Smiled with the rising sun...

After the not so happy post from yesterday, I thought I'd try to add something a little cheerier today. I am still feeling pretty sick, but the medication is helping and I think I'm getting better. I keep making notes to myself about all of these funny stories or anecdotes I want to tell all of you. Some of them will have to wait, I know, but I thought I'd at least jot down a couple, or at least enough to remind me to tell you the story later.

First, just some interesting things I've discovered while on this trip. One, I've noticed that my threshold or standard for cleanliness has certainly started to slip. I'm the girl that can barely stand to use a public restroom at home, and let me tell you, there have been some challenging situations here. I've gotten to the point that as long as there's an actual toilet, I'm so happy I can barely be bothered to worry about anything else. Those of you who haven't traveled overseas might not be aware that most places charge you to use a public restroom. Now this is something I'd be perfectly happy to do if the facilities were clean, but it's another thing entirely to hand over over money to tiptoe into filth. I discovered while in Serbia that the price of a trip to the WC was the same as buying an ice-cream cone on the street. I'm sure you can guess which was the more enjoyable experience. :) It's probably best for me not to think too much about what awaits me in the bathrooms I've yet to discover...

Another discovery is that the Canadians and Australians seem to enjoy making fun of our American accents. Think you don't have an accent? Well, we all have accents, but I don't think I'd ever heard a "standard" American English accent mocked until this trip. These impressions will probably have to wait 'til I'm home but as mentioned, there was Jed, the Australian, giving me his best "young American guy" and an Australian girl, whose name escapes me now, who told me there is a subset of American tourists from their 40's-60's, who are easily identified when the wife turns to the husband and says, "Bob, Bob, come here, come look at this, it's amazing!" It would seem the word "amazing" is more frequently used by the Americans, whereas the Brits and the Aussies tend toward "brilliant" or "gorgeous".

Some things I've learned from my fellow travelers: While traveling with two Canadian Mikes (Alberta Mike and B.C. Mike) through Romania... B.C. Mike advised us all that, "No matter where you are in the world, if you're in trouble, just yell 'Mike'; guaranteed to be more effective than 'help'." He did add that it might make sense to learn the local "Mike" equivalent (e.g. Miguel, etc.). From JT, an Australian, if you happen to be traveling through Venice and you are offered a laptop for 100 euros, you might want to think twice, because that laptop box just might end up being full of bar soap. From Matt from Philidelphia, putting your feet up on a train seat on a Hungarian train might cost you 20 euros, and that's only if you're able to negotiate.

Other than picking up little tips and tidbits from my fellow travelers, I've also been completely impressed and/or inspired by some of them. Here are a few that stick out, when I'm looking back... David, a 76-year-old British man, retired professor, who spends at least 2 months a year traveling on his own; he told me that he'd still like to see more of China and the Amazon. Bill, a 51-year-old man from Hong Kong, who retired early 3 years ago and other than the odd trip home has traveled ever since; he had the most amazing pictures and incredible stories. Stephanie, a 28-year-old American off on a trip on her own to visit her 26th, 27th and 28th countries the year she turned 28. (I think I'm at something like 15 so far!) Brett, a 20-something Canadian who sustained a compound fracture of his shoulder in a motorbike accident in Laos, flew to Thailand for surgery, and after a quick trip home to check in with his regular doctor, just kept on traveling... at the point I met him, he'd been on the road for 22 months. It has been so interesting to meet all of these different people and hear their stories, and these are just a few!

Some funnies from the road: The translation at the Olympic stadium in Sarajevo (subtitles on a video) that closed with "Hey man, welcome to Sarajevo!" That totally cracked me up... I just can't believe it's what they were really going for? The tour guide at the castle in Sinaia, Romania, who had obviously memorized her pitch word for word, and upon showing us the dining room (amazing) and outlining its many features, turned to us and said with almost no inflection whatsoever... "but don't tell me you are hungry, because kitchen is closed since 50 years ago, when castle is turned into museum". I know this is another one that begs for being told in person, but please believe me when I tell you it was hilarious. I continued to get mileage out of this one, all through Istanbul by turning to Blair and deadpanning, "But don't tell me you want to pray, because church has been museum for many years now."

OK, I think this is enough for now. At some point later on, I will write the story of the crazy train ride from Budapest to Brasov, and about the Bosnian pub owner (and former UN aid worker) I met in Sarajevo who was "misquoted" by the Washington Post.

Allright, off to Selcuk by way of Izmir to see the ruins at Ephesus. More soon!