What are you doing?

[Meno_]

[ quote="WendyDarling"]Planning to get my first passport and finally travel overseas to Italy and Greece in the Spring of 2021. Does anyone have any suggestions for things to do or see that most tourists never hear about in Rome, Naples, Athens, or on Hydra, Poros, And Aegina? Joker will be indisposed then so my best friend (male) is accompanying me. Since Europe is more dangerous than ever, it's fantastic that he looks like a serial killer so nobody will trouble us. [/quote]

Hi Wendy long time no hear!


Went to Italy two years ago, Venice is romantic . Rome is awsome . but Vinci Terra is faboulus. and my best experience was visiting. Capri, climbing the hill to the castle built by the decrepid emperor Tiberius, who took baths with children satisfying him orally. The view is really awsome, the climb very taxing. Very noteworthy are stops along the way, of the daily railroad pass are Pompeii, and the relics. Again requires hardy stamina and a strong stomach.
.....

[promethean75]

https://streamable.com/em1tx

[MagsJ]

Being awake.. at this time of the morning got a sore back from doing.. nothing in particular, so hoping it wears off later in the morning so that I can get things I need to do done.

A tea, perhaps

[Chakra Superstar]

I have been astral-planing via meditation.

Tell us more. Are you leaving your body? Where are you going? Who are you meeting? What are you learning?

(not interested in the spinach melts; just the AP)
.

I theorize that if you completely leave your body your body would thus die.

I send my mental energy out, then when things are finished,
the mental energy goes back into my body.

A few months ago Revamp started seeing auras, like physically literally seeing them.
One thing we do often is check on our higher and middle self.
So, that is what im learning and doing.
I try to improve my energy.

OK, thanks. I just wanted to know what you meant by 'astral-planing via meditation'.

If you think you may die when you leave your physical body, then best not to try it. Leaving your body does feel like dying and can be terrifying. I wouldn't suggest it to anyone who isn't psychologically stable or has a weak heart. Just before you detach, it can feel like your heart is about to explode then suddenly... snap... you've consciousness has dislocated... you hear your heart thumping and your frantic breathing underneath you as you lift several inches above your body. You're in another dimension.

I used to make a conscious effort to look at my physical body before going anywhere. I thought that would terrify me but strangely, it gave me comfort knowing the body was still there... still breathing... still alive...

I'd love to try AP again after all those decades. My outlook has changed from when I was a teenager so it would be fantastic to see how that plays out in the subtler worlds. Unfortunately, I don't even have time to post on ILP anymore let alone take on something else so it will have to wait.
.

[Mr Reasonable]

Planning to get my first passport and finally travel overseas to Italy and Greece in the Spring of 2021. Does anyone have any suggestions for things to do or see that most tourists never hear about in Rome, Naples, Athens, or on Hydra, Poros, And Aegina? Joker will be indisposed then so my best friend (male) is accompanying me. Since Europe is more dangerous than ever, it's fantastic that he looks like a serial killer so nobody will trouble us.

Eat street food from local vendors. Take a short amount of time snapping pics of tourist shit and then start drinking and walk off away from the tourist areas and find the real people who live there. Go with the flow and don't be afraid that you're going to be victimized. Americans have a tendency to view the rest of the world as a lot more dangerous than it is. If you can make it in Detroit, or New Orleans, or Birmingham, or the Bronx then you can make it anywhere. Do a lot of research before you go and watch YouTube videos of locals doing local shit. Don't visit Europe as if it's a theme park for photo ops of old buildings. Get down in it and learn the smell of the city and see what it's like to really be there. Good luck.

[MagsJ]

The best traveller guides on the planet ieo.. their Apps and Vids will probably be the most helpful in planning outings and their websites full of info on the cities you are planning to visit.

Conde-Nast Traveller

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Lonely Planet

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[Chakra Superstar]

Speaking of meditating... This is how I like to start my day...

[promethean75]

When you haven't sat down at a drum kit in thirteen years, this is what happens. This shit ain't like riding a bike, yo. You get rusty unless you're schooled and got everything commited to memory... or intermediate and KEEP practicing. I'm neither... but I can get it back if I buy one of these electronic jobs, I think.

https://streamable.com/ke7h7

When you try to hold a beat and link up with the other guy who, like yourself has no intention of buying anything and pisses all the staff off by playing the instruments, fails to fall in with you... at which point you say 'wtf dude', and forget about trying.

https://streamable.com/eg5ut

When you find these adorable little bongo thingies and want to check them out.

https://streamable.com/33c9i

[WendyDarling]

Thanks for the trip tips, people. Checked out those websites too, Mags.

[MagsJ]

Started hacking at a fairly mature ivy on the back-garden back wall with an electric double-edged saw.. courtesy of my neighbour, and it started to rain. I'd have had it off the entire wall by now, otherwise.

It comes out a couple of feet from the wall, so can't wait to get more light back, and to decide what to do with the wall instead.. a lounger, or feature, or large potted plant, or hammock.. perhaps.

[MagsJ]

Thanks for the trip tips, people. Checked out those websites too, Mags.

Cool.. I might revisit the Lonely Planet series.. they were cra-zy! so off the beaten track.

The Old Towns and markets etc. are usually authentic town-dwelling native inhabited.. just be careful not to wander into the slums.

[WendyDarling]

From the video tours I've watched, I'm wondering what parts of Athens aren't covered in graffiti which makes all those streets look slummy more than not.

[MagsJ]

From the video tours I've watched, I'm wondering what parts of Athens aren't covered in graffiti which makes all those streets look slummy more than not.

According to my mainland European buddies, the recent immigrant populations there defaced the architecture with graffiti all over the cities, but you will know a slum when you see one.

[Chakra Superstar]

From the video tours I've watched, I'm wondering what parts of Athens aren't covered in graffiti which makes all those streets look slummy more than not.

According to my mainland European buddies, the recent immigrant populations there defaced the architecture with graffiti all over the cities, but you will know a slum when you see one.

Yep. Mainly arty immigrants from Berlin (and other European/East European cities) who have been pushed out by gentrification. Berlin is phenomenally expensive and all the old arty areas in Berlin have been taken over by yuppies and hipster tech nerds with money. The art studios are now Starbucks and the galleries and music venues have been turned into fast food outlets and trendy clothing shops. Athens is sometimes called the 'new Berlin' because of all the artsy hippies pouring in but many say that's a misnomer because Athens is more likely to turn into a drug-ridden slum rather than a cool avant-garde /bohemian area and even if it did go all hipster/tech/cool, those who started it will only have to move again. This is what happens when everything has a price and nothing has value (paraphrasing Oscar Wilde)
.

[MagsJ]

Yep. Mainly arty immigrants from Berlin (and other European/East European cities) who have been pushed out by gentrification. Berlin is phenomenally expensive and all the old arty areas in Berlin have been taken over by yuppies and hipster tech nerds with money. The art studios are now Starbucks and the galleries and music venues have been turned into fast food outlets and trendy clothing shops. Athens is sometimes called the 'new Berlin' because of all the artsy hippies pouring in but many say that's a misnomer because Athens is more likely to turn into a drug-ridden slum rather than a cool avant-garde /bohemian area and even if it did go all hipster/tech/cool, those who started it will only have to move again. This is what happens when everything has a price and nothing has value (paraphrasing Oscar Wilde)
.

The illegal immigrants have been doing the defacing of historical/listed buildings, which differs from the graffiti going on in the cool parts of any town, that are usually commissioned and therefore not Illegal.

Berlinians in Athens.. I didn't know that was a thing why couldn't the art set and tech set coexist? as they can, and do, in many cities. Why displace the very people that made a place what it is? or did ownership, money, and power fuel that option..

Barcelona has many pretty slum towns, but they're the prettiest slums I've ever seen..

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[Chakra Superstar]

I suspect 'the new Berlin' is a marketing term created by the city or investors to try to invigorate Athens. My god, they need it. Athens has a huge drug problem, lots of crime, illegal immigrants and a failing economy.

Yes, it's about money. The displacement is just part of the supply and demand economy (aka artificial scarcity).

Here's Athen's bid for the 2018 Graffiti Olympics.

[promethean75]

I've recently been going to bar-resturants on weekends for dinner and whatever else I might find that's interesting. Nothing so far, except that I've been able to once again exercise my special powers of observation in examining group dynamics and herd behavior. In doing so I'm reminded of what a genuine sociopath I truly am, as i would have nothing to do with such people. I've yet to observe something I wasn't either indifferent to or repulsed by... but certainly nothing worth admiration. In such social settings I've always felt like a foreign predator in the company of a more docile and innocuous species that is either only useful to me in some way, or simply uninteresting. I'm unable to participate in menial bantering or play the little contrived games that characterize the group's dynamics. Burger's here now. Oh yum. Time to get my grill on.

[promethean75]

https://vocaroo.com/i/s1pmZxbqICD6

Oh dear, here goes the local Randy Travis and his nitty gritty garage band. Gotta go man. I'm almost guaranteed to either toss my burger or fall asleep if I'm forced to endure a G-C-D chord progression for longer than fifteen seconds.

[MagsJ]

Here's Athen's bid for the 2018 Graffiti Olympics.

..nice music score.. my kinda tune.

I do find it odd when grown men do childish things..

[WendyDarling]

Happy 4th of July, Americanos!

[MagsJ]

..swimming in paperwork.. well, not so much swimming in, as surrounded by.. begone by tomorrow, I say.

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[WendyDarling]

Thanking the Old Goat for helping me understand much that I used to not even consider.

[promethean75]

'drinking the kool-aid'

[WendyDarling]

Thinking about protesting Tommy Robinson's imprisonment by emailing UK government officials, there's blatant injustice over there. What say you, UK ILPers?

[promethean75]

changed the rear differential fluid in ludwig van this morning in an effort to troubleshoot the audible but low humming sound coming from the rear-end at highway speeds. few things will produce that sound: new tires with stubby tread, low/fouled differential fluid, or bad bearing(s). ludwig and i have eliminated 1, and hope to god it isn't number 3, which would hurt my wallet as much as it would hurt him. he'd have to undergo extensive surgery for something like that.

now the humming sound has decreased, but it's still there. could be bearings getting bad, but not yet bad enough to become a problem. we decided to wait a while before we pay for a diagnostic test and put him in some strange garage. he doesn't like the doctor's office and prefers me to treat him if i can. this morning was fairly easy... except i bashed my fuckin' knuckles on the gear case when the ill fitted wrench slipped. goddamn metric system.