It seemed like something completely absurd when, this morning I woke up to find Jon once again refusing our offers to make scrambled eggs - instead he was having bread and jam for the fourth morning in a row. He stood there without a shirt, bopping to some music he called 'Daft Punk' (it sounds suspiciously like techno funk - especially since there appears to be little to no punk influences - just a beat and the endless repetition of the words "Around the World"). He had a loaf of bread in his hand, and I said "Jon, we were going to have scrambled eggs, I can make them". He stood there, nodded his head, and then proceeded to take some slices from the loaf, put jam on them, and eat away.

Last night the cooking was an unmitigated success. It started with a desire on my behalf to attempt cooking something different that I hadn't tried before. With suggestions and urging from my companion James, it morphed into something quite special - in spite of our limited resources. First I cut up an entire package of mushrooms, some celery, and some green peppers, put them to the side then began cooking the chicken. The only item we can use for cooking is the wok we bought for £10 last week, and it served us wonderfully yet again. The chicken came out excellent (just the right amount of garlic seasoning), then I cleaned the wok so that it could be reused while James cut the chicken into smaller pieces; he was forced to do so while lying on the floor, using a plate as a cutting board. The wok newly cleaned, I added the mushrooms, celery, and peppers. Along with a heavy dose of BBQ sauce. After a moment, we added a pile of chicken to the mix, poured more BBQ sauce, added some salt, and more garlic, let it cook for awhile - then voila! We ate, and I'm willing to admit that it far surpassed the expectations I had set out for myself at the beginning of the endeavor.

We've been doing a lot of planning for the trip, and there have been several revisions to the final plan. Today we made an unretractable step forward when tickets were purchased for a flight from Glasgow to Rome, May 7th at 4:00pm. We were forced to cut Athens out of the journey, after much painful deliberation; Greece is just really out of the way and expensive to get to. Thus, it will be saved for another trip in the future! One of my lifelong goals has always been to take one grand tour that encompasses the locations of all Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - and I WILL do that one day.

This holiday is no less ambitious, we intend to ride pedal bikes across the bulk of Western Europe - visiting no more or less than 11-13 countries in a span of 45 days. That we will suffer immense physical challenges, there is no doubt; Yet we intend to overcome these, like the greatest examples of humanity, to achieve our sought after goals.

Anyhow, possibly tomorrow we'll be heading out to Loch Lomond (Hopefully the weather doesn't suck, like it has for the last 5 days). Looking forward to that.

Ah, I almost forgot to mention. My MasterCard disappeared yesterday. There was a measure of drama in the morning for us as we searched valianty for the lost plastic, only to come up emptyhanded. I was able to check my account online, and I was very happy to learn that no one had used my disappearing card with malicious intent. I promptly called MasterCard and cancelled my card, and had a new one sent immediately to my current location in Glasgow. The lady on the line was extremely helpful. My new card should arrive in 3-5 days. Happy days are here again, so it seems.

Anyhow, that should suffice for now, next update will hopefully be post-Loch Lomond. Peace.