A little break from the trip

OK, this one was really worth a break!

(For some reason I'm unable to embed the video here)
Ping pong estremo

Erano anni che non mi divertivo cosí!

Buckatürk?

At the beginning of the Nineties, we used to play a quite popular board game: Trivial Pursuit.

I remember a day, playing in Ally's kitchen, when the question « Who is the father of all turks? » panicked most of us. And then somebody — with the beginning of a smile sprouting from his lips — said this single word: « Atatürk? »

Many years passed, and eventually I have an answer for that: reincarnation!



Further proofs of this theory here.

Treviso, close to Venice #2

This happened actually on September 3rd, at my arrival in Samos. I'm posting it today because I don't want to forget it!

It's a dialog between a New Zealand guy (working for the port tourist agencies) and me.

—Where are you from?
—Italy.
—Oh, nice! I love Italy!
—Yep!
—Is Nice in Italy or in France?
—In France.
—And Florence? And Venice? I loved that area, but I was a little drunk, so I can't remember if it was France or Italy!
—…

I smiled, skipped the Treviso-close-to-Venice part, and went to the agency next door.

Treviso, close to Venice

After the first two nights in Budapest I had to change host. After a while that I was moving my casetta all around Budapest, I decided to just stop, have a beer, and — with a bit of luck — connect to some wireless connection waiting for my host to come home.

So, once arrived in my new host area, I chose a nice-looking bar. I asked the bartender about a wireless connection and she pointed me to the bar on the other side of the street. But, having been the bartender so nice to me, I just moved on the seat that were closer to that other bar, opened my laptop and checked the signal: it was fairly good.


After a while the other bartender noticed my computer, and smiled telling me that he has one too. We started the usual chat — where are you from, this is your first time in Budapest, how long you'll stay here, and so on — but when I was going with my good old « Treviso … — three seconds pause, just in case — … close to Venice » he smiled and said: « Ah, Treviso, I've been there! »

I almost fell off the chair, and asked more about it. It sorted out that fifteen years ago he and his wife used to go to Treviso to buy leather jackets, that in Hungary were too expensive!

When you travel alone you get more chances of knowing interesting people. The chances of getting bored to deeath are also high, but let's look at the silver lining :-)

How not to get bored while you are visiting Milan

So you want to go to India, don't you? Then you need a visa, and if you are Italian you can't do it at the airport or at the border, you have to apply for a tourist Visa at the Indian Consulate, that is in Milan.

So you go to their web site, you write down the address and the rules, you download and fill in the form.

Very easy, so far.

Then you search a suitable couch in Milan the usual way and just go there. First thing in the morning you go to the Indian Consulate, and as you get there you notice a sign saying « Consular Services » and you go there.

There you find yourself at the end of a line of Indians spanning two rooms and an aisle.

During your stay in the happy line, you can entertain yourself wondering why you are the only Italian: you look around, but there are no signs, and your waiting neighbours have no idea about visa for Italians — of course: as they all are Indians they have little use for such a thing.

After an hour of this, you eventually reach the counter, and that lady explains that they don't do visas any more, and you have to attend at another office — that's in another part of the city, lucky you, thus giving you the opportunity of site-seeing ten metro stations.

But when you have your receipt in your pocket you feel just very happy — and very sweaty too — and you just start thinking in the next beer.



Just for the record, the new visa service is located in Via Marostica 34, metro Gambare.

A big smile

As a friend of mine use to say, when you succeed in escaping from your slavery you will have that big smile stuck in your face all of the time! Well, as far as I know, he is right :-D


So my passport will have the same big smile in it. I've two series of photos taken, one with beard and one without, for the visas I'll have to do during the trip — my shaving habit is on the lazy side.