Lost my bank card

Argh!
So I took the bus into Kho Chang, and with my last 500 baht ($15) in cash, booked into a hotel (they're pricey here as it's a major tourist destination for both foreigners and Thai). I met some fellow Canucks on the bus and we agreed to get some food and drinks. I realized as I stood before the ATM that my bankcard was nowhere to be seen. I had taken it out of my wallet the night before to limit my funds when I went out so I wouldn't drink too much. I guess it worked too well. I must have left it back in Bangkok. Not a happy camper. So rather than eat and drink with some Canadians I met on the bus, I was complelled to call the bank etc. The payphone here have credit card slots but none of them work.As I had no cash to make a call from an internet cafe, I was forced to use the hotel phone (who took Visa). 3000baht ($100) for 45 minutes worth of calls (you can't make collect calls in this country). For those of you wondering why I didn't do a cash advance from my VISA, I don't know my PIN for my any of my credit cards. The bank and credit card companies confirmed what I already suspected - can't issue PIN's over the phone. I finally found out that I can do cash advances on my VISA through banks here and Currency exchanges. I wish I knew that before I blew $100 on long distance. Thieves! I've worked out how to get my PIN, but I can't get into that for security reasons... I was pretty pissed off after all that so I went to go see "War of the Worlds" to stop thinking. It was pretty good, but quite a bit of weak acting.

Relaxing in Thailand

I wish. As like I mentioned in my last entry, after Ali and I went for some killer Indian food we joined up with Maeve and Dee to continue the celebration of my 29th. The girls had been told by a fellow Irishman that "Simon Chang Mai" was not to be missed. Basically it was a cabaret show - you know, singing, tights, outrageous costumes. Too bad they were all men! The funny thing is Thai guys are just as thin and small as the women so they pass it off quite well. It was actually a hilarious show. We had lots of fun. Thanks to the girls pointing me out, I got dragged on stage to my horror. That's what you get for going out with 3 girls... Whatever,I just stood there and looked like an idiot - (I hadn't consumed enough liquid courage to add to the show). Fortunately the only person with a camera was me - and it stayed in my pocket.
Thailand has an interesting stance on "lady boys" and homosexuality. They have none. There's no laws for or against it. The Buddhist mentality simply couldn't comprehend the idea of shunning someone due to race, religion, Coke or Pepsi or sexual preference. And we call Thailand 3rd world.
After the "Lady Boy" (that's what they're called here, it's not meant to be disrespectful - freaks) show, I needed something more male. All this open-mindedness is killin' me How 'bout (pun intended) some Muay Thai! aka Thai Boxing.
We went to a bar that had fights all night. No entry fee, just gotta buy the drinks there, and they weren't even overpriced much.We sat ring-side and watched a few fights. Every bout ended in a knock-out. Awesome. There's nothing quite like seeing - and even better - hearing a foot connect to some poor bastard's head, flipping him over and crashing into the mat. I took a few photos trying to get an action shot. I may have blinded the guy in blue as he lost the fight shortly after. Hahaha. After the fight, the winner comes around and asks for 10 or 20 baht ($.30/$.60cdn) no prob! Loser goes home poor and bruised.
I took a night bus to Bangkok the other day in hopes of catching the bus to Kho Chang. I missed it. So I spent another day in Bangkok wandering around Pantip Plaza which is a geek's paradise. 5 floors of computer's, electronics and pirated software. Heaven. I got myself a good deal on a PDA (iPAQ hx2700) so once I figure the damn thing out, I won't have to rely on Internet cafe's as much.
That night I got my drink on at a road side portable bar with a rather eclectic group of Americans, Aussies, French, English and German tourists. Oh, and one Thai guy. Fun times. The next day (yesterday) I slept in again and missed the bus to Kho Chang. Damnit. I ended up taking a bus south to Pattaya to get closer to the pristine beaches of Kho Chang, with the idea that I could go to Kho Chang today. That wasn't the case. Life, it seems, is cruel...

Jungle Boogie

Well that was fun! Some things weren't as glorious as the tour office made them out to be ,but as we've since learned, that's to be expected. The first day we stopped at a market to grab last minute essentials like water, whiskey and toilet paper (Thailand is one of those "left hand" countries so you kinda gotta carry it around if you plan on lightening the load). Then off we went by "4x4" - read: small pick-up truck, to the elephant tour. The elephants were really cool,but all we did was like an hour circle. Not the trek to a destination we had envisioned. Nonetheless, it was a unique experience. It's pretty cool heading up or down hills on a beast that size. You really feel like you're going to fall off. We got to feed them sugar cane as a treat (for an extra 20 baht) which was cool. The dexterity of their trunks is really cool. Who said the thumb was so hot?
After all the excitement we drove a little further into the jungle to start our trek.
In our little party was our guide Sim, myself, Alison, two girls from Ireland Dee and Maeve as well as Ted and Helen, a couple from England and Wales. The hiking was a great change from the trekking across cities that I have grown so accustomed to. The views were spectacular. In a sense it was similar to home (hard to explain) but instead of evergreens there were banana trees, Teak trees and rice paddies no name just few.There was always a sweet smell emenating in the jungle which was pleasent. Maybe it came from the pineapple plants littering the jungle floor. We didn't see any wildlife other than some interesting bugs... There was probably a dozen waterfalls that we walked by, three of which we stopped at for lunch and a swim. Nothing quite like a waterfall massage... It was really a great adventure. We did sorta feel though that we were being led from hill tribe village to hill tribe village to buy trinkets. It got anoying after a while, but I guess as tourists, we've created a dependency on our dollars. All our meals were taken care of by our chef and guide Sim. They weren't canned beans or bad soup like I'd eat on a camping trip, but noodles ot rice with eggs and different meats for the carnivors. Good living. We even got pancakes on the last day. Sweet! (Incidently, you can buy banana "pancakes" from vendors on the streets. They fry them up right there, smother them in a sugary heavy cream, then add powdered sugar on top. Served hot, it's killer delicious).
Anyway the english couple anounced to us that they were now engaged, so obviously we got into the Thai whiskey. Good times. Ted had popped the big one (question that is) in the back of a Tuk Tuk. That takes guts, either she'll love it or hate it. She loved it. They were only on a 2 day trek, so the next day we said our tearful goodbyes. Two Korean chaps joined us both named Seung, just to make it easy. That's three Seungs I know now. Hat Trick!
The last day we got to do bamboo rafting down the river (WeiWang I think).The raft was 8 or 9 five-inch round lengths of bambo strapped together. it was about 20 feet long though. Cool trip down the river. Very cool actually as I fell in... Oops. That's what happens when I'm steering I guess!
So the jungle was a neat experience. Later that night we made plans with the Irish girls to meet up and celebrate my aging bones. I'll write about that later though.

One night in Bangkok...

This place is insane. Loving it though. As most backpackers do, we headed straight to Kho San Road which is a crazy street filled with vendors selling anything and everything at dirt cheap prices. It's pretty wild. The cost of a couple t-shirts for example is less than a beer back home... I don't know if the items are knock-offs or not, but I don't really care. There's neon lights everywhere and a blend of car engines and horns, blaring western and eastern music, people offering tuk-tuks (3 wheeled death machines that are far cheaper than cabs), it's like a complete sensory overload. Can't handle it for too long though, our 3 days here is enough.
It's freakin' hot here. Even though it's the beginning of the rainy season, it's been above 30 degrees everyday so far. I'm shedding my western drab for cooler, more "flowy" Thai gear. I'm gonna turn into a granola eatin', tree hugger at this rate ;) Gotta figure out a way to ship my extra crap back home. What the hell am I gonna do with a sweater?!
The tuk-tuk drivers are hilarious and seem to have no sense of self preservation whatsoever. They drive in oncoming traffic as much as the do with traffic. Corners are practically on 2 wheels, they don't brake until the last second, cut each other off constantly, and run intersections with the horn blaring. Our driver today was whistling through all this whilst giving time to contemplate our pending violent doom. All in good fun I guess, because we always get where we're going. They do tend to take side trips for with us, as they get free gas from shop owners if we peruse their crap for a while. Today it was a silver and gem store. No one to buy jewelry for anymore, so they were outta luck.
Despite my desire to hit the beaches, we're heading up north to Chang Mai tonight by night train, where we will begin our trek into the jungle. Cool. We chose to do it now 'cuz apparently now is the time of year everything is blooming and therefore prettier. We take a 4X4 to the outskirts of the jungle and then an oliphant into it. How cool is that?! The whole 5 day ordeal, including 2 guides, train from Bangkok, all accommodation, food and efelants was 4600 baht (about $140cdn). If I had started here with my Europe budget, I could have retired!
No pictures yet to post as I still haven't bought a laptop. They're very cheap here though, so it will be in the near future. Probably in Chang Mai after the jungle - don't want a monkey stealing my 'puter ;)
Anyway, if I never write again it's because I've been eaten by an elephant or a monkey, or possibly a swarm of cockroaches.

So long, and thanks for all the fish...

Some things I neglected to mention in my last entry. It's certainly not that I don't like Europe (Western or Eastern) it's just that I'm not in the right mind-set to appreciate all it has to offer. Originally there were lots of other places I'd like to go here. I'd like to see more of Hungary - you can't judge a country by it's capital. I mean look at Ottawa! (Sorry Joe :)) Romania was high on the list too, as was Croatia, Serbia and the Slovak Republic. It just means I'll have to make another trip later on. Hopefully next time with more cash and more style ;) Greece and Turkey as well were definitely countries I wanted to hit. You can't do it all though. I was tempted to stop in Istanbul for a few days, a week, before going on to Thailand, but I really feel that it would be better to dedicate more time to a Turkey trip. Greece too. There's so many places to see in the world, so I've changed my outlook. I would rather see more of fewer countries than less of lots.
Just wanted to get that off my chest for those of you who may be offended that I didn't visit your homeland when I said I would or take your suggestions. Eventually I'll get to these places, and truly take the time to enjoy what they have to offer. Suggestions for Thailand are more than welcome though, as we decided on a whim to head there. The Thailand book I picked up from a used English book store is from 1999. Not too accurate.
Gotta go catch a plane.

Outta here!

Tomorrow I leave for Thailand.
Even before Sally left, I had a feeling that this trip was not what I was searching for. I've come to realize that I'm chasing a dream I created when I was 18 and that this life style is, in fact, not for me. That's not to say I haven't had great times and opportunities. This trip has helped me see what was missing and that the comforts of home aren't all evil (though 3 million channels of info-mercials will always be evil). Seeing my family was great, and something I will not neglect again in the future. I've met great people, had great talks, lots of tasty beer, and I'm sure I am a better person because of this trip, or at least more well rounded ;)
Eastern Europe as interesting as it is, is a bit disappointing in the sense that I missed the boat to see true eastern culture. Since the fall of Communism, these eastern countries have been chasing the American Dream to a fault. At the expense of their own culture, they are eating at McDonalds, getting take-out pizza and living a faster pace of life. I only hope they notice that the North American lifestyle isn't all it's cracked up to be either. I'm sure there must be a better balance between the two. I'm tired of wandering around cities. After a while they all seem the same. They all have different characteristics, but you get a sense odd deja-vu when you're on the road this long, never stopping to relax. Being here makes me feel like I must keep moving, seeing sites, taking advantage of every minute because every minute is costing a lot of cash. Granted Eastern Europe is cheaper than home and a lot cheaper than Western Europe, but it's still money, and it'll go further in Thailand.
I'm hoping that a move to a more dominant Buddhist culture will be a refreshing change from the current scene. If I see another cathedral, it'll be too soon. Being in the city doesn't give me time to reflect. Sally's departure has affected me deeply and I need a change to collect myself. I know my arrival in to Bangkok will be nuts, but it's my intention to be on a quiet beach somewhere, surfing and drinking a big fruity drink with umbrellas and stir sticks by my birthday on the 25th.
It's nice that Alison is on the same page as me, so we will be continuing our travels in Thailand together.
As for work, to hell with Telus. They chose not to extend my leave of absence. Their loss. Mind numbing shit work isn't everything. Thanks for making it bearable, amongst others: Rav, Scott, Cheryl, Jaeme, Bruce (gone so soon), my team, and Cam and Kathy. I know I missed some of you, but you know who you are.
That was a load off!
Hmm Thailand. Weird. Just kinda decided yesterday. Should be interesting.

It'd be easier with nails! (Budapest, Hungary)

The night train to Budapest was an event. We wanted to book a sleeper car for the 12 hour trip, but the incredibly helpful (sarcasm) woman at the station said we could only by seats. Despite knowing people in our hostel who had reserved, she insisted we would have to ask the conductor. Bitch. Anyway, the conductor said no, and we were stuck in seats for the trip. Fortunately, we had a cabin all to ourselves (we locked the door and stared out the window when people walked by). We set up shop to sleep propped against our packs, head near the door as theft is a problem on Polish night trains. Gassing people isn't as uncommon as one would like. Anyway, other that being rudely awaken every hour or so to check tickets or passports we made it through the night without any problems. The train did get pretty full in the morning with commuters so we had to give up our little private world. The guy in our car eating the foul onion sausage was a great addition to our poorly ventilated car.
finding a hostel was easy enough, and we took it pretty easy the first day as we were still pretty tired from the trip.
The next day, towel in hand, we went in search of the famous baths. There are traditional (read: nude) Turkish baths as well as co-ed (clothed) ones. We opted for co-ed as the days alternate at the nude ones, and the hostel guy told me it's mostly gay men who frequent the Turkish baths now. Despite my pension for cappucino, I don't swing that way.
Despite a multi-mile, multi-hour search, we were unsuccessful in our first attempt, and had to settle for a movie that night (yes it took us that long). It took us three cinemas across town to find Star Wars playing in English. I couldn't believe it, but I was impressed (not with the acting, but the story was good).
The next day, new map in hand, we found a great spa in the park where we relaxed our weary traveler bones. It was wonderful. All sorts of pools, hot, cold, swirly, sulpher, salt, whatever. The sauna was 105 degrees. Holy hell. I jumped in the 16 degree pool after that. Holy hell. But it was a great experience. I didn't have enough cash for a massage but maybe tomorrow. The jet massages were great and included in the $13 (all day) entry fee. To make things better, you even get a refund if you don't stay a full 5 hours. How sweet is that?
The refund I got helped pay for some of the wine I drank in the park after the spa. There was a wine tasting festival going on along with all sorts of barbecued food. Glasses of wine ranged from 100 to 500 forints ($.65 to $3.25). Sweet. Good wines too. The Communist occupation effectively ended Hungary's wine industry but they've been working quite successfully at bringing it back.
We met Darren and Margeaux from Calgary that night who were a nice couple to talk to without the whole "where've you been?, where're you going?" preliminary crap that gets old quick.
So we decided that a little caving action under Budapest would be fun and signed up through our hostel. The 3 hour tour (more like 4) was only 3500 Forints ($21cdn) and was worth every cent.
They outfitted us with the typical helmet and Petzl lamps along with some very stylish (and very dirty) coveralls. There was some talk about waivers, but I guess they couldn't find them or they forgot so off we went into the depths of the world. I kept thinking about Jules Verne.
It was wild. I was expecting a half assed walk through the mountain, but I got a whole ton of crawling, climbing, slithering, squeezing and squirming. We dubbed one hole "The re-Birth" as it was so damned tight I have bruises on my chest and hips (just wait till I get the pics up). There was an alternate route, but I'm not so bright. Beer never tasted so good after that.
At one point we were playing a "game" where you had to climb into a small pocket, starting with your back to the wall, arms outstretched "like Christ" our guide explained. Alison, who was attempting to do it at the time commented "It'd be easier with nails!". A few people were shocked, but after I burst out laughing, so did everyone else.
We went for some beers with Darren and Margeaux that night (we were pretty late, but they didn't care), and left for a different hostel the next day.
Sightseeing in Budapest is nice, but it's another city and they're all starting to blend together. The city is cut in two by the Danube River, one side being Buda, the other Pest, hence Budapest. The Buda side is on a hill and home to the Royal Castle and offers some great views of Pest including the Parliament building (you'll see what I mean when the pics go up). You can see some Communist era buildings in the background of some of my shots, (I'll point them out when I get then on line). Between the two is Margit Island which is closed to public vehicles. It's essentially and enormous park in the river. Not too much to do there but relax. There are some trampolines to jump around on, but I didn't want to entrust my pack to some stranger. I was alone that day.
Pest has more to see and do but not as quiet. Better as a tourist here though. We went to take night shots of hero's square on our way to a jazz club when we heard music (metal) coming from the park. We followed our ears trying to figure out who it was, neither of us knowing but both finding it familiar. We sat outside the concert trying to find a poster or some sign of who it was with no luck. We couldn't lower ourselves to asking and exposing our ignorance to hundreds of Hungarians... We settled down with some beer in the park (which is legal - as it should be) and listened to the music. Only Ali and I could be side tracked by metal on our way to a jazz club... Well it turned out that the band was DreamTheater. Neither of us knew who they were, but the music was good.
Hero square was basically a square with statues of Hungarian warrior heroes through the ages. Pretty neat. Unpoliced too, which was cool. There were guys/girls skating, roller blading, drinking generally having a good time and would you believe it - no trouble. Too bad we're such idiots in Vancouver we can't do the same.

Auswitch and Krakow

It was a seven hour trip maybe eight to Krakow. I've had better trips. We got into town late at night with no hostel booked, but we had no trouble finding one for at for one night. Everything was booked up for the next day though. No problem for me really as I wasn't in the mood for another city. I had it in my head that if I was going to spend 2 weeks in Poland, I would have to see Auswitch. Ali had already been to a concentration camp in Germany and it has sufficiently affected her, so I was on my own.
The weather in Krakow was miserable. Too bad because it's supposed to be the most beautiful city in all of Poland. Hitler didn't quite manage to destroy it despite his intentions. So I didn't really get any pictures of Krakow.
I didn't take any pictures at Auswitch either save one (seen here). It didn't seem right to be snapping away like some were. I simply had to take this one. Sound familiar? In fact there are so many allusions in today's events to the atrocities of the 2nd World War that it makes me sick. As a people we have learned nothing. This road of oblivious ignorance must be the result of poor education, poor memory or deliberate side tracking. Maybe all three.
Enough social commentary.
Auswitch was very moving. Walking along corridors where millions had been murdered, touching walls with bullet holes and seeing gas chambers was very disturbing. Seeing thousands of kilos worth of women's hair used to line Nazi jackets was sickening. Knowing that people had died in almost every area that I had stood in the camp was surreal.
In each of the barracks where seven to eight hundred people were held, there was a "presentation" depicting different parts of camp life. It was very disturbing to see how depraved and disgusting man can truly be. The Nazis had the intention of wiping out not just Jews (though it seems they were the priority) but the entire Polish race as well. Hitler had warehouses of stuff to use in a museum of an extinct race for the Jews, but wanted nothing of the Polish culture to remain at all. The methods used were disgusting. In the ghettos, starvation was used as it was cheaper than bullets or gas and was effective at destroying Polish moral who watched friends and family die of famine around them in the streets. Torture in the camps was disgusting and humilitation was a common tool as well. There was a film available in English, but I had seen enough. A film would simply have changed my perspective of all that I had seen and read to that point. I went back to Krakow feeling pretty low.
Despite our desire to split up, Alison and I had run into each other in line at the train station where I was buying my night train tickets to Budapest and she was considering going to the Slovak Republic to break up the trip a bit. She had been standing in front of me but I didn't recognize her for 5 minutes as I was being pestered by a beggar (again) and it took me a while to convince him to take off. It was funny because she turned around and I thought she looked familiar. I said her name, and she didn't recognize me either for a split second. We decided it was a sign to stick together a little while longer, and we both got tix for the night train to Budapest.

Torun and Gdansk

We (Ali and I) decided to head north to Torun instead of south to Krakow as most people do as we had heard all the hostels were booked up over the weekend. Torun was a quaint little town on the Vistula river with a ton of history. It actually changed hands a number of times between the Poles, Germans and Prussians and Teutonic knights.
It was also home to Nicolas Copernicus the astrologer and mathematician. We went to a museum housed in his old house and what amazed me most was how he pioneered so much with so little and that other great geniuses would take up where he left off. It had a lot of character but it still wasn't what I was looking for. We stayed for a few days, checked out the old Teutonic Castle ruins, shot a bow and arrow (pictures pending) and then left for Gdansk.
Another few hours north to Gdansk and we had lengthened our return trip to Krakow considerably. Not looking forward to that trip!
Gdansk was part of a "tri-cites" network along the Baltic sea. On the way to Gdansk on the train a couple with an adorable 5 month old named Jacob sat in our car. After some interesting sign language and slow and loud English we had made some new friends. They decided that since we hadn't booked a hostel they would find us a good deal and help us find it. It was a nice offer but ended up in the end leaving us in the middle of nowhere and in hotel that was too expensive. Oh well, the intent was there. After a day we moved to a much cheaper and central hostel.
The new town wasn't much to see but the old town along the river was quite nice, and had been left a little unscathed by the Germans. I got to see the Baltic sea for the first time which was cool. Along with the Baltic, we visited the largest brick castle in the world just outside of Gdansk. Malbork Castle. It was huge. It had also been destroyed by the Nazis during the war (not so nice people). Poland had sunk millions into rebuilding it to it's original stature and had done a tremendous job. Though not quite finished on the inside, it was pretty wild to see. They even had medieval plumbing (sorta) and central heating. Not bad considering the castle was built in the 1300's by Teutonic Knights.
Gdansk didn't help to fill the void, despite the large quantities of beer and nice people so it was time to get on the long train to Krakow.

Warsaw, Poland

Our trip to Warsaw was more or less uneventful, which was a refreshing change... We stayed at Nathan's Villa Hostel which was 3 or 4 floors of Ikea showrooms! Quite nice actually as everything was new. Ikea is super popular here not just with people but businesses too. They don't care that Ikea brands everything they sell, so in lots of places you can confirm suspicions about furniture's humble beginnings or other knick knacks. Not too sure why I do that, or anyone else for that matter, but it always seems that no matter where you go, someone is stating - "That's Ikea, isn't it?". Just find it interesting.
Warsaw had between 70 and 80 percent of the city razed to the ground when the Nazis came through. The amount of recovery the Poles have accomplished in such a short period of time is amazing. Looking at pictures of the destruction from after the war, makes the aftermath of 9/11 look quite meager, (not to belittle the events of 9/11 in any way, just adding some perspective).
In Warsaw we met some interesting people like Can Opener, a crazy Brit ex-pat who likes to tear beer cans with his teeth, Aris, a Canadian soldier, who though he thought he was on medical leave, got called out to go to Sudan the last day we were in town, as well as Rich and Sharmella who were about to head off on a 12 day train trip across Siberia and Russia in to China. Ugh. Way too long on a train for me but cool nonetheless.
Warsaw was not an overly picturesque city for reasons stated above. They did however painstakingly re-create "the old town" where, though all the buildings are relatively new, the resemble very close the original square. It was in this square where I got my first taste of what the Nazis were all about after visiting the national museum. Some of those pictures will stay with me forever.
These were also the last days for Sally and I to be together so it threw a somber mood over everything, making it difficult for me to take advantage of where I was. As her flight day approached, sightseeing became simply wandering aimlessy through streets. Unfortunately I will probably always remember Warsaw as the city where Sally left to pursue her own ambitions.
She left in the afternoon on June 2nd. The last time I saw her she was walking through the gates at the airport, leaving behind Warsaw, a successful three year relationship and a broken, wretched shell of who I used to be.
The last couple days in Warsaw I kept myself nicely sedated with barley juice, and decided that a small town would be in order to change the scene a bit.

I simply must object!! (Wroclaw, Poland)

Somehow or another I've spent two weeks here in Poland! Sally and I had split from Alison when we went to Cesky Krumlov as Ali had been there before. We left on a train from Prague heading to Wroclaw (pronounced Vrots-Whaf or nobody understands...)in Poland, set to arrive at 1:00 am. As usual, our travel plans went off with the usual issues. Once en-route, the conductor told us we had only purchased 1 ticket. Great. So the lady at the window who, granted didn't speak English, couldn't understand two fingers being held up as well as the fact that we were both standing there with enormous packs on? Anyway, with the very generous donation of 20 Krowns from a young lady sitting across from us, we managed to scrounge just enough money for me to buy a ticket to the border. From there he told us, we'd have to purchase another to Wroclaw from the Polish conductor. Problem was, we could only pay in zloty. I didn't have any. At the border I hopped off the train in a mad search for a bank machine, with no luck. I was able to ask a fellow passenger (Eva) to change some euros (they wouldn't do it at the desk) for me, so she bought my ticket for me. I had offered her euros on the zloty, which was a hell of an exchange, but she insisted on giving me the right exchange, even getting her suitcase out to find the right amount. Eva and the Czech girl were a refreshing change from all the unhelpful, downright dismisive counter agents we've encountered.
Wroclaw was very interesting. A good majority of it had been destroyed in the war but has been painstakingly re-built. We got to see the largest 360 degree painting in the world painted in the 1800's depicting the battle between Poland and Russia. It was very well done, with special lighting to bring it to life. We viewed it from an island in the middle of the room meant to mimic a hill in the middle of the battle. Real objects extended from our "hill" and into the painting bringing it to life even further. The English commentary helped show how determined a people the Poles are despite (or perhaps because of) all their tragic history of occupation, genocide, and communism.
The Rynek (square) in Wroclaw is huge. The largest in all of Europe if I remember correctly. It's really wild. So many things to see, street performers, little stalls and ice cream vendors. And there are great patio bars everywhere, which is great because it was smokin' hot out while we were there.
Sylwester and Kamille were two great people we met on a patio one day while putting back some Lech beer. We ended up spending the entire day eating drinking and talking with them. It was nice to get a real perspective of Poland from the locals. Thanks to Poland's inclusion to the EU, Sly works in a factory in England where he's happy to make minimum wage. This may not impress most of us, but for him, it lets him, in his words; eat, drink, smoke, send money home, and enjoy life. Kamille who has a good paying job for Poland, makes around $2 an hour.
Sly was comparing our accents to the English accents and making fun of them a little. He said most of the women are ugly because they have money and they eat too much. Then he said "Polish girls are beautiful (they are) because they're poor and can't afford too eat a lot!" <disclaimer - see comments> While picking on the poor Brits, Sally piped in with "May I have a spot of tea please?" which sparked a response from the British couple sitting behind us unbeknownst to us. "I simply must object!" It was hilarious. I couldn't even talk to them I was laughing so hard. Not to mention they were both fat and ugly, had a lot more money than any of us and basically stereotypically fit everything Sly was saying to a "t". They took it all in good fun though. None of us were being malicious, just having fun...
Shortly thereafter, despite the hot sun, a harsh southern wind carrying sand came up. Parasols started blowing away, and then some big ugly clouds showed up and started drenching us. We started running around clearing tables, folding umbrellas and basically getting drenched. It was awesome. Total freak storm and Sly yelling the whole time "This isn't normal!!!". We ended up taking shelter downstairs in the pub where the power had gone out so we drank a bunch of beers by candle light. Sweet. The power came back on eventually so we went for dinner, some more beers then called it a night. We left Wroclaw the next day for Warsaw where Sally had her flight home booked.

Amsterdam

Falling behind here! Haven't felt much like writing lately. It's been a while since we were in Amsterdam. Sally myself and Nicolas headed up to Amsterdam for the day from Belgium a while back now... I've met a few Neatherlanders (not in Holland funny enough) who dislike the reputation of Amsterdam being a drug and sex haven, and would prefer to be recognized for their laissez-faire attitude. I'm sure if we got to spend more time we could have appreciated more of what Amsterdam and the Neatherlands had to offer. With that in mind, the country-side that we got to see was beautiful with lots of windmills and farms and flowers. In the city, they have lanes dedicated to bicycles everywhere, and I don't mean like in Vancouver where you have a 30cm wide death lane for cars to play target practive with. I mean the lanes for cars are almost an afterthought! The bike parking lots are huge and people will ride anything on two wheels. Women in dresses and guys in suits willl ride even the ugliest and oldest bikes. It's simply about transportation. Very smart, very ecologically friendly and very healthy. Good thinking on their part. On the subject of good thinking, marijuana is decriminalized as is many aspects of western living such as prostitution. The prostitution method in the red light district is pretty neat. The women rent a small room with a window facing the street and give suggestive looks to the guys who walk by. I've never had so many women come on to me in so little time! The groups of young Brits were the worst going from girl to girl, debating, bargaining and whatever else... Ew. Also during the day which is when we were there, it was mostly the fuglies who were renting the rooms and themselves, so not too much looked appetizing on the menu ;o)
As for the drugs in the city, it wasn't the green stickers on cafe windows indicating weed was ok that I found weird, but the stickers that said "No Drugs". Shouldn't that go unsaid? In the "cafes" you could get a menu of all sorts of different strains to tickle your fancy. At least that's what I'm told :)
We went to a bar to get beer (as you can't get it in the "cafes" which is a drag). We picked "Teasers" which advertised "Babes and Beer" and was one of the best choices in the history of time. For Nicolas' sake I can't explain why and I couldn't take any pictures :( But suffice it to say, it was worth the triple priced beers. Even Sally was amazed.
I was having camera trouble anyway at this point so pictures of Amsterdam are lacking. I had to borrow Nicolas camera for the day. I did get some shots of the leaning buildings I found quite hilarious. As the Neatherlands are below sea level, I guess the land is quite soft so this happens quite often. It was funny to walk into a bar or cafe sober and feel like you'de smoked one to your head before ordering anything - not that I would know how that feels.

Le portrait dans le porte-monnaie bientôt ne sera plus le mien - Bénabar

Sally left yesterday from Warsaw (I'm in Poland now) for Toronto where she'll be staying with her family and then making the long trek across Canada to Vancouver.
Hardest day of my life.

Yeah, so they beat us in hockey...

We left Brussels bound for Prague in the Czech Republic on a crowded, stinky, and loud night bus that took 12 hours. We passed through Germany but it was pitch black out so I only got to see the bathroom of a diner around 2am in Germany.
The first thing we did in Prague was buy two cups of coffee with a 2000 krown note. Turns out that's about $100 cdn. Oops. The waitress wasn't too impressed, but it's all the machine gave me! Next we went to meet up with Alison, my good friend and ex-roomate from Whistler. As Sally is heading for Toronto tomorrow, I'll be traveling the rest of this trip with Ali.
Prague is a beautiful city with a facinating history including the Velvet Revolution. Our visit to the communist museum was a real eye opener. Though very low-budget it still conveys the awful environment living under communism must have been. While Prague was great, the real highlight of the Czech Republic for me was Cesky Krumlov. It's a small medevel town in the south that has a winding river flowing through it and lots of crazy little cobblestone streets intertwined between the ancient buildings. The weather was awesome, we got to go horseback riding through the country side which was very similar to home. As well, we decided to take a 15KM canoe trip down the river. It was awesome. We rented the canoe for 600 Krowns ($30cdn)which included paddles, a waterproof bag, lifejackets, a poor map and a bottle of rum! Talk about a recipe for disaster! "Oh yeah and there's two sets of rapids" they mentioned as they pushed us off the shore. No guide by the way. Anyhoo, the long and short of it is the day was beautiful, I hardly paddled (Sally insisted on floating 'straight') so I laughed at her constant futile attempts to compensate for the current as I drank the rum. Yo ho ho! Yeah, anyway we missed the pickup point and went over some rapids we weren't supposed to. Hahaha. This meant I got to walk back a few Kms to tell the guy picking us up where we were. And he didn't speak a word of English. Fun.
Beer in Czech is pretty good too. Not like Belgium, but less than a dollar for half a litre. Nice! Turns out that Budweiser is originally from Czech, and wins hands down in comparison to the yellow water American version.
Don't have much time so I'll write more about Czech later. I'm trying to write more often as I forget things too quickly with all this cheap beer!