What to expect (introducing the concept of appetizer trip)

The people who pay me to keep this blog alive (some major international corporations are among them) require that I show some professionalism. I have explained them a thousand times that for this blog, professionalism is a drawback! Meticulousness is my enemy! Schedule always sounds as an insult to me! But I'm still human and I have needs (=sex, money), so I have to write down a few notes about what I'm going to post next.

First of all, I have some extra memories from various Greek Islands in the form of digital pictures and, well, memories. But I'm also planning a trip to a place in Peloponese, Greece. I don't know which, but I have a method to find out: I will choose the roads that give me the vibes and see where I will be led. Then, I'm fleeing!

Rome, Amsterdam and London are in my schedule (what? My mother is a saint!). Actually, Rome and London will be visited by my highness (in that sense) for only a few hours. That is because I will only use them for the airports. One might say that it's a pity to visit Rome and London for only 3 or 4 hours each, but I'm not worried about that, because I have just made a small theory to argue that this is a good thing.

Pirates of the Sporades

Dear readers,

It’s has been a long time since my last post. I’m sorry for that. NOT. You see, the reason I wasn’t able to post is that I was sailing at Sporades formation (a few small islands located at North-West Aegean sea, Greece). Before you proceed further down the post, you have to be warned: some of the photo material is the product of moderate digital processing I did on original material acquired from my friends without their permission. If you believe it is a crime, don’t look at the pictures.

This was our sailing boat. Kidding. Actually, this is a reconstruction of an ancient Greek ship of the "Argo" class. According to the old myth, Argo was the ship that helped Jason to his quest for the Golden Fleece. The modern city of Volos, our starting point, is probably built over the ruins of ancient Iolkos.

Some good friends of mine (all guys, unfortunately) are into sailing and stuff (stuff: sailing, diving, underwater fishing and stuff - recursively). Every summer for the last 4 or 5 years they rent a sailing boat and sail around various islands and wild coasts. They swim by the dolphins, they get grate tans. They are all guys. That’s why I had always been negative to the idea of participating in their “gay cruises”, as I usually call hem (after hearing that, they started disliking me). But this year, one of them asked me to join them, on the ground that “there will be quite a few chicks there, too”. I was skeptical at first (and maybe I should have stayed that way), but the solid hand-waving arguments of my friend convinced me to follow their metro-sexual cruise.

Zen Driving: the theory behind

I was pleased to read so many responses regarding my Zen Driving post. Most of you like the term and the meaning I assigned to it. Some even suggested various improvements to the procedure. I, my self, am also new to that thing, so I will have to try everything on the street. I will even test some ideas of my own. If only I had a theory to support the practice... Well, let's make some.

The Butterfly Valley in Rhodes, Greece is full of butterflies, (most of the brown stuff is  butterflies - no, they are not dead, they are resting). This is irrelevant to the post, since you can't drive through the valley.

First of all, we need to clarify the purpose of Zen Driving. The purpose of Zen Driving is to have a personal experience that involves your vehicle and the environment. It is a way of feeling the environment through your vehicle. Now maybe some people will think "travelin-blogger just lost it", but the truth is I have always been a little crazy.

South Rhodes and the concept of Zen Driving

Depression always strikes after a good trip (probably true for LSD too). Sure it’s good to see my cat, my friends, my girlfriend or my boyfriend (I’m not telling which, because I don’t want them to fight about it). But on the other hand it’s boring to sleep on my comfortable bed when I used to rest openly on the hardest, noisiest and dirtiest surfaces of the most international airports or secretly on wooden sticky student dorm floors. Sure it’s good to have good meals on time, instead of feeding in other peoples leftovers, but the later was more adventurous and, after all, fulfilling (not always for the stomach). That is why this weekend I went car driving to the southern part of Rhodes, Greece.

Beaches from the South-west coast of Rhodes island, Greece

The interesting thing about the island of Rhodes is that civilization gradually dissolves as you travel south. The town of Rhodes, Aegeans largest, one of the most lively towns in Greece and a favorite destination for tourists around the world is built at the Northern peninsula of the island. The are other, smaller towns on the island too, the most populated of which are located just a few kilometers souther than Rhodes town. As I drive souther, there are fewer towns and not so many huge hotels as before. Instead I could see some lively villages with small hotels and bungalows. As I was driving even souther ...

The Milanese Drift

Scenes from Milan streets

 I had to stop to Milan once more, but this time I was prepared to face Malpensa Airport and its deliberately (?) confusing escape routes. I had to plan my escape to the city,  and my fast return too, otherwise I could fail or even miss my flight home. First, I had to take the free airport bus to change from terminal 2 to terminal 1 (central terminal). The central terminal is the place where all facilities can be found, while terminal 2 can only offer a few thinks to the demanding traveler. For example, if you need a locker to leave your thinks, the only way to simulate that is to go to the “leave baggage” point of the central terminal, show some id and pay the 3.5 euros per day when you return to claim your stuff. There is a guy dressed in some kind of uniform guarding your stuff, so I guess it's safe. Then, you need a mean of transport. Train costs 11 epp per route (so 22 euros if you actually want to come back to the airport), while the Malpensa Shuttle Bus Line can take you forth (Milan) and back (Airport) for  a total of 8 epp. Some online travel guides indicate that a bus might be stuck in traffic, while the train is always in time, but If you have 5 or 6 hours to spend it’s quite safe. And that’s what I did this time: I took the bus to Centrale (the central train station). (A Malpensa Milan fact: if you need to go to the central train station, take the bus, because the train won’t go there).

Milan is a live exhibition of different styles of buildings

A list of all external links used in my Lisbon posts.

Related to Lisbon

• The Lisbon center: a detailed post with pictures, by Isabel, a teacher in Lisbon
• Rossio: a photograph showing the Lisbon central square
• Belem Tower: a detailed site with information and pictures
• Praca de Commercio: the English Wikipedia lemma of one of Lisbon central squares
• Bairo Alto: the English Wikipedia lemma for the area and some more spontaneous photos and comments and some google images.
• Gare do Oriente: a detailed site with information and pictures

Related to Portugal

• Portuguese cuisine: a post by Mary Mimouna and also the English Wikipedia lemma
• Portuguese beers: Super Bock and Sagres official sites
• Vihno Verde (Green Wine): The English Wikipedia lemma
• Piri piri: a hot pepper featured in some Portuguese plates
• Sintra: the English Wikipedia lemma
• Pena National Palace: the English Wikipedia lemma

Last evening in Lisbon: Santa Apolonia and Vasco da Gama at Oriente

I run out of time. I don’t mean I got old and I’m going to die. (we all are some day, of course). I don’t know if I’m going to die soon or not. Only He Knows and even His Knowledge is a posteriori. For you people who don’t know how to impress your friends with a few super-famous words from dead languages, I meant: He Will Know after my death. And when I say “He” I mean my cat, Bulukos, whom I miss each time I travel. But I think I somehow lost the point here, which is a very bad sign if it happens at the very first paragraph of the post.

Night shots of Lisbon at night. I would have more of them, but I don't have the right equipment. If you agree that I deserve a decent DSLR camera and you are willing to buy it for me, please let me now.

My point is I spent almost all of my 5 days time and I haven’t seen that much of the city. I expressed my concerns openly to a group of Japanese tourists, I met during "breakfast". They smiled at me, then asked directions to Vasco-Da-Gama-something (sorry, I know my English accent is not that good either, but that doesn't mean I can understand all other strange accents). Vasco da Gama what? Statue? Street? Square? There must be enough of all of them. If I was the major of Portugal, and one of them hadn’t been built yet, I would built it. Of course, I don’t know where any Vasco Da Gama statues or squares are located, but that’s why we have smart phones with Internet access, right?

They might not have free WiFi anywhere in the city, but the parks are quite relaxing. I'm sure those playing-card people at the park side appreciate that fact too.