The Journey's the Thing…

The Greek convention was a smashing success. 32 countries were represented and we all stayed sober. There were about 550 people and the total years sober was 2, 505 years and 2 months. That’s pretty cool. More evidence that the program actually works. I left today shortly after 12 o’clock with an AA friend Leif, who was driving across the Peloponnese to his home on the west coast. He dropped me off in Olympia, home of the the very first Olympic games around 770 BC. It was a pagan religious site for several centuries before that, so this place is extremely powerful.

We drove through some of the most beautiful spots on the planet: Arcadia. It was full of very high, fir covered mountains draped in clouds and deep verdant valleys full of fruit orchards. It was raining slightly and that made the green stand out even more. Sorry, no pictures, but I hope to try to capture some shots of the ruins and surrounding hills tomorrow.

On Tuesday I head back to Patras and connect with the boat to take me back to Croatia. I still have around three weeks to go before i fly back to America, and believe me, I have my work cut out for me. I still have to read a book so i can write a paper, and so forth. Now that the conventions are over, I think I’ll be able to do that.

Thoughts of H. make me alternately sad, joyful, horny, and…horny some more. Oh Viking Princess, what have you done to this wandering soul?

Johnnyboy

Last night I boarded the Blue Line ferry from Split to Ancona, the first leg of 4 on my Greek junket. I had an airline seat, which is almost the cheapest. I was joined by three groups of people. There was a French group made up of retirees on a tourism trip; there was an Italian group coming from a spiritual pilgrimage to Medugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina; and finally there was a large group of Croatian teenagers going on a trip with their nun/teacher to Italy. I’m pretty sure one of them stole my mobile phone. I had put it on the table next to where I had stretched out and voila, when I woke up, it was gone. So when I arrived in Ancona I raced to an Internet cafe and had the phone locked down. What time is left on the SIM is still mine, and I will get a new handset when I return. I will also get a new global SIM when I need to. The money is spent and it is not going anywhere. Annoying and frustrating because it is the only way to contact H. She is at sea as well and cannot access her email. She has probably been SMSing me and is now pissed off because I have not responded. Other than that, can do without it, really. It’s just one more thing to worry about. I’ll use email and landlines to keep contact.

The Greek boat that I am on is run by the Anek Lines and is really super. The Greeks run the best long-distance ferries, except of course for the Scandinavian lines. I splurged and booked a solo cabin with a shower, which I needed following a hot and uncomfortable night on the aged Croatian tub. So now I have washed, eaten a snack, made a phone call, and all is well.

The other bad thing about losing the phone is all the stored phone numbers. I did write some of them down, but not enough, and not hers…Shit.

Johnnyboy