Rite of Passage

by Johnson, Lisa

• ISBN13: 9781740595933
• ISBN10: 1740595939
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Lonely Planet

Summary

Backpacking through Europe for the first time changes your life. New friendships are forged over a bottle of cheap wine; old friends go their separate ways; you fall in love in the first town and forget about it in the second. You get bored with wearing the same clothes, tired of sleeping in crowded dorms ... yet you still have an unforgettable, fantastic time. In Rite of Passage, backpackers taking their all-important first visit to Europe tell it like it really is. They describe crossing the language barrier in Corfu, meeting the locals in Prague, surviving hostel life in London, finding love in Paris and overindulging in Greece. Rite of Passage is the perfect companion for backpackers -- the stories are raw and fresh, inspirational and honest, and cut straight to the heart of the European travel experience. Book jacket.

Table of Contents

Map	vi
Introduction	ix
Getting the Hang of It	1	(48)
First-timer -- Thorn Tree	2	(3)
City of Poets -- Will Bradshaw in Spain	5	(6)
The Other Menu -- Valerie Pehrson in Amsterdam	11	(6)
The Quest -- Karen Lee Boren in London	17	(5)
Walk on by -- Thorn Tree	22	(2)
The Professional -- Lisa Johnson in Hungary	24	(4)
Night Passage -- Gail Cochrane in the English Channel	28	(2)
Finnish Saunas: The Naked Truth -- Dave Fox in Finland	30	(3)
Waking up to Winter -- John Morgan in Rome	33	(7)
Taken In -- Tom Smith in France	40	(4)
Retsina Road -- Harry Rolnick in Greece	44	(3)
Can You Find the Flusher -- Roberta Beach Jacobson in Germany	47	(2)
You Get What You Pay For	49	(38)
Be warned! -- Thorn Tree	50	(1)
One More Story to Tell -- Katherine Jamieson in Prague	51	(5)
The Delinquents of Malaga -- William Sutton in Spain	56	(6)
At Least You Have a Seat -- Myrna McKee in France	62	(4)
My Stinky Cheese Night -- Kathy Coudle King in Amsterdam	66	(4)
Fierce Hospitality -- Dani Valent in Turkey	70	(1)
Slow Bus to Fethiye -- Liza Perrat in Turkey	71	(3)
Saints' Station, Barcelona -- Will Bradshaw in Spain	74	(4)
This Isn't the Greyhound, Is It? -- Jim Eagen in Prague	78	(5)
Sleeping with Hercules -- Tara Kolden in Corfu	83	(4)
Getting It On	87	(48)
Has this ever happened to you? -- Thorn Tree	88	(3)
Fortress -- Lisa K. Buchanan in Corfu	91	(5)
The Love of Strangers -- Diana Omo Evans in Paris	96	(5)
A Fine Italian Hand -- Carol Schwalberg in Italy	101	(2)
And I Loved a Soldier -- David-Matthew Barnes in Greece	103	(2)
French Speakeasy -- Mo Fleming in Paris	105	(2)
The Little Mother -- Ryan Forsythe in Prague	107	(5)
Sailing -- Lisa Guest in Greece	112	(2)
Epiphany -- Ginu Kamani in Greece	114	(3)
Doubting Tamas -- R. Ilayne in Hungary	117	(7)
Inside the Cherries -- Sandra Dorr in Italy	124	(3)
Prose of Paris -- Sarah Goodwin in Paris	127	(2)
The Paris debate -- Thorn Tree	129	(1)
Caffe Superman -- Lynn Schmeidler in Florence	130	(5)
Being There	135	(64)
Where do you learn the most? -- Thorn Tree	136	(2)
Naked Hippies and Bonfires -- Lori Horvitz in Istanbul	138	(4)
Mary McGregor -- Lisa Beatman in Ireland	142	(2)
A Longing for Union -- Mary Ann Larkin in Bulgaria	144	(7)
Dancing Italian -- Marjorie Maddox in Venice	151	(2)
A Slight Leaning Backward -- Greg Tuleja in Paris	153	(5)
Nocturnal Madrilenos -- Marshall Krantz in Madrid	158	(5)
Might as Well Take It -- Lisa Johnson in Amsterdam	163	(5)
Paros -- Helen Ellis in Greece	168	(3)
Balkan Fragments: Gypsy -- Karen Lehmann in Yugoslavia	171	(3)
Walter -- Jennifer Spiegel in Russia	174	(4)
After a Month in Germany -- Aviya Kushner in Germany	178	(3)
Pink Dress -- Lorna Smedman in Florence	181	(6)
The Other Shore -- Brent Olson in Italy	187	(5)
Home sweet home . . . Arrgghh! -- Thorn Tree	192	(7)
Acknowledgments	199