Woke up and left Nice with Ford as he was going into Monaco. Continued on to Ventimiglia, Italy. Just on the boarder where I had to switch trains. Had just enough time to grab some lunch and eat on the beach. Stony beach with clear blue water and 3 foot shore break. Then back on the train to enjoy the view. The track is pratically on the beach. Pass a semi left point break, 3 ft. 6 guys out.
Got to Genoa and step out of the train station to be greeted by the American Indians worst nightmare. A huge statue of Christopher Columbus. This is supposedly his home town. Got a map and hotel listings and began the search. While I'm staring at my map a nice Israeli girl named Sharon stops to offer me help. She's out getting excercise and killing time and offers to walk around till I find something. She's not to good with the map, but she knows some Italian so that helps. I wound up at the Hotel Chopin which was nice, clean, English spoken, friendly and the room had a sink and TV. Spent the night alternating between the TV and people watching from my balconey.Woke up and stowed my bag with reception and went out exploring Genova.Down Balbi Strade to an area which houses 12 Palaces. Unassuming from the outside, but impressive inside. One had a little pond with ~12 snapper turtles sunning themselves. What a few for a while trying to climb out with difficulty. They're not the best climbers. Strolled thru Ferrari Plaza, a nice big open square with a big fountain. An old city gate here, nice cathedral or building there. Down at the harbor there's the aquarium and an really cool old warship. 40 or so canyons and really intricately decorated wood carvings. Sat and people/dog watched for a while. Including one dog that just wouldn't tire of fetching a stick. It would yap it's head off if you didn't continue playing.
Off to Genoa Bogliasco where I gonna camp for the first time on the trip. I get to the station and wait for the free bus to the campsite only it never shows. Wind up taking a taxi a measly 2km for 5 euro. A rip off, but since it was straight uphill and probably would have killed me, I didn't complain too much. So it's early in the season and the camp isn't fully opened so I have to hike down in search of food. Down below saw a couple of longboarders getting out of the surf. Now it's getting dark and I'm not finding anything open. Stumble upon a couple of vending machines and buy a coke and ice cream thinking this might be all I get for the night. However, on the way back I found a market that was still open so I stocked up. Now all I have to do is find my way back up a hell of a hill. Chose badly at first and wound up at a dead end. Actually it was an institute for the retarded. Thought for a minute about checking myself in:) Eventually found the right set of stairs and after alot of energy, sweat, huffing and puffing finally arrived back in camp. Enjoyed the peace. Very quiet with frogs croaking all among the hills, the occcasional woosh of the train way down below and the chiming of various church bells on the hour/half hour. It winds up being a cold night. 42 degrees and some light sporadic rain thru the night, but I managed to get some decent sleep. Next day I catch the train to La Spezia which will be my base for hiking the Cinque Terre trail. Should have been less than 2 hours, but 15 minutes from La Spezia the train stops. Apparently the tracks are flooded up ahead. After 40 minutes we continue to the next station to be told we have to switch trains. Finally arrived a began the search for a place to stay. La Spezia is really small so no hostels here. So I begin the search for a cheap hotel. Wind up circling around and winding up where I started. Hotel Parma across from the train station. Decent enough. Tomorrow I'll hike the trail.But the next day it's rainy and cold. Back to bed. Maybe the weather will clear. Well, it's still cold, but the rain has stopped so I make my move. Break out the parka, thermals, and waterproof pants and take the train to Monterossa (first town and most difficult climb on the trail.) It's considerably warmer here and sweating like a pig and tearing clothes off before I even get to the ticket booth for the trail. The Cinque Terre trail (Five lands) is marvelous. Up until this century it was the only way to get between these five towns on the cliffs overlooking the sea. Barely wide enough for one person in spots and no railings. Watch your step or you're in serious trouble. A real Hell climb, but worth it. Acqua blue sea below, lush green and terraced grape vineyards above. Takes about 1.5 hrs to get between Monterossa and Varanza. The trail takes about another 1.5hrs to get to Corniglia, but the it's easier and just as nice. Corniglia is so small that they charge a toll for cars to enter. Quaint towns. It should take another 35 minutes to Manorolla, but the trail is closed halfway due to a rock slide. Hop the train at Corniglia and consider getting off a Manorolla to do the last part of the trail, but its only a 15 minute hike and since it's starting to get cold and late I blow off Riomaggeire and train it back to the hotel. Tomorrow it's off to Florence, Italy
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Thursday, May 05, 2005
French Riviera
French Riviera
Wanted to stop in Montpellier, France, but there weren't any reasonable accomadations so I decided to go on thru to Marseille. So I bought my ticket. The only problem was by the time I got back on the internet all the accomadations got booked up. Oh well. Too late now. I've got my ticket. No turning back. Worst case I'll pitch the tent. But I was warned that there are some sketchy parts of Marseille so upon arriving I give the hotel across the street a try. It's a dive, but only 18 euro which is what I've been pretty much paying for hostels. However, instead of sharing a room with gaggles of other travelers, I have the room to myself. King size bed, table, chair, balcony, bureau and a spare twin bed in case the King size is too comfortable. Really quite French, Quite Quaint! So I keep with the theme and buy a bottle of Bordeaux, some cheese, bread and kick back for the evening after a walk around town. It really was picturesque. I thought about painting the scene for prosperities sake, but wouldn't you know it, I forgot my brushes and oils in NJ;)
Next morning I overslept. Damn king size bed!! Made to the bus station and got on the bus to nice with literally 2 minutes to spare. Nice ride; Rocky hills, vineyards and the sea. Checked into the Hostel Bacarat which is really just a hotel which they thru some bunkbeds into a couple of rooms. The kitchen consisted of a microwave and that was it. No alcolhol, no common room, but again met some cool guys in the room. Glen (Russian New Yorker transplanted to Miami), Ford (China), Mark (England), Paul and Christian (Perth) and an English student whose name escapes me now. The first night we just walked the boardwalk. No sand here, just stones. Paul and Christian had dinner at the Hippopontamus while I sipped some wine.
The next day Glen, Christian, Paul and I decided to check out Monaco. Paul suggested the bus since the train goes thru alot of tunnels and it would afford us a better view. Only thing was, when we got the bus station they told us there were no buses. Huh, that's strange! So we took the train to the Monaco station which makes the other stations look like hovels. Got off and it was eerie. No one was around! Start walking around and still no one is around and all the shops are closed. It was like a ghost town. Something is definately not right. The only people we saw were perhaps the best dressed policmen in the world. Finally we asked one of them what the deal was. After looking at us like we were from Mars and deciding that we weren't yanking his chain, he told us that King Ranier III's funeral was happening. Ohhh, that explains things. So actually it was quite nice roaming around with any crowds. The only thing going on there was a tennis masters tournament. In fact, we literally almost bumped into Raphael Nadal as he was leaving the hotel for a game. So we wandered up to the arena and found a market that was actually opened. Bought some lunch and ate overlooking the harbor and the only marble boardwalk I know of on this planet. After that we decided to have a look at the famous Monte Carlo Casino even though we knew it was closed. We are so glad we did. In front of it is what can only be considered a Perfect garden. Really spectacular! Terraced and all the flowers were in bloom, palm trees and a single bust to set things off. The pictures are cool, but don't do it justice. I really don't think it could be improved upon. On the way back to the station, Glen asked a couple of Canadian girls if they knew the way. More to flirt than for actual info. They said they were going back the way they came, but I opted for another route. The race is on. we went straight up a huge set of stairs. After catching our breathe we realized we were right there at the station. Looks like we won the race unless the girls sprouted wings!The next day was kind of lazy. Later that night we went to an irish pub called the Thor. Solo guitarist downstairs and a band upstairs playing U2, Radiohead, Coldplay, etc. Not the greatest band, but great song selection. The next morning we woke up to a freezing room and realized it was raining. So we did laundry. $10 a load. It's like that all over Europe. I wonder if a washing machine will fit in my pack?? Late night the guys crash a party in the next room over, but don't last very long. College kids just playing drinking games. Tomorrow I head of to the Italian Riviera via Ventimiglia. Mark and Glen said they were gonna come along, but can't get out of bed. Actually it was a good decision for them 'cause it was farther than we thought. I didn't get into Genoa until 4 pm. But I'll save the rest for the next blog.....
Later,DJ
Wanted to stop in Montpellier, France, but there weren't any reasonable accomadations so I decided to go on thru to Marseille. So I bought my ticket. The only problem was by the time I got back on the internet all the accomadations got booked up. Oh well. Too late now. I've got my ticket. No turning back. Worst case I'll pitch the tent. But I was warned that there are some sketchy parts of Marseille so upon arriving I give the hotel across the street a try. It's a dive, but only 18 euro which is what I've been pretty much paying for hostels. However, instead of sharing a room with gaggles of other travelers, I have the room to myself. King size bed, table, chair, balcony, bureau and a spare twin bed in case the King size is too comfortable. Really quite French, Quite Quaint! So I keep with the theme and buy a bottle of Bordeaux, some cheese, bread and kick back for the evening after a walk around town. It really was picturesque. I thought about painting the scene for prosperities sake, but wouldn't you know it, I forgot my brushes and oils in NJ;)
Next morning I overslept. Damn king size bed!! Made to the bus station and got on the bus to nice with literally 2 minutes to spare. Nice ride; Rocky hills, vineyards and the sea. Checked into the Hostel Bacarat which is really just a hotel which they thru some bunkbeds into a couple of rooms. The kitchen consisted of a microwave and that was it. No alcolhol, no common room, but again met some cool guys in the room. Glen (Russian New Yorker transplanted to Miami), Ford (China), Mark (England), Paul and Christian (Perth) and an English student whose name escapes me now. The first night we just walked the boardwalk. No sand here, just stones. Paul and Christian had dinner at the Hippopontamus while I sipped some wine.
The next day Glen, Christian, Paul and I decided to check out Monaco. Paul suggested the bus since the train goes thru alot of tunnels and it would afford us a better view. Only thing was, when we got the bus station they told us there were no buses. Huh, that's strange! So we took the train to the Monaco station which makes the other stations look like hovels. Got off and it was eerie. No one was around! Start walking around and still no one is around and all the shops are closed. It was like a ghost town. Something is definately not right. The only people we saw were perhaps the best dressed policmen in the world. Finally we asked one of them what the deal was. After looking at us like we were from Mars and deciding that we weren't yanking his chain, he told us that King Ranier III's funeral was happening. Ohhh, that explains things. So actually it was quite nice roaming around with any crowds. The only thing going on there was a tennis masters tournament. In fact, we literally almost bumped into Raphael Nadal as he was leaving the hotel for a game. So we wandered up to the arena and found a market that was actually opened. Bought some lunch and ate overlooking the harbor and the only marble boardwalk I know of on this planet. After that we decided to have a look at the famous Monte Carlo Casino even though we knew it was closed. We are so glad we did. In front of it is what can only be considered a Perfect garden. Really spectacular! Terraced and all the flowers were in bloom, palm trees and a single bust to set things off. The pictures are cool, but don't do it justice. I really don't think it could be improved upon. On the way back to the station, Glen asked a couple of Canadian girls if they knew the way. More to flirt than for actual info. They said they were going back the way they came, but I opted for another route. The race is on. we went straight up a huge set of stairs. After catching our breathe we realized we were right there at the station. Looks like we won the race unless the girls sprouted wings!The next day was kind of lazy. Later that night we went to an irish pub called the Thor. Solo guitarist downstairs and a band upstairs playing U2, Radiohead, Coldplay, etc. Not the greatest band, but great song selection. The next morning we woke up to a freezing room and realized it was raining. So we did laundry. $10 a load. It's like that all over Europe. I wonder if a washing machine will fit in my pack?? Late night the guys crash a party in the next room over, but don't last very long. College kids just playing drinking games. Tomorrow I head of to the Italian Riviera via Ventimiglia. Mark and Glen said they were gonna come along, but can't get out of bed. Actually it was a good decision for them 'cause it was farther than we thought. I didn't get into Genoa until 4 pm. But I'll save the rest for the next blog.....
Later,DJ
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona, Spain:
Nice trip from Valencia via ALSA Busline. Nice views of the mediterranean. Pretty country. Took the metro to Las Ramblas. I'm booked at "New Hostel" and on the internet it says "easy to stumble on, just follow the signs." Well there are no signs! The only signs you might see for this place are a bunch of backpackers wandering around muttering to themselves, "where the hell is this place!" So I find the address and duck in through the gate, but still no signs. I try to go back to the street to confirm the address, but the gate is locked! Uh Oh! Looks like I may be sleeping in this alley tonight. Fortunately, after much searching I find "new hostel" written in magic marker by one buzzer. Whew! So I climb 70 steps (I counted) to the hostel to be greated by a cheery Canadian named Jesse. Takes about an hour to check in because the computer is down, but I don't mind and just chill out and meet the other guests. Not quite what I expected with regard to the facilities, but the people are cool so it will do.First Day: Check out Las Ramblas. A large street, the main drag, with a wide median which houses all the vendors and street performers. Painted human statues, lots of tourists and you can even purchase your very own ferret, bird, rabbit, snake or just about any other pet you can think of from the numerous vendors. It's sunny and 70° so I head down the street towards the marina. Nice clear Medit. water and a sky tram for the eagles view. Small boats, big boats and even a wooden submarine? on view on the land. Continue along and arrive at a nice beach, small waves, clean 60° blue water, course sand and topless girls. Relax for a while and watch some sailboarders, a couple of kite surfers and one lone longboarder.That night Jesse takes a group of us (Andrew (sydney), Tracy&Heidi (Canada) and 2 German girls to a bar called "fairies woods". Cool decor, it looks and feels like you're in a forest with trees and waterfalls.Next day it's time to check out the Sagrada Familia and Park Guel both designed by Antoni Gaudi. Both, must sees! The Sagrada is like no other cathedral in the world. Awesome. It's just too bad it won't be done for another 30 years! Decorated with biblical scenes, snakes, lizards, and bunches of grapes and peaches atop the spires. The park Guel is equally intriging. Inlaid tile decorates the building/statues at the entrance and the benches. Hundreds of rock arches made of the smallest stones. Lots of stairs and a great view.Later on the street I ran into a girl from Friend's Hostel in Paris. Small world! 15 minutes later I run into 2 guys from the Hostel in Valencia. Very Small world!!!Friday 4/8/05 Went to the Picasso Museum. Very Cool! Again, reprints don't do the art justice. In person the colors are SO Vivid and alive. Really exceptional. The only problem was you couldn't take pics. Waiting to go out, hanging with Joel, Austin and Caroline and 8 Irish guys really partying it up. It's two of their birthdays. Off to the Travel Bar and then to the Sugar Bar. Funky cool place with red/pink mood lighting and good tunes. We Groove. On the way home Jesse turns us on to an insider munchies spot. It's late and the bakers are up making there croissants. You get a huge box of chocolate or creme filled croissants for $2 E. We were about 1/3 done with the box when a couple of guys fell about 30cents short. So we sold them our box and went right back for another.After saying goodnight to Heidi and Tracy me and Jesse chat it up with a couple of girls in Plaze Real. Actually, he does most of the talking since it's in Spanish, but it's still interesting to listen and watch, occasionally understanding what's being said. Shortly there after it's back to the hostel to stay up till 5 am chatting with Lisa, a cutie from Melbourne.Next day, Joel enlists me to go check out a Jazz show later that night. We get a crew together and pay a $5 cover which includes a drink. The band is Phat! Very tight. All of them: drummer/percussionist/Stand up Bass/pianist/Sax. Latin Jazz with cuban overtones. Really phenomenal, but over too quickly.Next Day: No more beds here so I'll have to go up the street to their sister hostel. During the day I checked out the hills which house the Olympic Venues. Nice vistas, Military Museum, Open air Olympic diving arena overlooking the city, a sports arena that looks like a spaceship, Botanical gardens, the Palace Nacional and a stadium that people are flooding into for a soccer match. Back to the hostel to grab my bag and say some goodbyes.At the other hostel I check in and meet a beautiful Romanian (Irina) who's getting her masters in Lille, France. I watch Lizetta's mom make flowers out of T.P. and cray paper. Later Irina tries to persuade me to go out, but I decline. There's always tomorrow and we both can already feel the connection. Next day spent flirting with Irina and making plans to take another group to the Sugar Bar. Jessie takes the first group there and I tell him to go ahead and I'll bring up the rear. This expression really entertained my foreign friends. So after a some more cards we get there and dance the night away. Later after we exit the bar and are chatting outside we get doused with water. Apparently we're keeping someone up! Time to go back. But stayed up till 6 am for some more flirting.Tuesday: Irina offers me some breakfast and we hit the streets. Stop a while for some Sangria and then play tour guide and show the girls the Arc d'Triomph and the Sagrada. On the way back we stop to people watch at Placa Catalyuna. Then dinner: a bottle of red and Seafood Paella for 2. This night we only stay up till 5 am. But then we both need to be up @ 7am to catch our transportation out of Barcelona. Short and Sweet.Off to the French Riviera.......Adios amigos.
Nice trip from Valencia via ALSA Busline. Nice views of the mediterranean. Pretty country. Took the metro to Las Ramblas. I'm booked at "New Hostel" and on the internet it says "easy to stumble on, just follow the signs." Well there are no signs! The only signs you might see for this place are a bunch of backpackers wandering around muttering to themselves, "where the hell is this place!" So I find the address and duck in through the gate, but still no signs. I try to go back to the street to confirm the address, but the gate is locked! Uh Oh! Looks like I may be sleeping in this alley tonight. Fortunately, after much searching I find "new hostel" written in magic marker by one buzzer. Whew! So I climb 70 steps (I counted) to the hostel to be greated by a cheery Canadian named Jesse. Takes about an hour to check in because the computer is down, but I don't mind and just chill out and meet the other guests. Not quite what I expected with regard to the facilities, but the people are cool so it will do.First Day: Check out Las Ramblas. A large street, the main drag, with a wide median which houses all the vendors and street performers. Painted human statues, lots of tourists and you can even purchase your very own ferret, bird, rabbit, snake or just about any other pet you can think of from the numerous vendors. It's sunny and 70° so I head down the street towards the marina. Nice clear Medit. water and a sky tram for the eagles view. Small boats, big boats and even a wooden submarine? on view on the land. Continue along and arrive at a nice beach, small waves, clean 60° blue water, course sand and topless girls. Relax for a while and watch some sailboarders, a couple of kite surfers and one lone longboarder.That night Jesse takes a group of us (Andrew (sydney), Tracy&Heidi (Canada) and 2 German girls to a bar called "fairies woods". Cool decor, it looks and feels like you're in a forest with trees and waterfalls.Next day it's time to check out the Sagrada Familia and Park Guel both designed by Antoni Gaudi. Both, must sees! The Sagrada is like no other cathedral in the world. Awesome. It's just too bad it won't be done for another 30 years! Decorated with biblical scenes, snakes, lizards, and bunches of grapes and peaches atop the spires. The park Guel is equally intriging. Inlaid tile decorates the building/statues at the entrance and the benches. Hundreds of rock arches made of the smallest stones. Lots of stairs and a great view.Later on the street I ran into a girl from Friend's Hostel in Paris. Small world! 15 minutes later I run into 2 guys from the Hostel in Valencia. Very Small world!!!Friday 4/8/05 Went to the Picasso Museum. Very Cool! Again, reprints don't do the art justice. In person the colors are SO Vivid and alive. Really exceptional. The only problem was you couldn't take pics. Waiting to go out, hanging with Joel, Austin and Caroline and 8 Irish guys really partying it up. It's two of their birthdays. Off to the Travel Bar and then to the Sugar Bar. Funky cool place with red/pink mood lighting and good tunes. We Groove. On the way home Jesse turns us on to an insider munchies spot. It's late and the bakers are up making there croissants. You get a huge box of chocolate or creme filled croissants for $2 E. We were about 1/3 done with the box when a couple of guys fell about 30cents short. So we sold them our box and went right back for another.After saying goodnight to Heidi and Tracy me and Jesse chat it up with a couple of girls in Plaze Real. Actually, he does most of the talking since it's in Spanish, but it's still interesting to listen and watch, occasionally understanding what's being said. Shortly there after it's back to the hostel to stay up till 5 am chatting with Lisa, a cutie from Melbourne.Next day, Joel enlists me to go check out a Jazz show later that night. We get a crew together and pay a $5 cover which includes a drink. The band is Phat! Very tight. All of them: drummer/percussionist/Stand up Bass/pianist/Sax. Latin Jazz with cuban overtones. Really phenomenal, but over too quickly.Next Day: No more beds here so I'll have to go up the street to their sister hostel. During the day I checked out the hills which house the Olympic Venues. Nice vistas, Military Museum, Open air Olympic diving arena overlooking the city, a sports arena that looks like a spaceship, Botanical gardens, the Palace Nacional and a stadium that people are flooding into for a soccer match. Back to the hostel to grab my bag and say some goodbyes.At the other hostel I check in and meet a beautiful Romanian (Irina) who's getting her masters in Lille, France. I watch Lizetta's mom make flowers out of T.P. and cray paper. Later Irina tries to persuade me to go out, but I decline. There's always tomorrow and we both can already feel the connection. Next day spent flirting with Irina and making plans to take another group to the Sugar Bar. Jessie takes the first group there and I tell him to go ahead and I'll bring up the rear. This expression really entertained my foreign friends. So after a some more cards we get there and dance the night away. Later after we exit the bar and are chatting outside we get doused with water. Apparently we're keeping someone up! Time to go back. But stayed up till 6 am for some more flirting.Tuesday: Irina offers me some breakfast and we hit the streets. Stop a while for some Sangria and then play tour guide and show the girls the Arc d'Triomph and the Sagrada. On the way back we stop to people watch at Placa Catalyuna. Then dinner: a bottle of red and Seafood Paella for 2. This night we only stay up till 5 am. But then we both need to be up @ 7am to catch our transportation out of Barcelona. Short and Sweet.Off to the French Riviera.......Adios amigos.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Valencia, Spain
Valencia, Spain
All right, enough of being land locked. I'm heading to the coast! Found HOME Hostel even though the directions on the internet weren't quite right. And they tell you to take the bus, but it's probably just as easy to walk since the bus does a big loop. HOME hostel is the biggest yet. Holds about 110 people, four floors, funky, clean, english speaking and there is a roof top terrace with a view of the city. Not nearly as pretty as Madrid, but it's got character.
Spent some time drinking with Ross, Mike, and Jenivere (US), Chris (UK), and a crazy group of 10 Croations who brought there own home brew. It's made from Plums and tastes like a lighter whiskey. They wouldn't take no for an answer so the bottle kept going around.
Took a walk with a group from the hostel down to the Musuem area. Long walk, but a nice one. Our route was an old river bed that has been converted to a park which runs through the whole city. Picked and ate a wild Valencian orange. A little sour, perhaps not quite ripe enough. Passed a public skate park and a really cool park for kids. Gulliver's Park from Gulliver's travels. It's a huge recreation of Gulliver tied down to the ground. It's designed to be climbed on via steps or ropes and then you slide down on of many huge slides. We couldn't help letting the kid in us come out and gave it a try.
Very interesting modern architecture in the museum center: Music center, Science, hemisphere building, Aquatic World. On the way back stopped at one of the old city fortress gates. Took in the nice view and headed back for roof top cervazas and some chess. Later on Pam and Andy enticed us to go out for a few drinks.
Next night warmed up playing cards with Chris, Jack, Kyle, Megan, and Grace. On the way out picked up Ian and Owen and went bar hopping. First place closed at 1 am??? I thought this was Spain. Anyway onward. Found a funky place playing good music. The very gay bartender suggested we join him later at Club Bouncy. Ahh, thanks, but I don't think we will be making it. Off to Radio City- Pub/Dance hall, but didn't stay too long. We just wanted to check it out, plus Megan was uncomfortable as apparently the guys there couldn't resist grabbing her butt.
Woke up Sunday without any real plan. Chris wanted to watch the Formula 1 race so we walked all over the city trying to find it on the tele, but to no avail. So we decided to walk to the beach. Must have been 5-6 miles, but when we got there we were pleasantly surprised with a kite exhibition/competition. Small kites, big kites, humungous kites and trick kites. Watched guys fly two kites at once, pairs flying in syncopation and groups of 12 or more also flying in line with each other. All to music blaring from a PA system. Water was about 62 F, nice long and wide beach with a dark heavy sand, 3 foot messy surf, but it looked like it could be good given the right conditions.
Back at the hostel, more drinks, more chess and some card tricks. One Spainish girl almost had us convinced she was pyschic until she confessed she was working with an accomplice. Very sneaky!!
Next day: the pope died. Throngs of people having morning parades which we assumed was for the pope, but as it turns out they were already planned. For what I don't know, we just had Easter a week ago!Later at night I dragged Chris to a bar which was supposed to have an open jam night, but when we got there they had a jazz band playing. Oh well!
Tommorow off to Barcelona.....Adios amigos
All right, enough of being land locked. I'm heading to the coast! Found HOME Hostel even though the directions on the internet weren't quite right. And they tell you to take the bus, but it's probably just as easy to walk since the bus does a big loop. HOME hostel is the biggest yet. Holds about 110 people, four floors, funky, clean, english speaking and there is a roof top terrace with a view of the city. Not nearly as pretty as Madrid, but it's got character.
Spent some time drinking with Ross, Mike, and Jenivere (US), Chris (UK), and a crazy group of 10 Croations who brought there own home brew. It's made from Plums and tastes like a lighter whiskey. They wouldn't take no for an answer so the bottle kept going around.
Took a walk with a group from the hostel down to the Musuem area. Long walk, but a nice one. Our route was an old river bed that has been converted to a park which runs through the whole city. Picked and ate a wild Valencian orange. A little sour, perhaps not quite ripe enough. Passed a public skate park and a really cool park for kids. Gulliver's Park from Gulliver's travels. It's a huge recreation of Gulliver tied down to the ground. It's designed to be climbed on via steps or ropes and then you slide down on of many huge slides. We couldn't help letting the kid in us come out and gave it a try.
Very interesting modern architecture in the museum center: Music center, Science, hemisphere building, Aquatic World. On the way back stopped at one of the old city fortress gates. Took in the nice view and headed back for roof top cervazas and some chess. Later on Pam and Andy enticed us to go out for a few drinks.
Next night warmed up playing cards with Chris, Jack, Kyle, Megan, and Grace. On the way out picked up Ian and Owen and went bar hopping. First place closed at 1 am??? I thought this was Spain. Anyway onward. Found a funky place playing good music. The very gay bartender suggested we join him later at Club Bouncy. Ahh, thanks, but I don't think we will be making it. Off to Radio City- Pub/Dance hall, but didn't stay too long. We just wanted to check it out, plus Megan was uncomfortable as apparently the guys there couldn't resist grabbing her butt.
Woke up Sunday without any real plan. Chris wanted to watch the Formula 1 race so we walked all over the city trying to find it on the tele, but to no avail. So we decided to walk to the beach. Must have been 5-6 miles, but when we got there we were pleasantly surprised with a kite exhibition/competition. Small kites, big kites, humungous kites and trick kites. Watched guys fly two kites at once, pairs flying in syncopation and groups of 12 or more also flying in line with each other. All to music blaring from a PA system. Water was about 62 F, nice long and wide beach with a dark heavy sand, 3 foot messy surf, but it looked like it could be good given the right conditions.
Back at the hostel, more drinks, more chess and some card tricks. One Spainish girl almost had us convinced she was pyschic until she confessed she was working with an accomplice. Very sneaky!!
Next day: the pope died. Throngs of people having morning parades which we assumed was for the pope, but as it turns out they were already planned. For what I don't know, we just had Easter a week ago!Later at night I dragged Chris to a bar which was supposed to have an open jam night, but when we got there they had a jazz band playing. Oh well!
Tommorow off to Barcelona.....Adios amigos
Monday, April 04, 2005
Madrid
Madrid: First impressionMios Dios, la chicas in Madrid, Espana es muy bonito. El guapa!!Really got a nice vibe (nice weather, pretty girls, decent vegetarian choices, cheaper prices, etc) from the city upon arrival, but unfortunately that didn´t last long. On the second day lost my credit/debit cards to a crafty pick pocket. There´s a sucker born every second. This one was born 35 years ago. Anyway thanks to a cash advance from the parentals I stayed afloat, but in that situation I decided not to spend any unnecessary cash. Which was a shame because I´m sure I could have had a really good time there. The other problem was timing. It happened to be Easter and in Madrid they take it very seriously. Basically the city shuts down for a whole week. So what could have taken 2-3 to sort out actually took almost 8 days. It was very frustrating knowing that my debit card was sitting for 5 days at the post office. And to add injury to insult I caught a cold. Oh well, I must have accrued some significant negative karma in Madrid during a past life. Hopefully most of it has been neutralized. So I killed time commisorating with Ian (from OZ) who was in a similar situation. His bank card didn´t work in Madrid. Actually the atm ate his card. Fortunately he got it back though. He´s biking thru europe. Good Luck Ian.
On the other hand it was nice that they threw me parades for my birthday and even named it "Holy Day". I felt Sooo Special. The parades aren´t like the thanksgiving parades though. Very slow. Each church congregation has there own little section. In the lead there are people dressed in what americans would recognize as KKK outfits, but of course they are not. Following them are about twenty others carrying their¨"float". A representation of Jesus or their patron saint and pulling up the rear is a band playing somber, yet at the same time uplifting music. They stop the march every five minutes or so and occasionally a round of applause erupts. Not terribly exciting, but I guess that is not the point.
The nightlife is infamous,the city itself is beautiful and you can walk everywhere. Which I did. So much walking on this trip. I´m glad I´m not leasing these legs cause I´d already be way over on my mileage allowance!! The one thing I´d did get to see was the Museo Prado. An Impressive collection inside, but suprisingly boring building architecually speaking. The Durer exposition was there and was very nice and of course many other artists, Spanish, Italian etc. See the pics. The Parque Retiro is a very large park with a lake where people rent row boats. Street performers doing their thing including a very enthusiastic but not at all talented Michael Jackson copy cat. I almost paid him to stop. All in all a nice place to hang and relax which I did alot of...So it wasn´t all that exciting and a bit trying, but it didn´t kill me so I suppose I´m stronger because of it!!
So now I´m in Valencia and not unhappy to leave Madrid behind even if that is a little unfair. Two more pics albums have been uploaded for Paris and Spain. Have a looksy.Adios for now amigos......
PS. Important travel tip.It´s a really good idea to go to the bathroom before getting to the train/bus stations here in Europe. That is unless you like the challenge of doing it while standing up!!! It is however an excellent work out for the thighs :)
On the other hand it was nice that they threw me parades for my birthday and even named it "Holy Day". I felt Sooo Special. The parades aren´t like the thanksgiving parades though. Very slow. Each church congregation has there own little section. In the lead there are people dressed in what americans would recognize as KKK outfits, but of course they are not. Following them are about twenty others carrying their¨"float". A representation of Jesus or their patron saint and pulling up the rear is a band playing somber, yet at the same time uplifting music. They stop the march every five minutes or so and occasionally a round of applause erupts. Not terribly exciting, but I guess that is not the point.
The nightlife is infamous,the city itself is beautiful and you can walk everywhere. Which I did. So much walking on this trip. I´m glad I´m not leasing these legs cause I´d already be way over on my mileage allowance!! The one thing I´d did get to see was the Museo Prado. An Impressive collection inside, but suprisingly boring building architecually speaking. The Durer exposition was there and was very nice and of course many other artists, Spanish, Italian etc. See the pics. The Parque Retiro is a very large park with a lake where people rent row boats. Street performers doing their thing including a very enthusiastic but not at all talented Michael Jackson copy cat. I almost paid him to stop. All in all a nice place to hang and relax which I did alot of...So it wasn´t all that exciting and a bit trying, but it didn´t kill me so I suppose I´m stronger because of it!!
So now I´m in Valencia and not unhappy to leave Madrid behind even if that is a little unfair. Two more pics albums have been uploaded for Paris and Spain. Have a looksy.Adios for now amigos......
PS. Important travel tip.It´s a really good idea to go to the bathroom before getting to the train/bus stations here in Europe. That is unless you like the challenge of doing it while standing up!!! It is however an excellent work out for the thighs :)
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Amsterdam!!
Ok, let me say right of the bat that if you ever thought you'd like to come to Amsterdam. You will! Do it! First impression: I never seen such crazy traffic!! And I'm not even really talking about car traffic. There must be a million bicycles in this city. It's like trying to pass through a swarm of bees without getting stung. Not too much car traffic but the roads are like knotted spagehetti and they're made of brick as well as the sidewalks. It's difficult to tell which is which. In fact, sometimes the sidewalk IS THE ROAD! Look both ways, look again and maybe 1 or 2 more times, then go. I thought I'd be hopelessly lost, but it's fairly small and I got my bearings pretty quickly.
I checked into the Hostel Anne Marie which was great. Big, clean, cool/helpful people working there and met some great travelers there. Droped off the backpack, got a map and info on what to see and I'm off. The red light district is way across town so I head in that direction. By the looks of things the girls are busy. OK, I know where that is and head back. On the way I stop at a supermarket. Funny thing. Everyone speaks English, but everything is written in Dutch of course. Couldn't stop laughing at my predicament. A label reading American vegetarian trying to avoid meat in Amsterdam. Well, I learned that "met gehekt" means "with meat". So I'm able to pick out some vegetable lasagna (with corn??) and get back to the hostel and meet my fellow travelers. From Germany, Oz, and Virginia. We all hit it off immediately and decided to check out a blues club. But first we had to warm up with 2 bottles of wine, some funny amsterdam cigarettes, and 3 hands of Bullsh*t (the game, not Dung). Turns out that its an open jam at Bourbon Street. So I sign up and play a couple of tunes much to the delight of my new friends. Breakfast the next morning consisted of Coffee, OJ, Bread, and PB & Jelly or something called nut nougart. Afterwards I decided to check out the Van Gogh Museum, but first I need to get in the right frame of mind. Off to a coffee shop. The key word is "Coffee" as opposed to "Cafe". All you get at a Cafe Shop is coffee. I can get that anywhere. So I find Bulldogs Coffee shop, pick out "white widow" from the menu and swap stories with 3 guys from S. Carolina. Off to the museum. Funny Story: When I bought my parka for this trip I knew it was a Dutch Police Parka, but I didn't know that they were still in use. As 2 mounted cops crept up behind me I couldn't help but wonder what they were thinking of me. Here I am basically impersonating an officer after just enjoying Amsterdam's finest. I couldn't help laughing at the irony. Normally in the U.S. this situation would cause instant anxiety. Not here. Didn't care. It's all legal. Well, I wasn't sure about the parka though. They either didn't see me or didn't care because they went right on by. However, the next day I did get stopped. As they hauled me off to jail I quickly realized that it was a problem. Nah, just kidding. They were rather nice. After I told them where I got it and how much I paid, they just said I'd have to stop wearing it. Oh well, so I have to wear it inside out for 2 days, beats jail! Interestingly, the security guard at the museum let me pass through even thought the metal detector went off. I probably should have seen if I could have gotten in for free.The Van Gogh museum is great. You can't fully appreciate the paintings until you see them in person and up close. I was quite impressed. Couldn't take any pics though.On my last night there we all decided to check out a jazz club. Great original quarted (drums, bass, piano, sax). Sat front row. Didn't drink, didn't need to.Amsterdam is awesome, I highly recommend it. Check out the pics page.Coming soon: driving through Belgium to Gay Paris.....Cheers,DJ
I checked into the Hostel Anne Marie which was great. Big, clean, cool/helpful people working there and met some great travelers there. Droped off the backpack, got a map and info on what to see and I'm off. The red light district is way across town so I head in that direction. By the looks of things the girls are busy. OK, I know where that is and head back. On the way I stop at a supermarket. Funny thing. Everyone speaks English, but everything is written in Dutch of course. Couldn't stop laughing at my predicament. A label reading American vegetarian trying to avoid meat in Amsterdam. Well, I learned that "met gehekt" means "with meat". So I'm able to pick out some vegetable lasagna (with corn??) and get back to the hostel and meet my fellow travelers. From Germany, Oz, and Virginia. We all hit it off immediately and decided to check out a blues club. But first we had to warm up with 2 bottles of wine, some funny amsterdam cigarettes, and 3 hands of Bullsh*t (the game, not Dung). Turns out that its an open jam at Bourbon Street. So I sign up and play a couple of tunes much to the delight of my new friends. Breakfast the next morning consisted of Coffee, OJ, Bread, and PB & Jelly or something called nut nougart. Afterwards I decided to check out the Van Gogh Museum, but first I need to get in the right frame of mind. Off to a coffee shop. The key word is "Coffee" as opposed to "Cafe". All you get at a Cafe Shop is coffee. I can get that anywhere. So I find Bulldogs Coffee shop, pick out "white widow" from the menu and swap stories with 3 guys from S. Carolina. Off to the museum. Funny Story: When I bought my parka for this trip I knew it was a Dutch Police Parka, but I didn't know that they were still in use. As 2 mounted cops crept up behind me I couldn't help but wonder what they were thinking of me. Here I am basically impersonating an officer after just enjoying Amsterdam's finest. I couldn't help laughing at the irony. Normally in the U.S. this situation would cause instant anxiety. Not here. Didn't care. It's all legal. Well, I wasn't sure about the parka though. They either didn't see me or didn't care because they went right on by. However, the next day I did get stopped. As they hauled me off to jail I quickly realized that it was a problem. Nah, just kidding. They were rather nice. After I told them where I got it and how much I paid, they just said I'd have to stop wearing it. Oh well, so I have to wear it inside out for 2 days, beats jail! Interestingly, the security guard at the museum let me pass through even thought the metal detector went off. I probably should have seen if I could have gotten in for free.The Van Gogh museum is great. You can't fully appreciate the paintings until you see them in person and up close. I was quite impressed. Couldn't take any pics though.On my last night there we all decided to check out a jazz club. Great original quarted (drums, bass, piano, sax). Sat front row. Didn't drink, didn't need to.Amsterdam is awesome, I highly recommend it. Check out the pics page.Coming soon: driving through Belgium to Gay Paris.....Cheers,DJ
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Gay Paris
Ok. So after checking in and juicing up Steve and I headed out on the town. I was content to just wander around and check things out, but Steve wanted to see the Eiffel Tower. Of course, we were pretty clueless so we just started walking in what we thought was the right direction. We were cracking ourselves up trying to get directions. Parisians in general do refuse to speak english so with the lingual ability of a three year old I coached Steve on a few phrases and we tried them out. It was hilarious! People looked at us like we were martians with two heads!! I almost got a out the camera just to catch the looks they gave us. A stroke of luck brought us to a bus stop which happened to go to the tower so we hoped on. The Tower is exceptionally striking at night! It´s all lit up and every so often flashing lights go off. Headed back and finished of the last of Amsterdam´s finest and off to bed. If you could call it that? More like a taco shell.
Next morning stopped at a bakery for a fresh pastry and coffee. Excellent bakeries, tiniest coffee. More like a shot. Strolled down to the Seinne River, saw the Louve, L´Opera, the Palais Royal and got to Notre Dame just as Quasimotto began ringing the church bells.
Next day decided to hunt for the Lizard King. Pere Lechaise is a huge cemetary. Took about an hour to find Jim Douglas Morrison´s grave. Very plain and small compared to most of the others. Headed back towards the hostel and climbed up to the Sacre Coeur Church. Probably the highest point in the city. Masses of people around, guitarist playing "Californication" and pretty well. Fantastic view! Hung out with fellow travelers till about 2 am when we decided it was time for a drink. Wound up at a kareoke bar. Parisians don´t want to speak english, but they have no qualms about singing in it! Just kicked it with our $10 pints of beer!
Next day I couldn´t get motivated to go to either one of the museums that I should have gone to (The Louve and Mussee DÓrsay). Eh, the Mona Lisa is tiny and not that impressive from what I hear. Never cared for it anyway. Walked around taking more pics and enjoying the springlike weather. Later, 13 of us decided to go out to The Frog & Princess. Packed. Had a good time and everyone made it back except one fella who went off with an asian hooker.
All in all, Paris is OK. Reminds me somewhat on NYC without any skyscrapers or Yellow Cabs.
BTW: Paris girls have nothing on the Dutch or English. Wonder what they´ll be like in Madrid....
Next morning stopped at a bakery for a fresh pastry and coffee. Excellent bakeries, tiniest coffee. More like a shot. Strolled down to the Seinne River, saw the Louve, L´Opera, the Palais Royal and got to Notre Dame just as Quasimotto began ringing the church bells.
Next day decided to hunt for the Lizard King. Pere Lechaise is a huge cemetary. Took about an hour to find Jim Douglas Morrison´s grave. Very plain and small compared to most of the others. Headed back towards the hostel and climbed up to the Sacre Coeur Church. Probably the highest point in the city. Masses of people around, guitarist playing "Californication" and pretty well. Fantastic view! Hung out with fellow travelers till about 2 am when we decided it was time for a drink. Wound up at a kareoke bar. Parisians don´t want to speak english, but they have no qualms about singing in it! Just kicked it with our $10 pints of beer!
Next day I couldn´t get motivated to go to either one of the museums that I should have gone to (The Louve and Mussee DÓrsay). Eh, the Mona Lisa is tiny and not that impressive from what I hear. Never cared for it anyway. Walked around taking more pics and enjoying the springlike weather. Later, 13 of us decided to go out to The Frog & Princess. Packed. Had a good time and everyone made it back except one fella who went off with an asian hooker.
All in all, Paris is OK. Reminds me somewhat on NYC without any skyscrapers or Yellow Cabs.
BTW: Paris girls have nothing on the Dutch or English. Wonder what they´ll be like in Madrid....
Friday, March 18, 2005
DJ's world tour
Hey Everyone,
This is London calling. Actually I left London today and I'm in Amsterdam right now.
My dad set up a blog website for me to upload pics and thoughts so this is where you can check it out:
www.whereisdjtoday.com
It has two pages: pics and blogs. There isn't much on it right now, but give me a day and hopefully I'll be able to upload my London pics and thoughts.
You can also leave comments or just say hello. Love to here from you all.
So far so good. London was cool, but I think I'm going to enjoy Amsterdam alot more!
Enjoy and stay in touch.
Peace,
DJ
PS. Yo Tom and Cath
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Tuesday, March 15, 2005
The ride thru Belgium
Belgium: So through the internet site bugeurope.com I managed to find a ride from Amsterdam to Paris for $20E. It was a tight ride with 5 guys in a mid-size Suzuki, but it wasn't too bad. Franklin our driver who makes the trip twice a month, Kareem (Parisian), Steve (Oz/England), and an Israeli whose name I could not pick up. We talked the way and Franklin even brought along coffee for everyone. He's got the drive down pat. We stopped in Antwerp and sampled some fresh Belgium chocolate. Delicious! And later Franklin took us on a little history tour of Arras, France. Very old architecture. It used to be the Dutch southern capitol before France took over. At about the 6 hour mark we got to Paris and since Kareem lived near Friends Hostel he directed us there via the Metro. Steve decided to hang there for the night so we both checked in, chilled with a little of Amsterdams reminents and went out to check out Paris.......
Friday, March 11, 2005
London Calling
All right, so here I go with my impressions, thoughts, rant and raves...
London: First things first. I need to trade in my sawbucks for pounds. Me: "Please change $170 US to pounds." Her: "Brace yourself. Here is your $67 pounds. Ouch! Somehow I don't believe the U.S. economy is doing as well as our analysts/politicians are leading us to believe.
I hop on to the "Underground Tube" which is great! You can get anywhere. Found the Hostel without much trouble and checked in. Took a walk, but not much to see in the area. Since I hadn't gotten any sleep on the plane and nobody was really keen on going out, I resigned to the jet lag and relaxed for the evening.
Next morning and its time to do the tourist things. I take the Tube to Westminster station and start taking the obligatory pics. Big Ben/Parliament/the Thames/Piccadilly Circus/Green & Hyde parks/ Trafalgar Square and here and there. Checked out the National Portrait Gallery. Every Brit who was every famous. They had a cool interactive library with their past and present collections. Ended the night at the local pub and the next morning I'll be on EasyJet to Amsterdam. 2 days/2 nights. Short & Sweet. Gotta move on...
Stayed tuned for Amsterdam. It gets a lot more interesting!
DJ
London: First things first. I need to trade in my sawbucks for pounds. Me: "Please change $170 US to pounds." Her: "Brace yourself. Here is your $67 pounds. Ouch! Somehow I don't believe the U.S. economy is doing as well as our analysts/politicians are leading us to believe.
I hop on to the "Underground Tube" which is great! You can get anywhere. Found the Hostel without much trouble and checked in. Took a walk, but not much to see in the area. Since I hadn't gotten any sleep on the plane and nobody was really keen on going out, I resigned to the jet lag and relaxed for the evening.
Next morning and its time to do the tourist things. I take the Tube to Westminster station and start taking the obligatory pics. Big Ben/Parliament/the Thames/Piccadilly Circus/Green & Hyde parks/ Trafalgar Square and here and there. Checked out the National Portrait Gallery. Every Brit who was every famous. They had a cool interactive library with their past and present collections. Ended the night at the local pub and the next morning I'll be on EasyJet to Amsterdam. 2 days/2 nights. Short & Sweet. Gotta move on...
Stayed tuned for Amsterdam. It gets a lot more interesting!
DJ
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Notes About this Site
Hi Folks,
This is Art, DJ's dad. I set this site up for DJ before he took off so
that he could keep us updated on his travels. Here's what he and I will be
doing to keep you informed. DJ will be making blog entries via email. All
he has to do is send an email to an address I set up and it will be
automatically posted to the blog. I'm actually doing that right now with
this message.
As far as pictures go, from time to time DJ will upload a batch of pictures
to a folder and I will post some of them on the site. Though I probably
won't post every picture he sends, I will be archiving them all for
whatever we might want to do with them in the future.
As you have probably noticed, you can add your comments to any blog
entry. If you have any questions or problems at this site, just drop me an
email at awolinsky@3dwriting.com
Later,
Art
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here we go. landed at heathrow and i'm off......
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