Sunday May 22, Vienna, Austria.
Maybe the title is a little unfair. Technology doesn’t really blow, but access to it during the border expedition was a challenge.
I had hoped to post daily missives of my experiences in a Turkish prison and sneaking into Albania. But, alas, without a GMRS do-hickey, and a crazy itinerary, it was impossible.
I am now back in Vienna -- the fourth (!) border expedition is over.
We arrived last night after driving something like 500km from the divided town of Gorica-Nova Gorica on the Italian-Slovenian border. We were received early in the morning by the mayor of Nova Goricia, Slovenia.
Through an interpreter, he told us about the history of the area that used to be on the Italian-Yugoslav border. It was quite interesting, though we did not receive soaps (Turkey) wine (Hungary) or tours of divided islands (Greece-Bulgaria-Turkey). No matter, there is little room for any more stuff. I am struggling with trinkets ranging from a Turkish military cap to an Albanian scarf. And a few Cuban cigars.
The rest of Saturday consisted of entering Italy and driving like maniacs on the wonderful Autostradas to a place we visited in 2001: the tri-point of Slovenia-Italy-Austria. First we had to cross back into Slovenia.
The TP is nestled in the Alps, and the view is stunning. The area is actually a ski area. There is an Austrian lift up to a point near the tri-point (which we took in 2001). On the Slovene side there is a winter bar and “road” access which we used. On the Italian side there is a hiking trail and a transmitter for RAI.
The view is beyond belief… and I was very happy that this place was our last major visit of the trip. The skies were clear and the air was hot. Perfect! On the way down we toasted our success with a pint at a small restaurant hidden in the Slovene woods.
Then we headed into Austria and onto the motorway to Vienna. Several hours on, we were detoured off the motorway and trough a number of quaint Austrian villages. We made Vienna around 8:30pm.
There was mass confusion as we exited our rental van that had been home for the last 14 days. We pulled our luggage and collected booty and pamphlets out and created piles on the sidewalk.
After some problems with our small hotel, we got settled and prepared for dinner. I went with Rolf the Finn to an Indian joint. We wanted to talk business. The rest of the gang went to a Greek place a few doors away.
We joined them about an hour later and chatted about what had been. It was a happy/sad affair. We’re all spent. But we’d like the journey to continue. And this may be the last trip of this kind, with this group. We’ve run out of Europe, and it is increasingly hard for everyone to get the time off. I am the only single on of the bunch, so I don’t have to deal with trying to convince kids and spouses why it’s important that I leave them behind for 2 weeks.
At 4:30 this morning (Sunday) I waved good-bye to the group as they headed to the airport in their taxi. I am here in Vienna for an extra night, due to the scheduling of my ticket purchased with points.
I spent the mid-part of the day wandering around the city and caught the finish of the Vienna Marathon. Then I came back to the room to snooze and flake out. It’s now 4:17 and I feel the urge to get outside and shoot some pictures at during magic hour.
Speaking of which, I believe I shot something like 2000 images on this trip. More than a few are nothing more that reminders: signs to help me remember places that we were at. But there are many, many more. Of people and places that will surprise you.
I also have stories. And I will start posting them in reverse order beginning Wednesday. I head to Copenhagen Monday night… but will probably relax.
I return to Canada on Saturday and work the following Monday. Look there: on the horizon! Real life!
Cheers!
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