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Here's a copy of the mail messages I sent to my friends back home while I was on my trip. Clicking on any links will take you to the pictures page for that leg of the trip:
Date: Friday, April 26, 2002 9:44am Subject: That's the news and I am outta here!
OK, OK. You can stop cheering because (puts on his best
Arnie impression) I'LL BE BACK! As most of you already know, I'm heading
off to Europe for a two month backpacking adventure. My rough itinerary has
me starting in Lisbon, Portugal and moving along the Mediterranean from west
to east: Spain, Morocco, France, Italy, Greece, maybe Istanbul. Then up to
Hungary (where my dad grew up), Vienna and finally Prague. My itinerary may
change depending on where the babes are going: "You're headed to Germany?
Wow! What a coincidence! So am I!"
This is something that I've always wanted to do and thanks to
the great people in the Toronto office, they're letting me go! More
importantly, they're letting me come back! My office mail account will be
disabled while I'm gone because I sure won't be checking while I'm gone and
I don't want a billion messages when I return. I will be sending updates
from the road with my home email account, so if anyone wants to be included
on the list, send me an email my home address.
You can expect wild tales of debauchery and occasional pleas
for money and character witnesses. The Canadian government will be sending
diplomats in my wake to fix any political damage I may wreak in my travels.
If anyone misses me and forgets what I look like, you can
always check out Ken's Useless Website for my special brand of humour at
http://www3.sympatico.ca/ken.lasko. I will be taking lots of pictures
in that old format called "film", so there won't be any updates until I
return.
Tchau! Adiós!
Arrivederci! Au revoir! Viszlát!
Ken
Date: Tuesday, April 30, 2002 4:00pm Subject: Day One: Lisbon, Portugal Stats so far... OK, by my calculations (which may be a ways off seeing how little sleep I've had), its about 4:00pm Toronto time. It's 9:00pm here in Lisbon. The lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me, but there's nothing stopping me now (except for this stupid keyboard with the keys in the wrong places!!!) Me and a bunch of other Canadians, a few Americans and a British fellow or two are going out for some Portuguese beverages in a cool part of town. I can't believe how easy it is to meet people here! My roommates are from Toronto and Montreal, which was a nice thing to dull the culture shock. Thanks to Lynn for driving me to the airport and hanging out with me in line and having a farewell drink. It was a great sendoff. The flight over was tiring! I didn't sleep a wink the entire trip. I was so bagged by the time I got to Frankfurt that I considered starting out from there instead of facing another 3 hour flight to Lisbon. Good thing I did take the flight, because every guy's dream happened to me on that flight. (Ladies can skip ahead a few paragraphs if you don't want to hear this). You guys know how you are sitting on a plane and you see an incredibly hot babe coming down the aisle. You pray that she sits beside you, but instead you get the drunk, fat, smelly guy who wheezes and coughs the entire trip. Well, for the first time, it happened like it was supposed to happen. I sat with this Hungarian model and laughed and drank wine with her the entire trip. By the way, Mom and Dad, I hate you for not teaching me Hungarian as a kid. :) She even waited for me to get my luggage from the carousel before parting ways. And Lynn, I didn't ask for her number! Aren't you proud??? But, alas, she departed with a backwards glance and smile my way as I pointed my fingers at her in the shape of a gun (in true Zoolander fashion) and said "Right back atchya, babe!" Well, maybe it didn't quite happen that way, but this sounds more fun. Anyways, after braving public transit, I somehow managed to make it to the hostel. Had a shower and went sightseeing with one of my roommates and his friend. Lisbon is beautiful! Every street is right out of some kind of postcard. Its nice to have someone to take my picture with my camera, so I'm in a lot of the shots. There will be a full day of sightseeing tomorrow, including a castle that overlooks the entire city. Tomorrow evening, we're going to get some wine and sit on the beach, just like I planned. I might make modifications to my travel plans and head out with a bunch of people tomorrow night to Seville, then Gibraltar and Morocco. Yep, so far, I'm having an incredible time, and I've only been here 6 hours! My memories of Guelph and the people there are fading fast as I contemplate life in Europe. Just kidding...so far. There are email cafes everywhere, so I may actually get a chance to send emails more often than I thought. Lucky you guys! Talk soon!
Date: Thursday, May 2, 2002 4:34pm Subject: Lisbon: Day 2 (or is it 3???) A German, an American and a Canadian are sitting on a patio. The German says to the Canadian......... OK. I'm still working on the joke. But it sounds good at the start, eh? Well, I'm still in Lisbon. Decided not to go to Seville today. Still want to go to Lagos in the Algarve region. Lots of beaches and fun to be had. I'm going there tomorrow. Yesterday, we did lots of sightseeing around Lisbon. Its a beautiful city, but probably not even close to what I will see later. We stopped to watch a downhill mountain bike race down the narrow cobblestone streets. They were riding down stairs and around buildings at incredible speed. You should have seen the crowds. We were shoulder to shoulder much of the time. It was cool to see. I've seen downhill bike races before, but never like this. Of course, my reaction was "That was nothing...you should have seen me...." Saw nice neighourhoods, castles, churches and monasteries. Took lots of pictures. Today, the crew from the past few days took a bus to Seville, but I decided to stick around a few more days. Did a daytrip to a small town with an ancient Moorish castle on a big hilltop with the American and German guys. It poured rain the whole time, but as soon as we got to the bottom, the sun came out!!! Damn you, fickle weather!!! We took the train back to Lisbon, where we sat on a patio and drank beers until the sun went down. I drank 6 beers for only 4 euros (something like CAN$6.00!). Yes, I'm feeling a wee bit on the wobbly side right now. Tomorrow, I leave for Lagos! Then on to Spain for some big festival. Got to go and enjoy my last night in Lisbon! Ciao!
Date: Tuesday, May 7, 2002 7:51am Subject: Day 7: Lagos, Portugal Still having a great time. Spent way too many nights partying in Lisbon and days sightseeing. I met up with this Italian guy named Alessandro (he's forever correcting my pronunciation). We partied it up together after the Canadians I met up with the day before headed off to Seville. Our last night in Lisbon, we met up with a bunch of other Italians and Spanish people and hit the town. We started in a bar and the party moved to the street. The streets in this one part of town was as packed as the inside of a busy bar. Afterwards, we went to a small park overlooking the entire city and chatted and drank until 4:30am with a bunch of locals. Two hours later, Alessandro and I were on a train to Lagos. We were dead tired and didn't sleep much on the 5 hour train ride. A woman on the train convinced us to stay at her pension because we knew the hostel was already full. Nice place, but a bit off the main drag. We were both sick and tired of walking everywhere, so we rented a scooter. The streets are so confusing, it took us an hour to find our place again (and you can walk across Lagos in about 30 minutes!). We used the scooter to get to all these secluded beaches surrounded by cliffs. Partied by night, toured around by day. Our pension had a full kitchen, so Alessandro did all the cooking (just like Jerry!). Its good to have an Italian around for that purpose. Now I know where Jerry gets his cooking skills from! I'm going to stay with Alessandro and his family for a weekend in Italy. He lives near Naples and will show me all the sights of the region. Alessandro left for home yesterday morning and I'm heading out today. I'm going to slowly make my way towards Seville. Maybe I'll get out of this country this week! This is a real tourist town. This town is full of English, Australian and Canadian people. Many people come here to work the bars for the summer. I may come back for that next year! I found out that after being told I don't need one, I WILL need a visa to get into the Czech Republic (85 euros!), so unless I have a change of heart, I may just take the train into Frankfurt and leave from there. At the pace I'm going, I don't think I'll be able to make it to Istanbul either (sorry Melissa!). Its a 3 day train ride from Greece and I'm pretty sure I won't have time. I wish I took 3 months now. Oh well. Well, off to my train. I'll get off at whatever town looks cool. Miss you all and will talk soon. Ciao!
Date: Thursday, May 9, 2002 10:21am Subject: What day is it? Completely lost track of what day of the week it is. I think it's Wednesday or Thursday. I know its not Sunday, because if it were, I'd be at a bullfight. Finally made it away from Lagos and am now in Seville, Spain. Beautiful city with lots of culture. Unlike the Portuguese, they actually listen to Spanish music here, instead of North American pop. Now, I feel like I'm far from home. Just got out of the third largest cathedral in the world. Awesome sight to behold. It's amazing what people can do when they put their minds to it, especially when it was made so long ago. Its also a bit sad to see what was such a place for holy worship reduced to a whistlestop on a tour. Of course, I'm guilty of doing the same as everyone else, but at least I acknowledge it. The weather hasn't been all that great here. Cloudy and rain off and on. Actually haven't done much partying the past few days. I'm detoxing from Lagos. I gotta tell ya, I LOVE SPANISH WOMEN!!! Seeing that I'm in Spain, they are EVERYWHERE! My neck is hurting from the swiveling. And they seem to like me too! I'm touring around with this American guy in a museum when a dozen high school girls came up to us with their cameras in hand. I thought they wanted me to take a picture of them. Turns out that they wanted a picture of them with us! They were nervous and giggling the entire time. I posed with them for lots of pictures. I felt like some kind of celebrity. I pulled out my best ¨How you doin´?¨, but they didn't get it. Too funny. Not quite the attention I want from the Spanish, but hey! Tonight, I may get a chance to finally try out my salsa skills. We're going out with a few Spanish senoras on the town. We'll see how it goes. I was telling this guy about Lagos and now it looks like I might be heading back there for another night or two. I guess I haven't had my fill of partying yet. Hopefully the weather will be nicer and I'll take part in the ¨Booze Cruise¨ - a boat tour of all the grottos and caves in the region...with lots of alcohol of course! Part of me says that I should be focusing on my ¨tour plan¨, but then the rest of me says ¨Go with what you want!¨, so Lagos it is again. Hopefully, I can get back to Seville in time for bullfights on Sunday. I probably won't like it, but when in Rome... Anyways, off to another palace/garden/cathedral. Will talk soon. After getting back to Seville from Lagos, its on to Gibraltar and Morocco. I'm kinda nervous about Morocco, after hearing so much about it, but I still really want to go, especially since I probably won't make it to Istanbul. Hopefully, you won't hear about me on the news! Ciao!
Date: Sunday, May 12, 2002, 6:06am Subject: Attention Ladies: Fashion alert! OK, I've always heard that fashion in Europe is one year ahead of North America. So, ladies pull out those jeans you used to wear in the early eighties that didn't have pockets on the back, cuz they are back in style. Everyone is wearing them here. I almost feel like I'm back in high school again. Anyways, I almost feel bad for saying this, but I am back in Lagos. The weather in Seville sucked and I hurt my Achilles tendon hiking all over Seville with a pack on my back looking for a hostel. I decided that I wanted more R&R, and there's no better place for that than Lagos. The weather is beautiful and am having a ball. Last night, I somehow ended up behind the bar at a bar and was spinning tunes for a few hours for free drinks. I had a blast! Meeting many more people, especially Canadians and Kiwis (New Zealanders). Did a boat cruise around the grottoes and caves yesterday. Today, I organized a big cliff walk that will take us to secluded beaches and rock formations. Part of me feels guilty for being back here, but hey...this is a vacation and I should be able to relax on a beach for days on end if I want, rather than tripping to a different city every few days. Don't worry, I will leave soon though. I've got much that I want to see and do. Well, I'm off to have lunch. Hope all is well! Kenny
Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 8:30pm Subject: Sun, sand, bullfights, soccer and riots Some of the signs that you may have spent too much time in one
place include: Yep, I was spending far too much time in Lagos. The weather was absolutely perfect (high 20´s) and not a cloud in the sky (unlike the first week). Spent the days exploring the various beaches, sitting in the sun, and swimming in the cold Atlantic. Spent the nights partying it up with many Canadians, Aussies, Brits and Kiwis. I finally got antsy to get going on Tuesday. Originally, I was going to head to Morocco, but changed my mind at the last minute and took an overnight train to Madrid because I heard there was a big bullfighting festival starting and that Madrid's football (soccer to us North Americans) team were favoured to win the final match and there would be a big street party afterwards. I didn't sleep a wink on the overnight train (I booked too late to get a sleeper). Met up with a couple of Kiwis named Rob and Jim, had some drinks in the bar car, and decided to hang out in Madrid. We marched around town for hours looking for a place to stay. Finally got a decent place right downtown for all of 27 euros a night for the three of us. We went to see a bullfight at the big bullfighting arena. We were totally stoked for the experience, but it was a huge letdown. First of all, I just don't see the point of it. The bull never has a chance. Plus, there are at least 6 matches, which all follow exactly the same predictable, boring pattern. We finally got sick of it all and left before it was finished. At least I can say I saw a bullfight in Spain, but I won't likely do it again. We then headed downtown to a pub to see the football match. We wormed our way into a large one and stood for the entire time. It was quite the experience, especially when surrounded by hundreds of football fanatics. Madrid won 2-1 over some town in Germany. We then headed outside to watch the festivities. Remember when Canada won the gold in hockey and how packed Yonge Street was in Toronto?? Well, imagine Yonge was 10 lanes instead of 4 and hundreds of thousands of cheering football fans crowded in. There was a sea of people as far as the eye could see. We watched from what we thought was a safe distance and as the crowd grew larger and larger, we noticed that there were just as many people behind us as there were in front. We were right smack in the middle. Suddenly, everyone started running towards us. Our first instinct was to flee as well, but came to our senses and stopped. Amazingly enough, everyone else stopped running as well. It was surreal. Once we knew what was coming, we watched from the relative safety of the boulevard running down the middle of the 10 lane streets. These momentary incidents of huge groups of people starting to run and then stopping happened several more times. Everything seemed to be just fine for quite some time, but then some people started getting rowdy and throwing beer bottles and such. Then, the riot police started to move in. The next thing we knew, we were right smack in the middle of a full-blown riot. People were running down the streets, cops were firing tear gas, people were getting beaten with billyclubs, beer bottles and rocks were being thrown and generally all hell was breaking loose. We stayed calm (for the most part) and stuck to the sides and let the crowd run by us. I didn't want to be mistaken for a rioter. But at the same time, we didn't want to be in between the crowd and the cops, since lots of projectiles were being thrown both ways. We also didn't want to leave, because it was so interesting to watch. For the most part, we were never in any danger. The cops dispersed the crowd by firing what we think was tear gas and rubber bullets and driving at high speed right into the middle of crowds (I would be amazed if anyone weren't seriously hurt by that one). It was kind of scary at times, but what a total adrenaline rush! It worked like a charm and eventually the crowd dispersed. It's 2am now. People are still running around outside, but the riot is over. What a day!!! Don't worry about me (especially Mom!). I'm perfectly safe now. It's kind of funny that last night we were joking about everyone seeing me on CNN getting a beer bottle smashed over my head. The truth wasn't too far off that. What an experience! Imagine the kind of pictures I'm going to have from this trip: cathedrals, monasteries, natural features, parties and riots. Yep, this has been one hell of a vacation so far, and its only been two weeks!!! Well, tomorrow I will be doing some more mundane things like check out some museums and other sites. Then I'm meeting up with some Italians I met in Lisbon. Then its off on a high-speed train to Seville and then Gibraltar and more trouble in Morocco. I'm going to try to stay away from Lagos this time. Again, don't worry about me. Everything is totally cool here. We're laughing about it now. "So, what did you guys do today???" Just in case, any of you would be willing to act as a character witness if I need it, right??? Ciao for now!
Date: Saturday, May 18, 2002 6:04am Subject: Snake charmers, locals and drums OK, the keys are all in the wrong place on this keyboard, so bear with me. From Madrid, I took a high speed train to Algeciers, Spain and took a ferry across to Morocco. Took a night train to Marrakech and hung out with a bunch of lively locals for a while before turning in for the night. Its a different world here. Yes, everyone does hassle me a lot, but its nothing I cant handle. Having lots of fun here. My room costs approx 4 euros. I bought a cool little drum to annoy everyone with when I get home for approx 10 euros. I'm getting good at negotiating. Talked the guy from 20 down to 10. We pay so much for this kind of stuff from places like Harmony Crafts. Ill be taking orders soon for anybody who wants stuff. Gonna stay here for a few days before heading to Fez and back across to Spain. This keyboard is annoying me, so that's it for now. I'll email when I'm back in Europe. See ya
Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2002 5:26am Subject: Would you like to touch my monkey? So, there I was, walking on a path that winded its way up the Rock of Gibraltar. I was swinging the plastic bag that held my lunch beside me and admiring the view. I was totally alone and was wondering when I'd get a glimpse of the famous Barbary apes of Gibraltar. Suddenly, something grabbed violently at the plastic bag in my hand. I screamed (and swore) loud enough to be heard across the strait and looked down at an ape trying to grab my lunch! I started to run, but the ape and two new ones started to chase me! I threw them my lunch, but they continued after me. I threw them my wallet and backpack, but they still wouldn't stop! I tripped and fell and the apes took my shirt, shoes, shorts and most of my underwear before a security guard came to my rescue. OK, so it didn't quite happen that way. An ape did scare the crap out of me when he tried to take my lunch but he was happy with a few crackers. I found that the apes would ignore you if they didn't see a plastic bag, so I stuck my lunch in my pack to avoid any additional "attacks". When taking pictures, all I needed to do to get them to look at me was to crinkle some plastic. I hit Gibraltar after my return from Morocco. Marrakech was amazing, once you got past the haggling and constant hassling for everything from henna tattoos to orange juice. The people are very nice and friendly. I never felt in danger at all. You are constantly on edge because you never know if the guy you are talking to in the street wants to provide some "service" for an inflated price. I took a daytrip out to the High Atlas mountains. Saw some nice waterfalls that were packed with people. Walked up a river for a while to escape the hordes and found myself in a mountain valley that seemed to be an exact duplicate of the Himalayas. There were buildings cut into the cliffsides and locals walking with loaded donkeys down the rock-strewn path that passed for a road. Off in the distance were snow-covered peaks. It was beautiful, and I WAS OUT OF FILM!!! I want to go back to Morocco to see more, but that will have to wait for another day. Marrakech also takes the prize for the best meal I've had so far this trip. Had an amazing meal in the market on my last night there, and all for only 4 euros. I ran into the same locals on the train back from Marrakech that I met on the way down. They were so happy to see me. It was hilarious! I brought my drum up to them and sang and played for hours. Later, I heard from some more backpackers how they couldn't sleep because of the banging and noise from some local Moroccans. I grinned sheepishly when I told them it was my drum. Walking up the Rock of Gibraltar was fun, but little did I know that you could only purchase tickets for the various sites at the bottom of the Rock. I did see lots of monkeys (the main purpose of my trip to Gibraltar), so I was happy. Now, I'm in Granada, Spain. Its a beautiful city situated on the flanks of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Granada takes the prize from Seville for the most beautiful women. Every other woman I see makes my jaw drop. I've got scuff marks on my chin because its been dragging on the ground so much. Tomorrow, I will attempt a (partial) ascent of the highest mountain in Spain, then its off to Barcelona. Then I have to hurry of to Italy. I can't believe its only been three weeks since I left. It feels like I've been gone forever! Hope the weather has finally turned for the better at home. It's been sunny and warm here every day for the last two weeks. Anyways, off to see the Alhambra. See ya!
Date: Tuesday, June 4, 2002 3:47pm Subject: Yep, I'm still alive In case anyone remembers me, here's an update about what's going on in my travels. I just realized how long it's been since my last email update. Been to lots of places since then. We last left our intrepid traveller in Granada, Spain. As I recall, I had pretty much just gotten into town that day. Granada definitely takes the prize for "The Hottest Women Ken Has Seen in Europe" (did I mention that I love Spanish women???). I spent a few days doing the usual tours of monuments etc. Saw the Alhambra, which is a beautiful property filled with gardens, castles, towers and palaces. Climbed the second highest peak in Spain, which towers over 11,000 feet over Granada. While the temperature in Granada was a glorious 27 degrees, the temperature at the top could only be described as frickin' cold and windy. Still lots of snow at the top. Next stop: Mount Everest. On my second last night in Granada, I was walking home from a bar at about 2am with a couple of Australian women I met the day before, when we were accosted by a horde of very drunk Spanish women dressed to the nines (there may have been a few guys, but I wasn't paying attention to them). After several pictures, I found myself walking down the street with a Spanish woman on each arm. I was in heaven. We ended up at a classy club, where I definitely didn't fit in with my backpacker's clothes. I had a ball just the same. Everyone was dressed up and we partied until 6am (Julia would never survive here :) ). My salsa lessons definitely paid off. They loved the limited number of moves I knew, and learned a few new ones. A few days after that, I was off to Barcelona. I wish I could have stayed in Granada a few more days, because I was having so much fun with the Australian girls I met. I remember being forced to down several sangria before I had to literally run to catch my train. I've learned to leave places on a high note...you tend to have better memories that way. Barcelona was pretty cool. Gaudi's architecture was...well...gaudy. His work is definitely different from the usual. Climbed up the Sagrada Familia (the big unfinished cathedral they're building), saw the usual things. Took part in "Mike's Bike Tour" of Barcelona - a totally entertaining tour and history lesson of Barcelona. Definitely not your usual tour. I finally met some people from Guelph on the bike tour. Until that point, I met people from everywhere else except there. Wanted to go to the zoo and see the famous white gorilla and the less famous, but surely entertaining masturbating monkeys. Unfortunately, I didn't have time. Did a daytrip to Montserrat, where the monks do the monk thing on a mountain retreat. It wasn't very quiet and monk-like, though. They're building a high-capacity railway to the top so even more huge groups of badly-dressed tourists armed with camcorders can flock like lemmings to the sights. It was very loud and not like I imagined it to be. On a side note, I wonder what would happen if I managed to steal the stupid markers the tour group leader waves over their head to attract hordes of mindless tourists (can you tell I don't like tour groups?). If I threw the marker over a cliff, would the tour groups throw themselves off like lemmings? Hmmmm, could be fun. Anyways, I hiked to the very top of Montserrat and all the way back down. I've seem to developed this thing for climbing mountains. After Barcelona, I headed to the Cinque Terre - five Italian fishing villages built on cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean. Spent 5 days there because it was so peaceful and perfect - a great way to detox from the big city life in Barcelona. Everything was perfect. I've been living on nothing but pizza, foccaccia bread and gelato (I've found out that there is no such thing as bad Italian food). The water was so clear and blue. I was going to jump off this cliff into the water, but it looked waist deep. Found out that the bottom was 30 feet down. The water temperature was just right. After lying in the sun for too many hours, I could sit in the water for hours to cool off. I rented a kayak one day and paddled around the Mediterranean for hours, looking for waterfalls and caves I could steer the kayak into. Like Lagos, it was difficult to leave. I also managed a daytrip to Portofino. I have this painting over my bed that was done there, so I just had to see that town. It was beautiful, but waaaaaay pricey. The first store I saw was a Cartier diamond store. There were yachts bigger than the Love Boat in the port, and there were sooo many tourists. Not quite the way it was depicted in the painting, but nice enough just the same. Oh, yeah...that reminds me of a story. While diving into the water one fine day, I managed to wrench my neck, which ended up bothering me all day. That evening, I was complaining about it when this woman offered her services (she was a registered massage therapist from California). She took me down to a dark beach at night and gave me a fantastic massage for an hour while I looked up at the stars and listened to the soothing sounds of the crashing waves. Best massage I've ever had. Keep your imagination in check folks, because that was all that happened. This trip just continues to be absolute perfection! Now, I'm in Florence, Italy. Its a totally beautiful city. Having a great time in the best hostel I've been in this trip - the Archi Rossi (thanks to Erich for the suggestion). Seeing the usual sights. Saw this statue of some guy named Dave and got busted for sneaking pictures of it. It's OK, though. The man with the rubber glove was very friendly. After here, I'm going to go to Rome for a few days before I head off to the Amalfi coast for 4 days to stay with the hairy Italian guy (no, not you Jerry) I met in Lisbon at the beginning of my trip. Four days of authentic Italian cooking and hospitality. I can't wait! Anyways, my time is just about up here. Next update will be...later. I can't believe it's been just over a month since I left. It feels like I've been gone forever. I wish I could do this forever, but a quick look at my rapidly depleting bank account takes care of that! Arrivadirty!
Date: Tuesday, June 11, 2002 2:41pm Subject: Mr. Greco's Wild Ride This weekend, I went to an amusement park called "Napoli-land". I spent a lot of time on this one ride called "Alessandro's Death Scooter". It involves riding on the back of a scooter while the crazy Italian up front weaves his way through traffic in Naples. My life flashed before my eyes so many times, it started to get boring. I stayed at Alessandro's place (the Italian I met in Lisbon on my first few days of my trip) for the weekend and got to know his entire family. Italians are very family-oriented and Alessandro's all lived in the same apartment complex. They were very friendly and fun to be with. He took me to the beach with his friends, went out to local pubs and clubs and spent a mostly rainy day driving along the Amalfi coast to beautiful towns like Positano (one of the "must see" towns in my so-called trip itinerary). Driving in the Naples area is an experience in itself. At first, I wondered why all the parked cars had their side mirrors folded against the car. I soon realized that if they didn't do that, then the mirrors would probably be torn off by cars as they passed by. Italians drive using every inch of road space that they can. Riding on the back of Alessandro's scooter, I was sure that I was going to kiss my legs goodbye. I was holding on with a deathgrip. However, it didn't take long to realize that even though everyone drives as crazy as Alessandro did, somehow nobody gets into an accident. By the end of the weekend, I was as calm as the locals and didn't even have to hold on. Driving in his car was not much different. Nobody stops for stop signs (I don't remember seeing many, actually). Stop lights are just for show, and two-lane roads are really three or four. Yep, it was one wild weekend. Backtracking a bit, I came to Rome last Thursday with a Vancouverite named Tony (OK, his name is Anthony - he doesn't answer to Tony) and an American named Jenn. Saw the requisite sights like the Colosseum, the Vatican museum, the fanastic Sistine Chapel, St. Marks cathedral, and a whole lot of fountains and assorted Roman ruins. One day we got caught in a "sudden" downpour (I saw it coming and suggested we take cover in the Pantheon, but nooooooooo, we kept on walking), which forced us to huddle in a narrow passageway until we realized that it wasn't going to let up. So, off we marched towards our hostel. Every few minutes, a guy would pop out of nowhere and offer to sell us umbrellas (I have no idea what they do when it isn't raining...they probably sell sunglasses and postcards). So, here I am in Rome yet again. This time, I've been seeing the sights I missed on the first few days and re-visited the cool one I did see. Had some great Chinese food last night...yes, you heard me right...Chinese food in Rome. It was so good, I'm going there again tonight. Spent my evenings wandering around with fellow travellers looking at sights at night and drinking wine...nice way to pass the evening instead of drinking in bars. Tomorrow morning its off to Venice! Then Hungary! Gotta get going...only have 2 minutes left on the clock! Ciao!!!
Date: Tuesday, July 2, 2002 5:57pm Subject: Bye, bye beautiful Europe. See you soon! OK, this is my second attempt at this email. The stupid webmail ate the first one after an hour and a half of typing. So, thankfully for you guys, this one will probably be shorter (actually, it looks longer than the original). As most of you know, I'm now back home in Guelph. I went back to work today (which was a nice easy intro...thanks to my officemates!) and reality has hit me upside the head with a big, splintery 2x4. It's been a while since my last update, mainly due to how busy I was and the cost and availability of Internet cafes in my final weeks. I'll run down a quick synopsis of: "The Final Weeks of Kenny's Tour de Europa" Where was I when I last sent an email? Rome? I think so. Went off to Venice for a few days but soon realized that I could have easily done with just a day. It was just far too touristy and busy for my tastes. The tourist hordes were EVERYWHERE! Gondolas were travelling down canals lined up one right behind the other like a ride at Disneyland. Tourist-geared shops lined the canals and it was near impossible to find a place to stay: a first for my travels. I managed to get off the beaten track and was rewarded by nice neighbourhoods and untouristed canals. At night, I took a "vaporetto" (water bus) tour of the city canals, which was nice and relaxing. I stopped to listen to a string quartet for hours in the plaza in front of the big cathedral while I updated my journal. The next day, I had to get out of the city, but had to stick around since I had a night train to Budapest booked for that night. I took a train out of Venice and got off at the first interesting looking town I saw - Padova. It was quiet, beautiful and reminded me of how Guelph would be like if it were in Europe. Most importantly, there were no tourists! I spent the day wandering the streets and resting in tree-covered parks (not a lot of trees in Venice for obvious reasons). Got back to Venice and got on my night train to Budapest. I thought I was in for an adventure when the conductor showed me how to barricade my sleep compartment door shut with the ladder and a length of chain to prevent thieves from getting in. Unfortunately, the only interruptions were from customs guards constantly asking to see my passport. Got to Budapest around noon the next day and, after some initial confusion regarding my arrival time, met up with my dad who flew over from Canada to show me his home country. I got to see some of Budapest with the son of a friend of his and managed to hit some sights and local clubs to dance with the incredibly beautiful women of Budapest. They all look like supermodels when young, but at some point in their lives, they end up looking like gypsy women from some bad horror movie...I'm not sure how it happens. We took a train out to where Dad grew up. He told me stories of how he escaped from Hungary after the Revolution in 1957. I hadn't fully understood exactly what had happened until then. It sounded like something from out of a movie. We went on to Szged to visit some friends and to see where he went to school before leaving for Canada. From Hungary, I went on to Vienna, Austria. Vienna didn't impress me as much as other cities. Maybe I was jaded from my travels, I'm not sure. Did much of my touring with a Spanish senora named Sara. I did manage to see "Carmen" at the Vienna Operahouse, so now I'm officially cultured (but don't worry, I won't let it go to my head). Spent the next day walking around looking at sights with Sara and lounging around in just about every park in Vienna (we began to rate them on the quality). I escorted her to the train station that night (cuz, you know how rough these cities can get) and had a few minutes of terror when she couldn't get her pack out of the locker. We had to run around looking for someone to get it out as the speaker announced the iminent departure of her train. She got away OK and I returned to the hostel to find out about a big music festival that was happening on the big island in the river. Me and this American guy, Brendan, managed to round up a whole lot of people and went to check it out (after filling our pockets with all the beer we could carry). We held our beer cans over our heads to keep our group together as we navigated the crowds on the island. There was everything from dance to reggae to ska bands playing all over the place. It got cut short by a violent thunderstorm that got everyone properly soaked. Good clean fun was had by all! Decided to head off to Salzburg, home of some crap-assed musical made back in the fifties or sixties or something. Didn't spend much time in the city. I was all citied out. Spent most of my time in the mountains doing ice cave tours (Very cool thing to see, literally), salt mine tours (boring except for the mine slide), and a bicycle ride out to a lake 15 km away uphill (Only 4 of our original 7 made it. Nice lake and a killer downhill ride all the way back into town). Salzburg seems to attract Australians for some reason and I spent many a night drinking with them. The first night I drank with one Aussie and swore I'd never drink with an Aussie again after waking the next morning. So, of course, I went drinking with 4 Aussies the next night. Despite not seeing much of the city sights, I really liked Salzburg and will return to give it a good lookover. For my final days, me and a British girl named Fran decided to head deep into the mountains to a small town called Hallstat. It was about 2.5 hours away by slow-moving train, but was worth the trip. Hallstat was a gorgeous town situated between a lake and a steep mountain. There was not a museum, cathedral or tourist in sight. The view from the balcony of the pension was postcard quality. It was the perfect way to end the trip. We did lots of walks around the town and surrounding mountains, sat and suntanned on mountaintop meadows, drank beer and wine on empty patios and even managed to go tobogganing down a snowfield riding a grocery bag. I was very sad to leave such a beautiful place. But, I realized I had to get my butt to Frankfurt to catch my plane home. At first, I thought that, at BEST, I would get to Frankfurt with 30 minutes to get from the train station to the airport, checked in and on the plane. I managed to find a slightly alternate route that ultimately got me there a comfortable 2 hours before departure, but I didn't know this until I actually got there. Surprisingly, I wasn't all that worried. I really didn't care if I missed my plane. "Oh well...more time in Europe", I thought. But, alas, I got on the plane with tears welling up in my eyes. I was so not ready to go home. The plane ride was excruciatingly monotonous, but I actually had some decent movies to watch for a change. We landed in Toronto 20 minutes ahead of schedule and ended up sitting on the tarmac for 1.5 hours while we waited for our gate to be cleared. I was ready to bang a hole in the side of the plane with my forehead. Got off the plane and somehow managed to avoid getting a body cavity search by Canada Customs, but had to wait until the last piece of luggage came off the conveyer before I could get out. Malkin was kind enough to pick me up and take me home to Guelph where she would join Lynn, Sam and myself (or so I thought) for a welcome home drink. Got to Lynn's and there was nobody home. So we went to my house to see if I could get in (Lynn had my keys). Pulled up to my driveway and was happy to see just about everybody partying inside! It was a GREAT homecoming! I drank lots of blender drinks and blathered on about how great the trip was for hours. The next day, reality set in. Blah. So, here I am, sitting at home, barely believing this trip actually happened. Monetarily, I'm much poorer than when I left, but the wealth of experiences, fun, and things I learned about myself and the world more than makes up for it. People told me it would change my perspective and possibly my entire life, and it definitely has. I can't really put it all in words right now, but I am definitely different, and hopefully better than when I left home 2 long months ago. I've also compiled a list of things that I hope to do as a
result of this trip Trip Statistics So that's the last Europe trip update. Hope they've been entertaining. My pictures should be processed by tomorrow and I will be spending many hours going through them, once my loan is approved to pay for the pics. Some will make it onto my website over the next while - I'll let you all know when. I apologize in advance to all my local friends who I will undoubtedly force to sit through several photo albums worth of photos: "Let me tell you the story behind THIS photo." I also apologize if every word someone says or thing that happens causes me to say "This reminds me of this time when I was in..." Everyone has told me that this was going to be the trip of a lifetime. It wasn't. It's the FIRST of many trips of a lifetime that this one has inspired me to take. Hopefully there will be more installments of "The Adventures of Kenny von Lasko" coming soon to an email near you. Until the next one, Ken
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