Pióro

I left Athens full of retsina and having been kissed by a man. The hostel we were staying at had a bar and the bartender was George.
“I’m George. George Bartender.”
I doubt his last name was actually Bartender, unless he shortened it from “Bartenderopolous.” This guy was all about the party and he’s been at if [...]

So we’ve been pretty silent so far. Since Barcelona anyway. After that amazing town we left the Iberian Peninsula for the Italian one. We stayed in the tourist trap of Cinque Terre, five small villages in a national park. Although touristy, the place is gorgeous: pebble beaches and hiking trails through green mountains.
Then it was [...]

9 July 2002, 6:10 am
Mar woke up.
“Where are our bags?”
Our day-packs were not on the floor where we had left them. We were on a train somewhere between Foggia and Bari, coming up to the eastern coast of Italy. The train was minutes away from pulling into some small town.
We had a booth to ourselves, [...]

At long last, you can see a small fraction of specially selected pictures from our trip. These were cooked up and prepared for the Web in Granada. Many thanks to Jean-Claude for the use of his laptop. Just click on the Pics link to the right and enjoy.

There’s nothing like driving from Granada to Barcelona in a Citroen C5. You feel like a rock-star with the Hives blaring on the CD player. To keep up with traffic you hold an effortless 150 km/h. The highway is much nicer than the town. It’s much better than getting lost in the Albayzin, Granada’s old [...]

In Toronto, I was never offered pot. Never. I say this because every time Mar and I walk through the main squares of Lisbon, we are offered hash. Countless times a man would walk by, and quietly blurt out “’ash?” In the time it took him to utter that syllable, he’d flash a chunk the [...]

ANDALUCIA—Tired of not meeting anyone in Toronto? Go to Spain. Hear locals say, “You too? You’re lying. Everyone says they are from Canada.” Sit in the common room of your pension with five other as one says, “So, are we all Canadians then?” Nod in agreement. Go to a flamenco show in Seville and reminisce [...]

A few days ago, Mar and I were at the Mosteiro des Jeronimos in Lisbon. This 17th century monastery has a great courtyard. Full on Manueline architecture. We were wandering around with. Mar was taking pictures. She then turned to me and said, “I wish those garbage cans weren’t there.” I could understand. Although the [...]

I’ve been wondering about the difference between a traveller and a tourist and how you differentiate one from the other. The romantic in me definitely wants to become a traveller. After all, the word does have better connotations. However, the cynic in me says there isn’t really a difference between the two. The romantic would [...]

When Mar and I arrived in Lisbon, after an over-night train ride (love the couchette), we were feeling a little, hum, corked. Martha thinks it was due to the magnesium enriched bottled water we picked up in Paris. Anyway we needed to do something. And what get’s the body movin’ better than Rotten Ronnie’s. So [...]