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08/01 Gloriette, Vienna Austria
08/24 Algarve, Portugal
06/21 Northern Ireland
06/07 Inverness, Scotland
12/05  Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia
08/28 Nerja Spain
09/23 Mont Saint Michel, France
09/05 Montpellier, Spain
08/26 Sagres, Portugal
06/20 Western Ireland
07/28 Brussels Belgium
11/17  Haifa, Israel
10/28  Matala, Crete Greece
11/24  Selesck, Turkey
12/01  Istanbul Turkey

08/01 Gloriette, Vienna Austria

One thing was for certain, I needed a shower.  Sleeping out with element guarantees one thing, we were up early, so we took advantage and started searching for a room.  Luckily we found a room in the area that accommodated our needs, but we couldn’t check in until later that afternoon, so we reserved a room.  They were kind enough to watch our bags, allow us to scamper off and tour the city. 

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08/24 Algarve, Portugal

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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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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06/07 Inverness, Scotland

We took a tour bus around the lock, walked along the water’s edge, waited and watched but never did see a sea monster.  I took off my shoes along its edge and waded ankle deep, for only seconds.  To a California boy this was cold.  One old man told me that this sea monster stuff had a lot to do with how much whiskey was drunk, but that didn’t help either. 

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12/05 Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia

Our train ended in Karajevo where we were left to wait for a bus.  There was nowhere to hide from the cold so we all had to move around a lot and it seemed like the bus was ever going to show.  We had scattered moments of sleep, moving here, moving there, trying to forget how cold it was.  That was one bad night.  The bus eventually showed up late and wasn’t scheduled to enter Dubrovnik until around breakfast.  I just dazed out looking past my reflection at blackness that was the sea passing by in a blur.  

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08/28 Nerja Spain

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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09/23 Mont Saint Michel, France

At the breakfast table there were rumors of another train strike, so about six of us headed out early to attempt to board the last train prior to any stoppage.  Our destination was Mont-St-Michel.  When the island first came within view I stood there for some time and gazed at its glory.  It had more a look of a cover to a picture book than something actually real, a castle right out of some fairytale.  There were endless fields of mud waiting for the imprint of somebody’s foot.

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09/05 Montpellier, Spain

As we crossed into Montpellier, we were followed by a young Austrian girl after crossing paths on the platform.  The three of us wandered through the gardens and down along the Roman aqueduct.  Eventually we ended up strolling down the narrow streets gazing into the many store windows.  I was attracted to an antique brass figure of a dancer, very Degas.  It was absolutely gorgeous and about a hundred years old or so I was told with a price tag to match. 

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08/26 Sagres, Portugal

I awoke from a dream that I could not remember and found it difficult to head back into that sleep.  My mind was overtaken with a feeling that I should not have left Ann.  I felt that she had reached out to me and I in some way had abandoned her.  At that moment I decided I needed to return to her.  That thought combined with a lot of other ingredients lead me to the decision to leave then, not later but that moment. 

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06/20 Western Ireland

She had circled a small hostel up along the west cost of Northern Ireland in the little travel guide she carried.  It was a gorgeous drive and well worth going out of our way.  I’ll never forget the look on her face when she first saw her hostel.  It was in the middle of nowhere and when the young men came out of the house to greet her, all the sheep ran for the hills.  She had the look of a newborn, clinging to our car as if it was her mother. 

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07/28 Brussels Belgium

We headed into Gent to be part of its annual festival.  I, like a honeybee, danced from flower to flower collecting smiles, memorable fragrances.  The next day started off with the similar ritual of walking into Brugge’s main square for a cup of coffee, this time before we jumped a train into Brussels.  We trekked about the old section of the city and checked out the local sites.  Muscles in Brussels and beers, muscles in Brussels and beers. 

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11/17 Haifa, Israel

We discovered that the prior day’s information was incorrect.  There were no boats leaving today.  We got our Sabbath’s mixed up again.  We had already packed everything up and trekked the long walk down to the docks.  At first I had doubt that anybody was talking straight.  I always had to ask a few to get some comfort in confirmation.  We managed to gather numerous alike answers and concluded that we were stuck there another day, fuck.  

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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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11/24 Selesck, Turkey

As the storm cleared we helped put things back into place and decided to hang around another day.  About midday we took a walk into town and bought two bus tickets north toward Ephesus.  Our bus was scheduled to leave early the next morning.  All in all this was good company and I had enjoyed the time off the road.  I didn’t know what to expect heading into Turkey’s interior.  I was never taught in school much about Turkey. 

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12/01 Istanbul Turkey

We arrive early into Istanbul but were without coinage and to compound our dilemma that day was the Sabbath.  All the exchanges in the station were closed.  We walked across town and ended up being directed to a major hotel in the area, but they would only exchange money if we weren’t guests of the hotel.  “Get a room and we’ll exchange money for you” the receptionist repeated to us twice.  The only other option we had was to charter a taxi to the airport, but the taxi wanted to double charge for having two occupants.  So Jenni went to the airport while I stayed behind and watched the bags in front of the hotel lobby. 

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