a mile and a half on the bus takes a long time

saw 3 movies yesterday. Gone Fishing with Joe and Danny "Lethal Weapon", Road to Peridition and A Clockwork Orange. In order: absolute trainwreck of a movie, good, very good.

the odour of old prison food takes a long time

went to a buffet in chinatown on Saturday, and it was bad. Not Mr Wu bad, but still very bad. I've never been impressed with any restaurants on Gerrad Street, and this should be a reminder not to go again. Hang your head in shame. On the sunny side we went to an excellent greasy spoon on sunday, even if it was a bit expensive.

to pass you by

I'm learning to play the guitar again, the 2 songs I am playing the most is Tangled Up in Blue - Bob Dylan, and Boy With the Arab Strap - Belle and Sebastian. My rock and roll dream is still alive.

Ten best and five worst things about the holiday with Keiko, which I took 2 months ago (in no order)

BEST:

Paris - walking the parks, the Champs Elysess, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame...
French Food - Steak Tartar, creme brule, beaurnaise sauce, fois gras, bakeries...
Best Restaurant of Holiday was the Restaurant Set 7 Portes in Barcelona. Words cannot do justice to how great the seafood was in that place. Worth the 40 minute wait to get in, worth going to Spain for.
Parc Guell - in Barcelona, designed by weirdo architect Antonio Gauldi.
Venice - you cannot beat walking around this place with a girl. Everything they say is true, pack your bags and go.
Florence - still my favorite city to visit in Europe. The view from the bell tower.....
Italian Food - I must have went to 30 restaurants in a 3 week period, best food was in Italy (Steak Florentine, biscottee, turamasu, panna cotta, gelati, pizza in Naples, pasta.....)
Greek Islands - island hopping is great fun. Greece is cheap, with clear crystal sea and azzuri skyed beaches.
Hiring a moped in Paros - having a girl hold onto you whilst belting around the near deserted streets of a Greek island, makes me feel like Jack Nicholson or Marlon Brando.
Sea Urchin - raw. Recommended by the waiter, now I recommend it to you. He also gave us a free dessert, what a nice man.



WORST:

Italian Trains - especially the 7 hour train delay which resulted in us missing the boat from Italy to Grecce and forcing us to spend a night on a train waiting room floor.
Swiss Food (fondue) - first time (and hopefully last) that i was asked "Do you want another plate of cheese?" without a hint of irony. Spanish tapas was a bit of a disappointment too.
Weather - had 60% good weather, 20% so-so weather and 20% thunderstorms.
Bordeaux - shithole. Raining so couldn't even see the vineyards. Restaurant we went to was of second rate Wetherspoons standard.
Mosquitos - the fecking bastards always go for me. When they see me, they see a 20 oz prime steak, with all the trimmings.


ps will try to write in this blog at least once a week from now on.