Wien...Vienna, whatever the fuck it is called. Nice town...nasty on the pocketbook though.
Arrived here yesterday AM and settled into the pace of life in one of the priciest of European towns. It was a pretty strange evening all in all, as we hooked up with some of the folks from the hostel we were staying in to go grab some chow and beverage. We sauntered, I swear we really did, down to the city hall, where the Vienna Film Festival was taking place and a bunch of really tasty food booths were setup...think Jazz Fest. When we arrived we witnessed the wierdest of wierd animated Opera strangeness that one could imagine. All this on an empty stomach as well! Neal and I then split for some chow and told the two aussies we were with we would be back shortly. Well, the sky decided differently as it began to open up and piss all over us out of nowhere. After that, it was enough of the cool outdoor evening, but on to the Austrian nightlife and the first high quality eurobeer. We called it in somewhere early in the AM for that oh so restful dorm sleep, only to have to be up, packed, and out by 10 AM...ouch. Today is freeday...that means that Neal and I have now gone our seperate ways for a bit to explore what we want to see in Europe. I am headed out on an overnighter to Venice to meet up with Robby and Leigh in Cinque Terre, while Neal has headed off to Bratsomething or other in Slovsomething or other. I can only hope I have drained all of the life out of him in the 6 months we travelled together so that he won't have even a miligram (see the use of the metric system...and people say travelling is all fun and no work) of fun. Actually, I have to say that we got along amazingly well during our travels, probably better than we do back home, and it was certainly fun. As for the next month or two, it is going to be lazy if I have my way, and I shall travel the southern route with perhaps ventures to Prague, Budapest, and who the fuck knows where else. Any advice, as always, is welcome.
Herve signing out....

So this is Malta...

Not really sure what to make of it, a bit expensive, pretty, full of british and italian package tourists...

Anyway, we did a bit of diving yesterday which was surprisingly good after our experience in Turkey. Our first dive was led by a complete assmunch (fine word!) who didn't seem to much care if people enjoyed the dive or not, and we spent a majority of our time swimming to and from the wreck we were checking out...not a world class dive, to use my pops statement. The afternoon dive looked to be more of the same as we were rushed out of lunch to speed across the island to our afternoon dive site, but the perception of rush was decieving, as our DM was simply trying to beat the crowds. We did a nice long dive and saw three major sites; a wreck, an underwater arch, and a statue of the maddona that is nicely hidden in a bit of a cave...all this and a few extra swimthroughs as well. After that we were both a bit tired and went back to our stifflingly hot room for a nap before a walk over to St. Julian for some chow and a night at Da Casiner. Strolling along the water checking out all of the terribly overpriced chowhouses we came across one that, although on first inspection, seemed to be a rip-off like the rest, actually kicked the shit out of the rest. It was a nice little independent place that had a killer menu and cheap wine...the food was, to quote the hankerooni, world class. After that it was a quick stroll over to the casino and a few hours of losing before a nice rally at the end to walk out up roughly my three days accomodation on Malta...all in all pretty good. #

As for Malta in general, it is a nice place, although I could imagine getting quite bored quite quickly if you don't dive and don't want to shop all day long...

On to Vienna tomorrow and continental Europe, aka the home strech of the journey. I am looking forward to it, but need to adjust my spending levels to prepare for the jump in cost, and then it is slowly but surely home to who the fuck knows what as far as work goes...but it is still too early to think about that.

Well, it appears I am coming to the end of yet another country in the increasingly long list. Have to say that Turkey has been one of the tops, and after being one of two tourists in most of Nepal and India (my brother being the other) it was nice to be back in the backpacker scene for a bit, even if it does get to be too much every so often. I met some exceptionally folks along the way, and am now looking forward to moving to the more expensive, but also more plush confines of Europe proper. Before I split though, I figure to give some of my thoughts on the wierdness that is Turkey.

Tarkan...Tarkan...Tarkan - For those of you not in the know, this guy is like Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Bryant Gumbel all wrapped up in one. He is the spitting image of Bronson Pinchot's famous cappucinno making character from Beverly Hills Cop, and if you spend even twelve minutes in Turkey you will have the opportunity to hear his current hit at least twice. Oy vey!

The turkish sketch factor - I suppose this will come off badly, but there is an inordinate number of sketchy men in Turkey. Travelling with enough single women to have heard the stories and seeing a cop try and feel up a girl he was helping out makes me belive they should arm women here with mace and stun guns.

Squat toilets - Good fucking riddance. Although I grew accustomed to them over the last several months, I shant miss these glorified holes in the floor.

Turkish Tummy - Although the Lokanta (aka Rolls Royces of Cafaterias) are damn good, they will almost certainly put the terror in your tummy.

Boat Trips - Good stuff, I suggest it for any human under the age of 35, or at least those with a healthy sense of immaturity.

Books - Sweet fucking Jesus, will someone set up a decent english language bookstore in this country. On a high note, if you care for Danielle Steele novels, this place is your hunky dory fucking heaven.

Raki - It'll make you fly.

Pide - The food of Kings

Ruins - I suppose I finally pronounce the word correctly after being chastised by a group of 20. Anyway, not having been to Italy yet, or Greece at all, I have to say Turkey has more to see than anyplace I have thusfar encountered.

I am sure I could go on, but what's the point...I have other sites to check and you have a job to get back to, so on to the casino in Malta to win back all I have spent on this trip and then to spend more in the brilliant world of mainland Europe.
As a wise man once said, "Sometimes you ride the cat, sometimes the donkey rides you."