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I attached myself to the rear of a group touring Notre Dame. After I came down from the tower I found myself sitting among delinquents in the square just outside the church. After I finished a cigarette I proceeded down to the Louve. It took me all day to wander its halls, a maze of inconveniences. I planned on coming back in a day or two to catch up on what I missed. I always wanted to learn how to paint, so I enjoyed watching the students copy the masters. …
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We rose early and spent the entire day wandering the pedestrian streets and central squares popping in and out of small cafes and trendy boutiques. That’s right, trendy boutiques. The young ladies that gather in these places are quite attractive. Carlsberg and then followed the tree-lined avenues to the harbor.
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We had awakened almost in the same position we had fallen asleep. But now the birds below sang that the morning was new and filled with joy. It was as if natural geometry and rhythms had aligned and everything was clearer than the day before. We traveled hand in hand occasionally catching each other smiling as if it was just a bit hard to believe that we had found one another. …
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We woke the next morning to a welcome change in rooms. Perhaps a good night’s sleep awaited us. Our little dog was adopted as kinda of mascot. He had been eating and actually gained some weight. By the affection he was receiving his future looked bright. Every day was a beach day and today was no different. Luck did find us. I spent the first few hours at the bar down on the edge of the sand, hair of the dog like the day before and the day before that. About every thirty minutes or so, it was back into the water to wash off the sun. …
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I knew we had reached the Netherlands when the standard blue or green trains turned multi-colored. Two guys had hit us up in the train station soliciting us to take a room on their boat. I preferred being in the heart of the city where access was easier and I could be closer to the coffee shop I decide to write in, but Jenni kind of liked the idea of being on a boat. I was leaving in a few days and felt that getting her acquainted with another group of people was also a priority. …
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I situated myself behind a cup of coffee in the middle of Oslo’s train station. It was early and I was in clear view of all the entrances and exits, so there would be no chance of Jim missing me. I had already gathered up the necessary supplies to prepare that night’s dinner for Solsberg. After about eight-hours of waiting, I was getting fidgety, actually angry, but assumed Jim probably had a bad connection and was on his way, so I held tight and caught up on my journal. …
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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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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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The next morning I hooked up with a young married couple from the states, heading in the same direction. Since we had a few hours until our boat was scheduled to depart we headed into the countryside to get a feel of the island. My German friend from the previous day had not resurfaced. …
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At first light, Jim took advantage of getting up first and had wandered off to the water closet to do his business. In his absence, our late night compartment addition opened up mood tapes, the kind of stuff like mountain brooks and ocean waves. When Jim returned and opened up the compartment door, he first thought he was in the wrong place but his expression of doubt left once he noticed me sitting over in the corner. The mood tapes were nice, I could live with them. But they were only a prelude. …
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I woke up in the middle of a desert of reddish clay painted orange by the rising sun. As the ride wore on the sun converted our compartment from a cozy bed into practically an oven. Each hill looked the same as the one before it rolling one after another past my window. If one didn’t know any better it could be assumed that my window was the backdrop to a movie set. …
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The clouds parted when we reached Haifa’s harbor. It was impressive passing right up next to aircraft carriers and battleships. That time they passed me right through customs but not Jenni. They couldn’t pin point why somebody would travel from New Zealand to Moscow, to Cyprus, to Israel and detained her for about forty-five minutes while the rest of us waited outside. We read travel paraphernalia for ideas and to pass the time. Once she got released we all wandered the waterfront in search of the train station and discovered that if we wanted to exchange currency we would need to find ourselves a bank. …
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I rose early to get a head start on the tourists and encountered a thief with a taxi. Once we reached Pompeii he tried to double then rate we agreed on. I wouldn’t give him a dime more so the argument continued until I was imposing on his next victim. A few impolite gestures and more than a few choice works as he sped off. I looked around and noticed I was the only person wandering about the ruins but it was still early in the day, which was kind of a weird feeling. After about an hour or so I saw another individual and then two young men wandered up to me and inquired if I had any hash to sell. …
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A bunch of us from the night before had agreed to gather for a late breakfast and had earmarked today as a moped day. We all kinda wandered up at the same time around lunch. Brad and his sweetheart, Elspeth and Dave were all I managed to convince that it would be a worthwhile experience. Elspeth had never been on a moped before but wasn’t shy about taking on new challenges. During her learning phase either Dave or I would tag along side. …
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I finished last night’s joint out on the balcony and then spent about an hour watching the taxis jockey for position and transport the masses from place to place. A unique perspective on canal life. I passed a few dollars into the hands of a boat owner who showed me around the channels. I figured that was a good first step to accustom myself to the island. I traced the labyrinths of narrow streets and waterways and watched gargoyles pass under arches where the king of ghosts and shadows once danced. …
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