My Hovercraft is Full of Eels

To Greece by train - and other journeys of the mind, body and soul

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Entries Tagged as 'Greece'

Photos on Flickr

September 14th, 2009 by Chris · No Comments · Greece, photos

A selec­tion of our pho­tos is now avail­able for view­ing on Flickr. Do have a look and let us know what you think!

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More translations

August 24th, 2009 by Chris · No Comments · Greece, haha

Graham Stone kindly informs me that in Papua New Guinea pidgin, ‘My hov­er­craft is full of eels’ becomes the epic: Balus em i no goupim bilong me em i pul­lup long lik­lik pela snek bilong sol­warra (Literally: My aero­plane (bal­us)  that can­’t fly (no go up) is ful­lup of little salt­water snakes.) Aeroplane main­ten­ance is quite […]

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Brasov to Budapest

August 4th, 2009 by jane · 2 Comments · Greece, trains, travel

Our couchette (cuşetă in Romanian) was already occu­pied by 2 Romanian men and one teen­age lad (one of their sons?) already in bed when we got on at Brasov, so quite strange shar­ing such a small space with 3 people we had­n’t met and wer­en’t sure we shared any com­mon lan­guage with. 

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Invented games to pass the time

August 4th, 2009 by Chris · 1 Comment · Greece, haha

Abstract nouns I‑spy. Prison cell hide & seek. Underwater blow foot­ball. Meltemi Monopoly in a sand­storm on the beach at Serifos (chocol­ate pieces to make it more challenging).

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Sound clips

August 4th, 2009 by Chris · 1 Comment · Greece

Paris Gare du Nord: flip flap­flap­flap of the train indic­at­or board — a “lost sound” accord­ing to the BBC sound archive. “Passaporte! Passaporte!” at 2:30am on the Bulgarian bor­der. Cicadas every­where we went in Greece. Through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary: the bell clang of the wheel tap­pers’ ham­mers going down the train.

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How do you reserve 3 beds from Thessaloniki to Bucharesti?

August 3rd, 2009 by jane · 2 Comments · Greece, trains, travel

9.00am Greek train book­ing office, Athens: “No, I can­’t give you reser­va­tions on the train  Bucharest.  I have only 3 beds and I must sell them.  But you can buy in Thessaloniki.  The Romanians have more — it’s easy” 1.30pm Larissa train sta­tion, Athens.  Inernational book­ing office opens: “No train to Bucharest” “Why?” “I don’t know!”

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Worries.….….….….….… =(

August 3rd, 2009 by callum · 2 Comments · Greece

Chris is wor­ried that Jane might buy a water­mel­on to eat on the train. Jane is wor­ried that Chris will have his purse stolen. Callum is wor­ried that he will get cock­roaches in his san­dals cos his feet are so dirty.

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Food for a 2‑day train journey

August 3rd, 2009 by callum · 4 Comments · food, Greece, trains, travel

2  Spinopitas 1 Tiropita 13 Oranges 7 Bottles of water 4 Large toma­toes 2 Cucumbers

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Resources II

August 3rd, 2009 by Chris · 2 Comments · Greece, resources

Guidebooks are of course an essen­tial staple of the inde­pend­ent traveller. 

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Kimolos

August 1st, 2009 by jane · 1 Comment · Greece

I almost burst into tears when I arrived here — out of sheer delight!  It is a beau­ti­ful, quite and undeveloped island with a few Greek hol­i­day makers (and the French couple with the young child we chat­ted to on the first day).  It feels so much ‚ore relaxed and gentle this way, with just loc­al visitors, […]

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