Trying to sleep after putting half of Columbia up my nose is kinda like trying to milk a rat... not really possible without help but no doubt entertaining to watch. I gave up after a few hours - good effort really - and struck up a conversation with the sweet Columbian (speaking of) chick staying in my room. She was heading out to enjoy the sunshine of the city, so I joined her.
Not speaking much English at all, it was a good chance to practice my Spanish and unbelievably, on our return after 9pm, I had spoken barely 2 sentences in English! Don`t know how she understood me but I could understand her pretty well, I guess Columbian Spanish is easier than Argentinian. I swear I have thrown myself in the deep end with this here.
We walked to some of the key places in the city, hung about the posh marina area (not TOO long, we are on a budget here) and then headed to the main bus terminal to see about some buses to this place she heard of about an hour out of town. Not knowing the name or how to get there, we kinda blindly walked about for a short time before finding out it was only a local train we caught to get there, and the place was called Tigre.
1.25 pesos later and we were on board with what I can only imagine is the Argentinian version of a chav/bogan, heading to the end of the line. We were told, again, to keep hold of our bags in this area and my paranoia returned. I am already scared of walking this city alone, dammit!! But it turned out to be OK, the town was on one side and a canal river on the other... full of people running with their dogs and children playing in playgrounds. Did not feel like we were still in BA, kinda reminded me of a resort town in Australia or something.
We ate a delicious beer with some ice cold beer...mmm...and then headed back to the city. The train ride back was a little more chav-infested than before, and I was a little scared at who was gonna board at each station. Although I did see cops often on the station so I guess they`re well aware of its dangers. A blind man came on and sang a couple of really nice songs with his guitar, and we tipped him. Much better than most of the people I have heard busking with sight!!
All in all, it turned out to be a lovely day and I had only minor moments of tiredness. That`s what you get for doing stupidly big amounts of that shit. I have honestly never seen people take that much in one go. I guess it doesn`t matter when it`s so cheap. I hope I see those boys again. And the smoking hot chick. Mmm.
We talked momentarily about going to see some tango, it being my friend`s last night here, but when we got to the hostel I came out from washing my gross hair and she was already asleep. Bless her cotton socks. I took a note from her book and also sorted my shit out and slept. Gotta take it easy if I am gonna come out of this place alive.
Have been talking to some mates from Iguazu re going for a visit in Uruguay, which is a hop skip from here, so maybe that will happen. But at the moment, I am thinking I will leave before a month. Not sure it`s my thing here for too long. Although I need to figure out my money situation... Maybe head to Bariloche or el Bolsen in Patagonia...who knows. But hey, tomorrow is another day...
Showing posts with label train. Show all posts
Showing posts with label train. Show all posts
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Monday, 6 December 2010
Overcrowded train?? LET'S GET BOOZED!!
On the way to the train station, we spun out trying to avoid a little black bird. I love snow. Did I tell you that already??
Once at the station, I faced an 11-hour train ride to Bratislava. I armed myself with a book (about silence, no less, WTF??), a sense of calm (ha!) and an urgent need to sleep. I managed the first half of the ride relatively unscathed. Kept having to change seats because I didn't reserve one so all the rich ass mo fos had to sit in their places. Workin for the man. haha... I shouldn't blog when I'm drunk. Or stoned for that matter.
Anyway.
Last few hours of the journey I got up to give MY seat over to aforementioned rich jerk and was met with a flurry of Prague alightees (made that one up) heading to mostly Bratislava I would imagine. Well. Someone had sent the memo out and it was official - eastern Europe was snowed in and no mother fucker was gonna take the bus. If in fact it was running at all.
So the train was packed. What to do?? Well, you find some people your age, sit down on the floor and make friends. You then, after many minutes of speculating whether they actually deserved it, break out the chocolate. Then, completely unprovoked, the girl also takes out her far superior chocolate and offers to all. We joke that all we need is wine at this time and boy turns to his bag and breaks out a bottle of white. Things are looking up.
We spend many minutes trying to open this bottle. It's hard man. Finally, with a toothpaste, we crack through and it is the beginning of the end. Four bottles later, the train grinds to a stop and we're at Bratislava. At Bratislava, we convince girl to stay for a drink before going to meet her friend. She's already drunk. It is sweet rubber arm action.
We walk into the pub and my English boss, E's girlfriend I says "oh hi, so you made it!!" Turns out she had messaged me to meet at that very pub and we happened to walk into it, me armed with several drunk randoms including one Slovakian TV presenter asking me for English lessons (hahahahahaha - I can hardly teach myself) and ready to party. Last time they spoke to me I was all tired n shit n not looking forward to the train ride. But turns out it was A-OK!
Once at the station, I faced an 11-hour train ride to Bratislava. I armed myself with a book (about silence, no less, WTF??), a sense of calm (ha!) and an urgent need to sleep. I managed the first half of the ride relatively unscathed. Kept having to change seats because I didn't reserve one so all the rich ass mo fos had to sit in their places. Workin for the man. haha... I shouldn't blog when I'm drunk. Or stoned for that matter.
Anyway.
Last few hours of the journey I got up to give MY seat over to aforementioned rich jerk and was met with a flurry of Prague alightees (made that one up) heading to mostly Bratislava I would imagine. Well. Someone had sent the memo out and it was official - eastern Europe was snowed in and no mother fucker was gonna take the bus. If in fact it was running at all.
So the train was packed. What to do?? Well, you find some people your age, sit down on the floor and make friends. You then, after many minutes of speculating whether they actually deserved it, break out the chocolate. Then, completely unprovoked, the girl also takes out her far superior chocolate and offers to all. We joke that all we need is wine at this time and boy turns to his bag and breaks out a bottle of white. Things are looking up.
We spend many minutes trying to open this bottle. It's hard man. Finally, with a toothpaste, we crack through and it is the beginning of the end. Four bottles later, the train grinds to a stop and we're at Bratislava. At Bratislava, we convince girl to stay for a drink before going to meet her friend. She's already drunk. It is sweet rubber arm action.
We walk into the pub and my English boss, E's girlfriend I says "oh hi, so you made it!!" Turns out she had messaged me to meet at that very pub and we happened to walk into it, me armed with several drunk randoms including one Slovakian TV presenter asking me for English lessons (hahahahahaha - I can hardly teach myself) and ready to party. Last time they spoke to me I was all tired n shit n not looking forward to the train ride. But turns out it was A-OK!
Sunday, 7 November 2010
Ciao to those legs......
Greetings from your slack blogger!! Yes, I know I've been shit but internet access is always awkward when you don't have your own computer and to be honest, nothing that groundbreaking has really happened to report.
Last you heard I was picking olives in Italy. Well, that finished a few days later, actually when I was granted my second day off (unexpected, given I was leaving the next day and didn't think they'd bother giving me the Friday off). On the spur of the moment, I decided to take the 2+ hour train to Arezzo and check out this town that had not overwhelmed me with its description in dad's 80s tour guide of Italy.
The town itself was not so big, surprising for something that appears quite prominent on the Italian map, but it allowed me to do my cheapskate walk around it in record time (I am my father's daughter) and catch the Rapida (fast) train back on my slow train ticket. They didn't really care. I cared, though, about the addicted smokers using every small stop to puff out the windows and doors. Urgh.
Again, the touristy parts were full of American tourists (man, how they grate on my ears) although it was in general not that busy. A welcome calm.
Once I checked my train times back at the 'stead, I realised I was on a later train than first thought and voila! M unexpectedly asked if I wanted to ride so this time I got a go on Edwi, the largest but laziest of the 3. He's only 5 but already you can feel him saying, "ohhhhhh do I reallllllllly have to canter???"
Afterwards, I said goodbye to the gorgeous 360 view of the remnants of Tuscany, the carb-heavy dinners with pane de chocolatte dessert, the gorgeous dancing girls on the nightly variety show in their tiny outfits with their beautiful, long, bronzed legs framing the host's desks... sorry, where was I?? Yes, I will miss this place and the family - even the freaky looking ferret/alien/cat Jerry - but I know I can always come back if I really want. Would like to find somewhere I can take the horses out into the wilderness though... But all in all, a lovely experience!
Last you heard I was picking olives in Italy. Well, that finished a few days later, actually when I was granted my second day off (unexpected, given I was leaving the next day and didn't think they'd bother giving me the Friday off). On the spur of the moment, I decided to take the 2+ hour train to Arezzo and check out this town that had not overwhelmed me with its description in dad's 80s tour guide of Italy.
The town itself was not so big, surprising for something that appears quite prominent on the Italian map, but it allowed me to do my cheapskate walk around it in record time (I am my father's daughter) and catch the Rapida (fast) train back on my slow train ticket. They didn't really care. I cared, though, about the addicted smokers using every small stop to puff out the windows and doors. Urgh.
Again, the touristy parts were full of American tourists (man, how they grate on my ears) although it was in general not that busy. A welcome calm.
Once I checked my train times back at the 'stead, I realised I was on a later train than first thought and voila! M unexpectedly asked if I wanted to ride so this time I got a go on Edwi, the largest but laziest of the 3. He's only 5 but already you can feel him saying, "ohhhhhh do I reallllllllly have to canter???"
Afterwards, I said goodbye to the gorgeous 360 view of the remnants of Tuscany, the carb-heavy dinners with pane de chocolatte dessert, the gorgeous dancing girls on the nightly variety show in their tiny outfits with their beautiful, long, bronzed legs framing the host's desks... sorry, where was I?? Yes, I will miss this place and the family - even the freaky looking ferret/alien/cat Jerry - but I know I can always come back if I really want. Would like to find somewhere I can take the horses out into the wilderness though... But all in all, a lovely experience!
Monday, 6 September 2010
Farewell Halmeag... for now
As I write this, I sit on my late arriving train to Reghin, to meet the hosts of my new Help Exchange place. It's still in Romania, just the other side of Transylvania, so hopefully that means I'll get to see a new side of this beautiful country.
It was sad saying goodbye to H and B, and they looked so cute standing in the doorway waving us away, but there is always the chance of coming back, maybe for Christmas for a surely amazing dinner by B. Mmmmm.... motivated by food.
I drove into Brasov with L at the wheel and E in the back, it was a little stressful but we got there in one piece and on time - not that it mattered, my train was half an hour late itself! They will head back to Halmeag and stay for a further 10 days or so, and hopefully we'll all meet up in Budapest for a day before they return to Sweden and I go on to my next place.
Sitting here thinking about the little house in Halmeag, I am getting a little teary... besides H and B, I will miss the dogs, the horses, the life, the 'hello!'s from all the kids in the village, the 'buna seva' greetings from the older residents, the people staring at us like we have 3 heads and of course my little shepherd boy :( I said goodbye to him yesterday on the way back from our ride, and the girls waiting a little further down the road. He is so sweet, I just wish he wasn't a gypsy and there was a little more promise in his life than what I know probably awaits him. No doubt he'll have knocked up some village gypsy by Christmas and be working as a goat herder with the little black hat they always wear, and never wash. Sad times but better it's her than me I guess.
The weather fined up for my last day in Halmeag and I was bummed I couldn't stay to have a longer ride but at least it is nice looking out the window of the train. It has been on and off rain for the week, but not as bad as I feared and at least warm at night with the fires burning.
I do wonder what awaits me at this next place, and indeed the places afterwards... there are so many options for me but I do think at some stage, probably over winter, I'll have to bite the bullet and actually work as an English teacher for some cash. Maybe I could convince my friend in Budapest that it's an awesome idea to let me stay at his for a little while (I'm sure he really wouldn't mind that much...) but we'll just have to see. It's this little problem of money that always rears its ugly head.
But plans are afoot for big things in the very near future.... September will be a very interesting month.... stay tuned.
It was sad saying goodbye to H and B, and they looked so cute standing in the doorway waving us away, but there is always the chance of coming back, maybe for Christmas for a surely amazing dinner by B. Mmmmm.... motivated by food.
I drove into Brasov with L at the wheel and E in the back, it was a little stressful but we got there in one piece and on time - not that it mattered, my train was half an hour late itself! They will head back to Halmeag and stay for a further 10 days or so, and hopefully we'll all meet up in Budapest for a day before they return to Sweden and I go on to my next place.
Sitting here thinking about the little house in Halmeag, I am getting a little teary... besides H and B, I will miss the dogs, the horses, the life, the 'hello!'s from all the kids in the village, the 'buna seva' greetings from the older residents, the people staring at us like we have 3 heads and of course my little shepherd boy :( I said goodbye to him yesterday on the way back from our ride, and the girls waiting a little further down the road. He is so sweet, I just wish he wasn't a gypsy and there was a little more promise in his life than what I know probably awaits him. No doubt he'll have knocked up some village gypsy by Christmas and be working as a goat herder with the little black hat they always wear, and never wash. Sad times but better it's her than me I guess.
The weather fined up for my last day in Halmeag and I was bummed I couldn't stay to have a longer ride but at least it is nice looking out the window of the train. It has been on and off rain for the week, but not as bad as I feared and at least warm at night with the fires burning.
I do wonder what awaits me at this next place, and indeed the places afterwards... there are so many options for me but I do think at some stage, probably over winter, I'll have to bite the bullet and actually work as an English teacher for some cash. Maybe I could convince my friend in Budapest that it's an awesome idea to let me stay at his for a little while (I'm sure he really wouldn't mind that much...) but we'll just have to see. It's this little problem of money that always rears its ugly head.
But plans are afoot for big things in the very near future.... September will be a very interesting month.... stay tuned.
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