December 2012
43 posts
DECEMBER 4
As I head out of Milan, the sun is coming up. It’s about 4 hours South to Perugia, and in the first hour the weather is lovely. I stop at an auto grille rest stop full of commuters and truck drivers for espresso and a sandwich. This is one of the more surreal moments on any tour: when the late nightlife of a musician collides, unassuming, with the purposeful, unflinching morning routine of...
DECEMBER 3
Up and out for a walk around Modena in the morning. Espresso, brioche and an apple at a beautiful corner cafe, reading Romanian Fantastic Tales - another gift from Vladmir - a translated collection of strange, folk-tale inspired stories by some of the best Romanian writers of the twentieth century.
A smooth drive to Milano, the sun shining on me again.
The show in Milan is at a beautiful...
DECEMBER 2
An aside: when my dear grandparents, now departed, would tell me stories of their travels, my grandfather would preface every account by saying that my grandmother was his good weather charm. I have to assume that my grandmother, Betty Smith, is with me on this trip, as there hasn’t been a single day when I haven’t had blue sky overhead.
After feasting on the greatest hotel...
DECEMBER 1
Slept on and off during the 8 hour train ride to Budapest, leaving the crags and cliffs of northern Transylvania for the open plains of Hungary. The ride was surreal. I’d fall asleep surrounded by fog and rain, and wake up an hour later in bright sunshine. This happened several times throughout the trip.
The border crossing into Hungary happens in a bleak place. Stone faced police...
NOVEMBER 30
I awake to the sound of Andrei and Florin enthusiastically serenading me outside the door of my room. We eat breakfast together as the sun burns the mist off of the surrounding mountains. Another lovely travelling day. We thank our hosts and head out for Cluj Napoca. Today is St. Andrew’s day, a national holiday for the patron saint of Romania.
In the middle of the trip, we stop in a...
NOVEMBER 29
Andrei takes me to visit his brother, who has a shop where he modifies cars for off-road driving. Both Andrei and his brother have participated in cross-country off-road races, and, as such, Andrei is the only person I ever see behind the wheel of the Backstabbers’ tour van, which has also been modified for off-road use. We discuss the possibility of simply driving in a straight line...
November 2012
26 posts
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