Greece by www.born2travel.it

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27. 07. 2000 Zakynthos (GREECE)

Zante for the Greeks, Zacinto for us Italians, the birthplace of Ugo Foscolo, and we wander the length and breadth of this ferry getting to know the various passengers. We ran into a small group of girls from Salerno. [Ilaria Lepore from Buccino, Italy]: What are you up to? We're staying in Greece, you: who knows! After a wander through the streets of Patras we set off again, this time for the capital: Athens. The landscape we admired along the way was very bare: now and then you'd see some oil refinery, there are no barriers dividing the road from the tracks, the stations are tiny and sit among the houses.... Now we've camped out in the Athens station in the company of Paavo, a likeable sixteen-year-old Finn also travelling round Europe like us. Right now I'm sitting on a bench chatting with three Turks from Istanbul, while Roscio, Takx and Paavo lie resting on their mats.

[Luca]: A few months ago my brother and I tried to sleep in Rome's railway station: no chance. We were too scared. Now here I am sleeping in the Athens station. What a beautiful life; I'm rediscovering it starting from the bottom. Travelling this way is uncomfortable for the body but light for the soul, which breathes deeply and fills up every second... Often, on the train, I think about the future... What a mess! On this bench all I can think is what a madman I am and how I manage to do such strange but beautiful things. Takx sleeps peacefully, Marco tells me to relax but I'm watching a yokel who, dirty, barefoot, with an unkempt beard, wanders around with a knife in his hand... The trains carry us far away and drop us off every time... We're only passing through, yet now I can say I don't belong to any place... Only to the world...

How can you say with certainty that you live in the right place? The best place you create in your head; I travel because I want to be sure that the place in my head doesn't exist, so that I can settle for what I'll get. I was chatting with a Turkish guy. I often wonder why Turkey fascinates me so much. Stereotypes have worn me out. The day after tomorrow at the latest, I'll see with my own eyes. Turks aren't black, they don't dress like North Africans and they have beautiful eyes. Turkey will be a surprise, I can feel it! [Tamer Erkan from Istanbul, Turkey]: People come and go in your life and you are no longer the same. After a long journey from Italy here we are in Athens. We're spending the night in the station waiting for the next train that will take us to Istanbul. Whatever happens, we're always happy.

[Paavo Ojala from Helsinki, Finland]: As I sat on the train to Athens from Patras and my backside sweated on these seats of fake genuine animal leather, I met these three Italians. It's nice to meet friends in this big, dangerous and strange world. In Greece, where no one speaks Finnish, we spent the night in peace and brotherhood, except Mark who was out chatting the whole time. I'd like to take this chance to thank you all for the solidarity shown to a complete stranger.

28. 07. 2000 Athens (GREECE)

The further we go, the more bad news we get about our future: lots of visas to pay, very unfavourable exchange rates, etc. Athens reminded me a lot of Naples. Chaos everywhere, dirty streets, disorderly traffic and even the main square, "Omonia Square", looked a lot like Piazza Garibaldi. We decide to set off. The train that will take us to the Turkish border arrives, and through a series of misunderstandings we lose our three Turkish friends along the way! It will be a long and hard journey, above all because of the very disreputable people we'll meet, the many unscrupulous gypsies, but we'll have to get used to it. I don't know whether we're too adventurous, too naive or too stupid. In a month or so we'll know!

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