We're in an expensive internet cafe in Florence (I've heard this is fairly par) and I seem to have been given more time than I paid for, so I'll use it to brag about having been to both the Uffizi and the cupola of the Duomo in the past 24 hours. Judge as you will, but I never realized that Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera were at the Uffizi, so when I walked into the Botticelli room, I didn't notice them. I walked from one painting to the next and suddenly realized that the fourth one I saw was v

My internet luck ran out, I guess. To continue:

I'd seen the fourth painting dozens of times before, but in books and on computer screens. My first year tutor was so right. Brush strokes and little swirls of colour and texture become so much more apparent and important in person. Just fabulous.

Less glamorous is the climb to the top of the Duomo. I was still half dressed in my pyjamas and after the first set of stairs, switched on my iPod so I could have something else to think about. We reached the cupola sweaty and stiff but it was as worth it as everyone says. It was cloudy, which meant that we could stay in the shade, so we had a while to cool off and seriously enjoy the view. I picked out buildings to live in. Anything with turrets or surrounded by trees that could yield olives.

There's a menu that lists more than eight different kinds of gnocchi so that's where we'll have dinner tonight. And then we're going to a concert at the Bargello, which, incidentally, is the site of a production of Macbeth next month. Fun activity: discussing how to stage Macbeth in that space and how it would be The Coolest Thing Ever. There's a well in the centre of the courtyard. We agreed that the witches should make their first entrance by climbing out of it.

The other amazing thing that happened today: we saw Michelangelo's David. As I walked away, I heard a guy say, "It's just like so much perfect detail. And it's fucking big!" He got it. Incidentally, the Accademia is presenting an exhibition of the photography of Robert Mapplethorpe in and around various Renaissance works, including those of Michelangelo, who was Mapplethorpe's favourite. It is highly unexpected that such an old institution would curate a display of work by a gay American whose work was often controversial (photos of erect penises and the like). I thought it was gutsy. And I spotted a photo of an orchid that I wished I could purchase for my mother but it was unavailable. Alas.

It just occurred to me that we have neglected to mention something rather important. We went to Venice. We spent a night there in between Hamburg and Rome. After dinner, I thought it would be a good idea to "get St. Mark's Square out of the way" but when we arrived, I realized that was utterly silly. We would definitely have to return. Just massively beautiful. And flooded! With gross Venetian water. I waded into it anyway.

To continue (from the incredibly hot Naples):

In the middle of the Piazza, there was some dry ground, but I couldn't resist getting my feet wet, even though I knew I'd basically need antibiotics afterward. Towards the basilica, the water hit my calf (for others, the ankle), and everyone was splashing around trying to move from one corner to another or just playing like children (of which there were so many).

The next day, we visited the Jewish Ghetto in Canareggio, where the Hamantaschen were called "orechiette di Hamann," the Ponte di Rialto (which completely stopped us in our tracks), and so many shops that sold marbled paper and handmade leather-bound notebooks. We bought an Italian phrasebook and can now get ourselves through a restaurant without sounding like complete tourists.

Venice was magic. Especially that night in the Piazza. Napoleon was right all along.

today is our last day in Rome. we ended up staying a day longer than we had originally planned, so we had to change accomodation yesterday. we spent last night in a hotel that had the loveliest old Italian man working the front desk. we showed up around 10 yesterday morning (waaaay before our check-in time) hoping that we might be able to leave our bags there for the day. he very apologetically informed us that the room he had intended for us still had people in it, but he had another room available, and suddenly, we were checked in before noon. it was kind of awesome. also, he pronounces my last name "Mackensia." Kat is delighted, because for some reason he has significantly less trouble with her last name than mine (although he thinks her first name is Katousha).

yesterday:

St. Peter's: we decided that we wanted not to get sunburns more than we wanted not to look like fools, so we were the tourists who carried umbrellas in the line (note: our umbrellas are matching shades of bright yellow). the building itself is kind of mind-boggling (as all of you who have seen it know already). we opted not to climb to the top of the dome (or cupola, as the guard whom Kat asked for directions disdainfully informed us), as it was kind of expensive, and had other stuff we wanted to do. which brings us to ...

the Hiroshige exhibit: so. cool. one of the museums (musea, if you want to be pretentious) in Rome is showing prints from the University of Hawaii's HUGE collection of Japanese artwork. the exhibit is really well-designed - walking through it was an incredibly calming experience (especially considering the heat and business of the city outside). I had not heard very much about Hiroshige before, and was completely enchanted ("blown away" didn't seem appropriate, somehow). they had a really fascinating little alcove where they demonstrated the process of woodblock printing, where they had separate prints of the black lines and each separate colour, showing step-by-step how they were layered to create the final print. they also had a number of stations throughout the exhibit where you could stamp a small travel passport of sorts with different Japanese-style stamps. I got VERY excited about this. the pamphlet that goes with the exhibit describes this as an activity to excite interest in the younger attendees. my response when Kat told me this? "whatever, we're young."

we had originally planned to go to a Da Vinci exhibit afterwards, but ended up deciding it was too expensive. instead, we went to the area near the Circus Maximus (which now just looks like a big field) to visit La Bocca della Verità, which is featured in the movie Roman Holiday. it was absurdly busy, but I was still very pleased. afterwards, we walked across the river into the Trastavere area, which Kat was under the impression was "very Roman." that turned out to be an apt description. it is really the only area in this city we've visited that seems like people could actually live there. it is as picturesque as the rest of the city, but significantly less touristy. we spent a while sitting around a fountain in a piazza watching kids play soccer and families taking walks while eating gelato. after eating dinner (pasta for me, tripe for Kat), we meandered back to our hostel, walking through many of the major Roman landmarks on our way. they remain buzzing with activity, even at night. all that really changes is that instead of selling purses, many of the vendors wandering the streets are selling these light up spinning disc things (I bought one for my brother for his birthday). truly a lovely end to our stay in Rome. next stop: Naples.

Yesterday morning, I used the phrase "When in Rome..." and then realized that it was not a figure of speech. Because we were in Rome. We did a number on the checklist of recommendations: Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo dei Fiori, Jewish Ghetto, Teatro di Marcello. And today, we hit the Sistine Chapel. Twice.

We'd been warned of massive but ultimately worthwhile lines at the Vatican, so we decided to wake up early (alarm set for 7:45) and head over, make a run to the Sistine Chapel, go through the museum backwards, and then do St. Peter's last. It was mostly successful. We did gun it to the Chapel, and neither of us was sure we were there until seeing Adam and God (Alyssa) and identifying the popes (me). It wasn't too full, we could stand and stare, slowly rotating; we sat down and just craned our necks for a while. We spent an hour in there and I forgot for a while where in the world we were, other than in that space. After a slow move through the whole museum, we ended up back at the Sistine Chapel, which, funny enough, was exactly where we did not want to be. It was ludicrously crowded, loud, and full of assbags taking flash photos. That's right. Assbags. It's an historic, religious space. It explicitly says that photography is not allowed. If you're going to stand and point your crappy little Panasonic at the ceiling, I'm annoyed with you. A. You're not Annie Liebowitz. Get over it. Your photo of one of the greatest works of art in the history of the Western world is going to suck. B. You're flaunting Vatican rules. For some reason, I'm not okay with that. C. Flashes are bad for old paintings. Who doesn't know this? D. If you're going to take a photo, at least be awesomely creative about it, like the guy who set his timer and then put his camera on the floor facing up. On our second visit to the Chapel, I may have pushed through it intentionally bumping into anyone taking a photo.

The line to St. Peter's Basilica went more than half the circumference of the square (I realize that is a contradiction in geometric terms, but that's Rome's fault), so we opted to go see the Catacombs instead. Totally worth it. Great tour. I wished I could wander off and explore on my own, but I had a feeling Alyssa wouldn't be too pleased at having to search for me in an underground maze of tombs. And, we had to walk along the Appian Way to get there. So we were walking along the old road to Rome.

We're going to the Basilica tomorrow. There's an exhibit of Hiroshige paintings at one of the museums that I'd like to see. We may search for the drain cover that Audrey Hepburn puts her hand into in Roman Holiday (I know Alyssa wants to do this. And I do love Roman Holiday).

Re: who is most likely to bring a rat onto a train. It's just a gut feeling. Sometimes, a perfectly dapper man can seem like he might have an odd attachment to his little pet rat. Or it's some punk with greasy hair, torn clothing, and a pervasive stench.

we are now in Hamburg, having left Berlin yesterday afternoon, and will be leaving for Venice (via Munich and possibly Innsbruck) in 2 hours. because it would be virtually impossible to fully recap our past few days, I thought all y'all might enjoy some anecdotes from our time in Berlin (after which Kat will recap Hamburg).

1. Zitch Dog.
as we have mentioned previously, we met up with our friend Katherine in Prague. Katherine had recently been in Berlin, and proposed a game to us for while we were there. She had noted an unusually high percentage of pregnant women during her stay, and suggested that we count how many we saw. because Kat and I don't like to play games that can't be won, we decided to modify it see who could spot the highest number. in true How I Met Your Mother fashion, the phrase we chose for when we saw a pregnant woman was "Zitch Dog" (to avoid shouting and pointing, which could become awkward for all involved). what we learned while playing this game is that Kat and I are perhaps too competitive to play this form of Zitch Dog and do anything else at the same time, as our obsessive need to find the most pregnant women the fastest kind of inhibited our social interaction. we decided to cap the game at 15 (Kat won, despite a respectable last-minute surge by me), and all was well.

2. the incident that shall be known as "The Rat on the Subway" (note: not appropriate for the squeamish)
the same day as the above, Kat and I were sitting on an S-Bahn train, minding our own business, when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a rat. I am aware that seeing rats on public transit is not actually that rare an occurrence, although the German system is clean enough that I imagine it would be rather rare. this rat, however, was someone's pet. a girl with pink hair was sitting on the train, holding a small black and white rat in. her. lap. Kat and I were flabbergasted. and also possibly a little horrified. when I noticed it, I gave what must have been the quietest shriek there has ever been (I did not want to exhibit bad manners, you see, even when faced with a rat on the subway. nor did I want to excite the rat). we spent the entire rest of our ride in states of extreme anxiety (and trying not to stare). this anxiety was heightened when she PLACED THE RAT IN HER HOOD. as Kat asked, "how on earth would the poor man sitting back to back with her feel if he turned around right now?"

addendum: now you might think that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime (or at least once-in-a-weekend) occurrence. au contraire, my friends. I saw another one when we arrived in Hamburg. at least this one had a cage, although when I saw him, he was not in it.

Right. We're in Hamburg, which has a distinctly different flavour than Berlin's. There's more water, being a port town, and when you see the word "Hamburger," food is not necessarily available. However, I think Alyssa misses Berlin because she has brought our Berlin games here. She still calls out Zitch Dog at the sight of any pregnant woman, even though I already won that game. And she thinks that we should categorize people according to the likelihood that they would bring a rat onto a train. For the record, the latter game is amazing and she is rightly proud of herself for conceiving of it.

The reason we're here is that my grandmother (or close enough) is from Hamburg. We found her family's old storefront this morning, which was quite a relief because it was in a neighbourhood that was not where we stayed last night. In other words, it was not surrounded by seedy clubs and strip joints ("Palaces"). Kids, maybe avoid the Reeperbahn.

hello from Berlin! aside from enjoying yet more ethnic food (Vietnamese noodles ... mmm), we spent most of yesterday (our first full day here) seeing the standard tourist sights: Unter-der-Linden, Alexanderplatz, the Reichstag, the Brandenberg Gate, etc. we had planned to take a bus that would have driven us past most of the major sights, but due to some sort of protest, there was a detour. we assumed that we were experiencing a repeat of what happened in Vienna, where we unknowingly arrived just in time for a major holiday: we had, after all, walked past a 17 Juni Strasse, and was it not the 17th of June? when we got to a major square near Alexanderplatz, we were even more sure. there were scraps of newspaper and flyers everywhere; clearly, something big had gone down. we were obviously in Berlin at a time of great national import, and had no idea what was going on. I began mentally waxing poetic about the energy and revolutionary spirit of this city.

Kat asked someone about it later: June 17 was the date of some sort of workers' strike. the protestors, however, apparently had no idea that the dayhad any historic significance, and were protesting something to do with housing problems. way to go, Berlin.

of the major Berlin museums, we went to the Pergamnon and the Jewish Museum. the former has some truly staggering artifacts from a demolished Greek town (from which the museum takes its name). they have assembled the front part of the town's largest temple in the main hall of the museum. it is extremely impressive. the Jewish Museum, designed by Daniel Liebeskind (Kat: "wow, it looks a lot like the ROM"), is really fascinating inside. in addition to the more tradition museum stuff (artifacts, informative posters, etc.), they have a lot of interactive exhibits, including photo albums and some home movies - interesting and thoughtful. the building itself is really cool as well, although we didn't get to explore it as much as we would have liked, because the museum was closing.

and now we're off to more sightseeing. more Berlin-themed updates later.

There was no free internet in Prague and it was slow besides, which accounts for the lack of good posting. We were safe and sound, even at 3 a.m. in a random small Czech town. At the time, we were returning to Prague after a day-trip to Cesky Krumlov, a preserved Medieval/Renaissance town with a castle that is visible from everywhere and a surprisingly good gallery dedicated to Egon Schiele.

Schiele's mother was from Krumlov and he ended up moving there with some artist friends. The town was unimpressed with their bohemian lifestyle and habit of having young teenage girls pose nude and basically ran them out of town after a couple years. So it's funny that Krumlov now seeks to have any kind of memorial to this artist, never mind one that is as thoughtful and beautifully designed as this one. It's housed in an old brewery and also displays work from contemporary artists, including one who is younger than we are by a good six months.

We discovered a huge market that included a warehouse of produce stalls near our hostel yesterday. It was a good end to our stay in Prague as we bought strawberries, cherry tomatoes (like candy), bread, salami, and really good fried noodles for a picnic under some large mulberry trees.

Berlin got off to a good start because of our train in. In Dresden, a tall German man sat down beside us, and told us his wife would be boarding at the next stop and we chatted for a bit before returning to our various activities - postcard and journal writing, staring out the window. When she appeared, she was not the leggy, blonde model I'd been expecting (for some reason) but a really sweet Scottish woman who, after a conversation in German with her husband, told us that he'd been pleasantly surprised that we spoke in such an intelligent, educated way, as opposed to so many of the Americans he'd met. We took it as a compliment because they were a lovely, friendly couple, the kind that you want to emulate should you find yourself in a relationship. She spoke German with rolled r's and totally knew where Alyssa's going to school next year and was properly impressed.

Also, Berlin's pretty fantastic. We had Indian food for dinner. AND SPÄTZLE.

It's our last night in Prague and I suppose we have a lot to tell about our stay in the Czech Republic and not even close to enough time to say it all. We may have misunderstood the difference between the Czech words for departure and arrival, stranding ourselves in Ceske Budejovice for seven hours as a result. But we did get to see a castle. And its restored Baroque theatre. And the Egon Schiele art centre that can be seen from said castle. We dipped our feet in a river that was fed by the Vltava.

Today has been Kat filled. As in our friend from school, not myself in the third person (this actually did get a little confusing today). We've seen Prague's major sights - a bridge, another castle, and a fantastic clock - as well as its Jewish quarter.

It's Alyssa's second birthday dinner tonight. She's wearing a dress.

On a bus towards town this morning, there was an overwhelming sight before us. An elderly lady climbed on board and was unable to sit in the convenient place next to the door because it was occupied by a large, messy man who was too preoccupied by some hand-held electronic device to vacate his seat, as numerous signs indicated he should do. Even when the bus jerked forward so that the lady nearly fell on him, he didn't look up. He got off the bus at the same stop as said lady and as he stood, he exposed a whole lot of ass crack to all the passengers (sorry parents, but this is the only way to express this). Ordinarily, this type of occurrence shouldn't be publicized. No one ever intends to flash 30 strangers (I hope). However, if you do not give up your seat for a frail old lady with a cane, I assert my right to mock you on my blog.

In other news, we visited Schönbrunn, the Hapsburgs' summer palace. These people definitely misspent public funds for this design and construction. It's a marvel. We bought food from the Naschmarkt and picnicked in a number of locations (our passtime of choice). We discovered that the day after standing still for two hours is not one in which you wish to walk anywhere at all. And I got strudel in my hair.

we stepped out of a U-bahn station into central Vienna today to the sound of bells from Stephansdom. the cathedral itself is under construction of some variety, so it's covered in scaffolding and hung with tarps illustrated to look like the building underneath, but that didn't really matter at that moment.

things we learned today, in no particular order:

1. Corpus Christi is a national holiday in Austria, so many businesses open late or do not open at all. also, today is Corpus Christi.
2. Viennese public transit operates on an honour system for payment.
3. no matter how randomly we think we are wandering, we will somehow always end up back at the opera house.
4. it is very difficult to make it through the entirety of Wagner's Götterdämerung with standing-room tickets. it is in fact something of an accomplishment to make it to the end of the first act.

It's not entirely legitimate to consume three scoops of ice cream just because you stood for two hours in a sweaty mass of people at the Staatsoper. It just happens sometimes, perhaps as a reward for so enjoying a city even as it rains on you. We went to the "touristy" Leopold Museum. Rudolf Leopold's favourite artist is/was Egon Schiele, who was a student of Klimt. Actually, the ink sketch of Klimt's portrait that is maybe the most well-known was drawn by Schiele. He died in 1918 of the Spanish flu at the age of 28 and somehow managed to be rather prolific. He painted a lot of nudes, many of which are posed in revealing ways, making their expression more poignant. My favourites, however, were the paintings of houses and streets. They all involve laundry of some sort. For some reason, this makes me believe in Schiele's vision of the world. Now that we're still wired on sugar, more stargazing is needed.

(I think we'll stop mentioning who wrote what. Alyssa doesn't capitalize the beginnings of sentences - some English B.A. tradition, no doubt. I do.)

K: I've discovered that the hour that comes in between 4 (the time by which I'd expected to see Alyssa in a foreign country in which neither of us has a cell phone) and 5 (when I actually saw Alyssa, thanks to transport issues in London - way to go world city) is incredibly long. It's hot in the Vienna metro. And full of stress as I contemplated what I could possibly tell Alyssa's parents in the event that I did not manage to meet up with their daughter. The wait's done though. She's got her head out the window at her hostel, and is perhaps deciding what matters more to her at the moment - that she can see stars and a good view of the city or that she's cold.

A: so I don't know if any of you have heard, but there is currently a strike going on in London that is resulting in diminished service on the tube. apparently, when the tube doesn't work properly, London is essentially broken, which can lead to entire flight crews on small Irish airlines being unable to get to work on time, and thus to my flight to Vienna being over an hour late. once I finally arrived, we headed straight to the hostel (which, incidentally, has a beautiful view of the Vienna skyline), ditched our stuff, and immediately left again. we spent the evening walking around the far western edge of Vienna, occasionally snacking, and just wandering wherever we saw something cool. the deceptive thing about Vienna at sunset is that you will be walking down the street, glimpse a beautiful building catching the sun just around a corner, and convince yourself that it is a site of some historical importance. once you turn the corner, you will realize that it is a grocery store. we managed to find the university campus, which is quite beautiful. we will both obviously be applying for research grants to study there. will SSHRC accept "because it's really pretty" on our proposals, do you think?

time for a picnic. with a chocolate bar. and, more to the point, lots of stars.

meanwhile, in England, I am back in London (writing from an internet cafe across from the only quiet entrance to Victoria Station), after a lovely and relaxing stay with Yoli. tonight and tomorrow I will be staying in a hotel in Westminster. pros: really convenient location, super cheap, and they bumped me up to a double even though I only paid for a single. cons: rooms lack toilets, showers, and the ability to make external phone calls. I am slowly being eased into hostel living. tonight, after checking into my hotel, I took myself to an Indian restaurant for dinner, acting on the principle that it would be wrong for me to be in England without eating any Indian food. at the end of my meal, when the waiter came to give me my cheque, he also presented me with a single rose wrapped in cellophane. I don't know if I was looking particularly sad, or if the gesture was based on the assumption that a girl eating alone must be in need of cheering up, but either way, it was very nice. the rose is barely open and doesn't really have a smell, but I don't care. plan for tomorrow: lunch with Jess, shopping for a few things for the rest of my trip, and then Oliver! starring Rowan Atkinson as Fagan. how excited am I? answer: so excited! - A

Today is June 8th, which would have been my grandfather's 79th birthday. I think he would be most amused by my surprising (to me) discovery that there is a noticeable Chinese population here and possibly pleased that I managed to have a very nice conversation in Mandarin without breaking a sweat as I ordered Chinese food. In Hungary. Tonight, I'm going to see a musical. The hostel is fortuitously located right next to a large theatre, which is showing József és a szines, otherwise known as Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. In Hungarian. My nine-year-old self demands that I attend.

It's pissing rain in Budapest and I couldn't care less. The hostel, which was a little tricky to find, was well worth the search. It is sort of an old European, James Bond-esque (there's an inner courtyard that would have served well for surveillance and leaping stunts) place that is, hilariously, furnished entirely by Ikea. The street it's on is a long one with theatres that show Contact (directed by Susan Stroman who choreographed the new Producers) and a Hungarian Spring Awakening. All the buildings are old and elegant. There will be so much to explore. And it looks like good food will be cheap and easy to find. I'm glad to be here for a few nights. Darcy can rest easy that his recommendation was a good one.

Kat here. (On a related note, in addition to Cecilia, the Pittsburgh Penguins are also breaking my heart and shaking my confidence daily.)

Yesterday, I ignored the advice of TLC and hiked to many waterfalls. Plitvice has water that comes in so many colours. For someone with a camera, a biology degree (even if it is a B.A.), and a healthy love of being outdoors, it is a dream. This being said, my legs feel like jello today. I hiked a self-guided mix of the two longest trails, which are supposed to take 4-6 and 6-8 hours respectively, but those times must be for people who see the park as a touristy place to saunter, because I was done well within five. And I have 81 photos. Lesley, who highly recommended the park to me, will be pleased.

There's a train to Budapest in an hour. I think I'll be on it.

hi all, Alyssa here. I am currently in Stratford, comfortably seated on Yoli's living room couch. after a period of unusually good weather, England has returned to normal, and it has been raining pretty much since I got here. as I have spent the majority of the last day and a half in transit, I don't have anything particularly exciting to report yet, but I wanted to write my first post/to make sure I knew how to work this blog thing. I left Toronto for London yesterday, spent last night in a hotel of the sort that little old ladies living on fixed incomes move into in Agatha Christie novels when they can no longer afford to keep their own establishment, had breakfast with Jess at a pub in Primrose Hill this morning, and then caught a train to Stratford. Tonight: potentially going to a movie, and then Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final. fun times. more (read: actual) adventures to come! - A

It's my first morning in Zagreb, Croatia. In about 15 minutes, I'm leaving to catch a bus to Plitvice (pronounced Plit-VIT-sa) Lakes National Park. The Aussie from the train to Sofia is coming with. We had dinner with a couple guys from the hostel last night, one of whom just hiked in the park a couple days ago and had a number of reccomendations about with paths to take and how to proceed upon arrival. I'm bringing the big camera. Six hour hike!

It's morning in Belgrade and I stepped off a train almost three hours ago. The hostel manager picked me up at the station (free service!) and brought me to my home for a day, basically an apartment that has a bedroom loaded with bunk beds. Even if I weren't the only one staying here tonight, I don't think it would be uncomfortably crowded at all. I've showered and put my clothes in the wash so I'll type until I need to hang them up, after which I'll get out of here and explore this city (birthplace of one Novak Djokovic).

Yesterday, the train stopped for nine hours in Sofia, Bulgaria. I spent the afternoon on a self-guided walking tour with a Brazilian (who looks like a Russian hockey player), an Australian, and an older Swedish gentleman, all of whom I met on or en route to the train. We got a little lost at times, at one point needing to ask a large congregation of smoking teenaged girls, a businessman just returned from work, a man in a tweed jacket, and then a very kind woman for directions to a cathedral. The latter ultimately walked us to our destination and told us that she was defending her doctoral thesis the next day and was just out for a long walk to relax.

As regards Istanbul, I suppose I can say a little more about it now. I arrived in the afternoon and took public transit to my hostel, walking past the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia on my way. I had intended to save the Hagia Sophia for last, actually, to see it with Chris, but I could not keep myself away and the line was very short. This might be the point at which I'd advise anyone going to Istanbul that you really should try to leave this site for your last. It sets too high a standard for sightseeing in general. If I weren't meeting Alyssa in Vienna, I might just go home now.

On the second day, we really packed in as much as we could. We visited Topkapi Palace. Incidentally, Chris had a bit of a surprise for me when he arrived: he'd learned Turkish, well enough to pass as a local as long as he didn't talk too much. As a game, he decided to see if he could get us into Topkapi as Turkish nationals who had lost our museum cards as a result of our wallets being stolen. The combination of his seeming a little daft and my submissive silence somehow worked and we were waved through security without paying a cent. I still wanted some sort of souvenir, so I just grabbed one of the random tickets lying on the counter - no one needs it after entry.

We went to the Grand Bazaar next and totally won the haggling game. I've had a lot of practice, after many summers with my grandmother in China, and Chris had the local language. Our attack was in two steps. First, I would go and bring the price for whatever was being sold down to half. I would be reaching for my money when Chris would swoop in and demand to know how much money I was wasting on said object. In disgust, he would tell the vendor in Turkish that he would never allow me to spend that kind of money on anything. Then he would pay whatever price the vendor told him would be acceptable - usually a third less. I got the scarf I wanted for about 6 Turkish Lira, down from 30.

I've become a total pro at wrapping that scarf around my head and shoulders. At final count, we saw five mosques, all of which are lined with lovely blue and white tiles of various designs, have an oddly familiar smell of something floral and feet, and are tremendously cool within. This last was pretty important in hot, humid Istanbul. We actually went to the Blue Mosque twice because it was so comfortable to sit inside.

Train travel from Istanbul has been eventful. As previously mentioned, I met three men, with whom I toured Sofia. In my cabin were two Polish girls returning to Warsaw from Istanbul. Marta and Magdalena spoke enough English to communicate to me that they would sleep in the bunks opposite me, they would close the window after smoking, and that they would drink a lot of beer before going to sleep. I loved them immediately. We were invited by two very tall, handsome men to play cards with them, which we did until 3 a.m. waiting for the border because no one wanted to be woken up to go through immigration. Unfortunately, crossing the Turkish-Bulgarian border is apparently a long process because after leaving Turkey, I went to sleep only to be periodically woken up for passport, ticket, and visa checks until 6:30. At least they stamped in both countries.

On the second leg, from Sofia to Belgrade, Marta informed me that she and Magda had boarded the train without tickets. The conductor seemed willing to allow this for 20 euros but then told them to move their luggage to his cabin. Then, it would seem things went poorly because Marta returned to tell me that they were buying tickets because the conductor was "a disgusting man." I didn't see either girl (both are at least four years older than I am but look 19) until disembarking this morning. At the border, my Brazilian walking friend, Lucas, was deported back to Sofia because he didn't have a visa to enter Serbia. It wasn't entirely distressing because we knew he'd be fine - hostels in Sofia are cheap and he knew how to get to one of them very easily - but I felt uneasy because I hadn't ever checked if I needed a visa for Serbia either. It could just as easily have been me getting booted from the train. However, my passport was returned to me, so I locked my cabin, of which I was suddenly the sole inhabitant, drew all the curtains, and slept until we arrived in Belgrade.

It's now 10:30 a.m. I'm going to get dressed, get some local currency, and then explore a bit. Also, Alyssa flies to London tomorrow, so there may soon be posts written by someone other than me.

My visit to Istanbul is winding down. I am not yet at the point in backpacking (having really only started three days ago) at which I'm okay with hanging out in a random city. I need to be seeing and doing things to make the trip worthwhile. Therefore, it is imperative that I leave soon or risk never sleeping or relaxing again.

The highlight of the day occurred in Kadıköy, which is on the Asian side of Istanbul. First of all, I was in Asia for two hours wandering various markets and shops. Second, I broke the zipper on my money belt on Monday (was somewhat distressed about it) so I've been searching fruitlessly for a replacement. In Kadıköy, a bag vendor repaired the zipper free of charge. He gave us tea while we waited and would not accept payment of any kind.

I haven't been eating properly. It's too hot to have much of an appetite. Chris, my Istanbul travel partner, has been eating as though food will soon disappear. Every time I stopped to take a photo (fairly frequent), he would buy a snack. He has consumed so much corn, I figure he will sprout. He noticed late yesterday that I hadn't eaten anything of substance since morning. We are definitely walking too much in too high a heat to make this a manageable existence. However, I've been drinking litres of water at a time and thus have not keeled over. My arms and face are incredibly dark. I look quite odd stepping out of the shower.

I will have time to really think and write about Istanbul in the next couple days so I'll update about the sites then. Tomorrow, I'll wake up in Bulgaria.

I've seen more than I can really describe well right now. Instead, lists:

A very nerdy game:

I went into a Turkish language bookstore and found the "Tiyatro" section. Shakespeare was prominent with translated titles. So here they are and see if you can identify. I'd say that a couple are gimmes, but I haven't included any with names
1. Size Nasıl Geliyorsa
2. Bir Yaz Gecesi Rüyası
3. Yok Yere Yaygara
4. Huysuz Kız
5. Yanlışlıklar Komedyası
6. Yeter Ki Sonu İyi Bitsin
7. Onikinci Gece
8. Kuru Gürültü
9. Windsor'ın Şen Kadınları
10. Venedik Taciri

Where I went today:

Topkapı Palace
Blue Mosque
Grand Bazaar
Underground Cisterns
Taksim Square and surrounding area
Galata Bridge

What's wrong with this keyboard:

' = shıft+2
i = where ; would be
ı = where i would be
ç = where the comma would be
, = left of the i
" = right of the 1
and so much more

Hence, no more typing