The End of an Era (The Start of Something New)

I leave on a bus for Krakow, Poland in about two hours. That is nothing new. However, the fact that I will be doing so alone for the first time in two months is. Kyle leaves tonight, and as of 5:00 Lithuanian time I will be on my own.

It's going to be weird.

Kyle and I have pretty much been side-by-side every hour for the past two months. We have sat next to one another on trains, buses, boats, and in bars. This is on top of living with one another in Berkeley for the past two years. Now what am I supposed to do?

Thus, now that Kyle is leaving, I think I will write the first installment of my eventual epilogue. Here we go...

We have seen so much during this trip. Really, too much. It is getting to the point where we are having historical site overload. A beautiful Russian Orthodox church? Yeah, we have seen dozens. An Eastern European old town? Done it...several times. A Russian bride doing an awkward pose? If I had a nickle for every Russian bride I have seen I could probably cover this trip.

But it has been worth it. Kyle and I set off together on a drizzly day in Shanghai. Now we are parting ways on a beautiful sunny day in Vilnius, Lithuania. Between here and there we have braved Chinese crowds, scaled a famous wall, ridden a horse across the Mongolian steppe, sat on trains for thousands upon thousands of miles, seen two dead Communist leaders, learned the Cyrillic alphabet, consumed dozens of beers, and survived each others company through seven countries.

Not bad.

So now what. Well, as I mentioned before, now I am heading to Poland. From there it looks like I will attempt to reach Portugal, thus allowing me to cross the entire Eurasian continent, from Hong Kong to Lisbon. However, it isn't going to be easy. As some point I will have a 24-30 hour bus ride across Western Europe. While daunting, on the bright side I will not be spending money on overpriced fast food.

PS - Traveling and music are inseperable. My iPod has definitely gotten a workout during this trip. As it stands, this is what I am currently listening to. It is all the rage over here...I think.



Oh, there is more from where that came from. I bought Kyle the greatest hits album for his birthday. So, if you would really like to hear more Max Rabbe and his orchestra, shoot Kyle and e-mail.