I brought an Obama shirt with me. Says "Obama 08/Obama Listens". Green. I like to wear it in different cities/countries to get a feel for the climate there. See how people react, etc. So far, I've had some pretty different experiences:
Lisbon, Portugal: Locals and tourists giving head nods and saying "Hey! Obama!" and giving the thumbs up. Not a whole lot, but generally people were happy to see it and excited about Obama.
Geneva, Switzerland: I really thought this place would be like the Wash.DC of the world since the UN, the WHO, UNICEF, all these huge international organizations are there. It is a beautiful city, but the area where those buildings are is really not impressive..I guess they put the money to some better use. Anyway, wearing the shirt here I just got looks, quiet stares, but no kind of approval or disrespect. Being such an international city and politically involved I thought someone would have said something, good or bad. But I could watch them stare at the shirt thru my sunglasses..
Milan, Italy: The worst by far. Chris and I are walking through the subway, nothing really out of the ordinary, except being black guys in Milan. Two cops walk right by Chris, but then one sees my Obama shirt, taps the other one and make a B-line across the hall to stop me and ask for my papers, etc. Perhaps it was just being black and young. Perhaps I looked shady with a slight beard. But I am pretty sure I saw him look right at the "Obama" on the shirt, then hi-tail it over.
It'll be fun, weird, dangerous? to see how the rest of these cities/countries react.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
The Freedom the Road Affords
I thought about this earlier, when I was first in Switzerland and on my way to Lucern. The day before, I had heard that Lucern was a beautiful scenic spot. Something right outta a Ricola commercial.. The hills are alive! When I got there it was overcast all day..but that’s besides the point. Well I guess it is more ‘next to the point’, adjacent cause its related. Anyway, I heard about Lucern one day, then was there the next.. THAT is the freedom of the road; you can roll where it takes you and switch directions as you feel.
And that freedom is liberating. You do as you feel, when you feel and all is good… but it is a double edged sword. The Road has this freedom as well. It can do what it wants, when it wants and you gotta adapt. There is even less fighting it when you don’t know the language. So when I missed my bus to Prague and was stranded in random German town thanks to a delay and an attendant who misdirected me, I had to adapt. Or retreat, regroup, and replan. Running out of options, I retreated to Basel, Switerland, a safe comfortable spot, where I could make new plans. Lucky to have a base here with the Amazing Senka!
Sure missing the bus sucked and now I may not see Prague for a lil bit, but that’s all part of the freedom out here; missed connections, opportunities, losses.. You just gotta take em as they come and watch em as they go. As a great, albeit ’confused’, man once said “All flows energy flows according to the whims of the Great Magnet!” You can’t deny it. So sometimes bad things come along in the flow around you, and there’s not much you can do beyond acknowledging them and adjusting your flow accordingly. They may divert your path or make it a lil harder, but , as is my saying out here: [It’s all part of the trip] You just gotta take it and know you’ll be better from the experience cause it’ll lead to something bigger.
And that freedom is liberating. You do as you feel, when you feel and all is good… but it is a double edged sword. The Road has this freedom as well. It can do what it wants, when it wants and you gotta adapt. There is even less fighting it when you don’t know the language. So when I missed my bus to Prague and was stranded in random German town thanks to a delay and an attendant who misdirected me, I had to adapt. Or retreat, regroup, and replan. Running out of options, I retreated to Basel, Switerland, a safe comfortable spot, where I could make new plans. Lucky to have a base here with the Amazing Senka!
Sure missing the bus sucked and now I may not see Prague for a lil bit, but that’s all part of the freedom out here; missed connections, opportunities, losses.. You just gotta take em as they come and watch em as they go. As a great, albeit ’confused’, man once said “All flows energy flows according to the whims of the Great Magnet!” You can’t deny it. So sometimes bad things come along in the flow around you, and there’s not much you can do beyond acknowledging them and adjusting your flow accordingly. They may divert your path or make it a lil harder, but , as is my saying out here: [It’s all part of the trip] You just gotta take it and know you’ll be better from the experience cause it’ll lead to something bigger.
Monday, September 21, 2009
The EuroCars
These cars are tiny, I mean Mr. Bean tiny. When walking around Florence especially, we would joke about just flipping cars over for fun..but it really looked possible. Some smaller than SmartCars, some didn’t even have a steering wheel but rather one seat in the front with some modified handlebars to steer with. The cars pretty much have to be small to deal with some of the ridiculously narrow alleyways. They do have nice cars of course.. The taxi’s all over Rome and Amsterdam were Benzs; new ones at that.
As much as we laughed about it, it would be better for America if more people drove smaller cars. Or biked! Biking is more common in most of these cities than it is even in San Fran, and that’s saying a lot. Maybe its cause our cities are bigger/more spread out. Maybe its because we are lazier. I dunno, but seeing so many people biking around makes places like Florence or Basel feel very quaint and laid-back. These cities have a slower pace of life with less urgency and focus on work. This may not jive with the American Dream, but im sure it would make a lot of us happier and live longer. Still is funny to see a grown man in a suit riding a bike tho.
Another good thing about the small cars; you probably won’t die when they hit you. That’s a great benefit when you look at the pedestrians here, at least in Basel. There are no ‘Walk-Don’t walk signs’, no stop signs, you just go. “You walk and the car will stop” the locals tell me. Reaally not as easy as it sounds when you are used to walking around in cities like SF or NYC. A couple times I caused some traffic build up playing “You go first” with drivers here. Ah well, if it comes down to it, I could always Hulk out and flip any SmartCar coming my way. Im not worried
As much as we laughed about it, it would be better for America if more people drove smaller cars. Or biked! Biking is more common in most of these cities than it is even in San Fran, and that’s saying a lot. Maybe its cause our cities are bigger/more spread out. Maybe its because we are lazier. I dunno, but seeing so many people biking around makes places like Florence or Basel feel very quaint and laid-back. These cities have a slower pace of life with less urgency and focus on work. This may not jive with the American Dream, but im sure it would make a lot of us happier and live longer. Still is funny to see a grown man in a suit riding a bike tho.
Another good thing about the small cars; you probably won’t die when they hit you. That’s a great benefit when you look at the pedestrians here, at least in Basel. There are no ‘Walk-Don’t walk signs’, no stop signs, you just go. “You walk and the car will stop” the locals tell me. Reaally not as easy as it sounds when you are used to walking around in cities like SF or NYC. A couple times I caused some traffic build up playing “You go first” with drivers here. Ah well, if it comes down to it, I could always Hulk out and flip any SmartCar coming my way. Im not worried
Friday, September 18, 2009
Riff-raff. Street Rat. I don’t buy that
If they did look closer, would they see a poor traveler or just a cheap opportunist. I dunno, but when you travel/backpack around as much as I am, you tend to revert to a minimalist lifestyle. You have to. Conserving food, energy, and most of all, MONEY is a day to day necessity. Ok sure I am not running around with a small monkey and pilfering apples and large bread rolls. But, ever since my bank was devastated due to obsessive, excessive eating and partying through Spain Italy and Amsterdam, there have been a few times I feel like a poor kid living in Agrabah. For one, I carry around a sac of bananas, bread, and nutella to satiate a growling stomach throughout the day. I try to only buy 1 meal a day from local vendors for maybe 5~10 Euros. Every now and then the craving for a huge burger arises, but with McD’s & BK’s prices out here (a freaking snack wrap was 4 Franks! That’s basically $4! Forget about the value meal - its all about $10), I mostly go with locals.
Aside from eatin on the cheap, I’m more and more an opportunist, lookin for free places to crash, free drinks, and free eats. Haven’t reaaally ‘stolen’ anything, but hey, if you sit long enough in a café with the same cup of coffee waitresses tend to forget if you paid or not…So I say “Danke, it was very good, ” and if they say “5 Franks” I pay, if they just say “Thanks, Bye” then who am I to correct them.
BUT, of course I do have some what of a conscience or at least a belief in karma. So when the waitress at Hooter’s today (I missed the American Burger, not scantily clad women) I did find her and ask for a bill.. Call it my good nature. You really don’t want bad karma haunting you when you are traveling like this anyway.
Aside from eatin on the cheap, I’m more and more an opportunist, lookin for free places to crash, free drinks, and free eats. Haven’t reaaally ‘stolen’ anything, but hey, if you sit long enough in a café with the same cup of coffee waitresses tend to forget if you paid or not…So I say “Danke, it was very good, ” and if they say “5 Franks” I pay, if they just say “Thanks, Bye” then who am I to correct them.
BUT, of course I do have some what of a conscience or at least a belief in karma. So when the waitress at Hooter’s today (I missed the American Burger, not scantily clad women) I did find her and ask for a bill.. Call it my good nature. You really don’t want bad karma haunting you when you are traveling like this anyway.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
A land of sloppy surprising affection.
Since I’ve been here, I’ve noticed a couple stark contrasts to American life, or at least what I’m used to. One of the most noticeable differences is public affection, and im not talkin hand holding. Starting in Spain and I guess ending in Milan, you couldn’t walk down a block without some couple having a hard-core make out session against a wall or on a train or in a café. Every other American I spoke to noticed the same thing immediately, not that we are prudish (Americans as a whole probably are though) but there have been some uncomfortable moments. Both Chris and I had to listen to the ‘juicy’ sounds of our neighbors on trains, planes, and even in hostel beds..in a room of 10 people. I had heard about the affectionate, passionate Spanish and even Italians, but didn’t really expect this. Forget second-hand smoking, we had to worry about second-hand herpes. All the sores of herpes..none of the fun getting it.
On top of the open air love making, there was another phenomenon at work: Dating Down or the “She’s with HIM?! phenom. You see the strangest couples out here. And it goes both ways, hot girls with dweeby runts, good lookin guys with not so good lookin girls. And it wasn’t about money from what we could tell. We may just have some shallow ideas of couples in America but seeing Mclovin makin out with Salma Hayek should make anyone scratch their head a lil bit. So lesson learned: If you can’t get good lookin American girls, learn Spanish and come out to Madrid to find your Penelope Cruz. Just don’t forget to eat her face in public or she may leave you for a more affectionate PDA Casanova.
On top of the open air love making, there was another phenomenon at work: Dating Down or the “She’s with HIM?! phenom. You see the strangest couples out here. And it goes both ways, hot girls with dweeby runts, good lookin guys with not so good lookin girls. And it wasn’t about money from what we could tell. We may just have some shallow ideas of couples in America but seeing Mclovin makin out with Salma Hayek should make anyone scratch their head a lil bit. So lesson learned: If you can’t get good lookin American girls, learn Spanish and come out to Madrid to find your Penelope Cruz. Just don’t forget to eat her face in public or she may leave you for a more affectionate PDA Casanova.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Bullfight Video
Ok so i tried to give it some music and editing, but eh, it came out ok. The following video does get a lil graphic, though I did cut out the most gruesomest pieces...enjoy.. or just watch and learn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJVhdJac308
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJVhdJac308
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Espana
I'm a little more coherent now that the last post, though I really do like makin the video posts now, that last one was just a sporadic test. Anyway, I'm in Spain now, wrappin up my time here down in Ibiza! Since the last post I've been to Madrid, Barcelona, and now San Antonio Ibiza, and suprisingly I think i like Barc the best.
Ibiza is a great little beach town with an insane night life and really hot days (and nights). Madrid was a cool historic capital and a really huge city with more museums and art than anyone could see. However, neither of these two contrasting cities really live up to Barcelona. I met up with Chris in Barc and we proceeded to explore the city for 2 days & nights. What makes it so appealing is the huge variety the city offers. Being on the meditteranean, you have the great beach culture: awesome cafes/bars on the water, water sports, nice weather, all that. But it is also a pretty developed city like Madrid, offering just as much culture and big city life, there is even an old castle like Lisbon. The Gaudi buildings throughout the city are really incredible architectural pieces. The night life is live with locals and tourists, though it was a bit heavy on the tourist side. Chris and I met a good amount of people in the hostel, had some good/funny/disturbing/smelly moments , but all for the best. Met a guy, Mike from San Diego, who was pretty cool, and we gallivanted around the town with him and a pub crawl our last night there. Which was fun, buuut maybe too fun as I had a real hard time gettin up and going to catch the Ibiza flight.
Ibiza is how you would imagine, think Acapulco mets Vegas. Very attractive people and lots of money around, beachy weather, crazy clubs and bard and a slew of young people. Apparently this is the Brit/Welch vacation spot of choice so we heard more English here than Spanish...cool with me. One night here isn't really enough, but I think we did it justice. The sunsets are also amazing!
Pic Soon
I guess I left Madrid for last since I really was not too impressed with it. Maybe I just dont like art/museums enough.. The city is very big and feels spread out. The city center area has a feeling like some old school baazar. Dunno how to explain it, but it's probably how you picture European cities; old looking, kinda quaint, open air cafes, etc. I DID get to see a bull fight, which I will post more on later. These bull fights are intense! A bit more graphic than I imagined, also pretty unfair with 4~6 matador dudes against one, likely doped up, bull. It was a good cultural experience tho. What else about Madrid.. The hostel was cool, met alot of interesting people from many different countries. Felt a bit old when talkin to some 20year olds; but i guess thats unavoidable.
Video Soon -
Lastly, Toledo.. an old, very old settlement about 60km from Madrid. This place is the "American tourists' dream" since it looks exactly like we picture old medival towns. The big bricks, the huge churches, the real small streets, its all there! Apparenly its also a bit modern as I was able to connect to wifi while in a small alley by the church..I guess priests have email too.
Pic soon
Long post, but its time to head out to the Ibiza sun! Hope all is good where you are.. but it probably aint this good :p
Holla! or is it Hola?
Ibiza is a great little beach town with an insane night life and really hot days (and nights). Madrid was a cool historic capital and a really huge city with more museums and art than anyone could see. However, neither of these two contrasting cities really live up to Barcelona. I met up with Chris in Barc and we proceeded to explore the city for 2 days & nights. What makes it so appealing is the huge variety the city offers. Being on the meditteranean, you have the great beach culture: awesome cafes/bars on the water, water sports, nice weather, all that. But it is also a pretty developed city like Madrid, offering just as much culture and big city life, there is even an old castle like Lisbon. The Gaudi buildings throughout the city are really incredible architectural pieces. The night life is live with locals and tourists, though it was a bit heavy on the tourist side. Chris and I met a good amount of people in the hostel, had some good/funny/disturbing/smelly moments , but all for the best. Met a guy, Mike from San Diego, who was pretty cool, and we gallivanted around the town with him and a pub crawl our last night there. Which was fun, buuut maybe too fun as I had a real hard time gettin up and going to catch the Ibiza flight.
Gaudi's Segrada Familia 1882~ Currently being built!
Ibiza is how you would imagine, think Acapulco mets Vegas. Very attractive people and lots of money around, beachy weather, crazy clubs and bard and a slew of young people. Apparently this is the Brit/Welch vacation spot of choice so we heard more English here than Spanish...cool with me. One night here isn't really enough, but I think we did it justice. The sunsets are also amazing!
Pic Soon
I guess I left Madrid for last since I really was not too impressed with it. Maybe I just dont like art/museums enough.. The city is very big and feels spread out. The city center area has a feeling like some old school baazar. Dunno how to explain it, but it's probably how you picture European cities; old looking, kinda quaint, open air cafes, etc. I DID get to see a bull fight, which I will post more on later. These bull fights are intense! A bit more graphic than I imagined, also pretty unfair with 4~6 matador dudes against one, likely doped up, bull. It was a good cultural experience tho. What else about Madrid.. The hostel was cool, met alot of interesting people from many different countries. Felt a bit old when talkin to some 20year olds; but i guess thats unavoidable.
Video Soon -
Lastly, Toledo.. an old, very old settlement about 60km from Madrid. This place is the "American tourists' dream" since it looks exactly like we picture old medival towns. The big bricks, the huge churches, the real small streets, its all there! Apparenly its also a bit modern as I was able to connect to wifi while in a small alley by the church..I guess priests have email too.
Pic soon
Long post, but its time to head out to the Ibiza sun! Hope all is good where you are.. but it probably aint this good :p
Holla! or is it Hola?
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