Thanks for the memories.

If there is one thing my travels to date have taught me, it is that nothing in life is ever certain. No matter how thoroughly planned an adventure may be, no matter how well organised we may set out on our journey, and no matter how many possibilities and outcomes we may have imagined in our minds – there will always be times when things are beyond our control, and the big, wide world takes over.

Early this morning, the world I know changed forever. Surrounded by family, Puppa Bird – father, grandfather, great-grandfather, patriarch and chief nest builder of the Bird flock – passed away. I’ve spent some time today thinking about my grandfather, and what a remarkable person he was, and tonight I write from Ireland – a country which just days ago, he fondly recalled from his own childhood memories.

The Notebook

Before I left Australia, a friend of mine gave me something to take away with me. It’s called James Bird’s Traveling Church, and is a small notebook, filled with a series of prayers. Now, they’re not necessarily prayers of a certain religion or denomination, they’re not particularly written as a traditional prayer may be written, and some of them are not completely appropriate for the younger readers of the world, but as I read through them, cover to cover, the other day, I did realise how special they really are.

The prayers don’t all begin with God, Lord, Jehovah, Vishnu etc. and many of them don’t even finish with an Amen. Some of them rhyme, some of the flow well, and some of them are completely out of left field – which is somewhat to be expected, considering their author! Some prayers are of confession, some of them of thanks and appreciation, and some of them quite clearly set out as a challenge to the reader, and as a challenge to be passed on. Sarcasm in religion is always fun too, and there’s one particular prayer which leaves no question as to its purpose, yet entertains along the way.

Puckering up on the way to Pristina!

I am lost and confused today. For the first time in almost five months, I am in an English speaking country!!! I flew into Dublin, Ireland this morning, and am now on a train on my way to Galway, where I plan to be ridiculously lazy for the next few days, before meeting up once again with Ali. Unquestionably a more energetic and knowledgeable traveller than myself, Ali will no doubt inspire me to get out and see Ireland (and then Germany), however I do intend to make the most of the next few days to sit back and relax, soak up the few rays of sun the current gloomy weather will let me have, and of course… eat!

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The road to Lake Koman

Up bright and early, I was in for a day of adventure, as I left the chaos and congestion of Shkodra behind, and set out to conquer Albania’s Lake Koman Ferry crossing. Having read about the ferry crossing online, I was surprised by the lack of information provided to tourists in the area, but assumed (being Europe), everything would be very easy, self-explanatory, and comfortable. How wrong I was!

The Balkans

It’s been a non-stop couple of weeks, filled with great food, friends and some of the most spectacular scenery of my trip so far – and today I write from an Italian train, with the rolling hills, vineyards and orchards of Tuscany providing the perfect backdrop and inspiration to write yet another delayed blog entry. I’ve spent the last few days with Muko and Scooder, and as we continue our search for the most amazing food, wine, live music and karaoke Italy has to offer, I do find myself wondering if it really is all that necessary to keep traveling – surely I could just spend the rest of my year here??? We’re off today to Reggio Emilia, where I thought I had struck gold with some absolute bargain accommodation – however it turns out all I struck was the epi-centre of last weeks earthquake – no wonder the prices were so cheap!