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The virus, the Spartans and the sexy zombies
Halloween is that time of the year where you scare trick-or–tricksters by having your dog run at them while barking, hungry for flesh and cuddles, and where you hit equally hard Netflix and the local candy shop. This one however saw the land being ravaged by a hideous monster, whose only purpose in existence is to make life miserable while its minions enforce its vile rule one edict at a time. Something that not even Hocus Pocus nor the latest Adam Sandler’s movie could help against (and yeah, it was an ok movie). Obviously, we are talking about Boredom, assisted by inhuman creatures who occupy a few big, governmental palaces…
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The baby giant
Life on the fields Once upon a time, in a remote village of ancient Vietnam, there was a couple who spent their youth traveling and sharing their adventures on their favorite social media, but when the 50th year of age kicked in, they found themselves desperately wanting a child, while not being able to bear one. But then one day, something very special happened. One morning, the woman reached her rice field for her morning 12 hours shift, and she noticed something looking like a giant footprint on the soil. Taken by curiosity, she did what any woman would do under the same circumstances: she stripped naked and measured the…
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The Cinema
It still bamboozles me that many, many people see traveling to India as something cool, glamorous, even chic. Every now and then, on the tv or social medias, you can see the figure of a hippie, a rasta raggamuffin or a 20-something-years-old girl singing praise about some ecstatic state of enlightenment reached by travelling through India, “the best country in the world, so full of riches and tradition and foodie, namaste” and similar. With the only exception of heavy drug users (not quite uncommon among those who travel to India), which are able to reach such an elevated, although temporary spiritual condition anywhere in the world anyway, only someone with…
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The castle
Being in paradise is a state of mind, different for everyone. While the most common choice to reach Nirvana is through hordes of attractive, available sexual partners and/or rivers of energy drinks & videogames, many also agree that going to some tropical beach, sipping cocktails and observing the panorama, which often includes Instagram models posing in absolutely not erotical ways, is quite the standard definition of having a good time, in a good place. And yet, there is still that irreducible part of people that would have something to say about such an idyllic scenario, commenting that is all wrong, that is actually not as good as in the pictures,…
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The dormitory
“It’s a bit dark here, Matej!”I swear it was supposed to sound like a legitimate statement, not like some scared puppy noise. “Is there a way to turn on the light in here?” A woman’s shriek filled the hallway in response, immediately freezing the air of that hot July night.“…p-p-p-please…?” “Ah, sorry Luca” replied my host, “a fire fried up the electrical network but don’t worry, I know the route by heart and I will guide you, just follow my voice!” I hesitated a moment, then added: “and…what about that shriek? Maybe we should go and check it out?”“Naaah, don’t worry about that!” Matej answered, “it is pretty normal…
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The legend of Bob
It’s a long, long way In the movies it always looks no more difficult than taking your chiwuawua to the park. Except, when you are walking on El Camino de Santiago, you do not wake up at midday, you are not as fresh as a rose, chances are that you took the last shower two days ago, and instead of a chiwuawua you enjoy the lovely company of some sheperd dog particularly inspired to do their own job. The typical scenario involves waking up when it is still dark outside, gulp the breakfast that (hopefully) you have prepared the day before and hit the road before everybody else, so that…
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The yellow bastion
“For instance, if I were at the market I would pickpocket someone else, not you! Everyone knows that Italians don’t like rules and are suspicious, so I would go for someone else!” said our host. “Take the Swedish, for instance! They are so naive, and much easier targets! Ha ha ha ha ha!” Worried Laughter GIF from Worried GIFs Entering Bosnia and Herzegovina Our first day in Sarajevo did not start off too bad: for the first time ever, our plane took off almost at 10 in the morning, which is an astonishing 4 hours later than usual. Sleeping is (and I believe most of the Italians would agree…
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Fear smells like chewing gum
Our stay in Saint Petersburg finally reached its end: three days of exploration between channels and bridges, monuments and ancient estates, plus the unbroken chain of short storms five minutes after each other were about to leave the stage to the first part of our journey on a train. Even though the „Kilometer 0” of the Transsiberian railway is actually located in Moscow, my group and I were about to get our baptism of fire and spend the first of many nights to come in one of the train’s wagons. It was a scorching summer day like any other, the perfect time to travel from one point of the…
