July 2010 Archives

Several months ago, when I was in St. Petersburg, I came upon an invitation to
head to the Noviy Mariinsky Teatr (New Mariinsky Theatre) by invitation from
one of the couchsurfers I'd contacted. I took my host, Sascha, as a guest and had the great privilege of seeing the theatre and our host, a Viola player from the orchestra by the name of Liza.

After the show, the three of us headed to an Irish pub to talk about the show
and to get to know each other a little better. In the time it took to finish a
beer, Liza and I were closer friends than many people I'd known for years. We
just clicked and were able to talk for hours and hours.

The following day, I meet once more with Liza and am introduced to her lovely
daughter Tanya. The three of us start chatting and I find that Tanya is an
incredibly smart girl.

Liza and her Viola.

Since I'd started travelling, I didn't really bother with paying much
attention when I crossed the streets as cars would usually stop and let me
cross. Tanya and Liza had noticed this, Tanya had a suggestion as to why that
is. Perhaps, she said, this is because he is not from around here and so he
wields a different kind of magic to what we do. Other drivers sense the
presence of a different magic and so they leave him alone.

One of Liza's favourite movies is Amelie, a story about a girl who does good
deeds for everyone she can and decides to help her dad get over his fear of
flying by giving their garden gnome to her friend, a stewardess, to take
photos of it around the world.

In the same vein, Liza and Tanya gift me with ослик (Oslik) , a donkey salt and pepper
shaker that will protect me in my travels. When I finish my world trip and see
them once again, I can return the donkey to them. So begins the adventures of
Osslik around the World

Tanya with Oslik wrapped up.

Oslik in Tallin, Estonia.

Oslik, couchsurfing in Tartu.

In Pamukkale, Turkey.

Oslik meets his big brother in Northern Cyprus and the two party together.

Oslik relaxing on a beach in Nuweiba, Egypt.

Unfortunately though, airport security takes him away at Tel Aviv airport, despite being able to fly with him from Riga and Cyprus. They say he could have been used as a weapon.

The last time I ever saw Oslik.

After a short flight out of Tel Aviv, I land in Hamburg Airport in Germany,
take a train into town and meet my friend Gregor, who made the trip out to
greet me from Bremen.

Gregor: Hey Man, what's up?
Me: I have stories to tell.
Gregor: Want to party?
Me: Sure

And so begins the partying, we head to the Reeperbahn in Sankt Pauli, the red-light district which hosts a lot of bars, head into the seediest looking one, drink a shot of something potent, head to another bar, give all of my belongings to a bartender to stash behind the bar and proceed to party the night away.

At 5AM, the first train is running to Bremen and so we quit partying, take a
train to Gregor's house and sleep the night away.