Country by Country: Latvia - so nice did it twice!

I visited Riga, Latvia on 2 seperate ocassions on my trip. They were almost exactly 2 months apart, so basically at the beginning of the trip, and then right before the end of the trip. The reason for a 2nd return visit, was I enjoyed the city and heck i was in Europe, alot closer than I would be to Latvia for a while, so why not get back again. Plus one of the discount airlines Air Baltic flies to/from Riga to where I had to goto next, Oslo very cheaply. The difference between my first trip early June and second trip early August was noticeable, more on that later.

My first visit I Arrived in Riga from Tallinn by Bus, not even a week into my trip and I learned one of my first lessons about efficient travel, BUY YOUR TICKETS IN ADVANCE. I walked all thru the construction of Tallinn to get to the bus station and check schedules and prices a day before I wanted to leave to Riga, yet I didnt buy the ticket at that time.. So when I go back the day and time i want to leave, naturally the bus is sold out and I had to wait another 3hrs at the bus station wasting time that could have been spent in Riga or Tallinn waiting on the bus. So in advance when you get the schedule info about when the bus/train/plane leaves buy your ticket then. My ticket was all of 200EEKs, which is about $16 for a 4-5hr ride between countries, it costs about as much to take a bus from Port Authority to JFK airport here in the city, so it was certaintly a good deal. The bus was as modern as any Greyhound/Chinatown bus here in the states and the ride was easy and comfortable.

The arrival in Riga was much easier than in my last stop, this is due to the fact I was staying about as close to the bus station as any place on my whole trip. It was about 300 meters away and simply had to cross the main street. I stayed at the Argonaut Hostel in Riga, which I would highly recommend. It was probably one of my top 3 Hostels during my entire trip. The location was a great factor for sure as it was located so close to the bus/train stations, along with being right in the old town. They had a good security system of a keycard the opened the front door after 10pm at night and also opened your room door at all times, along with small safes that you could put your own padlock on right next to your bed. While I wouldnt call it a bar, they had a fridge where you could buy a beer for about $1 and enjoy in their really nice common room which had free internet access, a 42" plasma TV and lots of couches to chill on, with books, maps, magazines and the like. Also the people were great, both in terms of the ones working there and the folks staying, it was a nice mix of people from all countries and in the evenings everyone would sit aruond have a beer or ten, talk about places they have been or going, trade stories and plan to hit the town at night, and oh what a town Riga is..

Riga is becoming known as the Sex Capital of Europe, or at least the Baltics. While I wouldnt go as far as saying that, it was obvious it was a popular destination for those horrible English Stag/Hen parties and all the debauchary that goes with them, also alot of "strip clubs" are around town, in fact one was located literally right under the Hostel, which made for a great last stop for that last beer you really dont need at 4am when hanging out. The stag parties are really bad, the first time in many on my trip I would experience drunken, costumed, stupid groups of Tourists, in fact they are so bad I am told the local ladies in Latvia basically stay at home on weekends to avoid these men.. Thus Riga is a city where every night you can find a party, so Monday thru Thursday are great nights to hang out. In my trip in June I honestly didnt notice the so called Sex Capital aspect of the town, my 3 nights there were peaceful and I wasnt distured on the street except for this one group of friendly guys hanging outside a place called Mary's that was a strip club and every night when I was coming home they were outside and trying to get me to come in.. I realized I would have been the only customer so I would chat them up and joke with them but realized their club was dead.. Yet in August when I went back, it was a bit more busy and hustling out on the street. Approaced by a few typical tourist scams, and also by men and or women, handing out flyers, trying to get you into their club, some were very pushy, others it was easy to ignore and just keep on walking. I must say in the 2 months I guess since August is high tourist season the activity picked up greatly.

The Old Town of Riga itself is a lovely place, the streets are narrow, few cars drive the town as there is a tariff for driving in the old town. While initally the names of the streets confused the heck out of me as they would change block by block, and no street went straight they all curved, after a few days and once you knew the landmarks to help guide you home, it was all good, I still walked around with a map on me as much as I could. All the resturants, museums, churches, and Bars are located in easy walking distance in the old town. There are also a few main squares where people have stands and sell local products, as with any city if you buy these in the main tourist areas you are going to pay twice or higher the prices than if you were to search out for the same items for sale away from the tourist centers. Here is a view of the Old Town from up high from the Church.

The currency in Latvia is the Lat. The exchange rate close to that of the British Pound, where the dollar isnt even worth 1 lat. In fact 1 US Dollar is about 55 cents(called Sentimes). Because of this and the fact the smallest paper money unit is the 5 lat note(about $9 US), you can have a pocketful of change that is worth something, so dont lose your change in this country. Why the Lat is such a strong currency I have no idea, it could be due to the fact that Latvia has one of the strongest economies in Europe with a GDP growth rate of 8.7%. They plan on switch to the Euro eventually but as of right now no formal plans are set for when that will take place. This could be one of the few countries due to good economy where the switch to the Euro does not make prices go up for the local people.

Bars, Beer and Women, yeah I know what you want to hear. Well lets start with the women... there are lots more lovely latvian ladies than there are men, some people estimate the ratio is about 3 to 1, I wouldnt say that high, but surely on a nice day in the Old Town, there seem to be women everywhere, and young blond women at that. In fact Latvia seems to have more blond women than the few Scandinvian countries that I visited, I never made it to Sweden or Denmark, but the Baltics have plenty of blondes. The women are not only tall and blond, but very nice and speak english, so no harm/no foul for going and approaching and talking to these women.

The Beer, while there are plenty of choices of Western beers, like Carlsberg, Heienken, etc the real action is in the local beers. Saku was a favorite of mine available in many bars, the prices were about 2Lat each on average, so that is a bit more expensive than other Baltic countries, but its possible to find it at some bars for 1.50Lat, still a bargin for a full half liter

The Bars, plenty of them scattered thru the old town, for the best info on the city and a great map check out the City Spy Map available for Riga and a few other cities, you can usually pick these up at Hostels and they fold up in a great size for your pocket, the best reference, and the writers are funny, witty and plugged into the local events. The most popular bar by far is probably Pulkvedim Neviens Neraksta(Nobody Writes to the Colonel) which is a resturant and at night a great club with 2 levels and a minidance floor, this was one of my favorite spots for sure. Located right in the old town, stumbling distance to most of the hostels.
Alright hope you enjoyed the wrap up and I do urge you to visit Riga, if you are ever in the area, a great place for history, and most of all will bring out the party animal in you.

5 Years Later 9/11

The view of the fallen Towers from right outside my home in Harlem 9/11/2001

Well with today being the 5th year since the attacks of 9/11/2001 I am sure this is the most blogged about topic of the day. Well since now I am trying to blog on a more regular basis being home I will talk about what is going on, and today in NYC it was all about 9/11 remembering 5 years later. I guess this will be my take on the day in 2001 and where we are now in 2006.

The day itself for me started as many days back then did, I was not working at the time, so I would wake up whenever my natural body clock had me waking up, on a Tuesday this was about 9am since I rarely go out on Monday nights. I woke up and turn on the TV around 9am and naturally went to the Today show, the first plane had already hit the towers and I kinda woke up thinking this was a dream, then within a few minutes of watching the 2nd plane hit and I was like oh damn.. What they tried to do in 1993 with a simple truck bomb, they are going to accomplish today with large airplanes. Yet despite the terror going on in lower manhattan there was no immediate terror or worry for me. I remember calling a buddy of mine in Jersey to tell him to Turn on the TV and watch. I knew my mother was working at an elementary school right across the street, one of my sisters was at City College even further up in Harlem on 138th street than me, and my other sister was in the Bronx at the time at her High School. While my father lived downtown on 19th street, he doesnt have any business near the WTC, so I wasnt initially worried at all about him. Like many others I was tranfixed on the TV, the phone rang every once in a while I remember getting a few calls from former work collegues in Chicago asking me what the hell was going on. I got on the Internet as DSL was still working despite many phone and celly;s going down, seems alot of people were on AOL Messenger and people were using that to communicate they were safe and wondering how to escape Manhattan as all the bridges and tunnels and subways were closed off.

As the day went on, and both of the towers Fell and the death toll was going to be extreme, first reports had 50,000 people working in both buildings when they were full. Well thankfully the Towers each stood about 1hr after being hit, which allowed plenty of people both in the Towers and in the surrounding area to get out of town. One thing about Lower Manhattan/Financial District, and I knew this from working down there as a summer Intern years before, was that all the buildings are PACKED in one tiny area, so alot of people worked in that little area. Thankfully a majority of people who could escape did, and sadly most people trapped above the strike zone had no chance to get out and perished. Yet on that day I never got a chance to mourn, never got sad, and dont think I cried. Why? Well my main concern was "How the hell am I going to find a job now.." knowing that the economy of NYC which was already fragile after the internet company crashes from 2000 and 2001, and the stock market that had taken a bit of a nose dive were going to be in the shitter. I had been searching for work for about 2 months pretty full time, and in fact about a week before 9/11 actually mailed a resume and cover letter to a Storage Area Networking company that was based in the tower, not sure if it was South or North tower, but I do remember it was on a high floor, like the 90th plus floor, which as we all know was a doomed zone.

Once everyone in my family made it back from work, we watched TV at my place since I had the biggest TV and was home all day. I know my mom cried, my sister was shocked and had to walk from the Bronx to Harlem, and my other sister kept on saying "remember this day, this is going to be the day that changes your generation.." boy was she ever correct in that regard. The news reporting was full of confusion in the first days that followed as the missing presumed dead numbers went as high as 7000 people. The city below 14th street was basically shut down for a week. In the end i think the offical count at the WTC turned out to be 2,749 people killed. From watching today the names/ages of the people I was shocked at how many young people, in their 20's and 30s were among the dead. The future almost totally wiped out, I read today the average age of the dead was 39 years old. I also remember the first time I went anywhere near downtown was a week later to see a band David Kolker that always played on Tuesdays, play at the Baggot Inn on West 3rd street. Walking from the subway stop at Sullivan Square you got out and usually could see the towers right down 7th avenue, instead you saw a pile of smoke, and could smell the smoke.. The Baggot Inn is located right next to a fire house, and walking past that firehouse, it was filled with flowers and candles, considering their proximity to the towers, it was no suprise that they lost some men on that day, I believe it was 2 or 3 members of their squad.

The Healing process took a while for sure, but again for me I didnt have the anxiety attacks, fears, or worries that most people had, I just needed a job. Well in February I managed to get a job at the time so my wait was not as long as others. As it turned out I didnt know anyone directly who was killed in the attacks, while this does not mean I was excused from grieving, it did make the whole incident less personal for me than for people who worked in the area or lost loved ones. My sister did have a friend from high school, whose husband is a photographer and rushed to the area to take pictures and perished when the towers fell, so in some ways eevryone in NYC was way less than 6 degrees of seperation from knowing someone who perished.

5 years later it is embarassing at the status of the rebuilding. When Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans called the site a "hole in the ground" I clapped and agreed wit him. That is exactly what it is now, when people come to NYC to visit and want to go see Ground Zero, I tell them how to get there and stay home. I have no desire to go there until it is a proper memorial and not some construction site. Between the in fighting of the politicians, insurance companies, private developers, governors of 2 states, congressman and city council members using the WTC rebuilding as a political way to get more $$$ for their area its totally sickening what is going on. The fact that 5 years has passed and all we have to show in a rebuild 7 WTC building that is still without any tenants to rent out. Its obvious that office space is not needed, there is plenty of other office space in NYC. This is a burial ground people, of the 2749 victims, I read more than half of those people NOTHING human was recovered, zip nadda no human remains of the people. The intense heat and fire basically creamated these people, they were the dust that fell on the site. Just like other mass grave burial sites from Pearl Harbor to the Titanic, it should be left as a final resting place. Dont build 10 million square feet of office space on the site where 2749 people died, while I dont believe totally in ghosts I know there will be some bad vibes and haunting spirits in whatever building are built. Turn the whole 16 acres itno a memorial site, a nice memorial site, even if it costs $1 billion dollars, the price tag that Gov. Pataki balked at years ago. He also said in 2003 that by 2006 the Freedom tower will be completed and topped off at 1776 feet, well its 2006 and its still a hole in the ground.. I dont buy the whole if we dont rebuild, it shows the terrorists that they won... I dont buy that argument at all..

As for the immediate aftermath of the attacks the War in Afghanistan and Pakistan, along with the illegal war in Iraq.. hmm where to begin. While initally I might have supported the war in Afghanistan, word is coming from there now that that Taliban is regouped and stronger than it was when we first attacked 5 years ago. They are attacking more, more organized, more money from a banner drug crop, got plenty of weapons and now are attacking the USA at a higher rate..

So what exactly have we done in 5 years, other than introduce the word "Daisy Cutter" into our vocab. We havent gotten Osama, we dont even know what the leader of the Taliban Mullah Omar even looks like much less how to caputre/kill him.. The world standing of the USA is about 5 notches down, between our secret prisons, not sticking to geneva convention, Abu Grave prision torture pictures, CIA eastern european torture cells, whatever.. As for the war in Iraq, well that was BS from the start, a way to steal their oil and get rid of Saddam, son G.W Bush finishing off what his daddy couldnt do in 1991. That war sickened me from the beginning and now in 2006 its worse than at any time. Average of 2 american soldiers dying each day, 100 Iraqis dying each day, the country on verge of Civil War, oil output down from pre-war time, the country having no interest in "Democracy" or any other american imperialism we try to impose around the world. Basically the world has had it with the bully americans. While I would like to support the troops, I just simply cant. I know they are just following orders, but when the orders are Illegal and totally tearing a country apart how can you just blindly support that and tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree. While it does pain me every time i read or see a 22 year old Marine getting killed over Bush's war for oil, the term "support the troops" is something I have a problem with. I dont support the commander in chief or his decisions, so how could I also support the troops.. I dont buy into that "they are fighting so we can have our freedoms at home" well Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks of 9/11 as Bush has said, but yet he tries to find a way to tie it into the whole war on terror as if we dont get them there, they will get us here stuff.. whatever..

I think we need to worry about our problems at home and not in Iraq, Katrina taught us about protecting and providing for our own. We have an immigration problem, we have Health Care costs out of control, Bad Economy, Climate Change, Energy Policy needed.. The $$$ being spent for a war that cant be won, just isnt worth it, so yes cut and run, get out, bring the troops home, admit we messed up Iraq worse than any backwards dictator could ever do and bring the troops home.. Bin Laden is chillin in a cave watching CNN on a 50" TV now and will be for a while. While i know if we leave the chance of Al Qaeda getting stronger and planning another attack yes will be greater, we will just have to strengthen our defenses, our human intelligence, electronic intelligence whatever, but its not like we have caught him now after 5 years, who knows if we can catch him if given another 5 or 10 years.. Yes in the years while the USA has been spared from attacks other cities like Madrid and London have been hit and hit hard. While in a sick way, I expect NYC to be hit again sometime in the future, I dont dwell on that in going about my day to day business.

The future has lessons for each of us for sure, and 9/11 might have woken some of us up to these things. From now on, we should hug our loved ones a bit longer, call that person you havent in a while, end dumb grudges with friends/family.. as in todays world you never know when the next earthquake, tsunami, hurricane or whatever is going to come along and take someone away from us..

Country by Country: Estonia

Ok I am going to try to write a country by country recap in the next few weeks/months. Since I didnt have a laptop while I was overseas it was hard to do more than 30 minutes to an hour at a time at an internet cafe so I was not really able to put all my thoughts on the blog. I did manage to keep a diary/notebook of thoughts, but looking back alot of these posts were written after a few too many Beers, so it makes it almost unreadable. I am going to start off with Estonia, as while it was my 3rd country(UK, Finland first), I spent 3 nights here so I have something substantial to say about it.

For those who dont know where or what Estonia is, It is located way way up north in Europe, Just south of Finland and East of Russia. That is the flag for those of you who want to see such things up at the top of the post. The capital city where I was is Tallinn, and the population of the city is 430,000 of the 1.4 million people in the country. The language is more a mix of Finnish than it is of Russian, who were the main occupiers of the country over the past century, yet the Country has a long history way before the russians took over in recent memory as it was been taken in the past by the Danes, Swedes, Nazi's, Russians you name it!

I arrived from Finland via a Ferry. The Ferry ride was 3hrs, yet the distance covered was only 18km, so basically a person could walk as fast as this ferry was moving, yet the reason for the slow boat was was SHOPPING. Finland is so damn expensive that tons of Fins come over to Estonia and buy up as much Beer, Wine, Spirits, Cigarettes, Perfume, whatever they can legally carry back. Waiting for the boat at the Helsinki port the best sight was when the boat arrived from Estonia and every man, woman and child were each carrying on a rolling cart the allowed 5 cases of beer. I can feel them knowing a beer at a pub in Finland is about $7.50, whereas the same beer in Tallinn is about $2.50. The boat was was nice, as it had plenty of shopping, a casino, places to eat. I was actually having a slight hangover, so I didnt do much on the boat but lay there and wish it was moving faster and not in a circle. This thankfully was the first and only a very few early hangovers, by the 2nd week my liver was working overtime and I didnt feel after effects, in fact I was like a functioning alchie.. able to stay up all night and drink and sightsee or travel by day.

The Hostel I stayed at was the Old Town Backpackers. This was initally a bit of a struggle to find. Seems the Hostel has moved their address from what was posted online on their website and also on the booking sites. So I arrive and at this time my backpack was heavy and uncomfortable, it would later basically be like having another arm and I didnt feel it at all walking up hills, in the heat. So after making my way, the LONG way from the port to the Old town, i came upon the old address. I rang the bell, knocked on the door, threw rocks at the window, anything I could do finally someone opened up and told me "sorry hostel moved, other side of town.." I was able to find it on my map, but it felt like a long hike. Upon arrival things calmed down a bit, I was staying in a room of at least 8 other people, but it was thankfully a large room, unlike that crap in Amsterdam. I think the cost was about $15 per night for a dorm bed, definately a good deal and about average for my overall Hostel cost.

So what were my expectation of Estonia, well every article I have read about it boasts of it being a party city, the new party place in the Baltics. Take this New York Times article as an example. I must say I wanted to goto this famous Club Hollywood, but never managed to get there during this trip. While I did have fun hanging out, and had met a few people in Finland who were living in Tallinn, so I had people to hang out with, overall I didnt feel it had the top 10 most beautiful women in the world as Maxim Magazine claimed, nor was it a big Party Capital.

The Beer, yes the most important thing.. The bar The Hell Hunt, had an amazing selection of beers on tap. Everything from Belgium, Estonia, Dutch, German to even Miller Lite. The cost of these were about $3 to $4 each, which at the time I thought was a greal deal, but I would later learn when I got to Eastern Europe $4 will buy you a round of Tequila shots. The local favorite beers are Saku, or A Le Coq. Both are very good golden pilsner type of beers, very refreshing. Cost were about $2.75 each, and without feeling pressure to leave a tip, a very good deal. The music in the bars was typical western Hip Hop, I didnt get a chance to experience any Estonia pop tunes at least at the bars I was at.

Food, They have their own fast food Hamburger chain, which is actually based in Finland its called HesBurger, I ate there on a rainy day, and must say it was great soak up the beer in the stomach from last night food. A whole meal of a big burger, coke and fries was less then $4, cant beat that at all. As for a real Estonian meal, I cant say that I had one during my time there, but considering its proximity to the ocean, I have a feeling it would have been fish and sadly for me probably uncooked fish and I aint down with Sushi, so the HesBurgers were just fine.

People, the most famous Estonian from a goole search is Supermodel Carmen Kass While I didnt see any girls like her walking the streets there were plenty of cute girls, but more of the blond/blue eye variety. As fro foreign tourists, there were a few, but early in June it still seems like a dead period for tourism as the city seemed fairly empty. The old town streets are a maze, but after a few days you can manage to get around and not too lost by using the old town city hall square as your reference point. I met an intersting American guy who was working in Kuwait doing oil rig/drilling whatever and was on his vacation and decided to come to Estonia he claims for both the weather and women, he was an interesting texas loud kind of guy, while not someone you would want to travel with, surely someone having a few beers and watching a game was fun with.

Overall Estonia is a very nice place, but by no means the party capital of Europe in terms of late nights or lovely women, the lovely women award would later be awarded in eastern europe and the late nights are better surely in other places. But I would not rule out Estonia as a stop either on the way thru the Baltics, or if you are on the way to St. Petersburg Russia as it seemed alot of people at the Hostel were on the way to or from.

Below here is my favorite picture of the old houses vs the new construction boom going on in Tallinn. Taken from the top of the Old Town City Hall which is about 300 feet high and you gotta walk up a tight circular stairway to get there.

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..

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...