In 2017 I finished my thesis in Malaysia, flew back to Europe, got a job in Sarajevo and settled down there for a bit. It would have been easy to stay. Too easy. Being comfortable makes me uncomfortable, so in 2018 I became once more an everything-I-own-in-a-backpack no-fixed-abode full-time digital nomad. I posted logs or photos or blogposts to my site 4,817 times and posted 9,520 individual photos. tl;dr Started travelling, around Europe, mostly. Did not fly. Finally wrapped up the last Social Web WG specs. Left OCCRP and joined ODS. Drafted half a novel. Went to a couple of conferences, for either fun or profit. Refaced my website. Made many new friends, some fleeting, some lingering on WhatsApp or Signal. Goals for 2019: Proceed on current trajectory, but write more. Skip to: Words Travel Work Code Stuff January: travel practice February: re-finding my nomad March: slow down April: new experiences, and academia flashbacks May: beaches and history and solitude June: home again home again July: off-route August: back on plan September: Lithuania is underrated October: writing, stability, then a detour November: I LOVE POLAND December: to the sea, better late than never Reflection on 2018 2019 Words I wrote 437 things. On my site I posted 350 short notes or commentary with photos, and 87 longer articles. I also logged non-blogpost writing 34 times. These all comprise approximately 122,401 words in total (47,804 off-site). That's a mean of 335.35 words and 1.20 posts per day. I wrote about 217 different topics, with the most common being travel (181), life (89), food (46), week in review (44), vegan (38), hacking (26), Georgia (the country) (13), sloph (13), tourism (12), Sarajevo, Bosnia (10), Poland (10), and nanowrimo (10). My NaNoWriMo project was Birds, and I also wrote small bits of Quest for Brothers and Offcast. Travel I stopped in a total of 24 countries; I visited 9 countries for more than a couple of weeks, 7 of which I had never been to before, and passed through (with a stop of 12 hours to 10 days) 15 others (6 new). I achieved my goal of not flying at all, and have way better travel stories as a result. Long stays: Austria (18 nights), Bosnia (49 nights), (new:) Estonia (26 nights), Georgia (15 nights), Greece (26 nights), Hungary (16 nights), Latvia (23 nights), Lithuania (27 nights), Poland (51 nights). Short stays: Bulgaria (2 nights), Croatia (7 nights), Czech Republic (12 nights), Finland (2 nights), France (6 nights), Malta (3 nights), Serbia (2 nights), Slovak Republic (8 nights), Slovenia (3 nights), UK (34 nights total, not consecutive), Ukraine (4 nights). Transit-length/single day stays: Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey. I spent 31 nights sleeping in transit (on buses, ferries, trains, etc). Apart from that, I spent 77 nights in short-term rental accommodation, 71 nights in AirBnbs, 69 nights in hostel dorms, 56 nights at friends' places, 24 nights with family, 23 nights at Vipassana meditation centres, 8 nights in hotels, 5 nights shared AirBnbs covered by work, and 1 night camping. In total I spent 2 months, 26 days, 6 hours, 56 minutes, and 21 seconds in transit (this includes walking between places). To travel long distance or internationally, I took 52 bus journeys, 18 long distance trains, 9 ferries, and made 8 journeys in a car (either hitchhiking or a ride with a friend). I also bought tickets for local bus, tram or metro 44 times, took 10 taxis, and had 3 rides on a cable car. When I wasn't on the move, I spent: 5 months, 13 days, 10 hours, 7 minutes and 7 seconds on an adventure 1 month, 24 days, 1 hour, 49 minutes and 38 seconds at home 21 days, 17 hours 44 minutes, and 22 seconds out getting food 20 days, 15 hours and 55 minutes with logging turned off 12 days, 13 hours, 1 minute and 33 seconds in an office 6 days, 4 hours, 45 minutes and 59 seconds in meetings 3 days and 6 hours at an event and was out exercising for 2 days, 1 hour and 10 minutes. Work I worked remotely one day a week for W3C through January, in-person 3 days a week for OCCRP from until February then remotely for OCCRP from February until May flexibly between 10 and 40 hours per week. I joined Open Data Services Co-operative at the end of May, and work 3 days per week with a fully remote team, with a couple of trips back to the UK for in-person meetings. Towards the end of December, I picked up an extra one day a week of spec-writing contracting work with Digital Bazaar. Code This is my Github commit log: Github counted 790 'contributions'. This includes commits over 27 repositories, 10 of which I created (in 2018). This is significantly less than last year. Which I think means I successfully did less work, which was one of my goals. Here is the list of repos (expands inline). I'm too lazy to link them. Some of these are private. alephdata/aleph alephdata/flexicadastre alephdata/followthemoney alephdata/memorious csarven/articles csarven/lr-thesis linkeddata/dokieli linkedresearch/linkedresearch.org occrp-attic/exactitude occrp/tech.occrp.org open-contracting/extensions-data-collector open-contracting/kingfisher-scrape OpenDataServices/cove OpenDataServices/developer-docs OpenDataServices/fireproofbox-standard OpenDataServices/lib-cove-web OpenDataServices/sedldata openownership/cove-bods perma-id/w3id.org rhiaro/admin rhiaro/birds rhiaro/cashcache rhiaro/ch-seco-sanctions rhiaro/evieblue rhiaro/homeiswherethehammockis.com rhiaro/ocds-memorious-crawlers rhiaro/pym rhiaro/questforbrothers rhiaro/salvage rhiaro/sloph rhiaro/sloph rhiaro/unknown-sample rhiaro/vocab-logs rhiaro/zulip2md w3c/activitystreams w3c/credweb Stuff I purchased or otherwise acquired something on 928 occasions, spending a total of approximately €11,080.72 for the whole year. I used 13 different currencies (EUR, RSD, BAM, PLN, GBP, CZK, UAH, GEL, TRY, BGN, HRK, USD, HUF). This is an average expenditure of €30.36 per day, €213.09 per week, or €923.39 per month. My rough budget for everything has been €1000, so I call this a success. This includes donations to charities/organisations/people, gifts, and buying other peoples' food or bus fare. This does not include ATM fees, bank fees and loss through currency conversion. It would be too depressing to try to add this up. Naturally the things I acquired the most often were food (435 times), restaurant (345), transit (147), groceries (143), takeaway (98), and leisure (75). On accommodation, I spent €4,175.61 in total, averaging €11.44 per night, and €347.97 per month. I spent €1,891.64 on transit (buses, trains, etc). I spent €763.49 on groceries, buying them 143 times. I bought food that was ready to eat on 435 occasions, spending €3,012.56; 79.3% of the time this was in restaurants and 22.5% to take away. On 43 occasions I got something for free. The most expensive thing I bought was 20 nights shelter in Tallinn (AirBnB) (€597) and the cheapest thing (which wasn't free) was Old Oyster card refunds (x3) (€-27.49). I spent on average €11.94 per time. 97.4% of my acquire posts have photos attached. You can see them all at /stuff January: travel practice I woke up on the 1st of January 2018 in Malta, with a resolution not to fly at all this year. I made my way back to Sarajevo by two ferries and four buses, over three days, via Catania and Napoli (Italy) and Zagreb (Croatia). Did some touristing in Bosnia, this month, in the environs of Sarajevo (Goat's Bridge, Bobsled track), and to Visocko pyramids and Mostar. Watched a lot of Star Trek the Original Series, which was a slog. ActivityPub finally made it to W3C Recommendation, and so did WebSub. 19 January posts. Weeks in review: 1st - 7th 8th - 14th 15th - 21st 22nd - 28th February: re-finding my nomad My last Sarajevo adventure was to Vrelo Bosna. I convinced nice people at OCCRP to let me go remote, and said farewell. I made plans to head south to Montenegro, then promptly changed them and went to my Mum's for two weeks. There was a wee bird and a Grandma who needed a bit of looking after, and I got to catch up with old friends and deflate a little. And let my Mum cut my dreads off, and then shaved my head. I saw Bown, Laurel and Jamie in London and Pete and Alan in Lincoln. I took a bus to Prague (Czech Republic) via a day in Amsterdam, and spent the final few days of the month freezing my ass off there. 24 February posts. Weeks in review: 29th Jan - 4th 5th - 11th 12th - 18th 19th - 25th March: slow down The month started with a long weekend in Ljubljana (Slovenia), visting Elizabeth and her family. Then I headed to Budapest (Hungary) for the rest of the month. Naomi came to visit, and we went to thermal baths. 23 March posts. Weeks in review: 26th Feb - 4th 5th - 11th 12th - 21st April: new experiences, and academia flashbacks From Budapest I got a ride to the mountains near Mariazelle, Austria. I served on a 10 day Vipassana retreat, working in the kitchen to prepare food for 175 people every day, which was some of the most fun I've ever had. I got a ride back to Vienna, then took a bus to Bratislava (Slovak Republic), where I spent a week. I had a comically tiny flat, and immediately fell in love with the city. My sister turned up for the weekend, and then together we went back to Vienna. She had a conference, and I bummed in her university-sponsored AirBnb for a week. I dyed my buzzcut purple, blue and green. After that, I headed to Brno by bus, and met my roommate Petra from the earlier Vipassna retreat. I stayed for a week with her and her family in South Moravia, in the Czech countryside. We meditated and did yoga and went on walks in nature and that was lovely. We spent a night at her friend's in Prague, and then I caught a bus to Lyon (France). I stayed there for TheWebConf, chaired the Developers' Track, and helped out with the Researcher Centric Scholarly Comms workshop. It was nice to not be seeking something from the conference, no need to further my academic career or make certain contacts. I could just hang out with cool people, and complain about the food. I bussed from Lyon to Munich (Germany) and spent a day there before continuing to Krakow (Poland). Then Open Data Services offered me a job, though I wouldn't start til June. I thought I might take a month off, but worked another month for OCCRP anyway. 43 April posts. Weeks in review: 22nd Mar - 1st 2nd - 8th 9th - 15th 16th - 22nd 23rd - 29th May: beaches and history and solitude I spent a couple of days in Krakow, before taking a train to Gdynia in the north. Here I settled in a shared flat for a month. There was a heatwave, and I got to spend my downtime hiking astonishing white sandy beaches, dunes, and wild pine forests. I walked the Hel Peninsula. I also learnt more about the history of Eastern Europe from museums in Gdansk and Gdynia than I ever learnt at school. I met Adam at a CouchSurfing meetup and he drove me far enough that we could walk along the beach to the Kaliningrad (Russia) border with Poland, we got caught in a rainstorm, and then I introduced him to the marvels of vegan pizza. I bussed back to London (via Amsterdam where I saw the Soton crew at WebSci) for my induction into ODS and some training. 42 May posts. Weeks in review: 30th Apr - 6th 7th - 13th 14th - 20th 21st - 27th June: home again home again I spent a couple of weeks in the UK, met ODS colleagues in London and saw family and Tigo and Laurel, TomSka, Polly, Chloe, Doc, Oli. I went to Edinburgh to catch up with friends as well. I went back to Sarajevo via Vienna and Prague for a couple of weeks. Handed off some work, swapped my work laptop back for my personal one, and of course saw friends and enjoyed Sarajevo in the summertime. I spent the last night on the sofa in Prana Yoga Studio, then rode with Aida (my yoga teacher) and others to Croatia. 29 June posts. Weeks in review: 28th May - 3rd 4th - 10th 11th - 17th 18th - 24th July: off-route The first week of July was a yoga retreat with Aida on the beautiful island of Iz, just off the coast of Zadar. It was hot, the sea was clear, and the hotel was all vegetarian and there was no wifi in the rooms. I took most of the week off work and relaxed, and talked about yoga and veganism and Yugoslavia with Juliana and Amila (and Sofia). I stayed another night in Zadar, before bussing to Sofia (Bulgaria). There I spent a few days in a hostel, and met Franzi. I bussed directly from Sofia to Istanbul (Turkey), bought another ticket and waited a few hours, then went all the way through Turkey to the Georgian border. Unexpectedly the bus didn't actually cross the border, but dumped the few remaining passengers at Sarp, the most chaotic border crossing I've ever seen. It was hot, there were hundreds of people, many carrying giant carpets, and actual fights broke out in the 'lines'. After passport control the Georgian side was airconditioned, and more civilised. I don't know where all the people dispersed to. I caught a marshrutka to Batumi, a city on the Black Sea, and spent some days there in a hostel. It's a very strange place, but in a nice way. Then I bussed to Tbilisi. I was advised to take the train, but left it too late and there were no tickets left. I stayed in Tbilisi with Jason and Elspeth for a little over a week, and attended the Open Governence Partnership conference. I met some of my ODS colleagues I hadn't met yet IRL, as well as some folks from OCCRP, and it was pretty fun. I met Eric, Jason's vegan friend, and Georgian food blew my mind. We went to the Rachuli mountains for a long weekend after the conference. I took a train back to Batumi, spent a few days deflating in a nice apartment on the seafront, and absorbing more Batumi weirdness. My ferry out was postponed a day, and then delayed another day after boarding. Eventually it left, and I spent two days traversing the Black Sea to Ukraine on a hand-me-down Lithuanian vessel crewed only by people who spoke Russian, with all the customs forms and other documents in Turkish. It was a bit weird. I arrived in Odesa (Ukraine), which was hot and as weird as Batumi but in different ways. I stayed in an awful hostel, and took the train out across the country to Lviv. 56 July posts. Weeks in review: 25th Jun - 1st 2nd - 8th 9th - 15th 16th - 22nd 23rd - 30th August: back on plan I spent a few days in Lviv in a lovely hostel, in the company of some of the amazing and generous people (Sasha and Roman) who work at Quinta Group with government procurement data. My explore-the-Baltics-in-the-summer plan was a little delayed, but eventually I made it to Estonia. Almost a week in Tartu to begin with, and then on to Tallinn for the rest of the month. I started out by almost immediately getting locked in the City Library. I had an AirBnb to myself, and spent my time wandering beaches and woods and wildlife conservation areas and touristy things. I met Vandesh at a vegan picnic in the park which I found through CouchSurfing. I got a cool sideshave haircut, and bleached my hair blonde, aiming for white but not quite getting it. I also applied for Estonian e-residency. I took the ferry to Helsinki in time for the MyData conference. 45 August posts. Weeks in review: 30th July - 5th 6th - 12th 13th - 20th 21st - 28th September: Lithuania is underrated I didn't attend the MyData conference, but bengo let me crash in his AirBnb and I went to the social events. We went back to Tallinn, which I had planned to leave immediately but struggled a bit and stayed an extra night. I managed to drag myself away eventually, and stopped in Parnu, Estonia's seaside town. I spent a week crawling my way around the Baltic coast, aiming for Klaipeda (Lithuania). I took a bus from Parnu to Riga, then Riga to Kolka (Latvia). One night on the beach of the Cape in a barrel-house in one of the most beautiful places ever. I hitched a ride from my barrel-house-neighbours, Tomas and Eva (from Warsaw), around the coast to Ventspils, then on to Liepaja, where I stayed in a hostel for a couple of nights. I took a bus to Klaipeda, and spent a week there. I cycled the Curonian Spit, but could only manage one way. It was beautiful. Then I spent two weeks in Kaunas, in a super friendly small hostel. I met Paul, who worked there, and they started referring to me as the "long term resident". Kaunas is a highly underrated small city, with oodles of river and nice places to walk, as well as a cute old town. The Pope also came by while I was there. I went to Vilnius for a week, by train. Stayed in a hostel over a giant club, and had either attend or sleep through a rave or two. Cafe worked and touristed and treora showed up for a few days. Spent a day in Trakai too. 59 September posts. Weeks in review: 27th Aug - 2nd 3rd - 9th 10th - 16th 17th - 23rd 24th - 30th October: writing, stability, then a detour After a month of hostels and buses, it was time to slow it down again. I spent the whole month in Riga (Latvia), with a studio apartment AirBnb to myself once more. On the first weekend, Claire (who I met in Malaysia, in Wholey Wonder) came to visit. I lied, I didn't spend the whole month. At the last minute I decided in the third week to head back to the UK for the ODS OGM in Nottingham, and had just enough time to squeeze in a visit to my family before heading back to Riga. Some touristing, and mushrooms! I did NaNoWriMo, a month early, managing over 43k words of a story I love despite the travel and work and guests. I picked up my Estonian e-residency from the embassy in Riga. The weather started to deteriorate. 24 October posts. Weeks in review: 1st - 7th 8th - 14th 15th - 21st 22nd - 28th November: I LOVE POLAND I went back to Poland, where the weather was much better. I spent a week comprehensively falling in love with Warsaw, and then went out into the countryside to sit a 10 day Vipassana retreat. I had made no onward plans, and got a ride to Wroclaw, which I spent a week comprehensively falling in love with as well. There are lots of islands, rivers, bridges, but the weather was getting colder still. There's a direct bus to Bratislava (Slovak Republic), so that's where I went next. I met up with Helmut, who I met on the Vipassana retreat in Austria, for an afternoon and evening. I still loved Bratislava, but it kind of pales in comparison to Poland. I went to Vienna, then on to Sarajevo (Bosnia i Herzegovina). Logically this is not a sensible thing to do in the winter, but if you zoom the map out really far it's sort of in the right direction. And of course I saw Elizabeth and Almedina and jen and Edin and Rysiek and Czesiek and Aida and whomever happened to walk into the Data Team office at OCCRP while I was hanging out there. And unexpectedly I bumped into Juliana (are you paying attention? I met her at the yoga retreat in Croatia in July). 22 November posts. Weeks in review: 29th Oct - 7th 8th - 18th 19th - 25th December: to the sea, better late than never Then it got smoggy. Really smoggy. I carved my way through the air to East Sarajevo bus station, and left for Belgrade (Serbia). I spent a few days in Belgrade, because I hadn't been there in quite a few years. I'll never love Belgrade, but it's alright. Bus ticket negotiation was tricky by email and the web, but in person I was helped very well, and went directly to Thessaloniki (Greece). It was a relief to reach the sea, and the threat of freezing temperatures was finally abated. After a week of cafe working and very gentle touristing, I went to Kavala for a day, then caught a ferry to Mytilene, Lesbos. I took the bus across the island to Petra, when it eventually left, and settled in to a studio flat right on the sea front. The town is very small, and quiet in the off season; most cafes and restaurants are closed down. My host, Eleni and her family are extraordinarily generous, and I'm really being looked after. Lesbos is an island rich in variety of flora and fauna with beaches and mountains of all kinds to explore. Local olives are great, and Greeks are generally a hospitable, if loud, bunch. Got one day a week of Web standards related contracting work. Should be fun, but 3 days a week suits me well so not sure if will live to regret an extra one, we'll see. I got a great haircut, and dyed my hair dusty grey-purple. 39 December posts. Weeks in review: 26th Nov - 2nd 3rd - 9th 10th - 16th 17th - 23rd 24th - 30th Reflection on 2018 A pretty successful year, I think. My tl;dr goals were "write more, travel more, work less." I achieved all of those, right up until this month where I picked up some extra work, but still not enough to make me full time. I aimed to sit another Vipassana retreat, and I managed to serve one and sit one. I focussed a lot on conscious eating, reduced the amount I eat, and waste I produce from takeaway food. Some specific things I didn't do were: Set up a real travel blog style website. Instead I improved my photo galleries and general display of rhiaro.co.uk though. Complete a draft of Quest for Brothers. I did a little bit of writing and editing, and a lot more planning and world building though. I guess I thought I'd write QfB for this year's NaNoWriMo, but I wrote Birds instead. Write endings to Of the Moon and Milo's World. Just didn't happen. Write a short story every month. I managed one month and then dropped the ball. I didn't go to Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro or Romania, and I only passed through Bulgaria, Serbia and Turkey. Some things I did that I didn't expect were: Changed my job, which was a very tough decision but I'm pretty sure I made the right one. Zigzagging so much to visit the UK and Sarajevo for work and Georgia and France for conferences. I went to Georgia, Ukraine and France, and spent more time in Austria than expected. Took a ferry across the Black Sea. I was saving that for a future braver me, but it was fine. I read much more fiction than I expected, I think. My Fairphone made it to December! But it's on its very last legs, and as of the beginning of Dec I'm only turning it on in emergencies because the batteries are pretty fucked and charging is agony. Came in well under my budget for the year; months I overspent were still outbalanced by months I spent little. This is definitely thanks to spending about 4 months total rent-free with friends and family or on Vipassana retreats. I've become a lot better at understanding my own needs and rhythms. I have a good idea of when I need solitude, or when it is going to be bad for me, and what I should do to feel better if that happens. For most of the year I roughly alternated between staying in hostel dorms, with friends or family, and getting a flat to myself. I mostly got it right, but there were times when being with people too much or being alone too much got to me. I continue to meet people who are astonished that I travel alone, and this reminds me just how important it is to me. Of course it's nice to spend time with friends and friendly strangers, even long stretches, but ultimately I still need my day-to-day to be completely untethered from anyone else. I appreciate never having to compromise, being able to make decisions and change my mind and never having to explain myself or convince someone else. I know how to plan a day for me, the kinds of places I'm willing to stay, how fast I walk, how long I spend in museums, how much effort I'm willing to put in to find a vegan restaurant with a wrong address on happycow; throwing someone else into the mix makes that impossible. Even someone I think I know well, or someone with whom I have a lot in common. Call me selfish, but never having to check in to see how someone else is doing is absolute bliss. I discovered, or perhaps for the first time managed to vocalise, the feeling of arriving in a brand new place I know nothing about. I felt it a lot this year, and very distinctly on some specific occasions. It's easy to get swept up in the rhythm of travel. No trip feels special when your whole life is making trips. Things become a haze of movement, bus schedules, logistics, finding food, taking photos, pretty landscapes, walking tours. But I take it as slow as I can, and stop to appreciate the rush of being somewhere for the first time. Especially somewhere I know nobody, and nobody knows me. And every time I do, nothing compares. Sort of related is enjoying making do with what's available in a new place. My diet changes every month based on what local food I can buy, and how I prepare meals and coffee changes because of the kitchen facilities I can access. I've stayed in places with only microwaves, only stovetops, only grills, or no kitchen at all, and figured out how to make meals. I learnt at least half a dozen different ways to make coffee, and that a great many different household objects can be re-purposed as a rolling pin. Having a low-pressure job and working 3 days a week is enormously good for my mental health. Writing code is often frustrating, and often boring, but I don't miss academia or deadlines at all. Having a schedule that ensures I have time to hike, to read fiction, to hack on my own stuff, to write, and most importantly to just be with nobody expecting any outputs or results, is amazing. I really appreciate having a flexible job, where I can switch days or hours around if I need to for travel reasons, or if my head just wasn't in the right place to be productive on a work day, I can make it up another time. It's been well over a year now, but I still feel the lightness of being free from you-should-be-writing guilt. Of course, there is always more to do. But I don't feel bad about not doing it. I could be a hundred times more 'productive' if I wanted to. But I don't want to. And that's okay. I also value being part of an amazing remote team now. Checking in by video call has become a habit; one I thought would be too social for me before I started, but I have acclimatised. Text-based communication is still my preferred, but seeing the faces of my colleagues every workday morning is.. just nice. I thought a lot this year about how to provide safety and comfort for people who need it. My Vipassana kitchen experience cemented in me that I want to one day open a pay-as-you-want hearty healthy vegan kitchen, and my social media timelines full of people who are having a hard time and just need a place to go has had me thinking about how a pay-as-you-want hostel/shelter might work. One thing I miss while I'm travelling is not being able to offer people a place to stay. It's a way off, and I have no idea yet where that would be, but it's on my mind. Meanwhile, what I can do is donate money to organisations who can provide these kinds of things, or to individuals who ask for help on the internet (or sometimes in person, on the street). In the medium term, I would definitely not mind transitioning away from tech. 2019 I plan to continue to travel in the same way through 2019. How much time I spend in EU countries may depend on Brexit and like wow, really who knows how that's going to go. It may have no effect on my travelling at all, or I may suddenly be hit by a need for visas or uncertainty at borders. Really no idea. Not flying is now baked in to my psyche, so I don't expect that to change. But hopefully I will spend at least two weeks in the following countries: Albania Belarus? Maybe Bulgaria Greece Kosovo Macedonia Moldova Montenegro Romania Serbia Turkey Ukraine It could also be nice to spend longer in Croatia and Slovak Republic, if the opportunity arises. I should exercise more. No, I will exercise more. I still hike a lot, but I only did yoga this year in the presence of Aida (and she knew it) and I stopped running (except with my sister, in Vienna, and once in Tallinn). So there's that new year's resolution cliche. I refresh my aim to sit at least one Vipassana course. And did I mention? Write more. I will strive again to draft Quest for Brothers, finish Milo's World and Of the Moon, and now I have Birds to finish as well. I wrote half of it in one month, surely I can write the second half in another month.
An important thing I accomplished today was interpreting the Greek TV menu to connect it to the wifi and log into netflix \o/ Often these things are so unintuitive it takes hours when the thing is in English, so I thought that was pretty good.
I would like to spend some time in a big transparent bubble, ideally heated and decked out with a beanbag and cosy blankets (and wifi obviously, or at least my kindle) and just sit in the middle of a raging rainstorm.
rhiaro.co.uk is the canonical source, everything there is mirrored to mastodon and twitter. Occasional posts are only mirrored to mastodon, and not twitter. (and you can fetch it all from my site as ActivityStreams 2.0 RDF with conneg of course ;)
What is this, new Captain every episode..? Enjoyed the red herring. Jett Reno is awesome can she stay?!
I had a pretty good day.
How is it that flies can find their way in through a tiny gap in the window but never out again?
Syros is small enough to hike across its width and back in a day, with time to hang around in the middle, if you start early. I didn't go there and back yesterday though, instead spending some extra time to explore the western side of the island more. Here's the GPS trace on Runkeeper. I started from Lazarate, and headed around the back of Ermoupoli, up the hills until it was mostly fields, with a few scattered houses. Great views over Ermoupoli, Ano Syros, and the bay the whole way. I reached the village of Episkopio and left the main road to pick up the hiking trail. At the start of the trail I met a tiny cerberus.. or.. three medium sized barking dogs who were neither tied up nor behind a fence. Unequipped for battling mythological monsters that day, I backed up, retreated all the way to the turn-off to Alithini, and continued along the main road instead. This was a bit longer, basically going around the other side of the hill to the hiking trail (the east side rather than west), and probably less nice terrain but also goes a bit higher and provides continuing specatcular views of Ermoupoli and the sea, and at the peak in a small spot you can see the sea in both directions at once. Then the descent began, with a view of Kini and its bay the whole way. There are some spectacular rock formations, and lots of quartz and glittering stones in the ground. I managed to get off the main road for the final descent to the village, after spotting some stairs and a small sign to the right. It took 2 hours to walk from Ermoupoli to Kini, with the diversion. I wandered around Kini, which was quiet but not deserted. Feels more like a summer-town though. The beach is nice, and there's a pier with steps straight into the sea for swimming. I couldn't find the bus stop, so asked someone who told me it's by the mermaid fountain. There's no sign there, and she didn't know the schedule. But I had plenty of time before the probable last bus, and it wasn't too far to walk back if I missed it anyway. The trail to Delphini, just around the coast to the north, takes about 30 minutes and is not for the faint of heart. To find the start, follow the beach around to the north, along the road a bit and up the last stone steps you can see, past a small house. From there it's just a narrow dirt path through the gorse that creeps veeery close to a sheer drop to the sea and jagged rocks below in some places. It was really beautiful of course, with deep green-blue sea. Delphini seemed empty. There's a beach bar (closed), and a few houses which are probably summer rentals. Delphini beach was described to me as 'wild', but I read somewhere that the next beach over, Varvaroussa, is truely untouched, so I continued on. The trail to Varvaroussa starts just up the hill from the beach bar (there's a lower down trail that doesn't go all the way). This was high up the side of the cliff too, but a more gentle slope down so you wouldn't get thrown directly into the ocean if a big gust of wind came, but roll through the gorse a bit.. That is until you get past the big sticky-out bit, and around to the next bay, with Varvaroussa in view. Then it's a challenging rocky scramble, over a trail that would be impossible to see without the helpful presence of red dots painted on rocks at intervals. The red dots could also be a practical joke to lure gullible hikers to their doom. I made it though, in about 35 minutes, so I assume they were done with good intentions. Varvaroussa is not attached to the rest of the world by road; the only way there from any direction is scrambling over the hills, so it really is wild. Looking back at the direction I'd come, there was no clear route in or out. There were a couple of old abandoned-looking stone houses in the hillside, and the rambling stone walls you see everywhere, but nothing else. I sat alone, cut off from the world; ate my lunch, went for a swim. The sun was warm, but it was also windy despite the sheltered feeling of the bay so the sea wasn't especially calm and pretty bloody cold. I didn't swim long. I packed up and returned the way I'd come, because there's pretty much no other option. The first few minutes was a direct, almost vertical climb, guided by red dots, that felt much steeper going up than it had coming down. From Delphini I took the road back to Kini, for a change of scene. I asked after the bus schedule in cafe Aepiko, and they looked it up online for me; the next and last bus to Ermoupoli was at 17.20, about 2 hours time. I stayed for a coffee and split pea hummus. At the bus stop, I made some catfriends and watched the sun set. Kini is famous (apparently) for its stunning beach sunsets, but in the winter the angle is a bit off and it dips behind a hill instead of into the ocean. At 1725 there was still no bus and I was starting to feel the cold. And my legs hurt. I no longer fancied walking the return journey. Then the waiter from the cafe drove past, and stopped. He was heading back to Ano Syros, and offered me a ride. Sometimes I really wonder when my continuous good fortune while traveling will run out. (We passed the bus after 5 minutes though.) I had to haul myself back up the hill to Lazarate though, and when I got home my knees and hips were insisting I'd walked 20 miles, not 11. Maybe it was the steep climbs, or maybe because I haven't hiked for 2 weeks, or maybe I'm just getting old. The rest of the photos are here.
I woke up at 6 to head to the port, and got slightly chased by an aggressive small dog who I found out the night before had recently bitten one of my hostel dorm roommates. So that was terrifying. The ferry was only an hour and a half late in the end, and a friendly young couple helped me understand this, and what was going on when it announced the location of boarding had changed (just shunted a short walk around the port). Then I spent 12 hours eating only figs and biscotti (thanks Eleni and Dmitris), sleeping, reading, and looking out of the window. I didn't have any other food because the last ferry I'd been on (this exact route, but a different part of it) had some vegan bean dishes on the restaurant menu, so I thought I'd 'indulge' in overpriced mediocre ferry food. Apparently that changed in a month though, and now there was nothing for me to eat. I tried to take a photo of every port we stopped in, which was a lot of them, and mostly the photos are through the grimy window. The weather was pretty good, I went outside in the sun a couple of times. I developed a pretty bad headache and was feeling a bit sick by the end. Very glad to arrive. My host picked me up from the port in Ermoupoli, Syros, and welcomed me with a mini tour, a thousand details about my apartment, and spanakopita :D (spinach pie). This place is across the bay from the city, and the views are amazing.
Amy added 23 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201901-greece/
Rice cooked with red cabbage makes it purple :D Bean chilli. Chips and chips and chips.
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Rains and storms and wind and rainbows and more rain, and always always the ocean crashing.
Amy added 5 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201901-greece/
A mini roadtrip with Eleni and Dmitris to see the northern part of Lesvos. We drove along the coast from Petra, through a stunning landscape of crashing waves on one side and dramatic sheer rocks on the other. We found wild hot springs, and could see snow on the mountains in the distance. It got significantly colder and windier as we arrived to Skala Sykaminias. This is a cute tiny village that is mostly empty in the winter, but it's clear how easily you'd fall in love with the place in the summer. There's a small white church on a rock, the Church of the Virgin Mermaid. We drove back through the mountains for a different view, and stopped in Molyvos for coffee. Molyvos, too, is an unbelievably small town. Nobody is allowed to change their houses from the traditional look, so they're all stone and old looking, clustered along narrow winding streets all packed onto the side of the hill with the castle on top.
Amy added 43 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201901-greece/
Eleni and Dmitris took me to Sigri, to visit the museum of the petrified forest. It was a rainy windy day, so we didn't walk around the area, but the museum is worth going to. The trees are 20 million years old! They were turned to stone by falling ash from a nearby volcano, and eventually buried over the centuries. I thought of The Broken Earth. The different kinds of trees produce different colours and patterns. Some of them are really vibrant reds and pinks. There are many 'in the wild' but they are gradually being uncovered and brought to the museum, or covered in clay to protect them, as the weather will destroy them. I wonder if nature should take its course.. and question the point of holding onto these ancient things that would disappear otherwise.. But also seeing 20 million year old trees is cool. On the way we stopped at a monastery on a hill, with great views obscured by clouds, but still enough to see the sea.
Amy added 19 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201901-greece/
It was a blizzardy day, and the power went out. I was in the middle of working so I went to Tsalikis cafe on the hill, around the bay from Petra. I got pretty rained on, but was lucky to miss the worst of the wind storms that were coming in and out on the 45 minute walk. The views should be amazing, but sometimes while I was inside all of the glass windows were just white. The clouds parted in time for a great sunset though.
Amy added 18 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201901-greece/
With a heavy heart, I packed up and departed Petra. Eleni and Dmitris drove me to Mytilini, about an hour from Petra, then spent some time showing me around. We saw inside an old hammam, and some churches. The main street felt bustling compared to Petra's quiet streets and my peaceful solo hikes over the month. We ran some errands, got some supplies and had a final lunch together. After they left I went to the port to get my ferry ticket, and was told it was late, but nobody knew by how much. I checked into my hostel, which is just a house, and run by and funds towards one of the organisations that helps refugees on the island. Then I went for a wander around to the water and the castle, and finally for dinner at Nan, a restaurant which also helps (and employs) refugees.
Amy added 61 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201901-greece/
My first day on Syros was gloriously sunny and warm. I went for a walk around Ermoupolis, starting at the town square, then around the port and through the medieval Ano Syros up the hill to the Catholic Church of St George, then to the next hill which is topped with the Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Nicholas. I walked the long way around through hilly fields and sparse residences of Alithini. Having neglected to bring any food or drink out with me, when I got back to the city I collapsed in a random cafe on the corner of the main square. This turned out to be all veggie, with several vegan pastries and foccacia, an extensive smoothie menu and a lovely atmosphere. I recouped with a juice and potato pita, then went to get groceries before heading home.
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Some sun, some unseasonal rain, wandering around the neighbourhood, visits to Corner Cafe, new catfriend.
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Lightning storms and lazy days and Zizi destroys the sofa when she comes in and stares at me through the window from the rain when I don't let her in I'm not strong enough for this her liddle face.
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I hiked from Ermoupoli to Kini, then Delphini and Varvaroussa. Read about it here.
Amy added 103 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201901-greece/
It's a funny feeling, watching all of my possessions, which have been gradually spreading out over the course of a month, taking over surfaces and drawers and cupboards, being draped over the backs of chairs, falling under the bed... condense right back down into my backpack again. I like that I don't have to take up too much space.
Studio apartments are soooo good for the lazy. I love when I can reach the kitchen from bed.
I can't believe I'm only now* discovering Ursula K Le Guin. One of my best friends in high school was always trying to get me to read The Wizard of Earthsea, but I never did. I think I borrowed it, but never finished it. Well, better I take that advice 15 years late that never. I wonder if I'd be a different person now if I had, though. * Update: figured it out. After high school I went straight into 8 years of university during which I read almost nothing that wasn't pertaining to my studies. Damn you, education. Making up for lost time now.
Greece is having some weather right now. Last night lightning fried the router, and it got replaced this morning just in time for the next storm. And now I can enjoy it virtually and IRL thanks to lightning maps, introduced by @idlemoor.
Was pretty much rained in all week. Also lazy. It snowed in the mountains, but not at the coast. Pretty cold though. Worked on a bit of OCDS scrapers stuff and a bit of CoVE stuff. Proofread a chapter of a thesis I really hope will be finished soon. Looked at the ocean. Re-implemented burrow (ActivityPub checkin client) and started on farpoint (ActivityPub travel log client). Listened to the ocean.
Eleni and Dmitris took me on a mini roadtrip to Skala Sykaminias, a super cute tiny village by the sea in the north of Lesvos. It was much colder and windier there. Did some more work with Scrapy, fixed some bugs, made some new bugs, found some holes in the plot, generally a bit frustrating. Eleni and Dmitris took me on an adventure to Sigri, to see the petrified forest, associated museum, and a monestary on a mountaintop. There were some really good storms. Started reading The Disposessed. Spent a day in Mytilini with Eleni, stayed overnight in a hostel, then caught the ferry out to Syros early in the morning. Farewell, Lesvos. It was fantastic.
Settled into a nice hillside studio across the bay from Ermoupolis, Syros. Went for a wander around town and nearby hills. Remotely attended ~3 days of ODSC OGM and co-working time. Little bits of hacking on sloph and burrow. Thought about DIDs and Verified Credentials. Met a cat called Zizi. Lazed around a bit.. read The Disposessed.. somehow finished Pine Gap, Secret City; started Discovery S2; a ton more Travelers; and a few movies :s Edited a thesis chapter.
Finished The Disposessed, started Left Hand of Darkness. Enjoyed some lightning storms. Stayed in bed a lot. Finished Travelers, and some movies. Did some editorial work on the Verifiable Credentials and Decentralised Identifiers specs. Changed my end-of-Feb-March plans. Submitted a paper to Rebooting the Web of Trust 8. Started on internationalising the BODS documentation.
As soon as I got off the ferry I was hit with chaos. Thousands of people, in the port, in the streets, spilling out of coffeeshops, flowing through the metro station. I queued up for a ticket and people are bustling, pacing, impatient. I bought a 2-trip ticket because I couldn't see 1-trip right away and the press of the line behind me was too much to linger. I took the metro and the rattle of every day life was like a slap in the face. Back to reality. I walked out of the metro along a road and the stench filled my head. The traffic roared, the city was screaming at me. I hate cities. I was after 10pm, I had no food in. I walked 15 minutes to a vegan cafe, ate spanakopita and hot chocolate, late night on a Sunday. I was welcomed by smiling, warm staff. I walked past bars, alive, filled with happy people and art and hipster decoration. The streets were lit, I felt safe. I was too tired to get groceries, but I could've. I love cities. Already I feel like the last two months of island life were just a dream. I miss the sea.
Current status: Willow Smith is the most beautiful human being in the world and nothing else matters.
Bought dinner and breakfast on this ferry. Living the INDULGENT life. (by which I mean, I didn't bring enough food and paid a lot of money for some slightly aged fruit this morning.. but still, the coffee is good)
how many greek people does it take to restart a router In this particular story: 4. One to lock us out of the house with the router in, one with a key to the house but no English, or transport to get to the house, one to call and speak Greek the one with the key for me, and another to drive the one with the key to the house.
Greek people who work in customer service roles are invariably genuinely pleasant and helpful. I'm observing this in Greece far more than in any other country I've spent time in, I think.
A couple of days of trying to acclimatise to city life again. Some sun, some rain. Then Jane came, and we ate loads, including lukamades (fried dough balls).
Amy added 41 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201902-athens/
Jane and I walked through the National Gardens to the Museum of Cycladic Art. Lunch at Veganbeat, and then a walk through the main market, where we bought far too many olives. In the evening we climbed Filippou Hill and watched the sunset over this sprawling city. We had a picnic of olives, tomatoes and fake feta. Later we went to pick Felicity up from the airport. Everything was delayed. The day/early hours of the morning concluded with hot chocolate and vegan marshmallows.
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Jane, Felicity and I woke up late, and went to see the Temple of Olympian Zeus (Olympieion). There weren't many people around, which was nice. We had lunch at Peas, then spent the rest of the day in the Acropolis Museum. There were a lot of things to read and old stuff to look at. It's easy to spend hours. There's also a small reading room with childrens books about Greek Myths. I learnt a lot. We went home and ordered a variety of vegan junk from Pizza Bite and waiting two hours for it to arrive having received no confirmation from the website (which was all in Greek) was in no way stressful.
Amy added 48 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201902-athens/
The temperature dropped and drizzly clouds descended; Scottish weather had caught up with Jane and Felicity. We went to the Acropolis. There's lots to see, even though the North Slope was mysteriously closed. Having been to the museum the day before made it more interesting. Then we walked around Exarchia, and had lunch at Mama Tierra. We relaxed in Anglais bar, overlooking Monastiriki Square and the Acropolis for a while, before wandering home via the nighttime views of the Acropolis.
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We visited most of the rest of the archaeological sites that are included in the combined ticket. Including the Ancient Agora (and museum), the Roman Agora, Hadrian's Library, and Aristotle's Lyceum. We spontaneously dropped into the War Museum, which was a little incoherent and found slightly too much glory in Greece's participation in various wars. And we perfected our interpretation of the Athena-is-sick-of-this-shit stance. We ate lunch at Veganbeat and dinner at Veganaki.
Amy added 91 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201902-athens/
After lunch at Healthy Bites, I dropped Jane and Felicity at the airport bus. Then I wandered around in the sun (returned, since J & F were leaving) in the Kerameikos ancient cemetery, and saw some tortoises. It was a nice peaceful place to lurk.
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Climbed the magnificent Lycabetos Hill to see Athens sprawling in every direction. It was a gorgeous day, and I saw interesting wildlife. Then to Exarcheia for lunch.
Took the tram to Glyfada and wandered along the beach. Lunch at Avit. Stopped by the Radix hacklab in the evening.
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Moved into a nice hostel, and pizzapizzapizza.
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Met the Syros Hiking Team today and went for a walk and a clamber in the north of the island. The distance covered was short but the elevation was pretty varied. Some vertical rock scrambling up and down to cross the valley. We stopped at the Kastri, a 4,500 year old set of ruins; walls from a bronze age settlement, an ancient castle, and tombs. There are artifacts from this area in museums all around the world. GPS trace on Runkeeper. Then we had lunch in a tavern by the marina. On the way home I stopped by the ruined building at the bottom of the hill in Lazareta; it has been a prison, a quarantine for people with contagious diseases, and an orphanage. Now it's falling apart and overgrown, except a tiny bit of it is a church.
Amy added 68 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201901-greece/
It was a hot sunny day and the wifi went out, so I went for a wander around a bit of Ermoupoli I hadn't been to before, around the coast to the north. Also stopped off at the Archaeological Museum, which was very tiny and took under 10 minutes to read everything, but only costs €1 and there was nobody else there.
Amy added 39 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201901-greece/
I squeezed in a final hike with the Syros Hiking Group. We went to Ano Meria, the north of Syros, and hiked from Kampos to the western coast. We visited Marmari beach and Amerikanou beach. The latter is the only beach on the island with trees, planted by an American visitor in the 70s. He also built a couple of houses up there; it's pretty remote. We ate lunch in Black Sheep, by the Ermoupoli port. Vegan souvlaki! Mushrooms and grilled vegetables on skewers, and fresh homemade fries. Pretty solid end to my month on Syros.
Amy added 105 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201901-greece/
Packed, cleaned, and vacated my fancy flat in Lazareta. I caught the ferry from Ermoupoli port, and it was about 4 hours to Athens Pireaus. After checking into my new place in Koukaki, I went out again for some late night spanakopita and a great hot chocolate at Veganaki.
Amy added 35 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201901-greece/
Took the bus from Athens to Patras, walked an hour to the ferry terminal, then the ferry from Patras... (stay tuned for arrival. Underslept and underfed and kind of sad to leave Greece but also.. wow it's been almost 3 months.
Amy added 21 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201902-transit/
The night ferry from Patras to Bari was really nice. It was very empty. I had deck passage only, but an entire segment of seats to myself. There were plenty of places to sleep. Not only that, but there was free wifi and power outlets all over. Probably the most well-resourced ferry journey I've been on thus far. I ate at the ferry canteen, which was mediocre, but there were a bare minimum vegan things. Vegetables and chips and salad. The staff were very friendly, because they were Greek of course. Naturally it all went downhill upon arrival in Italy :) The handful of foot passengers had to pass our bags through security, and the Italian border guards squinted at my passport for ages. Eventually they asked "tourism?" and I said si and they let me go, but they held onto it and discussed it for way longer than they should've. I had a day and a night in Bari. When I arrived it was raining; I chilled out in a vegan restaurant for most of the day, then went to my hostel in which I was literally the only guest. Good night's sleep. The next day was sunny; I got up early to walk around the water front and old town, grabbed more food from the vegan restaurant, and caught a Flixbus across the width of Italy to Rome. I anticipated the most traumatising part of the journey to be changing from Rome Tiburtina bus station to Rome Termini train station, and built in a lot of buffer for the ostensibly 15 minute metro ride. It was fine, actually, not too busy and though the ticket I just bought failed to let me through a barrier the station staff sullenly opened it for me without question. I bought an onward train ticket to Civitavecchia from Rome, then almost missed it because the station is fucking huge and the platform was as far away from me as it could possibly have been. The train was pretty busy. I arrived at sunset, and the sky over Civitavecchia was gloriously on fire. The one vegan restaurant in Civitavecchia I planned to stop by was inexplicably closed (no surprise really, this is a hallmark of my experiences in Italy) so I skipped dinner and went straight to the port. Civitavecchia is confusing to navigate as there's a big ol' wall in between the old town and sea front, and all the stairs and arches that let you cut through it were locked up when I got there. So I used up all my buffer time, then discovered access to the port is not possible for pedestrians anyway; but there's a free shuttle bus. I went through another security line, behind a coachload of kids, and eventually boarded the ferry. This trip was over 20 hours, so I'd splashed out and booked a shared 4-bed cabin. I was the only one in it, which I kind of expected. Though I would have been able to find a place to sleep with deck passage, the ferry was pretty busy with loud Italians, so I'm glad I didn't. I spent the journey reading the Rebooting Web of Trust topic papers and eating mediocre very overpriced ferry canteen food, and sometimes sitting out in the sun on deck. I arrived in Barcelona a couple of hours early.
Amy added 62 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201902-transit/
Hearing the ferry horns and knowing the time #islandlife
Hiked to Kini / Delphini / Varvaroussa. Did work on BODS docs and VC spec. Listened to a lot of Jaden and Willow Smith. Read, snoozed. Hiked around Kastri in the north of Syros.
Went for a wander around the north of Ermoupoli. Did some work.. but had pretty much a straight week of headaches. Finished Colony. Packed and cleaned. Hiked in Ano Meria. Caught a ferry to Athens.
Settled in in Koukaki, then Jane came. Visited the Museum of Cycladic Art, and climbed Filippou Hill. Felicity came. Saw the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Acropolis Museum. Went to the Acropolis, and Exarcheia. Visited Ancient Agora (and museum), the Roman Agora, Hadrian's Library, Aristotle's Lyceum, and the War Museum. Ate loads. Obviously.
Jane and Felicity left. Went to Kerimeikos ancient cemetery. Walked up Lycabetos Hill. Got back to work on BODS internationalisation stuff. Wandered along the beach in Glyfada. Met cool people from the internet in Athens. Ate pizza. Went to a party in the hackerspace/squat. It was chill. Took a bus to Patras, and a ferry awaaayy..
(B)log update: I am having some adventures. Regular service will resume eventually.
OH at RWOT8: "The fork is still not the webpage."
An amazing daytrip to Andorra with wonderful new friends. Epic snowy mountains, snowball fights, and a route back through France via a thermal bath.
Amy added 101 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201903-esfr/
Barcelona. A little touristing, more eating, but mostly time spent at the Rebooting Web of Trust 8 conference and the Verifiable Claims Working Group meeting. It was a productive and fun few days, but the most exciting part was getting the entire VCWG to a fully vegan tapas bar (called BarCeloneta, by the beach) two nights in a row (people asked to go back!)
Amy added 72 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201903-esfr/
Post-conference deflating in Barcelona. A Digital Bazaar field trip to the epic and alien La Sagrada Familia, and a ride on the cable car to the castle. And some more vegan restaurant tours. Then couple of days almost by myself. I joined the International Women's Day march through the city; it was a huge crowd, and so young. Much public transport was shut down.
Amy added 158 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201903-esfr/
A few days in Budapest. Some things different from last time, some things the same. One of the reasons I picked Budapest to transit through was because I spent a full year thinking about the Istvanffi veggie burgers and really wanted to eat one again. I ate several. I also got amazing Vegazzi pizza, though they didn't have the sweet potato and chestnut one any more. VegaCity remains amongst my favourite, and Vegan Love, Las Vegan's and Kozmosz were still fantastic. 827 Speciality Kitchen and Napfenyes Etterem were new and delicious. I also visited the Budapest History museum in the castle, which was massive and way better than some reviews suggested. And Dandar thermal baths, which has outdoor yin-yang shaped pools and was pretty nice. I walked a lot around both sides of the river, and ran the circumference of Margaret Island.
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Went north to Girona. Walked the medieval city walls.
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Rented a car in Girona. Drove back to Barcelona.. and the deeply suspicious Badalona.
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The final roadtrip from Girona to beaches near Blanes. It was warm enough to go in the sea, but not warm enough to stay for long.
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A few days in Ljubljana. Chilling, eating, wandering around.
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A day trip to Monaco from Nice. Took the bus out for 1.50eur and about an hour, and returned by train for 4.20eur, 30 minutes. Just wandered around, looked at the fancy apartments crammed against the cliffside, the superyachts in the harbour, and ate beans and bread on the beach. Expensive ice cream amongst tourists in the Montecarlo old town. Sat for hours by a clear ocean. Kind of a strange place. A last day in Nice, mostly sitting on the chalky beach, and eating too much vegan Chinese buffet. Caught the bus out from Nice Airport, where I discovered no fewer than four companies who will rent you a helicopter in Monaco..
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Next, to Nice. Which is expensive, and busy, and the beach is chalky. Enjoyed the sunshine, and hiked up to the fort with a view of Villefrance-sur-Mer.
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The next roadtrip from Girona, to Sa Tuna bay. Time on the beach, scrambling over rocks, beautiful views in a tranquil place.
Amy added 65 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201903-esfr/
I am two people. One who is so psyched for paperless seamless blockchain banking. The other is hiding in a cave surrounded by a faraday cage. (The RWOT8 demos are exceeding expectations so far.)
Took a ferry from Patras to Bari. Spent a day in Bari; took a bus from Bari to Rome, then a train from Rome to Civitavecchia, then a ferry from Civitavecchia to Barcelona. Attended 3 days of Rebooting the Web of Trust conference. Was hella productive on the DID spec. Did some touristing and eating and hanging out and eating in Barcelona. Stayed up way too late, woke up way too early.
Attended 2 days of W3C Verifiable Claims Working Group meetings. Continued eating and hanging out and staying up too late in Barcelona. Tried to take a couple of days to deflate but actually socialised more. Joined the International Womens' Day March for a morning in Barcelona. (Barcelona photos). Took a train to Girona. Settled into a nice hostel in a far more peaceful place.
Chilled in Girona. Walked the city walls, checked out the mostly okay vegan food scene. Made some friends, rented a car. Took a trip to Badalona, Barcelona's evil twin. Daytripped to Andorra, drove through the snowy mountains, detoured through France and stopped at a hot springs. Took a smaller roadtrip to Sa Tuna bay. Chilled on the beach, climbed on rocks. A small roadtrop to Blanes for more beach time before returning the car. Somewhere in between that, managed to do some BODS i18n docs. Took a nightbus to Nice. Discovered Nice is very expensive and not great. Proofread the VC spec, which is getting ready for CR. Almost caught up on sleep I guess.
Cafe worked around Nice. Took a day trip to Monaco. Bussed to Ljubljana, and enjoyed a slower pace. Bussed to Budapest. Watched a lot of The Expanse in anticipation of the next book.
Hung out in Budapest. Ate lots. Bussed to Krakow. Finished Expanse S3. Chilled and ate and wandered and cafe worked with Felicity and Maelle. Feeling kind of behind on everything. I love being back in Poland though.
I'm trying to figure out cat storage. Not sure I'm quite getting it yet. how do i cat
I consider air travel only for emergencies and I generally have my own travel agenda, but what's the point of having me as your attachment-free digital nomad friend if I'm not going to drop everything and fly half way around the world to see you sometimes?
Packing for a big trip is easy when you own hardly any stuff. And getting my backpack down from 45l to less than 30l compressed to airline carryon size was pretty easy and fun. Just need to get rid of 1/3 of my stuff so it's this small all the time.. (Some things I'm leaving behind temporarily included my hammock, kitchen supplies, and my bag of misc random shiz that comes in handy from time to time, so they can't really go long term... but I'll figure something out. I'm leaving my jeans (they split) and winter coat for good though.)
We caught a bus at 6am for the 1.5 hour ride to the Auschwitz museum. We went at our own pace, and spent about 7 hours reading everything. Apparently the guided tour is 3 hours. Then we took the shuttle to Birkenau for another two or so hours walking around the open spaces. Less to read here, but the size of the place helps to impress the scale of the thing, in a way that hours in museum-type exhibits don't quite. Having spent the last year visiting Second World War museums in countries all over Eastern Europe, the Baltics and Balkans, I didn't find it as intense as a lot of people seem to. I can understand why people are overwhelmed by coming here when all they have is a UK/Western Europe school-system education about the war (which largely neglects what actually happened across Eastern Europe). The things affected me most were the huge piles of possessions, like shoes and glasses; some of the first-person stories in the country-specific exhibits; and the fact that similar atrocities are still happening all around the world right now. Bleh.
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Wandering and eating in Bratislava. Featuring food at Urban Coffee, Vegan Bar, and Made with Laf.
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Moved into H and B's homemade container house on the hill overlooking Dubravka, just outside of Bratislava. I'm looking after Aila and Beny for a little while. No wifi or plumbing, water from the spring, walks in the woods.
Amy added 33 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201904-sk/
Hiked to Devin Castle with Aila. No dogs allowed in the grounds, so we ate lunch by the river and hiked back over a big old hill. It was hot and beautiful and we didn't have enough water. The views were great though. Aila is the goodest of dogs.
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Walks in the woods with Alia; lounging around with Beny. Some cafe working in Bratislava and Vienna. Food pics from re:fresh, Govinda, Swing Kitchen, Harvest Cafe.
Ran from Dubravka to Sandberg and back.
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A bit over a week in Krakow. Touristing, cafeworking, but mostly eating. Also a trip to the Salt Mines, and a couple of nice runs by the river.
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A daytrip to Vienna from Bratislava to run some errands and watch the sun set over the Danube. And also to eat food at Gagarin (a super chill pay as you want anarchist cafebar), Veganista, and Swing Kitchen.
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A week or so in Warsaw, experiencing squat life. Cafeworking, and revisiting my favourite vegan food places, and a bit of touristing as well.
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Places.. coworking spaces, restaurants, hostels.. that play music in the toilet.. give it a break. Don't you know people need to go hide out there to get away from overstimulating environments? Why you gotta take away one place for peace and quiet, for empty undisturbed space to think for two fucking minutes?
So I found a clinic I can walk into without an appointment and wait in line for an unspecified time for a cholera vaccine, this very afternoon. All the google reviews for this hospital say it's better to die at home with dignity than go here under any circumstances, but the lady on the phone was nice. Worst of all I can't eat for 3 hours before the vaccine and an hour after, so obviously now all I can think about is the really great seitan salad baguette in my bag that I didn't finish at breakfast and will not get to eat for at least a few hours from now ;_; Wish me luck in these trying times.
Ate and cafe worked around Krakow. Visited the museum at Auschwitz. Remotely attended a ODS Co-op OGM. Bussed to Warsaw to see friends. Ate and touristed around Warsaw. Visited for the second time the Warsaw Rising Museum, and the Palace of Culture and Science. Made plans for the rest of April, and half of May. Surprising plans. But leaving space for this to take shape explains why I was blocked on figuring out what to do after Warsaw for so long.
Hung out, cafe worked and ate in Warsaw. Failed to get a cholera vaccine, or a new laptop cable. Nightbussed to Bratislava and holed up in a nice apartment for a few days. Watched all of Cowboy Beebop.
Cafe worked around Bratislava, and ran and wandered. Day trip to Vienna for stuff. Went to Dubravka to move into H & B's hillside container house, sans plumbing and wifi. Settled in to look after the garden, and Beny the cat and Aila the dog for a while. Read Tiamat's Wrath and rewatched Discovery. Enjoyed the woods and the sunshine. Hiked to Devin Castle and back over the hill.
Lived in a container house in the side of a hill in Dubravka, cat-and-dog-sat, went for lots of walks in the woods, fetched water from the spring, looked after the garden. Things sprouted! Occasionally cafe worked in Bratislava or Vienna. Ran to Sandberg and back. Relocated back to Bratislava city.
6.5 hour bus down the Crotatian coast is a Very Good Idea.
My travel plans and no-fly rule took an unexpected turn this month when I decided to visit Elizabeth in Zimbabwe. Having spent the last two years begging friends and family to take advantage of my various temporary residences in Europe, I was sympathetic to her plight of struggling to persuade people to visit in Southern Africa. I try to put into the world the energy I'd like out, so I tracked down return flights from Vienna for less than $500 with Ethiopian Airlines. I also really wanted to hug Elizabeth. Life In Zimbabwe, it is sunny every day. I was there at the start of winter. The sky was consistently brilliant blue, and the temperature was mostly in the late 20s Celsius. The climate is basically vacation-perfect. Never raining does not bode well for the crops though, and even though the temperature was good on paper the sun felt hotter and closer and more vicious than I've ever felt it anywhere before. Harare is a super green city, with lots of trees, bushes and maize or millet fields filling the wide open spaces between roads and blocks of buildings. Often the maize was looking dead and dried up, while decorative plants in public spaces or peoples' gardens are alive and well. Roads are concrete or dirt, scattered with enormous potholes in both cases. I was frequently a passenger in cars that needed to steer all the way around a hole rather than dipping into it or going over. The CBD is fairly built up, with some tall office buildings and malls, although I only passed through in the car a couple of times. Most of my time was spent taxiing between little pockets of reasonably well maintained commercial areas in the various suburbs. The self-enclosed bubbles of shops and cafes, supermarkets and cinemas, which depend on cars to travel between reminded me a lot of the US. It seemed like the other form restaurants and bars took were as stand alone properties in what felt like residential buildings in the more upscale residential areas. Many have lots of outside seating, surrounded by trees and statues and generally pleasant environs. In the northern half of the city houses are pretty big, with gardens, balconies, sometimes pools; massive driveways and huge security gates, often with guardhouses. I dropped by the homes of a few of Elizabeth's friends while I was there, and whether local or expat they were all preeeetty fancy. On the other hand, there's an ongoing energy crisis which affects all areas of the city. Whole neighbourhoods have scheduled power outages for load-shedding, which is documented on a website but not always reliably. While I was there, Elizabeth's power went out for three days straight, unscheduled. When visiting a friend's to charge my laptop, their power went out too one day. Fortunately they had a generator. The lack of electricity is, I believe, due to a combination of fuel imports being from Mozambique (recently hit by a devastating cyclone), lack of money and corruption and inefficiencies in the government. Everyone is similarly affected by the fuel crisis. Fuel queues were pointed out to me often; people line up in their cars for hours at a petrol station when they hear it has fuel. One friend queued for 3 hours only to find they'd ran out by the time she got to the front of the line. There are some stations which only accept payment in USD (not Ecocash) so if you have enough of that you have a better chance of filling up, with less of a wait. Obviously this benefits foreigners, people who work for embassies, and those recently arrived with a fresh batch of cash. One day on the radio I heard that the country had petrol for a month and diesel for 23 days. Groceries and household goods are not cheap. Things like cosmetics and furnishings are particularly expensive. There's relatively little light pollution at night - especially if you're in a neighbourhood with a power outage. So there were plenty of stars and an often brilliant moon to gaze at. On both Sundays I joined Elizabeth, Sarah and Andrew at church. It was a totally different church experience to the cold, formal, boring CofE affairs that had been imposed upon me by my schools as a child. There was lots of singing and dancing, but also a slightly unnerving occasion of laying of hands, and the messages conveyed by the sermons were definitely at odds with things that make sense to me from Buddhist philosophy. The theme of the month had been fathers, and some members of the congregation across a range of ages gave very moving, funny, and heartfelt stories of the ups and downs of their paternal relationships. Food Zimbabwean food mostly consists of sadza, an enormously filling cereal (maize) mush that definitely expands in your stomach after you've already eaten too much, with greens (rape/canola) and beans, usually accompanied with a meat stew, chicken or fish. You can read about all the vegan food I found here. Transit Harare is not particularly solo-non-driving-traveler friendly. For the first few days I felt pretty trapped by my inability to move around independently. The city is very spread out in itself, and natural sights and hiking trails are really far away. Places are linked by wide, poorly maintained dusty roads that mostly don't seem very pedestrian friendly even if it was safe to walk around alone. I was told repeatedly that public transport is not safe for different reasons (dangerous drivers, dangerous passengers, ..) and even if it wasn't I don't know how I'd have figured out how to navigate the fustercluck of marshrutka-style packed private minibuses with no signs or numbers. Fortunately E already had some trusted taxi drivers on hand, plus a few very hospitable friends with cars. Still, not even feeling comfortable to walk to a shop or a cafe by myself from the house is not my favourite. Advice I got about which neighbourhoods and distances were safe to walk varied drastically between people I talked to. Money Another thing I don't love a ton is dependence on a mobile phone. Fortunately I have a moderately functional HTC One to use while my Fairphone is still out of action, otherwise I'd be pretty helpless. ATMs and credit cards basically don't work here, and it's illegal to change money. The official currency was changed to USD a few years ago, but also in circulation are Bond notes, aka RTGs, at a variable rate from 3.5 to 4.7. Most places accept USD, but with poor conversion so the price is higher than paying with Bond. The best option, used universally, is to set up an EcoCash account and find someone who will send you EcoCash in exchange for a fistful of USD (also illegal). Setting up EcoCash required purchasing a SIM (2 bond) and filling in a form with a local address (I used E's) and providing ID. They photocopied my passport, didn't need most of my info in the form, and misspelled my name when setting up the account (henceforth, Amy Huy). I topped up 100 USD, and bought some mobile data too (350mb for 1 week for 10 bond). After that I could pay anywhere, from streetside fruit vendors to the farmers market to chain supermarkets and restaurants with EcoCash using USSD codes. Market stalls have their numbers scrawled on pieces of paper on their tables. That is, typing *151*1*1*{mobile number or merchant code}*{amount}#, followed by a prompt for a confirmation PIN which I set when I made the account (in plaintext). It displays the name of the recipient so you can increase your chance of not sending it to the wrong number before you commit. The recipient's phone goes bloop, and I immediately receive an SMS confirmation of the transaction, plus my new balance. This is horrifyingly insecure, but also a bit cool. There are small fees for each transaction depending on the amount you send. It's not a percentage, there are brackets of fees. Another thing that was kind of cool while I was there was that Ecocash were running a promotion; for every 20 bond I spent I earned a point, and every 5 points gets me entered into a monthly prizedraw. The top prizes were a house and a river cruise in South Africa; but the better ones were goats, cows, generators, and school fees. I was checking the t&c to find out when the prize draws happened, but made the even better discovery that goats and cows may be requested live or dead; if dead, you have to pick them up from an abattoir of your choosing. If alive, you must pay the necessary transport fees. I'll find out if I was a lucky winner in the first week of June and I'm psyched to make Elizabeth take care of a goat in her yard for me. If you're gonna be here a while, you can also hook your mobile EcoCash up to a bank account, and get a swipe card to pay with too. At one point, the network glitched out and Elizabeth was a victim; her EcoCash stopped working for sending money, claiming she had reached her daily or monthly limit when she clearly had not. This was a mahoosive inconvenience; we went to the Econet store to try to troubleshoot, and they did not solve the problem at all and there were a ton of other people in line experiencing similar issues. Centralisation at at its finest. By the end of my visit, the exchange rate had fluctuated so much that it was now cheaper to pay for things in USD. I naturally had just topped up my Ecocash right before the surge; the digital currency I held lost significant value overnight in terms of what I could trade it for. What a nightmare to live like this every day. Many (most?) local people are paid in bond, hold their savings in bond, and as the exchange rate changes their salaries do not. Coders in the suburbs I was fortunate to meet Peter and Alana from the Sprout Coding project at a party one night. Their organisation, based in 'high density suburbs' of Harare, teaches locals to code and to teach, and then the locals go into schools to teach kids to code in turn. They invited me to visit and talk with their tutors. I spent one morning at their premises in Dzivarasekwa, sitting in on an informal meeting where the tutors had some forms to sign and got their final pep talk before classes with kids began the following week. I heard amazing stories of how each of them had got into code, including from some who learned with paper and solar panels, without access to electricity or internet for the most part. I spent some time with one of their earliest recruits, de-mystifying git. I asked as many as I could whether they were in it for the teaching or the coding, and everyone I asked said they just loved teaching. The next day I joined them in Kuwadzana for a braai. This was super fun, and I spent time with the group talking about privacy, surveillance, encryption, and hacking, while we ate sadza and greens. Dzivarasekwa and Kuwadzana are a far cry from the residential parts of Harare in the north. The roads are still wide and dusty, but there are no more security fences, gardens or driveways. The houses are single storey unpainted brick and breezeblock, often with small vegetable patches in whatever area around them is available. There are many makeshift food stalls, 'tuck shops' and the like, with hand painted signs, or just a table at the side of the road staffed by an entire family. The braai in Kuwadzana was under a tattered awning beside what appeared to be a large shed or market-type building that contained a bar (and pool tables). Besides the bar, the building also hosted meat and vegetable stalls, as well as the people who would prepare the produce you just bought for immediate consumption, and a sink with soap that we could all use to wash our hands before we ate. Adventures My first grand adventure was with E's Finnish friend and his Russian guests. We drove to Lake Chivero nature reserve, less than an hour west of the city. In a totally inappropriate small car, we crawled through the trails spotting zebra, impala, wildebeest and even a giraffe. Periodically we had to get out of the car so it was light enough to take a particularly jagged bump or canyon in the road. We took one trail that dwindled into nothing, and got out and walked to the lake where we saw lots of monkeys and interesting birds. Later we found our way to the park headquarters and talked with the rangers. They offered to take us on a little walk to see some more animals. The ranger Gladys guided us, and after five minutes we practically tripped over a rhino. He stayed snoozing in the undergrowth, and we moved on. A few minutes later he changed his mind, and charged us. I fell over, thought I was going to die, and Gladys rescued me. I posted more detail about the rhino story closer to the time. Later we saw more chill rhinos, and ostriches by the lake. One evening I joined the Fin and the Russians in climbing a small hill in the south of the city. I'm not sure what it was called. It was a reasonably well maintained public space, with trees and walls and a small sculpture like thing at the peak. From there we watched the sun set. In the distance, Harare looks like any other city, with high rises in the center flattening out to residential suburbs around the edges. The Harare Botanical Gardens are somewhat in a state of disrepair, but they contain many interesting trees and not much signage about them. Still, nice to wander through for a couple of hours for the low entry fee of 3 bond. We considered taking a nap, but the ground-level insect life deterred us. Just outside the city are balancing rocks. We got there and they wouldn't accept our ecocash, and we didn't have enough USD between us. Not to mention the USD price was more than 10x that day's bond price, according to that day's exchange rate. Harumph. So we took some pictures of the ones we could see from the carpark and the road, and left. I spent an absolutely beautiful evening with Elizabeth and Andrew at Domboshava, a granite hill formation about a 45 minute drive north of Harare. The perfect time to go is in the hour or so before sunset. There are incredible views in every direction of the surrounding countryside, as well as balancing rocks and other geographical phenomena, and cave paintings. It is an incredibly peaceful place, even despite all the other tourists who were around. Longer trips I considered but failed to arrange were Great Zimbabwe, Paradise Pools, and Victoria Falls. Great Zim is an ancient abandoned city that looks way cool. I was pretty disappointed not to be able to make it happen, but the fuel crisis meant none of E's friends were up for driving that distance (about 4 hours) and I couldn't put together enough people at the last minute to make a guided tour good value. Paradise Pools was also a victim of the fuel crisis, after a friend sat in line for hours and wasn't even able to refill. Vic Falls would have been great but required some planning ahead on my part. It's at least a four day trip - one full day on trains and buses to get there, two days to appreciate the city, and a full day back. I could have done it when E was at work (might have been a good use of those days without power at home) but visiting Elizabeth was really the point of the trip and our time hanging out in the evenings was way more important. Photos Photos and more notes are as follows: Chill weekend at markets The Rhino Story (Lake Chivero) Botanical Gardens Markets, sunset Dzivarasekwa and Kuwadzana with Sprout coders Amazing views from Domboshava Sunday BBQ Last days
It remains a mystery why to this day it still hasn't occurred to anybody to put up a big board with departure platforms anywhere in Zagreb bus station. It's a huge station, and every time I have to go ask at the information window where my bus is leaving from. Pro tip: if it's a busy time, do not leave this to the last minute. (happy to be back in the land of krompirusa though, eh. Even mediocre Croatian bus station 'burek krompir')
Moved to Bijela in the Bay of Kotor. It's beautiful, peaceful but not dull. Plenty of places to swim and hike, or bus to for day trips.
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Boat ride from Herceg Novi, around Mamula island (abandoned prison being turned into a hotel), to the blue cave, a stop at Zanjice beach and a visit to Fort Arza, and some old torpedo tunnels. Rained a bit.
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Some more days in Bratislava, also with jaunts to Vienna. Lots of food.. donuts from La Donuteria (now mostly vegan!), a Beyond Meat burger at Urban House, re:fresh and Made with Laf again, Balans Bistro. Walk up to Slavin monument, and departure.
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A flying visit to Aila and Beny on my way from Vienna airport to the Croatian coast.. Such a good dog. SUCH a good dog.
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Bus down the Croatian coast from Sibenik to Dubrovnik. Accidentally a day early. Hostel let me check in anyway. Dubrovnik is as touristy as expected, but much more impressive than expected, so I guess the hype is somewhat justified. I didn't feel a need to stay there long though. Walked around the old town, went on a boat right, climbed the hill overlooking the town and hiked back to the hostel. Ate two meals at Nishta.
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Cooking for Elizabeth & co in Harare, Zimbabwe. Much room for mushrooms.
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An afternoon wandering around Herceg Novi.
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Kamenari is about a 30 minute walk around the bay from Bijela, and from there there's a free (for foot passengers) ferry to Lepetane. It takes about 15 minutes to cross, and they run 24/7. Once one is filled up with vehicles it leaves, and the next one starts loading. Pretty neat! I went across to check out the small town of Lepetane, following the coast around in both directions. I would definitely consider staying here if I return to this area. If you head east (away from the direction that would take you to Tivat) the road leads around to the head of the bit of land, where you can climb down to the Church of the Gospel of the Angels, sit by the ocean, and have a view of Perast. I decided not to return by road, instead climbing up a switchback trail in the carpark across the road from the steps to the church. From there, it appeared that a trail ran parallel with the road back to the town. It should have taken about 45 minutes. It took several hours. It deterioated quickly into definitely not actually a trail, and I found my self suspended in giant ferns, battling spider webs, worrying about snakes in the undergrowth, and not really able to see the ground or the drop down the side of the verge. It wasn't too bad just far enough and just often enough that I made it too far to turn back. It would get more accessible for a few meters so I'd press on, thinking the real trail must emerge eventually. It did not. My legs got completely scratched up by the spikey bushes that hide in the ferns. It was too hot. This was not a fun adventure. The view was really good though when I had brief windows to enjoy it, and I saw a tortoise. Eventually I emerged at an unfinished house on the edge of the top of Lepetane. I had to climb a tree, through a ditch and over a fence to make it to solid concrete ground. Then I had to climb another fence to get out of the house grounds and to the road. I limped back to the ferry and home.
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Took a bus from Zagreb to the small town of Sibenik on the Adriatic coast. It's a super cute old town with a sheltered bay, and there weren't many tourists. Hiked around the bay to an abandoned fort that is 'only accessible by sea' but there's a small walkway and some rocks to hop from land. Climbled over a wall to get inside, and it was enormous and epic. There were a few other people there, some of whom came the same way as me, some who came by boat. We all hitched a ride back on the boat, saving 3 or more hours of walking back. Also ate at SHE a lot, and discovered the amazing veggie burger and chips at Bounty. Visited the forts in the old town; sat on the beach under the Blue Moon; swam in the sea.
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My first weekend in Harare, Zimbabwe was pretty chill. We visited some markets and hung out in cafes. Ate great Ethiopian food at Queen Makeda, reasonable pizza at St Elmo's, amazing noodles at the market.
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Went with a Fin and two Russians to Lake Chivero nature reserve. We drove around in a totally in appropriate car for a while, and saw zebra, wildebeests, impala and other similar things, monkeys, tons of interesting birds and a giraffe (rare there). Then we stopped at the park headquarters and chatted to the rangers. They agreed to take us on foot to see rhinos and other things for a small fee. We stumbled upon a snoozing rhino almost immediately, which Gladys, our guide, didn't see until we were way closer than we should've been. We snuck away, and the rhino stayed put. Minutes later, one of the Russians behind me said "oh my god" (she saw a snake? I wondered), and then Gladys in front of me turned her head and said "Run." with the fear of god in her eyes. I didn't look back, and took off with the group. The rhino had decided he didn't like us after all. Gladys wove us through the trees as you're supposed to, and for some reason the Fin took off in a straight line, away from the group. I tripped and fell. I had no idea how far behind me the rhino was, and my legs were lead, I couldn't get up. Figured even if I could I can't outrun a rhino anyway, so maybe I should just curl up in a ball and hope for the best? This is probably as cool a way to die as I could really hope for. Then Gladys was back, hauling me out of the undergrowth. Simultaneously, the rhino had paused to decide who to chase; I had a second to look back and saw him standing there debating his options, still far too close. Lucky for stumbling me, he decided to go for the Fin. Gladys and the Russians and I put enough distance between ourselves and the rhino to slow down, and when the adrenaline had stopped I almost passed out, probably from a combination of heat, shock, and the fact my knee was bleeding everywhere. We lurked around, calling for the Fin and waiting for me to recover. Eventually Gladys got a call from HQ - he had run all the way there (having been followed a pretty long way by the rhino, who had then given up and gone to the lake). I lost Elizabeth's sunglasses during the charge, and later after the immediate danger had passed I realised my phone was gone as well. Gladys went back for a couple of minutes and found it! She's a hero. Mostly for probably saving my life, not the phone. We regrouped at HQ, then went to see some more chill rhinos by the lake. They had birds standing on their heads and everything. We also saw ostriches. So that was a pretty good day.
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The power went out. Fortunately the Fin and the Russians were still sightseeing (Elizabeth was at work) so I had ample opportunity to get out of the house. We drove through the CBD of Harare, and then to the balancing rocks. We tried to negotiate, but they would only accept USD (at a vastly higher price than the local price) and we didn't have any on us. So we took photos from the road, and went to the Botanical Gardens instead. They're not very well kept but there's lots of interesting trees. The only vegan place in Harare listed on Happycow is V-Delights, which was in walking distance. Only it's closed. Obviously. We ate Ethopian food at Queen Makeda again.
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Still no power. Went to some markets with the Fin and the Russians where I bought tasty snacks and tea, and in the evening we climbed up a hill in the south of the city in time to see the sun set. From the distance, Harare looks almost like a modern and functional city.
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I spent a morning with the tutors from Sprout Coding in the suburbu of Dzivaresekwa, learning about the programme, listening to them prepare as a group for the start of term the following week (when they go into schools to teach young children Scratch and Woof) and chatting to a few of them about web development and git. Ate lunch at Gava's, finally getting a taste of delicious Zimbabwean food. The veggie option is just what comes on the side of all the meat dishes - sadza (or peanut rice), greens (canola/rape) and beans. But it's enormously filling in itself. And a whole french press of local coffee, plus chilli to top it went down really well. Got home to find the power finally restorted, so I could make dinner for Elizabeth, Sarah and Andrew. The next day I met the Sprout Coding folks again, this time for a braai (bbq) in Kuwadzana. The tutors came out of their shells more and we had good discussions about hacking, encryption, privacy and surveillence. And the food was great (sadza and greens). We ate dinner at Little Eataly, the only option for me being pasta with tomato. It was really good though. Then we made a half-assed attempt to socialise at Tristen's bar, where there was supposed to be a gig of some kind, but it was just full of drunk dudes who wanted to chat and I was too tired, so we went home.
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Some Saturday morning market touring, followed by an extravagant lunch at Pistachio Cafe, probably the place with the most explicit vegan options in Harare. In the late afternoon Andrew drove Elizabeth and I to Domboshava, a breathtakingly beautiful granite hill and national monument about a 45 minute drive north of Harare. We climbed about and watched the sun set. There are cave paintings there too, but we didn't find them before it was dark.
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Chill Sunday. Adventure cancelled due to lack of fuel (in the whole country) so I joined Elizabeth and co at church again, and then we had a long, drawn out bbq at Andrew's house, including a jump in the pool. We ate and chatted and played board games into the evening. The power went out due to load shedding (coordinated turning-off of parts of the city, semi-accurate information about when this happens is on the electricity provider's website).
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Last couple of chill days in Harare. Random cafe stops, cooking for Elizabeth, excellent Indian food at Spice Lounge (including really spicy chai), and sorghum sadza at Gava's. Then, depart.
Amy added 38 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201905-zimbabwe/
Today I sustained minor injuries whilst escaping a charging rhino. It's day 4 in Zimbabwe, I think things are going pretty well.
There was only one vegan place listed on happycow (V Delights), and I went there and it did not exist. The sign was up, and their website says "Restaurant is currently closed however you can still enjoy these meals by enroling to our Vegan or Gluten free Cooking classes as an individual or group!". Maybe it'll be back in the summer, who knows. The next best place for intentional vegan food (with a well-labelled menu) is Avocado Cafe in Sam Levy's Village. They have several dishes that are or can be made vegan, and plant milks for their variety of fancy coffees and latte drinks. They have energy balls which are vegan too. Maasdorp farmer's market is every Wednesday and Saturday, and I ended up going three times. It's a great place for handmade souvenirs and local produce. A nice lady sells homemade cashew cheese in blocks for 14 bond under the name BConscious. I bought one with jalapenos and one with olives and it was so good. Some of the best I've had. She told me about her imminent store opening (Vegan Vibes), the day after I was due to leave of course. Across the road from the Maasdorp farmer's market is another market and a Chinese grocery store. At the grocery store I found all kinds of tofu, fresh in big blocks as well as dried and flavoured. It's super cheap. At the market outside are freshly fried noodles and vegetables. You can choose your fillings, and there's even a bowl of seitan, and watch it get mixed up in front of you, then eat it on one of the benches in the market. They had vegetable bao, too. Ethiopian food is always a safe bet for vegans; I ate at Queen Makeda twice and it was delicious. The vegetarian menu is distinct and varied. The Ethopian coffee pot seems to be bottomless. Thai and Indian food are usually good options too; I ate Thai food at Chang Thai, which has many obviously-vegan vegetarian dishes, and was pretty good. On my last night, really amazing Indian food at Spice Lounge. Especially the milkless masala chai, which was properly spicy. And towards scraping the bottom of the barrel.. I got a pizza without cheese no trouble at Elmo's (a chain that can be found all over) and the toppings for the vegetarian one were pretty good and dense. At Little Eataly the only option was pasta with tomato; to be fair, it was really good. Amanzi is a restaurant and bar with a really nice outdoor area; we went to the Wednesday quiz, which has a constrained menu (the only vegan option being tomato soup, requested without cream). We did convince them to let us look at the regular menu, and there is one vegan option on there - a very expensive broccoli steak, which sounds good but I wasn't 16 USD hungry. The fries there are great too. At Cafe Veldemeer near the UN offices there were a couple of vegan-isable salads, but I went for butternut and leak soup. It was pretty expensive. Best of all is always local food thought. Zimbabwean cuisine is heavy on the meat stews, fish and chicken. But they always come with a side of greens (canola/rape), beans, and sadza. This can be ordered on its own for a mere 10 bond (depending on the day's exchange rate, 2-4USD) at Gava's, and is enormously filling by itself. Sadza is made from ground maize, and is a mushy ball that you grab a piece of between your fingers and use to scoop up the beans and greens to shovel into your mouth. At Gava's you can substitute regular sadza for sourghum (which is grey and gritty, super delicious and more nutritious) or peanut rice (which is obviously epic). Sadza is a staple food, so at the very least if you go to any local restaurant or a communal food gathering like a braai (bbq) in Zimbabwe you'll be able to get sadza and greens or other veggies. Just be careful at a braai where someone else is preparing the food that you can get the green separate before any meat gets mixed in and cooked together with them. What else I did in Harare other than eat.
Note-took in interviews for ODSCo-op developer hiring. Did some work on flatten-tool. Walked a bit around Bratislava environs, and went to Vienna again. Finally said goodbye to Bratislava, and then Europe.. and flew from Vienna airport to Harare, Zimbabwe, via Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). Reunited with Elizabeth in Harare. Learnt all about the complicated currency situation, and got set up with EcoCash. Spent the weekend and markets and cafes and low key parties and generally chilling. Attended a very musical and colourful church service. A member of the congregation pegged me as a lost soul and took me aside afterwards to reassure me God is looking out for me. Saw Avengers Endgame again. Caught Elizabeth's cold, I think.
Chilled with Elizabeth and friends. Went to Lake Chivero Nature Reserve and got chased by a rhino. Toured Harare markets and cafes, saw balancing rocks, and the Botanical Gardens. Watched the sun set from a hill in the south of Harare. Enjoyed a 5 day wifi outage and 3 day power outage. It's cool I didn't want to do any work anyway. Visited Sprout Coding in Dzivaresekwa and then joined them for a braai in Kuwadzana; chatted about web dev, encryption, hacking, privacy and surveillance. An inspiring bunch! Watched the sun set from Domboshava. Chill Sunday BBQ.
Got my hair dyed green as a souvenir from Zim. Had final food adventures, and departed Zim for Vienna via Addis Ababa. Spent the day in Bratislava, picked up some stuff I left at H&B's place in Dubravka and visited Aila and Beny. Ate at lots of my favourte places once more. Took a night bus to Zagreb via Vienna (VIB interior is entirely closed now apparently, and my bus was late, not entirely fun on a cold midnight), and a day bus to Sibenik. Some very hot days and a little rain in Sibenik; hiking, swimming, mooning around. Nice to be back in the Balkans.
Bussed down the Croatian coast from Sibenik to Dubrovnik. Spent a night and a day in Dubrovnik, dodging tourists, eating, sitting by the sea, climbed a hill. Bussed from Dubronik to Herceg Novi, then a little bit further to the next month's home in Montenegro. Settled in in the Bay of Kotor. Spent half a day exploring Herceg Novi old town and surrounds. Went on a boat ride around the Bay; saw Mamula island, the blue cave, old torpedo tunnels; only rained a bit.
I spent a month total with the Bay of Kotor as my base, broken up by a week-long jaunt to Sarajevo because I got too close to resist. I picked a perfect spot, the small town of Bijela. It has enough tourists from its handful of hotels to not feel like an alien, but not enough to crowd you out, and isn't a primary destination by any means. There are plenty of nice spots to swim, and it's well connected to the rest of the country. Typical of the whole bay, it's surrounded by moody mountains, sometimes shrouded in clouds, other times reflecting the sunset back at you like a mirror. One of the things I particularly enjoyed about Montenegro is the somewhat hectic nature of the buses. It's a tiny country, and you can get anywhere in less than 3 hours, but it usually involves standing at the side of the road to flag down long distance coaches run by a plethora of private companies and hoping they stop. busticket4.me has an approximation of most timetables, but the buses don't necessarily have scheduled stops everywhere so some maths is involved to work out when it's going to pass where you want to catch it from. I found it helpful to memorize the bus companies that were going to where I wanted at a particular time, because there are many private or chartered tour buses too which will not stop for randoms, and you can't necessarily tell these from the long distance coaches from a distance. They also don't always have all of the destinations listed in the front window, so don't necessarily refrain from waving one down just because you can't see your town written. Especially in the Bay of Kotor, or anywhere along the coast, there's only one main road, so if your destination is on it, you can persuade a bus driver to stop there. The only exception being that some buses going down the coast skip the bulk of the Bay and take the ferry across to Lepetane, so don't try to get one of those to Risan or Perast. The way they usually work is you board and take a seat (checking with the driver he's going your way) and then someone comes to take your money and provide a handwritten ticket once the bus is moving again. A regular local Blue Line bus north goes to Herceg Novi for 1eur in about 20 minutes, which has an old town with forts and a harbour with boat trips and a main bus station with international connections. It's also easy to get to Mt Orjen for hiking from here, though I didn't do that. I took a 3.5 hour boat trip from there (for 20eur, once they'd gathered a few other people to join) to see sights along the Lustica Peninsula; Mamula island (abandoned prison, soon-to-be hotel), the torpedo tunnels, the Blue Cave, Zelanija beach and Fort Arza. I also spent an afternoon walking around the bay via Igalo and back. <a href="https://i.amy.gy/20190506-me/IMG_20190604_181948.jpg" class="w1of2" alt="Giant I <3 Herceg Novi sign next to a palm tree in front of a distant bay view of a town, with thick white clouds over the mountains" title="Herceg Novi from across the bay"> A 30 minute walk (or a 5 minute bus) in the opposite direction from Bijela took me to Kamenari, a very small town whose main feature is the ferry across the bay to Lepetane. The ferry is free for foot passengers, and €4.50 for a regular car. It runs continuously, all day and night, departing as soon as it's full, and the next one begins loading at once, taking about 15 minutes. You don't need a ticket if you're on foot, just wander on and watch out for the vehicles boarding at the same time. Lepetane is another very small town, but with lots of holiday apartments. From here there's a local Blue Line bus to Tivat for €0.70, about 15 minutes. It's not an unpleasant hour walk to Tivat too, though the road in most places is just designed for cars. Not that there's a whole lot of traffic. Following the coast around in the opposite direction from Tivat is also nice, with plenty of places to stop off and swim. At the peak of this particular peninsula is a picturesque church, and a view towards Our Lady of the Rocks at Perast. Tivat is super fancy, full of superyachts and shiny hotels and brand new fancy apartment blocks. The area of Porto Montenegro is surreal; a pedestrian zone of designer shops and hotel restaurants with €10 smoothies. On either side of Porto Montenegro is a bit more normal, but not especially nice; it's mostly beach bars with thumping music and lots of holidaymakers, though you can find some more quiet places to swim if you try hard enough. I didn't go much into the town center, but it starts to feel more normal the more inland you go. There's a place that supposedly has real pita, Bosnian-style, but when I went to check it out they didn't have any krompirusa left. There are various trails from Lepetane and Tivat or in between that will lead you through the Vrmac mountain range and to Kotor. This is a half-day hike, or a full day with plenty of opportunities for detours if you have the energy. I started at Lepetane, and the trail is more or less marked, though not particularly well maintained, and I lost it a few times. There are a few more or less unoccupied small villages or single houses on the way; nowhere to stop for water or supplies. A long stretch of the trail overlooks Tivat. I didn't try to get to any of the peaks because the weather was either too hot to function, or a sudden torrential downpour. Fortunately the extended thunderstorm occurred while I was on a particularly straight and wide trail, not when I'd been clambering through undergrowth. Fort Vrmac itself is underwhelming. It isn't especially old and looks more like an abandoned factory. From there there's a seemingly endless switchback down to the water, just around the bay from Kotor, and then a 30 minute walk to the old town. The view from the trail down is beautiful. Kotor itself presents a great starting point for plenty of great hiking opportunities as well, and it has a nice car-free old town to wander around, plus the whole bay for swimming and boat trips. There are an abundance of museums in the old town, none of which I visited. Given that I stayed around the corner for almost five weeks, it's kind of shocking how little time I spent in Kotor. By the time I'd hiked there from Lepetane, it was sunset and time for dinner and a bus back to Bijela. My other visit was an afternoon, on my way out of the country. I did find time to climb the Ladder of Kotor, a switchback up the side of the mountain behind old town, and to return via the Fortress. Perast is nestled in the bay between Bijela and Kotor, a tiny picturesque old stone town wedged up the side of the mountain, and ram-packed with tourists. I spent an afternoon there, which included a swim and some hours napping in the sun, so that's plenty of time to see everything I think. It's famous for the Our Lady of the Rocks church on a small island which you can take a boat out too, but it's not that exciting, and also looks nice from a distance. Spending €1 to climb the church bell tower is much more worthwhile. I spent a day hiking across the Lustica Peninsula, from Krasic, to Rose. This is the bit of land that sticks out in front of Herceg Novi, and home to some wild beaches and attractions like the Blue Cave and torpedo tunnels, and lots and lots of forts. The trail I followed didn't reach any of the peaks for epic views, but there are many small towns along the way to break up the wilderness. Next stop around the coast is Budva, a pretty big town and serious tourist destination. Even though it is packed and crazy during the summer, I didn't find it too obnoxious. Maybe I'm biased because the only vegan restaurant in Montenegro is there, conveniently located between the bus station and the beach. The area between the main beach and the main road is pretty nice, with lots of open green spaces, and footpaths. The beach is crowded with restaurants and deckchairs, but around to the north - after the pretty nice Old Town - are the Mogren beaches, reached by a neat path etched around the cliff faces. They're still busy, but have more shade, and more north and some rock clambering still are quieter areas to swim, or jump off rocks. To the south is Sveti Stefan; about a 2.5 hour walk or a 15 minute bus €2 from the main street. On the way are more small beaches which become increasingly exclusive ("Use of beach set mandatory. Beach set €120" was the peak) and extremely fancy hotels (€1500 - €6000 / night type things). You can't get onto the Sveti Stefan island - the whole thing is a resort hotel - but there's a bit of beach tucked away next to it available for the plebs. Bar is unusual because it's old town is in ruins instead of packed full of restaurants and souvenir shops. The main part of the town is centered around the port with international ferry lines; I didn't linger there. There are nice beaches a little north at Susanj. The old town is up the mountain a bit, and a narrow restaurant-filled street leads up to it. The whole thing is a museum with a €4 entry, and it's super cool. It's actually massive, with loads to see, creepy cellars to sneak in, towers and walls to climb, and views into the valley on the other side. I spent at least two hours there I think, and that was only because it kicked out at 8pm. The last big town on the coast is Ulcinj. I didn't dig the vibe, it was very touristy and obnoxious. The old town is half-done, with some in ruins and some restaurants. The sea didn't seem particularly clean. I ventured all the way to Long Beach at the south too but the whole strip was covered in beach restaurants and deckchairs as far as the eye could see. I swam at a smaller beach to the north, after a scramble down an under-construction path, which was fine for a while but then there was definitely boat fuel in the water. Moving inland, Niksic is the second largest city in Montenegro. It's a nice easy to navigate semicircle shape, and has churches and a big palace, and a pleasant town square, but I'm not sure what else. It was on the way to Ostrog Monastery, which is squashed into the side of a high cliff in a valley, with many winding mountain roads and amazing views required to get there. It's free to enter, and there were quite a lot of people by about 10, but not so many as to crowd us out completely. Inside, you can see mosaics and paintings made directly onto the rock face itself as part of the inner walls of some rooms and corridors in the monastery. It's actually a working Monastery, so most of it is not open to the public. The capital of Montenegro is Podgorica, but there doesn't seem to be a lot going on there. It was okay to stop for lunch and check out some parks. There's a big hill that I would probably have climbed if it was less insanely hot. Maybe it's just a good place to get away from tourists. Skadar Lake is in the south of Montenegro, crossing the border to Albania. It is beautiful, an enormous national park conservation area, with many small villages along its coast. The main place to stop is Vipazar, which is a tiny cute town entirely populated by people trying to sell you a boat ride. The standard rate seems to be (in June at least) €25/hour for two people. Totally worth it to see the amazing diversity of flora and fauna around the lake. Having a car (or hitchhiking - but we didn't see much other traffic) is the only way to get along the road that heads towards Albania along the lake. The views along it are spectacular. Stayed the night in Donji Murici and woke up for sunrise by the lake side, to continue the drive in daylight the next day. The road almost reaches the border, with a viewpoint across the mountain range that points into Albania, then sharply turns back towards the coast. Overall I think I seriously lucked out with Bijela as my base, though if (when) I come again I'll look for options in Kamenari and Lepetane too I think. Somewhere not so close to a busy road, and maybe close enough to the sea to hear the waves. Don't forget to read about everything I ate, and all photos are here.
After like 3 weeks in the Bay of Kotor, Sarajevo feels like a big city. Never thought I'd say that.
Co-op life is having my worker rights outrage-o-meter cranked up to Extremely Sensitive at all times, forgetting that ODSC policies are not universal or even close to normal anywhere in the world, and wanting to burn it all down every time I hear even the faintest hint of a company trying to take advantage of an employee. And the employee doesn't really think they're being take advantage of and is trying to tiptoe around the situation so the abuse dosen't get worse.
The only countries worth being in are ones where you get straight lemon juice when you order lemonade, in my opinion.
Driving up the coast with stops in Ulcinj and Bar. Ulcinj is very full and touristy and the old town is half destroyed, half new restaurants and bars. It didn't have a particularly good vibe. The Long Beach to the south has 100% coverage of sunbeds. Smaller beaches to the north seem nicer; we swam at one, but there was boat fuel in the water which did not smell good. Bar is a big port town with connections to Italy. Didn't hang around the center. Stopped by the beach at Susanj, and then went to Stari Bar, the destroyed old town, which is further up the mountain. Parking is free unless a random dude hands you a receipt for €2.50 and you just pay him because it doesn't seem worth arguing about. It's a kind of structured begging, I guess (parking scams like this are common all over Montenegro, actually). The little street full of restaurants on the way to the old town is nice, and reminds me of a bit of Sarajevo. The old town is a giant museum, costing €4 to enter and is totally worth it. I could have spent longer than the 2 or so hours I did, only leaving because the close at sunset. It's full of creepy cellars to explore and castle walls to climb. It kept taking me by surprise with how much of it there was, but of course it's a whole town. The views over to the valley on the other side are neat too; there's a waterfall.
Amy added 88 photos to https://i.amy.gy/20190506-me/
An afternoon in Budva. The bus from Bijela is about €4.50-5 depending on the bus you end up on and should take a couple of hours but took about five because we sat in traffic near Tivat airport for forever. I went straight to Paradise Foods, the only vegan place in Montenegro, and ate a substantial and extremely cheap lunch. Then through the main strip to the beach, which was crowded with tourists and sun umbrellas, but not too obnoxious. I thought it might be nice to take a pedal boat around the bay. There are boat trips of varying lengths, and a water taxi to the island in the bay too. I walked through the old town, which is pleasant. I particularly like the stone archways which open directly onto the beach. I followed the cliffedge path to see the Dancing Lady statue, then continued past to Mogren beaches. The furthest beach has good shade in the afternoon, and isn't as loud and full as the first one. Some rock clambering after that to a point with local kids jumping into the sea from high rocks. Some as high as a two storey house; I watched them psyching themselves up for a while and really thought they wouldn't survive. (They did; didn't do it again though.) I swam and napped and made my way back to Paradise Foods before it closed to pick up supplies, then bussed home. There's plenty to do in Budva I think, and the surrounding area. I'll probably spend more time here.
Amy added 101 photos to https://i.amy.gy/20190506-me/
A day in Budva. Featuring two trips to Paradise Foods (and working from there a bit), a 2.5 hour walk around the coast to Sveti Stefan, sightings of mandatory-use €120 beach sets (2 chairs and an umbrella, maybe towels) and the resulting empty beaches, very swanky hotels, and swimming near the Sveti Stefan resort hotel island.
Amy added 50 photos to https://i.amy.gy/20190506-me/
Hanging around in Herceg Novi, and a walk through Igalo and around the bay. Vegan food at Barbarella.
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Working and hanging around Bijela. Hike from Lepetane to Kotor via For Vrmac, across the Vrmac mountains. It wasn't too strenuous, although we lost the trail a few times and had to double back or do some rock scrambling. The views were breathtaking in most directions. Thunder was rumbling after a few hours, but fortunately we found ourselves on a relatively flat straight trail for the duration of the rainstorm. The clouds parted and Kotor was revealed for a final trek down a never ending switchback just across the bay from the city. We limped to Ombra restaurant for vegan pizza, and took the bus home (€2.50, 40 mins).
Amy added 58 photos to https://i.amy.gy/20190506-me/
A day chilling (working) in Bijela by the sea. A visit to Kotor on my last day in Montenegro. I climbed the Ladder of Kotor, a switchback up the side of the mountain behind old town. On the way up there's a seemingly abandoned house, but if you stick around to take in the view for too long an old man shows up to sell you lemonade for extortionate prices. From there the trail goes up and up and into the mountains, if you have time for that. What I did was bear right, where there's a secret entrance into the top of the Fortress. Entering from the old town costs a steep €8, but there's a person-sized hole in the wall you can enter for free if you've made the climb up the Ladder. The Fortress is steps on steps; all abandoned, lots to see, and amazing views of course. I returned down all the steps and into the old town, where nobody is checking tickets on the way out.
Amy added 59 photos to https://i.amy.gy/20190506-me/
I'd read no end about the amazing hiking on the Lustica Peninsula, the bit of land that sticks out and around in front of Herceg Novi. I also found some blog posts from the end of last year, official announcements about the improved hiking trails there; apparently now well-marked and accessible for hikers and cyclists. Well, they may have been premature because some of the trails were definitely not well marked or maintained, and some undergrowth scrabbling was required. They were mostly marked with red dots though. I wanted to finish the hike in time to take the water taxi back from Rose at the tip, to Herceg Novi. Taking a charter boat would have been €20 or more, but the water taxi is €3; only it ran at limited times, and the last one was (as far as I knew when I started out) at 1900 (actually turned out to be 1830). I budgeted 9 hours for the hike including distractions, plus some time in Rose at the end. There's a bus from Tivat to Krasic, a good place to start hiking from, at 0730 but buses from Lepetane to Tivat don't start until about 0830, but I managed to flag down a long distance coach to Tivat in Biejla at about 6am and it all worked out. Starting early was a good idea anyway, and I was lucky with overcast weather for most of the day; it would have been far too hot otherwise, there's very little shade on Lustica. The beginning of the trail from Krasic is at the start of the village. The bus wizzed right past and I happened to see the map on the wall I recognised from my extensive googling, and when I eventually got the bus to stop we had to walk all the way back. Once the trail departs from the road, it becomes obvious but rugged, which is perfect. Better and better views as one ascends the mountainside. Then an encounter with a giant piece of machinery widening the trail; it later became apparent that this was for one of the houses being built in another village, probably, rather than anything to do with the hiking trails. We detoured from Gosic through Radovic and down to Plaza Horizonti, a large beach that there is actually a direct bus to from Tivat as well. It was early but already filling up with people. Following a small trail around the bay a bit leads to some rocks without people on, which are good to climb down and swim from. So we did. Back up to Radovici then picked up the trail again to head in the general direction of Rose. A lot of the 'trail' turns out to be on the road actually. One of the off-road detours was completely overgrown and quite difficult to pass. Considered a few detours to beaches on the seaward side of the peninusula, or climbing up to the main ridge, but mostly ran out of steam. We did look at one of the forts on the way to Rose (there are a few) and it was mostly underground and overgrown. But from there we could climb down to the torpedo tunnels and walk along inside it, around the back, and out the other side. That was pretty cool. We tried to follow the coast all the way around to Rose from here rather than climbing back up to the road. Eventually the rock faces got a bit sheer for my tiny legs, but rather than give up I swam the rest of the way to Rose. While I was in the sea a massive rainstorm rolled right in. I could see it coming at me. Herceg Novi disappeared entirely and the sea was churning as I emerged from port in Rose. I walked through town in the pouring rain in my bikini because what else was there to do? A man beckoned us inside from not-yet-open restaurant; his name is Yusuf and his Turkish restaurant is opening in July. He was just getting everything ready. He gave me a towel, and turkish coffee. The rain stopped, and we wandered around Rose, but there's not much to see. The water taxi schedule was by the jetty, and the last departure was 30 minutes earlier than I thought. Good job we hadn't taken any of those detours.
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Road trip! Got in on a car rental and drove to Ostrog Monastery, stopping for coffee in Niksic on the way. The Monastery is cool, accessed up some windy mountain roads and free to enter. It's built into the side of the cliff, and many of the inside walls are cliff face. Some are adorned with paintings and mosaics directly onto the rocks. The views are spectacular of course. Lunch in Podgorica, the captial. It didn't seem like a very exciting town. There's probably stuff to do if you're looking for it, but there's no obvious old town or forts or anything. There's a big hill I might have climbed if it wasn't so hot. Didn't stay long.
Amy added 57 photos to https://i.amy.gy/20190506-me/
I took the bus to Perast, around the bay from where I'm staying, towards Kotor. The main road runs behind the town, and there's no non-local traffic allowed in the town itself, so cars and coaches stop at one of the carparks on either side. This is also where you can pick up a coach to get out again, though the bus stops are not really marked and to go back in the Herceg Novi direction involves waving from the wrong side of the road because the other side has only sheer cliff face. Anyway, I did manage to negotiate the buses and spent an afternoon here. An afternoon is plenty, I think, without including time for a meal or something. I climbed steps right to the top of town, where there's an abandoned fort and amazing views of the bay. I went up the church tower for €1, which also gives a good perspective on the area. There are museums which I didn't visit. I took a boat ride to Our Lady of the Rocks, the blue-domed island church, for €5 return. There's a small museum with only artefacts and no signs inside the church, which costs €2 to enter. Nice to get out of the sun, and spend the 20-30 minutes the boat captain allows you. The other small island houses a monastary. I had thought it was closed to visitors, but when we sailed past there were definitely people swimming there who did not look like monks. Passing all the way through town to the Kotor-end yields less crowded concrete beaches, even with some shade, and really nice swimming.
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Got caught in Sarajevo's gravitational pull and took a bus there. Old town is packed, there are more tourists than ever, and summer is very here. Sunsets, food, old friends and new..
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Driving on to Skadar Lake, a giant freshwater lake that's 2/3 in Montenegro and 1/3 in Albania. The main town to stop at is Vipazar, which is populated entirely with people trying to sell you a boat ride. So we went on a boat ride of course, because going out onto the lake was kind of the whole point of going. It was beautiful, with a huge diversity of flora and fauna, from gnarly trees growing right out of the water in cool groves, to vast expanses of green waterlillies carpeting the lake's surface. I jumped right in at the first opportunity to swim. The road along the lake heading south is not well served by public transport, and dotted with many small towns and villages. The views are consistently incredible, especially as the sun starts to set. Started to figure it's a shame to be driving the majority of the length of the lake in the dark, and just be rushing all the way back to Bijela; simultaneously a series of signposts started appearing along the road for a B&B somewhere. I proposed the wild idea that we just stop at the next village and look for somewhere to stay the night, and continue on in the morning. The next village, Donji Murici, turned out to be where these signs were leading us, so we followed them all the way down the side of the hill to the very edge of the lake. Rented a room, which was a small log cabin with a shared bathroom, minutes from the lake beach. The little restaurant only served fish, but we survived on tomato and cucumber salad and bread just fine, and the same for breakfast the next day. So we spent a peaceful evening by the lake. The next morning it was hot early so I swam of course. Waking up by the lake without the faintest sound of traffic was wonderful too. The drive continued through the rest of the small towns, stopping occasionally for the view, and a detour down to the lakeside in Ckla where we saw snakes in the water and decided against swimming. The road almost meets Albania, then doubles back sharply. There's a viewpoint there, with a great lookout over Albanian mountains.
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An afternoon in Tivat. I walked around the coast from Lepetane, stopped at a beach bar for limunada and wifi, went for a swim in the sea, wandered through the surreal main promenade of Porto Montenegro, and looked at the opulent hotels and superyachts. The bus back from Tivat to Lepetane is €0.70.
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Starting the day with fermented pine juice (? - it tasted vinegary but was also great) in a mountain hut, then a hike around Visocica, followed by late lunch in Konjic and stops to see medieval tombstones with rare and historically important Cyrillic inscriptions, and the river from above. There are no photos which can capture the epic glory of the landscape of Bosnian mountains, but I took a lot anyway. RunKeeper GPS trace.
Amy added 164 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201906-bih/
Sarajevo what's uuuuuppppppppp
The Sarajevo flea market is enormous and amazing, you can buy anything you dream of there for always less than you expect to pay. I wish it existed everywhere. Probably best it doesn't though because today I bought three dzezvas. I do not need three dzezvas. I am going to pick one dzezva to hang on the outside of my backpack, for when I end up in places with no way to prepare coffee.
I once bought into the "if you don't post to your own website you don't have anything valuable to offer on technology" theory but eventually realised there are other things in tech and, shock horror, even the Web, than posting on your own website. I still see it being thrown around as an excuse to dismiss out of hand work that people don't understand immediately and find directly relevant to their specific needs though. Posting this on my own website, so it must be true.
Food in Montenegro is a combination of Mediterranean and Balkan I think. Bakeries abound, often with many accidentally vegan pastries and ingrediants on the labels if you can read the language. But there are no real buregdzinica, so I was disappointed to find krompirusa did not live up to anything close to Bosnian standards. Pizza is widely available, and salads are generally good, although more on the tomato-cucumber side and less cabbage-oriented. My favourite, a common side dish in Croatia as well, is Dalmatian potatoes, which is just boiled potatoes and chard, and magically delicious. As far as I could tell there is only one fully vegan place in the whole of Montenegro. This is Paradise Foods in Budva. As well as making delicious, abundant and unbelievably cheap hot and cold meals, snacks and desserts, they also make seitan and tofu and other things in-house and supply many health food (zdrava hrana) stores around the country. I was fortunate enough to be staying behind one such store, Ibis in Bijela, so I got to eat Paradise Foods seitan and tofu, not to mention delicious small cakes, every week from there. I went to Budva twice, and Paradise is conveniently located between the bus station and the beach, so I could stop for an extended lunch on my way in, and then get there before they closed at 9pm to pick up more supplies to take home on the way back. One morning I worked from there for a few hours, eating continuously; they have wifi and a couple of power outlets, though not a huge amount of indoor seating. In Bijela itself is a place called Bura, a mostly-fish restaurant that has a good selection of salads and potato sides, plus a tofu salad which is large balls of battered deep fried tofu on the side of a large seasonal salad. The tofu inside wasn't seasoned at all, so it was kind of mediocre, but it was nice that they tried. And the location by the sea, plus power and wifi, makes it a good place to hang around nonetheless. I found a couple of places with vegan cheese for pizza. One is Ombra in Kotor, who have a whole vegan menu (pizza, pasta and a sandwich) but the pizza was really good. Another is Olive at Sveti Stefan; initially the waiter said they didn't have vegan cheese, and it's not listed anywhere, but I'd read a review on happycow from the week before to say they did. He discovered that they did in fact, and I got my vegan cheese on pizza in the end. They also have pastas and salads that can be veganised. It's not the cheapest, but that's to be expected in the location. In Herceg Novi are two cafes side by side, next to the water if you follow the boulevard around towards Igalo from the old town. One is Peter's Pies and Coffee, which is vegetarian although without a lot of vegan options. Some energy balls, one main dish that is probably vegan, and plant milks for drinks and smoothies. Along further is Barbarella, which is an omni place but with a whole vegan menu. I tried quite a few dishes as they are fairly small (but the prices match), including varenyky dumplings (potatoes or cherries), pasta, and couscous. In Podgorica I stopped by Republic of Good Food. They have a vegan section on the menu, which includes a chickpea dish, and avocado pasta. They have a lot of juices and smoothies too, and everything that is vegetarian is labelled. I'm sure more of their vegetarian dishes are already vegan or could be veganised, but I didn't ask. I couldn't find vegan cheese anywhere in the whole country. Asking for 'biljni sir' at the cheese counter in Idea or Voli will get you a plant-based pizza topper cheese (Alpenland Topsy, from Greece I think) but it contains casein so it's not actually vegan. Even the fancy 'green bazaar' store Bonella in Tivat didn't have vegan cheese. The nearest place I think if you're desperate would be Bio & Bio in Dubrovnik, but I like to adapt my diet to what is available and it feels like needing to use my passport to get vegan cheese is kind of cheating. Things I did in Montenegro that weren't eating.
Finalised BODS internationalisation / translation workflow stuff. Explored around Lepetane, across the bay by free ferry. Hiked to Kotor from Lepetane, partly in the rain, takes 6 hours or so.
Explored a bit more of Herceg Novi, walked around the bay through Igalo. Did some work on flattentool. Spent an afternoon in Tivat. So fancy, such yachts. Spent an afternoon in Perast. Very quaint, many tourist.
Spent an afternoon in Budva. Touristy and tacky but not objectionable. The only vegan cafe in Montenegro. Got caught in Sarajevo's gravitational pull, and went for the rest of the week. (worked on flattentool) All the usual Sarajevo stuff. Ate cabbage, went to Karuzo, went to Prana, met some cats. Went hiking near Bjelasnica. Made excellent gains at the flea market.
Still in Sarajevo, hung out with occrp peoples. Ate krompirusa, etc. Bussed back to Bijela. A day of adventures to Niksic, Ostrog Monastary, Podgorica, Skadar Lake. Spontaneous stopover in a random village on the lake shore. Road trip back up the coast, via Ulcinj (meh) and Bar (ooh). Watched lots of Twin Peaks.
Hiked along the Lustica Peninusla, from Krasici to Rose, and took a boat back to Herceg Novi. Spent a day in Budva. Went to Sveti Stefan to see the outrageous rich people beaches. Ate more at Paradise Foods of course. Spent an afternoon in Kotor; climbed the ladder and down through the fortress. Worked on bugfixing BODS translation and 0.2 schema release stuff. Took an unnecessary amount of night buses to Zadar (via Dubrovnik and Split), then a ferry to Iz. Settled in to Korinjak for a yoga retreat with Aida from Prana (Sarajevo).
Albania reminds me a lot of Georgia except the food isn't as good.
Nothing has reinforced just how comfortable I got with Serbo-Croatian(-Bosno-Montenegrin) than coming to Albania and suddenly realising I have considerably less idea of what is going on around me.
It's getting increasingly hard to answer when people ask "where have you been?". I need to generate a coloured map.
If you read and enjoy my travel posts through my website or Mastodon* and you are planning to travel to somewhere I've been and you can't afford an actual travel agent and you find travel planning too stressful or time consuming to fit into your life, I would be delighted to share advice. My specialties are land and sea (not air) transit, especially long distance European buses, and finding vegan food. I'm happy to also help with general stuff to do, and even more in-depth help with planning and realistic budgeting if you want because I actually love wasting away hours and days researching travel stuff. #rhiarofreetravelagent *or a feed reader you built yourself or another decentralised service
An English person today said to me, during the usual where-are-you-from pleasantries, "well you're obviously American". Saw the look on my face. "... maybe Canadian?"
Living a life of absolute unfettered opulence, I put my backpack in storage at the bus station for a couple of hours so I don't have to carry it into town and back for dinner. How I treat myself.
Various comfort food for myself and others over the course of the summer, in several different kitchens.
Amy added 13 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
A week on the beautiful island of Iz, off Zadar, at the vegetarian hotel Korinjak. Daily yoga and meditation, swimming in the sea, trips the tiny island in the bay, a few hours hiking across to the other side of Iz, and lots and lots of hammocktime.
Amy added 160 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201907-hral/
The 7+ hour hike from Skopje city center, over Mount Vodno, to Matka Canyon. It was a little more arduous than expected, and the trails weren't so well marked. A good portion of the route was under construction, with roads being widened by diggers and signs up to say people shouldn't walk there. There was no other way to walk though.. Circumvented the construction areas when possible. Took a more direct option for the last stretch leading to Sveti Nikola Church, high above the canyon, which turned out to be a very challenging downward scramble that didn't let up. It was a narrow trail that was laced with spider webs and catapillars dangling from silk threads. I was completely wrapped in them by the time I made it to the church. It was a serious relief to get there and find a cool water spring and places to sit there. From Sveti Nikola down to the water was a bit less hazardous but equally webby and steep. The Matka Canyon hotel was on the opposite bank (along with all other traces of human civilisation), and a friendly boat man gave people a free ride over. If you start on the other side, it seems, it's a 30mkd return trip. The hotel room was in the attic; small and with no AC but with a beautiful view over the lake and surrounding cliffs. To my immense surprise the hotel restaurant also had a labelled vegan option! All quite overpriced though.
Amy added 72 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201907-mk/
Kayaking in Matka Canyon, for about 3 hours, including a visit to possibly the deepest cave in Europe, much of which is unexplored. And food at some random restaurants in the Canyon, built into the cliff walls.
Amy added 112 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201907-mk/
A hike up to the Golden Cross above Matka Canyon. Back down for a swim in freezing water, welcomed into the higgledy piggeldy artist's house on the rocks by the aging hippie rocker resident and his robot butler. Then the several hour walk home through suburban Skopje, having missed the bus.
Amy added 55 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201907-mk/
A week in Shkoder, Albania. Walking tours, castle on a hill, afternoon bike ride to the lake and a swim, Marubi photography museum, cafe working, and a super nice hostel called North Hub. Everyone I met in Albania was very friendly and spoke excellent English. Shkoder is a super chill town, with spacious pedestrianised main streets, and lots of nice cafes. The lake and castle are in longish walking distance, or an easy bike ride. Everyone cycles in Shkoder.
Amy added 115 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201907-hral/
Welcome to Skopje. It's a weird and cool place. My first impression is that someone got a budget for improving the city center but they were only allowed to spend it on statues and had to use it all by the end of the month. Photos from a drizzly run, which made a nice change from the incessant heat and direct sunlight on every other day so far.
Amy added 20 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201907-mk/
Wandering in the sun and eating in Skopje. It's too hot, but by the river is okay. Other options for cooling down are airconditioned museums and the cinema in the mall. Ate beans and baklava in the Old Bazaar.
Amy added 52 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201907-mk/
A day of ~*~cuuulture~*~ visiting the museum in the old railway station which commemorates the 1963 earthquake that destroyed much of Skopje; the Mother Teresa museum (she was born in Skopje, when it was part of Albania); the Fortress, which is free and not particularly maintained but has nice views; and the really awesome Museum of the Macedonian Struggle which.
Amy added 104 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201907-mk/
Amy added 48 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201907-mk/
A day and a half in Tirana, Albania. Eating, wandering, and up to the Sky Tower restaurant (reputed nausea-inducing rotating Bar is closed for renovations) to watch the sun set over the city. Pretty cool place, I'll come back.
Amy added 34 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201907-hral/
Tirana is cool. Parts remind me of Tbilisi and parts remind me of London. Weird combo but it works.
Spent a week on Iz, Croatia, doing yoga and swimming and napping. Bussed to Shkoder in Albania, via Dubrovnik and Kotor. Backpack update: gave a skirt and tshirt to Aida, and threw away sandals which had disintegrated.
Spent a week in the very chill town of Shkoder, Albania. Small adventures, and cafe working. Bussed to Tirana (still Albania) and wandered around there for a weekend. Read a lot of Ursula K Le Guin short stories. Caught up on Montenegro blog posts.
Bussed from Tirana to Skopje, new home for at least a month. Ran around Skopje in the rain. Wandered around Skopje in the sun. Discovered 50% of vegan restaurants are closed for the summer. Did some work on BODS infrastructure. Ordered new (secondhand) headphones, but won't get them until the end of September. Worked out logistics to get my new (secondhand) laptop to me in August. Worked on a topic paper to RWOT9. Went to the archaelogical museum and cinema (Spiderman Far From Home) to get out of the heat.
Hiked to Matka Canyon and went kayaking and hiked back. Did lots of Skopje touristing. Did some work probably, maybe BODS..? Watched a lot of Red Dwarf.
Whaaat Macedonian is like half Serbo-Croatian and half not. This is fucking with me, I can't keep up. My Cyrillic-Macedonian menu interpretation was on form this afternoon though.
Every couple of hours my boiler makes a sound like a stadium full of people cheering.
I was all set to repair my Fairphone 1 (First Edition) in September when I can get a replacement motherboard and battery, but I just resuscitated it to check some things and it turns out latest Signal update is not compatible with Android 4.2.2 any more :( I miss having duel SIM and a back that opens, but is it worth fixing it if I can't use Signal? The Fairphone 3 is so big and I don't think I really want one, yet at least. Grumble. I know Signal is notoriously bad at being available on open OSs, anyone know any that will support it that will work on the FP1..?
Two days in Belgrade on the way back to Skopje from Split. Wandering, recovering. Belgrade welcomed me with familiar gloominess, and I walked along a deserted beach at Ada Ciganlija. The next day was sunny, so I went to the fort. Food at Zuwar, Seventh Heaven (maybe the best ice cream I've ever had? Pistachio), the new Vegessence, and finally great seitan cevapi at Mayka!
Amy added 48 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-balkans/
Took a bus from Skopje to Ohrid, about 3.5 hours and 500mkd (~€8). Ohrid is a charming touristy town in the south of Macedonia, sitting on the shore of Lake Ohrid. Walked around the lake for seven hours, stopping to swim many times because the sun was hot and the water was cool. The shores are mostly rocky, but there are some sandy beaches. Hiking has the advantage over taking the bus that you can stop at all kinds of little coves and inlets in between the towns and villages, with no other people around. The beaches in the towns were packed. Some hiking was wading when there wasn't really a trail, and sometimes the road had to be followed. En route was the Bay of Bones, an archaelogical site from an 3000 year old settlement of people who lived on struts over the lake. Ended in Trpejca, a small fishing village consisting largely of guesthouses, and spent the night there.
Amy added 103 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-mk/
Swam in Trpejca, in a deserted spot a little way around from where everyone else was. Then followed the shore as far as possible, but eventually had to rejoin the road, all the way to Sveti Naum. At Sv. Naum is a monastery set in charming well-kept grounds with peacocks. There's a hotel there too, which doesn't look as fancy IRL as it does on booking.com. There is a big stretch of beach, full of people, and lines of souvenir shops. A couple of restaurants, including one out on the water called Ostrovo. From here you can hop in a boat for 200mkd (if you can find other people, or 600 if there's one or two of you - I invited myself into a group of loud but friendly Croatians). The boat does a 30 minute tour of the Sveti Naum springs. The water is so clear that even at 3.5m down you can see the springs bubbling up from the sandy bottom, fed from Lake Prespa on the other side of the mountains. There's also a trail around the area of the springs, with several small churches along the way. The 17:30 ferry back to Ohrid was late, arriving at 1800, otherwise I would have missed it. They sell return tickets from Ohrid, so not having one I had to wait until everyone else had boarded to see if there was space ("no we're full... oh okay it's fine on you get"). I still had to pay the return ticket fare, which was 600mkd (~€10).<?p> The trip is about 2 hours, and the sun was starting to set behind the mountains, reflecting a bright orange off the opposite side of the lake shore. I had wanted to take the opportunity to go to Bitola, only 1.5h from Ohrid, but I was feeling a bit exhausted and almost certain I'd missed the last bus. Ready to go "home" to Skopje, I unfortunately didn't get chance to see any more of Ohrid either - there's an old town, fort, and all kinds of cool things I'll have to go back for. Instead, bolted to the bus station just in time to make the last 20:30 bus back to Skopje.
Amy added 78 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-mk/
Arrived to Plovdiv (Bulgaria) a day late because I missed the last connection in Sofia. Glad to get here though. It's chaotic like Sofia, but smaller and more navigable. The city center is pedestrianised, and packed full of super nice cafes, fountains, and shops full of anything you need. The Kapana district is covered in street art. The old town's windy cobbled streets are lined with incredible architecture. Everywhere, like in Greek cities, chunks of the ground are open to display layers of ancient ruins (mostly Roman here I think). There's also a beautiful river with little islands and marshy greenery. I climbed my first hill of Plovdiv, Nebet Hill, which the old town is nestled against. It is home to unkempt Roman ruins, and views across the city.
Amy added 61 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-bg/
Climbed hill #2, Danov Hill, which has a clock tower on top. Good views across the city to Liberators and Youth Hills (the other big 'uns) and the previously mentioned Nebet Hill by the old town. I also stopped by the Roman theatre, which was closed by then but still plenty visible through the fence.
Amy added 46 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-bg/
Tried to go to Anglia Cafe, a veggie cafe the other side of town, but it was closed for unspecified reasons. Ate at Raffy instead, which is proclaimed on happycow to have many vegan options, only they've changed the menu since then and I just had springrolls for lunch. Not the worst, but I had been looking forward to pizza. Walked through Tsar Simeon's gardens, which have 'singing fountains' and an enormous pool of water that looks incredibly inviting but is strictly forbidden from swimming in. Got a haircut, and bought two tshirts from two different Humana stores. What I really need are new shoes (mine are disintegrating more by the day) but neither had any. One tshirt was superfluous but has aliens on and rolls up really small. The other filled a vacant slot for a slightly smarter top I can pretend to be a grownup or professional or whatever in. Anyway: hill #3, Liberator Hill. Which has a big statue of a Russian solider on top. And, of course, views of the surrounding hills and city. Also stopped at Green Corner on the way home for a cake and a milkshake; they have some good vegan groceries including Violife!
Amy added 47 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-bg/
Lunch at Green Lemon, then hill #4 Youth Hill. The tallest, furthest from the city center, and a bit more rugged and less well kept than the others. Still some smaller trails up though, if a bit undergrowthy, as well as the main road. At the top is an empty pool... would be amazing if this worked, but probably not good for the immediate environment. At the bottom is a children's railway which does a little panoramic 25 minute tour around the base for 1lv (~€0.50), which I would have loved to ride on but it's irregular running schedule didn't match up with mine.
Amy added 34 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-bg/
Last few days in Plovdiv, cafe-working and eating mostly at Veggic.
Amy added 11 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-bg/
A day and a night in Pristina, which is a 2 hour and ~€5 bus ride from Skopje. There's pro-American sentiment like I've never seen anywhere, and pro-EU sentiment is visible too. Kosovo uses the euro and is populated by 90% Albanian Muslims; Albanian is the most commonly spoken language, but despite the 5% Serb makeup Serbian is technically an official language as well. Pristina is a vibrant city with lots of new buildings and modern amenities, despite the tiny population, tiny budget, and enormous unemployment rate. I wandered up and down the pedestrianised and cafe-lined Mother Teresa Boulevard in the daytime and evening, and always it was buzzing with young people and families. Of course I checked out the various famous statues and monuments: Bill Clinton's statue; the Yugoslav Memorial to Brotherhood and Unity; Skanderberg on a horse in the main square; the New Born installation; the Heroinat monument to the 20,000 women raped during the Kosovo war. And distinctive buildings: the University and City library (a blocky brutalist alien piece of architecture that is supposed to simultaneously invoke Byzantine forms, the domes of Turkish hammams, all draped in a giant fishing net); the Youth Palace sports center; the unfinished Serbian Orthodox church on the university campus; the Mother Teresa Catholic cathedral; the old bazaar clock tower which never works; the Stone Mosque. There are lots of interesting museums in Pristina, most of which are free, but all are closed on Mondays. I spent 2.5 hours on a very informative walking tour. And ate at Dit e Nat vegetarian cafe, Green & Protein health food place, and Babaganoush vegetarian falafel joint. Failed to find baklava, but did get Turkish coffee and some probably-maybe-lost-in-translation vegan treats from a coffeehouse near the Grand Hotel.
Amy added 99 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-pristina/
All roads lead to Sarajevo. This time I cafe worked, saw friends, picked up my new (secondhand) laptop. I ate good thinks like grah, falafel, krompirusa, at Karuzo, and spent a whole day in Zdravo. I was sad to see Dia cafe is closed, but found a Biona vegan food stand at a street food festival! Also got too hot and almost passed out on a tram and some nice passers by called an ambulance for me.
Amy added 70 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-balkans/
Library and cafe working around Skopje. Discovered that freddo espresso exists here. Found an airconditioned room in the big library near the old bazaar, but it's otherwise weirdly abandoned. Visited the art gallery in the old hammam, which is really cool - great art of all kinds, plus fascinating meta commentary about the nature of art.
Amy added 36 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-mk/
Hanging out and eating in Skopje. Vegan 365 Kitchen finally opened after their extended summer break and their burgers are amazing. A walk in Gazi Baba forest, in the north east of the city; a calm little oasis surrounded on all sides by busy roads.
Amy added 40 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-mk/
Last week in Skopje, wrapping up all the eating that needed to be done.
Amy added 14 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-mk/
Went to Split, Croatia, to see Dave and Juri. Bankrupted myself by paying for all of their food. Swam in the sea a lot. It was too hot to do much so we sat around in cafes. Did do an accidental 'hike' through Marjan Park.
Amy added 42 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201908-balkans/
Plovdiv is the City of Seven Hills. There are only six now because one was replaced by a shopping mall. In any case, I'll climb them all this week.
But on the plus side we're close enough to Greece that I can get real freddo espressi and also close enough northern Balkans that lemonade is just squeezed lemons so I'm drinking a lot of those.
So much hype about the new Star Wars on twitter I really thought it had just been released but everyone is going wild over a new trailer?
This summer's trick has been keeping a towel in the freezer to throw over head or shoulders for moments of relief when it is so unfathomably hot and there's no AC to be found. It only lasts a second, but what a second.
Travis just emailing me over and over again that things are broken is really starting to sum up my afternoon.
As my very last week in Skopje commences, I discovered (from the nice people at Vegan 365 Kitchen) that Violife is sold at Ramstore supermarkets in the 3 big malls (Skopje City Mall, Ramstore Mall, and another I forgot). Just in time for it to be too late for me to buy cheese, especially as I picked some up in Croatia last week.
Hiked around Mt Vodno again. Tested out libraries and cafes around Skopje in a desperate attempt to escape the heat. Visited the awesome art gallery in the old hammam. Went to Pristina, Kosovo, for a day and a night.
Came back from a trip to Pristina. All the museums are closed on Mondays, and the buses to Skopje are small, infrequent, and hella busy - buy in advance :s Bussed from Skopje to Sarajevo, via Podgorica. Spent 3 days cafeworking and seeing friends in Sarajevo. Nightbussed from Sarajevo to Split. Spent three days in Split with Dave and Juri, eating, swimming, wandering, getting too much sun.
Fed my brother in Split. Bussed from Split to Belgrade and spent a night and a day there feeling quite crappy. Finally bussed back to Skopje. Actually managed to submit 2 RWOT9 papers on the deadline. Recovered for a day then went on a trip to Lake Ohrid, featuring a seven hour hike around the shore.
Walked from Trpejca to Sveti Naum, had some boat rides, tried makalo (a local Ohrid garlic dip) and the usual Macedonian fare (baked beans, salads upon salads), then back to Skopje. Worked on some small OCDS Cove things, mostly from home. Checked out the vegan cafes which were finally open again after their summer holiday. Finally abandoned my old threadbare grey and black flower-patterned tights which I got from the SHRUB in Edinburgh a million lifetimes ago. They are cosy and warm, which I do not need at the moment, and they do not roll up small. And they're disintegrating. Finished re-binge of seasons 1 to 8 of Red Dwarf. Bussed from Skopje to Sofia, too late to catch a connection to Plovdiv. Spent an awful loud-people-in-the-next-room impaired night there, then caught the earliest available bus to Plovdiv the next day. Settled into Plovdiv; climbed Nebet Hill and wandered around the old town. Finished A Wizard of Earthsea. Watched most of Another Life. Then climbed Danov Hill.
I have been thinking about having a bar in my website header for this, maybe dynamically calculated based on how many meetings I had today, when I last ate, how much sleep I got (need to log that first), plus direct manual input
I finally picked a place to live in Bulgaria in November, and what swung it mostly was a chair in the apartment that looks super comfortable and like I could be very productive in that chair. The important things.
We spent a significant amount of time co-operatively composing this tweet Open data standards, doughnuts, post-its and equal ownership ... another day co-working at Open Data Services Co-operative :).
I obtained and tested peanut butter marmite (or is it marmite peanut butter?) as quickly as possible. Approved! It's like slightly bitter peanut butter. Would make an excellent base for sauces. I do agree you could get the same results for less money by combining marmite and peanut butter by hand though, and honestly I'm astonished I hadn't thought of this before.
Hello world, my [temp] phone [that I've been using for a year] got a bad update and I had to factory reset it. I can't set Signal and other messaging apps back up with the Greek number I was using for them, if you have that, because it won't get phone reception outside of Greece. Relatedly, I haven't had access to the installation of Signal (desktop) that used my UK number for the last month. If you sent me any Signal messages to the UK number in the past month, I have not read them. I thought I'd be able to port it to my new desktop, but the FP1 is now so old Signal won't update on it, so I couldn't. So if you need my new (Spanish) number for Signal (etc) contact, and I don't send it to you in the next couple of hours, do ping me. As always, IRC and email are more reliable ways to contact me than anything involving a phone number.
A week in Prague, mostly attending RWOT9 and APConf, and catching up with the local vegan food scene.
Amy added 47 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201909-cz/
Cafe working and wandering in Prague. A walk up Petrin Hill and around the castle, and sunset from Vitkov Hill. Food at the Donut Shop, Loving Hut(s), Dhaba Beas, Blue Pig Donuts, Mama Coffee, Vegan City, Blatouch, and a very exciting trip to Vegan World supermarket.
Amy added 111 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201909-cz/
Touristing in Prague. Prague City Museum (history ends before 18th century though) and views from Old Town Hall tower.
Amy added 22 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201909-cz/
A last week of cafeworking and eating and wandering in Prague. Featuring amazing donuts from Blue Pig, pizza and burgers from Chutnej, healthy lunches and cake and good wifi in Forrest, the best seitan bagel in the world from Moment, unbelievable vegan junk at Belzepub, fancy dinner at Plevel and delicious brunch at Satsang.
Amy added 45 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201909-cz/
A week back in the UK. Passing through London (chips and Bown! and gloom). Time in the countryside. Food from the garden, and apples from the tree I planted from a pip when I was 4. Crumpets, peanutbuttermarmite. Co-op interchange mini-unconference in Nottingham, featuring Annie's Burger Shack and Doughnotts.
Amy added 44 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2019-uk/
Since my day job is part of a workers' co-op, it doesn't make sense to strike against ourselves. Instead, we're spending time conducting a thorough review of our internal policies (travel and equipment expenses mostly, but also what powers our servers etc) to find and act on areas where we can minimise our environmental impact. We're also looking for ways the co-op as an organisation can take some of the burden from individuals to help make environmentally friendly decisions in day-to-day work and home life. Because it's no one person's individual responsibility* and it is at best unfair, at worst impossible, to expect people to take the weight of the world on top of their immediate concerns; any real change will only happen at organisation, collective, corporate levels. We're a small organisation, but the least we can do are things like: Use our travel policy to discourage unnecessary international travel; encourage remote interactions rather than flying half way around the world for a few-day meeting or workshop; make it okay to say no to clients who ask for this. Use our expenses and flexitime policies to permit people who are willing and able to pay more and take more time to conduct necessary travel by land/sea instead of air. Cater in-person co-op meetings waste-free and meat-free where possible (taking into account our members' dietary needs). Use our expenses and device policies to encourage reuse of and secondhand electronics and homeworking equipment. Collectively plan ahead for events in non-home cities to aggregate information about local transport and food, so members can make better decisions on the fly in an unfamiliar place (essentially reduce the "fuck it, just get a taxi" approach). Use our flexitime, homeworking and leave policies to create a positive and relaxed working environment, encourage work-life balance and space to rest, freeing up mental capacity for conscious living. Use our internal policies to exemplify best practice, and make sure our clients and partner organisations know about this, hopefully spreading a message that they could do similarly. And besides that, we're a remote organisation, so homeworking or local coworking spaces mean none of us are required to commute, and we don't have to power an office space. We also consider carefully the work we do (things for public good) and who we take money from, and every member of the co-op has equal input in this. Not to mention - we are a co-operative. We provide an alternative to power-hungry, profit-driven, top-down companies beholden to greedy shareholders; our existence is a protest in itself as best we can muster given we still need to function in a capitalist society. This afternoon we had a meeting, optional, to share our collective trauma over the current state of the world**. Some of us will go out and find our local #ClimateStrike protests to join. It's small, and seems kind of futile in the grand scheme of things. Why even bother? What difference are fewer than 20 people going to make? It seems like most people are in a complete state of cognitive dissonance, and who can blame them? The best we've got is to scrape together our collective energy - make space for our colleagues to breath and take stock - and do the small things. Nobody is under the illusion that this is going to fix the problem overnight. But at the very least we can spread the message, the intent, the energy to our friends, family, and possibly our clients, who might spread it onwards. I'm trying to write this from a position of hopefulness, rather than my usual semi-apathetic nihilism, and honestly, it's a struggle. I count myself lucky to have co-workers who are open to talking frankly about these issues and making changes at an organisational level, when many people can't or won't even do that. It's reassuring and even delightful to be able to bring my personal ethical stances to a group without feeling like an annoying nag. For example: I consume vegan only; give money to all-vegan establishments as much as possible. I consume secondhand only; not putting money into exploitative endless consumption and disposal cycles. I don't fly (bar carefully considered special-case big-deal exceptions); go out of my way to plan complicated land and sea routes, often paying more $$ and spending a lot more time to do so. I own one 45L backpack of stuff, and try to take up as little space as possible. I mostly do these things quietly, for myself. But if it comes up, I can use myself as evidence that living this way is possible, and to encourage other people to try it out even just occasionally to start with. And to offer my now years of experience with inconvenient land travel planning and finding vegan food in veg-hostile places to anyone who needs help. I'm aware that the fact I travel has a negative environmental impact in itself. In order to be able to do that, I make more extreme tradeoffs for a lot of things to try to offset that. Things I should be doing better: Reducing waste; since I travel it's hard to buy bulk goods and have a large stock of reusable containers, and often difficult to know where or how to recycle things. Consider the impact of what I do consume; coffee, soy, avocados, almonds, packaged vegan junkfood. I try to buy local but I'm not consistent about it yet. Consider where I stay; I avoid hotels and find hostels to be less wasteful and generally more conscious, but I do use AirBnB and other options for private accommodation that I could do to be more picky about. Travel slower, take fewer journeys, stay in one place for longer. When I fall short I try not to make excuses for myself, but I do sometimes. When I have energy to be, I'm angry at people with privilege and power who make excuses to not even make the smallest of changes to their own lives. I'm angry at people who use other peoples' disadvantages and circumstances as an excuse to not change their own behaviour, or scapegoat those less fortunate than themselves (see: disabled people and plastic straws; food deserts or poverty and particular diets). I'm angry at the society and power structures that make this happen. But mostly I'm not angry, just dead inside. Anyway.. counting my blessings, noting my privileges, trying not to bury my head; acknowledging the futility without giving up hope entirely, supporting and being supported by people who feel the same. * Though there are a few powerful individuals who could make a big difference if they weren't such greedy and/or oblivious assholes, of course. ** In the last minutes of the meeting, it was proposed to make a time-tracker job for "existential crisis" and log hours against that where necessary to see how much it's really costing our business.
RWOT9 veg*ns: I will be going for alternative vegan-friendly dinners every night this week. Anyone who wants to be looped in, send me a message!
RWOT9 demos, knocking it out of the park just like last time. Almost making me think this stuff might be going somewhere :)
Hardcoded in my brain to drop to a whisper if conversing on the stairs in the evening in my Mum's house. My little brother hasn't been a small child sleeping in the room there for a long time, and I haven't lived in this house for more than 10 years.
On the way to RWOT9 from Bulgaria, my bus got stuck at the Serbia-Hungary border for SEVEN HOURS, so I missed the entire pre-RWOT meetup in Vienna and my train to Prague. And I have no food and a headache. And I'm still in Hungary.
There's a vegan donut shop in Prague less than ten minute walk from where I'm staying. Indecisive, I entered, and asked the guy working there which was his favourite. He said salted caramel, so I asked for that and a matcha one (because who buys one donut at a time anyway?). The pb&j was really calling to me though so I figured what the heck. Then he offered me a wild berry and vanilla for free. Anyway the thing I love about being a grownup is that nobody can stop me from having donuts for dinner.
spend far too long debugging pubrules, ready to burn it and respec to the ground, realise I was validating the wrong URL path. just w3c spec editing life. sigh.
Climbed Liberator Hill and Youth Hill. Three-colour hair update. Ate more good things, mostly at Veggic. Worked on bug fixes and tidy up for OCDS Data Review Tool and related libraries. Took a bus from Plovdiv to Vienna, via a seven hour holdup at the Hungarian border; then another bus to Prague.
Attended Rebooting the Web of Trust 9 and ActivityPub Conf in Prague. Worked on an RWOT paper about encrypted data vaults. Caught up with the Prague vegan food scene. Met loads of cool people. EXHAUSTED.
Cafe worked in Prague. BODS i18n, and thinking about the ODS Co-op's environmental impact. Climbed Petrin Hill, walked around the Castle area, sunset from Vitkov hill. Went to the City Museum and up the Old Town Hall tower. Ate probably more vegan donuts than is reasonable. Finished The Farthest Shore. Watched lots of Battlestar Galactica.
Messed up my sleep pattern by calling into the first W3C DID WG meeting for two days, on Japan time. Cafe worked and ate lots of good junk around Prague. Thought about climate things and the coop. Finished Season 2 of Battlestar. Started Tehanu. Nightbussed from Prague to London. Chips!! and Bown!! But London is miserable. Then on to the Lincolnshire countryside.. Worked on the RWOT9 Encrypted Data Vaults paper.
Watched the rain in the Lincolnshire countryside. Tinkered with updates to OCDS tools. Went to Nottingham for two days to co-work and share internal knowledge with Open Data Services Co-op colleagues. Started Tales From Earthsea. Spent way too long deciding where to stay in November in Bulgaria.
After two days of buses, arrived in Bulgaria as planned in time to not have to cross any borders around brex- oh they moved it again. To correspond exactly with my next UK visit. Again.
The good thing about being unfit is that when I do manage to get out for a run 15 mins / 1 mile is enough for the same physical release and seratonin hit that I needed to run 45 mins / 5 miles for when I was in practice. Way more time efficient.
If there's one important lesson I've learnt from my mother it's that if you want cake, and you don't have any, just make some.
Nanowrimo starts tomorrow!! I am psyched but extremely not ready. But also kind of ready because I've been thinking about this story since 2012? But at the same time all that baggage might get in the way of me putting anything on paper. Eek.
Mum and I took the train down to Brighton to visit Dave and Juri. We ate at the places Juri worked when she was working, and all hung out together when the kids were free. We walked through the Lanes, along the beach, visited secondhand shops and many many cafes. The Brighton Pavilion is so cool. The weather was pretty miserable, but it was nice. On the way back we stopped for chips in Coningsby before finding my sister and taking her home with us.
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Edinbrah! A run around Holyrood park, breakfast at Considerit, lunch at Black Rabbit, dinner at Holy Cow, what a day.
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Back to Edinburgh after co-working in Stirling, and a climb up Arthur's Seat. Giant nachos at the Auld Hoose; fancy unusual Indian at Dishoom; pizza at Nova Pizza; breakfast 'doughnut' at Considerit; lunch at Pomegranate Express; cake at Holy Cow, and adventures in nut luncheon. In between co-working, and suit shopping for K's wedding.
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A pleasant jaunt to Currie, followed by food at Mosque Kitchen, and the Last Unicorn.
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A visit to Falkirk, Jane and the Kelpies, food at Fork & Mustard (everything can be vegan, including homemade croissants!), dinner at Behind The Wall, vegan macarons from Considerit (I never thought I'd have macarons again).
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Healthyish vegan junk and hearty dishes in my Mum's kitchen.
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'Nut luncheon' is made entirely of peanuts, how bad could it possibly be? Sure it comes in the form of can-shaped pale mush. It surely can't taste as unappetising as it looks? The instructions say grill or fry. I fried it with coriander, cayenne pepper, black pepper and salt. The smell of it frying haunted me all day after. It got a pleasant crispy texture on the outside but the taste still left an awful lot to be desired. The next time I cubed it and tried thyme, soysauce and Vegeta (MSG), and fried them with mushrooms. That was a bit better, but the bar wasn't high. I was impressed that even Vegeta didn't help. Maybe it needs marinating in something..?
Amy added 12 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Two days in Sofia, cafe working. Visited some places I'd been to a year ago, and some new ones. Made a new friend. Took the night train to Varna.
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On to Stirling for the ODS Co-op dev retreat, plus a visit to Stirling Castle. Food at Loving Food (great seitan), The Regent, Cafe Aina (amazing vegan menu), Spice Garden, HBW Coffee (all veggie, but food menu not strong. Has pea milk!).
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Runs around Stickford, cooking in my Mum's kitchen, and a visit to Southwell.
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Doughnuts and vintage in Nottingham. Chips on the beach and epic rainbow in Skegness.
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Lunch in Sheffield followed by a couple of days Co-oping in Wortley Hall. Then.. To Edinbraaah.
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Back from Edinburgh to Lincolnshire. Went to Boston with Mum to look for more wedding clothes. Found these shoes but apparently they're not suitable. Faced with a choice between rushing off somewhere else, or quitting and having a Gregg's vegan sausage roll and tea, we chose the latter.
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An afternoon in Skegness. Chips and kite flying on the beach.
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I'm often late to the party on new day-to-day tech stuff, like how it was mindblowing when I finally got a contactless payment card. Now I have bluetooth headphones and it's soooo freeing. (If only I could get ubuntu to pair with them, or anything, but you know one thing at a time. They work with my ye olde android phone.)
TFW a service you sign up for asks you for 'title' and you put 'Dr' and then it goes ahead and addresses you on every screen as 'Miss' anyway. Why bother even asking? Did it even store that first form? And then you have to phone them to get it changed. I mean.
Finished Tales from Earthsea; started The Other Wind. Some work on OCDS Kingfisher. Help with Open Data Services Co-op hiring admin. Went for some runs. Cooked for my Mum and my Grandma. Visited Southwell, and went on a jaunt to Nottingham. (photos from the week.)
Resting and running in Stickford. Time in Nottingham and Skegness. To Sheffield, then Wortley Hall for ODS Co-op coworking and training from The Hum. Straight up to Edinburgh for the weekend, then Falkirk. Co-working and touristing and eating in Stirling. Back to Edinburgh for co-working and hanging with friends and catching up with everyone I ever knew (or so it felt). Finished The Other Wind, started The Lathe of Heaven. Watched more of Better Than Us, and Steven Universe. Played more boardgames than normal. Acquired some clothes (shirt, suit jacket, trousers), but for a special occasion; all second hand. Also a new (used) water bottle.
Trained back from Edinburgh to Lincolnshire (well, Nottinghamshire, then Mum picked me up and drove me the rest of the way, thanks Mum). Went to Boston with Mum, and ran some errands, and Gregg's vegan sausage rolls. Went to Brighton for two nights with Mum, to visit Dave and Juri! Ate lots of Japanese food, and other good things. Didn't think too hard about how much that trip cost. Procured a waistcoat for Kit's wedding. My sister showed up for the weekend. We went to the beach at Skegness again and ate chips and flew kites. I bought shoes for Kit's wedding! Booked last minute tickets out of the UK, which cost more than they should have. Packed. My new backpack still hasn't been shipped. Caught a cold.
Delicious homemade things. Banana pancakes, curry, buddha bowl, grah.
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After falling potentially irrecoverably behind last week, I caught right up to less than a day behind, and now I'm feeling all blaze like yeah sure I'll write later no big deal
I laid in bed for like 45 minutes feeling bad about not getting up and writing and also waking up too late and just letting the day waste away and anyway it turns out I can't read my watch and it's an hour earlier than I thought \o/ So yes everything is going according to plan.
Writing is blocked by pressing need to work out solar orbits so nations on my planet can have interesting timekeeping mechanisms and seasons based on the two suns and a moon but aaargh physics hard i don't know anything
Bulgarians who don't speak any English when you need directions or to know how much something costs tend to suddenly have enough vocab and perfect grammar when they realise they can laugh at you about Brexit.
TFW you don't remember what you wrote about a character seven years ago but you just need to keep writing right now to move the story on, and then when you go back to check you've managed to keep complete continuity entirely by luck. (Or my subconscious firing better than I thought. But I can't remember the names of animals or countries I invented like yesterday so? I think it's luck.)
I literally didn't write a single word on day 1 so now I'm catching up. I will catch up thooouuughhh I promise. Doing some sweet sweet exposition for one of my main MCs. She's a princess. In so many ways. How's everyone else's NaNo going?
My host's doggo is sleeping over at mine tonight cos their baby is sick and they need to be in a different town. We went for a walk on the beach and he's so fast for such a tiny thing and made me run. Tomorrow we're going to climb a hill. I suspect I might end up with him for the rest of the week which is AWESOME
I dreamt about one of the characters in my nanowrimo novel last night.
I love love love to see the nice cafes I visited in Sofia not only still around but progressing! Edgy Veggy was a tiny hole in the wall when I was here a year and a half ago, and now it's a full sized cafe with comfy seats, wifi, and vegan groceries to boot. Veda House is as a tranquil and cosy as it ever was, and I tried a new place for breakfast - KIND - which wasn't here on my last visit but has a fantastic hearty budget all-vegan daily menu. I went to Kring yesterday too, which was here last time and I just didn't have time for - pay by weight vegetarian, super delicious and calm ayurvedic vibes.
Today's goals: Tug gets kidnapped by pirates, Suari gets kidnapped by scary desert people, Jackann accidentally-sort-of kidnaps some twins.
It's happeniiiiinnnngggg I last hit 50k in 30 days in 2009, I would be fine if this is an every ten years thing.
If the nanowrimo site says it it must be true!!!
The internet went out for about an hour yesterday, and besides some time spent trying to debug the problem I wrote about 600 words before it came back on. There's a lesson here but I can't quite place it...
The internet went out for 11 hours today and I wrote 3,414 words. Still not sure about a pattern.
Yesterday I lost about 200 words because computers, but I logged them anyway, and today I'm going to rewrite that paragraph and claim it again as compensation. I think this is fine.
The moon kept waking me up last night. It's almost full, and was blazing through my window with the light of a thousand suns. Then I kept having moon-related dreams.
Did it! 50,029 words in 30 days of a fantasy adventure novel that now has over 60,000 words in total. I'm about 2/3 of the way through the story I think, or a little under. If I write 201 more words I can beat 2009 buuut maybe I'll just watch TV now.
My new place has a smart TV with Netflix, but I think it must also be connected to the NaNoWriMo API or something..... it won't connect, even when the TV's network connection is fine, netflix isn't blocked on other devices on the same network, YouTube and Amazon Video connect fine... Netflix won't even let me log in, just says there is a problem. So obviously it knows my wordcount is under.
I took the night train from Sofia to Varna. I'd read good things (it's amazing, super clean and comfortable, friendly staff) and heard bad things (you'll get robbed, Bulgarian trains are awful). One thing I was sure of is that it's slower than the bus. But overnight, that just meant I actually had the potential get enough sleep before I arrived. I ended up with the help of a local to buy the ticket, which I left til the last minute. She strongly suggested that I buy business class so I would have a sleeper cabin to myself. Otherwise, they're a three-bunk deal shared with strangers. The price was the same as a bus ticket (~€25) so what the heck. There are also first and second class seats for sale. Through the window I saw them and they looked plenty comfortable enough for me, tiny person, expert bus sleeper, to have been more than happy with. But having a cabin to myself was nice too. I bought the ticket online at bdz.bg which was fairly painless. The later train I wanted said it was sold out of business class tickets, so I got a slightly earlier one. The site gives you 15 minutes to fill in all the details and pay. I timed out a few times, and when I went round again it said business class was sold out on the other train too.. I just let it time out again and try again and eventually it worked. My new local friend printed the ticket for me. The instructions about that are ambiguous, so better to be on the safe side. I got to Sofia Central station about 40 minutes before departure (not on purpose, I was just extra efficient). The station has clear signs (as long as you can recognise Bulgarian place names in Cyrillic) and I found my train already on platform 6. The ticket had my coach and berth number on. When I boarded a member of staff took my paper ticket, cross checked some lists, and told me to go to berth 81 (which is not what my ticket said). She didn't speak much English, but was very friendly and enthusiastic with the words she did know. The train wasn't super busy, but it wasn't deserted either. Plenty of people from all walks of life seemed to be entering sleeper cabins or settling into seats. Berth 81 turned out to be a triple bunk room. There was a sink, and various different lights, and temperature control, and high up storage, and a little cupboard. I wasn't sure if this meant other people would be joining me after all. Oh well. I settled into the bottom bunk (as instructed) with my kindle. About ten minutes later the train lady knocked on the door and I got out of the way from the bunk. She hoisted the middle bunk against the wall, so I could now sit upright on the lower one. "Business!" she beamed, and left. I see. The train trundled along throughout the night. There were lots of stops, some very short, and some where it sat in a station for a while. There were no announcements. The bed was comfortable, and I slept well in between being woken up by irregular train movements, or sudden station light. Every time I woke up and looked out of the window at the passing night, and felt the rumble of the train, I was filled with joy and a feeling of adventure; this is exactly what I want my life to be like. The feeling encapsulated by night trains. We arrived in Varna about half an hour late. Fifteen minutes or so before arrival, the train lady knocked on my door again (I was already up, having heard knocking on the doors of my neighbouring berths getting closer and closer). She told me "Varna!" and returned my printed ticket. As we pulled into the station, and the sun was rising, there was finally a tannoy announcement, presumably because the train was terminating.
My hosts kindly dropped me in Byala, the next town over, at the top of the track that leads to Kara Dere beach. Kara Dere is wild. There's only a dirt track from the outskirts of town, and there's no infrastructure of any kind. Not even phone signal. It's backed by dunes and behind those are vinyards and other farmland. As soon as I set off I felt the tranquility. There were a few locals fishing from the beach, but nobody else for miles. I found an empty spot, and sat in the sun to write for an hour. Then I started to walk south. My hosts had told me that it was possible to walk all the way back to Obzor along the beaches.. maybe I'd have to get my feet wet, they said, but definitely doable. Most of the route was easy actually. The tide was far enough out that there were a lot of beaches. Along the base of the great white cliffs that give Byala its name (probably) were beautiful stretches of different kinds of rocks, pebbles, sand. Some places had epic slanting stretches of stone. In only a few places did I need to squeeze between the sea and the cliff. Until I reached the headland south of Byala with the fort Sveti Atanas. It seemed like it might be possible to get around, and I waded into the sea to reach the next rocks. But they were pretty slippery. The kicker was not knowing what was around the other side. If I knew for sure I'd reach accessible land again soon I would have gone for it, but I had no idea. So I backed up, and climbed approximately ten million steps to reach the top of the cliff. Then I passed through a suburb of Byala, stopping at the Information Center to use the wifi to tell my host I would not in fact be back in time for the internet-fixing people. There is a fort on the headland but it was gated; worth investigating another time. I descended back to the seafront as soon as possible, through a small district called Chaika, and found a pier and a fishing port. I carried on along the beach, then, all the way to Obzor. There were some truly beautiful deserted spots there too. By this point I just wanted to get back before dark, otherwise I would have hung around for longer. On the outskirts of Obzor is a large resort hotel. They paved over a chunk of the beach in front of that, but it was kind of a relief after miles of walking on sand. They'd also unearthed an ancient kiln, and put it in a glass room with some signs about the history of the area, so that was cool. It took three hours from Kara Dere to Obzor.
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I took the bus from Obzor to not-so-Sunny Beach, then walked along the dunes to the ancient town of Nessebar. It was a grey cloudy day, but the deserted resort of Sunny Beach was beautiful without any people, and Nessebar is super cool and full of rambling alleys and Byzantine ruins. If you count the number of submerged churches, it has the most per capita in Europe (or something). I had an unexpectedly good lunch at one of the three open restaurants (all in a row), and went to the Archaelogical museum, which is very small. The part of Nessebar on the mainland is a functioning town, so I also managed to pick up some decent groceries before heading back.
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Moved down the coast from Varna to Obzor, and settled into a cosy apartment with an excellent chair, 2 minutes from the sea. From my balcony I can hear the sea, and not traffic, but sometimes construction. But not hearing traffic is important and nice. Obzor is a resort town with nobody in it at this time of year. Only a couple of very small grocery stores are open, but I'll survive. The bus links both north and south down the coast are pretty good if I need to go emergency vegan cheese shopping in Varna or Burgas.
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Walks on the beach and around Obzor. I borrowed Archie, my hosts' doggo, to help. He is so smol but so strong!
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A full day walk with Archie through Kaleto and the hills near Obzor. It was beautiful and foresty. There was a clearing with swings. bbq area and a natural spring. I found a big decrepit tower and Archie was a good sport and waited while I climbed to the top.
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Last days with Archie, bopping around Obzor.
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An afternoon trip to Varna for vegan cheese and pizza. Sunny days in Obzor.
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Packed up all my fairphones and shit, bounced through London, then off out again to the wilds of Europe.
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A weekend in Varna, enjoying some solitude. Also writing! And working a bit. And exploring the locale. The beach and the Sea Garden are close by, and I have about a 30 minute walk to the city center. So far t-shirt weather, so long as you don't stand still for too long.
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I had a day out exploring the coast north of Varna. I tried to take the bus to Golden Sands, but the conductor on the 409 somewhat aggressively told me to get off and take the 9 (good job I know enough Serbo-Croatian to understand some Bulgarian in context!!) but before the 9 came a taxi full of people pulled up and offered to take me for the same price as the bus (3bgn). So that was handy. The taxi dropped the other people off at different points on the route, and then offered to take me all the way to the top of the hill for Aladzha monastery. Saved me a climb! The monastery is closed on Mondays in winter obviously so I didn't get to check out the cool place carved into the side of the rock or its catacombs. I did go for a walk through the woods though, which was very serene, and had nice views through the trees over Golden Sands. I walked down and from the woods entered a slightly dystopian ghost town. Golden Sands is a resort, so at this time of year, no surprise. The hotels were empty, the supermarkets boarded up and the cafes deserted. Plenty of stray dogs, and occasional people sweeping leaves into piles. The beach truly was golden, and pretty enormous. I imagine in the summer it's packed. There are bars and restaurants lining it, and some tacky fairground stuff. I wanted to walk along the beach all the way to Sv Konstantin & Elena, but some of the more immediately beachfront hotels fenced off their bits of the beach and I had to take the road for long stretches. Sveti Konstantin & Elena was much nicer than Golden Sands. It felt less tacky (though still had a hotel with a giant pirate ship on the roof) and a bit more alive. I guess people other than holiday makers actually live there. The beaches were still almost deserted and very beautiful. I had some time before the next bus back to Varna, so I popped into the Botanical Gardens near the bus stop. Also tranquil and beautiful! And full of lovely autumnal colours. I walked ten miles, mostly along beaches, and was pretty exhausted by the end. Unfortunately RunKeeper seems to have lost the evidence.
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Unable to resist the the lure of the headland I can see across the bay from my balcony, I took the bus to the nearby town of Galata. The route isn't really walkable, as it involves a giant highway roadbridge across the bay. I had the impression Galata was kind of fancy, but the parts of it I saw seemed run down. I walked to the tip of the headland, which had a completely abandoned concrete viewing platform that was falling into the sea, and an old lighthouse. It was very cool. Then I headed around to the nearest beach, climbing down a thousand steps through a hillside wooded park. The autumn colours are in full swing, and the sun was hot. There were only a few other people around. I sat on a rock by the sea to write.
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A wee jaunt into the town center for cake at Food For Love, then enjoying the sunset from Varna pier.
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On a hill near where I'm staying is an enormous concrete monument to Soviet and Bulgarian Friendship. The views from the top are good. I sat up there to write for a bit, and I caught a nice sunset. Then I went into town for curry at Vege Joy.
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A day out in Varna. I walked into town through the Sea Garden, and went to the Archaelogical Museum. It's big, and covers the area from prehistoric times to the arrival of the Ottomans, then stops abruptly. Varna has a cool history as Odessos though, home to Thracians, Greeks and Byzantines(?) before the arrival of the 'barbarian' Slavs and Avars. Burger at Vege Joy. Then a swung by the Roman thermal bath ruins, which was also bigger than expected, and full of cats. I took the bus back to Chaika so I could walk to the beach at Sveti Nikola in time for a beautiful sunset.
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Must resist urge to spend hours making increasingly detailed maps of world instead of writing.
TFW you're introducing characters who you know are gonna die, you've always known, there's nothing you can do about it.
TFW you have a village name that is four words long and it's definitely not because it's nanowrimo I swear.. (it's canonically a literal translation of the location of the village relative to the nearest big settlement.) (it's because of nanowrimo though)
Tired of writing dialogue? Have your protagonist end up in a place where nobody speaks the same language as them for a while. Describing conversations this way also helps with wordcount, at this late late hour.
Ugh I finally get on top of my word count and DING DONG the day rolls over and I'm back where I started?? What on earth who came up with this
One of the most useful skills I gained during my PhD was how to use an espresso machine.
It's blustery and overcast and a bit rainy, and forecast to be like this all week. I love it because I can hear the sea more clearly, and my flat is super cosy and I don't feel bad about not going on giant beach walk adventures. But I also still have the dog and he gives no shits about the weather and wants out. Probably good for me.
Train from Boston to Grantham to London. Ate some stuff, hung out in the British library. Night bus from London to Cologne. Day-and-a-night bus from Cologne to Sofia. Got nothing done, because of the communications black hole that is Serbia, and also feeling grotty. Met a friendly Georgian lady on the bus though. Spent two nights in Sofia, cafe-working. Juggling dev administrivia, recruitment, improvement team meetings, and squeezing in tiny bits of OCDS code maybe. Met Martina. Nanowrimo started!! I'm back on Quest for Brothers with a vengeance. Took a night train to Varna. Spent the weekend writing and doing ODSC recruitment admin, with a wander to the city center and a run through the Sea Garden.
Stayed on top of NaNoWriMo. Explored Varna. Walking through the Sea Garden and beaches, visited beaches at Golden Sands and Sveti Konstantin i Elena, saw the views from Galata, walked down Varna pier, climbed the hill to the monument to Soviet and Bulgarian Friendship, went to some museums, and ate lots of good food at Vege Joy and Food For Love. Helped with recruitment admin and writing a bid for more Co-op work, and other Co-op-y stuff. Took the bus down the coast to Obzor and settled in.
Walked on the beach in Obzor. Rested. Wrote. Did a little editorial/admin work on the DID spec and use cases. Did some work on the OCDS Data Review Tool and Co-op improvement team stuff. Fell behind on nanowrimo but caught up again at the last minute. Ish. Spent way too much time reading all of wikipedia. Walked 10 miles from Kara Dere beach to Obzor with a detour over the Sv Atanas headland. Finished Better Than Us, Bojack Horseman, and caught up with the Good Place. It was foggy all weekend so I stayed home and cooked cabbage and that was nice.
Borrowed a doggo for the week and went for many walks Including to the hills around Obzor. Spent a day in Sunny Beach and Nessebar looking at sand and old things. Mostly did nanowrimo in bursts, and lots of co-op hiring/admin stuff. Watched Dark and some movies.
Would be fun to keep track of wikipedia pages I open during the course of nanowrimo.
Fantasy world building is so hard how do people remember all the stuff they made up?? I'm trying to take notes every time I pull a new country/food/animal/side character out of the air so I can reuse things and be consistent but wow it takes a lot of work.
I can write 750 words before breakfast* * Breakfast has been rescheduled to noon
Writing with a pen and paper is helping a lot with getting the words out this year. And has fewer distractions than the laptop. Two A4 pages is reliably 750 words, so that helps too. Two pages three times a day, I'm all set.
The air has been bad in Bursa since I got here, not quite as bad as Sarajevo but still makes me cough outside; but this morning the smoggy haze has even reached my village. Remind me not to abandon the coasts in winter in future.
After several days of downtime following another forced PHP upgrade, I have fixed and we are back, all new and 7.2 compatible. Didn't even notice it was gone, did ya?
Every cafe in Istanbul is a cat cafe.
um excuse me but i don't understand why finn and poe didn't kiss
I thought having a fire this winter would be nice but actually I'm alternating between being completely incompetant at keeping a fire in and freezing to death, and dying of smoke inhalation and being terrified of burning the house down. Long story short my host has managed to find me a place with central heating I can move to tomorrow and I'll gladly pay the gas bill.
Given that my ultimate future goal is to open a nice cosy welcoming vegan cafe, whenever I spend a lot of time (and money) in ones I find with the vibe I want, that counts as market research and thus a business expense right?
I met some wonderful lovely people at the Bursa English Speaking Club tonight, which I found via Couchsurfing. Lots of locals, but also others from around the world. Being immediately welcomed into this kind of community is all it takes to make a place feel like home.
Ice on the beach and fireworks in Obzor. Then down the coast to Burgas. Black sand, walks through the sea garden, a lovely town center, and run to Sarafovo.
Amy added 100 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201911-bg/
The air was pretty clear today, and it was warm but windy. I went into the city center, the old part of Bursa, Osmangazi by bus then metro. I found the Grand Mosque (Ulu Cami) and Koza Han, which was busy with people drinking coffee in the courtyard. Nearby a giant line of people waited at a lokma truck. I sat on a bench to watch what was happening. Finally the line began to move as a new batch of lokma was ready, and everyone was handed a bag for free. No wonder the line was so long. I wasn't sure if there was a qualifier though, and was too shy to join, even though I really wanted lokma... I thought I might try again later, but by the time I got back there they were packing up. I wandered into the main bazaar, which is adjoined with many sub-bazaars, partly covered, for miles and miles. I let myself get lost in there for three our four hours. There's everything you could ever need. I stopped for cig kofte for lunch, mid-afternoon, at Adiyaman near Kayhan market. Cig kofte is usually vegetarian; typically if a place only sells cig kofte, it's safe. Doner places selling it might sell a meat version. A.. is a chain, though I haven't seen as many of them around as Oses or Lagash, and their logo even says 'vegan food' in it on close inspection. This one was a small place but had upstairs seating. A friendly guy guided me upstairs and took my order. A cig kofte durum and tea set me back 6TL, or less than one (1) Euro. It was a relief to sit down for a bit. I dove back into the market, determined to actually buy something. Eventually I emerged with dates, dried fruit, olives, and wool. I walked to a park which contains a giant dome which warrants further investigation in the future. Then to Yesil, the area with the Green Mosque, Green Tomb, and all manner of other green things. I also visited the Irgandı Bridge, which is a bridge covered in small local artists workshops/stores, but they were mostly closed up by the time I was there. I followed the tramline back to the Grand Mosque, then Zafer Plaza, Balibey Han (a traditional crafts market over several floors, mostly closed by then) and up to the viewpoint from Tophane as it got dark.
Amy added 96 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201912-tr/
I managed to drag myself outside before noon, and caught the bus, metro and another bus to the cable car base station (Teleferik) which took about an hour. On the way I stocked up with simit and cig kofte, in case there was no food at the top of Uludag Mountain. The cable car was closed though. It didn't say why, but later I checked their twitter and it was because of strong winds. The winds were indeed strong. So probably for the best. As far as I know there's no other way to get up the mountain though if you don't have a car, or are part of a coach trip, or want to pay for a taxi. But anyway, the cable car was most of the point of this adventure. I was in the vicinity of the Cars and Carriages museum though, so I wandered over there. It's set in a really nice grounds with some archaelogical ruins. The museum itself is small, and was free today (no idea why - there was a cash desk but nobody there and the security guard just waved me in). There's not much written information, but lots of old carriages to look at, and diagrams. Around the corner is a 500 year old hammmam which contains a museum for weights and scales. That was also free, and super cool! I recommend. Next I walked to the City (Kent) Museum. That was also free, what a day, but had no information in English at all. It's pretty sizeable, and was quite busy. I walked around all three floors looking at the pictures and exhibits. It would definitely have been a good 'un if I could have ready anything. I wandered back through town, took a quick look by Koza Han in case there were free lokma again - some ladies were packing up, but not the food truck this time. I stopped inside the Grand Mosque (Ulu Cami) which was very peaceful despite all the people, and beautiful in a serene way. I stoped by Balibey Han but the shop I want to visit in there was closed again. I took in some more views from Tophane, in daylight this time. I walked to the Kulturpark, which is a big green space with fun things to do if you like doing fun things, like pedal boats or drift karts, or a ferris wheel. There are nice views of the mountains around the city. I sat by the lake to eat my cig kofte, before catching the metro and the bus back home. The bus driver took me on a merry fucking ride, not stopping in the village. It was the same bus I always get so I have no idea why. He kept talking to me and obviously I couldn't understand anything. I just told him 'Misi'.. and he went up the mountain a bit and then back down. Then he seemed to be going the right way, but veered off again.. and eventually another bus came in the opposite direction, and he talked to the driver then switched me over. That one did stop in Misi. Pretty frustrating though. But I got free lemons from an old man outside the mosque on the way home, so that made up for it.
Amy added 91 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201912-tr/
Goodbye Bulgaria... hello Istanbul! Arrived on the nightbus and sleep-worked at cafes and hung out in Gulhane Park. Ate cig kofte by the port.
Amy added 48 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201912-tr/
A walking tour in Istanbul. Visited the Hippodrome (ancient chariot racing stadium) remains, including some very old granite pillars that have survived major earthquakes. Through the old town, the grand bazaar and spice market, and views across the city from the Suleymaniye mosque. A delicious, hearty and cheap lunch at Vegan Istanbul, which felt surprisingly very local.
Amy added 61 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201912-tr/
A 30 minute wait in line to climb Galata Tower. The views were worth it. Then a walk to Taksim Square, and far too many sweet things. Ended the day with a visit to Cemberlitas Hammam.
Amy added 79 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201912-tr/
A packed day of touristing. Went into Hagia Sofia to see epic architecture and mosaics. Around the corner is a small complex of Sultans' tombs, which I only found out about because of signage inside the Hagia Sofia grounds, but actually you can enter there for free from the street. To the extensive underground Basilica Cistern, which doesn't take long to explore but is definitely worth a stop. Lunch at Community Kitchen which is full of cats (and delicious vegan food). The Museum of History of Science and Technology in Islam is really interested and full of cool stuff. Then the ferry to the Anatalyan side of the city to catch the end of a vegan food festival at Hos Atolye.
Amy added 134 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201912-tr/
My last day in Istanbul. A slightly rushed tour of Topkapi Palace and the Harem. I'd probably go again, even though it's a bit expensive, there is a lot to see in beautiful grounds. Then hasty cig kofte and the 2 hour ferry to Mudanya, Bursa.
I moved to Misi, which is a small village just south of Bursa. There are old houses, a river, and many cats, dogs, goats, chickens. I moved into an old house heated only by a wood burning stove. I didn't have huge success with this, and temperatures are dropping, so I built a quite excellent blanket fort in my bedroom. But eventually my host relocated me to a place down the road with central heating. Bursa's two vegan cafes, Good Call and Vegan Kantin, are both on my side of this sprawling city, so that's handy. On a nice day I walked. Otherwise I can take the bus into town.
Amy added 53 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201912-tr/
A lazy weekend in Pomorie. Beautiful sea views, salt pans, black mineral sand, salt water jacuzzi time, some unsurprisingly mediocre food and some surprisingly good food (at 24 Restaurant), and an ancient Thracian 'beehive' tomb (closed in winter).
Amy added 102 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201911-bg/
A day out in the ancient town of Sozopol (Apollonia). A really nice rugged coast with lots of ruins, and cat-guides. Not a whole lot to do at this time of year but eat fried potatoes and watch the sea.
I visited Agora market in Nilufer, having heard that is a good place to buy a second hand coat, and wow, what a market. In a shocking turn of events, I voluntarily went to a place with snow. Some people posted on couchsurfing.com that they were going to stay in a wooden house on the mountain (Uludag), so I joined them. It was beautiful, but cold. The house was cosy once the fire was lit, and we spent most of the time eating and talking. We went for a short walk in the snow. I don't have appropriate shoes, but wrapping my feet in plastic bags worked fine. Not many amazing views, because it was pretty cloudy. On the way back to the city we visited a 610 year old tree, and had coffee and gozleme there. Then we ended up staying out late for dinner in someone else's apartment. I missed the last bus home, so I stayed over chez one of my new friends in Gorukle, and the next day we had breakfast at veggie cafe At Kafe (more gozleme).
Amy added 69 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201912-tr/
Photos from Uludag weekend, taken by Juli (or someone else with Juli's camera).
Amy added 90 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201912-tr/
Photos from Uludag weekend, taken by Mounaim.
Amy added 64 photos to https://i.amy.gy/201912-tr/
It's raining, and all I can hear is the rain. No cars. The occasional cockerel crow. And rain, pattering through the broad leaves of the tree outside the window, tapping the stone walls, clattering across red tile rooftops. I can't see the mountains because a cloud is sitting over the village. I've had my fill of going outside for the past few days, so this is a perfect cosy day.
TFW thunderbird actually does something smart and quietly looks up someone's PGP key using .well-known/openpgpkey/ in the background but leaks your location in the process. Oh thunderbird. (I had my VPN off cos it fights with docker okay.)
Turkish tea is very substantial. I can drink it all day and forget to eat. Which is a very cheap way to survive, though I'm not sure about the long term nutritional value.
Mostly stayed home in Obzor and worked, wrote, and watched the rain. It got cold. Did a bunch of DID spec stuff. Day trip to Varna, cafe wrote, vegan pizza. Completed nanowrimo! With 50,029 words of Quest for Brothers, about 2/3 of the story. Watched lots of netflix.
Celebrated nanowrimo win with a lazy offline weekend in Pomorie. Then mostly stayed home in Obzor under a blanket. Occasional short beach walks. Lots of co-op work. Finished Ad Vitam and several movies.. including Atlantiques, and The Irishman, split over two days. Started The 3% Ate so much potato. Packed up and left my favourite chair in the world to date; headed down the coast to Burgas.
Ran from Burgas center to the suburb of Sarafovo. Continued work on OCDS DRT stuff. Worked from some nice Burgas cafes, one on the beach. Went on a day trip to Sozopol. Resumed BSG season 4. Took a nightbus to Istanbul. Did all of the touristing.
A final morning in Istanbul then the ferry to Bursa. Moved to Misi village. Worked from Bursa's vegan cafes. Did some touristing in Bursa.
Worked in the quiet of everyone else being on holiday on docs for the OCDS DRT and internal co-op admin stuff. Didn't really get much done though. Saw Star Wars Rise of Skywalker. Went to some museums in Bursa. Went to Bursa English Speaking Club and met some cool people, who I then went up Uludag mountain with (more photos).
Being woken up by goats, roosters and the mosque is much preferable to traffic and people sounds.
I think working hours 12-20 suit me well. I always used to think being in a late timezone was an advantage because I could be productive in the morning then have my 'morning' meetings in the post lunch slump. But today I had a slow start, bopped around a bit, then had my 'morning' meetings after lunch and rode the second-wave of productivity to work into the evening. Which felt better than trying to force myself to wake up and start working immediately like a normal human.
Went to what I thought was gonna be a yin yoga class, but it was more like fast paced hatha, a bit chaotic in a good way, with headstands right in the middle of class.. anyway I have been brutally reacquainted with my core.