How to lose 5 hours of your life and possibly your sanity

So I wanted to leave the beach and travel, and after arriving this morning in Belgrade I was doubting myself, the beach life seemed so good. Everything looked like a perfect schedule, leaving Varna on the bus at 1:30pm arriving in Sofia at 7:30pm and then taking the overnight train from Sofia to Belgrade leaving at 10:15pm and arriving at 5:15am. That left me enough time in Sofia to cross another dangerous street and have a meal. Curtis you would be proud, I went to a non-english menu place and let the lady help me out and pointed and hit a homerun, a nice potato/cheese and ham dish. The 6hr bus ride was ok, a bit dodgy on some of the 2 lane rows with the passing action, and for a trip that was suppose to be on the main roads of Bulgaria, one section was a dirt road, and a few of the small towns the road was so small the bus was brushing the trees on the side, but we made it nice and safely to Sofia. The train, now that is another story, I have been warned to take busses in Sofia, but the bus didnt run till the morning and I had zero desire to stay the night in another big, dirty capital city, so the train it was.

Let me tell you one job I am not going to apply for when I get back home in USA is the guy who has to stand in front of the train, so the other section is moved in and then at the last moment ducks down to attach the 2 cars, watching that happen I was like oh damn, I am going to see a guy get dismembered this night but he made it safely and attached the trains. I was lucky enough to have in my compartment 2 Spanish girls who were having a worse travel day, so we can trade war stories and the fact they were decent english speakers and been traveling for a month, it was the best company to have. The border crossing, oh boy getting into Bulgaria was tough, and getting out of Bulgaria was almost as tough. I had my passport checked 3 times, first was for some reason just a visual check, I showed the cover of the USA passport and it was all good.. after the train moved the next check must have been leaving Bulgaria, as my passport was taken by a guy with a stack of about 100 others, basically everyone on the train. At this point I realized it was going to be a while. Almost an hour later I now have proof I have been into and out of Bulgaria. Next the train moves 15 minutes, and another passport check, now this is getting into Serbia, another hour passes. I think now finally after around 3hrs we are on the move and allowed into Serbia. For the first time on any trip across a border that the police came in and checked the train for i guess contraband, opening up secret spaces and looking in with flashlights. On now the night time is here and time to try to get soem sleep, 5 people in a 6 seat compartment but managed to get a decent amount. Our roomates from Macedonia get up to leave around 4am and I am wondering just how far we have traveled. When the train stopes and its Nis, where the Macedonians have to get off and transfer and its 4am, I realize holy smokes we are running late, very late.

Go back to sleep and wake up around 8am and still realize we have a few hours to go, all the time the train seemed to be moving fast, but now with daylight I can look and see that cars on the highway across the grass fields are blowing by the train and I realize we are moving slow. I guess I should have known from first looking at the train and the engine looked like the little engine that could..

Now the girls are realizing they are going to miss their connection to the Budapest train and are worried, I pull out my eurail map and schedule and try to figure out how in the next 4 days before their passes expire they are going to get to BUdapest, Prague and then back to Madrid.. I thought some of my travel days are bad, but what they have coming up is going to be ROUGH. Arrival in Belgrade and it is typical culture shock. Despite thinking I left Cyrillic alphabet behind, nope all the signs are in cyrillic and I am hopeing to never see cyrillic again in my life. I know its a terrible thing to say, but I think at this point of my trip the smallest things that used to make me laugh now just frustrate me. I cant find a Bankomat(ATM) at the train station and set off for an adventure with my spanish girls trying to find money and a bit to eat. While there is an exchange for cash office at the station that is the worst way to trade money and you will get a horrible rate. After walking in heat sweating and trying to get directions for a damn Bankomat, finally I go into the 4 star Mocska Hotel and ask for directions and they have a machine, YEAH.. now some food and drink and feeling a bit better, the poor girls had not eaten since 3pm the last day. Seriba trains are about as far from German trains as possible, no food car, no air conditioning, half decent seats, but man those German trains are looking very nice now.

Oh yeah the adventure isnt over, without a map and naturally no street signs, or signs in Cyrillic, finding the Hostel is as always an adventure, with the little directions I have, after 1hr I finally luck up and find the place. Nice place and the shower I took was very very refreshing. I am now settled down and as always the culture shock of arrival in a city, and this city where there is NOTHING in my Europe guide book, not a chapter was probably as tough as it comes. In Kaunas Lithuania I at least had a map, but no street signs.. So now I decide to go out and see what Belgrade has to offer. I must say why I decided to go here is tough, There was a great Article in the NY Times travel section in October of 2005 that I was like, ok if in europe gotta go here. It talked about great hidden bars and underground places, a way array of live music.. Maybe I will find that tonight or over the next few days that I am here, but walking around today I have not been impressed at all. True this city was just bombed 7 years ago by the good ole USA and NATO. If any country where I will be claiming I am from Canada, this might be the place, the feelings for the USA are not exactly that great.. Most countries I tell people I am from NYC, and its an exciting thing I dont think I am going to try it here..

Of the former 6 countries that make up the old Yugoslavia this is the heart and soul of it. Thier internet addresses still end in YU, I have seen many Yugo cars on the streets. There is still a dislike almost bordering on hatred towards people from Croatia and Bosnia, while its not war torn anymore there are some building in town that were bombed out and have not been torn down or rebuilt. The history of this city is all about occupation, war, burining down, rebuilding of the city. The typical tourist rip off was in effect, as I got on my first tram ride, and was told the price was 30 Dinar, I gave him a 50, and the driver took his hands off the controls started to make change, using his feet or the brakes to steer, I was like damn what about a coin box.. then he decides to not give me change saying the cost is 50.. I argue and say no its 30.. he gives me change of 15, so I paid 35... whatever, but if want to increase your tourism and have me go home and tell everyone about how great Belgrade is, that is not a good way to start..

Ok I have been tying long enough, as I said my post last week from the beach would have been boring cause my routine was the same, but now that I am back traveling and in big cities should have some stories.. Later

On the move finally

Ok Ayan is on the move again, finally time to leave Bulgaria and get to some other places... Today will be taking a 6hr bus ride to Sofia, the capital. I have heard not so good things about Sofia, so if there is a night bus/train to Belgrade, Serbia I will just belly up and take it.. If not sleep a night in Sofia, no hanging out tonight as its been 7 days in a row here in Varna till early hours of the morning. I need a little break as I hear Belgrade is a kick ass city..

Close to booking a ticket to fly back to the states, while I wont say I am homesick, considering what is going on back in the states, this is the 7th week of travel and it is getting tough and the budget is all over the place.. so I want to make sure when I get back to NYC, I wont be collecting empty bottles and cans to pay for this trip..

Catch you from Serbia next..

COMMENTS PLEASE

just quick post, HEY after 6 days at the beach working on my tan, and yes I am a few shades darker, I have no idea what is going on in the world.. any hurricanes in the USA, i know the MIddle east is blowing up.. sadly I read Billy Preston died, so on Monday when people get back to work and read this thing I call a blog, post comments and tell me what is going on in the world.. i read about a heatwave, but overall its more about sleeping, sunning and not really reading news...

Talking to the Locals..

Ok so this is really my last day here in Varna. I have already wasted 20 Lv, on a ticket to Plovdiv that I didnt use, and now today I spent another 25Lv on a ticket to Sofia, the capital... i wanted to goto plovdiv to avoid capitals as at this point of my trip I am sick of capital cities, but it is much closer to next destination of belgrade... so at 1:30pm tomorrow I will be on a 7 hr bus ride, tonight should be a good night as its my last night, so most of that bus ride will hopefully be spent sleeping and wondering why i feel like crap..

as for talking to the locals, today at the A-Lounge, 3rd day in a row, i saw some of the same topless girls so i was like ok its time to talk to them.. first girl works in germany 9 months a year but is from bulgaria, so it was easy to figure out what she does.. 2nd group of girls were more direct and were like we work at playboy club, you must come tonight.. well not going to happen, 7 weeks into the trip with limited budget the last place i need to be is a bar with beers for 2 bucks and tanned girls..

Met some cool americans last night, could be cause I was wearing my proud USA soccer jersey that says USA on the back, but they got us free shots of Findalana Vodka at the party, it was a 2 bar party, so i went on, but then lost my mates and pretty much got drunk as a shunk and left.. today the hangover again wasnt so bad cause of the beach and trying to pickup topless babes and then remember what they look like when not in a g-string... alright off to sleep a bit.. pictures.. yeah I got them, but no USB still... someone send me a laptop!!!! or buy me a beer!!!

still here..

I am like a plant growing in the corner.. last night hostel was full and i felt bad, as people were sleeping on the couch and i was not suppose to be here.. i guess tonight i can sleep on the beach.. going to find out about a bus to serbia i really need to leave, or buy a house.. and you can buy a house for less than 50grand usa...

The A-Lounge

And no its not called the Ayan Lounge, but it might as well be renamed, cause I am like a plant there, always in the corner and growing. Spent another day at the beach here in Varna at the club A-Lounge, by day its 20 meters from the black sea with 2 swimming pools and cheap drinks and what I learned today, great food.. Also the same topless babes as the day before and suprisingly they speak some english.. I must say its weird to try to talk to a babe and make a date while she is wearing a red g-string and topless knowing that if she doesn meet you later in the night she will have on 20 times more clothes...

Tonight is a big party at the A-Lounge on the beach, something sponsored by Findlanda Vodka, I saw them bringing in 20 cases, I hope its free, but even if not, last night 4 shots of Tequila, be it crappy stuff, was I think 7 Lv, and at 1.5 Lv to the dollar you do the math.. Really do want to get on the road to get towards Croatia, but I hear the beaches are not as nice, today I went in the ocean here and while it was good, the waves were a little choppy, and you had to fight the current all the time. And these were like baby 2 or 3 foot waves, I could not imagine what the giant Tsunami waves were like.. in fact just read another earthquake/tsunami just happened.. Mother Earth is not happy right now, we need to stop with the carbon dioxide emissions, stop the climate change or else the world we know will end soon.. But if it does end, spend some time in Varna, its worth it!!!!

off for my evening Nap before I hit the bars till the sun comes up... I really need a new liver, but shockingly spending 5hrs in the sun while drinking water looking at topless babes is a much better hangover cure than anything back in the states!! Thought I had a USB port on this computer, but nope its disabled.. ARGHHHH

Its like quicksand

I am still in Varna, Bulgaria... I initally planned to spend 1 day here, but this place is like quicksand and I am stuck here. The beach weather is incredible and the nightlife pretty damn good everynight of the week. Today spent another 5hrs at the beach, hanging with the cool cats from the Hostel. Sat around at this awesome bar/lounge with a pool called the A-Lounge, seriously in Miami or Vegas this would be the type of place you need an invite or know someone to get in. Here you just walk in, its located right on the beach, and most of the women decide to go topless. In Las Vegas, I know there is only one topless pool at Mandalay Bay and they charge you i think 30 bucks to get in. Here me and 3 other guys, had a few drinks, an apptizer each and the bill was 38 Lv, which is about 24 bucks for a few hours. We have been spending most days and nights at least for a bit at the A-Lounge. Americans dont know about Varna, and it is hard to get to here, with no direct flights from the states and you probably have to change in London or Germany, and with summer prices of flights high, this is not a weekend short trip like a Miami would be, this is more of a come here for a month and just totally chill out and relax sort of place.

Am trying to get out of here, most likely now will travel on Saturday on a long journey broken up over a day to get to Belgrade, Serbia, which I hear is an awesome party city and one with alot of history, as it has been taken over and burnt, bombed and rebuilt some 40 times in its 1000+ year history.. Ok considering I sleep till noon, beach till 5pm, nap to 9pm and then go out till 4am, not really much else to write about... Oh as for eating the McDonalds, its tough call for sure, as I never touch the stuff back home, but sometimes for just knowing what you want, KFC and McD's is the safe bet, not saying the Bulgarian food is horrible, but I have yet to find a true bulgarian food experience, so i'll stick with Pizza and other stuff..

Its hard to leave here..

Ok still in Varna, its just simply hard to leave this town. Today was perfect beach weather, and me and the guys from the hostel, went up the northern part to Golden Sands. It was suppose to be the best of the beach resorts, and lots of property is up for sale, apartment from 80,000 USD, but I was not too impressed. Varna itself has a decent beach, better nightlife, its more compact to walk around and the women are stunning.. yes CMG i have pictures to prove, but no USB ports, and internet is slow here, plus I'd rather spend all day on the beach or sleeping off effects of last night than in front of a computer...

Ok tomorrow going to try to make it out of this town, probably on the day bus to Plovdiv and from there try to get to Belgrade Serbia, we will see if that works out.. Really not much to post, being a beach bum these days, the prices are cheap and this is a relaxing place, much better than Romania.. Thanks for hanging in there to anyone reading.. and oh yes I have had my share of Bulgarian Beer, its called Kametika..

the sun makes you tired..

the sun came out today in Varna, and i spent the day at the beach, I am dead tired right now, and suppose to be taking a 6:45am bus to Plovdiv about a 7hr trip.. My initial plan was just to hang out at the tons of beach bars until closing time and then goto the bus station and sleep the whole ride, but right now I barely can keep my eyes open and its 9:30pm.. so we will see if that plan works out..

This whole place is for sale, tons of real estate signs, and prices are cheap, 1 or 2 bedrooms on the beach from about 80,000USD, while its still a bit hard to get to with no direct flights from the states, i would think it would be cooler to day you have a place in Bulgaria then oh we are going to Florida or the Hamptons.. I will probably come back here sometime, one of the discount airlines flies to Bourgas from London, and Bourgas is about 2hrs by bus, so not terrible to get to..

Anyway I want to get some McDonalds, maybe a dose of good ole USA food will give me the energy, as there are some great clubs on the beach open all night long..Sorry for short post, if you are reading everday, u are my idol.. thanks a bunch...

Ayan is Alright....

After what seemed like 5 days of bi-polar, dual personality, damn near schizo behavior, I will report Ayan is back to normal and having a great time. I guess simply getting out of Romania was the cure.. it wasnt easy to get out for sure. I really don't want to sound like I am harping on Romania and everything bad about it, as there were times I enjoyed. Translyvania and Brasov in particular were fun places, decent nightlife, cool people at the hostels, a very picturesque town, safe and no worries walking home at night at 4am alone.. Yet getting to Mamaia beach, while there were moments it wore on me. From the super-long/slow/smelly/smoke filled train ride to the stares.. The stares were bad, they were the type of are you a martian stare, not the stare followed by a smile and curious look.. The only times the stares were cool, is when you were on the beach and the topless/thong clad girls stared at you, then it was like ok I am going to stare back at you as long are you are staring at me.. and trust me there were plenty of lovely girls on the beach, but still not enough to make up for the rest of the bad times.. Did meet some nice cool people, who tried to explain to me just why Romania is like it is, and that really did help talking to the locals who acknowledge the problems.. And in no means I am saying the that USA is perfect and full of promise, if you know me, I can be very down on the current situtation in the USA.. and while I am not following the news, I hear the Middle east is about to blow its top and oil is almost 80 bucks a barrel.. I guess I will be freezing this winter in NYC in my cold ass apartment..

Ok the good, Bulgaria, this is what it should be like. While again the journey here was funny/difficult, once I got here and realized just how mich better it is, I just simply laughed at things.. I bought a ticket on the bus to Istanbul, and they have to pass thru Varna, Bulgaria where I am now. I guess I was the only person going to Varna, as the rest of the bus was either Romanian Gyspies escaping, or a few young kids going to Turkey for some school retreat. So the bus ride starts out normal and I am told it is only a 3hr ride, and from looking at the map I have I imagined this was the case.. Ok so we get to the border and this is where the fun starts, fun everyone gets off the bus and rushes to the Duty free stores. The young girls, the gyspies, the driver, the assistant everyone.. Then they come back with seriously a box of 100 cartons of cigarettes, the gyspies have at least 20 bottle of rum each, they make like 2 or 3 runs.. Then they start hiding the cigs and alchie everywhere on the bus, in hidden compartments in the back, on top, underneth.. the loud gyspies who have kept me up and from sleeping, as i managed to hang out till 4am the night before. they ask me, well really force me to shove 2 bottles of bacardi into my daypack.. Now we wait, they take the passports, we get off the bus, cross the border on foot, while the bus i guess is inspected.. Anyway, the whole process takes 3 hours, I shit you not.. 3hrs to cross the Bulgarian border, everyone makes it thru and i think all the contraband makes it thru also..

Now arrival in Varna, as we pull into town the assistant is like, ok we are in Varna, where do you want to go.. I naturally well this is a bus, so it will stop at the bus station.. their answer, no dont know where bus station is.. ok how about the train station.. no we drop you at taxi stand, lets go now.. literally its like a running stop, the back door opens, I jump off, they grab my bag from under, and roll out.. whole thing takes 30 seconds.. As soon as I get off, and look around, natrurally the cab drivers approach, now thankfully after being in some shady situations I manage to blow him off, and go across the street to the ATM to get my first dose of Lev, the local currency, probably the 10th different currency from the 16th country, I am going to have a nice paper money collection when I get home. Instead of going to the taxi who wanted to charge me 10 Lev(currently 1.5Lv to a dollar), for the cab ride, I know I need food and start walking toward civilization. Have a nice meal the the Happy bar/grill, and show them the map/flyer for the hostel. They assure me its only 10-15 minuutes walking down and the to left. Well I have since learned, that map reading skills are not taught in Bulgarian schools. To top it off, like most former iron curtain countries, no street signs, and the ones there are written in Cyrillic, so basically I have no hope of finding anything.. After wandering up and down the main drag for an hour and asking people, i get frustrated and try my crappy cell phone to make a call, naturally no luck. The hostel is suppose to be right off the main drag, so I figure if I walk down everyside street I will find it.. In the end an angel saves me, I told the guy in the email from the hostel I would be arriving at 9pm, so now at 11pm and no signs of me, he comes to look for me. Not hard to find me, a cursing frustatred american with a backpack wandering up and down the main drag..

Now found and everything calm, I feel back at home, back in a hostel, just a bed in a room, and some cool peeps. In fact another American, a Navy guy based in Naples who is on a long weekend, drinking vacation. I shower, calm down and we hit the bars near the beach. I must say this place is impressive, between the clean streets, less stray dogs, cheap prices, awesome beach bars, and most importantly and I stress this LOVELY WOMEN.. Varna is the move. And they have an airport... Funny story about Constanta/Mamaia, I asked the guy at the Hotel, why is it so hard to get here and he told me.. well we used to have an airport, but your American CIA bought it, to move prisioners from Iraq and torture them, so now we have no airport.. and from the news back home its probably true..

Ok so me and my american navy mate, hit the town for a few buck fifty beers, the clubs are big time here, from the omninous looking black shirt clad bouncers outside, once you pass that its all good. cheap beer, they are big on go-go dancers, so all the girls working the bar in matching outfits take a turn dancing on the bar or go-go stage. The bars are clean, immacautly designed, with themes and literally right on the water, no tsunami's in the black sea or else these places would be washed away. Sunday was a bit of a slow night, but at the 2nd bar, me and Harold the Navy dude, met 4 girls from the Bulgarian national volleyball team, along with other girls. As a navy man on leave, my boy is fitting the stereotype of having a shore leave. He is a columbian-argentine from Miami, so he is a bit dark, not as dark as me, so the stares are twice as much.. Last night went on a bit longer than I wanted till 4am, but everything is open all night till the sun comes out, and the bars are all very nice on a strip next to each other, looks like tonight will bring good potential.

It was cloudy today, still went to the beach trying to take in the sights, but without sun it was hard, going to stay another day, and since I have been to so many capitals of countries I think this country I am going to skip the big capital of Sofia, and stay a few days in Plovdiv.. Alright, I have pictures, but this internet cafe the only in town, I had to wait 10 minutes for a computer and no USB, so I guess most folks will have to wait till I get home.. unless I get a machine early in the morning.. but as the post says Ayan is alright, back in the groove and glad to be staying at a hostel with a mix of american, irish, english and yes the typical Aussie is there..

Mama Mia Mamaia!!!!

Ok my emotions are all over the place since in Romania, sometimes I am happy, sometimes down and out, so excuse me if you are reading alone at home and are like wow he has a dual personality. I am not sure if its the length of travel now in the 6th week and 15th country, or could be being alone.. Right now in Mamaia Beach, which is just north of Constanta, Romania. Its the best resort on the black sea and while its very nice and offers something for everyone, it is hard to get to, I dont see many americans flying into the hell known as Bucharest, and then going on a train for 4hrs just for the beach.. But if you like tons of pretty topless girls in thongs, then this might be for you. I must say I am again not a beach person, and the times I have traveled to places overseas for beaches I have been disappointed. Punta Del Este, Uruguay was not all it was cracked up to me, the waves were high, the water cold and dirty.. Yet here the water is calm, not by any means caribbean clean, but the town is nice.. Any place in the summer with an ice skating rink, is a cool place. Also a water park for the kids, a full carnival type of theme area for the kiddies.

The nightlife is great here. Went out both nights so far and had fun, managed to meet some romanian people and talk to them and learn about life. the Music is so-so, alot of romanian pop tunes, so its sad when I get excited to hear Pussycat Dolls, Ja Rule/Ashanti.. did hear Prince Kiss last night, so you know that was great, but the DJ cut it off after 2 minutes, so no tip for him. The place I went to Megalot Club is just HUGE, like 3 levels, tons of areas, lots of people. When i get to a place with decent internet i'll upload some pictures cause the girls were out of control, the shortest skirts/shorts that you have ever seen, its almost like why even wear clothes.. Which in fact they dont really, anyone who has ever been to a European beach knows that most women go topless. I must say for an american its still a bit of culture shock, to be lying on the beach and 2 guys and a girl show up and within 5 minutes the girl is in a thong, topless.. in the states people pay good money to see that at a strip club.. here just come to the beach.. While at the same time as many nice butts and breasts you see, there are the old fat men in banana hammocks, the old huge ladies in thongs.. and most sad of all lots of young, i mean like 6 or 7 year old girls in thongs and topless.. i didnt know they made thongs for that age.. Is there an miniumum age for being topless, i think so and it shouldnt be when you are developing.. I understand letting your little babies run around nekkid at the beach that is kinda cute, but when you are 12 or 13 and just developing you need to be covered up..

Anyway today is a travel day, with a bus ride to what I hear is a better black sea resort in Varna, Bulgaria. I have read in my book horror stories about Bulgarian border crossings, so lets hope it works out. Thankfully I am back to staying in Hostels, so feeling like I am paying alot of money and not even having a room with a proper shower is in the past.. now if the place is not that great I realize hey I am only paying 10 euros, dont complain.. Alright only 10 minutes left at this internet cafe. I would hit the beach one more day, but its cloudy and overcast

This is my India....

For those out there who watch the Amazing Race, which is possibly one of my favorite shows, here in Romania is my India. Basically whenever the teams are in India, one team breaks down, couples fight over silly things, just the total poverty, dirtyness, crowds and everything in most major indian cities makes at least one team lose it and scream get me home.. Well so far my 5 days in Romania have been pretty much like this. While I need to get a grip and cope with things, cause I am stronger than this, and I will carry on and leave this place in the rear view mirror.. right now it has been tough. From yesterday, sorry no posts as I was on a train all damn day. 2 trains, one was slow as possible so by the 5th hour, I was dying to arrive in Constanta. Finally 1hr late once I arrived, the train station like most was a madhouse. Again I am trying to find the positive in each place, and I am sure if you were a person from Romania and just arrived in NYC at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, your thoughts might be the same thing.

After wandering around, with no accomidations, and yet not thinking of accepting the offers from the little old ladies, who I was told could be trust, but the language barrier was simply to hard to find out just where, or how much the room was. The shady taxi drivers promising whatever are outside and you have to fight thru them. Finally in a very un-man like fashion, I broke down and asked for directions, for which bus takes me to Mamaia beach, which i heard was the best resort on the black sea... uhhh yeah so much for that.. The bus ride was simple and after trying 3 or 4 hotels, I found one with single rooms, the Price was probably the best in the area, still more than I have paid any night for accomidations, but then I have been staying in dorm rooms. While there is some bit of peace and quiet to have your own room and bed, it would help if the room had a shower. I guess for 40 bucks a night, you just deal with whatever.. I have never served time in the army, but I am an expert now in taking showers in the most strange of places, from hostels where you had to hold the shower head in your hand while bathing in the other, to this place where simply, you soap up, and then quickly rinse off. not the greatest, but it does the trick..

Anyway I have found the internet cafe in town, its nice and cool. I am about to see what this beach is all about. I am not a beach person in my life back home, I have never been to the Hamptons, dont goto the Jersey Shore, never been to Ocean City, MD. I have been to Miami Beach/South Beach and I enjoy that, probably more for the partying than the beach itself as the jellyfish are big and nasty down there. Yet this beach so far is dirty, crowded and water not that great. I see why my sister, while I think its simple minded, always wants to goto Aruba.. its Aruba or nothing, no other beach can compare, so even if white girls from the south turn into shark food, she figures its all good with her.. In a way I see her point.. Speaking of News, have they found that girl in Aruba yet?? I just read from the only english newspaper I have seen that Billy Preston died about 3 weeks ago. Very sad, he had major drug and alchie problems, but musically he was one of the greatest of the recent years.. his resume is amazing, playing with everyone from the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder to even my girl Nikka Costa on her first album. If you get a chance listen to his 70s album with OutaSpace on it, fonky song, and great album.

I have notes from 2 days and nights that I will post later on, but now time to get some Pizza and see if I can get 3 shades darker than I am now.. Later

Train Schedules are not my friend....

Well my plan today was to wake up early and goto Sighisoara, and find Dracula. The legend of Vlad Tepes is all over the place, did he really exist, where did he live, which one was his castle.. But today looks like a semi wasted day, yet at the same point, after the nightmare of Bucharest a wasted day is not a bad thing. The train schedules to Sighisoara are early in the morning, since I spent last night drinking with a few Argentines, a few Danish peeps, and the lone american girl living in Turkey, I was not able to wake up for the 10am train. Last night was fun, and it must have been crazy to the owners of the bar, when 9 people walk in, and its 8 dudes and a girl, I can only imagine what they are thinking... Yet on a wednesday night most of the places were empty, still have not found the nightlife here in Brasov, but its all good as some relaxation is never a bad thing on a trip this long. The hostel is great, the staff very friendly and prices of beer in town, are incredible. I think today I will go up a cable car to the top of the mountain in Brasov, as the weather right now is sunny and hopefully will hold.

Not much of a post for today, just wanted to let everyone know I am alive. I have heard from 3 people great things about Plodiv, Bulgaria so that is going to be another pit stop on my tour.. Oh yeah last night being drunk and loud, which if u have hung out with me before you know is fairly common, the loudness coming from someone so small.. .anyway got stopped by local police wondering what we were doing, not a problem at all and nothing compare to the stories from the american girl living in Turkey.. not a country on my hit list anytime soon.. I'm alive, hope everyone has good plans this weekend, if all goes well I'll hit the black sea beach and work on my tan...

update/edit. Ok a few hours have passed and while initally today I didnt feel the sense of adventure I normally have on this trip, now the day is looking better. At the train station there are tons of these little minibuses, like the size of an SUV packed with twice as many people as it should be. I was offered a good price to goto one of the Dracula Castles and back, but its a hot day and didnt feel like being cramped for 2hrs in a Romanian minitaxi. Food is important, it always seems to give a bit of energy, had some fried chicken that was about as good as any wings in the states, and then some french fries.. When traveling in places where Blood Sausage is a stable of the menu remember, you can always trust the chicken!!

Took a cable car to the top of the mountain here in Brasov, I took a few picturse, but the view was so amazing pictures really wouldnt do justice. It is 1000meters high and on a good day you can see all the way to the Black Sea coast, today was a bit overcast, but this puts the view from the empire state building in perspective. The whole town of Brasov and neighboring towns are in view and it was really nice.. So while I didnt feel adventure, I have had the chance to plan out my schedule for the upcoming two weeks and even sadly looked at booking a plane ticket home. The British Airways schedule is fairly open, but the damn taxes they charge almost makes it feel like I am buying a ticket. I havent kept up on the news, but damn I guess Oil prices are still up there.

Tonight hopefully I will find a better party than last night, when beer is about a buck fifty, for a full glass at the nicest of bars/resturants there is no reason to stay in. Tomorrow I will be traveling most of the day, so I hope I can sleep off any affects while on 6hrs of romanian trains, might be easier said then done.

Alright, off to have my first beer of the day, its 3pm here and watch the Tour de France, yeah I know sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry, but in the future for sure one of the trips I want to take is to any of the Mountain stages of the tour. I was talking to some guys who were going, and they pack up a camper, pitch a tent and hang out on the route for 4 days before the actual stage passes thru. They drink, BBQ, party on the side of a mountain in France for half a week, all for about 2 minutes of guys on a bike passing by. Now if that doesnt sound like a good time, honestly I dont know what is.. Since I doubt I will get to France on this trip, it will have to wait for next year..

are my eyes kidding me..

At this point at the scotland pub, having a few happy hour beers (Ursus, local Romanian Beer).. i was watching track and field the IAAF Lausanne SuperCup, yeah I know bad, but what is worse, that or the Tour de France.. Anyway are my eyes kidding me, or did some skinny Chinese guy, Liu Xiang just set the world record in the 110m hurdles???? Yep 12.88 seconds, edges out a brother from america, Dominique Arnold by .02 of a second.. you will see all about it on SportsCenter tonight I am sure, as today is the day after the all-star game, so there are exactly ZERO US based sports playing today.. ok thats all, just thought I would mention that..

Ups and Downs..

Everyone goes thru ups and downs, and when you are traveling it seems like you are more prone to them. Well today was definately and up and down day. Was up today to take a 9:30am train to Brasov, Romania a 3hr trip. While there were only 4 people in my hostel room, one dude was snoring so damn loudly impossible to get any sleep. The train was thankfully empty, a bit hot, but i managed to get a little bit of sleep. Arrive in Brasov and its pouring rain, I had made a hostel reservation and had directions and everything about how to get there. Yet the train station was like any city, where people try to get u in taxis, offer accomidation, etc. Not sure if it was just because I was tired, hungry, or whatever but instantly felt a wave of paranoia, like the people were out to pickpocket me, cut my bags open, whatever.. I was like damn, I wanted out of Bucharest, but what sort of hell did I get myself into. After arriving at the hostel and talking to fellow travelers my nerves were soothed a bit, the rain stopped, I went and got something to eat, the sun came out, and the emotions picked back up. Now I am feeling great, Brasov is a lovely city, a polar opposite of Bucharest. While they still park on the sidewalks here, and still stray dogs, we are in a valley in the middle of the mountains, the city center has no car streets, lots of cafes. The stares continue, but they are not as icy as the stares in Bucharest. I am going to stay here for 2 nights, possibly a 3rd night before heading to the Black Sea coast. Making some changes to travel plans, and now I am pretty sure I will find a way to get to Belgrade, Serbia. From Sofia, Bulgaria its a 7hr bus ride, while I have a flight from Sofia to Budapest, I just might eat the 38 euro cost, as that is backtracking and then its also 7hrs from Budapest to Belgrade so its a waste of a trip, going that far north to come back south.. Anyway sorry to bore u with travel details, I will hopefully have some beer stories soon..

I have a new reader to my blog, Hi Mom!! Glad u found the page.. Who else is out there reading, leave it in the comments, u dont have to leave a name if you dont want, initials, or tell me a way that I would know who u are.. I have no idea who is out there.. Alright, off to find Dracula!!

Get me out of here!!!

Speaking of Romania, not europe as a whole. I still have at least 5 more countries to visit, sample the beer, hit on the women, and otherwise try to get my picture on the wall at border control. First off I wanted to link to Brooks, as he recently linked to me. If you are reading this blog and dont know about his website, check the links section under my profile. Brooks gives a funny, witty, sarcastic take on sports stories, plus his website has pictures of loads of babes. Also myself being the sports trivia god that I am, will be immortalized forever on his website as the winner of his trivia contest back in 2005. See for yourself here

Ayan wins it all

Now onto why I want to get out of Bucharest. Where to start, this city is by far the worst of the cities I have visited, if you are Romanian and reading at home or from Bucharest, I apologize in advance. The city is big, grand, huge, and not just in scale, but in the size of buildings. Back in the communist rule of Nicolae Ceausescu from 1965 to his execution christmas day, 1989 everything had to be big. The city was suppose to have been a jewel of old world design from its days on the Orient Express, all this was thrown away for the russian big grand communist style. From 1989 to now, they are still in the process of fixing alot of the things that have gone wrong, considering the dire poverty it is going to take alot more than just joining the E.U in 2007 to fix things.

From my arrival here to now, its been not necessarily tough, but definately not a fun place. As I said yesterday I met an American, Matt, who has been here 14 months in the peace corps, and he basically saved me in the beginning helping me get to town, and to the train station. Yet from there as it seems to be the case in former Iron Curtain countries, NO DAMN STREET SIGNS. And to make it worse, no street lights either here. Cross the street is like playing a game of Frogger, but you dont have 3 lives, and get extra frogs every 10,000 points. After scampering across a few streets safely it was off to walk the circle with my map trying to find the Hostel. A Map is only good, if the streets have signs, and most of these except the main ones didnt. Finally I found the Hostel, sweaty, achy back, hurting feet. The hostel is simple, but right off the bat, I was like only 2 nights and not the 3 nights I reserved online as I knew I need to get outta here as soon as possible.

Due to the size, Bucharest has lots of big huge squares, that open up to endless lanes of traffic, but unlike other cities that provide underground crossings, here its up to your speed, eyesight, hearing, and agility to get across the street during the limited green light. To make it worse the drivers here simply are crazy, they dont care about the safety of pedistrians, nor seemingly about themselves. One question I wonder, what is the purpose of sidewalks for people to walk, if cars park all along the sidewalks blocking the road forcing you to walk in the street.. Or even worse cars just driving up onto the sidewalks to either avoid massive potholes or find a parking spot. I have not seen a Parking Meter, or parking lot ANYWHERE in Bucharest.

Now from the get-go the area where my hostel is located is shady to say the least, the rest of the city from walking around goes from slum around one corner, to grand plaza and luxury around the other corner. Very strange indeed. the poverty is very very evident with people sleeping on park benches, alots of people begging for money everywhere.. Dont get me started on the some 100,000 stray dogs that are roaming the city, for a city of 2 million that is pretty bad. Some of the dogs are known to have rabies, and a few cases people have been bitten by them and bled out to death before an ambulance could nagivate thru the traffic hell and get to the person.

So last evening wandering around, I wanted to find this Amsterdam Grand Cafe that has gotten tons of nice reviews and says its a must visit place. From the map, it appears to be right off the Plata Unirii, one of the big plaza in the city that makes Times Square look tiny. With lit up billboard of every major company on the tops of buildings. Well turn down the first side street, and its a bit dodgy, turn on the second street where Amsterdam Cafe is, and its a downright Rioeque slum.. Yet there are 3 bars right in the area of amsterdam, and people are sitting outside eating and drinking so I guess its common. I managed to have a beer, Romanian Beer, Ursus, the so called King of Beer in Romania, it was very tasty and at only 4 Lei, about a buck and a half. Currently 2.8 Lei to the dollar. It was better than any buck fifty beer in the states, makes Old Milwaukee, PBR, Natty Light etc taste like the toxic waste they really are.. This other bar Myth 1476 right next door was very cool also, with a nice outdoor space, decent music and cavernous inside with cool sofas, looks like it could be a totally hopping joint on a weekend. But I would hate to get a little toasty and then have to walk thru the slum to get to the main street at midnight, and these are old cobblestone alleys so good luck getting a Cab to come down there and get you.

Of the few people I have met here, everyone seems to say the Romanian people are nice, friendly, speaks good english etc.. they rave about them. I so far can't share the same feeling. While I know to expect stares from people, being black.. in the other countries the stares were of a friendly nature, followed by a smile. Yet here the stares are like stares of "what the hell are you doing in our country" and trust me, I have wondered the same thing myself so far. The reason these stares shock me so much, is of all the countries romanian is the most dark features, from dark hair, to the 3% of the population that are gyspies, to many people looking like tanned italians, turks, etc.. Its like come on you are not too far away from looking like me, so why you acting so damn weird.

Bucharest is so called the Paris of the East, I must say of the 3 so called Paris's in the world, the real Paris, Buenos Aires the Paris of South America, and Bucharest the Paris of Eastern Europe, i'll take Buenos Aires any damn day. By far the best of the Paris's, and I know most americans who have been to Paris, simply have a love affair with it, including my mother who now being retired might get her chance to spend a full year in Paris.. I have never had this feeling, dont like the city, prefer the South of France or the small villages. Well this is a joke if u think its Paris, it needs about 100 more years of work.

Well tomorrow I am off on what should be an interesting train ride, 3hrs north of here to Transylvania, I am going to be hunting for Dracula in some of the towns he was suppose to have lived, ruled, and killed. Its suppose to be lovely up there in the mountains, and i'm sure anything will be better than Bucharest.

Giving Bratislava its props..

Ok today is going to be a multiple post day, as I have travel far and wide to the British Consulate to at least find some english speaking people, decent computers, and internet at bargin prices. Romania is tough for sure, but more on that the 2nd post. The first post will be to give some props where props are due to Bratislava, Slovakia. Slovakia is a small country both in size and population with only 5.4 million people. Yet they have managed to produce many many world class hockey players, if you follow the sport then you know names such as Hossa, Gaborik, Demitra, Satan, Zednik, Bondra, Handzus, Chara and more. For a hockey fan like myself this is a great thing and in talking to some of the locals we had good conversations about hockey as it is their national sport for sure. They were impressed with my knowledge, but then again they are not aware of the total sports nerd and trivia god that I am. Next up the women, while I dont know of any Slovakian supermodels that are on a first name basis in the states, there were plenty of beautiful women walking the streets, working at the cafes and places. Something in the water does surely compute. Initally when I got to Bratislava I had the usual shock that seems to happen in many cities. Without a map, with no street signs, it was Hot, i might have even been slightly hung over.. finding the hostel was an adventure, then when I got there the size/scope of it was not what I was expecting.. The guy basically turned his apartment into a hostel with like 10 or so beds, I was paying 20 bucks to sleep in his living room with 3 other couches/beds. Then later in the day saturday I walked to the old town, went to the Castle but all along the way the town was just QUIET, almost dead in fact. Yet after being in some other huge cities in a way this is a relief and relaxing. Bratislava has a population of less then 500,000 people and you can basically walk from one end of the town to the other in 30 minutes. The castle was great and the Da Vinci exhibition of his Coda Atlantic drawings and documents was eye opening in the least, the guy was just amazing all the things he thought of or sketched out. Also another great exhibit there was from a Slovakian photographer called Amazing Planet, you can check out some of the pictures here at

Amazing-Planet

Now it was time to find some food, wandered around the old town square and had a great meal for about 10 bucks, chicken and beer, what more could a man ask for?? The beer was good here, both the Czech beers and local Slovak beers, and at prices less then Coca-Cola the choice was obvious as to what to drink. I must say finding a place to watch the World Cup 3rd place match was tough, as the town sadly on weekends fills up with drunken British Stag Parties. I must say of all the things the Brits are proud of, this should be the least. They are simply horrible, loud, drunk, singing songs, just downright nasty, dressed up in garters, as fruit, as whatever it looks stupid.. yet in a country where unemployment is high, most of the locals put up with the crap as those Tourist pounds are good money.. Found a place with a small screen and watched Germany demolish Portugal. Then met up with a brit and slovakian and partyed all night long, so in the end the night turned out fun.

Sunday was even more dead than saturday and while the day started out hot, there was the freakiest 2hr thunderstorm in the middle of the day, including small pebbles of HAIL falling from the sky. I was like whoa, its 86 degrees on the ground and ice is falling from the sky, is the world about to end?? Well the storm was a good thing, as I was holed up under the awning of the resturant I just ate at, called 1 Slovak Pub, where the homemade beer was 25Skk(current rate is 30 Skk is 1 USD). In being holed up there, talked to a slovakian girl who said the place across the street the Film Cafe was cool, so went there when the rain stopped. Very cool place, I described it a bit in my last post about the WC, but film posters and pictures everywhere. The staff was nice and friendly also. Went to my new lodging, the student dorms at Slovakian Technical University, where the room was simple but most importantly cheap. Changed and went back to watch the WC Finale. After the game, not much going on, but walked back around the old town and found a group of sad French fans and we drowned our sorrows.

Overall in the end Bratislava proved to be very fun, in fact thinking of stopping back there on a Friday night, as that is suppose to be the good hanging out night, on my way to Slovenia as to break up the 8hr trip into shorter segments.. Ok now the next post about Romania, by far my least favorite place of the trip.. stay Tuned..

1441 Days of Withdrawl

Well the World Cup is over and must say the finale was a good game. In fact it was the first time since I think 1982 that both teams scored, as other games have been blowouts or ended 0 to 0 for penalty kicks in 1990. It will be another 4 years, or about 1441 days until the next one will start and that is a long time to wait. I think I waited about exactly that long between Nikka Costa's recent albums and trust me its a long time. If any of my Nikka fans are out there, do the math for me how long was it between albums? I dont have the release dates in my head. I watched the game at the Film Cafe in Bratislava, a must say a very nice find of a bar. Its decorated with movie posters, many of them in Slovakian, and each table is a montage of pictures for big stars. I was at the Christopher Lambert table, only cause it had the best view of the big screen and all the young Slovakian pretty girls, most of whom seemed to have no interest in watching the game. I was told during the recent Winter Olympics when Czech Republic played Slovakia the country basically stopped during the game, but not so for the World Cup. In the end I have watched games in 9 different languages, being Polish, German, Dutch, French, Czech, Hungarian, Spanish, Slovakian and even one game in English. During my trip I probably watched on TV at least 50 of the 64 total games, with only missing games when I was traveling or some games like when Iran or Saudi Arabia played held no interest for me.

I took notes during the games, so I am better able to remember key points and my thoughts so let me run them down for you here..

2nd minute Thierry Henry goes down, me and all of France hold our breathe, in the end what looked bad was probably just the wind being knocked out of him.

5th Minute Penalty, well earned and deserved as the player was totally tripped, unlike that Italy vs Australia penalty, that one still bugs the hell out of me

19th Minute Italy scores, a well earned goal, nice corner to header. Barthez almost gets to the ball, but this whole world cup he has played like crap, so not too shocking that he didnt stop it.

35th Minute. Luci Toni just off the crossbar, France really wants to give up the booty it appears, as Italy is 60 to 40 percent of ball possession.

39th minute. Crowd shot, who was that supermodel? Wow, go France make those lovely women

47th Minute. Thierry just passed the ball, damn it you are a finisher, a silent killer, a ninja FINISH IT YOURSELF!!!

51st Minute. Thierry with the ball in the box, and he doesnt do anything.. This is not a good omen at all

61st Minute. Will probably be a controversial offsides call, to be shown on replay over and over from every angle. To me it looks like Luci Toni was onside, but the player next to him was offsides, anyway the goal doesnt count, Barthez still looking like crap

62nd minute. Thierry again having problems finishing...

79th minute. now Zidane goes down, you know he is faking it, but this is his last game ever I guess he deserves it.

80th minute. The game is going back and forth from both ends, each team desperate trying to get that goal. In my head the song Back & Forth by Aaliyah is playing.

91st minute. Ribery is desperate, he is 1 man against 4 but still tries to shoot, where is the help. bring on Treziguet.

13th minute extra time. Zizou almost had it, what a perfect way to finish a career that would have been.

17th minute extra time. Thierry is taken out??? are you kidding me. This is it, its over, France has no chance.

19th minute extra time. Zidane what is wrong with you? This is not the way to finish a career with a headbutt to the chest. What could the other player have said to Zizou to make him go crazy? Maybe called him a terrorist??? Told him to buy some hair??

24th minute extra time. All the cute girls in the bar just got up and left, what the hell is wrong???

10:43pm Local time. Italy wins it on Penalties. With no Henry or Zidane to take them, France had no chance, even tho the keepers didnt stop crap, it was a crossbar that saved Italy this time. Its hard to say but Congrats to Italy, now with 4 stars on their chest and Brazil need to look in the rearview mirror they better win in South Africa 2010 to give them some distance.

After the game I walked around the old town of Bratislava, not much going on as it was Sunday night, but did stop at a cafe and sat next to an African guy from Congo, that must have been a sight for all the people who have stared at me while in town, now its 2 black guys together, plotting to take over your country!! Then met a nice girl from of all places Kazakhstan, and yes DJ7 we talked about Borat, Ali G and all that. I have a picture and even some Kazak money to prove it.

Ok I am currently in Bucharest, Romania and even tho only been here 5 hours or so, ready to get out. This was voted in some survey I read the worst European Capital city, and seemingly I would agree. Thankfully on the plane, I met an american guy Matt, who is in the peace Corps and teaching english here for the last 14 months. He was a savior in helping me get on the bus, get off the bus, get on the train, and even had a few bucks of local currency to start me out till I hit a machine. Romania is not very modern, and as most countries the Russians have stolen all the street signs when communism ended. I swear one day someone is going to find a warehouse of streetsigns in Moscow. Anyway made it to the Hostel, its very cheap, but also very simple, instead of my initial 3 night stay, I am going to stay 2 nights and then get the hell out of here and to Brasov. Already in walking to this internet cafe I passed a street that had a lovely old church with a plaque outside for when Pope John Paul II was here, and next to it a big ugly construction site, then down the road on a sidestreet a total slum with alot of people living and live chickens running around, I read the Bird Flu reached part of Romania so no going in the slums for me, yet 50 meters down the road, it was high fashion stores, designer clothes from locals and even Hugo Boss.. A very weird city for sure. I have not had a beer yet, not sure what Romanian beer is, I probably should get some food first, but it is almost 5pm and happy hour is upon us. I will do a bit of sightseeing tomorrow and then figure out how to get out of here on Wednesday. Hope everyone reading back home are enjoying the beginning of the week. It has at least cooled off a bit here... No internet at the Hostel, so posts might be a few days between, but then again this town might be the place where I hole up at the internet cafe and hang out all day and night..

Sleepy Bratislava

Back on a german keyboard, but I got the Y and Z switch down already, but I will talk like Prince and say U instead of You, I know DJ7 if ure out there are proud of me. Ok so in Bratislava, Slovakia right now. Before this trip the only thing I knew about Slovakia were the hockey players, they have some great ones, Satan, Hossa, Dimetra, Bondra.. Well what I have learned from being here so far is that at least in the summertime Bratislava is a very very quiet town. Only has a population of half a million, but it seems that most of that are students or people who vacation on the weekends in the mountains or lakes outside of town. I walked around the whole town in a short afternoon, a far difference from Budapest where it took 10 or 11 hours. Went to the Castle up on a hill, another hike up, and then confusing way down, but it was totally worth it. They have an exhibition on Leonardo Da Vinci, and this is the real shiz, not that dan brown movie, was christ married or not crap. The man was amazing plain and simple, we all have heard about the helicopter and other stuff he had the ideas for way back when, but i didnt know about the system of locks for canals and raising ships, i didnt know about the bicycle, the scuba suit idea and tons of other stuff. so that was my culture for the day.. the night on the other hand.. whew lets see and try to remember..
So watching the Germany vs Portugal match, and glad Germany wrapped that up in an easy fashion. The first pub I was at, was full of British Stag parties, i think I have touched on this, but they are the total worst tourists in the world. Drunk, loud, stupid, ulgy, nekkid when they should have clothes on. So left the first place at the half, and found a second cool place. At this place I met an English bloke and his Slovakian business dude, Kevin and Petr, u can guess who is who from the spelling of the names. Anyway, we watched, they bought beers, which is always a good thing, remember if are reading from home, u can click on the Buy Ayan A Beer button under the profile and help to contribute to my attempts to offend, unnerve, and basically and get banned from all of these countries in the future... So after going around town with these blokes, taking cabs to places out in the woods where I thoguht bad things were going to happen, I managed to stay out till the sun came up. Paying the price for that now, but again I can sleep when I am dead...
Alright, off to eat some food. Today is Sunday and its even sleepier than yesterday, I hope I can manage to at least find a decent large plasma TV to watch the finale tonight. France vs Italy, everyone seems to be rooting for Italy, but I think I have already described my feelings for italy on here already.. I want to see Zidane going out on a high note. Oh just a side bar, I changed accomidations, and now staying in a dorm room at the Slovakia technical University, reminds me of the dorms back at IIT, ahh the past.. Off to eat, and then naturally drink more beer. In a country where Beer costs less then Coke, its not hard to figure out what I choose to drink..

Party till the Train starts running...

Ok not currently in Budapest anymore, but still thinking about it. A great 3 days for sure, and in fact I will be flying into Budapest airport on the 20th on my way back from Bulgaria, and thinking of spending at least 1 more full day before trying to get to Slovenia on a 7hr train ride. I'm in Bratislava, Slovakia right now but more on that later..

I must say as much as I loved Budapest, this was the first country where there was a serious language barrier. Hungarian is nothing like any other language and not alot of people speak english, even the thought that most of the young people will speak english is not true in Budapest, I think the cause of this is some of the young people come from smaller towns outside of the big city and thus dont get the good education and english skills. So for anyone going to Hungary in the future, and I highly recommend it, as even outside of Budapest there are plenty of great smaller cities according to my guide book, but LEARN SOME HUNGARIAN it will help out, just basic phrases..

The Title of this post is basically why its been a few days since I last posted to the blog, the nightlife in Budapest while not rated highly in the guidebooks was very fun. My first day after walking around I stopped in at a bar on the Buda side(Hilly) of the Danube, first off the bat, it was happy hour, so 2 beers for the price of 1, and the price of one was 430 Ft(currently about 215 Ft to a dollar), so yeah that was all good. Then climbed up to the Cittadel which is a massivly HIGH ASS mountain with a momument and club at the top, it is easily 500 meters above sea level, a good hike for anyone in shape or wanting to get into shape. Its been HOT HOT HOT everywhere in europe, in fact I have sweated more than I would in a NYC summer for sure. So after a shower at the hostel it was time to go out and party, I went back to the place where the 430Ft beer was and in fact went to the club across the street. After a few days in Poland, which was cool but all the clubs/bars were almost underground in old historic 1400's buildings Budapest was a relief. This bar was an outdoor bar, huge, with lots of couches, benches, a dance floor and plenty of bars. Its called Club Rio and I almost felt like I was in Brazil. The music was decent, and beer a bit more pricy coming in at 700Ft(still less than 4 bucks), but the whole outdoor mood was amazing, being that everyone smokes in Europe, being outdoors was great just having your clothes smell like sweat the next day.

So the last train, tram, bus stops at 11pm, I arrived at 11:15pm on that last bus, I didnt know about the night busses yet, so I figured well the club is open till 5am, the public transportation starts at 4am, so its party till the sun comes up. LIving in NYC you take for granted the fact of all night transportation, I can stumble out of any bar in NYC, and either pay for a cab for door to door service and not worry about getting ripped off, or take the train home. Not the case in Europe, I've done it once in Barcelona partying till the first metro, Budapest was the 2nd.

A few other observations about Budapest, the women are amazing, its like a damn Car accident, you just have to look. tall, short, blonde, brunette, a few redheads. Women love to wear white pants/skirts here. Even after Memorial day in the states where its allowed in fashion sense, white pants have not taken off.. It could be cause american women are worried about the size of their asses, or panty lines, or whatever.. Hungarian women have no such problem, be it they were wearing a thong, g-string, granny panties, or going commando, White is the color of summer.

Budapest is really a beautiful city, this is what I expected Prague to be, but Prague didnt do it for me. Its like 2 cities in one, the flat Pest side, and the hilly Buda side seperated by the dirty Danbue river. Walking around is the best way, as you get to see amazing building just around every corner, while nothing stands out as truely breath taking like walking upon the Colusseum in Rome, still great buildings and everything is supersized, their Parliment I thought was big from in front of it, yet only when I was on the other side of the River up 500meter did I realize its scale.

The Hostel at first was a bit sketchy, but in the end met some cool peeps, 4 girls from California doing a quick 1 month trip. They live in San Diego and one is moving to Chicago for medical school, I told her if she survives the first winter she will be ok, but that might be tough from someone living in the best weather in the USA. Also the natural aussie guy traveling around Europe. Also an american studying Cello in Vienna, so a nice mix of people.

My second night out on the town was not as good as the first, not wanting to go back to Club Rio, I decided to trek out to E-Klub, this place was rated good in some message boards, well first off its in the middle of the woods, second its like a NYC club where the men pay a cover and women nothing, and I am sure black american tourists pay even more than most. But if you want to hear Hungarian pop and hip hop music this is the place for you. I didnt recognize any songs, except a hungarian cover of the Police "Every Breathe You Take" sung naturally in Hungarian. At one point the DJ in the Hip-Hop room played Vanilla Ice followed by The Informer by that canadian Snow guy.. I was like DJs in the states have been shot for less than this.. At Club Rio I got to hear Biggie, Disco, Barry White, James Brown all of it. In fact I realized the language barrier at Rio when I asked a group of girls to dance, and they kept on saying "yes Dance.. dance more.. dance with us.." and then in trying to talk to them afterwards, realized the words coming out of my mouth were like chinese.

Anyway its 7pm here in Bratislava and tonight is the 3rd place match in the world cup at 9pm, so I want to get back to my seriously sketchy hostel, I am paying 20 USD to sleep on a couch in the living room, but its all good i got a free train ticket from Budapest to Bratislava today from the last hostel, so in the end everything works out. So far Brat has been the most dead town I have been in on a saturday so i hope this evening I can find some fun, plus already seen like 4 groups of English Stag parties, so that is NOT a good sign.. Hope everyone back in the states is enjoying a good weekend... Pictures, i know I have been horrible, but i think there is a computer near my couch at this hostel, we will see what I can do....

Hot and Hungary in Budapest

Made it to Budapest, the bus ride was not bad at all. Not crowded, and actually for while I was awake lovely scenery thru Slovakia. It is a very mountain country and we even made a quick pitstop at a ski resort, that in summertime was dead, but I can imagine in the winter would be a pretty cool little village. I have still never been on a mountain in my life, and I dont think my first one will be in Slovakia tho. The bus was actually 1hr early, so my fears of missing the France vs Portugal match were not a problem. Got to the Hostel, while a bit of a walk from the metro station, I was able to catch the 2nd half of the game, and very happy that France won. The hostel is friendly, a bit small and bathroom situation(only 1 full one) could be a problem during busy periods, I might find a different place for the weekend days. I think I am going to stay here until Sunday, and then make Bratislava a quick one day stop, its a small town, so i hope I can see most of it in a day. Budapest on the other hand is a large spread out city, seperated by the Danbue River(which surely aint blue, more like brown/green), you have the hilla Buda side and the flat Pest side, right now I'm on the Pest side, but there is suppose to be a cool open air/outdoor place on the banks near the Pest side that I might check out. Last night didnt hit the street till 11pm, and didnt really find much of a nightlife, had a few beers, Dreher seems to be the popular local brand, a normal golden pilsner, nothing outstanding about it, other than maybe the price of under 2USD for a pint.

Trying to figure out this keyboard, as its not the standard US keyboard, as long as its not in Hungarian I am cool. Man this language is NOTHING like anything i've seen, hard just to figure out simple words, like which is the mens vs womens bathroom, the menus if not in English I have zero hope of trying to order anything other than using the point and nod method.

Today is a lovely sunny warm, about 30 degree day here. Just beautiful to walk around and sightsee. Must say already I am digging Budapest, so far the buildings are some of the most beautiful I have seen, blows away Prague for sure. The Royal Castle on the other side of the river in Buda side, looks spectacular, a surely miss visit. On my way now to the City Park, which I guess is their version of Central Park, complete with museums and a hot thermal bath. I have a feeling I will be spending some time at the Thermal bath, soaking and trying to get rid of the little aches and pains from lugging my bag around yesterday, it was quite a walk from the Krakow hostel to the Bus station, and from Metro station to Hostel here in Budapest, glad that I am not planing to leave till Sunday.

One church that I have been in so far, and its not even the biggest in town is the St. Istvan Basicla, very impressive on the inside, It was too early, but there is some exhibit of the Royal Right Hand that didnt open till 1pm, not sure if its a real hand preserved or just a sculpture, i will have to ask someone. Alright, off to walk to the city park, despite its size of the city, thankfully being a New Yorker I am used to walking miles just wandering and exploring, I have a great map, so despite the lack of street signs, I can find my way around.. I swear if I ever get back to Russia, I know there is going to be a museum of street signs they took from these former Eastern Bloc countries when the iron curtain collasped, cause there surely havent been many street signs on the streets, they have to be somewhere..

I would walk 500 miles..

That song from like 10 years ago, I would walk 500 miles is in my head, maybe cause I felt like I did walk 500 miles this morning to get a bagel with cream cheese.. But damn it was worth it. Some things about being away from home you dont realize you miss until you have them, and an early morning bagel with cream cheese to fight off the hangover is just what the doctor ordered.. along with 1.5liters of water...

Ok this will be a short post, as today i am on a bus to budapest, 8hrs. i will miss the France vs Portugal game, but go France, go Thierry Henry, he is my hero. I was upset that Italy won, they have played so dirty, with the falling on ground and crying stuff all the time, but oh well shit happens. It must be sad in germany today, but they I am sure are drowning their sorrows with beer.

Last night was fun, partying with the people at the hostel, a crazy bunch of irish girls from Dublin, me the american, a couple of canadians, and naturally the polish men who folck to the girls from Dublin. In fact now I think I might have to goto Dublin, its on a damn island so its hard to get to, but if time permits I will have a drink in ireland, hell its on my card, i need to get there.. Ameila and Rachel, if you are out there reading, stay in touch, and tell me where to go in Dublin, as I said I only know the Pod, since Prince played there in 95.

Oh one last thing, there is a Da Vinci painting here at the museum in Krakow, about to run over there and look. I read there are only 5 cities with Davincis in the world, If you have seen the movie then you know that Rome/Vatican and Paris are 2, Krakow is 3.. can anyone name the other 2.. No prize, just a big shout out to the winner. Alright, hope the 8hrs on the bus to Budapest is worth it.

early post

holy shit germany lost to freaking italy.. i know TF in chicago is happy but damn, after watching the games they are not worhty...
ok at the hostel with girls from dublin trying to convince me to go there before this tour is over... ok i am drunk too much tyskie... bye

Happy Birthday America!!!!

I sit in an internet cafe in the Old Jewish Quarter of Krakow, Poland as I wish everyone back in the states a happy 4th of July. One of the few holidays I enjoy between being a young pyromanic and wanting to set everything on fire, to being a current day Beer and BBQ person, the 4th of July has it all. Hope the weather is great where you are to have a great BBQ and drink some beers. You know I am drinking some beers in toast of the USA today. Its polish beer, Tyskie, so far is my favorite, its tasty and most of all CHEAP. Man as much as I enjoyed Germany, getting out of there is good for the budget. While I thought a half liter of beer for 3.5euros was a steal, here it can be had as cheaply as 5 Zloty(current exchange rate 3 Zln for every dollar), so less than 2 bucks and this was at a bar/boat on the Wisla River overlooking the Wawel Castle.

Initally Krakow was tough, as the bus from the airport, I missed the stop for the Main Rail station, probably due to the fact everything is under construction. Then after taking the bus back, it was a LONG hike to the hostel with the bag, and typically one of those hikes without proper street signs or a Map, thankfully I am staying in a great area right on the Rynek Glowny(Market Square), so I just followed the masses of people and found my way. Hostel is great so far, free laundry with a washing machine, so I will be washing some dirty draws later today. Plus a great kitchen and enough bathrooms, all for about 16USD per night, my first time paying for accomidation in about a week but a great deal.

Ok the bars, very cool, all of them, in fact seems like right around the Market Square there are hundreds of them. The hostel gives out a nightlife sheet and that alone lists 22 bars, way too much for a few night bar crawl, but you can easily spent a week here and party till dawn.. Literally, most places dont have a closing time, its when the last patron is dragged out and thrown into the street, thankfully that was not me last night, nor do I hope it is me. I have stayed away from the Vodka as while I hear its good, its also strong, something about Bison Grass that is used to make it, that is illegal in the good ole USA. I will have to try it, but in moderation for sure. Another cool thing about the bars is they are all underground or in alleyways, so its like a challenge finding them, the basement bars are cool as the look like caverns, the only bad thing is the smoke, the one thing I do miss about NYC is not smelling like smoke after a night out and not even being a smoker. Imagine a basement cavern with 90% of the people smoking, yeah outdoor cafes seem like the best move.

History.. yes Krakow has alot of it, from the Wawel Castle built i think in 1200. To the fact the first Bagel ever was supposedly made here in the Jewish Quarter. In fact there is a place that I will find that sells US style bagels with cream cheese, something while not craving for sounds like a damn good idea. Also in recent history Pope John Paul II was the archbishop of Krakow before getting the call to come to the Vatican. So lots of history here, in fact more than I can cram into my short stay. I wanted to extend another day, but the bus schedule to Budapest is not in my favor. Either Wednesday or Friday, I am going to take the bus on Wednesday as I need to be in Budapest to meet my follow NYC'er and Nikka Costa fan, Kissy. Her and her husband are doing a quick 8 day trip to Prague, Vienna and Budapest. I dont see Kissy enough in NYC, so I guess if I have to goto Budapest to catch up, so be it. Other things to see in Krakow are one of the oldest Salt mines in Europe the Wieliczka Mine, located a cool 100meter underground, and sadly the Auschwitz Birkenbau Concentration camp is only 70km away from Krakow. I thought of going to Auschwitz, but not sure I am ready for that kind of horrors on what is the beginning of the fun part of my trip. I hope to return to Krakow in the future for a longer stay, so possibly then.

In spirit of 4th of July I think I am going to risk my stomach and eat a Hamburger, all the Kebab places are selling them, at around a buck I figure if it sucks, I just leave it. I will have the burger, but you can hold the Miller Lite and Bud, no american beer for me, this polish stuff is working out just fine. Be careful, dont blow yourself up today!!!

Leaving Germany

Well only a few hours left in Germany, as today I leave and fly to Krakow, Poland. Germany has been amazing, great, beyond hopes. The people have been incredibly kind, including those who have let me stay on their couch, extra room, etc for little or better even zero euros. The football viewing parties have been simply incredible, with hundreds of thousands of people in the street, at cafes, in stores, everywhere there is a TV. I have watched games inside, outside, at the stadium, basically in every sort of establishment. I have met fans from all over the world, countries in the world cup and those not, I hope to stay in touch with these people over the years and if plans can work out, South Africa 2010 world cup is right around the corner. The mood in Germany here is very very excited about the chances of the team making to the final. The are playing Italy, and while have never beat them in World Cup History, in fact lost to them in the 1982 final, Italy has played good, played poorly, played average. Its hard to know what team will show up on Tuesday. They are expecting over 1 million fans at watch at the outdoor viewing in Berlin.

Some other observations about Germany, the train system is amazing, usually accurate down to the minute and very efficient. There have been some long or tough train rides after the games, when 50,000 people all seem to be going to the same place. The rides are expensive, but thankfully due to my Eurrail pass and an average of 45USD per day, its made train travel very affordable. I still have one extra day of use on the railpass, might use it later in the trip for a stop in Munich or Berlin, the 2 german cities that I was not able to get to on this trip.

The Beer.. simply amazing, its everywhere, I mean u can honestly drink beer anywhere, on the subways, trams, busses, streets, public places. I even joked with a guy, probably the only place off limits is Church, but he was like, nope I have seen a few people with Becks in Church. My favs are the Hefeweizen beer, but the Pilsner brands are all good. prices are very reasonable from anything from 1.5Euros to 3.5euros for a half liter of HefeWeizen beer at a bar.

The Beach, germans seem obsessed with beaches, being geographically not bleed in terms of location, any body of water, be it a canal, lake, river, stream they seems to dump some sand on the banks, throw up a few chairs and call it a beach bar. I have had beers at beach bars in Hamburg, Mannheim, Koln, Essen, and a few other cities, all of these cities are basically on the Rhine river, a major commerical shipping river, but does that stop them from having a beach bar, nope!! Some brave germans even goto the beaches on the North Sea, but if u are a man and afraid of shrinkage, I wouldnt dare go in the near freezing water. I guess my 20 year old question as to why Cesenitaco, Italy where I vacationed 2 years in a row was full of German tourists is answered now. And i am sure as I journey to the Black Sea and Adratic Sea I will be seeing more beach and sun loving germans. In fact the guys I was staying with last night, he jetted off to Ibiza for a quick 2 days of sun and fun. I have invited all my german friends to come to South Beach Miami in November or December and experience our beach culture.

Alright, so long germany, off to the airport, not trying to miss another flight, so giving myself plenty of time. Its still hot as hell here, another 31 or 32 degree day..

Upsets, Upsets, Upsets

Wow a day of total upsets, who would of thought of it. And I am not just talking about the World Cup, but is anyone stateside watching the Tour de France.. just wondering.. I doubt it. Ok for real both Brazil and England are going home today and not many people would have thought of that. While i did feel England could lose and I even put a 3euro bet on Portugal, it was for them winning in the 90 minutes of regulation time and not on penalties. Watching the game I predicted that one of England penalty strikers Gerrard and Lampard would miss, little did I know that both would miss and without those 2, England was left to having scrubs like Haregraves and Carragher taking shots. I am trying to read now why Beckham was replaced in the 52nd minute, was he hurt, was he sick, cramped up, tired what was the reason, cause I feel that changed the whole flow of the game. All tournament long Becks has been great, his free and direct kicks have been spot on, and done a good job passing.. Rooney, well my thoughts on rooney have never been good, I thought he was a baby for throwing that tantrum against Sweden, and now for kicking his own Man U teammate in the balls he gets a red card. While a bit harsh, knowing his past its not totally unexpected.

Brazil, wow what can I say, i have loved Thierry Henry since I first saw him dash across the pitch years ago. He moves like it is without effort, makes the tough goals looks easy and the impossible goals look like pure skill. I was not totally suprised that France won, but I think the fans were. Naturally Brazil is the favorite of everyone, and as I said before If I was at home rooting, it would be all about Brazil, but over here I am a sucker for the underdogs. And underdog it was, France going from having to beat Togo to stay in the tournament to making it to the Semifinals its been a week for les bleus. It seems that simply France has brazil number, as the last time Brazil lost was in 98 finals to a different french team, but it was Zidane who did the damage then, and his free kick right to Henrys foot did the damage this time also.

The Tour de France, yes I am really watching at least yesterday sitting outside at a cafe drinking a 2euro becks gold. It was lovely in the sun actually watching bike racing. Anyway with the current doping scandel, whoever wins will have earned it, but it will almost be like an asterick in the books since Basso, Ullrich, Vinokourov and others are out. Look for another american to win, either Hincapie, or Zabriskie to possibly drink champagne on a bike in Paris 3 weeks from now.

Alright, off to Cologne germany later today, will see the big Dom cathedral and drink a Kolsch beer and since no football today, probably watch Le Tour. Monday I head to Krakow Poland, a city I hear great things about, lets hope the expectations are met.. Hope all are enjoying the weekend back home

Italy vs Ukraine

Went to my last World Cup game last night here in Hamburg, Germany. It was Italy vs Ukraine and a totally lopsided match. Ukraine brought a knife to the Italian Gun-fight. Final score 3 to 0 for Italy. My seats were amazing, in fact the best seats so far. In the lower bowl section, 16 rows up, behind the goal near the corner kick area. When Italy were scoring their 2 goals in the 2nd half, It was right in front of me. I think the seats were so good, cause Hamburg was the largest of the stadiums that I have been to so far. Also the best of the stadiums in terms of getting in/out, much better than the mess that was Kaiserslautern, where I had to see 2 games. Sorry K-town, but I have no plans to ever visit you again. Yet despite Hamburg stadium being well located, there are still some things the Americans can teach the Germans about stadium building. Never in the USA would one build a stadium 1.5km(about 1mile) from the train/subway station. Could you imagine getting out of the 4 train at yankee stadium and then having to walk 20 blocks, well that is what Hamburg was like. While the stadium inside was nice, I have yet to come across any of the German stadiums built with easy access to public transportation. Makes the walk from the far reaches of the Giants Stadium parking lot seem like a breeze.

I took some decent pictures as I was sitting in the Italy support section, while a good crowd, still the most energetic crowd yet had to be the Australian section for that game vs Italy. They were by far and large the best, my vocal, most fun crowd. I mean anyone who brings a blow up Kangeroo, or even dresses as a Kangeroo takes the cake for fan section of the Cup. It was a total ticket buyers market. Before the game I had thoughts of selling my ticket, but there were NO BUYERS at all, in fact when I arrived 1hr prior to the game people were literally holding up tickets outside BEGGING to sell them, in fact a few were offering at half price when you got close to the stadium. Also I saw lots of empty seats, heck in fact the seat next to mine was empty the whole match. Yet so many Germans here were not able to get tickets and wanted to see a match, any match especially in their hometown, it seems depending on the game Tickets could be easy or hard. For both the Italy knock-out stage matches I went to, tickets were easy to come by. Yet people say for any Brazil, England or Germany match, you have to sell your first born child to get in the stadium.

Hamburg, the party never stops. Starting at noon, the people and kids were out in the street, face painted, wearing flags and jerseys. The game vs Argentina was not until 1700, but a 5hr drinking headstart was needed. No get this in Germany you can drink ANYWHERE. I am serious about that, no such thing as open-container law. So in the train station people are walking around with bottles of Jager, doing shots.. on the Subway, beers cans are everywhere, walking down the street. Heck I even took part of the laws, buying a large .5 liter bottle of Becks Gold for only 1.2Euros at a store and walking down the street and sitting in front of Burger King to wait for my friends to go watch the game. The aftermath of this is at night the street are LITTERED i mean freaking worse than New Orleans/Mardi Gras with broken glass bottles, this is not the place to wear open toes shoes or sandles, as you will cut you feet to shreds, you really need to wear some Shit Kickers.

So in Hamburg for another day. Staying with a new friend who I basically met off the internet on a prince message board, so far the Germans have been great as I have only paid for accomidations like 3 nights out of 10 that I've been here, For me this is perfect I couldnt have asked for anything better. Its a lovely sunny, 25 degree day here in Hamburg so I need to get away from this computer and get outside and do some sightseeing..Next up is a flight to Krakow, Poland on Monday, a few days there and then somehow making it to Budapest, Hungary mid week. Everyone have a good weekend, catch you later

Rock Me Amadeus

I am here in Salzburg, Austria. This is the Birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he was born January 27, 1756, so this year marks his 250th Birthday and the city is having an all out, all Mozart party. There are museums, his birthplace, his first piano, the church he was baptized in all on exhibit. There are Mozart concerts, basically everyday all over the city. I was told the city is usually very proud of its most famous son, but this year especially has rolled out the red carpet big time. You can even buy Mozart chocolates. I didnt buy, but I have pictures of them, and will try to get pictures up soon if I can get some free internet access in the next few days. My pictures are about 1MB in size each and at the slow internet cafes, they take about 1 minute each to upload, so taking 40 to 50 pictures each city, well u can do the math.

The is a beautiful city, it sits at the Northern end of the Alps in a lovely valley. South of here you have tall snow capped(even in the summer) mountains between here and Udine, Italy. Salzburg is a canidate city for the 2014 Winter Olympics, now this is a shock to me, as the city is both compact and old, and I dont see where they would built the necessary facilities to host an olympic games. Also the public transportation ends at 1130pm, so that will have to be extended and expanded for sure, but who knows in 8 years the world might all be gathering in Salzburg, and if there are still NHL hockey players in the games, I would love to come back to this city.

It seems that my favorite cities on this trip are the ones that come as a total suprise to me. Cities like Luxembourg City, and Salzburg which I had not really done much research, but just visited and am amazed at the scenery. I showed up without any hostel reservations and after a few phone calls, found a place for only 19Euros a night with breakfast included. It was a bit on the outskirts of town, away from the center, so not a place I would want to spend 4 or 5 nights especially if I was partying in town, but for just the 1 night I have been here it was great. I met some great people and went to dinner, where else but staying at a Hostel could in a few minutes you meet a guy from Paraguay who was in europe traveling for a month and then went to the World cup for a month and now is ready to go home, his first trip ever to Europe.. along with a just graduated Northwestern University theatre major, who is rushing her way thru 3 weeks in europe, before starting a job in NYC working for a theatre company on a newly opening broadway show. We walked around the old town, and had a nice dinner outside at a cafe. This city is perfect for outdoor eating, as the streets dont have car traffic, no busses, no horns, sirens, or pollution, just a nice relaxing outdoor dinner, try that on Amsterdam Avenue sometime...

The Beer is great here, Salzburg is right on the german border, so that culture rubs off for sure. Despite thought in my head of Austria being very expensive, its in some ways cheaper than germany, that could be cause of the jacked up prices in Germany for the World Cup. I had a great Edelweiss beer for lunch, a wheat beer(they dont put lemon in theirs, i guess its pure enough already) and it was only 3.5Euros for a full half liter, so Finland u and your almost 6Euro Pilsner gets a big FU. The weather on the other hand here changes by the minute. When I arrived yesterday it was HOT and sunny, i was sweating and saying once I get to hostel I have to change into short sleeve shirt. Then the skies opened up and it rained hard for 45 minutes, after that it cleared out and was decent evening. Same thing this morning, it was raining and thundering overnight, and then rained most of the morning, but when 10am hit and I was out to explore the city, it had cleared up... Now around 1600, i felt a few sprinkles and ducked into this internet cafe hopeing whatever might come down will pass. I guess living in such a valley surrounded by mountains the weather can change in an instant.

This seems like a good party city, as right on the Salzach River(one of the fastest moving-current rivers i have ever seen), on both the old town and new town side there are plenty of bars. In fact I am going to go and try to find this one place Carpe Diem, that looked like a pretty cool afterwork joint when I leave here and hang out till my night train leaves. Oh yeah for u old movie buffs, the Sound of Music was filmed here, and there are lots of tours to the actual hill, or house used in the movie, naturally i didnt go on that, but its an option out there. I did take the elevator to the top of the Monchsberg Hill and the view was amazing, at least 200 or 300 meters up, and that was not even the highest hill, but it was only 1.80Euros to the top, where as the castle was 10Euros, naturally u know what I choose, more euros for beer!!

Well this evening is my first night train, 10hrs to Hamburg Germany, basically I will be traveling the full south to north length of the country. I opted just to pay extra for a reclining seat, as having almost taken one night train to prague, u never know what kind of neighbors u are going to get in a sleeper compartment. Not going to risk paying 24euros to have smelly or big time snoring people in a tiny compartment. Let me tell u while german trains are nice, gone are the days of thoughts of romantic train rides in sleeper compartment with 3 course meals in the dining car.. now its trying to find a smoke free area that people know what a bath is. At least there are no rules on what u can bring onboard, its BYOB for sure, so I hope to have a few bottles of beer to make the night either more fun, or easier to sleep. Catch ya from northern Germany!!!

A few Videos

I have been taking alot of videos on my digital camera, but due to time and internet constraints they are hard to upload. Yet here are 2 that I uploaded last night, hope these can keep people busy while I am about to take a 5hr train ride to Salzburg, Austria later today. Hopefully weather will be nice and I'll get some nice pictures of the mountains. Also I hear the Beer is good in Salzburg, as its close to the German border, so should be worth the trip. Another country, another beer down.

Here is a video of the Aussies singing their National Anthem before the Italy game.

And here is a video of a group of Brazilian drummers marching thru the streets of Kaiserslautern after the Italy vs Australia game. They were pretty damn amazing I must say, and had been drumming all day long, as I heard them outside the stadium some 5 or 6 hours earlier.

More Pictures Posted

I dont think anyone is looking at the Fotki pictures, other than Curtis. But I uploaded another 100 or so pictures today, from Frankfurt, Barcelona, USA vs Ghana, Prague, and Italy vs Aussie. So check them out.

Also just a possible request out there, anyone want to Catsit my 2 lovely cats from July 15th to 30th. Someone reliable needed, you get full run of my apartment, and its shockingly not dirty, as I've contracted to my sister to clean it before she runs off to Montreal and leaving my cats to fend for themselves.. You just need to feed them, change box once a week, and you can spend the rest of your time watching my DVDs, listening to my CDs, and drinking my beer(wait, i drank it all before I left, my bad..) contact me if interesting in the job...

Socceroo for a Day

Last night I went to the Italy vs Australia match in Kaiserslautern. My initial plan was to sell my ticket, as the Kaiserslautern stadium brought back the bad memories of the USA vs Italy game. Plus the stadium simply sucks, one thing the Americans can teach the Germans is about stadium design and how to get people in and out efficiently and quickly. For a country that loves to talk about its great train system, supersafe autobahn, the fact is only 1 stadium of the 3 I have been to so far has been efficient, and that was in Nuremberg. The Kaiserslautern stadium is built on top of a mountain, no seriously. You have to HIKE up about 250 stairs, about a 2km long hike, probably honestly 500meters above the street level. Then for the World Cup they have seperated things into 4 colors(yellow, red, green,blue) they say to help with crowd control, but honestly its made a mess of the whole getting in and out. I have been to many sports events in the USA, and never would it take over an hour to clear out 46,000 people from a stadium. All the complaining we might do at Yankee Stadium at the end of a game, and the narrow aisles coming down from the Upper Deck is NOTHING compared to a german soccer stadium. I would not want to think what would happen if a stampede, or riot broke out after the game, everyone would die on top of the mountain..

Anyway I digress about stadium design. The market for tickets outside games can be soft or good, yesterday it was soft, and i'm not a professional at reselling tickets, most of the time I get burnt. Anyway I was not going to give up my tickets for a measly 150euros, or sell to a professional scalper, who would then turn and make a buck. I tried to find an Aussie fan who needed a ticket, but after a few hours I was like lemme just goto the game, World Cup is only every 4 years. I am very glad I went, I knew I was going to be in the Aussie section, and I even placed a small 6 Euro bet on Aussie winning, and the socre being 2-1, would have paid a nice 100 Euros, good drinking money, but as you know that didnt happen.

The Aussie section was awesome. plain and simple, people brought in blow up Kangeroos, Sharks, everyone was dressed in Green and Gold, I tried to find an aussie jersey in town, and all I could find was a simple yellow/gold t-shirt for 5 Euros, but at least I felt I fit in colorwise. The National Anthem was a sight to be held, everyone aussie sang and sang out loud, the pride was just amazing. By far the loudest anthem i've ever heard, previously it was O Canada, at a 2004 World Cup of HOckey game in Montreal, Canada vs Slovakia, and i must say since I know a few words of O! Canada i joined in. Sadly I didnt know any of the Aussie anthem so I just shot a video of them singing, I will try to post, but with slow internet access over here, pictures are tough enough, videos take forever.

Anyway, the game. Aussie played well, very well, Italy had more pure goal scoring chances with Luci Toni, having at least 3-4 good attempts in the first half. Yet Aussie dominated the ball control. In the 2nd half, another dirty Italian was sent off with a straight red card in the 50th minute. So now 1 man down, I figured Aussie would take it to Italy, they did, but just simply couldnt finish. They had lots of balls in the box, but instead of shooting, made bad passes, towards the end of the 2nd half a few good free kick/corner chances with a header going just high. Still the Aussie fans were cheering, chanting, including my favorite chant "Your Blue, Your White, Your going home tonight!!!" towards the italians and their uniforms.

The Ref sucked, plain and simple. Its a shame that the story of this World Cup so far has been the Refs, like the NFL these refs are not professional refs, and have other jobs ranging from airline pilots, to tire salesmen, to water engineers. Its a shame the the biggest sporting event in the world, doesnt use full time professional Refs. While the NFL has a good accountability system for their Refs, reviewing basically every play after the game, FIFA has nothing of the like. It seems like once you are elected a Ref to the World Cup, nothing can change, you cant be fired mid tournament. The President of FIFA even critized, in fact CALLED OUT, the ref from the Portugal vs Netherlands game, yet the Russian will probably get another assignment in the tournament for all I know..

You simply cannot call a Penalty shot with 12 seconds left in injury time. Can't be done, unless its totally BLATENT, like a man going in on a break away and being tackled, pulled down, punched in the head.. But for a questionable play like an Italian tripped over an already downed aussie, calling a penalty to decide the game is just simply WRONG, SICKENING, i cant think of the words to describe it. Other than its clear you can buy a Ref and fix as game in the Italian League, I guess the reach of La Costra Nosta reaches FIFA and the World Cup. I doubt that Spanish ref will be taking a vacation to Australia anytime soon.

The loss was shocked, the Aussie fans sat in the stands for 30 minutes stunned. I was shocked, it took an hour for the steps to the stadium to clear out, and even then it was crowded getting down the mountain to town. Yet in town, at night the party was alive, I had never seen such a small town, Kaiserslautern i think has a population of 40,000 at most, fill up with people. There was easily 3-4 times as many people in the streets of the town then were at the game, in fact I met some Aussies who traveled 15hrs from Cardiff, Wales to get to K-town in time just to watch the game on the big screen in town.. I wanted to party all night, but had a 1hr train ride back to the place I'm staying and felt terrible about waking up the sleeping girl who needs to work today as I didnt have keys.

I was going to travel to Austria today, but I'm dead tired, so I'll rest up here in Mannheim, and then attempt a 5hr train ride followed by a 8hr ride up to Hamburg where I have a ticket for the Friday game of Italy vs Ukraine, but already have ZERO desire to goto that game, and will either sell at face or simply eat the ticket and watch the game in main town center where the party is really at..