15 DAYS TO GO

FOR THOSE JUST NOW TUNING IN

Anyone can go to Europe and live on a hundred or more a day. It's just a fact. If you can't, you have either extravagant taste or 'issues'. I don't know a lot of people that can afford a hundred or two hundred dollar a day vacation unless it is of the 'whirlwind' variety. Rather than run from tourist line to tourist line trying to see everything before it is too late, I'm going to be surviving on a lot less and trying to stay in an area long enough to either soak it up or get bored of it. I'm not working on quickly seeing anything. I am too fat, old, slow and crippled to do that. One of the things I'm going to try to illustrate during this blog (in another couple weeks) is how much I spend and what you get for that. DISCLAIMER: Not sure how much of that will get done in Western Europe - plus it's fucking expensive there. But we'll see.

What these maps and such (below) are is I am trying to find out where cool stuff (that is known about on the internet) is. That doesn't mean that other parts of the country won't turn out to be more interesting, it's just my 'first glance' at a country. This is not going to necessarily be my route either, for those interested in stalking me or joining up with me on some particular leg of the journey. When I get new information from other travelers, natives and - hum - guess there aren't a lot of other choices there. When I get new information from travelers and natives I will revise what I know about an area.

Who knows? Some day I may become knowledgeable on some part of the world.



SERBIA AND KOSOVO
Well, this is an interesting place. It looks like there are a few interesting places in Serbia to visit (see map). Kosovo is the 'breakaway state'. It's looking like Kosovo is a bit riskier and apparently more expensive. I think the expensive part is what might keep me out of there - it looks pretty safe. I'll have to check when I get closer to it to see if there are cheap places to stay there.



MONTENEGRO
From what I've read so far, this place seems famous for things like hiking, surfing and other sports that I'm not really physically capable of doing. It doesn't, however, seem like it's real expensive. Might be worth hitting.



ALBANIA
This looks like a pretty nifty place - lot of ruins and such are there.

I've got to say that the data I've gotten from wikiTravel didn't really give me a feel for the Balkans. A couple places to check out, certainly - but the feel for the place I'll have to get when I arrive.



COUNTRY COUNT

[[[Balkans]]] x10
Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Kosovo
Macedonia
Moldova
Montenegro
Romania
Serbia

[[[Baltic states]]] x3
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania

[[[Benelux]]] x3
Netherlands
Belgium
Luxembourg

[[[Caucasus]]] x4
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Russia

[[[Central Europe]]] x9
Austria
Czech Republic
Germany
Hungary
Liechtenstein
Poland
Slovakia
Slovenia
Switzerland

[[[Miscellaneous]]] x8
France
Greece
Turkey
Cyprus
Italy
Ukraine
Belarus
Britain and Ireland

[[[Iberia]]] x3
Andorra
Portugal
Spain

[[[Scandinavia]]] x5
Denmark
Norway
Sweden
Finland
Iceland

So forty five countries in Europe (and close to it - Turkey is kind of both Europe and Asia). Hopefully, I won't get hate mail saying 'what about my beloved country' or 'oh our breakaway state shouldn't be listed as this other country'.

Of those 45, I'd like to hit about 31. We'll see how that goes.



MOVIE REVIEW - VAN HELSING (2004)

For those who haven't seen this movie, they went a bit overboard with the mythologies and tried to combine as many as possible - werewolf, vampire, Frankenstein, Dwerger, steam punk, etc. It's not a totally displeasing mix. It did an amazing amount at the box office ($120M) but unfortunately, they blew $160M making it. Hence, no sequels as it is now viewed as the movie that lost $40M. Kate Beckinsale is very easy on the eyes and Hugh Jackman makes a pretty decent moody hero in this movie. The chase scenes and fights pretty much made me think 'video game'. And it has the slowest ringing clock ever.

Also, David Wenham plays a very different role than he did in the LOTR series where he played Faramir. I think he does a good job on the role.

Over all, I'd give this a 5/10.



Gimme Shelter

Every time I hear this, it always brings back flashbacks from the Drang valley. I'm not sure why images go through my head and I have flashbacks about it. But, as they say...



MOVIE REVIEW - GROSS POINT BLANK

I gotta say I like this movie. It has a few different things than I believe would happen at my high school reunion. I don't have a hot girl waiting for me - and I honestly don't remember anyone from high school. I'm sure if I went to my high school reunion, everyone would have 'swelled' as well - especially me. But the alienation is there. And the '80's music. The irony is that I graduated close to the same year that the main character in this film did. A bit freaky. I also got into the military just out of high school. The similarities are pretty interesting. Unfortunately I am not a bad ass martial artist like the main character etc. And I'm hoping I wouldn't have to murder a professional killer at my high school reunion - which I didn't attend and have no reason to.

I give this one 9/10. I was surprised that this movie made $13M and they didn't make a sequel to it. I mean, who didn't laugh when the main character stabbed the other guy in the neck with a pen? This film does illustrate the old saying "Friends help you move, real friends help you move...bodies..."

Good quotes: Durazak 15: "Need it. I injest it on orders from my numerologist." "Me? Go G? On you? Never!"



MOVIE REVIEW - ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING

A 9/10 movie. For a movie made in the '80's, this isn't bad.



READERS

I've got readers from the country of Maldives. I can't even find that place on Google Maps. Someone tell me where that place is please.



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