Hola KJ - back in Madrid! What a busy week did I have... returned from Crete to Germany and enjoyed mama's cooking for a few days before spending a fun night with my high school gang - class reunion after 16 years. Quite a surprise to hear the life stories of some of them, and funny to note that most girls were quickly turning into big breeders while most guys are still clinging to the life in the fast lane. Another great train ride followed aboard a tilt-technology ICE-T through many Germain mountain areas to Munich, where I obviously had few other reasons for being than the Oktoberfest. A quick side trip to Salzburg in Austria, and then it was again off to Madrid to put the icing on top of my round-the-world cake. For all of you in the know - I did get my new passport and I also managed to finally get my new US visas today... woohoo! Sunday it's back to California for my next round of dishwasher-to-millionaire attempts.

Once again, Kalimera - this time from the island of Crete. After my last post I did manage to get to Istanbul in Turkey, which is quite an amazing place for religious architecture, intercontinental river cruises, and fake designer goods on 1,000s of bazaars throughout the city. As I am not too impressed by all things churches and mosques etc. I took the overnight bus two days later to get via Izmir to Bodrum, only to catch a ferry to the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Yeah!!! My favorite past-time.. island-hopping in the land of Homer & Co. This year, I started on Kos, where I visited the ancient Asklipieion of Hippocrates, first hospital in the world and birthplace of modern medicine. Some beach time, then on to Rhodes to wander around this amazing old town of cobblestone alleys and medieval fortresses. I also made it to the touristy Akropolis of Lindos and the southern beaches of Gennadi, where I could finally escape the relentless crowds. A ferry at ungodly morning hours took me to Karpathos, half-way towards Crete. Climbing around the old village of Olymbos is nothing short of spectacular, with its isolated people and their strange customs providing the real traveling experience away from the beaten paths. Another beach-only day at Amoopi before I hopped on the next ferry to Sitia, Crete's easternmost port. More beachtime at the famous palm tree forest of Vai in the far east, then a day in Agios Nikolaos. I arrived at Iraklio today, main city of the island, and after all that island solitude this is quite the civilization shock here, with thousands of stupid tourists causing prices to be more than twice as high as in the rest of the Aegaean Sea. Nevertheless, I did venture to the Palace of Knossos and must say that, after having seen the likes of Pompeji and Herculaneum in Italy, I was quite disappointed. Anyway, more beach time tomorrow and on Monday it's back to Germany for a few days!

Kalimera Froggie - puh, the Olympics are over! I guess you knew that but here's the really good news: I am on the road again!!! I finally managed to escape computer slavery (talk about tuning a web site!) and armchair sports (thanks to EuroSport), so I made my way via Budapest (by plane) to Bucarest (nice couchette overnight train, the old style). Romania's capital is an impressive mix of huge tree-lined avenues and Ceaucescu-era monstrous communist buildings, none more overwhelming than the Palace of the People, the second-largest building in the world. A sweet first-class IC ride to Constanta and a bus ride later I found myself on the coast of the Black Sea in Neptun-Olimp, one of the old communist-era beach resorts with lots of concrete and not a lot of people these days. I chose the land border crossing to Bulgaria via Vama Veche, which forced me to hike for 6 kilometers (with backpack!) to the next village of Durankulak, before there was bus service to Golden Sands available. Boy, did I enjoy the beach time even more! Countless hotels hidden in a forest along the hills of the long beach, with endless bars and club options day and night. The nearby city of Varna was quite pretty, with many shady boulevards and a large center with mostly pedestrian-only streets. Now I am north of Burgas on Bulgaria's Sunshine Coast in the medieval town of Nessebar. Very touristy but rightfully so - basically an open-air museum of a small town perched on a rocky cliff island just offshore. On the way to Istanbul now, here I will arrive by overnight train (I love those!) on Sunday morning. More planning info on http://www.matthiasworldwide.com