Okey dokey people, stop sending those inquisitive e-mails... here are a few dictinary entries, finally!

KERMIT, a.k.a. the Muppet Show frog chief reporter, green as hell but wrongly reported to be in love with that drag queen pig, was my boarding school pseudonym from 1984 to 1988. Don't ask me how my then-buddy ZAI-MEN cooked up his acronym (of course, I do know) but, as far as me and Kermit go, the story is fairly simple: Boring rainy weekend day in coed dorms led the adolescent pupils to engage in a hillarious staging of our own Muppet Show on the 11th floor. Apparently, my rendition of the kick-ass frog and a convincing love-scene with the girl who tried hard not to be Mrs. Piggy (because of the pig association, not because of me, obviously!) was the talk of the school the next Monday and I had to cope with the nickname Kermit during the following 4 years.

Shooting stars will never stop, even when they reach the top. One of the biggest smash hit albums ever produced, Bang! by Frankie Goes To Hollywood contained many words of wisdom (!) for my life. Even though the New York Edit of Relax is unsurpassed in sheer power to test those JBL!s, numerous other killer hits made this album one to remember. My line is the basic idea of Welcome to the Pleasuredome - no meaning gets more basic than this.

Para que sigue viviendo al 100%. Basically, the most to-the-point dedication on any photograph I have ever received, my dear friend Yolanda (de la noche de Marcha salvaje) passed this one to me between visits to Bolero on Castellana and whatever other night venues her throng of people and me visited during the days of debauchery way-back-when. Too bad most of them are married-with-children these days.

Yoodlidoo Kermit... woohoo!!! Time to peel off my Fruit of the Looms!!! Mykonos was its touristy beach and party self (did I mention nakkid rip-gurls dancing to house and techno on the 40 meters long Tropicana bar on Paradise Beach at 3 in the afternoon?) but today it's finally beach heaven again: Took the Hellas Flying Dolphins high-speed jumbo jet cat to Naxos and voila, here I am at nothing but white beach sand as far as you can see, a.k.a. Plaka Beach. Being a good Washbear I am staying out of the lunch-time sun and surf the net for a bit. Gonna rent a scooter tonight and head downtown, maybe I will also do some more ancient Greek stuff across the island tomorrow morning (a.k.a. after 2 p.m.) if the Meltemi hasn't blown me off the moped by then. Speaking of wind, fucking heaven for Feleep & Co. here - bazillions of French windsurfing dudettes and dudes here. At least the chicks are naked on the boards; quite the sight. So, in a nutshell, it's sweet as on Cloud 7 here so either I will go to Paros and Ios two days from now or, well, maybe I won't.

Hallihallo Kermit - finally in Greece. I am getting older... I actually didn't travel deck-class like any good InterRailer should but treated myself to a nice cabin. Patras to Olympia via Pyrgos was quite the little experience, as Greek railways are third-worldish to say the least. Sunrise the next morning at ancient Olympia made up for it, though. Transferred myself to Korinthos (Corynth) next and posed in front of the Temple of Apollo, before doing the clamber up to Akrokorinthos, an amazing expanse of stone rubble resembling a fortress atop a mountain right next to ancient Korinthos. Nafplion the next day was absolutely marvellous and relaxing, even though I climb up the 1,000+ steps of the stairs to the Palamidi Fortress overlooking the town. Nothing to complain about the beach club there... nice chairs and good house tunes all afternoon. Getting to Delphi today was another example of Greece's archaic state of public transportation - which isn't that bad as long as all you do is travel to and from Athens. Took one bus from Korinthos to Athens Terminal A, jogged around to the city bus station to catch one to the Terminal B about 5 kilometers away, missed the next bus to Amfissa by ten minutes and had to wait for another 2 1/2 hours, then another 3 1/2 hours on the bus. However, by the time you see the amazing village of Arachova on the mountain top before Delphi the views do make up for everything. Visited the Oracle but didn't get any answers to my burning questions, as I forgot to pack the obligatory sacrifice (sheep or goat). Back to Athens tomorrow, on to Mykonos two nights later. See ya...

Ciao K... mamma mia Napoli! Forget the stories about rich north and poor south of Italia - finally a place where more people honk their horns than in Madrid, more cars criss-cross in front of each other than at the Place Charles de Gaulle in Paris, with some ridiculous number of scooters added into the mix, and the power of prayer when crossing the streets as a pedestrian. The birthplace of pizza and pasta, anything from Domino's just looks decidedly wrong. And then talk about having a master-piece of a pizza at Napoli's most recommended place, da Michele, and life can't be better when relaxing in your trattoria looking at the crazy traffic after a long day of explorations. Speaking of explorations, I hiked up the volcano of Mt. Vesuvius yesterday, wandered through the excavations at the Herculaneum, and then finished the layer of dust on my skin in the streets of ancient Pompei. So, obviously, I needed some beach contrast today and caught a jet ferry to the island of Capri. I've had one beer too much last night so I decided it couldn't hurt to do some more hiking... all the way from the marina grande to the mountain top Villa Jovis of emperor Tiberius Maximus, with a breathtaking sidestep into Parco Astarita, where the most unspoiled views down 300-meter cliffs to the cobalt-blue waters can be enjoyed. My three days here would have been perfect if it hadn't been for a little accident during the last swim of the day at the Bagni Tiberio in Capri: I got swiped by a medusa; fortunately not my body, but my left wrist is about twice as big as my right one right now and it burns like fire. It's been three hours now and the pain finally seems to go away but stay away from those things! On to Brindisi tomorrow, where I'll hopefully catch the 18-hours ferry to Greece at 8 pm.

Salve Kermit - more from Bella Italia. What a nice little surprise my sidetrip to Cinque Terre turned out to be! Spent another wonderful day along the breathtaking cliffs of these 5 incredible villages - some major hiking in the late morning (Maranola to Vernazza via Carniglia), then finally some nudie exposure on a hidden beach. Talk about a fancy access... I had seen Gonava beach from way atop the cliffs during my hike and couldn't figure out how to get there. So I get all my Spanish/Italian combo ginglish together and ask some old dude how to descend to that bay and he tells me some story of abandonded railroad tunnels and doorbells to ring, which will magically open doors (or so I understood). Heureka! The old man was right - after I had found the old tunnel entrance past Corniglia I rang the bell at some private property sign and voila, a gate to the tunnel opened and a 1-mile hike under the earth followed. Once again in daylight, I found myself on this old railroad bridge with just a short descent to a pretty little beach - no hotels, no umbrellas, no tourists not sure of the meaning of "clothing optional". I finally realized that true vacation time had begun, and I couldn't help but marvel again at the Mediterranean people. How come they eat and drink so much, yet everybody seems to be in kick-ass shape? The girls are stylish as can be and would pass any bouncer at the most en-vogue nightclub in L.A., even (or especially) the way they dress going to the spiaggio. The guys are never overly muscular but always fit and some chiseled as if designed-by-Buonarotti. Not to mention that even the beachwear is never anything less but D&G, motivi, or Armani... with the obligatory Chanel shades without frames (seems like everybody has them right now). Anyway, killing an hour at the railway station in La Spezia right now, so on the way here I wondered what all the commotion in the streets was about: A little calcio on TV, so all the bars are overflowing with Milan and Juve fanatics! It's just the pre-season Trofeo Berlusconi but the San Siro is packed. I can't help it but somehow this Mediterranean thing is always getting to me and it feels more and more like my home away from home.

Ciao K - time to catch up... Siofok and the Balaton lake where just a blur - nothing to write home about, except the fact that there was good German beer everywhere! The night train to Venice was a different story alltogether: My old theory proved right again that the smaller and less important a nation, the more it tries to overcompensate at its border crossings. Getting out of Hungary took over half an hour but getting into Croatia was quite the communist experience - all passports and tickets collected, everybody corraled into their compartments where we had to sit (not stand or lay down), and no fewer than six (6!) dudes checking the passports. That's in good old communist fashion just half the story - next came the proverbial customs bitches, sniffing through backpacks and suitcases as if economic refugees where hiding there (of course, they would all try to get off the train in Croatia and not in Italy). Repeat at the Croatia-Slovenija border crossing. Long story short... those are two stamps in my passport that were earned the hard way! Venice the next day (with little sleep the night before and at super-hot and humid weather) was nothing I could enjoy too much - out of control tourism there, even for this seasoned traveller. So nothing but catching the next train to Florence... what a relief! Beautiful sights, an awesome hostel in the mountains, and quite the rewarding day trips to Siena and Pisa. No, I was two days early for the Palio but, yes, I did shell out the 15 Euros to climb atop the Leaning Tower. Had two more days to kill so I decided to check out La Spezia and the Rivera at Cinque Terre... what a must-see coast line!!! I am amazed that I almost missed it - hiked from Monterossa al Mare to Vernazza today, then a quick train hop to Riomaggiore, and the sunset walk along the cliffs an the Via dell'Amore to Manarola. Maybe some diving tomorrow, then the night train to Naples. The tan is kicking in!

Yehe Kermit... Time is flying; it's become increasingly difficult to keep you up to date on everything. I'll try! So, Vienna was my last blip... went on to Budapest - what a blast from the past! A beautiful city but considering it was the eastern place closest to the west during the iron curtain times it's amazing to see it now, seemingly stuck in the old times. Awesome sights, though, and wonderful people - not to mention the Roman and Turkish baths everywhere... I spent every single one of my afternoons in the city there! Left Friday for my whirlwind trip to Paris over the weekend. As amazing as ever - walked the Champ de Mars at night to marvel at the strobe-illuminated Tour Eiffel, hiked all the way up to the Etoile to the Arc de Triomphe, along the Champs Elysees to the Place de la Concorde, and then cooled off my feet in the ponds aroud the Pyramide de Louvre. Next day I finally managed, in my third attempt over the past 11 years, to get on top of the roof of the Tour Montparnasse... what a view! Kind of a weird feeling - it's so similar to the WTC rooftop platform, albeit a little lower, but nevertheless. Night time at Notre Dame, then hiking from Pigalle up to Sacre Coeur. Yesterday back via Zuerich to Budapest and then on by train to lake Balaton. Enjoying the beaches (and the super-low prices) today... will catch an overnighter to be in Venice 14 hours later. Next: Florence, Pisa, Sienna, Naples, Pompeji, Vesuv, Capri, Brindisi... then by ferry to Patras/Greece on August 21/22.

Gruezi Kermit! Getting way too much culture and history right now - first beautiful Prague, now fancy Vienna. What a life!!! I even managed to get some working out squeezed in between beers and desserts galore - I climbed the tower of the St. Stephan's Dome yesterday and enjoyed a marvellous view over the old downtown roofs. Thanks to Torschtel-Borschtel's old Deutsche Bank connection I even organized a quick lunch caffee with the one and only Mr. Froemmer, who now resides here and in Berlin. It's ridiculously hot right now (36C-97F) with quite high humidity but I shouldn't complain... Maybe I will take a break tomorrow afternoon and join the masses sporting some Speedos in the sunshine and swimming in the Donau river. Monday it's Budapest!