A taste of eternity: Rome

Here I am, in a jet plane, touring the cradles of western civilization: from Athens to Rome. Athens is too strange and mysterious to cover, maybe another time. So l decide to spent my flight time watching a Hollywood blockbuster. "The Expendables" keep me company during the flight, but they affect me in a strange way, so when I'm trying to find my way from the airplane seat to the airport bus, I literally cut through them with my knife. The annoying japanese kid that was constantly crying next to me is now speechless (his head is cut off) and his mother pleads me to release her too, which I do with a fast cut that divides her head in two. The Greek couple on the front seat, who were fighting during the whole flight have now their heads stuffed to each others private parts. I cut and kill, I dismember peoples bodies. Most are dead, the others will be soon. There is blood everywhere. The sounds of the arriving police cars become noticable. They are not going to get me alive.

Corinth: a place you'd rather miss

Unconventional is what I'm trying to become during the last few posts. I must stop that, it doesn't work.  I started the whole "being unconventional" thing because I was after true experiences of traveling, knowing new things and meeting exciting people, changing my self in the process and all that crapy stuff you expect from a 100% teenager. Since I'm not a teen anymore, I though "hey, what was conventional back then, could be unconventional now". So, I started being unconventional by planing some unconventional trips. And now that I have had the first, I regret it.

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