02/22/11 April 10

In direct contravention of the laws of the city, over the past week I've begun penning a map of the area. I don't plan on selling it or sharing it with anyone, so what's the harm? I've been working on it at night, after my days of studying and exploration. Now, maps of the city do exist. But as I said, local law prevents any from leaving the premises – turns out they're all embedded with chips and possibly other security measures. I don't know if they'd actually self-destruct upon leaving the area, but they would certainly notify the authorities. So I've been working on my own, in secret.

I have the nagging feeling I'm betraying the trust of everyone here who's been kind to me, but I feel compelled to continue working on it nonetheless. Maybe I'll destroy it at the end of my stay, like a mandala.

In any case, I'm hoping this map will be of use in studying the history of the city. I've got the rough layout of the several districts and estimated the locations of all the major temples. Based on the relative ages of buildings and roads, I should be able to infer the growth of the city, and possibly get a clearer idea of its origins. I do know that the core pantheon has changed over time, but details are scant as to when and how it has changed. Possibly even I'll come across ruins of a temple devoted to a forgotten god.

02/13/11 April 10

It snowed the other day. Heavy, clumpy snow that stuck to everything and wrapped the city in a thick white blanket. Snow isn't uncommon here in the winter, but according to the residents this was more than they're used to.

Children played in the roads. As no cars were allowed on the street during the day (a law I understand was borrowed from ancient Rome), snowmen were stationed as guards at crossroads, and both children and adults were free to sled down the city streets. The wet snow made excellent snowballs and building material, and several wars broke out as I wandered around, enjoying the weather. Since no plows would clear the streets until after sunset, many shops and restaurants in the more out-of-the-way areas of the city were closed, which had the ironic effect of freeing up more people to be out and about.

As the day wore on and the cold started to seep through my layers, I popped into the nearest temple to warm up. Now, this particular temple was of a kind peculiar to this city – it's not consecrated to any god or pantheon in particular, and bears more in common to what we'd call a spa or a bathouse back home. But here, they're called temples, and the services offered therein are not entirely unspirtiual.

The air thick with steam and fragrant with incense, I was ushered into the changing room where I discared my cold, damp clothes for a linen robe, and got straight to relaxing. My visit to this city was anything but stressful, but this place was meant to free its patrons from every last tension, and I was determined to take advantage of it.

This particular temple was built around an old hot spring, which over the years was made into the centerpiece of a luxurious indoor/outdoor swimming pool. According to one of the priestesses, early in the history of the city, before the temple of Apollo was built & the city extended up the mountain, a wise seer lived here, and would tell people's futures and heal people's ailments with the help of the spring.

02/06/11 February 7

After a month taking in the merchant district, I decided it was time to move on. Now, certainly there was more to see, but I figured that if each district held a hostel similar to the one in which I was staying, I may as well spend some time in each of the districts.

The two districts bordering urbs serpentum to the south are two mountain peaks, part of the mountain range separating the unnamed city from the rest of the world. Much lower than that wall of rock, they're really more large hills than anything else. They are mons solis, the district of Apollo, whose temple overlooks all the rest of the city, and mons accipitris, devoted to Ra, the smaller of the two hills, but whose temple by no means less impressive. To the north are the imposing glass skyscrapers that surround Thoth's temple, urbs speculorum.

I opt for the south, figuring I can make my way around the city in a clockwise motion, which would put Apollo next on my list.

Checking in at the new hostel. It's much less crowded than the last.

The room here is nicer, as well. Still very spartan, no more than a bed and a desk, but it's neater and the two pieces of furniture are in better condition. Also, the view from my window is fantastic. There's even a porch. I can watch the sunrise, if I bother to wake up that early. The temple of Apollo is behind me, further up the mountain.

I'll check out the temple tomorrow. For now, I spend the rest of the day wandering around the streets, enjoying the scenery. Mons solis is far less busy than where I came from. The majority of people living here seem to be artist, poets and musicians. I stop in a coffeeshop and sit for a while, listining to a couple performers recite some of their poems. None of them are very good, to be honest, but they do seem more honest, less affected than I'm used to in the setting. It's nice.

At night, I sit out on my porch and review my stay so far. I can't believe it's already the first week of February. This last month went by far too fast, and I still have so much to see. But at the same time, I'm here. I never imagined I would actually make it here, but here I am. It's real. It's beautiful.

01/31/11 February 7

Urbs serpentum is no place for a poor traveller on a strict budget. Were I a tourist looking for trinkets to bring back to my family and friends, there would be no better place. Around every corner is a merchant hawking his wares, from the extravagant to the disposable. The smell of exotic spices is inescapable. I make it a point to only bring enough money for food for the day, not only to avoid temptation, but to foil thieves. What I don't carry can't be stolen.

Hand in hand with sights and smells from every corner of the world goes language. It seems to me, wandering around the forum and commercial district that each merchant is speaking a different language. Some I recognize, some spark an inkling of familiarity that I can't quite place, and still others barely sound like words at all.

And internet cafes! At first I was surprised by them, if only because free internet access seemed at odds with the mercantile nature of the district, but of course Hermes is not only the god of merchants, but also messengers. Many of these cafes also offered courier services to deliver physical packages or would hold them for pickup by one of the various such services available in the area.

Rather than lose influence as the need for personal delivery of messages waned throughout history, here the followers of Hermes embraced the changing times. Their innate entrepreneurship allowed them to offer all sorts of services to facilitate communication using the technology of the times. Many of the shops showed signs of going through many iterations, some changing with the times so frequently I got the sense that I'd have to wrestle remodelers as soon as the next fad gained traction.

01/23/11 January 23

After settling in and spending a few days just getting a feel for the ebb and flow of the city, it was time to really begin. The first place I needed to see was the temple of Hermes.

Prominently located right in the middle of the forum, the temple of Hermes is a busy, loud place. You have to fight your way past hawkers, lucky merchants who were able to set up shop close to the entrance. Decidedly unlike the Christain story of Jesus of Nazareth's angry display at the temple, this temple is a den of thieves. Hermes, after all, is a god of messengers, merchants, and thieves.

Inside, it's all overt displays of wealth. The priests are all adorned in exotic finery, and clearly well-fed. Many of them come from wealthy merchant families, or I imagine are retired merchants themselves. Where elsewhere such displays would be a sign of a corrupt church, here they signify a thriving faith.

I don't stay long, however. I will have plenty of time during the coming year to study the architecture, religion and culture here. For now, I'm a tourist. I want to see as much as I can, get comfortable with the city.

For lunch, I stop at a small restaurant in the forum (chosen largely by the price of the menu; I am on a pretty tight budget). It appears to be some "fusion" place, Indo-Chino-Eurpoean or some combination. It's fantastic. Often, places like this try to hard to be creative, and while they may understand each cooking style individually, don't follow through or really understand how to blend them. Here, however, everything seems effortless, as if each dish was from a recipe that's been in the family for generations.

I tip well. It leaves me low on cash for the rest of the month, but it's worth it.