Pardon me for not posting for some time; the past month-and-a-half I have been extremely busy moving out of Madrid and planning the subject of this post. After my tenure as an English teacher in Spain ended when school did, on June 26, I have officially become a long-term vacationer, living off my savings like they do in Boca Raton. The earnings I accumulated while working as a club promoter at Teatro Kapital — yes, Mom, it was about more than free drinks and girls — is the money that needs to last me until October 1st, when I will return to America.
First things first: I’m not in Kansas anymore. Or Madrid. With great pain in my heart, I bid farewell to the city that has been my home for the past two incredible years, and along with it, the people who made Madrid so special — some of the best people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. I harbor a strong hope that many of them will remain a part of my life for years and decades to come. Deciding to head back to the States instead of staying for a third year was extremely difficult, and saying goodbye was ever harder.
But saying goodbye was a good deal easier because, instead of flying directly home to experience re-entry depression, I was beginning (one of) the trip(s) of my lifetime. My “Odd”-yssey, if you will.
Seventy-one days. Nine countries. One continent. One jeopardized bank account, and one heck of an adventure.
Here’s the itinerary, as it currently stands (dates listed are those of arrival and departure in each city):
-July 22-23: Warsaw, Poland
-July 23-24: Stockholm, Sweden
-July 24-August 1: Hemso, Sweden
-August 1-3: Copenhagen, Denmark
-August 3-5: Hamburg, Germany
-August 5-8: Paris, France
-August 8-10: Lyon, France
-August 10-15: Nice, France
-August 15-17: Turin, Italy
-August 17-19: Cinque Terre, Italy
-August 19-23: Tuscany, Italy
-August 23-27: Somewhere in Italy. Probably Florence and one other town.
-August 27-31: Pompei, Italy, with day trips to Naples and Salermo.
-August 31-September 3: Rome, Italy.
-September 3-7: Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
-September 7-13: Rethymno, Crete, Greece.
-September 13-17: Bali, Crete, Greece.
-September 17-24: Chania, Crete, Greece.
-September 24-26: Mykonos, Greece.
-September 26-27: Athens, Greece.
-September 27-28: Vienna, Austria.
-September 28-October 1: Prague, Czech Republic.
-October 1: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
I intend on posting updates whenever I can, ideally with some pictures and anecdotes.
Now, how I got where I am, in Stockholm:
About nine months before November 12, 1986, my parents had a romantic evening in Philadelphia … and roughly 26 years later, on July 22, I flew from Madrid to Warsaw, Poland. Considering the fact that my last night in Madrid ended at 7 a.m. — a just send-off from the city that truly never sleeps — the flight to Poland was a snooze. Upon landing and taking a bus to the city center, it became clear that this was a different kind of place. The language, for one thing, blew me away — all kinds of r’s and z’s and y’s tossed around in ways that would light up a Scrabble board. I was further impressed by how modern Warsaw was; except for the assorted Communist-style apartment buildings, I might as well have been in Chicago.
Last night, after checking into my hostel, I went out for a couple rounds with some fantastic people from Holland, Belgium, Poland and Sweden (although the Swedes live in Norway). They told me all about some guy they called Harry because he resembled one of the “Sticky Bandits” from the movie Home Alone. Apparently, “Harry” felt he looked more like Matthew McConaughey — quite the discrepancy.
Somehow managing to wake up at 9:00, I met Robert and Anna, the Swedes who reside in Norway, and we toured the historic Warsaw ghetto area. There wasn’t a ton to see (the Nazis didn’t leave much standing), but there was enough to give us a sense of how it had been, and what happened there. Eating breakfast at a cafe by the original tenement buildings was a highlight.
Later, we had a tremendous Polish lunch — kippered herring with veggies, pancakes with chanterelle mushrooms, a Polish meat/kraut/bread dish, and a cheese and fruit plate. Then I parted ways with my new friends and Warsaw.
At the airport, my suitcase — which weighed 23.0 kg when I left Madrid — somehow weighed 27.4 kg in Warsaw. Not only had I not added things to my bag between flights, I had actually removed some. The airline baggage said I needed to pay 60 euros — 20 per extra kilogram. I knew of a great place he could shove those 60 euros. After 15 minutes of re-arranging my things and making a hurricane mess of the bag check floor, he let me go at 24.4 kg, saint that he was.
Stockholm is impressively green. Trees and grass for miles outside the city, and a few million buckets-full of water inside it. They call Stockholm the Venice of Sweden, and it’s easy to see why. At 10:00 p.m., the guests of City Backpackers hostel went on an improvised walking tour — six Germans, five French people, two Australians, one Dane, one Lebanese guy, one Russian, one French Canadian, one Spanish girl, and one American idiot. A wonderful way to get a feel for the city, take pictures, exchange cultures and languages, and broaden minds.
Tomorrow (well, later today), I plan on renting a bike and continuing the Stockholm tour, doing some writing (which is why I’m here), and then heading to the Stockholm train station to truly kick off my journey. Tomorrow marks my first train trip using my Eurail pass, which will be my main form of transportation during this adventure. I am taking a train to the north of Sweden, where our friends have what has been described to me as a small, private island. I will be there for a week.
Of course, being on a private Swedish island isn’t all it’s cracked up to be: I won’t have Internet access! Which is why I’m rushing this post out now, at 3:45 a.m. Stockholm time.
Buenas noches, and see you all in August!
by 
by
go Sam! will happily read along as you go…