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06/15 Dublin, Ireland
08/27 Sevilla, Portugal
07/26 Hamburg, Germany
11/18  Rhoads, Greece
12/06  Split, Yugoslavia
08/30 Granada, Spain
09/02 Barcelona Spain
09/12 Lausanne, Switzerland
05/21 London, England
08/09 Burn, Switzerland
10/28  Matala, Crete Greece
10/18  Cefalu, Italy
10/12  Napes Italy
06/21 Northern Ireland
06/10 West Coast, Scotland

06/15 Dublin, Ireland

The clouds were telling no lies, this time they opened up and delivered rain.  Bicycles were now out of the question, so we planned on thumbing our way south.  We were hardly out of town when Jim started whining again.  He’s like one of those thimble banging monkeys.  Once his key gets turned there’s no way to turn him off, until his springs loosen. 

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08/27 Sevilla, Portugal

I was up early to the sound of the alarm aside my bed.  Still half asleep my brain jumped into gear once it realized where I was.  I was full of renewed energy and headed south down the empty street where Ann had disappeared.  I sat behind a cup of coffee inside a small café across the street from where she had vanished.  I had knocked on one of the doors and then another but with no response. 

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07/26 Hamburg, Germany

We rolled early into Hamburg.  Since we had reduced our load to just the essentials, we could now fit all of our belongings into a single locker.  We wandered about Hamburg searching for a suitable place to put down some breakfast and a few early morning beers.  That day had been earmarked as a day to relax, to kick back and enjoy the city’s parks and its many bridges.  

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11/18 Rhoads, Greece

When we reached the port we began to wander about.  We really didn’t know which way to proceed but luckily we crossed paths with a couple who spoke English.  They were retired Americans who had been living abroad for the last three years.  Instead of joining a country club or pursuing some hobby back home they decided to see the world at a slow pace.  They explained that they would live in a different city every three months or there about and they planned on doing that indefinitely.  

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12/06 Split, Yugoslavia

We charted a bus north up the coast into Split where I was able to see the beautiful coast line.  One of the advantages of traveling in baby steps is that we could stop at those beautiful places and not neglect the details that make each special.  When we reached Split we headed through the walls of the old city seeking a room for the night.  We either were appalled at the high prices for a room or they didn’t have any available.  Since our budget was deflating I posed an option to Jenni. 

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08/30 Granada, Spain

A good shower and I packed up for today’s trek.  Our first stop was to see if we could check our bags at the train station but the area used for this service had been closed down some time ago.  It was suggested that we try a hotel across the way.  Typically hotel won’t check in new customer until around noon but usually will accommodate us early arrivals by watching our bags until check in rolls around.  We have done this enough times to know to take advantage of this hospitality. 

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09/02 Barcelona Spain

After a morning cup of coffee I took a direct route to the train station and boarded the first train heading towards Barcelona.  I didn’t offer Jim a single word.  He either followed or went his own way and at that point I wasn’t going to give it too much consideration.  I wasn’t interest in continuing the conversation from the night before so sat in my own compartment.  About a quarter of the way to Barcelona a group of travelers from North Africa joined in and donated some hash for the ride. 

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09/12 Lausanne, Switzerland

I enjoyed traveling on trains through the darkness of those mountains.  When there was nothing else to do and I was tired of writing, I just stared at the passing shadows from the darkness of my compartment.  I reached Lausanne early in the morning and walked into some confusion.  Apparently the airport in Paris was on strike and that had a domino effect across Europe.  Every form of information service had a line leading out its door.  I noticed a young Finnish girl waiting in one of those lines. 

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05/21 London, England

We proceeded down this path through a country side park, colored and shaded by many trees and leading into one of the many veins of London’s underground.  When we resurfaced we were in the heart of London.  It arose more from the haze of my memory than from the morning fog, my childhood memories of nursery rhymes and children songs accompanied every step. 

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08/09 Burn, Switzerland

Jim joined the hostel attitude.  He didn’t want to go anywhere, see anything, he just wanted to stick around the hostel and wash his clothes, so I sought out on my own.  I checked out Albert Einstein’s home and then the modern art museum.  “One man’s treasure is another man’s trash”.  I love art but sometimes.  I wandered the market and the local stops searching for Christmas gifts, but ended up buying chocolates to satisfy my taste buds instead. 

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10/28 Matala, Crete Greece

I woke to what I thought was a scream.  Eventually I realized that it was the manager of the hotel yelling at somebody.  Apparently Dawn had spent the night with a young man who got himself caught on his way to the bathroom.  That was the sign I needed to change locations and find a new room closer to the restaurants.  I managed to locate a much nicer room directly across the street from what I had labeled the best restaurants and it was a whole lot cheaper.  I guess this time I didn’t to have to compensate a taxi driver. 

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10/18 Cefalu, Italy

The storm passed through very quickly.  When the sun rose I gathered up my things and without even saying goodbye I headed down the volcano like I was escaping.  I had just come out of a sulfur cloud, was coated in mud and must have smelled like shit.  I sure felt like shit.  When I finally made it back down to the residence below they too were cover in mud.  I’m glad somebody could laugh at this.  The first two people I saw were in the process of shoveling themselves out of the mud.  

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10/12 Napes Italy

When I woke up I notice that my knife was unchaperoned, sitting all by itself.  Most likely it was pushed away by me while I slept.  There were two elderly gentlemen sitting alongside the same bench staring at me and the knife.  I had gotten less than an hour of sleep and was still very tired and in need of a shower.  I followed those two gentlemen back into the heart of Naples.  

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06/21 Northern Ireland

It was raining a bit and we had a couple of open containers.  The roads were narrow with no extra space to speak about.   I knew if we got stuck behind another logging truck we could be here for weeks.  Once we managed to pass a couple of these trucks we began to make up for some lost time.  Jim began complaining that his bladder couldn’t take much more of this abuse but before I was willing to pull over, I wanted to put enough distance between ourselves and the logging trucks. 

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06/10 West Coast, Scotland

I looked down and saw the speck that was our car and I could almost make out Jim sitting there reading his book.  “You’re missing out”, I yelled.  I realize coming off one of these mountain I lost my wallet.  Backtracked but couldn’t find it.  Not much money and no credentials or credit cards inside, so that was a relief, but I did lose my address book.  So for all those that I promised I would write, please accept this as my apology.

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