Inside the Mind of Ayan...

Its a scary place to be, inside my mind that is. First off I am leaving Sarajevo and its been a really lovely city, I know you would all like to see pictures, but as is the case with alot of places Internet access is iffy at best, so its like log on, post and move on, no time to loiter. Hopefully I'll get to another cool Hostel with a computer or access. I am about to get on a nightbus to Zagreb, Croatia then spend the day there before moving on to Pula croatia on the coast.

Ok this is some of my thoughts as I wrote them down on paper from Friday the 29th while in Belgrade, Serbia.. just for exchange purposed 66DIN to the Dollar
6pm.. at Insomnia Cafe, located on Strahibjica Bana which is a street with 20 something bars, this place looks very nice and trendy with a full english menu. The interior is fancy, comfy couches outside on the street and cool jazz playing, good place for a happy hour beer. the Pivo is the MB brand, and at 150DIN a little pricy for this town, but still cheap in the overall realm of things. Ok just went inside and only 1 toilet so that is a bit of a drawback. Watching the crazy drivers park any and everywhere they want, these people honestly must not need a license or have to pass a test to drive.
6:25pm. talk to the girls next to me, they speak good english YEAH. Olja is the name of one of them and she tells me a bit about Serbia and the people, good conversation. Typically offer to buy them a drink, beer or otherwise but as seems to be the case here in eastern europe its not done, and they politely refuse. Ok lets ask for the number.. She gives me the cell phone number and says, yeah sure I'll hang at the barge parties tonight, even tho she says at age 25, her best party days are behind her..
7pm. leave after 3 beers and walk back to the Hostel, we will see if this pans out tonight.
8pm.. Making steak and potatoes for dinner at the Hostel, damn this hits the spot, offer up extra food to roomates, they enjoy. I should have cooked more often on this trip as it gives me a feeling of being back home, very cool.
10:45pm Showered and ready to hit the town for my last nights, its friday night should be a good night. Text Olja simple message and decide to hang out at the bar around the corner Bar Central for a bit
11pm. Arrive at Bar Central.. this is the only bar i have been to that has reserved bar stools, but I managed to find a seat and order my beer. This is the LAV beer, cost is 120DIN, good price for a place this swanky and nice. The music is typical american fare, the bar is nicely decorated I like this place.
11:20pm Oh yeah my theme song from europe, "Love Generation" by Bob Sinclair comes on, I swear I have heard this in every of the 17 countries so far, without a doubt. Gosh the glasses at the bar break easily, the bartender lights taps and it broken glass everywhere..
11:35pm.. Wow 2 total birds just walk in, dressed to the 9's and sit down. Interesting to see what they order. Gosh this place will make you feel like an old man as one is not looking even 18 years old. Ok now the 3rd miniskirted girl comes and joins them, this should be interesting. Yet these must be good girls as they are wearing catholic crosses around their neck..yeah right...
11:42pm.. Ok now some boy shows up for the 3 girls, typical double cheek kisses are exchanged. Gosh what a bad buzz cut this guy has, I guess male hair salons have not made it to Serbia yet.. Ok drinks up, looks like champagne and cranberry juice?? and then something red in a tumbler glass for the other girl..
11:48pm Ok just ordered my 3rd beer, and I havent been to bathroom yet, this is not a good sign knowing your bladder, you are going to end up having to rush somewhere to pee, lets go to bathroom now and piss a pint out.
11:52pm Ok last beer is here, this is an Lasko, guess they ran out of the other one, damn I am drinking this place dry. Hmm the girls are looking tasty and the miniskirt is so mini you can see who goes commando and who likes vicki secrets, she goes for the match red undies with the red dress, nice fashion choice.
12:03am No idea what song is playing but its a tight soul/house music groove
12:05... Ok another bathroom trip, the seal is broken now its going to be constant trips
12:20.. time to leave and hit the barges, no SMS message back from Olja yet, I guess being stood up, oh well
12:25am waiting on tram, it does run this late???
12:35am.. ok no tram, wait music coming from the fortress, maybe I'll stay close to the hostel tonight..
12:37am.. wow that was easy, just follow the people into the park and found one of the underground bars in the park. This one is called Basement, very nice right next to the tennis courts. too bad the music is crap, wonder where the bathroom is... Ok suppose to be some celebrity DJ playing tonight Marko Nastic, but I am not impressed, maybe I will goto barges.
12:50am Got a cab, hopefully he knows where I want to go and doesnt rip me off..
1:10am hey text message, ok its the message of being stood up, she was sleeping and didnt hear the phone, now her friends are gone and she is staying in, oh well win some lose some, there is still beer to be consumed
1:45am At the Exile Barge on the Sava river. I dont like this place, didnt like it the night before, just went to pay for my beer with a 1000DIN note and they look at me like its a gold brick, its 10 freakin euros, what do you mean you dont have change??? what kind of bar is this. The music is so so, the LAV was 150DIN, standard price I guess, alright find some change... Gosh this place is pretty laid back, dudes just smoking weed out in the open.. ok bathroom time.. Damn how can I place only have 2 bathroom and one of them has 2 people in there doing whatever.. ok they are done with their sex act, damn that girl is staff here, what a slut.. let goto the next barge as it looks like they are letting people in...
1:55am back at Freestlyer for the 3rd time in 4 nights, at least the music is decent, I dont like the beer choices with no local beers, Becks is 180DIN.
2:20am People keep on throwing shit in the river?? Why??? Its already the dirtiest river in europe probably try to keep it clean...
2:35am Ok now the staff guy just emptied an ashtray into the river, does anyone care??I am not saying I am mr. greenpeace cause I have peed in all sorts of places, but damn its your country keep the river clean. Dont anyone tell me America is the worst pollutor in the world, its these Serbians..
2:48am Girls asks me, what they hell are you writing down all the time, I explain to her, I wouldnt remember all these lovely thoughts if not. Nice girl, speaks english, whoa she has 3 kids and is out on a Friday night??? what gives?? ahh divorced, doesnt get child support, i wonder who is at home taking care of the kids..
3:10am Ok getting less crowded, now I can move around freely without worrying about starting a riot by stepping on somesones shoes...

Hey gotta pause here as I need to eat and internet time is running out.. to be continued till 5am...

Sarajevo Comes alive..

Today was going to be the post, inside Ayan's mind, which I thought would be funny, but last night was a fun night here in Sarajevo so I thought I would post a few observations about it. Like other towns on Saturday in the daytime, it was sleepy here in Sarajevo, but when the sun goes down the people come out and the party starts. Sadly I couldnt get into the party mood as I was still dead tired from the all nighter and then straight to the bus ride from Belgrade. I had to quit at 2am, despite trying to IV myself with 3 straight Red Bulls.. First off Sarajevo Women are probably the best dressed I have seen yet in Europe, they are all dressed to the 9's for sure, but more importantly they have nice, in fact super nice shoes. I have learned you can tell over here what class girls are from the types of shoes they wear, and definately was around the higher class last night. Went to 2 very popular places, the City Pub, and Central Cafe, Central Cafe might be a cafe by day, but at night its an all out bar. City Pub was more like a normal bar but with good music, heard from TTD and others. Funny as fly as the Sarajevo women are, the men arent up to their standards, I swear there must be no male hair salons here, cause everyone has the same buzz/crew cut for their hair. I guess its better than the NJ Mullet action, but still its not the most flattering. The French and Italian men have these Bosnian men beat, and that really isnt too good of a thing

Another strange thing here in Bosnia is that you cant order drinks directly from the bartender, at least when I do i get bad stares and while he will give me the drink, I have to pay a waiter. I would go by their rules but with the slow service and not speaking the language to shout out at the waiter, I just goto the bar and deal with the wrath that way. The people out at the bars are young, probably too young for the bar, but they are there smoking away and drinking tonics and soft drinks. Makes it hard to try to hit on women, as anyone over 25 already has kids, but they are still out on saturday nights and still looking fly.

This city is just the right size, after coming from 2 million population of Belgrade. We are set in a valley that is lush green, with tons of houses up in the hills, this makes malibu or the hollywood hills look tiny in terms of number of houses but naturally those Cali houses are bigger and more expensive.. Had some amazing food here, so Curtis dont worry no McDonalds here, had a Cevapi, basically a plate of grilled sausage with bread and onions. It was amazing and that plus a beer was only 4 KM, or about 3 USD. This makes those donor kebabs seem like total crap, more Cevapi!! The trams are a bit expensive here with a ride being 1.60Km or about 1USD, still cheap, but coming from belgrade where it was a few cents, this is more expensive. But I still buy the tickets, all the trams over in europe are on the honor system and you get on and are expected to validate your ticket. I have been a very good boy, with the exception of a night bus in Budapest. Its a good thing cause today the inspectors were on the tram. The only city with a protected public transport is BUcharest where you need to go thru a turnstyle, even in german its on the honor system and assume you punch your ticket.

As for a history lesson I went to the Franz Fernindad plaque where the arch duke was shot and killed back in 1914 that eventually led to the start of World War I.. are we at World War 3 yet?? I read something about a bunch of kids dying in an isreali attack, ahh better i guess not to read the news... Alright at a cool internet cafe, not the cheapest, but they have Skype and IM, and since 2morrow I have tons of time to kill before my night bus to Zagreb, Croatia I will be able to do my inside my head post and maybe even a few pictures. Its not the cheapest place, but for a good computer with normal keyboard its worth it.

Arrival Shock...

Ok here in Sarajevo and todays arrival shock could have been the worst. I stayed out all night last night till 5am and partied figuring I would just sleep on the bus, it worked out fine, as I thought I was going to take an 8am bus, but there was a 6:15am bus that was leaving, so I got there just in time and got my seat. For the first 3 hours slept peacefully, then it was the border crossing, this was actually one of the easier ones, only taking a total of 30 minutes to get out of Serbia and then seperate border guards to let you into Bosnia. In Bosnia the ride was lovely, when I could keep my eyes open, it was lush green mountains and valleys, the bus went thru a few mountain in tunnels and even did one harrowing mountain climb that reminded me of the tour de france.. speaking of which, damn how damanged is cycling as a sport, you thought baseball was bad with the roids, cycling is just filthy dirty... Anyway the ride was great, went thru some small bosnian towns, and eventually got to Sarajevo, now upon arrival I asked the only english speaking person on the bus, an Aussie if this was the last stop, he was like yeah.. To call where we were a bus station was being nice, it was more like a dust bowl, with a roof and a few buildings. It was total arrival shock, no tourist information office, no money exchange, but naturally lots of shady cab drivers waiting to take you..

I fended off the cab drivers, it was burning hot and I was wearing my same jeans from the night before, threw the backpack on and started off walking.. After about 1km, I saw to the right something to resembled civilazation, found both a bank machine and internet, used the internet to check location of Hostel and in talking to girl at Internet Cafe realized the bus station we were in was in New Saraejo, everything else is in old.. it was so far so I had to take a taxi, I asked how much it would be and she was like oh about 8 USD, I was like damn.. my ticket for a 7hr trip from Belgrade was only 20USD, my accomidations for the night is going to be 12USD, and the damn taxi is 7 freakin bucks.. I asked if there was anyway to take the bus/tram and they seemed to explain in bad english, no you would have to transfer too much..

Thought of other ways of getting to the old town, and even after seeing a Police car, figured if I got arrested I could get a free ride to jail, maybe even a meal, shower, or whatever.. thought about what it would take to get arrested but not deported, figured if I pulled out my dick and peeded on a statue that might do it, and I did have to got the bathroom, but then again this is europe and after going to the beaches and seeing what some people are wearing, public nudity might not be enough to get arrested.. So just dealt with the damn budget busting cab ride and took it all the way across town..

Finally at the main old town square and walked around in a circle for apparently no reason, as the tourist office that books hostels was like 10 feet away in the direction I did not look. Their website was really nice and slick, but this was basically an office where they book you in other hostels, not a hostel itself. anyway handed over my last 20 Euro note and paid for 2 nights, then was told its 5 minutes by foot.. everything in europe is 5 minutes away, its like people in LA who say oh it only takes 30 minutes with no traffic, but when the hell is there no traffic in LA??? So after a hike up the steepest steps ever and down what looked like abondonded and bomed out building, came to a shack that serves as my hostel, at least I have a key and the door locks, so some decent security, but I think I should be worried more about stray animals up in the hills than about robbers.

I was sweated out like a pig, and after the shower and change of clothes I felt human, then the weather changes and the afternoon thunderstorm rolls in.. I have actually learned to expect this of any city located in a valley, and this is the same, the valley is lovely but you pay the price with bad weather in the middle of the day.. ran inside to eat Pizza.. yeah I know Curt eat the locals.. but after not having eating in over 15hrs and being on a 7hr bus ride I was in no mood for mystery meat.. Then walked about the town a bit and felt more human..

Doesnt look like its going to be a big social town on a saturday night, but then again Bratislava was sleepy by daytime and came alive at night. Prices are about the same as the last 3 countries I have been, so that is good considering my dwindling bank account.. shout out to CMG who even without pictures left a very generous donation... you should have your pictures now, after all this anticpation I know they can only disappoint, so sorry about that..

One thing I have noticed is this is the most muslim, almost downright turkish country I have been to. Many turkish mosques, turkish music, more damn donar kebabs, I swear I never want another kebab in my life.. Also seen alot of people with headscarfs and vails, first time in this region for me. Not sure where I am going to next, but probably to Croatia, but not the beaches, too expensive for me, but a stop over in the big city of Zagreb. So far after the arrival shock, its been decent, we will see what the night has to offer... upcoming assuming I have decent internet access a few good posts, stay tuned...

the NSFW Post.. in demand and its here now..

OK F it.. no password.. if you cant see them now, something is wrong with your machine.. just goto my main album page, last photo album.. i hope fotki doesnt cancel my account..

EDIT.. as of 205pm EST the album is fixed.. sorry my bad, i made it private and you have to be a fotki member to view them.. now its changed so any perv out there can see.. after all this anticipation, i hope you enjoy them... password is name of this website.. EDIT again.. its 530am here, just in from another drunken night.. password is name of website with no dot com.. so its D R I N K I N G A C R O S S E U R O P E if that doesnt work for you CMG, your playa card is going to be revoked!!!!!

Ok for all the people specifically CMG who have been bugging me, it took forever, the upload speed here is slow, but the pictures are up 15 of them. It should have been more, but I didnt want to be arrested as a dirty perv in Bulgaria. The last thing I need is a woman going to the police saying "uhhhh there was a guy taking pictures of me topless.." "well what did he look like.." "oh he was black and skinny.." "yeah we have seen him around town, we'll find him ma'am no problem.." I guess next year I'll be more bold..

These are NSFW, if you are looking at them at work and get fired, dont blame me, but since I dont have a job when I get back to the states, I guess it might be good, I can take your job.. oh yeah the password on Fotki is just the name is this blog, you shuold be able to figure it out.. The NSFW pictures

Enjoy and remember good porn isnt free, so if you want click on the Buy Ayan a Beer button and help out the cause!!!

Giving Props Where Props are Due!!!

Spent yesterday getting a good walking tour of Belgrade. When I get home I am definately going to need a foot massage or two for sure as these dogs have walked a long time. One of the best museums I have been to was the one to honor Nikola Tesla. Now I almost dont want to call myself an Engineer, despite laboring for 5 years to get a piece of paper saying I have a degree. In school we learned that some laws and units are named after people, Volt, Ampere, etc. I knew of Tesla's name but honestly had no idea to scope of his work. The fact that I am typing this and you are reading this, while he did not invent the computer, nor did he have the idea for the Internet before Al Gore, the work that Tesla did at the turn of the century simply changed the face of society. For a good background on him check out his Wikipedia entry here Nikola Tesla

Basically to give you a rundown, he has patents for modern AC electric current, power distribution, AC motors, Radio Transmission and even the basis for remote controls. So just think about all those things you do in your life from the time you wake up, and basically Tesla's work helps it. From taking that first piss in the morning and being able to flush the toilet and get running water to brush your teeth, that is due to the fact pumping stations have motors.. And trust me after pissing in some holes in the ground here they call bathrooms, I respect the ability to flush. From turning on your TV with the remote control, those are high frequency waves shooting across the room. Starting up your car, that is a motor.. Anyway the depth of his work was amazing, and like most genius he was a bit crazy, or you can say eccentric. And for all that he only got the 100 Dinar Note(worth about a buck fifty)

Later in the day, I did something that might keep me in Belgrade longer than I should.. I bought a book, in English.. The Day of the Jackel, went to the city park/lake/beach and read it. While the lake here is nice, the beach itself is made of tiny rocks, so not comfortable to lay out on, there are some lounge chairs on one side, and people were going in the water. I might go back there today and just chill out.. So far 5 chapters done in the book, probably the best $1 I have spent here, as now on those 7hr bus rides, I have something to take my mind off of things, other than worrying if there will be street signs in the next city I arrive in. Naturally had a few beers, there is a beer called Jelen Pivo here, that has the logo of a dear head, very good stuff and naturally cheap.

In taking the bus across town to the beach you see some sights that just make you in awe. On the main avenue, the same avenue the US Embassy is on, there are about 4 building that are totally bombed out. The structure of the building is still standing but there are bomb/rocket holes. These are from the 1999 NATO/USA Bombing of Belgrade, its almost like instead of tearing the building down they are leaving them up for a F U, we are still here despite your efforts. It was a really striking sight, I have never been to a true war zone, but just seeing these buildings I cant imagine what Baghdad or anywhere in the middle east looks like now.. When you see on TV the pictures of a building in rubble after being hit by a 2000lb USA bomb, it is one thing, when you see it in person it is surely another thing..


Last night was a sort of chill night, instead of heading to the barges for raging parties, we went to a small bar near the Hostel with a few people and they were playing live music. Nothing to write home about but a simple 5 piece cover band, fronted by a women singing. It was nice for a change from the eurotrash Techno music to actually hear something live. Tried then to goto one of these famous Underground bars I read about in the NY Times piece a year ago, but nothing was open, summer is really not the best time here to party. Its hot and locals manage to get away to the coast so while the town isnt deserted like NYC, it surely is more empty.

I am staying one more night here, things are cheap and at this point of my budget, cheap is good. I am thinking of traveling with some other american folks to Sarajevo, Bosnia. If so that would be one more country visited, if not then I'll be off to Zagreb, Croatia and then Slovenia. Trip is almost coming to an end, i just counted to days and while I have been telling people its a 10 week trip, in reality it will be 77 days in the end, so 11 weeks.. Have a good weekend everyone

Hit the button... no not that button!!!!

Well thankfully last night at 4am when I hit the wrong button, I was not in a bunker in North Korea and starting a war, it was just the night tram. But lets start at the beginning of the day. It was hot again in Belgrade, after my first day of wandering around in the heat, yesterday I decided to chill out at the hostel for most of the day. I did take a 2hr walk around the fortress near where we are staying and it was a good walk, including time at the Belgrade War/MIlitary Museum. But it was about 34 degrees, so I lasted only 2hrs before running back inside. Thankfully the hostel has AC, one of the first and few ones I have been in that has AC. It also has a huge mp3 collection, huge DVD and Video CD collection, so sitting around drinking beer and watching the best of South Park episodes is not a bad way to waste time, with a group that includes Aussies, another American from NYC, Dutch, French girls who have walked from Sarajevo to here, Italians who cooked spaghetti alla carabonara, and what not. Definately one of the better hostels in terms of staff and fun crowd, I am already done with my 2 nights I booked in advance and with the cheap prices here I might stay another 2 nights.

The Belgrade War Museum was eye opening, basically this region of the world has been constantly at war for 4000 years and has been conquered by EVERYONE. Currently the people are very happy that they are their own country, even recently kicking off Montengero into their own country. I was not suppose to take pictures, but since I was the only person there I did and some are really cool showing weapons from all the way back to now. I now have a better understanding of the city, the nation and how much conflict it has endured over the years. The fortress is very cool, its is a lush park and just walking around you find things you didnt know where there including a Cinema Cafe that shows movies and films on a big screen with a simply amazing view of the city from up high. Managed to have an afternoon beer there. Also food-wise yesterday was good, between the Italian guy here cooking everyone a meal, and also going out to buy basically a heart attack on a plate, it was ham, pork and cheese melted inside of a crusty bread bun, delicious for sure. Hopefully I will put back the belt size I have lost since traveling around here..

Nighttime was the righttime, at first it looked like it was going to be another missed night. Tuesday night we went out in a posse of 9, and the first place we went to was empty, only stayed 1 round. Then walked over to another of the barges parked on the Saba river where all the fun is, it was starting to get crowded about 1am, and some of the people were having fun.. I guess I was in a cranky mood, cause when I ordered a beer and payed with a 1000 DINER note(about 15 USD), they told me they didnt have change and wanted to charge me more for the beer since they were short, finally they got the extra change, but again the principal of that pissed me off. I couldnt imagine going out in the city and paying with a 20 only to be told sorry you drink will cost twice as much cause we dont have change.. Around 1:30am I decided to leave on my own to search out some places I had written down, well I struck out, walking all the way across the old bridge to the city only to find all the places closed.. In the summer Belgrade nightlife is very hit or miss, alot of people are on vacation and away, so places that are rocking in the fall/winter are vacent and close up. So last night knowing what I knew, after we struck out the first time and it was pushing 1am, the posse had dwindled in size and I just wanted to goto the Sava barges. Took a cab over there and thankfully met a cool Serbian guy, at first I was reclultant to go with him, but the place was playing good hip-hop and it was packed they werent letting anyone in. He managed to talk to the staff and got our posse of 6 in. AN hour later, when I was getting into my groove listening to Jay Z, Snoop Dogg, Tribe, and assorted Hip-Hop, the other 5 wanted to leave well I knew my lesson, when you find something good stuck with it.. So I stuck with it till closing time at 4am. Definately had fun, and the local guy has my email, so maybe he will contact me and let me know where the good party is, cause you simply cant trust the guides or internet sites, everything changes on a daily basis and having a local is the most helpful.

Trying to figure out my next destination, I really do want to goto Croatia, but with the prices here so good and already after 7 days in Varna, I am the 3 shades darker that I wanted I might just hit Zagreb for a day, but hostel availabilty is tough and then head to Slovenia. My italian friend is away and having problem with his dads health and in Silicy, so he might not be able to meet me in Trieste which is tough as I wanted to see him after 2 years, but naturally his family is more important than just having a coffee and drink with me.. But if Belgrade heats up on Thursday night, I really have no reason to leave as I am at a cool hostel and the cheap prices is helping my budget, as I am dreading just the 1 day in Germany, and while in Oslo I have a place to stay, knowing a beer at a pub is 9 bucks versus the 2 or 3 bucks here, the longer here is better. Alright enjoy your day, I got in at 4:30am and its 9am, so its back to sleep for me...

Oh yeah as for the button story, so after leaving the club/barge I knew I could walk home, but I saw the trams running on the bridge so I went to the tram stop. After about 4 empty ones passed by without stopping I asked the guys at the stop what the deal was, they said the main depot was close and the trams were just leaving to goto their first stop to start their routes later on. I asked if anything was running and they were like its hit or miss.. so as I start to walk off to go over the bridge the tram stops, we all pile on. Now this was not the number 11 that would have dropped me off right in front of my hostel, but this was the number 7. I asked where it went and they said well for me, just cross the river and then get off.. So it crosses the river and I am standing at the door waiting for it to make a stop, I guess since only 5 of us were on it, the driver wasnt stopping unless it was requested.. so I asked the guys how to get off, they said push the button, well in most other cities pushing the red button is to ask for a stop. So I push the red button the guys scream no not that button the black button well its too late, turns out the red is the emergency stop button, the tram screeches to a stop, the lights go out, and then the door opens.. I am like oh damn I broke it, but thankfully after I stumble off, the tram keeps on going.. So its not broke and I have learned my lesson...

The Picture Post...

Sorry that these are resized and small, still have not uploaded all to my Fotki site, but this Hostel has a nice computer, gotta fight the other 16 people for it, but so far the Belgrade nightlife isn't too great on a tuesday night, so maybe I will pull an all nighter to get the images to the people! Enjoy.

CMG just 4 u...

more to come.. up the resolution cause it should be full screen for these shots...

and another for those of you who like shakes with your fries..

more to come... i promise

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....