Video: Picture Slideshow

Finally I have thrown together a video.  It's really lengthy...  But I think it turned out pretty well.

The first song is (off of my favorite album My Kind of Party) "Days like These" by Jason Aldean
The second song is an artist I like CCR - "Someday Never Comes"
The third song is one of the few "irish" songs I have.. "Shipping up to Boston" by Dropkick Murphy's
The Fourth song is my favorite song while in Europe ("Don't You Worry Child" by Swedish House Mafia)
The last song is "Hero of War" by Rise Against, a song I listened to in the military, which by the way really started all of my travel as an adult.  The song cuts out around the 13:00 mark and sounds distorted...  I am not sure if it's supposed to happen but the copy I got did that since I first listened to it.

Thanks for reading about my trip.  Below is the video.  It's good enough quality so that you can maximize the resolution to full screen (and it should still be nice quality).  For those of you that do not see a video below (Mom) here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqy_bLeHdBE

Venice

As I stated earlier I had gotten very lucky flying into venice and met two americans.  My time in venice was very enjoyable.  The overall attitude and feel of Venice is very relaxed and very romantic.  I did not come to Venice for the romance but in a weird way I think everyone that comes to Venice actually comes for the romance...  You hear about Venice and it was just a place I really wanted to go, but I could not tell you why...  I am very glad I went, I had one of the most romantic trips!  So cute and innocent, we went to the square at night and listened to the dueling classical music, watched people in love, etc...  I had still not thought about love, my brain is JAMMED with information, I still have not had time to think about what has happened or talk to the people I met from the first destination.  Each destination has been one right after another right after another, and I knew I would not have enough time to appreciate them so from the moment I got off the plane or train I took every second to take in the city... not wasting a minute.  I used the maps and navigation on my phone and rarely got lost, I went from point a to point b with ease and hit everything I wanted, so efficient, it was like I was in the military.  Venice was the off switch, and nothing was registering, I was like a 12 year old and here in front of me was a very pretty, nice, young woman and I did not really think about guy, girl, venice, until it hit me right in the face.

The following day I woke up late, slept in so well, and only got out of bed because I knew there were things I should do.  I should see SOMETHING in Venice...  So I went to the places the girls talked about, typical site seeing stuff.  I went up the tower, went to the bascilica, asked locals about sites, asked other tourists about sites, went on the boats, went to the guggenheim, went to the places the websites talked about all that.  Somewhere in the venice trip I got an email requiring me to come back to work early...  This is a whole nother subject but, on that second day in venice, sitting on a really creaky, poor quality dock in the grand canal, with a couple crabs peaking out of the water on the stairs, I was tied to the internet I had purchased for 8 euro.  I needed to do so much to ensure I could get all my flights ready and at the same time I had my travel representative on skype instant message and it had to be done at that time since I had the person on instant messaging (it is rare we catch each other and usually we talk through emails which is not the most efficient way to do business and confirm plans).  I sat there for three hours, talked to several airlines, watched so many tourists walk by, and was starving.  I joked about how I was in Venice but it really was kind of cool to think, I am in Venice...  Venice just has this awe to it.

Back to the Romance.  I do not like seafood, I just don't.  So, it was difficult for me to find anything but pasta, and I was pasta'd out.  I went to the first american place I found ... the hard rock cafe, and had a delicious steak.  The steak was 22 euros, and the margaritas were something near 16 or 18 euros.  I couldn't really figure out how that worked.  I was content with going to sleep at this point but I had a message from one of the girls and we met up just the one, I found out she didn't have a boyfriend, and the other one was too tired.  Fate was on my side for something I was not looking for, I had investigated some things I wanted to do (I think that is just how my mind works, I always investigate and think) and let her in on the adventures.  We had many options as this was a new city (to us) and I was too lazy to follow through on all my plans.  I wanted to walk in the park that Napolean created, mainly because well Napolean created it...  But the locals really discouraged it due to mosquitos and it just not being that great compared to the other options.  The guy at my hotel desk was named Vincent and he had recommended many great things.  In fact Vincent was really awesome and my travel buddy thought he was the cutest old guy ever.  He was so nice, full of recommendations that all turned out very nice.  Wherever we went when he recommended us, each person there knew who he was, and would greet us as an extended friend when we arrived.  Thanks Vincent!!  (I checked in to the hotel to remember the name and eventually leave a comment about how great it was on tripadvisor=)

My phone was dying.  I tried to navigate the streets without it, but I was failing.  I had to find wifi (which took a while) to search for the hotel the girls were staying at, once I found it I saw her and she said ''perfect timing'' which I thought was impossible seeing as how I took forever, but it worked out.  We walked and talked, and at this point I really was in the Venice romance chapter, it hit me, I asked if she had a boyfriend and she said no and everything made sense.  The chemistry was in the air ... as I said before travel brings out romance, but travel to Venice has an added element of it.  She grabbed a soda, I got a drink, and we sat down at one of the dirty docks, in fact it was so dirty I put my jacket down for her to sit on so she didnt ruin her clothes...  And there we sat so happily, so ''romantically.''  The first police officer helped us sit in a safe spot, but when his replacement came we got kicked off the dock, us rebels.  We returned our glasses and went on our way, it was getting late and we both had to leave in the morning.  I dropped her back off at the hotel and I think the best part is we didn't even kiss.  Venice really brings out the classiness of a person...

I am sure the conversation was one of my favorites, for many reasons.  Many of the conversations over this trip have been so nice, so diverse, so intelligent.  I love meeting quality people, and in traveling, often you find such people who are also traveling.

I went to bed, woke up to a rainy rainy day.  Venice was sad to see us go.  The girls had left early in the morning and I did not see them, I set my train a lot later knowing I wanted to sleep in and not having any sites to see that is exactly what I did.

My time in Venice was so nice and simple.  Things just worked out with no real effort and if I tried my hardest I couldn't have had a better time.  I want to comment on how awesome my nights were, how lucky I was...  I did not really want to spend any time with anyone as I was pretty burnt out but yet I have one of my most memorable conversations magically appear literally out of thin air. 

I must finish this post now to have time to go see the tower of pisa!  Good night from Pisa!

Barcelona's Send Off

My last day in Barcelona was so climactic - so culminating.  I'm searching for words to describe it and at the same time my brain is on vacation.  I am burnt out, but not in a bad way; somewhere in Barcelona a switch clicked and I knew I was done "traveling."  I'm not sure if it has to do with me meeting all my plans or if I am just burnt out - either way everything fell in place so well and I am so thankful. 

I will start where I left off, last I wrote was Sunday - I had a great day of site seeing and we were headed to the really nice club everyone talked about.  I had to borrow shoes from a friend I made at the hostel from Egypt (which was very nice of him) in order to get into the club because I couldn't wear running shoes (the hostel said they were big on shoes).  It was a really nice night club and I really had a nice evening, the club opened up to the beach in the back - it was a technically underground type place and really seemed good quality / classy especially with the glass wall in the back and the beautiful man made beach / outdoor area on the beach, viewable from anywhere you were standing when inside.

The next morning I had planned a guided tour for 19euro (normal entry I think is around 18 euro) at sagrada familia @ 11 am, this guided tour was something I didn't want to miss.  The tour enabled me to skip the long lines (called queues here in Europe) and enter via prepaid / online section (this is a must).  I took a taxi (taxis were very affordable in Barcelona and I didn't have time to waste with public metro/bus) to the sagrada familia and arrived a little early.  I had to find my entrance (which was in the back of the bascillica) and was able to walk right in with no line.  It worked out well!  The bascillica / church was amazing...  Words don't describe gaudi very well and it's something you just have to see- its relatively new (some people said they couldn't go inside a few years ago but I'm not sure how new or old the inside is) and just stunning. I'm very glad I went inside and even more glad I had no idea what I was going in to...  I hope you go , and if you do, forget everything you know and just think a normal cathedral - you will be amazed.  The visit was really pleasant and I was able to buy a cool a bottle opener souvenir for my cousin Sophie (my favorite bottle opener was a Barcelona one she had but we don't know where it went) to take the spot of an old Barcelona bottle opener - this one has a magnet on it so we won't lose it (I hope).  

After around two hours I was ready to leave - heading to my big journey out to the country side : Montserrat monastery. I found a website (I do not have it off hand) that explained every detail and option of how to get there from Barcelona - I pulled it up on my iPhone and left it up for offline reading on safari.  The trip went super easy - especially for my first time on the metro- and only cost around 5-7 euro each way complete fair (it's about 1 hour if train/metro but I don't know the distance off the top of my head.  Maybe 60 kilometers ?  (A rough guess I think Daniela told me (my host)).

The monastery was awesome...  Perfect little getaway and I want to post a picture of it to commemorate my last planned site (for the most part).  Really nice photos there- if you go to Barcelona and enjoy countryside definitely go out to Montserrat - it's such an easy journey and so nice / peaceful / romantic.  The weather couldn't have been better - even though I was alone it had its benefits, walking through that city and registering the views inspired a different kind of thought and offered an escape from the city - also a perfect peaceful finale to my jam packed schedule of sites over the last month. I had an amazing little sandwich which was pretty much hand cooked and very cheap (7 euro with normal nice fresh thick bacon) as a snack before I hopped back on the ski lift and headed down to aeri Montserrat (the train stops name you want to get off at for the ski lift (which cost 10 euro round trip)).   

I wanted to meet up with some friends and try to convince them to go to the boqueria with me for dinner (A lot of recommendations for this including Anj's which I really respect).  I went to my room and I had new roomates, two women from Toronto (who would turn out to be super fun and instant friends).  We decided to head to dinner together but when we arrived to the market we found out he boqueria closed at 8pm and it was 820pm ;(.   No worries - we headed back to the tourist trap of las ramblas and hit our hostel courtyard - plaza de real - with Gaudi's first work (2 lamps in the courtyard) in the backdrop.  I had told them I didn't think that was the best place to eat but they convinced me and we ate there - it was the best dinner I've had in Barcelona (like a 7-8 on a 10 scale) and I was so happy when I left I just wanted to sleep.  We ended up playing some drinking games with the friends that were still left and we just had a really fun night, the Canadian girls were awesome and extremely fun.   We ended up going out to my final night club of Barcelona, another beach club right next door to the other nice club we had gone to the night prior.  It was another great evening, I guess traveling brings out the optimism and fun in a person, everything is new and kind of romantic.

My memories from Barcelona didnt want to end...  I wanted the night to last forever, what a beautiful beautiful day, and way to end my crazy site seeing if Europe.  The whole time I felt like I made the best of the days - waking up early and exercising - site seeing - laundry - friends - especially food - I ate amazing this whole time considering I am traveling (I think this helped me stay alive and healthy through the stress of no sleep and new exposure to germs) - and going out at night and taking in the scene and feel of the city as the sun sets.  Barcelona had some of the best sites and night life.

I went to bed late, we had a lot of fun and wandered around Barcelona - again I didn't want my night to end!!  But when we finally got back I fell asleep super fast, in what seemed like an instant I was being woke up by my friend.  Everyone knew I was leaving...  I had told them I was going to stay but they urged me to keep going...  Not to let a city stop me from my original course, I had to collect my stuff, drop off some things I borrowed like shoes, and ran into a lot of people, said my good byes (not really sure why I was leaving and only half awake.  

On the way to the taxi I stopped by a sandwich shop and asked for eggs - I didn't expect much but for the first time - magically - I got the best sandwich I have had in Europe!!  Warm and delicious I wish I knew about this place earlier - I can't even remember the name because I paid cash and didnt expect it to be so good...  I never asked or looked at the name of it.

I had booked priority and front row seating on a cheap airline again and had a really nice flight back - I had a run in with the check in but that was my fault and I can't blame anyone else so not really worth writing about , I lost my ticket and it cost 100$ to reprint it (flying Ryan air - it's known not to lose your ticket ... Owch...). I had to pay it or lose my 130$ flight leaving in 45 minutes.  I wrote it off as a learning lesson - but I thought I would be able to get out of paying. I was wrong.

Landing in Venice I made friends with two girls traveling from America.  One was from walnut creek not 45 minutes away from me, we became instant friends and walked around Venice together, we helped each other out and used as little brain power as possible , both coming from jammed schedules in Barcelona with so much to do and we were all ready for a break - a vacation.  I helped them with a few things they helped me book my room, in fact they basically booked my room for me (all my travel was pre booked until now - freedom is nice but can propose difficulties on last minute rooms and accommodation.

When we parted ways for some reason I felt like I was already connected with them (cell phone or Facebook or email) but I wasn't and they stopped me, I thought for a second - yeah you're right wow ok what's your email.  They awkwardly asked me what my name was and we all realized we hadn't even asked each others names.  Our brains were truly on relaxation mode.  I ran into another American (older male) on vacation with his wife, and he asked me what day it was.  A few minutes later one of the girls asked me what day it was.  And I didn't realize it was Tuesday, the point being: everyone was truly on vacation here.  There's not a lot to see or do, my first relaxation.

Regarding Barcelona: read the outdoor menus and get a feel for local prices.  They range a lot and can either be very expensive or cheap.  Most places are outdoors so check the food as you walk by and compare with prices, don't be in too much of a hurry unless you're sure it's a good place or willing to risk it.  There was not a lot of "great" food in Barcelona that my friends or I found, and there are a lot of pricy places.  If you search or get lucky like we did , you CAN find a good and fair priced meal, that best dinner I had was around 12 euro for main plate of lamb (big portions) 2 euro for wine and 4 euro for an appetizer - Pretty cheap, and right on tourist row.

Barcelona 2.5

An eventful day of site seeing and my first missed site due to long lines. Apparently formula one is here and there are a lot of tourists - maybe even a holiday of some sort.  

I hit the cathedral on the way to the Picasso museum and didn't really see much difference in this cathedral versus the other many cathedrals I've seen.  All of them are so rich and grand it definitely tells you that religion was very important over the years and through the countries.

The line for the Picasso museum was huge - I'd imagine a few hours, the biggest line I think I've seen.  Having seen where picasso went to school I felt sad but content with skipping his museum- I was looking forward to it but not enough to waste hours of my time, time is precious for me at the moment.  The museum is closed on Mondays (tomorrow) so I won't be able to see it.  

Instead of waiting in line I headed to the boqueria which was recommended by basically everyone for food at least once.  I arrived and it was closed on Sundays.  I felt like maybe I had some bad karma or something.

I took a taxi to Barcelonetta beach district and had a nice dinner near the beach at a place my taxi driver recommended based off how many people he takes there - it was not that great, but at least he tried ?

I walked the beaches recalling a story our tour guide told us about Barcelona importing sand from Egypt and palm trees from Hawaii.  I looked for empty tree slots as supposedly Hawaii was taking back trees each year due to lack of payment.   I didn't see any tree slots but I did see a lot of pretty women.  Many of the people here have told me they love the sun so much, and they enjoy laying on the beach as a way of life.

After Barcelonetta I headed on a bus to park guell.  I had no idea what bus I was jumping on and figured I would just wing it, using iPhone maps and navigation.  

The bus driver told me to jump on another bus and I got off the current bus.  In front of me was gaudi house, I knew it right away and there were a lot of people taking pictures - no line!  I walked across the street and paid a huge entrance fee of 20 euro.  I think it was worth it - the house was awesome.  Nikki would have absolutely loved this house!!  I hope my pictures do it some justice or maybe just google it : la casa de batllo. 

After the gaudi house I waited for a long time at the bus stop telling myself a few more minutes and I would grab a taxi.  A pretty young Spanish lady walked up and I asked her by pointing at my bus number written on the wall.  She responded in near perfect English and said she thinks something is going on, due to formula one.  We walked up a bus stop and caught our bus - it was rerouted due to the holiday / formula one and did not stop at the stop I was at.

I arrived at guell park, it was not the worst walk (and I was in dress clothes now opposed to running clothes) and quickly I arrived to the top.  I had about a 15 minute conversation with a local who had traveled to San Diego and gone to school in Michigan for a year abroad.  What a great conversation and a very nice person.  He helped me with my goal of going to that castle I've been talking about but was not sure it could be entered.  He said there was a cafe in front of it with a great view and architecture, I was very interested but knew it was getting late, maybe tomorrow or some other time.  I need to get back and figure out how to get into sagrada familia tomorrow.

I think I have all my checklist complete including extras with the exception of Montserrat and sagrada familia, that is my main goal for Monday and hopefully all the tourists leave tonight!

In closing today was productive, a run, park Montjuic, the two best views of the city, lunch at a palace, a walk on the imported beach, a ride in a ski lift, a Spanish dinner, gaudi architecture, the old cathedral, a stop at the Picasso museum, and tonight the hostel is going to the most talked about club in Barcelona, supposedly real nice and the best night of the week.

Barcelona 2

Happy birthday to my grandma, happy Mother's Day to my mother and all mothers, congratulations to Adam for graduating with his masters and congratulations to Eric for graduating the police academy.

The statue I thought I saw coming into Barcelona wasn't a statue, but the castle was indeed a castle.  I want to go to this castle but it seems pretty out of the way and isn't on my list of sites that I know of.

On day two of Barcelona true to my plan I easily got in touch with a free walking tour and also the hostel promoted a "boat party."  I looked up the boat party online and there were comments about it being the best thing travelers did in Barcelona - I was in.

I didn't shower, got dressed in running clothes and went to the walking tour.  I had planned to run after the walking tour then take a quick shower and head to the boat party but the people at the walking tour, including the guide were also going to the boat party and the guide took us (two guys two girls) to local spots to grab tapas and local drinks.  It was a pleasant change from the tapas I had earlier in tourist central , and about 1/5th the price.

From there we met the boat and made new friends, a large group was there from a bartending course, people across the world came to Barcelona to get certified in serving drinks, I thought that was an interesting choice and I bet they had a lot of fun, they were fun to hang out with.  Another large group was another stag party from England (stag is the same as bachelor) and I was challenged in a game they were playing.  The real beauty was the boat, a catamaran, and pretty comfortable out in the sun looking at barcelonas coast, being on the water is nice.

After the boat party we met more people back at the hostel and went to the largest club in Spain - our group was quite funny and we found all these places we could climb to or down to and secret spots within the clubs.  I didn't get any drinks there and after we were done exploring I went to bed fairly early.

I woke up at 930 am which is pretty early here and went for a run.  My phone was near dead so I left it behind to charge.  I had been recommended to run to park Montjuic (mountain of the jews) by several people so I went there.  I found out there was another castle here and set out to find it.  Up and up I went with no idea where the castle was (I couldn't see it that's for sure) and much like budapest the climb was more than I expected, seemingly forever.  Eventually I got to the top, out of breath and running real slow - as a local passed by me without any problem or sign of fatigue, I commented on how he was a machine but I don't think he knew English.

I went inside the castle still running and didn't have to pay a cent.  The views were awesome, but I heard from many people the best views were at park guell - somewhere I will go later today or tomorrow.  I found it hard to believe there were better views, but I really trust what they said so we will see.  I ate lunch at the castle and could not find the orange juice.  I asked the waiter in my broken Spanish and he asked if I wanted fresh, I said yes and he took me back to a machine that cut and squeezed the oranges.  I watched him put 4-5 oranges in the machine and it made enough for one glass, one delicious glass of orange juice that I would never had believed was freshly squeezed if I didn't see it.  It was so so sweet, I wood have thought there was sugar added.  It's been a while since I had fresh oj.  Prices were cheaper here at the castle than on tourist road (las ramblas) which is kind of an insight to how much they rip tourists off there.  I am bad at history but I saw cannons or really big guns mounted around the castle and I marveled at what they were doing there, they looked so modern, was this some kind of world war defense?

I missed out on a lot of pictures, oh well I thought.  On the way down I saw a ski lift type suspended transportation system and immediately headed over there.  I double checked the prices which were fairly low and excitedly jumped in - happy to not have to run down the hill again.  All in all the hill was supposed to be 2 miles from my room but the hill itself must have been two miles of winding roads.  My 30 minute run turned into two hours and I was thankful for the transportation.  Once inside the cable car or ski lift, whatever you want to call it, (it's actual name is telefèric de Montjuic) I saw the best view of the city I have had so far.  It also took me over a good portion of the park at Montjuic and eventually dropped me off at the place where I think the Olympic diving was a few years ago.  It looked like they were setting up for the x games and there was a half pipe or whatever you call it for skateboarders set up, the view of the city in the background - really pretty.

I ran back to my room a different way and had to write this before I forgot, since I have no pictures.  I am hoping to see Picasso museum, guell park, Montserrat monestary and sagrada familia.  Yesterday I saw where Picasso went to school, and I have been interested in Picasso's art, how he was truly gifted.

Lots to do so I will close here.

Barcelona 1

Landing in Barcelona at 230pm was a quiet landing.  My friend I had made from Ireland (the good planner) told me to follow him as we were taking the same bus and both had luggage to collect (I check my bag due to liquids over 100ml).  We caught the second bus (the first bus was full and stopped admitting people as we were about to get on) and met a third amigo from Ibiza as we were traveling into the ciudad (city).  The lady from Ibiza had gone to school in Barcelona many years ago as she put it, and she explained how the city has changed and where we were as we were going in.  She was like a tour guide and she was just happy to practice her english.  In the distant background I saw something like the jesus statue in Brazil towering over the city, and on an equally high point next to it, I saw something that resembled a castle... quite formidable.  I liked this city already.

I got dropped off at plaza catalonia which was the last stop on the air bus from the airport, and had to search for wifi due to my poor planning and not having my maps up.  I had a meeting in 10 minutes with the person I was renting a room from.  A taxi driver pointed me in the right direction but I really dislike taking random advice without any way of verifying it...  Several times my verifications have saved me from incorrect advice, a lot of times people will answer out of feeling bad and wanting to help, but not knowing they are completely wrong and sending me off to waste my time.

It was surprisingly easy to find wifi and I was on course.  I passed the apartment complex and didn´t even know it, I was staying in the centre of the city!  I probably booked it for a reason but I forgot how great of a location it was, and it´s way cheaper than a hotel.  I had no idea how to get in and had to get help from local people.  I was buzzed in but didn´t even know how to open the door and just waited ten minutes for my host to come downstairs.  The door was somewhat hidden and you just had to know what you were doing to open it.

I got an introduction to the apartment and was really happy with my renting, it had a private balcony on the top floor and I got my first ¨rooftop¨view of the city, not a grand view but a view none the less, I just saw a few other rooftops, and some taller buildings.

I charged my phone in a Wall outlet for the first time in 2 countries, London and ireland use different adapters and I just used my rental car to charge my phone (they both had usb slots).  I had to leave my phone while I left for shopping-food (i felt so naked!!  this is the first time I haven't had my phone on me the entire trip!  the great location of the apartment made me not fear being lost, it was soooo central).  I had seen a number of stores on my walk from the bus stop and wanted to check them out ...  I have not bought clothes the entire time Ive been in Europe, and I have been wearing the same crappy work clothes the entire time, not caring what I look like, but now I wanted to wear something that resembled proper clothing.

I wandered the streets off las ramblas (the main Street in Barcelona and right next to my apartment) looking for food - shopping, finding a main square with a very official looking store but all stores only displayed womens clothing.  I guessed this place had mens clothing and wandered up flight after flight of escalators, finding literally everything but food and mens clothing.  At the top floor (maybe 7 floors up) I found a mall restaurant, I was so hungry due to only eating cereal at the hostel that I found the first waiter that spoke english and ordered his recommendation (anything with beef in it as I was craving some beef for some reason).  He brought out some potatoe and tuna salad ´´on the house´´ and I kind of cringed, I told him I really don´t eat this type of food but ate it anyway - I´ve eaten dirt before, I can eat anything, but I just don´t see a reason to eat potatoe salad, it looks like pure mayonaise...  Why get addicted to things like mayonaise and salad dressing that serve no function on the food table?  That's for another discussion I suppose, back to Barcelona - the view was interesting to me, I love rooftop views at restaurants, but this one only showed all the rooftops of Barcelona - they seemed to be simliar heights, maybe there is some kind of height restriction on buildings?  I enjoyed viewing this second level of Barcelona, a really jam packed city.  My food arrived pretty quickly (a thin type of beef steak, an egg, with some french fries) and I had a glass of red wine - delicious.   The kétchup was really weird it tasted like fresh tomatoes, which I immediately thought was nasty but, after further review thought maybe it's the best kétchup I ever had?  I'm not sure, I'm not a kétchup expert and I just ate all the kétchup analyzing whether it was good or not.

I found out the mens clothing was on floor "Minus one."  It was a funny translation, and I headed down to the negative one floor.  I couldn't figure out my size in local numbers, it was too confusing, so I bought some clothes from London, a Brand called pepe.  I really wanted to buy some cheap clothes but I ended up buying rather expensive clothes at full Price for pure quality sake.  I really missed nordstrom rack / express sales and quality, and had to pay a Little more for the lack of knowledge of the área and lack of time.  On the way home I bought my first bottle of cologne since I've been in europe, I guess it completed the outfit for the night and now I am fully back to civilization as I am used to it.  I even bought some socks, really weird socks, but socks none the less.

Walking back I noticed I had passed the cathedral, several times, without even realizing it.  This is a huge attraction and was made somewhere around 800 years ago.  I didn't have time to stop as I had big plans for my first night in Barcelona.  I kind of understand that your first night really sets the pace for the rest of your 4 days, and I want to do A LOT!  So I contacted a referred hostel about what they were doing tonight - a pub crawl as well as a random club each night.  I wanted to respect my apartment owner and not come in at late hours so I booked a 20$ room at the hostel, well worth the Price simply for the knowledge I gain.  I will catch a free walking tour they recommend in the morning and possibly make some friends on the way.  I do not feel like drinking but do want to catch the nightlife of Barcelona and I have no idea where to go.  Last time I wandered by myself I got ripped off in Hungary, not a great experience and easily avoided by sticking with hostel groups. 

Time to hop in the shower, throw in some laundry, and head out, I wanted to get this posted because arriving in Barcelona was quite impressive and I like to update my friends and family as much as possible about the evolution of this trip.  Hopefully this gives you a good idea of my first day in Barcelona and what I'm learning about traveling.

Ireland

I arrived in cork Monday morning at 7am but I don't remember it very well.... I must have been really sleeping - or perhaps Ireland has taken full control of my brain.  I remember kind of looking out the plane window but im not sure it came close to stavangers landing because I didn't take any pictures.

I rented my car (paying way too much) and headed off to see a castle and the Jameson factory.  It was a quick drive and early in the morning, so I stopped by a breakfast place to kill some time; I had a mediocre meal.  It had everything I wanted but not cooked the way I am used to - the bacon was really different and tasted more like salted, tough, ham.  The eggs were so plain, no cheese no substance just plain plain eggs.  No big deal I ate them with a smile, better than most European breakfasts so far but still not home cooking..  Also I did notice that every guy there had the same shirts on, blue sweater over with a flannel collared under...  Very strange - they were not in a group but dressed the same.  

The Jameson factory was interesting enough, I drank every kind of Jameson as well as the other whiskies distilled there.  It is the only place Jameson is made, in the entire world and they have one or two types of Jameson there that they do not sell anywhere else.

After the Jameson factory I checked into my hotel then I met up with a friend I had met through a travel website, she took me to different places, we had dinner, and then ended up at an open mic singer / songwriter night which was really nice.  I really enjoyed the country type duel guitars and singers...  Probably more than she did - but she looked like she really enjoyed it as well.  By chance I also found out she was Hungarian (from Slovakia) and I felt proud that I knew all about Slovakia / hungarian history largely in part to the conversation with Dracula the Serbian - when I called him a Russian.

From there we walked back to the hotel and parted ways, a really cozy comfortable night in cork (poor weather).  I fell asleep so deeply and rested for the last few weeks...  In Norway I was always trying to do something early so I didn't get to sleep in, in London I barely got any sleep again due to having to wake up at 330 for a flight.  Sweden i had the walking tour and a plane to catch..  Finally I just slept in - over 10 hours! I had a nice breakfast buffet and checked out - ready for my full day trip through ring of Kerry and hopefully into dingle/cliffs of Moher.

On the way to ring of Kerry I got a flat tire, the whole time in Ireland it's been cold and rainy- great I thought.  But the tire problem introduced me to opportunities to meet people I wouldn't have had otherwise and I am richer for it.  I got a real taste of Ireland when I needed to change my tire and get it fixed through my insurance and local garages...  And it was all free thanks to the large fee I paid in the beginning..  But as much as I wanted to avoid changing the tire myself- I had to ...  It was easy, but cold and wet.  Due to the garage being so far north I decided to do dingle first opposed to ring of Kerry.  It wa getting late as well and dingle is smaller.  Though it was cold windy and rainy - it turned out to make the ocean come alive - for beautiful views of cliffs and waves crashing ... So a curse is a blessing after all.

Driving in Ireland is really fun but really dangerous.  There is barely enough room for two cars and the speed limits are rather high.. There are no passing lanes and almost never enough foresight to pass or get a dashed line telling you that it's ok to pass.  You drive again on the opposite (left) side and the sites are amazing - like car crash amazing.  I was wow'd more than I thought I could be at this point of the trip.. I only hope my pictures turn out half as good as it looked in person...  I was driving watching the road waiting for the next site to develop thinking the best was over and then boom another massive beautiful site... I was wow'ing and laughing to myself out loud - applauding Ireland for its presentation...  I couldn't believe they just kept coming and I was glad there wasn't much traffic because I was in a hurry and trying to take pictures from the car.  I didn't WANT to stop but I did several times...

I feel like everything is awesome on this trip, but yet again I feel the need to say "Ireland" is awesome.

The night was closing - I had done and seen a lot.  Traveling alone is a huge benefit in some areas and lonely in others... Today I was reminded of the benefits because I could push on further and further and not need to worry about someone else and how they felt about it.  I got so much in and speedily rushed through things to capture just what I wanted...  I was as selfish as I could be and that allowed me to be very kind to the few people I did meet.    

Looking at the map and the time I wanted to set up my day as best as I could for tomorrow- I had a new urge to see the cliffs of Moher after realizing how little I had to drive for such a reward (thanks lynda) and decided to put myself in Tralee fairly close to cliffs of Moher (I think).  I will start the morning off with Moher and try my best to speed through ring of Kerry, depending how far I get either head back to cork at night or spend another night site seeing in Killarney.  Either way I need to be in cork at 9am at the airport to fly out Friday to Barcelona.  

The mashed potatoes here suck...  I've ordered so many - anticipating awesome homemade potatoes but they make them differently than I am used to... And I think I need to find a new food.

As the night ended I made some friends at a local pub and was introduced to Irish life, it was really fun and people were overly nice and welcoming, the Irish way perhaps.  

Waking up late, I headed to ring of Kerry - I was now talked out of going to cliffs of Moher - and the ring of Kerry was much like dingle loop...  It was beautiful.  I took several pictures but could have taken many more - I skipped the opportunity to take some pictures because I was tired of stopping every kilometer.

Again I have to comment on the driving - it was so fun today zipping through the hills of Ireland on cliff lines.  100 kph is fast up there and I rarely hit it... I was becoming a pro driver up there zipping through and almost hitting the speed limit at times but rather scared at the same time.  I never risked my safety, and even pulled over to take a nap when I felt drowsy...  Ireland is not the place to risk driving - if ever I thought I would be in a serious accident it was here.

The drive back to cork was quiet and not much to talk about.  However, arriving to cork was like a different city - I had to recheck the map several times in disbelief.  I must have come In from a different direction or the weather made that big of a difference - this small city transformed into something resembling a small prague.  I was really impressed with a city I had just come from a few days earlier. 

Along the way I needed some wifi so I stopped at the first pub that pulled up wifi from the street.  I met the bartender and what appeared to be a bar back, they introduced themselves by first name real professionally and were overly kind, helping me situate myself and recommending places to eat and sleep and grab a beer.  I checked into a hostel they recommended for 20$ and went out for dinner at the #1 recommended place by my friend (prior to me coming to cork) - "cafe serendipity." 

My appetizer was interesting - 4/5 offered appetizers were salad or seafood so of course I chose the 5th option, some kind of chilled beat soup with quail egg and some words I didn't understand.  It was delicious and I began to think this was a "Schweiss" (sp?) level restaurant (the Berlin restaurant that took my number one all time).  The garlic bread was simple but well done to perfection on every bite and the soup had a mixture of cheese / tomato / vinegar / beat? Quail egg? / butter / soft / thick / that I have never had before.  A new flavor that resembled pickle and I really dislike pickle but this was good.

I stopped my dinner to type this - updating as best I can as I go- the dinner is equally as good as Berlin now tied for top dinner ever.  I had the duck leg and other stuff I don't know the words to... The carrots were the best I've ever had...  And I've had a lot of carrots.  I need to learn how to cook them like this wow.  The wine was not that great by the way so berlin is up one on drinks provided but as far as food goes, wow.  The local that recommended this to me said it was expensive but it was the same as Berlin, and I've been paying these prices for my pub food the last few days - the difference between tourist and local :(  

 I really am pleased at how someone could cook so well, turn simplicity into beauty - every ingredient was a masterpiece by themselves then mixed to create a symphony mmm I am now a food lover and both my top two ever were cheap (40$ for appetizer main and dessert + drinks).  Of course I had to get dessert, I changed my choice from the typical apple pie and ice cream to a new item added tonight: "pistachio brownie with marscapone - delicious.  Each bite got better... What a good night I am so comfortable and cozy again, must be the cork or Irish way...  I've never felt so comfortable traveling - like I was at home and ready for bed early each night.

Once I was back at my hostel I didn't even want to brush my teeth because I had such a good flavor left from dinner...  But I did.  Then I went downstairs to the bar area where it was slam packed for the local performer, another perk of cork - lots of local music and alcohol.  I again met with my host and we went to two different places, we enjoyed really good cheese and some wine tasting- Ireland's is not known for its wine, they joked the worst wine in Spain is better and cheaper than the good wine in Ireland (maybe a little exaggerated) - that makes another reason I am excited for Barcelona.

I packed up and headed to the airport after another good night in Ireland.  It was a short flight and I made friends with the person sitting next to me who had planned out his Barcelona trip very well - it was his only travel spot so he even learned some Spanish...

And then we left Ireland.

One day in the uk

I started the day with breakfast in Norway, walked through the city center to catch a bus to the airport.  In London, grabbed a car at heathrow international and ate lunch at Stonehenge.  Took in a few deep thoughts at this old monument then headed to Oxford for two dinners and two beers.  I walked the campus and found great location after great location.  Oxford has been a place of fairy tales for me since I read my first books about it, and it didn't disapoint me one bit in person.  The day couldn't get any better right?  How bout a cruise into London for a sunset, then a drive through  the city as everyone is going to bed and there is no traffic...  I think back to all the major cities I've driven into and watched the night reflections and bright lights off beautiful cars...  Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Fran, LA, San Diego, Vegas, Phoenix, Minneapolis, NYC manhattan, Charlotte, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Raleigh, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Knoxville, Austin, San Jose, Panama City beach, Tampa bay, Daytona, Jacksonville, little rock, myrtle beach, Atlanta, auburn, and the list keeps going...  Today was a quiet day for the soul - reflection of history and education, driving for the first time in a long time through the countryside of the uk and into its largest city.  No tolls, no fees, easy parking (maybe not the two hour parking), and walking wherever my eye takes me.  An early flight in the morning is on my mind...

As soon as I landed I had to take a bus to my main car rental facility- the bus driver said it was hands down the nicest day that London has had all year.  Later, driving, the radio said it was the hottest day of the year (backing up what the bus driver said).  I was told I could tell everyone it was hot in London and they would think I've gone mad.  It was hot in London, I couldn't even wear my lightest north face pullover- it was all tshirt today.

Once I arrived to my vehicle, I realized I would have to shift left handed, while driving on the wrong side of the car and road.  I was so confused for the better part of my driving and I think I had a small headache the entire time from my brain fighting its natural reaction to put my eye and there for the car on the left side of the lane, right side of the road.  Several times I put the left tire on the noisy strip warning I was going off the road because of where my position was compared to muscle memory.  And on a few occasions people gave me extremely weird looks as I drove down the wrong side of the road slowly taking pictures or looking at things ... Unknowingly on the wrong side.

I couldn't believe they just let me drive , I figured everything out but they didn't even tell me common problems or anything - just gave me keys.  Didn't even ask if I could drive a stick.

I thought about skipping Stonehenge because it took so long to get the car, in fact I headed off towards Oxford content in skipping Stonehenge but my lack of skills in reading the stupid roundabouts shot me out towards Stonehenge.  I was too lazy to turn around and just went with it- a good call.  Stonehenge was pretty cool and a beauty of a drive.

From Stonehenge I had another beauty of a drive to Oxford.   The forests (if you call them that) and the grassy fields were quite pristine.  There wasn't a lot of mowed grass or landscaping but just natural beauty.  I thought back to the conversations I had with my father about trees and how to properly space them etc, kill the undergrowth, and noted that these trees looked perfect.  I doubt someone did all the work but marveled at how it could happen naturally.  Maybe someone did?  I really doubt it.  The UK just kind of gave off a natural and pretty feel, the old stories I've read and the rich history of the country definitely helped set the scenery.

Arriving in Oxford it was difficult finding parking - two hour free parking presented itself right away but how annoying was it to get back in two hours when you're site seeing?  I couldn't pay for more - I just had to move my car or take a 150$ fine...  I contplated it but its just too much.  After 630 I found free parking right downtown which was nice.  I wandered and wandered and found pub after pub park after park, old building after old building.  The Thames (I think) was pretty and the campus was full of people.  I walked into Christs church even though it was closed to visitors (with the guards blessing) to take some pictures.  It was beautiful.  I saw a bunch of people inside and asked what they were up to.  He said they had just finished a service and the others lived here.  "Lived here," what the heck I didn't comprehend that.  He laughed and said it is a college after all, people live here.  Everyone went pretty non chalantly about their way and were real friendly and diplomatic.  I would put bets that every single person loved that campus.  It may be small to live in but visiting was awesome, and it was a quick drive from London.

Driving into London was the easiest "huge" city I've ever driven into.  It does help its 1030 on a Monday night , but even on the wrong side of the road it was a quiet peaceful no traffic no toll stroll.

I sit here a few feet away from the famous bridge, which is magnificently lit up and my next destination...  I will fall asleep soon.  Good night from London.

Stavanger sat-mon

I don't have a ton of time to write this but I wanted to get it posted before I arrive in London.  Currently it's Sunday night around 1045pm.  The sun set really late here and it was daylight way past 9pm.

It was nice to see someone I knew...  Oslo and stavanger both had hot points for Internet that I paid for... I think it was 8$ for a month?  I'm not sure - maybe they got 16$ out of me tops but I got to communicate with my friend really easily so it was worth it for me.  She was waiting at the airport when I landed, just as pretty as she always was.  Line, was a good friend of mine in Washington state, we hung out with the same group of people and her good friend was my boss who ended up dating my good friend but then everything changed and everybody moved.  Before it all changed it was really really fun ...  And we had all just turned 21.

I took more pictures landing in stavanger than any other flight, ever.  It was really nice in my opinion..  Dark blue and cold looking ...  Nice but maybe not where I would want to live - maybe too cold for me.  I only say this because I'm sure the Norwegians don't mind.  While I was here they were very nice but I think a few of them had said they never met an American before.  I couldn't believe it until I saw the prices.  It was really really expensive.  I didn't really feel it as much as a normal person visiting would because Line picked me up and I stayed in her guest room for the first night.  She got free tickets and into the club for free because her boyfriend was in the security business.  Once I started paying for things I noticed heavy dents in my bank account.  A gas station burger fries and peanuts cost me 25$.  Three waters cost me 18$.  5 drinks (one for each of us) cost me 90$.  A sushi dinner for four - split in half - cost 110$ and I got the cheaper half.  It is just really expensive and an unwelcome change from Eastern Europe.  I'm glad my stays here were shorter!  I am broke in these countries.  

I had a really relaxed night with Lines two neighbors and two more of Lines friends.  It was three guys and three girls and we kind of stuck in our groups (Lines boyfriend was working).  Us guys had fun, I didn't really know them very well but I think they are just really good people if I had to say anything about them that's what I would say.  Good ol boys.  We entertained ourselves by just keeping to ourselves and kind of trying to dance with local girls.  I saw plenty of ethnicities but I doubt any were American, I'm not sure but I can usually spot an American and I didn't spot or hear any.  I could tell people were confused when I didn't speak Norwegian, and for example on the ferry or anywhere I went thre was no English translations.  I couldn't even open a door because it was all in Norwegian, I didn't want to set off an alarm and I had to push the button to open it...  I tried everything with no luck and finally just hit the damn button not knowing what would happen - success.

We had agreed on waking up at ten to go hiking the next day.  That didn't happen (glen didn't even go with us).  I was the only one awake but didn't want to bug Line or her boyfriend so I waited until around 1130 for the princess to wake up.  We finally picked up her boyfriends sister Martine (both names are pronounced Leena, Marteena, the Norwegians have odd spellings) and headed to the climb site.  The drive was really cool - I took my first ferry and snagged some nice pics.  Stavanger is different than anywhere I've been; it has some similarities to a lot of places but just nothing has all of what stavanger has.  I wonder if Alaska does?   I was glad I made it to see Stavanger for many reasons, mostly Line's friends, showing me stavanger from a locals point of view which is the best way to see any place.  Not to wonder if you've missed something, knowing that someone who has lived there is telling you the best spots or taking you where they want to go/where they think you should go.

I enjoyed hiking with Martine and also enjoyed the conversation about living in Norway vs America.  She was pretty and well educated, into business and set high goals which i have no doubt she Will work hard to Reach.  I found out she went to the school I am visiting outside of London, I was really impressed!  Again and again I will keep saying the people are so interesting and I didn't think they would play as large of a role as they are in my trip.  I kind of wanted to be alone and just sitesee, but part of travel has been the people, and now I'm a big fan of meeting people.  I go out of my way in fact (as I did in Sweden) to meet people that I think are good people.

We grabbed sushi on the way  home and I are a lot of things I never had before.  It was expensive but it was also good (I didn't taste any seafood)..  There were no asian people working at the sushi shop, I don't think I've ever seen a sushi shop without an asian working there ?

Finished up laundry and headed to the hotel, Line had been a very generous host and she had to work the following day (Monday).  It was around 915 pm and the sun was still bright as day, must be something to do with how far north we are.  I asked Line and she said it had something to do with the days of the year, some days they have a lot more sun than others.  Maybe even 24 hours of sunlight.

I got to the hotel around 10 and it is nice to have my own space!  Relaxation begins.  I have been working on this blog for a few hours and I must go to sleep.  I am so glad I came to Norway and met Line and her friends.  Stavanger I will always remember.

London in the morning (though I plan on seeing sites outside of the city).  Good night from Norway.

Stockholm thurs-sat

Stockholm went by really fast.  I last left off writing a blog until 12am+ ...  The blog takes a while to write - especially on an iPhone screen.  It's just inefficient.

Waking up around 830 I ate some eggs left by the house host Ruth, another good meal in Sweden.  I met up with the other guest and we took off together for the free walking tour.  Upon arrival we decided to go to the nobel museum first.  We got a guided tour as it opened at 11 o'clock. The tour ended at 12 which gave us just enough time to make it to the palace around the corner for the changing of the guard at 1215.   The changing of the guard was cool to see, more a formality obviously than anything, good tradition.

On our walk from the palace in old town we went by the house of nobility and the parliament building (nothing amazing to look at but historical I suppose).  At one o'clock we had sandwiches and water in hand as the walking tour started through king and queens streets, library street, kings garden, and ended at another palace.  We stopped by the bank that was robbed and the reason for the saying "Stockholm syndrome" as our guide pointed out took place here at this building in front of us in the 70's.   there was also a huge reward for the prime ministers murderer who has never been found.  It is rumored that the prime minister liked to ditch his guards and was shot mistakenly because he resembled a drug dealer (same height and coat).  I don't know if any of this is true but that's what the guide said so I assume its true?

After the guided tour we went to Ericsson globe to go on top of the globe and see Stockholm from above. At the same time we bought tickets for the hockey game- the Sweden game at 8pm was our first choice but of course sold out.  Instead we grabbed Czech vs Belarus tickets (I as well as my roommate had tried to prepurchase tickets online months ago but they would only take European cards).  They took American cards on sight and  I was cheering for Czech but had the teams mixed up for a good portion of the first period.  

I left my roomie after the second period, to head to dinner which I had reserved for 5-730 pm at one of the best views in Stockholm.  I left the game at 535 and arrived a bit late for my dinner.

The dinner and the view were very nice.  I had a beer after dinner at the bar as I was recommended (for the view) and met a few different people sitting next to me.  One guy was from Iraq who was with a girl from Russia.  Another was a lady that was Swedish. I actually met more immigrants than natural Swedish people - and a lot of Arabic descent.

Nothing notable really happened after that other than trying to find my hosts house which was pretty far away.  I had prearranged to stay at a hosts house on their couch to "stay with a local."  This was my first time doing anything like this and given as a recommendation from a friend who had traveled Europe before.  It turned out to be really nice.  I am so glad I did this, as to me traveling is about meeting people.  

The next morning I was running out of time fast, I needed to eat and thought eating at a restaurant was the right idea.  My host said she would make breakfast but admitted she never really eats breakfast in the city so she was up for the adventure.  I thought it would also be nice to have someone to help me through the subway system to the airport.  We had a hard time finding a place in Stockholm that served traditional breakfast food: pancakes, bacon, eggs, etc.   Most of the people we asked didn't even know a place - I really wish they had a Cracker Barrel !!

I was pushing my time limit and had to get going.  My host was so nice!!  She walked me to the furthest point like she was sending her kid off on his own for the first time!!  It was awesome.  People can be so kind, and it just makes me so happy to meet them.

I made it to the airport just in time.  I had an awesome cab driver who said "I drive this every day I will get you there on time!"  I fell asleep and woke up at the airport with plenty of time to spare.  Another nice person.

Looking back on Stockholm I wasn't there for very long but it had generally nice people.  The prices were a little high due to taxes - a bottle of cologne that cost 50$ tops in the USA cost 80$ minimum in Stockholm.  A beer cost around 10$.  Hockey tickets were around 12 dollars but I found that to be pretty cheap.  The Ericsson globe to the top was 18$.  It was a nice city to fly through and see, it reminded me a lot of Minnesota and I had always wanted to go there.

Budapest Friday-Thursday, Stockholm Thursday

As I write this it is now 1245 am in sweden.  Technically day two.  i've been writing for way longer than I thought I should have been...  My tablet isn't working, which sucks, so I linked my bluetooth keyboard to my iphone (go apple).   I still can't see much and I definitely don't have the time to review this, so same story if there are grammatical errors I'm sorry...  It has felt so nice to relax, Sweden and Norway should be very relaxing for me... Very healthy... Back to normal, healthy lifestyle.  Tomorrow I have the walking tour (something I learned about in buda/prague -and will do in San Fran when I get back.

These last two trips had some drinking involved.  This wasn't the goal but when in rome, do as the romans do.  Or in this case as the prague/budapest do.  I kept responsibility foremost in my drinking and safely made it through without any problems, there should not be much drinking in the rest of my trip, maybe barcelona.  Maybe some beer in Ireland or some wine in italy  , but nothing like prague/budapest.

Budapest was quite an experience.  I was not able to keep a daily journal but will do my best to recreate one.

Day one:  As I mentioned in the last post from prague, I arrived by train.  My first images of budapest were really quite what I expeected.  It was a big train station with a lot of open area, not too clean not too dirty.  There were not a lot of big businesses or commercialism concepts staring at me, instead I just saw a lot of tourists and little shops.  A mass of people going about their way and journey.

I made my way to find some internet but did not come across any and gave up with only a half hearted attempt because I had the address to where I was staying already saved.  I arrived by taxi and tried to check into the hostel "Grandio Party Hostel" which was recommended by other travelers to me.  I didn't even have time to properly check in before I had made my first friends - everyone was headed out to a pub crawl, the first stop was at the #1 recommended ruin pub that almost everyone told me to visit: "Szimpla Kert" or something similar.  This is the biggest benefit of hostels, they know the town and get you places with minimal effort and maximum safety - while introducing you to people from all over the world.  

I went off on my own to find food and a specific drink Matt had recomended, and decided I would call it an early night.  Even though it was friday night I justfelt really tired from Prague; I thought to myself, "it doesn't matter how fun this city is, I need sleep," and headed back.  Along the way home I stopped in a few places alone to check out "Budapest."  I don't think I've ever been somewhere that was so blatant about taking advantage of tourism, they tried confusing me and charging me for things I didn't want or ask for...  No where did prague do this, and at one point I just said "This is ridiculous," and walked out, half afraid they would try to intimidate me (I was alone).  I am too familiar with how bad situations can get and how fast they can get there - so I feel rather lucky that nothing happened (though I did nothing wrong, that doesn't always matter).  I knew this existed and would make sure to be more careful in the future.  I ent home an got a good nights sleep,  the first in a long time.

Saturday morning I slept in a bit and did some laundry.  I went to the gym I saw on the way into town and had a full workout, followed by a run through the city.  Buda Pest is really two cities split by a river, that formed to make one city; but there is still a buda side and a pest side, I was staying in the Pest side and that is where I ran (along the river).  It seemed full of people kissing, it was spring time,  beautiful weather, and full of romance.  There were pretty women everywhere!  The average woman was moderately resembling a model type body/face.  The views were quite comparable to Prague (which were amazing), I am spoiled by my choices of destinations, these places have truly been beautiful to visit and as Budapest didn't "astonish" me, it definitely did not disappoint me either.

After the laundry, lunch, gym, run/sitesee, shower, it was already approaching 7pm.  Earlier I had signed up for a "Bath Party" with the hostel, which everyone told me I had to do in Budapest, and this started around 7 or 8.  I got dressed and headed downstairs to meet with some friends I had met the night prior.  On the way down one of the guys that worked there "Lex" had a stack of towels and just threw one at me, which I thought was rather nice seeing as I had been using t shirts for the last week.

We walked to the tram as a group of around 100+ people and got to know many more people.  Of all the people perhaps only 10% seemed to be American; most of which were studying abroad and on spring break or some other form of break before finals.  The other 90% were a mix of Europe, russia, South America, Canada, and lots of Australians. When we arrived to the Bath I found out it was not  the main bath that I had read so much about, this was the 'winter' bath (as it was not yet summer in Budapest).  This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it was one of the coolest events - I had made friends with two 'stag' parties at this point and a few american groups as well.  I made friends with the most random people, for instance this girl who said 'I am a chicken fighting master, we will fight together all night and never lose."  I forgot where she was from but she was really awesome and outgoing.  When we finally got our stuff locked up and we got our keys (the keys were all watches, really strange but rather convenient.  I had three watches, one for the hostel one for my time and one for the bath locker) we headed downstairs and I finally saw the bath (baths are famous in budapest, natural springs and warm, awesome for relaxing).  It resembled spring break, and really did not disapoint...  All kinds of shinanagns were going on between the bachelor parties and all the different cultures.  The bachelor himself went nude the entire night, and I have this really hilarious memory of chicken fighting with my "master" temmate, and repeatedly knocking off the other person into the water, once, twice, three times, and each time she would come back up out of the water as if she didnt fall... on the fourth time when she fell into the water, the bachelor reappeared instead of her, and I was so confused...  He just looked at me like he had no idea why he was on the guys shoulders (and keep in mind he was naked).  It was a lot of innocent fun.  No one was complaining no one was violating other peoples space, no one was fighting, everyone was just there to have fun, and it was such a great setting...  The bath we were at was in a really old building that reminded me of vegas type pool, except not much space.  It was in a fancy hotel type courtyard, but the pool or bath took up the entire courtyard.

We ended the night grabbing some food and heading back to the hostel.  I had an entire room to myself (by complete luck) and really liked it, a nice change from the full rooms in prague.   I didn't even use my sheets one night in budapest, it was always rather perfect (maybe on the warm side) weather and I just slept like a baby.  Each morning when I woke up the hostel had food cooking, good music playing, and people already drinking...  I consider these some of the best drinkers in the world... I would work out and site see alone during the day (mostly because they had been here for weeks or years and already did the siteseeing).

Day 3, I almost forgot what I did on this magical day.  As I was heading out to go site seeing, the bachelor group from london invited me to the bath.  This time it was the one I had read about, the famous one.  I kind of just went with it and said sure, it's much easier when other people know what's going on.  It ended up being quite a trip of missed stops and having to buy multiple tickets but in th end was worth it...  We just relaxed in the natural springs - I have some pictures... It was just very nice and relaxing.  I booked a massage for 320pm (earliest i could get it) and then hit the pools.  There were I think 20 different pools, some natural some indoor some outdoor and all different temperatures.  I enjoyed conversation with the londoners, as well as a  group of women in line with us on a womans getaway from netherlands I think?  I can't remember.  When we were in the pool I heard some people speaking American English and immediately started asking them questions about a site I wanted to see nearby.  They turned out to be studying at Georgetown, but abroad for the semester, and told us where we could find the site.  Before I knew it - it was time for my massage and I had to go.  On the way to the massage one of the bachelor party members that borrowed my shorts gave me an ice cream bar - I didn't even have time to eat my one allowance of ice cream...  I had to decide between time in the massage or ice cream and it was really not easy throwing away that ice cream...  The massagewasreally really nice, called a sports massage from an older lady, she was so nice.  The bachelor came out and said that was a great massage but he got "Ivan," a big russian dude...  He admitted it was awkward but only fitting  for his bachelor weekend of crazy events.  After the bath we strolled through the city park and found our way back to the hostel, the boys had a flight to catch.  Each day in budapest a major group of friends would leave, it was really sad losing them one by one.

Day -4, I don't remember specifically what I did on these days.  I remember having to go to the post office and deal with finding my debit card.  (Alex's Grandma passed away and he could not make it which was very unfortunate and I told him I completely understand of course) but he had my debit card (mine was expiring).  The debit card got lost in the mail and I was forced to stay in budapest a little bit longer (which I liked).  I remember drinking water and sleeping in late in budapest.  I was still recovering from prague.  Budapest was much more laid back.  Monday night I think we went out for a few beers at the other hostel and it was pretty low key, the people were the most interesting part and I had a really great conversation with a well educated person from Serbia.  I called him arussian and he wouldn't have it, he properly educated me on Serbia, romania, etc.  It was much like the conversation with the guys from iraq, iran, pakistan, as well as the french conversation, australian conversation, wow, too many conversations to remember, which is a good thing.  Somewhere at the end of day 4 I met a girl from Hungary that was working with the hostel, she had spent some time in Iowa and spoke english...  She had the cutest little accent and really just caught me off guard.  I did not expect it.  I really enjoyed talking to her and wish I had more time to talk but she had a boyfriend and  was busy as well with school and work.  There are so many people...  Traveling is such a liberating and opening experience.  I am doing my best to be open to most any thing that comes my way as long as it's legal of course (as i have passed on many drugs).  When planning this trip I left a lot of time open to just "go with the flow" - of course traveling solo makes this really easy - and that has been very nice.  Also, I had some key things I wanted to see in each city which has proven to be very smart - I've stuck by it and those key things have made each city much more historically important for me.  The friends before me that have recommended things have been spot on, recommendations have been the best way to stay at hostels or choose what to see.  

Day 5 I walked up to the Citadel and had a nice late lunch/early dinner overlooking the city (much like prague) except it was much more commercial and touristy.  The atm was broke and everything took cash, so I was a little upset I couldn't go into the bunker.  The walk up to the Citadel was really really sweaty - budapest must be more humid than Prague...  

This is getting much loner than I had intended.  I just have so much to say.  

Day 6 I went for another workout and run combo this time through another part of the city.  I think I'm getting my days mixed up, I don't know when I went for my workout / run.  During my workout though, I spoke with a hungarian.  He approached me and needed a spot - he spoke hungarian and I just looked at him in an obvious way like "I don't know what you're talking about."  I like to see what they do, when I don't suggest that I'm american, or that I speak english.   His next question was "English?"   He spoke fluent english and said it was his third language, he went to university and studied latin as his fourth language.  He was very smart and from a small part of Hungary.  His sister went to germany after university and worked their for a while teaching english and now she lives with him in Pest, working for an american company.  They would be moving to Buda, the more expensive side of town soon.  While we were talking another guy walked by and had a georgia bulldogs shirt on, I asked him about the tshirt and he said he played basketball there and went on to play in belgium, but finally hurt his knee and came back home.  The first hungarian said he has not met many Americans, and he had a lot of questions.  He asked about my workouts and continually said this gym was not very nice.  I said I worked out in a tent for a year in Iraq and he never mentioned the poor facility again.  I told him it was an excellent gym.  I think this set him at ease that I wasn't judging his country.   The people have really been nice, but I have also been as understanding and humble as possible, I've gotten some really in depth conversations out of the most ordinary people, the people I really wanted to know.   What is life like here?  How do you view life, and in a roundabout question how do you view america?  I would never ask it directly...  But I have gotten the most humbling answers.

I try to keep this blog relatively surface information but budapest was really really a deep conversation country.  I had some really deep life thoughts here, about what happiness truly is.  Budapest challenged some of my thoughts, and in the end it may not have changed me any, but it certainly taught me some things.  On Tuesday night (which was day five) I made my way up to the Fishermans Bastion, and it really completed my budapest experience.  I had one of my top 5 dinners (in price and in quality/location) and just sat alone taking in more of Budapest as the sun set.  I could hear the roar of the city at 6pm as people were probably getting off work, far far below us, yet I could hear every noise made across the restaurant as well... so peaceful and serene.  I checked into this restaurant on facebook so I would remember it , I already forgot.

My last full day I spent on a free walking tour of the city.  The guide asked a lot of questions which I was able to answer quite a few.  I waited for the other 30 people to answer and then kind of guessed, apparently I had learned a bit in my time in budapest.  The hungarian had taught me a lot in the short time I talked to him.  The walking tour normally encompassed both buda and pest but due to a holiday we could only do the pest side.  The bridges and city streets were closed down for race cars.  There were planes in the sky doing tricks for some kind of airshow as well.  It was really a cool day for a walking tour and I didn't plan it one bit.  

After the tour and the history explained about the different occupations of hungary and how their country was destroyed several times by wars they had lost we headed to the Island, one of the last things I had not seen.  There we found the island to be a lot bigger than we had imagined, and finding our friends was impossible.  We had fun playing some games the two dutch men told us about and had to head home for the pub crawl.  The night was to end at a rooftop bar I had really wanted to go to.  It was a good night, very low key (I had a plane to catch in the morning).  We played some pinball, I challenged the best fuseball player, and then finally after some really neat bars we ended up at the rooftop, justas I had imagined it- one of my favorite places...  My favorite place in Savannah was a rooftop bar over the bohemian hotel, and this was no different.  Simple, and amazing.  Everyone still in Budapest that I had met was there, and oddly enough one of the girls I talked to the most was from Berkelly only 45minutes away from me in Fremont.  I met yet another Aussie that was military and he told me more about the Aussie army.  Just good people, willing to share experiences and talk.   A huge learning experience.  Somewhere around 3am as we were sitting on an elevated platform overlooking budapest, I just got up and said "I have to go."  It's very difficult to leave budapest, and that's why many people have been there so long...  It's a common theme, there are a lot of factors to budapest that just make it almost easier to stay...  But I had already missed Denmark due to my Debit card arriving late, and I was not about to miss sweden too...  I took one last look at this magical city, said my  goodbyes, gave some hugs, and left.  I wasn't happy about it but knew it was time.

I headed back to the hostel, (found several drunk friends lost on the way, and took them back to the hostel with me) grabbed my stuff which was prepacked and hopped onto a taxi to see the last site I wanted to see, heros square.  I had seen it before but I wanted to see it at night with no one around...  As a send off.  It was difficult to explain to sommeone who didn't speak english...  But we made it there and he didn't charge me extra.  I fell asleep several times on the way to the airport but didn't want to...  I wanted to remember every second of leaving that city.  Every experience was good in budapest, except the few people that tried to rip me off, and I was just so filled with happiness...  It was like hockey, to me, the only sport where I could just go all out and never catch up to how fast the game was.  Prague and Budapest, were awesome.

The flight out of buda was also awesome.  It was super cheap, like rediculously cheap, and i booked a reserved seat.  For a discount airline that meant I got the first seat on the plane and extra leg room, for around 10$extra...  I landed in sweden hopped on a bus and woke up in stockholm.  It seemed like I went from Budapest to Stockholm city center in only minutes.  I followed my directions to the airbnb room I booked with a family and stopped by a grocery store on the way.  I received excellent service and was given some free pulled pork.  The pullled pork was awesome.  My first meal in sweden was less than 8$ and I had a lot.  I left a tip in hungarian and dubai currency and said I didn't have any local currency yet.  He thanked me and said tips are not customary here but took them happily.  I checked into the room and met an awesome lady- I explained to her I needed rest she laughed.  I showered and passed out for 6 hours.  We had made plans for dinner and as I woke up we talked about a lot of things while she cooked, another guest from russia came in and us three had a nice little candle light dinner.  It was a Caesar salad by the way - everyone in my family knows how much I like salad...  Oh and for the record, I've eaten so many tomatoes - REALLY GOOD tomatoes...  I'm expanding my taste buds I guess...  Mom you always said it would happen much to my disbelief.  We'll see if it sticks, truthfully I think it's just because I'm so hungry I'd eat anything and I'm tired of choosing through foreign languages. 

It's way too late and this blog is way too long.  Good night from sweden1