Sunday, June 19, 2005
Mechanical Miscellany, mayhem and madness...
Well of course there were technical hiccups. I’ve been hiding it from everyone until now, but I actually managed to damage my digital camera (sorry guys) on the first weekend in Paris. First weekend, I was annoyed. It sounds a bit like a cantankerous duck now....However, it still functions perfectly and with the GB card my brothers gave me for the trip, we are taking ridiculous amounts of pointless pictures and some mini movies, which I still haven’t got around to posting, but anyway….
At least I didn’t drop kick my camera though. As unfortunately Sol did to her minidisk….well she didn’t kick it. But she did drop it. Three times. That was enough, the last whilst running down the stairs to the Crypt of Bari cathedral to record the Russian Orthodox boys in full voice. She needn’t have rushed unfortunately. They were belting it out for another few hours. Just to rub it in I am sure.
Well of course this led to the main mission of our visit to Greece being the tracking down and purchasing of a new mini disc player, the older technology (not the new fangled Sony yoke, no, no MP3 players-thank-you-very-much) with a microphone socket! I can tell you now that we found thousands of minidisk players, some of them even appropriate, but as soon as we investigated as to whether there was a microphone socket, the shop assistant slipped the mini disc back into the glass case and said ‘no’. Or Oxi actually. As it was in Greece.
Our first attempt was outside Lamia, on the way from Volos to Delphi. Unfortunately the bus driver forgot to stop in Lamia, and deposited us about 5km closer to Athens than we had wanted to go. We trekked back in the midday sun along that strip of road that every town in Europe has, the one with all the car dealerships, DIY stores and occasional electronics superstores. In Dublin it is the Longmile Road. In Lamia it was just long.
There was an ‘Expert’ brand chain store there, and we slipped in. They had some nice fridges and excellent air conditioning, but no minidisk. We trudged back out into the midday sun, wielding our smelly back packs. It was a rare brush with civilisation, of fridges and televisions in our transient world. Our slightly too transient world in case of our last bus trip.
We trudged all the way back into town and found the Stathmos Leoforion, (bus station to the rest of you). We got back there just in time to learn that we had missed one of the only Two buses to Delphi a day. It was 1.0pm. The next was 7.pm.
Well you know.
We rested and had some lunch and generally set up camp outside the one roomed bus station and watched the sky gradually close in. By the time it had got a little cooler, the more threatening clouds had arrived. We decided to take a well earned coffee on one of the OK squares in Lamia, a crossroads town. Crossing the main square there I met a youth wearing a Liverpool top, which I took to be an omen and sign from the Gods, an auspicious one of course in such proximity to the former seats of the Oracle of Delphi. They were not wrong.
Well we got to the café, sat down, and the heavens opened. Absolutely spectacular thunderstorm. Of course now it was six o’clock, and we had to get back across town to the 7 o’clock bus.
Dodging raindrops we still managed to get drenched, but as luck would have it, we passed every single other electric shop in Lamia, but with no luck. We emerged from the last one, damp and air conditioned, to be greeted with a bloody massive thunder and lightning bolt right on top of us. It was the closest I ever want to be to lightning I tell you. I took this as not so auspicious sign.
We made the bus OK, and headed on, the hunt for Minidisc postponed until Athens.
Well, after all the visa shenanigans we thought that the mini disc thing would be a breeze. After all, Athens is a Capital city, teeming with 3 million plus inhabitants, how hard could it be?
We scoured the whole of the bloody Omonia district. It started cruelly, we discovered a row of electronics shops early on in the game, the last of them being of the ‘Expert’ chain again. They are the greatest shower of unhelpful people I have ever had the misfortune not to do business with. They had not one, not two, but three minidisk recorders fitting the bill. All of them on display. But none of them were for sale. Not even the display models. Couldn’t sell any of them. Why? Just because.
Greek Lesson number 1: Malaka!!! (W**ker!!!)
Don’t give those guys anymore business. They don’t know what it is anyway, most business people I know would sell anything in their shop that isn’t nailed down. Wierdos.
Taunted by this near success, we continued for another fruitless day and half, scouring the streets of Athens. We fell to randomly plunging down alleyways, finding the obscurest cult like HiFi and electronics shop, following the directions and recommendations of one shopkeeper after another, endlessly complementing them on their English, continuously fending off hard sells of MP3 players (But it is much better than a Minidisc- Can you record on to it from a microphone? NO!!)
Macintosh take note - if you can figure out how to record voice etc. via microphone directly onto MP3 we'll buy one.
Ah well. Of course it is always the last shop you will find it in (of course). The lads were great, the two of them. No hard sell, no messing, knew exactly what they were talking about, sold us it with 25% off….perfect.
We went around the corner and celebrated. i photographed the moment, I photgraphed random oblivious people sitting in a cafe adjacent, ignorant to the triumph and relief. Our trip to Turkey had been rescued. We might actually see something other than elctronics shops whilst there.
After the moment of celebration there was suddenly an emptiness. A sudden lack of purpose, our mission accomplished a void presented itself. We would return to haunting museums, coasting through galleries and cruising the streets, waiting for the next mission. I had to physically restrain myself from entering into other electronic shops out sheer force of habit. I took to entering radio shops anyway, all to find a €5 long wave radio to fit in your pocket (not possible I believe)….It took at least a day or two for it to wear off.
But at least we have a mini disc recorder again. Why??
I can’t remember.
At least I didn’t drop kick my camera though. As unfortunately Sol did to her minidisk….well she didn’t kick it. But she did drop it. Three times. That was enough, the last whilst running down the stairs to the Crypt of Bari cathedral to record the Russian Orthodox boys in full voice. She needn’t have rushed unfortunately. They were belting it out for another few hours. Just to rub it in I am sure.
Well of course this led to the main mission of our visit to Greece being the tracking down and purchasing of a new mini disc player, the older technology (not the new fangled Sony yoke, no, no MP3 players-thank-you-very-much) with a microphone socket! I can tell you now that we found thousands of minidisk players, some of them even appropriate, but as soon as we investigated as to whether there was a microphone socket, the shop assistant slipped the mini disc back into the glass case and said ‘no’. Or Oxi actually. As it was in Greece.
Our first attempt was outside Lamia, on the way from Volos to Delphi. Unfortunately the bus driver forgot to stop in Lamia, and deposited us about 5km closer to Athens than we had wanted to go. We trekked back in the midday sun along that strip of road that every town in Europe has, the one with all the car dealerships, DIY stores and occasional electronics superstores. In Dublin it is the Longmile Road. In Lamia it was just long.
There was an ‘Expert’ brand chain store there, and we slipped in. They had some nice fridges and excellent air conditioning, but no minidisk. We trudged back out into the midday sun, wielding our smelly back packs. It was a rare brush with civilisation, of fridges and televisions in our transient world. Our slightly too transient world in case of our last bus trip.
We trudged all the way back into town and found the Stathmos Leoforion, (bus station to the rest of you). We got back there just in time to learn that we had missed one of the only Two buses to Delphi a day. It was 1.0pm. The next was 7.pm.
Well you know.
We rested and had some lunch and generally set up camp outside the one roomed bus station and watched the sky gradually close in. By the time it had got a little cooler, the more threatening clouds had arrived. We decided to take a well earned coffee on one of the OK squares in Lamia, a crossroads town. Crossing the main square there I met a youth wearing a Liverpool top, which I took to be an omen and sign from the Gods, an auspicious one of course in such proximity to the former seats of the Oracle of Delphi. They were not wrong.
Well we got to the café, sat down, and the heavens opened. Absolutely spectacular thunderstorm. Of course now it was six o’clock, and we had to get back across town to the 7 o’clock bus.
Dodging raindrops we still managed to get drenched, but as luck would have it, we passed every single other electric shop in Lamia, but with no luck. We emerged from the last one, damp and air conditioned, to be greeted with a bloody massive thunder and lightning bolt right on top of us. It was the closest I ever want to be to lightning I tell you. I took this as not so auspicious sign.
We made the bus OK, and headed on, the hunt for Minidisc postponed until Athens.
Well, after all the visa shenanigans we thought that the mini disc thing would be a breeze. After all, Athens is a Capital city, teeming with 3 million plus inhabitants, how hard could it be?
We scoured the whole of the bloody Omonia district. It started cruelly, we discovered a row of electronics shops early on in the game, the last of them being of the ‘Expert’ chain again. They are the greatest shower of unhelpful people I have ever had the misfortune not to do business with. They had not one, not two, but three minidisk recorders fitting the bill. All of them on display. But none of them were for sale. Not even the display models. Couldn’t sell any of them. Why? Just because.
Greek Lesson number 1: Malaka!!! (W**ker!!!)
Don’t give those guys anymore business. They don’t know what it is anyway, most business people I know would sell anything in their shop that isn’t nailed down. Wierdos.
Taunted by this near success, we continued for another fruitless day and half, scouring the streets of Athens. We fell to randomly plunging down alleyways, finding the obscurest cult like HiFi and electronics shop, following the directions and recommendations of one shopkeeper after another, endlessly complementing them on their English, continuously fending off hard sells of MP3 players (But it is much better than a Minidisc- Can you record on to it from a microphone? NO!!)
Macintosh take note - if you can figure out how to record voice etc. via microphone directly onto MP3 we'll buy one.
Ah well. Of course it is always the last shop you will find it in (of course). The lads were great, the two of them. No hard sell, no messing, knew exactly what they were talking about, sold us it with 25% off….perfect.
We went around the corner and celebrated. i photographed the moment, I photgraphed random oblivious people sitting in a cafe adjacent, ignorant to the triumph and relief. Our trip to Turkey had been rescued. We might actually see something other than elctronics shops whilst there.
After the moment of celebration there was suddenly an emptiness. A sudden lack of purpose, our mission accomplished a void presented itself. We would return to haunting museums, coasting through galleries and cruising the streets, waiting for the next mission. I had to physically restrain myself from entering into other electronic shops out sheer force of habit. I took to entering radio shops anyway, all to find a €5 long wave radio to fit in your pocket (not possible I believe)….It took at least a day or two for it to wear off.
But at least we have a mini disc recorder again. Why??
I can’t remember.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Turkey, strugglıng wıth Mosquıtoes and keyboards
I know - ıt was a good ıdea at the time, bu to be honest we,ve been to bust travellıng to even get near a computer other than to check maıl and try and figure out where next.
My ankles are eaten off me as I sit ın an ınternet Cafe ın Silfkde - mixiıng up all my i from ı. thıs 'ı' ıs where 'i' should be. So if you see meanıngless bits of code just ınsert an 'i' and it should make sense.
Rıoght now I am off to drown the bastard mosquıtoes that are tryıng to burrow ınto my ankles! AAAggghrrr..... It wasnt bad ın Greece (Sol got eaten alıve by them though) and here Sol ıs sıttıng beside totally oblivşous to it all.
Im gone
bye.....Cyprus soon
My ankles are eaten off me as I sit ın an ınternet Cafe ın Silfkde - mixiıng up all my i from ı. thıs 'ı' ıs where 'i' should be. So if you see meanıngless bits of code just ınsert an 'i' and it should make sense.
Rıoght now I am off to drown the bastard mosquıtoes that are tryıng to burrow ınto my ankles! AAAggghrrr..... It wasnt bad ın Greece (Sol got eaten alıve by them though) and here Sol ıs sıttıng beside totally oblivşous to it all.
Im gone
bye.....Cyprus soon
