslims. They worship 5 times a day with hymns flowing throughout the city all day.

(Exchange rate= $1.00 to 45,000 Turk Lira)

It’s 2:45am (actually the 12^th) and we’re on a fucked up train to Turkey. If I had known it was going to be this shitty of a ride I would have been on my way to Switzerland.

Okay. Yesterday we arrived in Thessaloniki at about 4ish and walked into MacDonald’s. It was like a dream to see those arches. We found a hostel and took our cold showers (the 1^st since PP) and never left until I went to make a phone call to Floyd. He told me Bob is getting fucking married on Sept. 14^th? That’s fucking crazy! So I called Bobby and congratulated him and blah blah. I guess nobody’s hanging out anymore- Mykk & Christina are doin’ their own thing, and Phish and Mel aren’t talking. Why does this always fucking happen? Tried calling Craig U. and Jay but neither of them were home. I called grandma and my parents put $600 in. Yahoo! I can eat!

Today we got up and out around 11:00am and headed to MacDonald’s again before hitting the bus station. We got on the train at 2:30pm and have been going ever since. Greek trains just completely suck. They are so damn wobbly and smell like shit & piss. Got woken up at 2:00am and got our passports taken twice. They demanded American money for paying for a visa but the train station didn’t have dollars so we had to get Deutsche Marks. Nobody’s very happy here. We all just want to go home, but I fear about years of flashbacks in middle of the night that my passport is missing. I’m sick of showing passports and train tickets everywhere I fucking go. I hate bread & cheese and water, and I have a wonderful collection of warts on the bottom of my feet. Souvenirs from either Italy or Greece. One of those shitty countries.

Good news today, though. Today I smiled. Jerry Garcia is dead! He died Wednesday morning at a drug treatment center (who’d have thought?). That’s one good thing about being away from the states right now. U.S.A. must be turned upside down. Little pussies. “We dropped our jobs to follow the dead 10 year ago and now I forgot to read and write.” HALLELUIAH! Well, that’s one good thing about today. That’s all.

It’s 10 after 10 right now and my hands are trembling from not eating anything but bread and chocolate for a few days (I had a small pizza yesterday) and my eyes are red and swollen from lack of sleep. My body is sweaty from sitting in a box with 6 other people on yet another fucking 7 hour train, but even worse is that it itches from the salt water yesterday. Haven’t washed my hair since the Pink Palace so the salt is just eating away at my scalp. My feet hurt from I don’t know what- they just do. We spent 8 hours on a boat that was so windy we had to strap our shit down and woke up every ten minutes because our sleeping bags would blow away.

Arriving at Athens at 5:30am we had to walk to the station (1/2 mile) and wait there for 3 hours until the train came. Now we have until 3:30pm to stay in a seated position with our legs at 90 degrees and our arms at our side, with bread, water, and chocolate to eat. Then we try to find a hostel, but we’ll probably end up camping on the hard ground with no showers, no pillow, setting up the tent, blazing heat, no wind, bread water and chocolate to survive. And after rolling in our tent all night long with 1 hour of sleep we get to pay $10.00 for sleeping in someone’s campground. Another day of yawns. Why can’t they lay the tracks down sober.  I swear on my left nipple that they use square wheels just to piss us off. Fucking Greeks.

I wrote a postcard to Bob yesterday. I think he knows that I don’t like it here anymore. Maybe. I paid fifty cents to pee today, but it was worth it- they give you 5 squares of TP with your paid subscription. Haven’t shit in 3 days. Maybe it’s because I never had to go or was too damn tired to go. Or maybe it’s because I need more than 5 squares of goddamn toilet paper to wipe my ass. I’d ask for six but it would probably fuck up her cost calculations. But being the bright little bunny that I am I kept the five pieces and so the next time I take my 50 cent piss and 5 squares I’ll have plenty of squares to go around. Hell, I might just be in a courteous mood and leave the remaining squares on the broken toilet seat so that the next guy only has to pay 50 cents for a shit rather than my $1.00 shit. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. Maybe tomorrow. I can hold it. Or maybe just half- I do have 5 squares.

The daze are going nice and fast- the End Is Near!

Okay, recap. On the 7^th we went camping at a place with a pool and everything, so after taking a dip and a shit we went into town and rented mopeds for 24 hours. They were 90cc’s instead of my 50cc so it was fast. 1,500 drack marks [sic] each ($6.00) for me and Rachel to share one. So after some gyros we drove out to the middle of nowhere and went down the side of a cliff to watch the sunset. It was so beautiful because there were 2 more islands in front of us and the sky was all orange. It was the first time I had completely watched the sun disappear.

We layed [sic] and kissed until dark and went back up to go back. At the top we saw a huge fire and it scared me at first, but it was just a junkyard. We got back and slept, because in the morning we wanted to see the other end of the island. We did. And we even found a secluded spot by the shore and we went swimming. It was a real shame that we didn’t have our swimsuits because we had to go without our clothes on. Damn.

We headed back to the bike shop, but stopped to write our names with white rocks on the side of a brown mountain. It was tradition! We brought the bike back and walked to the town for more gyros. At this time (1:30pm) I had eaten 11 gyros on the last 36 hours. They are my “European beaners”!!

We spent 3 hours trying to find the right but and when we finally made it back Tara and Cliff decided that they wanted to leave now. This was the point where I had officially declared myself sick and utterly disgusted with Tara and Cliff. I was so pissed. I just wanted to swim and sleep, but no, my opinions don’t mater this summer, so boom, we go.

We just made it onto the boat, and one and a half hours later we were in Ios. T&C decided to sleep outside so me and Rachel had the tent to ourselves. We kissed and watched the moon for a while and fell asleep. This morning was supposed to be a relaxing time for me since we weren’t leaving until 8:30pm tonight, but T&C decided that it would be best if we did another 5min. takedown of the tent/ bags packed/ checkout/ find a travel agency. So I blew up. I am so sick of their shit I can taste it. Nothing is good enough for them. So, of course, we (me & Rachel) get the ass end of it. We got to listen to it, and get blamed for everything. And if they rip on me & Rachel for kissing one more time I’m going home early. I hate their fucking faces. I just want to be home by my friends- except with Rachel.

We swam in the sea for what will probably be the last time today, so we layed [sic] and kissed in the water until our skin was completely fried. No prob!

Tonight we leave for Athens again to check on Turkey prices. It’s not looking good! I wanted to see Paros because it’s supposed to have a shitload of butterflies but we can’t anymore. We were supposed tonight. Oh well. It’s not the 1^st time I’ve been disappointed on this trip…

Rachel is constantly thinking that I am mad at her but it’s just that I am so sick of traveling at this point that just thinking of Frank’s Pizza Palace brings me to a full climax right now. God do I miss Bob and co. But I want to stay here only because of her. I will miss her so much. So I will battle it through just for her- but T&C aren’t helping the war. They’re the ones I’m fighting. C’est pas grave!

{Sadly, the group of friends back home I spoke so much about had practically disintegrated that summer. I spent one evening sipping coffee with three of them shortly after my return and to my knowledge it was the last time I ever stepped foot in that place.}

Okay. It’s 1:00 am and I’m yet again on a fucking boat. Today we just bummed around Athens since there wasn’t a lot to see here anyway. We found a hostel last night and they gave me a free shot of OUZO before crashing. We left around 11:00am to see the Acropolis and it was really fucking cool! So much history… I got see the original Sphinx just like the one in “The Neverending Story” except a lot smaller. It dated back to 550bc!

Afterwards we hit a cool little flea market where I finally found a TS {Twisted Sister logo} patch! So nothing could make me happier than a “Royal Menu” so it was off to MacDonald’s for lunch/breakfast/ dinner. We just bummed around after that until we got to the port at around 8:00pm to wait for this fucking boat. I tried to get a hold of my parents but decided that they were at my grandmas so I called out at the lake. My grandma was happy to hear from me but said that my mom was gone camping with {my uncle} Mark and co. for the week. But all’s well back in the shithole.

There’s a shitload of people on this boat and I hope they’re all going to IOS so it won’t be crowded in San Torrini. There was a bum-rush onto this boat and the person next to me didn’t understand the concept of gravity so he plummeted into the murky depths below. Oh, so sorry! Too many fucking people!

The Zeller family found a place to stay but mom is having a hard time saying goodbye to her 20 yr. home. I feel bad for her, and I see how bat it affects Rachel because she talked to me about it. It feels so good to have somebody tell me their problems again because it reassures me that I’m not the only person who gets the shit end of life. I wish I could take all the pain but it just doesn’t work that way, I guess. I’m really getting excited for home again- a nice, warm bed, beaners, friends, coffee, guitar, friends, music, food, friends, the English language, possibly cigarettes, the band, and last but not least my friends. I realize that chances like these don’t come often, and I love traveling in general, but living in these conditions is the one thing I know I will not miss.

The Acropolis from afar

View from the Acropolis

I remember running back to take a picture of my "Neverending Story" Sphinx

Add caption

Rachel and I waiting for the ferry to San Torrini

Sorry about the stretch of time, but Corfu was by far the best part of the trip so far. I’ve been on a boat since 7:30am this morning and now it’s 5:20pm. We’re hitting Athens tonight so that means more train rides until around 9:30pm tonight. The mountains are fucking gorgeous here as well.

Okay, about Corfu- we arrived at around 8:30am with empty stomachs and high hopes for the Pink Palace. A car took us about half an hour up through the mountains to a big pink building. We got inside and were told to throw our bags down and get some free soda and take a seat. After about 20 minutes we all got a large shot glass full of this pink stuff and a man stood up and said “Okay, welcome to the Pink Palace. You may want to ask what the stuff in front of you is but we say who the fuck cars , it gets you drunk.” It ended up being the traditional drink on the island called “OUZO” which tasted like anus [sic]candy {i.e. “Anise” candy}. He told us to all enjoy ourselves and about all the activities that went on- bungee jumping, cliff jumping, and of course, a shitload of drinking! He pointed out the people who would be carrying us back to our rooms at night, and where to go for the free lunch and dinner. After a few rounds of free OUZOs we went to eat our breakfast which was until noon because you probably have a hard time waking up in the morning!

Breakfast was ham and tomatoes with all the bread and jam we could eat. Afterwards we hit the beach which was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen, and then relaxed in our room for a while. Cool music was playing and for a few songs they had Dr. Dre on which reminded me of Jay. Diner was at 9:00pm so we drank a few beers and I bought my first pack of smokes again for the special occasion. Dinner was lasagna, salad, soup, and bread which was of course to soak up some beer. After that it was party time! We started the night off with a “blowjob” shot and proceeded to drink beers for the rest of the night.

At 11:00pm the festivals began with some guys going a traditional Greek dance and then the volleyball winners of the day had to drink a bottle of OUZO to see if they could eat the record. They didn’t, but the night before the record was broken at 6.1 seconds. That’s six people! After that it was the traditional; plate breaking ceremony which was by far the best part. The owner of the place looked like Walter (Tara’s parents’ friends) and he went all around the circle smashing plates on people’s heads. It was great so I did it! Well, first it was a person who got a stack of 10 over their heads, but they were fed 4 shots of OUZO first so no big deal.

I’ll write later- we’re at the port…

7:45pm

Okay, I love trains. So anyways, we all got plates smashed over our heads and soon after a shot of OUZO to forget the pain. After that they got 5 girls from the U.S.A. and 5 from anywhere else for a beer guzzling contest. We won. Of course, and celebrated with dancing and beer until around 1:00am. Then me and Rachel went down to the beach and talked for hours about the coolest stuff. How we felt about certain issues and our fears and hopes in life. I told her that I loved her that night. In English and French just to get the complete power of the word out.

The next day we woke up to hot dogs and scrambled eggs with more bread. Oh yeah, we had coffee both days as well for a change. Yummy. It’s such a treat just to have a cup nowadays. But afterwards we swam again- big waves today!

Me and Rachel took a douche again and went back to the room for full body massages with oil and everything. It was very relaxing for a change, so we just layed [sic] around until 8, except for a pizza and a soda at around 5:00pm. At 8 we went up to the bar and started with a beer before dinner. Then we ate more salad, soup and veggies, rice and meat for dinner. Then back to the bar for a Bloody Mary. Also I tried some Rum & Coke, grasshopper, Kamikase [sic], and a full shot of tequila to mention some. Same activities tonight except for the Europeans won the drinking contest. Me and Rachel layed [sic] on the beach afterwards again, just shooting the shit until about 3:00am, so we went back and fell asleep until 4:40 when the waking committee came to our rescue. We hopped on a bus at 5:15am and got free bottles of water before saying goodbye to our heaven on Earth. We will be back.

Today is not worth mentioning since it was all boats and trains. I’ll try again tomorrow.

Sha-na-na-na, Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye! Glad to be leaving Italy. As much as I loved Rome and Pompeii the rest of it was just shit. We got a good night sleep last night, but I had a feeling it was going to rain so I packed up a little. Cliff reassured me that it wouldn’t rain, so when I woke up to black skies and thunder and lightning (eclaire) I could just be sure that it wouldn’t. But holy shit! That was the biggest storm I’ve seen in years, and being a Doule, of course I’d have to be camping the day it happened.

After it was over we hung everything out to dry and went swimming. I love massages with lotion- even though it was my first one! Rachel and I danced without any music, lights, or people, but who needs anything but a partner to dance?! Sometimes you don’t even need that!

We walked around Brindisi and decided on a wonderful Italian restaurant to eat at! No service fees, no table fees. My ass! We had an extraordinarily (whew) large bill. We refused to pay so the police came and blah, blah, blah too much to write about…we paid an extra 6,000 lira and got the hell out of there.

Now I’m on a boat to Corfu for some drinkin’ and partying! But for now I get to sleep with Rachel in my arms and beer in my hand! It’s so romantic up here! I had 2 cigarettes today but that’s because I was so stressed with the diner ordeal. Oh well! Ciao!

{Once again, I am amazed at my lack of detail regarding this incident. On our way down to the port we walked through a park and met a kid who was handing out flyers for a restaurant offering a discount for students. It was a great deal so we headed down to take advantage of it, and after the meal we received the bill which, as mentioned, was much higher than advertised. We told the manager about the mistake and he said “No, no, you must ask for a special student menu for that discount.” Nothing was mentioned about this, and even the two women seated next to us had seen us with the flyer when we arrived and they were suggested we just leave without paying the full amount.  We took their advice and as we started to leave the manager came back out and grabbed me, practically dragging into the restaurant. I can still remember how threatening he wanted to be, and although I was a bit scared I was still also young and invincible. He told me to pay him the rest of the money and I said “No” which infuriated him. He kicked over a stool full of menus next to me and brought his face so close to mine that I thought he was going to give me an Eskimo kiss. “You fucking fucky American fuck!”  I’m not sure why I did this, but I recall saying “Fuck Italy” and then proceeded to make bomb noises (whistle….kaboom!). He was getting ready for another rant when two police officers showed up and suddenly his entire demeanor changed. I was brought back outside and asked what had happened, and as I mentioned his “American fucks” comment he denied the entire thing. “I said fox! FOX! You know, like the beautiful animal!”

The officers advised us to leave, and we didn’t need to be told twice. As we left the scene Cliff explained that the two women seated next to us had flagged down the police for us and I was so thankful for that.

We had to pass through the park on our way out, and lo and behold, there was that same kid handing out the flyers. Cliff was the first to pass him and as he did he grabbed the entire stack of pink flyers and threw them up in the air like confetti and we all laughed as he cursed us out in Italian. It was the perfect ending to our Italian nightmare.

It’s August already! Well, if you like rain Brideise [sic] is the place for you! We ended up going out for pizza last night and it was really good! Afterwards we walked a little up the road be a mini-carnival and I won Rachel a little key chain so I felt good. We got some gelatto’s [sic] and sat down by the street and played songs on the jukebox. I played the Cure ‘Lullabye’ and ‘Babble’ and it felt so good to listen to The Cure while I’m in Italy for some reason. We also played U2 ‘Still Haven’t Found… and since there was a carnival in the background I felt like I was in the video. It seemed like a romantic night for me and Rachel for some strange reason, but I didn’t mind. I didn’t get much sleep last night either, and woke up to black skies and rain.

We went to Brindisi for a while but decided that it would be best to come back and swim. It was great! A guy tried to con Rachel into getting it on with his son, but I walked by just on time. She told them that I was her boyfriend- isn’t that great!? Everybody knows us here so we get strange looks everywhere we go. Nipple piercings don’t help, either.

Well, we’re going to eat more pizza, so Ta-Ta! Oh yeah, I had a portion of a cigarette last night and I told Rachel that I quit for her. She was happy but she didn’t even believe me at first. C’est vrai! I’m so lucky and happy to have her! Time to go poopy!

11:05pm

Well, another successful pizza night with ice cream gelato afterwards, not to mention The Cure again!

Tomorrow we finally leave for Greece where we actually get to see things again. For some reason I miss walking around, and even though I know I’ll regret saying that, it’s true. Sorry, I’m just talking stooped [sic] because I’m really tired. Rachel got to talk with some Swiss people before, so she was happy about that. I feel so sorry for her sometimes because I (we) know how she feels when we talk. You feel very left out. I feel that way a lot- like I’m just not pleasing her. I just wish that I could speak French because I would talk to her forever with it. But I’m just happy to speak a language with her.

Tara et Cliff are getting impatient with our mushiness, but I just tell them to fuck off- I had to watch them for 2 fucking months and then it was okay. But now it’s bad because it bothers them. Oh, it’s not funny anymore. Fuck off. I’m just starting to realize how much of this vacation is based on her. Some people see Europe for the sights and cultures, but I come to fall in like. That’s okay- I like to include her in all my thoughts- it’s not often that I get the chance to be with a girl. I’ll enjoy it while I can. Happiness doesn’t last forever, but I’m not asking for it that long anyways- just for one more month…

I’ finally starting to appreciate everything again because I sometimes lose the fact that I’m actually in Europe instead of shit-hole town.

I’ll just keep smiling.