I'm chillin in an ourdoor cafe here in Dubrovnik, aka The Pearl of the Adraitic, and famous for the quote, 'Thos Seeking Paradise on Earth should come to Dubrovnik (Bernard Shaw)'

And it doesn't disappoint, a truely beautiful town. Like all the other towns on the Coast here in croatia, the buldings are all of white limestone, as well as the streets. And once you are in the old town, its all pedestrian streets. And loads of people walkin around in them. Cafe's everywhere, and pizzerias and overpriced seafood. I tried the mussels the other night and got a HUGE portion on the cheap, but unfortunately was not impressed with the penny sized morsels inside the shell.

So it's a pretty laid back and lazy coastal town. A little slower pace o life...I have been sitting here for awhile and no one has come up to me as yet to offer any service, but thats ok. C'mon, all I want is a beer!

Today is the first day on the coast that its been cloudy. And all of a sudden, it has started sprinkling, which I imagine will pass in a few moments, but all the cafes are running crazy to get cushions out of the rain or put up umbrellas or take em down or who knows.

So this is one of those towns where there is nothing to do, but time flies by and you do nothing all day and love it. The hostel here is pretty nice, and we've been hanging out in makeshift groups at night. During the day, a stroll through town will entail running into about 5 people you know which gives you a feeling of community and family in a far out place.

So yesterday three of us decided to hike the mountain that rises behind the city. We asked someone how to climb it and he said to make sure you stick on the road. Ya know why? Landmines. Dub' was pretty mercilessly shelled in '91 during the Yugoslav war, and the moutain was mined, presumably to prevent invasion. Lots of them are still there. So that is why we had to ask for directions. So we must have taken a wrong turn, and all of a sudden the road ended. There was a little path going up from there, it looked relatively trodden. The three of us looked at each other and I said, "You guys wanna bet your life that there's no mines on that path?"

So we turned around. Eventually got to the right road and got up to a nice lookout where you could see the city. But it was amazing. I have had to turn around before because of darkness, lostness, vegitationess, etc, but never has it been a possible life and death situation. And it was probably safe on that path....but how probably? 90% 95%? When you're talkin' about losing a leg, or worse, you want to be completely sure.... Puts ya in a different state of mind about a place that is not far removed from being in a war.

So I am here till Tuesday when I begin my journey to Greece. I call it a journey cuz its a bit more complicated than I'd like. If ya look at Croatia, it isn't too far from Greece. But to get there by land, you have to go through Montenegro, Albania, and Macedonia. I don't think so.

So I have to take a ferry to Italy, Bari - then go from Italy to Greece. Hopefully from Bari. But its possible I'll need to go from Bari to Brindisi then catch a ferry from Brindisi,. Anyway, I expect to leave Croatia at 11pm Tuesday, and arrive in Greece first thing Thursday, which is about 3-4 days after I wnated to get there, but it could be worse. The ferry only runs on Tuesday.....had it only ran on Friday or Saturday I would have only had 1-2 days here - not enough for such a nice place....I even broke down and bought the guidebook wihch is sittin' right in front of me, and I should probably take a look at it before I leave, since, ya know, that is why I bought it.

So I'm off to do that, as well as sip my beverage and do some peoplewatching, one of the world's great spectator sports.

Ryan

An Older Post on Poland

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So I sometimes think Poland is a funny little country. The differences here are not so major that you feel like you're in a completely foreign place - as you sometimes feel in Central America or Mexico. And the people look like normal Americans, you certainly wouldn't look twice at them on the street, unlike being in Spain or Italy, where they look considerably different. But there are some things that catch ya off guard and make you chuckle.

The language. Ya know, I guess ya get used to German and Spanish and French, but Polish is a different animal. You'll hear blahblahblahblah-ski, blah-ski, ski, tak, blahblahblah. They talk really really fast. I kinda thought they talked fast, but so does everyone when they're nott talking your language. But I've learned that some people talk real fast. New Yorkers seem to have a lot to say and not the time to say it. Venezuelans seem to talk fast for no particular reason, and Poles talk fast. Maybe cuz for so long they've been lookin' over their shoulder at the next conquerer, so they say what they want quick (polish history is a soap opera of control by foreign powers broken up by brief periods of peace and self-rule - I hope this one is lasting). I decided this because two of the polish women I've chatted with talk english with a rapid-fire guntotheirhead urgency that is so fast that it almost makes you feel nervous. The first was the real nice woman who rented us a room in her house. As she told us about the room, she was understandably in Fast Salesman mode, but once we committed, it didn't slow down, and as she explained what sights to see and where t go and all that, it seemed like she had somewhere else to go, or somewhere else to be, but she continued talking even when we tried to get rid of her, and always in machinegun fashion.

And today I took a tour and this women was talking to us like a spy - super fast, almost as if she was lookin' over her shoulder and trying to finish her job. And it also seems like if they aren't talking fast they'r uncomfortable, cuz they just talk and talk and talk.

Maybe its just older women, because the young poeple seem to have a little slower pace on the whole thing.

Which reminds me of the old woman in the train station when I was looking for a hotel. She didn't speak a lick of english, but when I was asking for a hotel, boy, she spouted off something when she finally understood me, and raised her voice to where she was literally shouting at me, saying, in Polish (whcih I partically understood from hand genstures) GO STRAIGHT OUT THAT WAY UNTIL THE END OF THEHALLAND THEN TAKE A RIGHT TO THE HOTEL WHICH IS UPSTAIRS.

Whew!

So they are agressive talkers.

And then there is their driving.

Well, first, when communism broke, they somehow befriended the Italians who worked at Fiat to help them make cars. The result, a car known only as POLSKI. Try to imagine a Geo Metro on a flat piece of paper. You stick it in the copy machine and reduce it to 60%, and out comes the Polski. Then imagine someone looking at it and saying, ya know, this car isn't ugly enough. Lets add some hard edges make the back seat smaller and put an ugly but yet somehow stylish grill on the front, and I bet people buy the thing like mad.

So you see people driving this little car, and if you can hold back a laugh, well, you're a better man than me.

'specially when they're decked out with a big fat stereo system, which isn't often cuz I guess people steal stuff like mad here.

So they have these little Polski cars, and other various smal cars and your average sedan cars too, but thats ok, its how they drive.

When I first got to Warsaw, all you'd ever hear is this SCREEECH as cars went around turns and SCREEECH as cars accelerated. Its as if they learned how to drive cars from bad Police Academy movies and car chase scenes on TV. Its no joke. They start moving, and its a sCREECH. Not a drawn out, wheels spinnin' peelout, but a little eeeeRRRRT! So the first few times ya hear it, ya think its a cooincidence,

Zagreb, Croatia (01.10.08)

Well, it happened again. I took the night bus out of Munich last night, and about ten minutes after I left, its Take Out The Terrorists Time. I didn't find out about it until someone mentioned all the security on the street here is due to US Military Action. So maybe no more night buses for Ryan - or maybe only with a direct hotline to the Pentagon.

No current newspapers here, so its Internet Time for news. Can't imagine traveling without the internet.

So I just arrived to Croatia. Part of the former Yugoslavia. I've heard how beautiful this country is, and so far, I have been pleasantly surprised. Very clean with lots of pretty buildings. Since I arrived so early (5am!), I was fortunate enough to climb up the biggest hill in town and catch the sun peeking over the clouds and the horizon, glowing red over the two tall church steeples in the Old Town. I should try and get up for sunrise more often - although anyone who knows me knows that this is about as likely as the Taliban giving up their pal bin Laden.

Put pics of Poland and Ireland up. Photo section. Check out my family!

I am a bit tired from running around the last two weeks, so I think I will relax a bit here in Croatia, certainly to let some steam out of the War situation, and get some stuff up here on the web page, so check back. If anyone uses the 'Update me when this web page gets updated' thing, I understand it takes about 5 days after updating for this email to be sent. IE, it doesn't work too well...

Peace,

Ryan


London, England (01.09.10)

Well, I'm back in London. I am ready to leave. More on that in the Journal.

Ireland was fun. Really fun. I had thoughts of sticking around there for two weeks and working in a pub or something. I probably should have because I can't seem to get out of London (see Journal).

So the Irish are a bit quirky, and that's great. I think it rubbed off. I'm sitting there in the pub after a pint or two, and my dad says, "Bobbie, hand me the camera, I have to go to the bathroom."

Well, I don't know what you're thinking, but I know what I was thinking:

-What is this?

-Why do you need a camera to go to the bathroom?

-Why does my Dad need a camera to go to the bathroom?

-What is there to take a picture of while you are going to the bathroom?

Well, after Dad got the camera and walked away, I asked Mom, "Why does dad need the camera to go to the bathroom?"

"Oh, your father," she says, like this is one of those normal things someone does to the annoyance of the spouse, like wearing ugly ties. But its not. It's Bathroom Photography. Must be lewd or kinky, right?? Does dad have a weird www.irelandpotties.com site?

"He is taking a picture of all the urinals in Ireland." Oh, of course.

Turns out my dad has seen a few too many of those "Faces of Milwaukee" posters, or "Doors of Boston" postcards, or "Stupid collage of a bunch of the same things to try and show you the diversity of whatever place you are in." Traffic Jams of LA? Smog of LA? Anyway.

So he wants to take a picture of all the urinals in Ireland and then assemble a collage of them, title it, um, "A wee wee glance of the Loo's of Ireland," or something equally creative, and no doubt mount it in his office above a picture of a sewage treatment plant or something (His company makes millions off the government building sewage treatment plants).

As the Irish would say, "A picture of all the Loo's in Ireland? That's a grand idea. Splendid." They would. They're funny like that. There's a whole book on it, Around Ireland With a Fridge, and this guy hitchhikes around Ireland with a fridge, and when he told someone what he was doing, they said, "That's a great idea, why didn't someone else think of that?" And the Irish are really like that. Another real life story - some guys were in a pub and arguing about what was the fastest bird in the world, and when they couldn't decide (I don't know that!!!! AHHH!) one of them, who worked at Guinness, decided to write a book to collect all the biggest, most, fastest, etc. And the Guinness Book of Worlds Records was born.

So I think the whole IreLoo's is a great idea. I laughed heartily, and continued laughing heartily every time he'd dodge off with the camera and a full bladder, especially the time he told me had to wait in there for like 3 minutes for this guy to finish. Can you imagine, using the Loo, and there's this American bloke behind ya, with his Camera?


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NOTE ON SITE USE:

Anyway, from the reaction of my parents and sister and in retrospect, my grandfather, no one knows how to use the website. Right under the title bar at the top are a bunch of highlighted words, like "RU Cra-ZEE? | Vacation Photo Album | World Tour Dates | Favorite Links | Send me a message | The Chatroom | The Journal". Clicking on any of them gets you to where ya want to go. Specifically, The Journal takes ya to the journal, BUT, once in the Journal you need to click on the underlined link to the Journal. I updated it today. Photo album works the same.