Archived entries for travel
the mind is grounded in flight
Last week after returning from a trip to the west coast to visit our family and do a bit of leg work for Holstee I was discussing with mike how inspired and empowered I felt.
Its incredible how a small diversion from the daily predictable flow of a sequential lifestyle can yield such inspiring productivity. Much of this is because we are often forced into a reactionary personal and professional life…but more on my concept of reactionary later – it deserves its own post.
Back to flying. Its funny, every time I fly no matter where I am going or what is happening at that point of my life I have a mini epiphany. The freedom from reality – no cell phone, no email, no RSS feeds, no twitter –> no information overload. It allows me to take a step back and look at myself (ironically – as I write this while flying) from above.
Its also a time that my imagination and thoughts run wild. I am currently flying to SF and decided to bring David Kelly’s ‘The Art of Innovation’ to read during the flight. I read the ‘10 Faces of innovation’ a while back and had been meaning to read this for a while but waited till I finished ‘Blink’. I am finding the book highly relevant but super challenging to make progress in. Every few paragraphs I get lost in a day-dream.
Dreams are great. In fact I think imagination plays a more critical role in success than people give it credit for. I was recently listening to Brian Johnson’s ‘Philosophers Notes’ podcast. He read a fascinating quote they outlined the following concept: If your mind can dream it than it is only natural that your body can create it.
I was momentarily stunted when I first heard him read the quote. I thought that it was surely for the birds and I began to think of examples, but the more I thought the more I was convinced. Its true, anything someone is able to dream of they are able to create. The difference is the details.
Lets look at history. A while back someone dreamed of going to the moon. People probably laughed. But once you break down the process down to the very last screw and nut which keeps the astronaut in place while taking off it becomes tangible – fantasy becomes reality.
On a natural, almost evolutionary, level I think its only natural that we can only think of what we can actually achieve. Our greatest talent among our companions in the animal kingdom is our mind. We aren’t great swimmers, climbers, runners, or even the best communicators, but we have a level of imagination and critical thinking which has yet to be seen at the same level in other species.
We must harness this talent. I am a true believer that every person has something they offer that they offer better than anyone else in the world has or ever could have. I don’t think these talents are instantly identifiable, and I am not sure that the need to be because indirectly you will use your talent as it is needed, by the people around you that need it.
You could have a mind wired to constantly smile, or a brutally honest analytical sense – in either case you are able to impact other peoples lives. I just hope people use their talents unknowingly or not to create a positive impact sharing positive energy with everyone they connect with.
VIVA LA FRANCE!
july 31.
Success! I didnt miss my flight!! I arrived in 
august 1.
I got up early as the others in the apt went to work. the apt is beautiful. top floor and huge circle window that leads to a balcony. I spent some time in the morning enjoying the sun on the balcony and relaxing on my first day of vacation
In the afternoon I biked to china town and picked up food for dinner. Eggplant, garlic, coconut juice, hoisin sauce, chicken breast, and some rice. My friend ruppert from northeastern also flew over from
After dinner we all went to the Eiffel tower and the wine kept flowing, and we snacked on cheese and baguettes. As enjoyable as it was cliché. We all had a great time and after seeing the Eiffel tower light up a couple times we made our way home.
august 2.
I got up at a decent hour and had a quick breakfast: baguettes, nutella, butter.
And we (me, ruppert, jose and jose’s roommate kaitlin) just spent the day exploring and walking around. We walked by the louvre, walked on champes de elyses , napped on a nice grassy area.
When we came home and i decided to cook another huge meal, this time spaghetti blognaise, we started drinking and had a mini dance session in apt. at this point it was us 4 plus Molina and a lady friend of his. Not long after we decided our dance moves would do better on a real dance floor so we went to a salsa club (la penya). We came home and ate the spaghetti leftovers, and as it turned out we hadn’t had enough dancing, so we started a wild dance off… it was mostly me and ruppert haha, it was hilarious.
august 3.
We got up, and did a quick clean up from the night before. And we made pancakes! It was a lot of fun living together as so many people because everything was done communally. So while some cleaned others made pancakes and breakfast was ready in no time.
Around noontime my bag finally came in! We walked down to the louvre and saw the mona lisa. Afterwords we walked towards notre dame and on the way we watched roller skaters do some wild tricks. We were in a rush to get home so we decided to ride the velo bikes, bikes that u can rent right of the street. It was a new and wildly successful new form of public transportation in
august 4.
We all got up slowly and Molina and I went to a nearby park where we relaxed and napped on the grass. We got back to the apartment and had long lunch, bagguete bacon and cheese. It was really nice. We sat on the balcony talked about everything (life, work, the past the future etc…) we have a lot in common so it was a really interesting conversation. After lunch we watched a wild documentary called ‘jesus camp’, that exposed the extreme and radically political voice many born again evangelical Christians are talking in
august 5.
I got up and took the subway to la’defense to meet the girlfriend of a german friend of mine. the food was nothing special, but the company was great. afterwards i walked for a couple hours, first walking by the arc d’triumph then winding through some streets and getting my self lost and acquainted with the city. i picked up some pizzas for dinner, and went back to the apartment. the whole day i was thinking about my idea for the inspiration café which I had come to realize early that morning and I was really able to develop the concept. i called my bro and filled him in, his excitement and confidence was huge support.
august 9.
I wraped up my week long stay in
After doing a final walk through of
august 11.
I have spent the last couple od days and nights with chirs and his family (mother, brother, sister, father and grandmother) I found his grandmother particulary amusing. She was sweet and inquisitive. Mostly with chris and his brother we spent much time at their pool and the beach. Meals were home cooked and included lots of quiches which were great. I will need to try and cook them one time. The house was beautiful hidden away up a hill in st. maxime. The beach was down the road and you could see the ocean from most every room in the house. The pool was a nice compliment to the beach.
On Saturday morning (my last day there) chris and I drove out to st. tropez there as a large open air market that morning and I picked up a cheese plate and net to show my gratitude for the families hospitality. They seemed to like it and started using it right away. I also bought a plate of paella for myself. It tasted great but I wasn’t a huge fan of the swindler that sold it to me.
That afternoon, another friend of min from
I arrived in canne around 9pm’ish without a plan or a place to sleep. I saw some backpackers sitting in the trainstation and asked them if they had any reccomendations for a hostel in the are. Unfortunately they told me they didn’t know, as they had stayed at a camp site. But luckily they had a book with an address for one hostel in it, I quickly jotted down the information and was on my way. I hit the streets and asked a few people if they knew the address to no luck. Nobody recognized the address or had heard of a hostel. I saw a sign for a hotel that said it accepted baggage since the lockers at the train station were closed. I had asked about 5 hotels however all were fully booked and wouldn’t accept holding my bag overnight. After some pleading the last hotel agreed to hold my bag, on the condition that I come pick it up promptly at 8 AM the next morning. I was hesitant to give my bag away, but eager at the same time. It would have been safer behind the counter then with me if I were to sleep outside on the beach or street.
After dropping my bag I was much more comfortable walking around and was able to appreciate
august 12.
So that first night in
august 13.
The next morning I got a French SIM card for my cell phone and used the internet. Then I picked up some chips and salsa (my favorite beach snack) and I made my way to the beach, where I met up with Francesco, Roberto and Roberto’s family who had an uncle in
I arrived in Frejus, what seemed like an empty ghost town, as I was the only one from a full train that had gotten off at that stop. I walked till I saw a gas station and asked there how to get to the campsite where Keveen, the Couchsurfer I was staying with lived. I told the gas station attendant I was going to walk and he told me I was out of my mind but that it was good that I was sporty enough to walk. As I was walking I decided it wouldn’t hurt to try thumbing it. A couple of minutes later a guy in a convertible pulled up and I hoped in. He asked my where I was going, but I didn’t know how to respond in French so I just showed him the map. And pointed to my destination that the gas station attendant had circled on a map he had given me. I tossed my bag in the back seat and we were off. He asked me a million things but only in French, and I tried my best to answer in the minimal French I had learned to this point. At one time he put me on the phone to someone; I believe it was a girlfriend of his. That was fun too, but no idea what they were saying.
We pulled up directly to the campsite and I called Keveen. He had made dinner, some sort of warm cereal from
After dinner I met some of the other employees of the campsite, and we watched a belly dance show that the campsite had organized and then we went to the campsite disco, nothing too wild. We were able to get to bed early.
august 14.
I got up around the same time as Keveen. My plan was to go to
The next train to
Once in
I decided I would head back to the campsite so I went back to the train station and bought a ticket. The next train left in an hour so I though I would risk it and run to see if I could find a sports store to get some snorkeling gear for the next day. While walking I saw a nice looking hotel, the ‘Hermitage’, with lots of tourists standing around I thought it was worth a look to see what all the hype was about. Out comes a couple coming to grab their Bentley from the valet and with a strong
I was about a block from the hotel looking for snorkeling gear when I saw a familiar face turn the corner. It was a friend of mine from NU! She had studied in the same program as me but did her studies in
Walking back to the train despite the fact that I was wearing one of the few shirts I had in rotation in my backpack, and I was returning to sleep on the couch of a mobile home in a campsite in a remote town, and all I had to eat that day was a baguette and some cheese spread, despite all those things just because I was so happy to see a familiar face and enjoy a friends company I felt richer than anyone else in Monaco.
I got back to Frejus and while waiting for he bus I began eating some more of what was left of cheese spread with some more bread I picked up earlier in the day. Back at the campsite, Keveen and I spoke a bit before I went to bed. I went to sleep not much later.
august 15.
The next morning I got up, ate a quick breakfast and decided I would walk to the beach. On the way I stopped at a fresh fruit stand where I picked up one of the best nectarines of my life. I also stopped at a sports store to check out some snorkeling gear. They were selling a kit with a snorkel, mask, and flippers in one package. However my sophisticated nose didn’t fit comfortably in the mask. So I had to opt for a higher quality mask and I bought the snorkel separately. I decided to skip the flippers as they were expensive and I figured they would be a hassle to travel with. I also picked up a cheap watch. I had been traveling without a watch thus far. It was nice not worrying about the time, but I dint want to risk missing a train, plane or meeting up with someone and I rarely carried my phone with me.
I followed my map to get to the beach, which was about 6km away. I got a little lost so I may have walked closer to 7 or 8km by the time I got there. I relaxed on the beach; reading, sleeping, and snorkeling then repeating the process. I also snacked on some chips and leftover salsa I had from
On my way home I wanted to pick up some groceries so I could toss together some sort of dinner for Keveen but I had forgotten it was a national holiday so most stores were closed. I was able to find a little grocery store where I picked up some pasta and sauce. I also stopped at the same fruit stand for the morning to get some tomatoes. I also ended up purchasing a watermelon, some oranges, and a bundle of grapes. I got back to the mobile home and a couple of minutes later Keveen arrived.
We cracked the melon and ate quickly as he had invited me on a ike e was guiding that evening. With Keveen as the guide 3 cars left the campsite for a 3 hour hike. It was really incredible; the view from the top was amazing. After the hike we all had a glass of wine from Keveens favorite spot. We drove back and once home we quickly started making the pasta. It was tight cooking quarters in the mobile home kitchen be operated on the same wavelength. We are both huge fans of fresh garlic, and threw together a great sauce with peppers, onions, balsamic, some sugar, and a boat load of other spices but no salt as Keveen has completely removed salt from his diet, for ethical and health reasons. After dinner a friend, or rather a lady lover of his came over. I had met a friend of his who worked with him at the campsite, Malvi. I used her internet before going to bed at a decent hour.
august 16.
The next morning keveen and his lady friend were eating breakfast and I joined them for a croissant, some French bread and fruit from the day before. I went with him and his friend into the city center of Frejus where we met his friend’s sister. We all sat down and grabbed a drink at a nicely located café in the center of town. Keveen had to return to the campsite for work so I walked ot the beach were I spent another relaxing day reading, napping and swimming. I am currently in between two books; “reminiscences of a stock operator” and “the story of philosophy” today I had the philosophy book with me. Recently this book has been very interesting as I am on the chapter about Spinoza, a Jewish Philosopher who was excommunicated from the community for his “anti-Jewish” philosophies. The chapter touched upon the Diaspora and the struggles of the Jewish people. It also mentioned other great Jewish philosophers like Maimonides. In the afternoon I began my walk home, stopping in the city center for a sandwich. After a quick bit I decided to stop at the same café we were at earlier in the morning. I sat down with an amazing espresso and updated my journal.
I made it back home as keveen was about to head to one of the campers homes for dinner. I was invited by Elodie and Malvi, two other staff members that I had become friendly with in the past couple of days. It was a small but nice diner. After dinner I was able to once again use Malvi’s internet. I used it for a while, booking a flight to
august 17.
The next morning I got up got my stuff ready and hoped on a bus to the train station, then a train to ‘Six Four’ to visit with my friend Edwyn and his girlfriend. We went on the ‘wild coast’. It was a bit cold and the weather was a bit rough for cliff diving so we went snorkeling instead. Great snorkeling though. The water was beautiful and we were able to see a lot of fish. We drove to the beach and walked the boardwalk. It was really nice, much fewer tourists than the other cities I had been in by the beach. We walked to another town called Sanray and got some Panini like sandwiches. I had been craving a Panini since I saw someone eating a really good looking one in
I used a map I picked up when I arrived at the train station in
august 18.
The next morning I got up around 11 am and walked around the town with Steph. He had tons of knowledge about the town and the architecture that he shared with me. I offered to cook some Persian food for lunch/dinner. In the afternoon steph and I gathered all the groceries I needed and we came back and I cooked a huge pot of bademjoon and rice. We all seemed to really like it. We then walked over to the beach to watch an air show from the French air force. It was pretty cool. After, on the walk home we stopped for a quick drink and some people watching.
Back at stephs apt we chilled out for a while talking then we decided to watch the documentary “The Yes Men”. It was a pretty cool movie about some activists against the WTO and other agencies manipulated by the rich elite. We dove back into the bademjan leftovers and watched some 9-11 movie.
august 19.
The next morning when I awoke ludo and steph had been up for a while and prepared a big breakfast of bread, croissnts, jam, cheese coffe, juice melo and pudding. We took off to the beack which was nice and rather quiet. I did some snorkeling, napped, and we talked for a while, and I was able to learn a bit more French. After the beach we drove to the top of a mountain in
august 20.
When I got up Ludo was already gone for work. I organized my stuff and ate a quick breakfast. Because I forgot my camera cable at home I used the opportunity to back up my camera with the memory card slot on Steph’s computer to a data CD. Steph drove me to the train station and made sure I was able to get on the train ok to
I called Cathy the couchsurfer I was planning on staying with. She told me to take bus number 10 to a certain stop where we could meet at a certain church so I could drop my bags with her at work, which was really nice of her. The tourist office at the trainstation was closed and nobody seemed to have heard of a bus 10. but eventually I found another tourist information office where I got a map and told which subway I needed to take in order to get to the bus.
AS we discussed I met cathy at the church and she was super nice. I dropped mymy stuff in her car and we agreed on a meeting place for that night when she got out of work, she mentioned that she knew a great place for dinner and that there may be another couch surfer staying with her as well. I took the bus and metro back in to the city. I walked around a bit and saw some cool graffiti on the side of a building I wanted to take a photo of, but my camera read “No memory card” I was sure I had taken it out of Stephs computer so I was really confused and quickly opened the memory card slot and saw that the card was indeed there. But it turned out that the computer had damaged it. After fiddling a but I found if I wedged the card just a bit deeper it worked but it need to be kept somehow at a certain angle. The area I was in was not the safest so I decided I would find a restaurant or café where I could comfortably sit and fix the camera somehow. I figured I would be able to sit down in Mc Donalds and fix it with out being hassled to buy anything. But once inside the temptation over came me and I got a Royal cheese. It came in handy however as I used the box from my burger to loge the memory card in place. I also got a chance to sit and update the journal.
I walked around Marseilles a bit more, going through Panier, the old part of the city which is famous for its cute and narrow roads, but I had been warned to be aware of my camera as it as a poorer area and not too safe in some parts. I met up with Cathy and Johan, another couchsurfer from
august 21.
Johan and I slept till around 10ish, and then we enjoyed a coffee on the balcony. The morning was calm and relaxed. We left the apartment a couple hours later. We hopped on the bus into town and we got some sandwiches for lunch. I again chose the delicious Americain with bbq sauce. We then walked to the beautiful church atop a hill on the other side of town called notre dame. It had a huge gold statue of the virgin mary which is said to watch over the city and harbor. It was pretty neat because u could see it from most anywhere I the city, including from cathys terrace. We decided to walk to the beach which we could see from the viewing points of the church. We climbed over a rail and were able to get right by the water on some large rocks. It was nice quiet and relaxing. The only others there were fisherman. We relaxed and talked there over some beers we picked up just before. Johan was a chef so we were planning on cooking for for cathy and her friend that night. So we went towards the market to pick up some ingredients. In total we spent about 10 euros. Not much I thought to feed 4 people but johan seemed confident. We got a hog pog of vegatables and fruit and two fresh fish. We weren’t sure exactly what we were going to make but johan seemed to enjoy what he called “freestyle” cooking.
In the end the meal turned out amazing. A salad with cold pasta, and a great freshly home made dressing topped with a filet of each type of fish and freshly fried potatoe chips as a garnish. And some fresh fig placed for taste and design. It was great because I learned how to gut and filet a fish something I have been yearning to learn since I fell in love with the Italian fish restaurant in
august 22.
We woke up around 10 again and got up and ready slowly enjoying the comfort of Cathy’s apartment. I through together a lunch from the leftovers. Since Johan is an inline skater we went to “the pool” a world famous skate park by the beach. We spent a while there, it made me really miss skateboarding. I took a ton of pictures and admired the really little kids do impressive tricks. There was one kid who must have been about 8, flying up and down the ramps on his razor scooter, it was amazing.
After the skatepark we went to the check out “Le’corbusier”. Steph had told me so much about it, I was glad to see the outside and parts of the inside sharing the info I learned in
Outside le courbusier I said goodbye to johan as he was off to hitchhike to
august 23.
I got up early and felt fresh from the get go. Cathy was still home so I got some bread and pastries form the bakery and we ate a quick breakfast together before she went to work. She was going to
After cathy left for work that morning I used the net for a while, booking flights to morocco for when bezzi arrives. I took the bus into town to walk around the city for the last time. I found myself walking through the African/Arabic markets. I enjoyed the open markets and the interesting characters that it attracts. I got a half pizza with vegetables which they rolled up and gave to me as a sandwich, at 2 euros it was a delicious and cheap lunch. I then walked to the train station and picked up a ticket for an overnight train to
I got home, made a huge salad, cleaned up a bit and made a little card for Cathy expressing my gratitude. I went to the bus stop with all my bags to find out that the last bus left at 9:17 about an hour and half earlier. I asked someone nearby how long it took to walk to the train station. He said it was about an hour. If he was right I would make it just quick enough to grab some food before the train left. So I started walking, knowing the vague direction. I was not really scared, but I was pretty positive I was going to get mugged. The whole time before getting to
august 24.
I arrived in
The bus got me to Saint Jean de Luz where I met Valerie a couch surfer that had stayed with JB before and they were now friends. Not long after JB was home for his lunch break and he cooked some spaghetti carbonara. After lunch he went to work and valerie went to do laundry so I explored the town for bit. I saw a huge gathering of people so I went over to what all the fuss was about. It turned out Sarkozy, the French president was coming to this small village today. Then I remembered that while half asleep a man in the train station this morning had mentioned that to me as well. I hung around a bit and was able to see him which was an interesting surprise. There were many protesters against modified fruits and vegetables. The French secret service did not seem to allow any freedom of speech at all they violently and aggressive ripped up banners and pushed around protesters unnecessarily as their demonstrations was completely peaceful.
Some woman had apparently gotten some close up fotos of the behavior of the secret service and they tried to rip the camera from her neck. She must have been about 50 yrs old and was there with her family, I could not believe how aggressive they were. Once they had the camera one ma looked through her fotos while another rummaged through her bag.
After the presidential sighting I walked through the small town making it to the beach. On top of a nice grassy hill I laid down my mat and sat down to enjoy the amazing view of water and cliffs. It was truly amazing I fell asleep and woke up 2 hrs later and began back home to met up the others. JB had whipped up a great dinner with a salad niciose, burger meat, potatoes and some vegetables. I learned about his green thumb and not long after we went out as there was a huge free beach side concert. First we picked up Rachel a couchsurfer who had stayed with JB her first time there. Very interesting, she had biked from
We got to the concert and shared some drink. Theo group on stage was “People de Herb” there were pretty cool. I had not heard of them before but apparently they are pretty famous. Next up as famous female DJ from the area but I forgot her name. the coolest part was the concert was directly on the beach, a couple of feet away was the quiet crashing of waves, people could even go for a swim if they wanted. The atmosphere was amazing. To ensure a clean beach, after the concert the organizers offered large garbage bags with the incentive of prizes to those that were able to fill their bags with trash, needless to say the beach was most likely left cleaner after the concert than it was before. After the concert we dropped Rachel at her bike and she had to bike about 10k to her couch where she was staying. The rest of us got to bed around 3ish.
august 25.
We all got up late, some time after noon. We enjoyed a nice breakfast , toast, chocolate chip bread, butter, blueberry jam, great cheese, orange juice and coffee. JB had to go to school to finish his theses so on his way he dropped me and Valerie at the beach in Bidart, between st. jean de luz and Biarritz. Unfortunately there were no wave but we relaxed and napped on the beach. We walked a bit then we got the bus to
august 26.
We got up earlier than the day before and enjoyed a similar and equally enjoyable breakfast. JB had to return to work on his thesis so me and Valerie went for a walk by the coast. We found an amazing place to sit on a Cliffside to enjoy the amazing view and environment. We sat and chilled for a while, both of us eventually falling asleep. After a while we awoke to the feeling of being melted by the sun so we moved to a shadier spot before walking back. We had wanted to pick up some groceries but everything was closed so I whipped up a dinner with what I found. I made a pasta with fresh sauce of onions, garlic, walnuts and tomato and some random spices. While dinner was cooking we played cards and enjoyed some aperitifs’. With dinner we popped a bottle of wine, and after we talked and chilled before going to bed.
august 27.
I got up and had breakfast with Valier as JB was gone for work. After I got ready and packed my bags. I got a ticket for the next train to
I arrived in
Guillame luved in a cool apt. I noticed the apartment buildings were not larger than 3 or 4 stories and most being only 2. it made for a really nice setting and gave the city a really nice and human feel. A couple of doors away lived Guillames good friend but he was out of town, however he had agreed to let a couch surfer stay at his place in his absence. So Guillame had fiver a german traveler the keys to the apartment. Not long after we all went to one of guillams friends apartments. There were about 10 of us. First we ordered pizzas then the guys and I hung around for a poker game. All his friends were really nice. It was all in good fun playing poker and having lots of laughs, nothing tooo serious. We got back to guillams place and he showed me some spots on the map then we called it an early night.
august 28.
I got up and walked around. I made my way first to the tourist information to see if I could get into a winery tour that day. There was a bus that left 2 hrs later so I walked through the historical streets of the city seeing many nice statues the mirror fountain and grabbing a tuna sandwich for breakfast/lunch. I walked around a nit more and found myself in an African drum ship. I wanted to learn about drums in anticipation of my trip to morocco where I was thinking I may be able to pick up a nice drum. The man who made them didn’t speak any english but his friend did, so she translated for both of us. Not long after he started playing the drums it was really amazing watching him. I just love hearing the drum played like that. I left the store and realized I was a bit lost. I asked a nearby security guard how to get back to the tourist info and he told me I needed to take a bus and lot if confusion so I just asked him to point in the direction of the tourist office and I started walking.
Me and about 30 others loaded the bus for our winery tour. We went first to a small winery and the man giving the tour was part of the family that had lived in the chateau since before the revolution. He showed is around the chateau, the vineyard, the vineyard and the over 200 acres of cultivated land, then the winery where he explained the process of wine making. His tour ended with a nice wine tasting session. It was really neat and I learned a lot. Before leaving I picked up a bottle of the red
On to the next chateau and winery… This one was much larger in terms of production and the size overall. Currently in the chateau lived 4 generations, all living in their own area of the property. They produce over 400 thousand wine bottles a year. They store there wine underground in caves and cellars. The largest cave they found only 20 yrs ago accidentally when a brother was wondering across the property and found a huge underground structure. Before we left I picked up a bottle of a dry white wine.
I began to walk back to the apartment thinking if I saw an interesting place to eat I would stop. I walked a bit out of my way trying to find a special place to eat but instead found myself a bit lost. But it gave me the chance to walk through some interesting areas.
I was pretty close to the apartment when I saw a familiar face and he shouted “Hey man, I know you!” it was the delivery guy I asked directions from the other day. We talked for a little before I asked him to recommend some good cheap food in the area. He said “well you know, I work right there at ‘Speed Burger’ its good and I might be able to use my discount for you” I agreed and we walked together. So ‘Paca’ and I entered Speed Burger where he asked his manager to give me a discount. There seemed to be a tempered and unfriendly exchange going on between Paca and his manager. Then Paca turned to me and said “C’mon lets go!” I had a feeling things didn’t go well and as Paca translated and explained to me what happened… “I cant believe it” he said, “I don’t believe he just fired me like that”. My stomach shrunk. Turned out the manager didn’t want to give me a discount and Paca didn’t like his lack of hospitality to a student traveler, so he talked back to his manager. The manager didn’t appreciate Paca’s fresh mouth and simply said, “you no longer work here.” I was in shock from the random string of events, but Paca assured me that his boss was a jerk, and the job was bound not to last. He then continued to reassure me that he would find me a good place to eat. He honestly seemed more concentrated on finding me a meal than anything else. He told me he knew another restaurant where he used to do deliveries. It was an Indian restaurant, great food but a bit expensive, but he said he would talk price with them and that they were really friendly. I told him that it was no problem, and that I could easily get a cheap and tasty sandwich from any corner shop but he insisted that he would take me somewhere good. On the way we had a nice discussion about his life and about the city. After a while of walking we were almost back at the tourist information, and he had bumped into a friend of his and introduced me, and we kept walking. We turned off onto a side street and he said “Oh there it is” as he pointed to an unmarked door. “that’s the back door”. The restaurant was called Taj Mahal.
We walked through the back door, then a couple more rooms and doors until we made it to the kitchen. It was a nig kitchen with a couple of chefs and a dishwasher. Paca said hi to everyone and introduced me. He explained that I was looking for a good meal but that I didn’t have too much cash. One chef brought out a fresh piece of Naan filled with cheese and gave it to us right from the fire pit where he was cooking them. Paca said he was hot so he went outside. I hung around talking and snacking. I watched and learned how they made the bread. They packed some rice, curry, Naan, and some other toppings in a couple Tupperware packages and requested no money. They were from
I thanked Paca again for taking me there, and eagerly told him about the bread making process that I had just witnessed as we walked back. He told me that he had seen it before, and that was why he left; he went outside in order for me to talk and get comfortable with the chefs. To watch and learn from them. He knew if he were also there I would stand by him and talk with him but had he left he knew I would talk with the chefs and learn more from them. I was blown away by his foresight and generosity. We walked back to near the apartment and exchanged information before splitting ways. I got back to the apartment where guillame and his friends were hanging out. Not long after we went to the pool at his girlfriends apartment complex. We had a good time in the pool and went out for a quick dinner of kebab sandwiches before retiring for the night.
august 29.
I got up and guillame was already gone for work. I packed my bags and heated up the Indian food from the night before, which I didn’t get to eat as we went directly to the pool. I ate half and packaged the other half in a container to eat later on my way to the airport. I walked to the train station, stopping to use the internet first. Once I got there I had to wait a while for the airport shuttle. Once it arrived I realized I had no spoon or fork for my Indian food. I had to eat the food before reaching airport security, and there was the risk of nowhere to get a spoon before security check ins, so I ran to a café in the station and grabbed some plastic utensils. Back at the shuttle no one was boarding so I assumed that they weren’t to load on yet. After waiting for a while I stood idle as the bus driver got on the bus and closed the door. I was convinced that everyone around me would load on the shuttle once we were allowed to. The bus driver began to drive away and that when I thought that perhaps I was the only one talking the bus. I ran after the bus and the driver who had seen me standing as she looked around and closed the door laughed out of shock and confusion that I waited till she drove away to board. In my race to get the shuttle I jumped right into a huge puddle soaking part of my shoes. I was the only person on the entire coach bus.
We arrived at the airport for my 18:00 flight at 17:00, well on time. When I got to the ticket counter to check my bag with the wine in it, they told me I was not on the 18:00 flight. I stood there confident and reassured them, but unfortunately I had not printed out my confirmation. I figured there was a glitch that they would soon figure out so I was not too worried. After a few phone calls it turned out I was supposed to be on the 13:00 flight. I had mistakenly misread my 3 for an 8 when I read the flight time from my notebook. The woman behind the desk was really nice and after laughing about the mix up for a while I was glad but surprisingly not surprised when she got me on the next departing flight free of charge.
Arriving in
august 30.
Jose, his girlfriend, Kaitlin, Niamh and I went for Chinese food for lunch. I got a shrimp red curry and rice, and Niamh got rice noodles and we shared both. Both were delicious. After we split with the group and Niamh and I hit the town. She only had a short time in
august 31.
The next morning Niamh picked up some bread and pastries and I got the chance to cook something I had wanted to cook for a while now, Patatas y Huevos. I chopped and boiled some potatoes until they were soft they I lightly fried them before adding some whipped eggs. After it was ready we made sandwiches. Niamh made some fried onion and tomato to add to the mix and we topped the baguette sandwiches off with some cheese. It made for a perfect breakfast. After breakfast we helped Jose clean the apartment, as it was his last day there and before he moved out assessors were coming to check the place out. We did a serious cleaning then we went out to use the internet. We got back and made some quick sandwiches from leftovers that were in the fridge before leaving for the train station. The trains were more expensive than we expected so we got the cheapest one which left a couple of hours later and arrived in
RECAP
In one months time I got a chance to really explore the culture and lifestyles of many different types of people throughout
Family Eurotrip!
EURO TRIP JOURNAL
TUESDAY
- Wake up, 5am.. Mehri then Answering service
- 7:40am departure, breakfast: Bagel. Breakfast again on the plain
o 4 boys with PSP- 3 white, 1 pink. “Mike” contact irritation- keeps playing. Asks “David” if HE has drops- drops contact on floor. No backpack.
- Flight to
WEDNESDAY
- Arrive
- “You can’t bring luggage here”- waitress in restaurant in airport
- Train to
- Meet David at McDonalds, with chicken in a bag- Hauponhof
- Dinner: Rice, chicken stir fry, tea
- Walk- Sternschanze, riot, gelato
- SLEEP
THURSDAY
- RAIN
- Mom and Ramesh with David on train to work. Tried to exchange travelers checks/ dollars to Euros- unable-
- Bakery smells amazing!
- Dad ASLEEP
- Walk around- Find tour
- Lunch with David @ Italian Restaurant. Tap water?
- Double decker tour- private- harbor- 10 Euro returned to family
- Spices museum- Saffron- Persian/ Afghan rug
- XING- David’s German has improved since internship
- Harbor again. “We are almost there” Boat. Stairs. I’m looking for a special place. Turkish. Afghan. Turkish. Yum!
FRIDAY
- David work
- City Hall- LA reporter/ photographer
- Brunch buffet- with a view
- Jochen made us dinner- Salmon trout- garlic-sabzi. Salad/ yogurt dressing. Potato. White asparagus. Stories. Stories.
- St. Pauli… Reeperbahn!
SATURDAY
- Depart
- Tom/tom … Navi… Khanoom Koocheek
- Bird vs windshield, windshield wins. David is a traumatized.
- Feri’s house- Persian store- is this carbonated? Let me check
- Konigs Alle- Champs de’lysse of
- Pari’s brother- Ali- airport security
- Dinner- Sabzi- Bademjoon
SUNDAY
- Mothers Day
- Breakfast with Feri (Goly) and Mahmood
- Drive to
- Festival of tall buildings, street fair and sausuges!-
- Café- croissant sandwich/ tuna salad
- Goethe museum
- Drive to
- Intern working at hotel
- Mom, Ramesh, Mike Falafel, Dave asleep
MONDAY
- Mom and Mike out to get bread, feta, tomato, muffins
- David and Ramesh tried to go to gym… non- existent
-
- Town Hall, fruit stand, city hall,. david cant resist fruit he is allergic to.
-
- Drive toward
- Drive to Salzberg (Austria)- BEAUTIFUL drive- happened upon Ferrari show- pulled in- we thought it was a hotel…. or wedding?!
- Begin hotel search…
- Spa, steam room, sauna, relaxation room
- Pizza 12am
TUESDAY
- Organic breakfast buffet
- Sound of Music Tour bus
- Bought sugar pourer/ Ramin’s keychain
- Church where Sound of Music was filmed
- Gazebo- closed because 80 year old woman broke her hip jumping from bench to bench
- Walked in rain- saw fountain from Sound of Music
- Mozart’s birth house
- Drum Festival
- Crazy Monkey for dinner
- Mike and Dave looked for Brewery (Monk) walked around
WEDNESDAY
- Organic Breakfast- Fresh OJ
- Festung Hitensalzberg
- Lunch at Indigo
- Modern Art exhibit (Ramesh, Mike, Dave) 9/11 exhibit
- Grocery shopping
- Drive to
- Park by Persian/French/ Italian embassy
THURSDAY
- Sun/ rain
- Police gave directions to Hopshlong (sp?) Palace— Schönbrun summer palace
- Call Jamshid- plan to meet for dinner
- Lunch (best of trip!)
- Dessert/drinks
- Gardens
- Appel Strudel show
- Train to Jamshid and Jewyandeh o Burned church- Jamshid found us hotel
- Dinner at Kosher restaurant
- Ramesh, Mike, Dave back to embassy to pick up car- gelato on the way (David- “greatest Nougat ever”, Ramesh- raspberry)
FRIDAY
- Sunny!
- Breakfast buffet- left car in garage
- Hapsburg Art Collection o KISS by Klimt o
- Belvedere- good view o Maria Teresa – 16 children
- Falafel- outside- Turkish owner
- Gelato
- Drive to
- Hotel search
- Radisson
- Mike and David casino- tripled $, saw fight, hotel concierge offered drugs and women
SATURDAY
- Sunny!
- Breakfast outside
- Walked around- statues
- Dad played $700 violin
- Mike, David, Dad took nap on park bench
- Mom and Ramesh bought lunch
- Boat ride/ lunch
- Bad Gelato
- Mike/ Dad played chess- life size board
- Drive to
- HOT restaurant
SUNDAY
- Breakfast at Café Liberty
- Jewish quarters
- “Best chocolate ice cream in Prague”
- Ramesh, Michael, David- walked- pizza, chocolate
- Roohi, Mansoor- supermarket
- Dad- Chinese to-go
- Mike/ Dave- appetizer
- Ramesh/ Roohi- Walked.. Italian dinner.. table next to us
- Mike/ Dave- Pizza—home @ 12am
MONDAY
- breakfast- pizza
- Persian mom with daughter from Irvine
- Gift shopping
- Drive to Frankfurt
- Depart 3pm
- Achieve global conversation…
TUESDAY
- Depart for home - luggage incident…
pesach in hamburg
On last Thursday evening it settled in that I may not find anyone to share Pesach with this year in
I had 2 leads. 1) I had walked by a building near my apartment that looked like a synagogue. 2) I had seen a guy walking with a kippah walking in the same area near the university twice before. I left work and headed to this area near the university. However there were no kippah wearers in sight. However being in that area I remembered there was a jeweler that sold lots of Jewish jewelry nearby. i rode my bike over and luckily they were still open. I asked if they knew a synagogue in the area. She wrote a street name on a piece of paper and told me it wasn’t too far. I made my way near the synagogue. I saw a car barrier and a police post and a couple of guards walking around a building with a large metal fence surrounding it. In
The next day on Saturday I got up and dressed for services bringing my passport with me as recommend to me by the man at the synagogue the evening before. At temple I was frisked and my passport checked closely before I was admitted. The men’s section was about half full and I sat alone in an aisle and absorbed the environment for a while. I heard someone speaking Persian but wasn’t sure who. I then noticed a man a couple rows up had a Siddur that was half Persian and half Hebrew. I decided I would try and talk to him after the services.
Two old men came and sat net to me. Directly net to me was David also known as Emannuel. Most of his family died in
I continued to speak with David who had seemed to have a lot he wanted to share with me. He began with his quiet German accent “I’m not too religious, after the holocaust I only believe what I see…I believe there are good people and there are bad people….religion doesn’t matter…I met Germans during the war that better than our own, better than the Jews.” He told me he had a girlfriend. Which I was surprised to hear considering his age. He went on to say she wasn’t at temple because she wasn’t Jewish, but she was open minded. After the service David saved a seat for me at the Kiddush lunch between him and another elderly friend of his. We sat at a table full with elderly people including an interesting woman who was half Chinese. David seemed to be especially close friends with her. He continually offered to get up and get her more food despite the fact that it seemed to require so much energy for him to stand up from his chair and walk around. Every time she would say no to the offer but after a couple minutes of insisting she would fold and accept the offer. David would come back with a plate full of food. The entire interaction was very cute. After the meal I told David I would see him on Monday and rode my bike back home.
On Monday evening I picked up an orchid from the florist and went to temple. I saw Mr. Soumikh the Persian gentleman that invited me for Seder, and David both sitting in their same seats and went towards the seat between them that I sat in last time. I sat next to and was excited to begin speaking with David again, unfortunately however he didn’t remember who I was or that he had spoken to me. Mr. soumikh introduce me to his son. After the service we drove outside the city to his home. I was introduced to the entire family. A daughter and two sons. The youngest about my age. The daughter was married to an Israeli and had two daughters of her own, the younger daughter was 4 yrs old and absolutely adorable. She had me laughing the whole time. The family was nice and it was a nice reminder of home. They even did diyanu and of course it was the uncle who made a special request not to participate and get oniony who got it the worst. The dinner was full with duck, lamb, chicken, rice, goulash, soup, and vegetables. The charoset was also really good. After the meal I was invited again for the second nights Seder, as well as to a rock concert one of the sons was participating in and a party at a bar which the other son was hosting. Just shows how easily one question “how many Persians are in the community?” can lead to the opportunity to see so many interesting things and meet so many new people.
italia
a concise recollection of my recent italy trip….
22. January
Arrival in
23. January
Got up at 8ish and had a quick breakfast. Nuetella, sliced bread and Nescafe. I left my bag in the room and went to the main office of the hostel in the other building to request to stay another night in the same bed. I was told that the hostel was booked solid, and I needed to leave my room but that I could leave my bag in the main office. I went back to the other building and grabbed my bag. On the way out I saw a key-copying place next to the hostel. I removed the front door key from the keychain and had it copied. I figured worse come to worse, I could sleep on the floor in the lobby of the building should I not be able to find another hostel. I returned the key and left my bag in the hostel.
I didn’t want to waste time finding a place for that night so I decided to get to the some main sites. I headed for the
24. January
I arrived in Firenze (Florence) and walked to the hostel ‘emerald fields’ but it was unfortunately booked but since I called before the owner called a firend that owned a 1star hotel nearby and offered me a special rate for the night a couple more euros than the price of a hostel. I dropped my bags at the hostel and walked to Basilica Santa Maria a beautiful church with an impressive dome (duomo) I walked up the small staircases and hallways till I got to the top and admired the close up view of the dome and birds-eye view of
25. January
After a quick exercise (I have been keeping up with the 50 push a day rule even while on vacation.) and a shower and I was out by 9 am. I grabbed a chocolate chip scone and from the bakery across the street I walked to ponte vecchio, the most picturesque bridge in
Walked around a bit more through
26. January
27. January
After lunch we took a bus/boat to murano an island famous for the glass work. We witness the incredible talent and skill the artists had when we saw the glass making in action, carefully adding gold leafing and intricate details to the glass slipper. After murano ben was heading back to
28. January
I hadn’t booked a room but I had hoped there would be a spot. After finding the unmarked hostel on a graffiti ridden street I buzzed ad called but no answer. Another traveler showed up and we both waited after an hr or so a man poked his head out the window and after seeing us let us in. I confirmed my booking for tomorrow but decided to go to
29. January
30. January
I was a couple of hrs early and sat in Terminal 2 for a while reading and I ate a slice of pizza. I keptwatching the check in coumter but it never oped for my flight. About 45 minutes before departured when It hadn’t opned I knew something was up…heres where it gets fun. After a closer examination I realize I was at the right check in at tehe wrong terminal. I grabbed the et bus which got me to the right check in at the right termaila about 5 mins aagter check in closed. My flight had not taken off yet so I rean to the te security ut without a boarding pass they wouldne let me kn. I was redirected to ticket sales where I was not able to get another glight until the net morning and at a cost of 200 euros. That’s about 1/3 of what my enture itlay had costed me thus far. HLX said they would refund the majority of my ticheket giving me a mere 30 euros. To top it, I need to vacte my apt by 12:00 noon on the 31ast (the next day) my flight that leasves Milan at 7am first goes to zurich then to Stuttgart, probably getting me to reutling at about 11:30…thinkgs weill get pretty exciting tomorrow. But shit happenes. And all and all I have enjoyed my time here in the airport….I have finished cover to voger reading a sepaical edition of the Spiegel magazine discuissing various relisions and there place in taodays societworld I have also made progress in my own writings, I ate a BK King XXL burger meal (I hate fast food but it was the only thing open so I figured, go big or go home), I did 200 pushups and I discovered a compfy area with couches where I will sleeeep or nap before my flight. Soon after relocating to my new spot a guy and a girl came over the girl napped and the guy and I played footbag (hackisack) at around 11pm we began talking and turns out e s a the best beat boxer in belgiu, and was in prague to judge a beat box battle and the even was sponsored by footbag companies. We talked for a while about his career, Belgium, politiks at about 3 I slept for a couple hrs and got up at 6 well before my flight, and I checked in and made home safe and sound.
Another inconceivably rewarding trip.
Türkei Journal
Pre-Departure: day 0
Saturday morning i mentioned to my neighbor, Kai, that i wanted to go to turkey over winterbreak. Sat. night we booked a flight that left a couple days later on Tuesday. I was interviewing on Monday for an internship and left sudnday during the day for Düsseldorf. Returning Monday evening, I began to pack and do some quick research on
Day 1: Departure
Our flight was from München, about 3-4 hrs by train from
Day 2:
After taking a freezing cold shower (I think Kai used all the warm water!), actually wasn’t really much of a shower, more like a shower head between the sink and the toilet and a drain in the ground of the bathroom. I enjoyed a simple and satisfying breakfast prepared by mrs. Sabah. Bread, feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, some orange and a boiled egg. And of course some Turkish tea. We walked down a road in Kalechi (the name of the old city in
Day 3: Pummukale
We packed our bags, grabbed a quick breakfast and began our trip to ‘Pummakale’. We got to Denizli by 2pm then we took a dolmush (minibus) to Pummakale. In our excitement we left or bags in the luggage compartment of the dolmush. After about five minutes of walking towards pummukale we realized we had only our small bags with us. I was pissed for about 30 seconds then I came to grips with the fact that with or without the bags I was going to have a great time in
Day 4:
Arriving in the morning we took the ironic recommendation from our new French friends to stay in the ‘
Day 5:
After breakfast at the hostel kai and I walked through the spice market and continued walking through another street bazaar that seemed to be filled mostly with locals. We continued through this bazaar as well until eventually we found ourselves once again in the grand bazaar. We had heard about some underground village but were not certain if we had mis-heard. We asked one man and he just pointed in a direction and without a map (we had ‘lost’ our turkey book the second or so day of the trip) we just walked. We found ourselves in an unknown area and nobody else had heard about this underground village so we decided to a follow a sign that led us back to taksim. While walking I asked a man if we were in the right direction for taksim, and he answered my in Persian. Then I responded to him in Persian, and we walked together while he explained different parts if
Day 6: Kappadokia
Arriving in kappadokia we were hoping to get a good recommendation of how to spend the day, as we had not prepared anything nor really spoken to anyone as far as what to do there. We were directed to a travel tours office. At the first bus station. We weren’t left with much of an option as it was the only group travel office there, and we were 20 mins by dolmush from the kappadokia town center (which we later found out was really just a group of resteraunts near each other). We signed up for the day trip. On the bus tour we stopped at ihlara canyon, the underground city, and selime. The underground city was made up of 8 different levels underground and was a maze of caves and rooms, truly incredible. Selime was a nunch of homes built into the rock structures from volcanic eruptions, this place was my favorite on the tour. I also found a jaw bone of some animal, maybe a goat or something near selime, currently my favorite souvenir. On the tour we met 2 japanese students as well as a man from
Day 7: Olympos
Upon our arrival back in
Day 8: Back Home
After breakfast at
red eye
just got back from an extended weekend trip to the west coast to celebrate my cousins barmitzvah. it was quite an adventure 20 min bus to bus station 1 hr bus to airport 14 hr flight to the OC. then back again a couple days later. but in all honestly the time spent traveling is insignificant compared to the amount of enjoyment i had over the few days. i have always felt that there is no better way to spend time than with family. on another note time is flying by. honestly. i feel like i just got to Germany but i am already searching for co-ops. meaning i will be done with my first semester here soon. only a couple more semesters till i graduate college, ridiculous. my new focus is on gaining as much knowledge as possible. there is an overwhelming amount of knowledge at my finger tips with internet and books, i just cant seem to absorb all the information fast enough. a small side project i am working on is a time line of the world since creation, but focused around topics that interest and affect me. it may sound silly, but there is so much information and without a way of putting it in perspective there is no way to truly understand anything. here is a quick example: 4.5 billion BC the earth and its solar system was created. scientists have dated the oldest sign of life to 3 billion BC. then jumping all the to 65 million BC we have the oldest known dinosaur. just try and imagine the evolution of the first bacteria into the eventual dinosaur, hard to image but now consider the billions of years it had time to take place. then tens of millions of years later the first sign of humans show up. as humans we are such a small part of the history of the world. then in 70,000 BC man made fire. and it wasnt till 60,000 years later that man made the wheel. of course these facts are based on the findings of scientists and paleontologists and of course are subject to error, but they are the best figures we have to date based on the collaborative intelligence of experts, and I accept there findings. that was a random tangent….but some food for thought.