democracy
From a story posted on cnn.com: 'U.S. President Bush added to the pressure Friday, saying, "The world is beginning to speak with one voice. We want that democracy in Lebanon to succeed, and we know it cannot succeed so long as she is occupied by a foreign power."' And from another story: "We want them to go because it's important for Lebanon to be an independent country and not a client state of Syria," Albright told CNN.'

But of course we can't apply the same arguments to Iraq, where freedom is "on the march". Syria has had troops in Lebanon for 30 years, why the sudden pressure to get them out? I think the Lebanese demonstrations against Syria in response to the killing of Hariri have given the international community an opening to attempt to limit the influence of Syria in the region. This whole thing really has very little to do with Hariri; after all, I haven't read of any evidence linking Syria to his killing. At least in Lebanon there are large counter-demonstrations being held in favor of Syrian influence. There seems to be no such divide in Iraqi public opinion toward the U.S. occupation. If I were Syria or Iran I would be afraid of freedom marching right on into my country. And you're damn right I'd be working on a nuclear weapon, it's clearly the only show of strength that this administration understands.
- posted by Christopher @ 6:15 PM

 
Bonds and steroids

What hypocrisy--we clamor for athletes with perfect bodies to keep hitting home runs, sacking quarterbacks or dunking the basketball. Yet when they are accused of using the "wrong" performance-enhancing drug we turn on them and say "how could you?"

And what is a "performance-enhancing drug"? I cringe every time I see that term in print. Aren't the pain pills taken after a game used to get back on the practice field more quickly? What about the caffeine used to wake up in the morning, or the cough medicine used to get a good night's sleep, or the wine with dinner to relax? The very fact that marijuana is tested for under the NBA's drug testing program sends the message that marijuana is performance-enhancing (but we know that it's really about behavior control, of course). What about the chemicals in the food or vitamins eaten to maintain a healthy body? Or hell, when you get right down to it, water is the most critical of performance-enhancing drugs, one that we're all addicted to. The point I'm trying to make here is that the line separating the drugs that we consider "okay" from the ones that are "not okay" is an ever-shifting and arbitrary one. Androstenedione is okay, but pseudoephedrine (found in Sudafed, and banned in at least the NHL) is not.

The argument is usually made that the "integrity of the game must be preserved." But there is always a preparation differential, all the way from the guys that signed a fat contract and spent the off-season lazing around to the ones that spent the entire time working and training for the season to come. Personally I feel insulted by the guys who enter the season out of shape. I much prefer to see guys who have worked on their game and their body and tried to gain an edge.

Another argument against steroid use is that it gives one an unfair advantage over those who don't use them. What makes it unfair? And would it then be fair if everyone were to maintain the same drug regimen? The response that "it's against the rules" is no justification in itself for having a rule against steroids.

An argument is sometimes made for the safety of the players. Those that use steroids will do much harm to their bodies and so we need to protect them from themselves. This paternalistic viewpoint and the policies to which it gives rise have proven as useless in sports as in society at large in reducing drug use. There are the well-known risks of acne, shrunken testicles, baldness, etc., but the fact is that we don't know a lot about the long term risks of steroid use. One can make an argument that steroids should be illegal on a cost-to-society basis, though it's hard to determine what those costs might be. Even so, most who take steroids in the big leages do so with eyes wide open about the potential risks down the road--they're just trying to break into the league, or squeeze out one more guaranteed contract. There's a lot of money at stake, after all. The rewards far outweigh any possible risks.

And now to Bonds. All one has to do is compare pictures of the man from various points in his career to tell that he began juicing at some point. Of course he denied it--it's the American way to deny until proven guilty, and then only admit to as much as can be proven. Top athletes control every aspect of the food and chemicals they put in their bodies. He knew exactly what he was using and exactly what it does on a molecular level.

Does this put an asterisk by his name in the record books? NO. It's important to point out that at this point he has not been accused of breaking any laws or league rules (to my knowledge). He should be compared to the other players of his era, and the other sluggers of his generation have all taken advantage of the drug technology of the day. He is not the player he is because he injected the drugs--he injected the drugs because of the player he is, a very hard worker who is willing to do what it takes to make himself the best. This is the American ideal personified. But of course people will turn on him now, as he has never been the most lovable, and try to rip him apart. We do love to tear down our idols.

And you know what? If I'm a baseball player and I want to make myself better and increase my longevity in the game, you'd better believe I'm doing the things Bonds does. He's the best imaginable salesman for taking steroids. If these drugs are so bad, why is he so healthy and good at what he does?

And this, then, gets to the heart of the issue. These drugs apparently really work, and really do give those who use them an advantage. As long as this is so, people will continue to attempt to circumvent any restrictions or testing regimen in order to use them. Man will ever seek advantage in competition with other men.

And if we've learned anything from the U.S. government's prosecution of the War on Drugs, it is that supply will always rise to fill demand no matter how much is confiscated and destroyed. Demand, in turn, is not stifled by lies or misinformation (or even accurate warnings, once the source has lost credibility). The perceived risk/reward ratio of using steroids must be altered. The current strategy is to increase the risk (by testing and punishment), but decreasing the perceived reward will be more important to stemming demand in the long run. The main obstacle to this is that the health risks are generally long-term while the benefits are immediate, and for the most part people act with short-term interest in mind. Widespread drug use is here to stay in both sports and society at large. How we confront and deal with that fact will go a long way toward determining the face of sports (and society) in the century to come.

- posted by Christopher @ 1:03 AM

 
All good things must come to an end
Ah, Berlin. What a city! It played such a central role in the events of the 20th century, but its charm is rooted as much in its energetic present as in its fascinating past. There is a lot of money being poured into redevelopment, particularly of long-neglected stretches of the former East Berlin. I spent most of my time on that side of the city in the Mitte district (which is right in the center).

I arrived in Berlin on a Saturday. The nightlife there has an outsized reputation, and as I did not have time to sample this aspect of Krakow or Prague I committed myself to doing so now. Berlin doesn't seem to have an area with a high concentration of bars and clubs, and as the city is huge our evening out demanded some advanced tactical planning. Given the very cold conditions we decided to stay pretty close to the hostel, as public transportation becomes a difficult prospect after 1am. It would have been nice to have found a local to give us advice on nightspots, but as it was we only had an events guide to go on as well as the opinions of the bartender at the place just downstairs from the hostel. This joint made a convenient spot for meeting up with other hostel denizens to plan an evening out. Our first destination was a place featuring a band playing Finnish versions of British & American pop songs. We had fun identifying the songs that were being played--it's amazing how much the sound of a song was changed with lyrics in a different language. From there it was a pretty standard night out, DJs and dancing and a big 2 Euro kebap to cap the night.

It was nice to come down to the lounge of the hostel my first evening there and get warm welcomes from people that I have met in other cities--from Budapest onward this has happened frequently. The people that I meet up with tend to take the same hostel recommendations that I do, so it's no surprise to run into people that were heading in the same direction. People that really click start to travel together, as I did with Ila & Jason in Turkey. The flipside is that somebody can be hard to shake if they are heading all of the same places--I had a couple of friends who had this experience.

The next day I took a walking tour of Berlin that lasted all day long for only 10 Euros. It was fantastic! If you're ever in Berlin you must take one as well, a Brewer's Best tour. Our tour guide was none other than Terry Brewer himself, a Brit with a long history with Berlin and an interesting perspective on the city as well as World War II, the Cold War and its aftermath. It seemed that he was on a personal mission to educate us and introduce us to as much of the city as he could in our day together. His knowledge of the city and of history bordered on encyclopedic. It was another very cold day (sub-freezing temps), but he kept us moving quickly (with harsh words for the laggards) and brought us inside to thaw from time to time. It was a perfect introduction and orientation to the city, and provided me with fodder for my next day's explorations as well.

It's hard to pick out highlights of this city, with such an amazing blend of grandiose old buildings, stunningly neglected war damaged areas, newly revitalized squares with the latest in sophisticated modern architecture towering overhead. Schinkel seems to dominate historic Berlin the way Bernini does Rome. And on a smaller scale there are plenty of innocuous buildings housing interesting displays within, such as the Frank Gehry-designed bank bordering Pariser Platz--fairly conservative exterior, but exotic fish-inspired interior. Another building Terry pointed out and I returned to the following day houses a collection of maps and giant models of the city, detailing plans for future development in various areas of the city. A chocolate store which features scale chocolate models of the Reichstag and the Titanic (why?) among others offered up a superb cup of hot chocolate.

What a mix of reminders of the past, by turns impressive, horrifying, and tragic, and promise for the future! As many interesting cities as I have seen in the former communist bloc of eastern Europe, nowhere else is such a city to be found. And I saw but a tiny fraction of the city.

The Jewish Museum, which I mentioned in my last post, is particularly interesting because of its architecture. The building that houses the permanent collection was designed by Daniel Libeskind, whose firm's plan to reconstruct the former site of the World Trade Center in New York City has been selected. The special exhibition currently on display there features his work, and there are some interesting projects in development. The most arresting will be the extension to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. I believe the Jewish Museum in Berlin was the first of his designs to actually be built, but the exhibition displayed models and drawings of designs for other buildings or public spaces that will not be realized, and some of these were quite striking. His work certainly is provocative, but I can't decide whether I really like it or not. One thing that bothers me is the manner in which he intellectualizes some of his designs. He says of the Jewish Museum, in reference to Schonberg's opera "Moses and Aaron": "I sought to complete that opera architecturally and that is the second aspect of this project." I'm not familiar with the opera, and Libeskind was trained as a musician so I suppose I lack his ability to see (or hear) it, but to me that statement is arrogant and preposterous. But good for him if others agree that he has accomplished this goal.

From Berlin I headed south to Dresden, to visit friends and to reclaim the bag I left there (thanks Dan!). Jones offered me a place to stay and even picked me up at the train station. I got caught up on the local gossip and we headed to Bottoms Up, which was my favorite place to eat this summer. The waitress even remembered my beer of choice! Too bad we didn't speak enough language in common for me to have properly hit on her. Then we went to The Church, which seems to be doing well. They get plenty of people for their concerts, but not so many hang out there on other nights. They are trying to get more consistent business, but it looks like they have a financially viable concern on their hands. Our next stop was another old haunt of mine, the Groove Station, where I got to talk with Ulli and listen to a concert.

The following day I spent reacquainting myself with the city. I wish I had had more time to spend there, I had intended to stay a week or so but I spent that time in other places along the way. I got to see the best of my friends there, but there were several other people that I wish I had had the chance to visit. Dan invited me to a dinner party that a friend of his was having, so I went with him and Manuela, his girlfriend. I hadn't been to such a civilized affair in quite some time, it's rare to get invited to an intimate gathering while travelling. It was a fun time and great food--the guacamole was a surprising treat that I have been looking forward to upon my return to the U.S. for some time, and the soljanka (a kind of Russian soup) was wonderful. My train was scheduled to leave at 6am the following morning, so I decided to stay up all night. So where else would I head but The Church? I saw a few more friends, Seb and Martin, and had a great last night there. An extremely drunken and confused fellow provided us all with hours of hilarity. All too soon it was time to leave to catch my train.

My destination was Luxembourg City! As I was flying out of Frankfurt and Ila was in Paris we had decided to split the difference and meet there. We enjoyed our brief time there together, despite having unknowingly chosen a very expensive city. I saw my first snowfall of the season there, even though it was a bit warmer than it had been at my last few stops. The city is quite pretty, perched on the hills and flowing down into the valleys below. French seemed to be the language of choice of those we met and overheard, despite the guidebook which had prepared me to expect primarily Letzebuergesch, with German and French in the mix. We had a nice encounter with a Pakistani family that have been living there for something like 20 years. We saw a sign with (for once) reasonable prices for a meal, and so we approached the place. They seemed to be decorating for Christmas so we started to turn away, but they welcomed us in. Normally they only serve food from 12-3 every afternoon, but they offered to heat up food for us anyway (it being around 7:30 or 8:00 by this point). We ate well and plentifully and it was fun to be welcomed into their family for a short time.

All too soon it was time to head to Frankfurt. I had changed trains there on my way to Luxembourg, and at that time I had stashed my second bag in a locker there. I had thought that lockers at train stations or airports were things that people only used in movies, but it came in quite handy to me and I was glad not to have to lug that bag around any more than necessary. I met up with Richmond and we caught up over some tasty Thai food. It was good to see him again and the visit provided some nice symmetry to my trip, which both started and ended there. After a night of restless sleep it was off to the airport!

And thus ends my Europe '03 trip. Stay tuned for pictures and thoughts about my return to the U.S. And beyond that, possibly further travels in '04!

- posted by Christopher @ 5:51 PM

 
Krakow, Prague
I arrived back in the U.S. last night. Now that I have some computer time I will be posting updates and pictures from the last few weeks. As my time in Europe grew shorter I increased my pace in order to see as much as possible. That meant not as much computer time, and unfortunately that I have not been able to spend as much time as I would have liked in several places along the way. I suppose that just means that I will have to return!

It was extremely cold after leaving Budapest, right at the limit of what I could stand given the clothing options that my backpack has made available to me. If I am walking quickly then I can keep warm, but waiting or even leisurely strolling quickly becomes unmanageable. Those conditions are to be expected at this time of year, so given that I have continued to enjoy a remarkable streak of good weather with plenty of bright and sunny days. I've barely seen any rain, it has snowed plenty of places that I've been but I always just miss it. I suppose it pays to be friends with The Weatherman :)

Much of eastern Europe from Bulgaria to Poland had extremely hazy air, so even with the good weather it has not been prime conditions for photography. In some places I would attribute this to wood or coal smoke, but in Poland it was definitely fog, of the pea soup variety. I had fretted over not getting to see the countryside in taking several night trains, but I wasn't likely to have seen so much even during the day.

I arrived in Krakow before 6am, and as expected I was met at the train station by hostel representatives. I got a free taxi ride and with 24 hour reception I didn't have to wait upon my arrival there. That's the way to run a hostel! The first thing I was told upon checking in was this: "Unfortunately, you can't drink alcohol on the streets here, but you can consume it in the hostel!" I suppose that was clue 1 that I had arrived at a party hostel. I decided to head to Auschwitz/Birkenau immediately. It's not exactly something to look forward to, I'm there so I should see it but I might as well get it over with as soon as I could. It was not as grizzly as it might have been, given the enormity of the atrocities that took place there. I thought that the most sobering aspect was the sheer size of the Birkenau death camp--in its heyday it housed 100,000 people. Groups have been committing genocide for all of recorded history, and it's still going on today, but I think what made the Holocaust stand out was the German efficiency. They really perfected the art of mass extermination. It's hard to believe that a people that have given the world so much beauty in art, music, and literature could have been the authors of such evil.

The Jewish Museum in Berlin helped my understanding a little bit by placing these events in historical context. The collection of the museum documents the history of the Jewish people in the lands that now constitute Germany. From the earliest times of Jewish settlements in Germany (likely with the Romans, perhaps 4th or 5th century AD or CE as they refer to it here--Common Era, I believe) there was friction between the local tribes and the Jews. One thing I didn't like about the museum is that in my opinion it failed to fully address the reasons for the perpetual persecution of the Jews in Germany. Were they just the only convenient minority population to scapegoat? Perhaps they were the only minority that survived all of those years to have a tale to tell. Perhaps this persecution was such a common aspect of the Jewish experience everywhere that it was assumed to need no explanation. Or perhaps addressing the question could be seen as an attempt to rationalize their treatment. I suppose it probably boils down to the same reason for conflicts between groups everywhere: the competition for resources. As the Jewish people seemed to be successful perhaps this bred envy.

But Krakow had more to offer than proximity to the largest concentration camp. The town center is beautiful and surprisingly well-preserved, having somehow survived WWII intact. I enjoyed just walking around the city and looking at all of the beautiful buildings. I suppose that comes as no surprise, given the subjects of many of my photographs. I only spent one night in the hostel there, and the next evening I took a night train to Prague. I was therefore unable to sample the nightlife, but by all accounts Krakow is a fairly happening place to be right now. There are a lot of college students, and many bars and clubs that cater to the young. As has been my experience in most of the larger cities I've visited since Sofia, I encountered several people in the hostel who had stopped travelling because they enjoyed the nightlife there. That's my analysis of the situation, anyway--they've been there for several weeks, haven't seen most of the tourist sites, go out almost every night, and sleep most of the day. For most I think this was not the original plan, but they found a scene they liked and stuck around.

I enjoyed the food in Krakow. I tried something called a knuckle of pork. I was confused by this term as my mental image of pigs includes no appendages that might contain a knuckle. It is actually a cut of meat from the thigh, served on the bone (the femur or equivalent, I suppose). Most of the Polish specialties seem to involve meat and very little vegetable matter. For dessert pancakes are common, as they seem to be everywhere else I've been in eastern Europe. The term pancake has such heavy connotations, but they're much closer to crepes. They're often served with chocolate sauce or fruit. Good, but not so interesting. Ice cream hasn't appealed to me so much of late, as strange as that must sound coming from me! But when it's a constant struggle to stay warm, anything that detracts from that goal is unwelcome. I fully intend to reaquaint myself with the selection that Blue Bell has to offer upon my return to the U.S. In that vein, I'll be stepping back into the middle of the television season. What do I do? Catch up on my shows, or just count the whole season as lost? Maybe that means I have to keep travelling :)

The overnight train to Prague was the third in a row in which I have had an entire sleeper compartment to myself. It ends up being a pretty restful night of sleep, even with the border crossings, which of late have been quite painless. I only managed two days in Prague; I would have liked time to see other parts of the country as well, but it didn't work out that way. I have visited Prague before so 2 days this time was reasonable and a nice contrast with the summer season there. I do love the city, even though it seems trendy to do so--many travellers I meet on the road single it out as their favorite. Prices certainly had increased in the 7 1/3 years it's been since I was last there, but still remain fairly cheap--well below Budapest, for example. I discovered that I remembered my way around the city pretty well, and soon dispensed with the map for the most part. I stepped right into the Christmas season upon my arrival there, with street lights and a Christmas market in the old town square. Hot wine mixed with spices is sold on the streets in copious quantities, and regardless of its questionable merits in the taste category I appreciated it for its warming qualities.

On the recommendation of a fellow American I met in Budapest, I dragged several people I met in the hostel to a Czech restaurant. It was a bit of a hike in the cold, and expectations were high. Fortunately my companions esteemed the meal more highly than any other they had eaten since arriving on the continent, so I was forgiven the walk. Czech food is decent if unremarkable; the highlight is clearly the beer, which is widely available for less than $1 (U.S.) per half-liter. I can recall getting it for a quarter of that 7 years ago, but it's still cheaper than anywhere else--and better.

The following day I climbed the big hill overlooking the city and went to the National Museum, but the day was mostly spent in the Christmas market. I found a booth that featured brain teasers, wooden puzzles (which typically involved arranging the pieces into a particular shape) or metal ones (which usually required the removal of a ring from the rest of the contraption). I was sucked in, and it was nice to spend a day relaxing (more or less). Also I enjoyed talking to the girl who was working the booth--that could have played a role, I suppose :)

The only downside to my time in Prague was that the hostel seems to have been infested with bed bugs. This is the only explanation I can come up with for the hundreds of bites that I have enjoyed so much. They did not manifest themselves until reaching Berlin, but I am reasonably certain that bed bugs in Prague were the culprit. They itched quite a bit for over 10 days, and are just now subsiding into a dull background feeling. I initially thought that they might be travelling with me, as I seemed to be developing new bites, but I think that I was just bitten over my two nights in Prague. There seems to be an evolution to the bite of a bedbug, and as I had bites in various stages of this evolution (and given my lack of familiarity with this type of bite) I thought I was still being bitten. Fortunately that turns out not to have been the case.

From Prague it was on to Berlin--I will start there in my next update!

- posted by Christopher @ 4:51 PM

 
To Budapest
I'm finally able to share some pictures again! It was not difficult to find the requisite computer facilities in Budapest; however, another difficulty was immediately presented, which is that I had exceeded my allotted amount of web space. I have dealt with this issue for the time being by reducing the quality of a number of photos so I again have some room.

I still have a few from Turkey. The first is a view over the ruins of Ephesus. The next one was also taken at Ephesus; here I demonstrate the usage of some ancient Roman facilities. In that same vein is this sign posted near the exit from the grounds--and I didn't spend the money, so I suppose we'll just be left wondering what kind of a special time I missed. And this is one of Ila and me together the night before we went our separate ways.

Sofia was a difficult city in which to take a representative photograph; the best I took was this one of the Aleksander Nevski Church. It was built as a memorial to the Russian soldiers who fought on behalf of Bulgarian independence from the Ottomans, and it's one of the central points of the city. I took this picture of the Rila Monastery, with the domes of the church in the foreground. And this one was taken looking down on the village of Koprivshtitsa from the hill above.

I took this picture of a billboard in Bucharest featuring a slogan that I really like (I'm told it's a very old advertising campaign, but it's new to me). This photo depicts the Palace of Parliament, the 2nd largest building in the world. My last night in Bucharest I attended a concert at the Ateneul Roman, which is more impressive on the inside. I got a ticket without really knowing what kind of concert to expect. It was a pair of brothers from Spain who play the piano together--the same piano. All of the pieces they played were Spanish pieces, written specifically for the two person piano. It seemed to me that they had to adjust their hands to account for their partner's. The music was enjoyable, full without sounding crowded. I suppose you would get much the same sound from two pianos, but then you wouldn't have the same visual effect. These brothers really liked the applause and milked it for all they could, despite the small audience.

The next day it was off through the fog to the train station. I headed north to the town of Sinaia, which features Peles Castle (for purposes of accuracy I will note that I have anglicized many of the names that I reference, which otherwise would include cedillas and other strange characters). Unfortunately the castle was closed to visitors during November, but I did get to tour the smaller castle nearby. Afterward I rode the cable car up the mountain nearby (used for skiing when there is snow) and took this picture of the castle from above. I continued on to Brasov, the second largest city in Romania. I used it as a base for visiting some nice little towns nearby; Sighisoara, which features a nice little medieval core on top of a hill; Bran, the home of "Dracula's Castle" (Vlad Tepes seems to have no connection to the place, but somehow it still gets the moniker); and Rasnov, offering the peasant's castle--the local peasants banded together to build it in order to have a retreat when times got tough. Some of the people I was with seemed disappointed by Bran Castle, but I loved it--winding stairways, well-appointed rooms, an unpredictable interior layout, and a nice roof-top terrace. Rasnov Castle was really more of a series of buildings protected by heavy fortifications, mostly in ruins but undergoing renovations as I watched.

From there I proceeded on to Budapest via overnight train. I had planned to spend some of my time in Hungary in smaller towns and villages, but I liked Budapest so much that I have spent the last 6 days here. The architecture here is wonderful, and it's fun to just walk around the city admiring it. There are good museums, large parks, and a serviceable public transportation system. One of the more prominent structures is the Parliament building, looking out across the Danube from the Pest side of the city. In the castle district (here's a night shot) on the hill just across the river is the Fisherman's Bastion. I took this picture of a reflective glass window with blinds inside and the Bastion behind me.

Some of the highlights of my time here: the National Museum, which had an archaeology exhibit on Hungary from 6000 BC until about 1000 AD, and then on another floor an exhibit on Hungarian history from 1000 AD until the present. This was a great way to address the history of the area and of the people. Spelunking in a cave below Buda was a great time. It's not open to the public so we took a guided tour and everyone had a blast. We crawled through plenty of tight corridors on our bellies, climbed up steep passageways, slid down muddy tubes, admired seashell fossils, and enjoyed the atmosphere of chambers such as the Library, the Theater, and the Elephant. The caves below the city were formed by the hot waters bubbling up from below, the same ones that power the thermal baths for which the city is known. I went to one of the better more famous baths in the city (here's a night shot of the building) with a group of friends. The interior of the building was large and impressive, the central pool was lined with large columns, and the men and women had separate bathing areas with steam rooms, saunas, and massage rooms. It was a fun time, but when somebody tries to start up a conversation with me at a bath house I can't help but feel that I'm being hit on.

Outside of the city but accessible by public bus is Statue Park, in which many of the communist-era city monuments were dumped. We had fun mimicking some of the grandiose postures. They could have done more with the park, but it was was interesting to see. That evening we went ice skating at an outdoor rink in one corner of the City Park--here's a picture I took the evening before of the castle that overlooks the rink. When we were there the entire rink was packed full of people.

I've used the pronoun "we" several times--I have spent a couple of days and most evenings with a group of people I met at the hostel. It's interesting to observe how these amorphous social groups coalesce, evolve, relocate and ultimately die. Brian (Canada), Cassandra (Australia), Chandley (Tennessee), Tiffany (San Diego), Gary and Jemma (England), and Sebastian (London) were all central characters in this cast at one point or another. Sebastian is a friend of Cassandra's who had flown in for the weekend, and I think it is fortunate that we met. He works in an industry that I am interested in exploring: environmental consulting to international institutions such as the United Nations and World Bank. I am interested in learning more, he claims the field has good job prospects and that I could put my IT background to use. We'll see.

The weather has remained unexpectedly nice for this time of year. The trend has been for there to be thick fog early, burning off by late morning, and then either sunny or overcast skies during the afternoon. We've had some rain, but only a little. Budapest has been more expensive than I expected, given my other experiences in eastern Europe and my guidebook's statements. It has been difficult to find a middle ground between fast food and expensive restaurants, so I have ended up consuming more of the former than I would like. Hungarian food is a step up from Romanian, but only a small one. I did manage to find turkey on the menu on Thanksgiving night (though it was breaded and covered with sesame seeds).

Tonight I'm taking another overnight train, this time heading for Krakow. My route takes me through Slovakia, so I have two border crossings to look forward to.

- posted by Christopher @ 4:36 PM

 
From Bulgaria to Bucharest
I headed to the train station to buy a ticket out of Sofia. The buses are generally preferable in Bulgaria (faster and nicer), but I knew the time of the train I wanted and the bus termini were too chaotic to navigate. While buying a ticket I struck up a conversation with an interesting man, who has been to 88 countries and had plenty to say. The situation in Sofia has apparently been a little unsettled of late--fights between rival gangs have resulted in some killings. He observed that Sofia used to be a perfectly safe town to walk around at night, which is no longer the case because of the "idiots" who do whatever they want with no repercussions. The police do little and the system lets them off with just a hand slap. I think he was a little bitter because his car had recently been stolen.

One thing I have found in this part of the world is that the bus or train ticket agents can never tell me what time to expect to arrive at my destination. I think they just make up a time. When travelling from Istanbul to Plovdiv I was told (by various people) that I would arrive anywhere from 9am to 1pm (it turned out to be somewhere around 11am, as I recall). For my trip out of Sofia, I was told that I would arrive at my intended destination after 4 hours, but it only took 2 1/2. I would think that they might have a better idea since these routes are run every day.

From Sofia I headed to Koprivshtitsa, a village in the mountains that has been preserved as an open air museum. It has some importance in Bulgarian history, as the move to throw off the Ottoman yoke began there. They never would have succeeded without Russian help, though--there is a big church and at least one monument in Sofia that were built to honor the 200,000 Russian soldiers that died for Bulgarian independence. That number is courtesy of my guidebook, so perhaps I should not quote it as it has proved most unhelpful in Bulgaria. Whoever wrote this section should be barred from travel guide writing forevermore. As an example, the claim was made that the Ethnographical Museum is one of the highlights of the country. This is manifestly untrue, as I discovered during the 10 minutes it took me to view the collection. A useful Bulgarian section would have been nice, because travelling in this country is a bit more difficult than in others. I think they just aren't ready for or don't expect non-Bulgarian tourists. This is good and bad--it makes things more difficult, but it also made it feel a little more like I was off the beaten tourist path. The hostel in Sofia didn't really provide any useful information, as have most hostels in my experience.

So I arrived in Koprivshtitsa around 8:00. The lesson which I will carry with me these next few weeks is that when I arrive in a village, it is easier if I arrive during the day. I kept following signs to hotels/pensions which were padlocked and clearly shut down for the winter. My Kiwi friend Jason in Turkey had highly recommended the town, and told me to expect that I would be offered a private room upon arrival. Well, not at night! I ended up having to pay more than I had expected to, and staying in a hotel instead of a private room. I had two beds in my room, which illustrates the difficulty in travelling alone. It is much easier and cheaper to travel with a friend outside of the big cities, but I didn't meet anyone in Sofia headed my way. The people that I did meet at the hostel seemed to just be hanging out and partying in Sofia with no particular agenda. One guy got so drunk that he fell face-first and knocked off huge chunks of his front upper teeth. He had a Bulgarian dentist fix them for the equivalent of $25. I don't know whether that was a smart move or not--I suppose the "fix" probably won't last very long anyway.

Koprivshtitsa was charming by daylight. It appears much the same as it might have in the 19th century, with some attractive houses that have been preserved since that time. Horses and cattle wander the streets freely. I climbed a few of the more accessible peaks in the area, and quite enjoyed the chance to get into the mountains. That afternoon while wandering the town I engaged in a 15 minute conversation with a group of old ladies who spoke not a word of English. I did manage to gather that one of them had a son who played for a Bulgarian soccer team and had travelled to Chicago at some point.

The next day I was up early to catch the bus to the train station, where I bought a ticket as far as I could get toward Bucharest. The ride through the mountains was quite pretty, as I have managed to catch the tail end of autumn. The brilliant gold leaves, bare grey trees with a hint of ruddiness, and deep green conifers are all mixed together in a patchwork that is very pleasing to look upon. The train brought me to the border town of Russe about 5:10. I discovered that the last train for Bucharest had departed at 4:45. But of course when I purchased my ticket the agent did not have access to this info. I accepted the offer of a solicitous local to drive me to the border (at considerably more than the going rate for a taxi, I later realized) so I could try to hitch a ride across. This particular border crossing features a 5km bridge across the Danube from which pedestrians are barred. Not a lot of traffic was heading my way, I think it is deterred due to the high taxes that must be paid to cross. I had to fend off a taxi driver who repeatedly offered for a hefty price to drive me to Bucharest or just across the bridge (how would that have helped me? I still would have had to find a way to Bucharest). He just wouldn't accept that I refused to give in to his extortionate demands.

I haven't spent so much time hitch-hiking, but I have some idea of what kinds of vehicles to approach. After about an hour and a half I saw a car that fit one of the relevant profiles--three youngish adults and an open seat in the car. I made my pitch, they accepted, and aggressive taxi guy could only watch helplessly as another fare escaped his clutches. I was fortunate to have happened upon the car-mates that I did, I had some interesting conversation with Annie, who had lived in Paris for 4 years in the 80s before returning just in time to see communism fail. It was her first time in Romania--her attitude was that why should she visit a country just like Bulgaria, only poorer? The road to Bucharest was narrow, and made narrower by the fact that the right-most quarter had been sheared off in what was hopefully only the first phase of a larger operation. The road was not lit, and as we hurtled along at what seemed like a very reasonable speed for the roadway we would suddenly come upon large horse-drawn carts and have to swerve to avoid them at the last second. It was a dangerous ride! But I was dropped off in the city center with no trouble.

My initial impressions of Bucharest have been quite favorable. I have not been sure what to expect from Romania, as I have heard quite divergent opinions from fellow travellers. Some people love it more than any other place they have been. Others (and these are not first hand accounts) have nothing good to say at all. I think these are usually Aussies or Kiwis reassuring themselves that they have missed nothing--because they have to acquire visas before arriving at the border, most decide to avoid the hassle and the country. Most complaints are about Bucharest--I had heard that it is dangerous, dirty, pickpockets and scam artists everywhere to accompany the profusion of stray dogs. While this may all be true, I have so far found it to be a delightful city. The architecture around the city center is wonderful, everything from ornate little houses to grandiloquent state buildings. The parks are large, attractive, and well-maintained (though the fountains are turned off and the ponds drained, presumably in anticipation of cold weather to come). Some of the streets are lined with trees and populated with monuments and statues.

The highlight yesterday was an open air museum in a park featuring reconstructions of churches and homesteads from villages in the different regions of Romania circa late 18th - early 20th century (they were all labelled according to location and date). There were a few hundred buildings, with some distinctive regional styles and building materials. It was a beautiful day to spend in the park--I have been very fortunate with the weather, which has been unseasonably nice these past two days. Today I toured the Palace of Parliament, which is billed as the second largest building in the world (after the Pentagon). It certainly is opulent inside--no wonder Romania is a poor country, all of its wealth in the 1980s was devoted to this project! I also went to the National History Museum, which is in large part indefinitely closed to the public but did feature a room full of copies of sections of Trajan's Column. I'm reasonably certain that this is the column whose base I observed still standing at the head of Trajan's Market in Rome, right next to the Forum. The column is a series of over 100 scenes spiraling upward from the base that detail Trajan's campaign against the Dacians (the people living here in the 2nd century). Afterward I got to talking to some of the security guards, who said they didn't like Bucharest and would move to New York City without a second thought if given the option. They said that Romania is in a period of transition, but they don't expect conditions to improve for many years.

The security guards, like so many people that I have encountered in Bucharest, spoke good English. I was surprised, as I was expecting things to be similar to my experience in Sofia, where English is not so commonly spoken. And Romanian is a relief after the Cyrillic characters of Bulgarian--as a Romance language it has many cognates with French, and I have a much easier time deciphering signs. As far as food goes, it has all been downhill from Turkey. Meals in Bulgaria were decent, though unremarkable. I can only say that Romania is justifiably not renowned for its cuisine.

You may be wondering what the toilet paper that I encounter on the road is like. I don't recall any notable characteristics until Bulgaria; the toilet paper there disintegrated upon contact with other matter. In Romania it approximates thin, flimsy cardboard. I will only revisit this topic if it is dictated by the circumstances.

I have still been unable to find support for my digital camera, so it looks like I'll just have to pin my hopes on Budapest. I'll be heading through some smaller towns in Romania on my way there, and I doubt they will have facilities that exceed what Bucharest has to offer.

- posted by Christopher @ 4:51 PM

 
Good-byes, then to Bulgaria
Greetings from Sofia! I've been to at least half a dozen internet shops here trying to find one that would allow me to upload photos, but for various reasons none of them support this function. As it may be some time before I can put my latest pictures up, I decided to add another blog entry today anyway.

Picking up from where I left off in Turkey--Gallipoli. I think it resonates with the Aussies and Kiwis because it marked the first international endeavors of their respective nations, and represents their step onto the world stage (though this is my interpretation). It was a little strange to learn about the bloody standoff between Turkish troops and the ANZAC forces, who of course had nothing against each other--it was just the way that politics in the world were being played out. I'm glad we took a guided tour because the area wouldn't have meant much to me otherwise. Our tour guide was able to make the battles come alive as we stood in the trenches or on the hills. There were quite a few monuments to the soldiers killed there, which grew somewhat tiresome after a while.

We headed back to Istanbul that evening instead of staying on the peninsula. Back in Istanbul we did the things we had missed the first time around--I made sure that Jason and Ila sampled the wonderful chocolate baklava, I went to the Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum, and we spent a wonderful last evening together enjoying live Turkish music (which I really enjoy) and smoking a nargile (the Turkish water pipe with flavored tobacco). It was difficult to say good-bye to Ila, as we really enjoyed each other's company and had such a great time travelling through Turkey together. That is one of the toughest things about life on the road--I meet so many great people, but end up having to leave them all sooner or later. If things work out we will meet up again.

Friday I went to an exhibition of contemporary arts called "Biennial" with Jason. There were some paintings, photographs, and sculptures, but the features were the video pieces. Some were quite fascinating, others just confusing. The exhibition closed down two days later, so I felt fortunate to have had the chance to view it. Afterward Jason acquired and I sampled something called a chicken pudding, which according to whom you believe either A) does or B) does not contain chicken--we couldn't tell.

That evening I took an overnight train out of Istanbul to Bulgaria. It was difficult to leave, but as Ila had flown to Spain that morning it felt like the right time to move on. I fully intend to return to Turkey someday--I love it there. English is commonly spoken, there is a well-developed tourist infrastructure, a good mix of city, nature, coast, ruins, history, art, and souvenirs. I would recommend it to anyone, and I really just can't say enough about it, so I should leave it at that.

I think other countries that I visit will pale in comparison. That train ride out of Istanbul was so cold--I had on all my lairs of clothing, and I was inside my sleeping bag (earning its weight for once), and that was just barely enough to keep me warm. Border crossings at 4am are always fun. My first stop was one of the larger towns in Bulgaria, Plovdiv. It features a nice old quarter, but my guidebook had built the town up to be far more than it is. The highlight of the town to me is a gallery of paintings by a local artist (Zlatyo Boyadjiev, approximately) that reminded me very much of Van Gogh, but with local themes. It was difficult to find accommodation for the evening, but I finally found an agency and booked a private room. The man at the agency spoke German, and the woman who hosted me spoke French, so my limited language skills (better understanding than speaking) came in handy.

The next day I hopped a bus to Sofia. It's not the nicest of cities, but not without its charms. It can be a bit difficult to navigate, as the guidebook gives street names in Latin characters, but the street signs are in Cyrillic--they don't match up! The entire country during my time here has been enveloped in some kind of haze--I don't know whether it is pollution or fog or some peculiar local weather pattern (nobody I've asked knows), but it doesn't seem to burn off under the sun the way fog does. Coming from Turkey I have been struck by all of the mini-skirts--the women here are attractive and make an effort to show themselves off. My first afternoon here I spent walking around the city, admiring the architecture of churches and public buildings, strolling through some of the huge parks, and soaking in the atmosphere. At one point I got sucked into a chess game, despite my best intentions. I hadn't played in quite some time, but my opponent thought I was much better so he gave way to an older guy who whipped out a timer before proceeding to beat my pants off (and take my money as well). I got used to seeing and playing backgammon in Turkey, it's funny that I cross a border and the game of choice changes. That evening I went out to dinner by myself and was seated at a table with some Bulgarians. After a little initial reticence we ended up talking for several hours, and they turned out to be quite engaging and agreeable people. They recommended various foods, drinks, and places to visit. One of the guys said he earns 600 leva (about 300 Euros, which is about $340) per month, which is twice the average salary and his job is considered a good one. He wants to visit London, but it's hard to imagine that salary going very far there.

I've seen a lot of people walking on the streets eating pizza with some kind of white sauce on it. I bought a slice today and at the shop finally discovered the identity of the mysterious white sauce--mayonnaise! Ugh! And I don't think I've passed a dumpster here without seeing someone going through its contents.

The computers here are much better than the computers in Turkey and the internet access is much faster. It's a little bit cheaper as well--everything except accommodation seems to be a little less than in Turkey. Most of the internet shops seem to be devoted to online games, and many are packed with kids playing them--I haven't seen this anywhere else. I can't help but thinking that this technology could be put to better use in service of the economy rather than just playing games.

Yesterday I navigated the bus system out to the Rila Monastery, situated up in the mountains south of Sofia. It was quite picturesque (which hopefully you will also soon be able to appreciate, when I find a capable computer!), though my expectations were higher given the reputation of the place. The highlight of the day was a beautiful wooden cross that one of the monks spent 12 years carving in the late 18th century--the level of detail was just incredible, almost too fine for my eye to discern. In figuring out the bus system (not the easiest of matters) I spent the day with a Kiwi and a French couple. Upon our return to Sofia we went out to dinner together, which capped a delightful day. After we parted around 11pm I realized that I had spent all day with these people and we had never exchanged names! So it goes.

I intend to leave Sofia tonight and head to some of the smaller villages in Bulgaria. My tentative route will take me through Romania to Hungary, then likely to Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic before returning to Germany. I visited a KLM office today and had them push back the date of my return flight to the U.S. until December 16th, as I am enjoying life on the road too much to rush back!

- posted by Christopher @ 12:50 PM