【Greece】Sunset in Athens /【希臘】日落雅典

The first time I met P was right in front of the McDonald's near Syntagma Square. Yes, if you have visited Athens, you would know which McDonald's I am talking about. He messaged me on Couchsurfing when I posted a public request about visiting Athens. We didn't have a plan or destination, so we decided to just walk around Athens. 

我和希臘的P第一次見面是約在Syntagma Square前的麥當勞，就是每個去過雅典的人都知道的那一間。我們是因為沙發衝浪認識的，他在網站上看到我po要去雅典的消息寫信給我。我們沒有計畫和目的地，所以他決定帶著我四處走走。

【保加利亞・食】奇怪嗎？保加利亞小黃瓜優格冷湯 /【Eat in Bulgaria】Odd? Bulgarian Cold Cucumber Yogurt Soup

巴士駛入蘇菲亞的巴士站
Getting into the bus station in Sofia, Bulgaria

跨越馬其頓和保加利亞的邊界後，沿途是一畝又一畝的向日葵田還有無止境的綠意及湖泊，然後日落時分，僅乘載著六個人的巴士駛入保加利亞首都的車站。我不太確定之前想像的保加利亞究竟是什麼樣子，也許記憶停格在哈利波特中比爾研究龍的地方，又或是過往曾耳聞的保加利亞玫瑰谷。總而言之，短短幾天後，它的首都蘇菲亞在我心裡成了有美麗雲朵和小黃瓜優格冷湯的城市。
After crossing the border of Macedonia and Bulgaria, acres of sunflower fields, lakes, and endless greens appeared along the way. Then, the bus with only 6 of us arrived the capital city of Bulgaria at sunset. I wasn't sure what images I had in my mind for Bulgaria. Perhaps, it was where Bill did his dragon research in Harry Potter or the famous rose valley. Anyways, after a few days, its capital Sofia has become a city that has beautiful clouds and cold yogurt cucumber soup - Tarator.

【台灣・食】阿花的幸福手作甜點之紅酒蘋果提拉米蘇 / 【Eat in Taiwan】A Flower Sweets Handmade Dessert : Red Wine Apple Tiramisu

第一次吃到朋友阿花的手作甜點是在高雄，吃的應該是藍莓塔和其他種類的水果塔。那時跟朋友一起分食，入口時真的很驚豔，三兩下就像蝗蟲過境一樣屍骨無存！我是喜歡吃塔皮的人，但很討厭吃起來乾澀，不過阿花做的完全不會。雖然當時只有吃到幾口，可是已足以令人印象深刻。我記得那時還有人偷偷拿來給我說：「趕快吃，現在不吃等一下就會消失了！」
The first time I had Claire's handmade dessert was in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. I think what I had was her blueberry tart and other kinds of fruit tart. At that time, I was sharing with other friends, and I was really amazed when I had my first bite. The whole box of tarts was raided and disappeared shortly after. I am a fan of tart crust, but I really don't like it when it's too dry. Yet, that is not the case for Claire's, and although I only had a few bites of her desserts, it was already enough to left an impression. I remember someone even secretly brought her dessert to me and said "eat it now, or it will be all gone really soon!"

【希臘】不自由母寧死：當希臘破產時 / 【Greece】Freedom or Death: When Greece is Going Bankrupt

Syntagma 地鐵站提款機排隊人潮，幾乎每台提款機都是這種陣仗。
This is the line for ATM at Syntagma metro station. Almost all the ATMs in Athens have lines like this.

2015年6月28日，我從香港起飛，莫斯科轉機，降落在雅典。那個晚上機場的提款機大排長龍。來機場接我的R說因為銀行說要關門到下下星期一，所以大家都急著領錢。
I took off from Hong Kong, transferred in Moscow, and landed in Athens on June 28, 2015. The ATM at the airport had a huge line that night. When my friend R came to pick me up, he told me everyone wanted to get their money in advance because banks will be closed till the Monday after next week.

「搞不好很多人都專程從市中心來機場領錢哦，因為今天星期天，市中心的可能都被領光了，只剩下機場的有比較多錢給觀光客領。」R說完後哈哈大笑。 

"Maybe they all came from downtown Athens just to get money out of the ATM. It's Sunday today, so every ATM in the city may very well be out of cash already. Maybe the machine here would more money for you tourists. Hahaha ... " 

【沙發衝浪】想找沙發還是當沙發主？這些是你該注意的事。

攝於南加州的半山腰, 2012
2012 in SoCal

最近好多朋友問我關於沙發衝浪要怎麼找這件事，對不起我好像都沒有認真回答你們，因為我一直相信自從Google被發明出來後，絕大多數的答案都是近在咫尺。所以，如果你要很認真的找沙發攻略可以參考友人之前在背包客棧上發表的好實用文章。

我自己最初是從接待開始入門（延伸閱讀：我的第一個沙發客Lisa），那時又是在紐約，如果一個禮拜不看Inbox就會有幾十封requests塞在裡頭，所以以一個沙發主的角度，在這種熱門的大城市通常這類的來信我不會列入考慮：

【巴黎】沙發衝浪的相遇：他花33個星期，在33個國家，做33種工作

「你知道嗎？可頌麵包其實不是法國人發明的，其實是從土耳其來的。」每天眼睛一睜開就精力充沛的沙發主Jan，在其他三個沙發客都還沒醒前，就拖著我去外面找可頌麵包當早餐。

「今天是星期天，很多店都關門了，希望我最喜歡的那間店現在有開啊！」我穿著睡衣睡褲，跟著Jan在巴黎巷弄內穿梭，一大清早的，有些路人帶著困惑的眼神看著我和Jan急促的腳步，「可惡這家沒開，我們去另一邊看看。」這就是Jan， 一旦決定了什麼就絕對不空手而回，包括找可頌麵包。

【比利時】一次又一次的布魯塞爾

那是一個雨下不停的七月午後，我躺在比利時那間偌大的屋子裡，連續好幾天足不出戶。三層樓、五個室友、還有十幾個進進出出的旅人，你不知道今天是看到誰的最後一天，也不知道明天會有誰走進來。

我們茶一壺又一壺的泡，偶爾從客廳望著花園裡長得比人還高的向日葵，早餐時會走進院子裡瞧瞧地上又長了什麼可以加料的好物，L會把一盤堅果炒得好香、放進切好的水果丁裡，再淋上優格。在這裡，音樂整天沒斷過也不重複，全是從T那一大櫃的黑膠收藏來的。我會拿出我的吉他，靜靜的坐在沙發上抓著和弦，聽著他跟我介紹一首又一首的曲子。

沒有人問我要在這裡住多久，也沒有人問我接下來要去哪裡。