Wrapping It Up

Ok my self imposed one week of doing nothing is over. I have yet to unpack, unpacking is always the least favorite thing to do when you get back from a trip. Also due to the fact that I basically wore the same few shirts and jeans for 11 weeks many of these items are going to be retired for good. Sadly my white USA soccer jersey, that didnt get much wear during the world cup, due to the USA speedy exit, it got some wear afterwards as I couldnt let it goto waste, it has a few unknown stains on it, so it too might be retired. No worries as with the poor performance of the USA team, I'm almost embarassed to wear it outside of a match. I will NOT be buying a 4 star Italian jersey whenever they come out as I am still digusted at the way the Italians played,and while they are the champions, and I went to 3 of their games, a fan I am NOT.

Just a few interesting overall stats that I sorta compiled on my trip

Total Countries Visited 22. In Order. England, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Norway

Total Cities Visited or at least drank a beer in. 43. London, Oxford, Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Jurmala, Vilnius, Kanaus, Warsaw, Krakow, Essen, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Mainz, Mannheim, Nuremberg, Kaiserslautern, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Luxembourg City, Barcelona, Prague, Salzburg, Budapest, Bratislava, Bucharest, Brasov, Constant, Varna, Sofia, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Zagreb, Pula, Rovinj, Ljubljana, Bled, Oslo

Different Currencies Handled. 16. British Pound, Euro, Estonian Kroon, Latvian Lat, Lithuanian Lita, Polish Zloty, Czech Kourna, Hungarian Forint, Slovakian Kouran, Romanian Leu, Bulgarian Lev, Serbian Dinar, Bosnian Marka, Croatian Kuna, Slovenian Tolar, Norwegian Krone

Cheapest Beer by far was in Bratislava at the 1 Slovak Pub. Homemade good beer for 18 SKK(currently 29 SKK to 1 USD), so it was about .60 cents. Most expensive Beer was in Oslo, where it was 60 NOK(currently 6.28NOK to 1 USD), making that beer cost $9.75, and it was only .4L(about 13.5 Oz).

Total Money spent.. well I didnt keep an IRS audit count, but it was about $4000 to $5000 for the lodging and transportation for the 11 weeks. I was able to keep an avg budget of about $400 per week. My World Cup tickets were paid before I left, and airfare back and forth over the pond was paid using Frequent Flier miles.

Total Beers drank. I dont even want to think about it, still letting my liver slowly recover!!!

Overall the trip was great, I did get a bit homesick in the last 2 weeks, and hurting my knee and hobbling around like an old man during the last week was no fun. Also towards the end dwindling bank account funds made things tough especially when I was in expensive countries like Norway and England. Overall I am addicted to the backpacing lifestyle where you have no schedules, no plans, you just wander like a rolling stone.... I will be coming back next year if plans work out and i will be hitting those far off countries that seemed out of reach to me, but now after doing the trip once, I realize nothing is really off limits, unless its Kosovo with landmines buried in the ground.

Pictures are being added to my Fotki site each day, I am about 75% done, so check some of those out. Also videos will be slowly added to my YouTube site, so check with out. In the next few weeks I am going to go thru my diary and try to give you a country by country recap of places, and I have a few other posts, so thanks for reading and if you stick around, more props to ya!!

Home Sweet Home

Those words have never been so good to say. I write this to you from my own computer in my own home with my cat fighting for chair space. The last 2 weeks of the trip I was feeling some bits of homesickness, but it didnt really get back till I got to London. I had a minor injury back in Riga, and by London my knee had swollen to the size of a grapefruit, with pain.. it made for walking difficult, i was moving slow.. VERY SLOW.. Now after spending a night in my own bed having crazy dreams any pain or difficulty i have in walking doesnt matter.. Anyway due to lack of good constant internet access while overseas I still have many more posts, tons more pictures and videos to post.. so stick around this blog is far from over..

The Ryanair Ripoff...

I am currently someone in Norway, i cant even say Oslo, cause it was a 1hr 40 minute bus ride to the airport. I am flying on Ryanair, the main English based discount airline for the 2nd time on this trip. Previously I went from Germany to Barcelona on them, and at that time realized the little scam they have. They offer tickets at really cheap prices, in fact I think my Germany ticket was about 40Euros roundtrip, in Germany you cant even go 3hrs on the Train for 40 Euros. But the airports they use are not connected to the main rail system, so you have to take these airport busses to the airports. Well as it turns out the airport busses cost about as much as the flights. Same case with this Oslo trip, the bus to the Norway airport was 140Kr, or about 24USD, once I get to London I will be in Stansted where its another 25US or so to get into central London. I know that Ryanair has to have some sort of deal with the bus companies to get a kickback from them..

I have totally enjoyed my time in Oslo, for near the end of the trip my Host was amazing, and I got to goto the Football match yesterday totally VIP. Sitting in seats on the 50yd line, with free beer and hotdogs. In fact you cant get beer at the stadiums here, but if you are VIP the beer flows and flows freely. In no other country do the words FREE BEER mean so much as Norway. Over the course of my time, the avg price of a beer at a bar was 9 or 10 USD. And that wasnt even for a full half liter, but for .4L. London is a great city, but honestly this time of year not looking forward to it. I have some crappy arrival and departure times and with the whole terror threat at the airport I know its going to be a tough ride home. But I will be home before weeks end, sleeping in my own bed and that sounds appealing in itself.. See you from London

still here.. but ready to be home

sorry for lack of posts, but been busy in Oslo.. went to a football game yesterday and the home team won, it was a great time.. now worried about london and trying to get my itinery detials and learn what i can and cant take on the plane.. sorry for short post, but i really really am ready to come home...

Black People invade Norway!!!!

Well i made it here to Oslo, my 22nd and last unique country. I will be flying to London on the 14th for a quick stopover before coming back to the USA. Saw the news yesterday and not exactly the best time to be flying from Heathrow back to the USA. Hopefully in a week things will have calmed down, or else I guess I will have to get on the plane basically butt nekkid to avoid extra security screening, especially with all the stamps in my passport from this trip. So far Oslo has been lovely, strange to think this city only have 550,000 people, less than Riga, but i am sure more people know where Oslo is than Riga..

As for the title of this post, within 2hrs of arrival last night, I saw more black people in Oslo than I honestly did in all of the last 4 weeks in Eastern Europe. I counted at least 8 folks from the guy at the airport cleaning the toilets, to folks walking on the street. I think combined in Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania I might have seen a total of 8 folks. I guess the high standard of living draws peeps to Norway. And a high standard of living is needed as this is an expensive city. In fact its ranked this year as the Most Expensive City in the world, and I can attest to this fact after only 12 hours here. Dont believe the stuff about Moscow being the most expensive city, that survey was based on a business traveler and what sort of per diem he gets from his company. For a backpacker or other traveler dont come to Oslo unless you have a nice trust fund. thankfully my friend who I am staying with has a lovely apartment in center olso with a great kitchen that I will be using ALOT over the next few days. Also she has connections and managed to get free tickets for this big music festival on Saturday, some of the performers include Beck, so hopefully will get to see that and I belive that Nikkas husband, Justin Stanley is playing guitar with Becks band, so that should be nice to see..

Prices, ok this is no joke, the bank machine the smallest amount you can take out is 200Kr, and at 6 to the dollar, that is like 33 bucks. I am in the downtown tourist area for sure, but should a Greek Salad cost 20bucks.. should an omlette cost 15bucks, even subway seems high at 8bucks for a footlong sandwich. This is total sticker shock, fruit at the open market is expensive.. I have had my first beer in Norway last night at the apartment, but going out to buy one, I am sure its going to be the most expensive beer of the trip, probably clocking in around 8 to 10 bucks.. coming from Bratislava where I had a beer for 66 cents, this is the total other end of the spectrum. This is going to make England seem damn cheap. But the city is lovely and very walkable with lots of parks, green space, flowers. I have been snapping away pictures filing up the last of my memory card... Ok actually at a place with 30 minutes of free internet use, so let me make the most of it, as at the cafe it would have been 30 Kr, or about 5bucks for half an hour... Bring your wallet to Oslo for sure..

7 More Days..

Whoa just typed a short post and it disappeared. I guess free internet at the airport isnt the most reliable, so let me try again. \Yep only 7 more days before I head back to the USA. Only one more country left, which is Norway and I am at the Riga airport right now about to head off to Oslo. Norway is crazy expensive so not the best choice for the last country on your trip, but thankfully I have a free place to stay and I am bringing as much duty free alchie as I can carry from Riga. Last night I was planning on staying in, but all of a sudden folks showed up in the common room, beer was served, stories of other travels told and then we possed up and headed off to the bars. Went to a place called Casablanca where I had never been. Cool joint with a live band in the basement, small stage but managed to cram 8 people up on there. 2 sax players, 1 trombone, keyboards, drummer, bass, guitar and DJ. Only caught about 30 minutes of the set, but its always nice to hear live music. Then it turned into a Dance party and they played some good stuff, Mikey Jackson, Stevie Wonder.. I asked for Prince, but no luck.. i guess I would have had to go back to my favorite strip club under the Hostel for Prince.. ALright dont want to stay on here too long, gotta go raid the duty free store of Vodka.. See u from Oslo.

Riga Redux

Ok so back in Riga, Latvia. I must say its strange to be in a city for a 2nd time on this trip, but due to the cheap flights and just overall beauty of Riga, it was an easy choice to spend a few days here. Didnt post yesterday as it was a long day, I went to Jurmala, which is a beach town about 30 minutes away, I must say the beach was very nice and despite the not exactly burning up temps people were out. It is a SAND beach, something I was longing for in Croatia and never found. The Baltic sea was actually not too cold, but the only problem with going in to swim is that the water is very shallow until far far out, so I only soaked my feet in. After that met a few cool British dudes and their Latvian tour guide, and went to the Water Park. I must say I felt like a 12 year old kid again, going on water slides, it was a total fun time. Didnt get back to Riga until late and then went out to party. Riga is really a great party city, while I feel it has changed a bit in the 2 months since I have been here, regardless still a good time can be had. During the week, more of the lovely local ladies are out, as they avoid the Brit stag parties on the weekend, yet in August it seems that the street pimps are being alot more aggressive about trying to get you into the strip clubs and stuff. Also the locals seem a bit restless as 2 girls were fighting over who knows what, maybe someone bumped each other. I gotta give the Latvian girls credit, or they watch alot of black films, as one girl went straight for the hair pull and grabbed on tight. Yet unlike Black girls, they dont have weaves here, so no hair was pulled out and thrown on the ground.

Tomorrow I am off to Olso, Norway, the last unique country on my trip and it will be number 22. Things are winding down, less than 10 days left before I arrive back in the states. While in many ways I am ready to come home, I do love this backpacking just wandering like a rolling stone lifestyle.

Another All Nighter!!

Ok made it to Berlin, as nice as the ICE trains are, it sucks when they are late, and my train from Munich was about 40 minutes late. Since it got in a little before Midnight and my flight tomorrow to Riga, Latvia is at 7am, there was only one decent option.. F the Hostel and pull and all nighter. I couldnt think of a better city then Berlin. Why I have neglected this city amazes me. Right now I am at a place called HOE, to call it a bar or club would be wrong, its more like an experience. Its a 5 level building with each floor a different type of Vibe. Right now I am on the top floor on a damn iMAC using free internet while other people smoke up and get high at the coffee shope. On the 3rd floor is an art gallery with some pretty cool stuff, on the 4th floor a red tinted lounge, I would have hung there but it was all guys.. On the 2nd floor is a pretty decent sized bar-club with music.. and to top it off outside like all german places there is sand, so they probablz call that the beach... ok on my first becks, going to hang till at least 4am, not sure what time the sun comes up but i would like to get a few picture of the berlin wall and some other sights, but who knows how i will feel then... more from Riga tomorrow, as I will be at my favorite hostel with free internet, maybe even a few pics of the recent time..

Kidnapped!!!!!

Ok.. well that is a dramatic title, it should be more like Stowaway. Sorry I havent posted the last few days, but I found 2 cool american girls who were driving in a big typical american SUV and I became a stowaway. We were staying at a house in croatia, in Zagreb up in the hills/mountains, and they didnt have internet access there. But they did have their own working farm, complete with Chickens whose eggs we ate each morning, remind me to get tested for bird flu when I get back, apple tree, grape vines which produced a cheap but deadly white wine, also fresh strawberry and grape jam. Overall it was a great 2 days, getting out of the Hostel lifesytle and to see how Croatian people live. So while I didnt enjoy Pula, Croatia much at all, when given the chance to spend a few days speaking english, telling all my stories from this trip and past trips and seeing how the real Croatian people lives, I jumped at the chance and stowedaway in the backseat of the Jeep for a few days..

Right now spending a few hours in Munich, Germany, its been alot of travel over the past few days. A 7hr trip from Zagreb to Salzburg, Austria which has the honor of being the first of a few repeat cities. Got to Salzburg last night late at night and the hostel I wanted to stay at reception was closed, found an internet cafe and looked up another one with 24hr reception and managed to get a dorm bed there. It was raining, in fact for the 3 days in a row, and now 4th country it rained yesterday, after pretty much great weather all summer this has been a downer. It rained in Croatia, it rained in Slovenia, then Austria and even today in Munich for a bit it rained. So in my 3hrs here in Munich went to the BeerGarden and had some bratwrust, sauerkraut and a liter of Hofbrauhaus beer.. now walking around and finally found cheap internet, 1.20Euros for 1Hr.. very good price, but I have a train to catch in 30 minutes, so I wont even be on for an hour. Last night it cost me freaking 2.20euros for 10 minutes just enough time to find a hostel to sleep in. WHile its great to be back in Western Europe, no more passport checks, back to 1 currency the Euro, at the same time the prices are steep and the Euros just disappear from the wallet.

Alright going to be on a 6hr train ride, but it will be the ICE, which is probably better than coach class on a US Airline. Going to Berlin and then have an early ass 7am flight to Riga, Latvia.. Riga will be the 2nd city that I have a return visit to, its just a 2 day drinking pitstop on the way to Oslo, where I will spent 4 days.. and then the trip is over.. in someways I am definately ready to come home, but in otherways if I had the money I would definately stay here another month and try to hit the few countries that I missed.. But watch out Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Ireland, Iceland, Greece as DrinkingAcrossEurope the 2007 edition will hit you and hopefully hit you hard... Talk to you from Lativa!!!

I am alive..

i know no posts for a few days over the weekend, but i am alive.. trying to find a room right now as its late and raining.. more later

Blackjack....

Yep.. today currently in Slovenia, in fact in Ljubljana and this is country 21. My initial goal was 20 countries and now I managed to pass that, and in the end will be adding one more Norway to the list. The countries that I have missed, watch out as I am addicted to the backpacking lifestyle. Next year the countries that I have not hit, watch out as I am coming to drink your beer.

Ok Pula, Croatia was a total bust, but Ljubljana is amazing, I wish I had spent the last 2 days here. Pula was not really a backpackers destination, as it was more families and really a car city. Where the hostel was you had to take the bus into town and the bus stopped running at about 11pm, and taxis were hard to find and like everything else expensive. I basically drank beer at the hostel, on the beach looking at the stars each night.. yeah I know sounds tough, as it totally could have been worse, I could have been bored and stranded in Bucharest, the sheete-whole that is was and will be for years.

So far it was raining all day in Ljubljana(pronounced LOO'Be'yanah). Yet on arrival I didnt have culture shock, as I had a reservation, a Map, and it said it was only 10 minute away. I missed the first turn off, but doubled back and found the place. Very chariming Hostel, with free Internet(YAY), sadly only 1 bathroom, so I must make sure to drain the snake before I come home from partying tonight. I have just learned the places dont really get going till 1am almost, so its 10pm and probablz for a beer and power nap.. Catch ya later

I am a Drama Queen

No way around it, I am a big time Drama King-Queen whatever. In the end naturally things turn out well, why I was so frazzled yesterday could have been sheer exhaustion. Anyway I have to give the city of Rovinj a chance, as when I was walking around waiting on my bus, I realized it was very beautiful. Also overrun by tourists, cars in the parking lot from every country including some from Croatia, but mostly from other places. this is a vacation spot for families, not really for backpackers. I do feel a bit out of place here, and plan to escape to Slovenia tomorrow depending on train schedules.

Pula itself is also overrun with tourists, yet the Hostel is cool. Its located right on the water, in a rather secluted bay, while it is a good 300m from the main road and at nighttime that walk can be trecherous its all good. The water is about the cleanest water I have seen in a while, U can easily see down to 7 or 8 feet. Its not too cold either. Today has been a bad weather rainy and cloudy day, so the beach idea is wiped out. The other beach problem is no sand, there is no sand here in almost all of Croatia, its rocky beaches, not comfortable at all on your feet, a pair of Acqa Socks is essential and I dont have any, so it will be just watching the water, dont plan on going in and twisting an ankle or something.. No idea why this side of the Adratic Sea doesnt have sandy beaches, as the Italian side definately does.

Interesting conversation once I got settled, being the only american here, lots of questions about NYC and america. it was a group of Croats, Slovenians, Germans, Greeks, French, the usual mix of people. One Croat was getting on my nerves telling me how there are 200,000 gangster in NYC, and how he wouldnt be able to walk thru the bronx without being killed. I guess watching too many of those hollywood movies, I tried to talk to him, but when he started going on lumping all Americans into the policies of G. W and our Govt, it was time for me to move on, it was a helpless case..

Well I am normal for today, i have alot of travel coming up between now and the 8th when I have to be in Berlin for a flight, so we might have a few more days of arrival shock and drama queen, so stay tuned and wish me luck

Ayan needs your support and thoughts

no one ever said travel was easy, but today has been simply horrible.. after the overnight bus 8hrs from Sarajevo to Zagreb was not ideal, i arrived fairly refreshed and happy. Two other americans who i had been seeing on and off since Belgrade were on the bus, so we walked around and had coffee in the morning.. then I took the 130pm bus to Pula, all along it was going well, the view was just fablous passing thru little towns on the adratic coast, going up and down in the mountains.. well it all went down hill when at the last bus stop I asked, is this Pula.. and the bus driver laughed and was like hahaha Pula was 2 stops ago.. U are in Rovinj, now I am sure Rovinj is a nice town, and it has to be since its damn packed..I even asked about a private room, or some sort of accomidation here and it was all full up... anyway so the bus back to Pula is not for another 3hrs at 10pm, once I get to Pula, no idea if the youth hostel will still have rooms available.. i am tired, hungry, been in same clothes for about 24hrs and if it wasnt for finding this internet cafe i was about to sit in the town square and have a good cry... i guess now i will have some food and definately some beer and hope when I get to Pula, if they freaking tell me I am in Pula that I will be able to get a bed.. I hope Pula and the roman ruins rock... I go thru ups and downs all the time when I am traveling, and mostly on arrival I have shock about the new surrounding and stuff.. but i think i just have been on a bus too damn long in the last 24hrs.. also worrying about wasting every extra penny doesnt help.. mom get back from montreal and save your son..

Doesn't feel like a Million..

the title refers to the number of people here in Zagreb, definatly not my bank account, which as I near the end of the trip is getting closer to Zero, too close in fact.. so if you havent bought me a beer or donated and were thinking of doing so, this would be a perfect time. I have a flight back to NYC on the 17th of August, and I would prefer to avoid sleeping in parks or bus stations until then, so while I dont want to get down and beg, or worse call out folks who have been reading everyday and not donated.. but the choice between the street and calling folks out, I will be hollering.. ok enough about the costs of traveling, how about the stress..

The bus ride overnight was 8Hrs, honestly 6 of that was spend weaving thru side streets and down residential streets, dirt roads and what not in Bosnia to get to the Border. Once across the Border into Croatia, we were on a nice smooth paved 2 lane highway and it was a breeze. I guess this is the difference when countries receive tourists dollars. Zagreb is a very nice city, I tried to do the city walk tour as given out by the tourist office, but there is so much construction going on here, it was tough to see everything.. Had lunch at a straight up Croatian place, the little mama lady was cooking and no english menus, so it was point and nod.. The first pot she opened up didnt look too good, so I was hoping what was behind door nubmer 2 was better, it was, an awesome beef stew with potatoes and fresh soft bread.. All for 20Kn(about 6 bucks, its 5.6KN to the dollar), definately it hit the spot.. havent had my first beer yet, but I am rushing off for another 6hr bus ride to Pula..Pula is on the water, when I get there I am going to want to jump in, after being on buses for some 14hrs in the last 24hrs... ok I am tough, I am off.. sorry for short post, but i need to get my bag from luggage storage and buy a ticket..