Rome

Dear friend,

Don't you surf the net in office to enhance your happiness at work? I vaguely understand your computer problems. But I think everything is fine with your computer now that you have written to me.

Si. Napoli = Naples. I hate that place. Besides what I have said, I was even 'molested'. Don't know if this is the right word. But that guy at the hotel booking service not only booked me into a damned hotel but also touched my face. And it was not pleasant.

I am now at a cybercafe in Roma. This is a grand-looking place inside a museum. Its slogan is 'mouse inside a museum'.

I spent the past three days in Florence doing almost nothing. It was very relaxing and enjoyable because I knew the place and could be very flexible with any plan because I didn't really have plans. The railway workers had a one-day strike - so I called off my plan to a nearby town. No big deal. And Florence is so beautiful - itself like a picture.

I must be having good luck these few days. Men approached me with no reason at all. One in Florence told me twice he owned two shops and offered to be my guide 'purely for friendship'. Another in Roma tried to teach me how to cross the road because it was dangerous and tried to tell me about the history of the monuments on a street (Roma is full of monuments on the streets). How interesting.

I am meeting my friends (the honeymooners) again tonight. I bought them dinner in Switzerland (cheap stuff) and I made them promise me a free dinner in Roma (I expect grand stuff). Ha ha.

I've bought you a swiss army knife. Write to you later. Bye now.

九月二十八日

我現在在一家氣氛十分溫暖舒適的餐館，叫”Il Giordino Di Barbano”。我會用cosy形容它：女侍應生勤快、親切、不多話，附加微笑，我一個人佔了一個可坐五個人的大卡位，沒有人説話，很舒服。這餐館就在我住的酒店附近，我經過多遍，覺得它的紅色裝修十分光鮮，很想來一趟。今天看清楚餐牌，價錢竟與Duomo附近的自助快餐店差不多，何不一試？

要了海鮮飯，吃了兩口，還不錯。

今天去了Arezzo。原來是一個沒有甚麽可看的小城，最突出之處大概就是電影"Life is Beautiful"在那裏取景，在大廣場上的咖啡館張貼了有關得獎男主角/導演的剪報，標題是"Grazie Roberto"。去時坐了慢車，差不多用了一個半小時，但小城逛了兩個多小時便逛完。回程時坐的是IC列車，只需半小時左右，如果坐的是Eurostar，更快。

NAPOLI!!!

Dear friend,

I left Florence for Napoli yesterday and planned to spend three days there. But now I'm back in Florence again. You see, it's a long way between the two places (over 3.5 hours by the fastest train) and the train tickets are not cheap (over HKD300 for a one-way second-class). But Napoli simply SUCKS!

The place was dilapidated. The tourist office sucked. And also the hotel booking service. And the hotel itself was unbelievably unbearable. The whole experience was so awful that I decided to leave within two hours of arrival. I cancelled all my plans to the south of Italy and didn't know where to go. So I came back to Florence. At least this is a city that I know and like.

Can you imagine a hotel like this - there was no air-con, no fan, no window. There were a pair of french windows which opened to a small rooftop. Those windows faced directly with other people's and also the air-con of other people's. So I couldn't open them either. And it was HOT in Napoli. And also the sound of the TV set. It came on and off automatically. And even the electricity, sometimes you had it, sometimes not. And it was rated as a 2-star hotel. My God. How could I stay?

And when I checked out this morning, the janitor insisted that I should pay 80,000 Lire, but I knew that the outstanding charge should only be 40,000 Lire. But what could I do? He had locked the hotel entrance and I had to catch my train. Of course I paid.

I feel so at ease in Florence though I don't really have any plan. I would just walk around. (And the hotels here, even if they are spartan, they are fine.)

My next stops are Rome and Paris. Bye now.

九月二十六日

在拿坡里的遭遇，說有多壞就有多壞。首先，熱。其次這城市毫無美感可言。舊城的橫街窄巷類似城寨的模樣（可一點也不似威尼斯的窄巷），新建的馬路塵土飛揚，建築物陳舊失修，髒，總之市容破落，就是最壯麗的古堡、皇宮附近也不外如是，旁邊的街道沒有氣派。

但其實最差的遭遇還是和酒店有關。剛到埗時去旅遊諮詢處，該處的職員打扮像“爛佬”，要資料沒資料，找酒店沒酒店，又把我指到另一代訂酒店櫃枱。我說要訂離火車站遠的酒店，職員便面有難色，說我的預算太低，然後哄我要了一間“三星”酒店，又給我看那酒店堂皇的照片，末了還要摸了一把我的臉。去到酒店一看，當然不是那麽一回事。離火車站只有幾條街，街上充滿尿味，那房間的電視的聲音時有時無，空調、風扇、連窗都一概欠奉。只有一雙開往一個天井的門，那門外是別人的分體式冷氣機的主機，十分吵，那門不能開，一開便正對人家的窗，房內於是熱。最要命還是連電力都時有時無。我到埗不到兩小時已決定離開，簡直覺得不能再待下去。本來預算留三天，再到Capri去，現在所有南部的行程都取消。不知要去哪裏嗎？那就回Firenze好了。Firenze 要有甚麽不好，都比這鬼地方強上百倍。

到了最後，那酒店還硬要多收我四萬里拉的房租，我有理説不清，又要趕火車回Firenze，只好付錢了事。連同先前不知如何遺失的四萬里拉，在拿坡里一天便失去了差不多400港元。我旅行了二十多天，在其他地方可從沒有失去/多付過一分錢。

一個地方無論有多美麗的景色，多出色的藝術品，如果配套服務差，遊客如我者還是無福消受。我在希臘雖然辛苦，但卻不如在拿坡里般難受。

話説回來，我在拿坡里一所教堂看到了三件很美的雕塑，氣是消了一點，但仍無補於事。

Florence

Dear friend,

How much do I owe you for all those books? I am a bit disappointed about the VCDs because, you see, I have been out here in a "non-Chinese, no-book" environment long enough that I have started to dream about that TV series in shower.

A strangest thing happened this morning. I woke up and in my half-consciousness and the darkness of the hotel room, I did not know where I was. It was kind of scary. I ran my itinerary through my head and after a while, bingo, I knew I was in Florence. Strange.

Write to you later. Bye now.

Switzerland

Dear friend,

You wouldn't believe what I did. I extended my stay in Lauterbrunnen by one day so that I was there during the honeymooners' whole stay. And you know what they did? They also extended their stay there by one day so they could be free from me at last. Ha ha. The truth is most people extend their visit at Lauterbrunnen because, well, it's a quiet, resting place and within easy reach of the many sights nearby. And really, though it's not cheap, it is relatively cheaper than other places in Switzerland.

My plan today turned out to be very poor. I visited a castle called Chillon, which was nothing but boring. And for no particular reason, I came to Geneva. You see I can travel very freely today as I'm using my rail pass. And when I was in Chillon, which is at the east side of the Lake of Geneva, there were showers whereas there was sunshine at the west side of the lake (i.e. Geneva). That's why I came. And I am bored.

I'm waiting for my night train to Venice, which is scheduled a little before midnight (it is now 6 pm). Lucky that the charge for internet use here is cheap (relatively), only CHF 5 (about HKD 25) per hour.

Write to you later. Bye now.

九月二十日

如果有更好的選擇，也不選這麼晚的夜車。也不知道自己原來是怎麼想的，差透了的計劃，選一個不好玩的Lausanne做基地已是爛透了，而夜車不選在起始站Geneve上車，卻預定在Lausanne上車，是差不多晚上12時啊。晚上的車站大堂挺嚇人的，意大利等地的是當然地差，以為瑞士的會好一點吧，卻也不然。覺得還是在火車上、人堆中最安全，便傻瓜似地從Geneve乘車回Lausanne拿寄存的行李，又再乘車走回頭路，既在人堆中，又可謀殺時間。現在打算在Geneve早一點上車，問過兩地的票務處，都說無問題，希望是真的沒問題吧。

今次旅行的行程計劃得不好，粗疏錯漏處處，又頻走回頭路。我現在想來想去，不知應否早一天乘飛機回香港，走着瞧吧。

※ ※ ※

其實我現在並沒有甚麽想寫的，可是在希臘時卻不寫不行，自己都記不清寄了多少明信片，發了多少電郵，幾乎每天都寫，而且不只寫一封，自己都不好意思起來。始終是剛開始旅行，而且是到一個從沒有到過的國家，當然是感到很大衝擊，有很多感想了。希臘是不錯呀，值得去到極。現在開始到的是意大利和巴黎，舊地重遊，開始擔心會悶呢。

Switzerland

Dear friend,

Switzerland is great. The people are very nice, polite and ready to help. Everything is well organized. If it is not that expensive, it is perfect.

This town, Lauterbrunnen, is quite beautiful. I visited two waterfalls (can you believe it) in just one day. They are SPECTACULAR.

I've found that my friends won't come until tomorrow. I'm a little bit disappointed. Looking forward anxiously for the Tang poems.

Bye now.

九月十七日

現在在由蘇黎世往Lauterbrunnen的火車上，單程票價CHF69.2，約合港幣350元，這是二等的票價。是貴，但不是十分貴。香港的機場快線行程二十多分鐘，單程收70元（或100元？），我現在乘的這車行程差不多三個小時，舒適程度與機場快線相若。

今天做了一件蠢事。晨早打算往AE兌換旅行支票，走了整條（很長的！）Bahnhofstr都找不到AE，而其他銀行原來也並非八時半開門。終於筋疲力盡地回到火車站的找換店兌換，其實滙價應該差別不大，而且也沒有佣金的問題。我為了想到AE兌錢，特別選擇晚一小時才乘火車到Lauterbrunnen，如果一早決定到火車站換錢，那麼其實可乘9:03am的班車離開。這就是所謂的費時失事。

剛才在月台上問一個男人是否須在火車票上打印（一年沒有到過歐洲啦，甚麼都忘記了），他也搞不清楚，後來我們發現無法把票放進打印機，便認為其實不用打印。他看到我的目的地，就告訴我Lauterbrunnen是一個好地方。瑞士人真好，有禮又熱心。

昨晚到火車站內一間diner吃晚飯，進去坐定才知道賣的都是鑊仔菜，太熱氣，但要走已經太遲，只好手指指點菜。女侍應只說德文，一句英語也不說（不知是不肯說還是不懂說），沒辦法。食物倒是不錯的，只是太熱氣。

九月十六日

我現在在瑞航的飛機上。音樂真好呀，先播She’s Out of My Life，接着播Jealous Guy，好像我選的歌。

希臘政府/機場的手段可真高明，當進入離境的禁區後，竟然完全沒有兌換的櫃位。想想退稅處也在離境禁區內呀，退回來的錢怎麽辦？要不在免稅店內花了它，要不大有可能得物無所用。幸好我不是回香港，希望在瑞士的機場能把錢兌成瑞士法郎（我還有差不多500港元的希臘幣呢）。

Crete

Dear friend,

Hello. The Hutchcity server is always down. I am getting impatient/angry with it.

The internet charge is getting cheaper and cheaper. At first it was about HKD170 for 33 minutes. Now it is about HKD13 for half an hour.

I am now in Hania (Xania in Greek), Crete. It is quite a pretty place with a Venetian waterfront and old town. In the rain, it even looks poetic. I am staying in a Class "A" (second highest class) hotel at the waterfront. I could have found a much cheaper room but it is not always possible to find an affordable high-class hotel (just about HKD500 per night). So. The hotel is a restored 14th Century (!) building. My room was a disappointment at the first sight. It has no air-conditioning (!) and is only lit by 4 dim lights. But it is special, elegant and has an old-time feel. And I soon find it quite lovely. I guess that's why it is classed high.

Being Venetian is a major selling point of major Cretan cities. But it has just occured to me that I am going to Venice itself very soon. So it's hard to imagine why I've planned to come to Crete at the beginning.

I know I have been writing too much, to you and to some others. Sorry. I will try to control myself. Don't bother to reply me if you have no time.

Bye now.

Crete

Hello. I am now in Crete. Still in Greece.

The boat trip from Santorini to Crete was quite trying. The boat, despite a very large one, was very crowded. Somehow it felt like Titanic. The boat was delayed by 1.5 hours and arrived in Iraklion, the Cretan capital, at 10:30 pm. The strange thing was that it seemed that all the doors and staircases on the boat had been designed to inconvenience the passengers - very narrow passageways, very high threadsholds. It took forever for the passengers to get off the boat. I couldn't help but think what if there were an accident, a fire maybe?

The Mediterranean Sea was as dark as ink at night. I could see nothing except the distant light of another boat, a very low yellow-coloured new moon, and a whole sky of stars.

I am glad that my boat trips are over. From now on, I only need to take planes and trains.It is always good to travel because one is bound to encounter something new. Iraklion feels like the old Kowloon City - there are always planes flying past overhead. And it is not a city of a scale comparable to ours. It is not even an attractive city. (Come to think of it, I don't like it.) I walked on the busiest part of Iraklion at lunchtime today and there came a plane. It sounded very different, the noise was very sharp and very loud. The plane, flying quite low, was flat and of triangle shape. And it turned swiftly in the sky. I thought to myself, "looks like a Concord." But then there was another one after it. After that, two others. They seemed more like a corp of combat flights instead of Concords. What was going on? Any military actions nearby?

Bye.

Greece

Dear friend,

Hello. How are you? Are you in Shanghai? Hope you'll check your e-mail. I have sent you a postcard (or two? Don't remember.) from Greece.

I want to thank you for agreeing to bring so many books/VCDs from Shanghai for me. (Disregard the previous sentence if you have not done it/are not going to do it.)

My skin hurts because of all the sunshine. Because I wore a hat that was not wide enough, the lower part of my face has been darkened. To rectify this "dark-mouthed dog" situation, I have determined not to wear a hat at all. It's better to have the whole face darkened.

First I thought that I would not buy anyone any souvenirs because my luggage was full and very heavy. But then I remembered what you bought for me from S. Africa. So I will bring you something too.

Bye for now. XX.

Last day at Santorini

Dear friend,

For want of better things to do, I joined a tour to the nearby volcanic island called Nea Kameni, which was formed by a volcanic eruption. Once I set foot on the barren island, I regretted it. It was no tour, it was dumping you there letting you "explore freely" the barren rock, and not letting you go back for the next 1.5 hours. There were no trees, no shelter, even no roads. The sandy paths were full of loose volcanic rocks. I followed the others uphill and half way up I started wondering why I was doing this. I should have stayed in an Internet cafe and waited for my boat to Crete. The sun was fierce and there was absolutely no way to save my skin. The paths were as rough as you can expect of a volcanic island. I was only fortunate that I haven't put on my contact lenses today or else, all the sandy wind... Regret. Regret. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT go visit a volcano.

Remember once we talked about how an Aeroflot flight crashed because the pilot let his son drive the plane? The boat I took to return to Santorini was driven by a boy not older than 10 years. Part of the trip he was under the guidance of two crew, the rest of it he was alone. I suppose this shouldn't have happened, or am I too sensitive?

Everyone thinks that I am Japanese, including the Japanese. If I put on a hat, even I myself think that I look like them. Funny. But when you think of it, Japanese women are great cosmetic wearers. We are under the same sun, same weather, they keep looking impeccable whereas I keep sweating like I am going to leave all the sweat in my life in Greece.

Bye now.

Santorini

Dear friend,

What more can I say about Greece. It is ancient (all those ruins), beautiful (you will have to see them to believe that such beautiful places do exist on earth), relaxing (after seeing those scenic sights there are soon nothing else to do besides wandering here and there and sitting at cafes), tiring (going to any scenic islands involves several hours' boat trip EVERYTIME), and even exciting (you get the earthquake). People are generally friendly. Those who speak English speak English to you. Those who don't just speak whatever languages they speak to you. Tourists are especially friendly because they are so relaxed. They speak to anybody, and nicely. I have met a french woman who praised me looking fantastic and asked for my permission to take my photo. But one has to be particularly careful on such occasions because of the gay culture here. Ha ha.

One of my girlfriends is now also touring Europe. She e-mailed me talking about partying in Barcelona. I replied, "I never party. Don't even know what it feels like to be partying." Do you party?

I am so lonely here that I keep sending so many postcards to my friends. They must find me troublesome. I will meet two of my friends (honeymooners) in Switzerland soon and I have shamelessly asked them to bring me the "300 peoms of the Tang Dynesty" because it is hard to cope without family/friends/books.

I will be leaving for Crete at 5 pm today. But it is only 10:15 am. My landlady (I stayed in a pension) said to me last night, "Leaving tomorrow, ha? At 9 or 10?" I am thinking hard about what to do after sending you this email. :)

Best regards,

九月十二日

船在一片漆黑的地中海航行，除了船本身的燈光，夜空夜海如墨。在船的左舷遠遠有另一艘船的燈光，在船的右舷則有一彎很低很低的新月。抬頭見天上有很多星星，可惜並不亮，是因爲船本身的燈光太亮了。生活在城市的我幾曾見過這樣如無底深潭的漆黑？若非甲板上的風極大，吹得人幾乎站不穩，頭髮亂舞，真捨不得撤回船艙。

地震（續）

昨天地震時，並不怎麼害怕，只是不知該怎辦。回到酒店，看了電視，才知道是5.9級的地震，塌了房子，死了人，事態嚴重。再看CNN煞有介事的報導，更加害怕起來，怕的是香港也有報導，媽媽擔心。便急忙到街上的電話亭打電話，但都打不通。當地人告訴我連本地電話都打不通，線路太繁忙了。只好無功而回。回到房裏，很害怕呀，忙洗澡收拾，穿得整齊，打算有事時可一走了之（真儍）。看CNN越看越怕，說已經死了若干人，又有很多次高達四級的餘震。連睡都不敢睡，模模糊糊盹着了，嘩，那餘震真一厲害，把我震醒，而且震得心驚肉跳。到走廊問其他人，都說沒事。我睡也不是，坐也不是，便走到天台去。那夜色真美，有星，很光，也看到在燈光映照下的Acropolis。可是剛坐下靜下來，便明明白白地感到又震起來，不由得怪叫起來，問一男子他感到嗎，他竟輕笑，然後說："Yes, it's strange."。我嚇壞了，回到房裏，不知該怎辦。關了CNN的聲音，竟又能較安穩地睡着了。真奇怪，其他人都十分泰然自若，只有我那麼害怕，是甚麼道理？是因為CNN吧。今天早上終於打了電話回家。媽媽其實並不知道我在雅典，我真是瞎操心一場了。

※ ※ ※

對愛琴海的太陽真的不能掉以輕心。和風習習，乾爽怡人。在甲板看書看得倦了，在長椅上躺下打盹，帽子墨鏡戴上，以為萬無一失。豈料不過半小時光景，因為帽緣不夠闊，變了一隻烏咀狗。

地震

今天雅典地震，很害怕。下午二時多，我正在Wendy's吃午飯，正在愁買得太多了，吃不完；又在愁下午無事可幹大概要回酒店睡覺。然後腳下像有火車隆隆經過，接着便搖了起來，大概有數秒吧。然後餐廳的電燈滅了，人人奪門而逃。附近發生了交通意外，滿是緊急車輛的聲音。所有人都湧住憲法廣場，很多人都在按手提電話，大部份不能接通，一旦接通了，女孩子們都口震、手震、淚汪汪地叫媽媽。（唉，我也怕呀。）街上的電話都大排長龍。

我在廣場上站得久了，便四處逛。人們仍然湧入各廣場，都不敢回到屋裏。商店都關門了，紀念品店清理出一箱箱破瓦罐，人們抬頭看舊大廈外的裂痕，街上也有很多從高處墮下的混凝土塊。踱步回到酒店，問掌櫃："一切還好嗎？"答："還好。"問："嚴重嗎？"答:"No, six or five."甚麼？五、六級的地震？其實我也不大怕死，死了便算了。怕的是，要沒有電，便沒有水。沒有水，怎麼洗澡、洗隱形眼鏡？就是脫了con，眼鏡留在酒店裏，不能取回怎麼辦？我倒不怕沒錢（我隨身帶着七張信用卡和大量現金），就是怕沒有眼鏡。其實最怕的是震壞了甚麼基礎設施，走不了。

街上的工人開始鑽地了，大概沒事了吧。

九月七日-雅典

今天算是我在雅典的第三天，我正在等旅行社開門，好買明天往Mykonos島的船票。

我發覺自己失去了眨眼的功能，眼睛一閉上，說時遲那時快，立刻便墮入夢鄉 ，失去知覺。百思不得其解，後來才想起是jetlag得厲害，站着眨眼都幾乎倒下。

昨天我參觀了全雅典最了不起的考古博物館，發現館內竟然沒有空調。雅典的氣溫不比香港低，館內悶熱難當，怪不得我打盹。不得已只好迅速撤退到中庭裏的咖啡室透透氣，可是一回到館裏，便又再打盹，只好草草（早早）離場。雅典並不大好玩，滿是"古蹟"（即頹垣敗瓦），吃老本。市容倒跟香港相似。頹垣敗瓦一向令我情緒低落，意大利的如是，希臘的也不例外。

時窮節乃現

"時窮節乃現"，我在想。昨天我在雅典舊區Plaka山上的小路上逛，只有我獨自一人。忽見前面有兩頭大狗，一黑一黃，一臥一立，就在路中心，背向着我。我當時就停了步，不敢向走。然後就見一單身洋女子迎面而來，那狗立刻就作出攻擊，又吠又追，我可嚇得掉頭便跑，只聽到那洋女慘叫。

但叫聲很快便停了。待我回到原路時，只見那女子嚇得呆站着，連哭都不會。路旁有兩個希臘男子，大概替她把狗趕走了，不停說話（希臘語）安慰她，又作勢要讓她坐下。我走過，若無其事地。後來聽不到那女子答話，想是她聽不懂希臘語，便回頭假惺惺地用英語問她是否安好，她也以英語答覆說沒事，我便也只好繼續往前走，感到非常羞愧，然後就想起"時窮節乃現"這話。若我是她，也希望有人來救我吧？但如果她不走過，慘叫的大概就會是我吧？

九月五日-雅典

好不容易來到雅典（超過二十小時的旅程，在飛機上吃過早、午、晚餐），身心俱疲。如果香港的新機場值九十分，那雅典機場的設施便只值二十分。

在機場入境檢查時，我排的是Non-EU的隊。官員費了不少時間檢查前面兩個人的護照，但卻看也不看我的（更別說戳印），招招手便讓我過去了。

熟練地找到預訂的酒店，對略為殘舊的房間不免失望。可是一拉開窗簾，嘩，Acropolis便在窗的正中出現，a room with a view，難以相信的運氣，簡直不願拉上窗簾，連窗都不想關上。

雅典的氣溫與香港相若，但較乾爽。但據初步觀察，似乎有點沉悶。

我單身一人，不能上餐館，只好吃快餐了事。吃過飯後無所事事，便到酒店附近的遊客區逛，看看別人怎樣上餐館享用晚餐。又給朋友買了明信片，回酒店寫了，準備明天到郵局去寄出。

PS － 當飛機接近希臘，窗外一片藍，只有幾片雲。我想：這藍色到底是天還是海呢？很詩意是吧？