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factor tracker becomes radparvar.com/dave
This is the last post on this site…
Dont worry, no need to panic! The site and its content will just be moving over to my new site: www.radparvar.com/dave
If you are reading this on your RSS, please be sure to change the rss feed link as well, id give it to ya, but I think u should visit the site and check out the new design!
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to posting more often!!
Best,
DAVE
No commentslooking back, my favorite posts
I spent 24 hrs. homeless in boston and kept a detailed journal of my experience. It is amazing how much you can learn in 24 Hrs. about yourself and others with just a pen and paper. This is one piece I love to re-read.
I spent over a month sleeping on random peoples couch’s while traveling through France. The graciousness i received while traveling on a tight budget is something I will never forget. I met some of the most inspirational people I have ever met in my life on this trip. (August 28th makes for a great story ;-) )
Other good ones:
Italy Trip (The story from Ali on Jan 28th is wild.)
Turkey Trip (Another awe inspiring trip)
No commentsFamily 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…
inspiring dinner
I was on the other side of town when my roommate called and invited me to dinner. At first I was hesitant because I did not feel like making the short trek but after his persistence I agreed. The phone connection was weak and I didn’t fully understand why he was so adamant about inviting me to dinner but he gave me and address and at the end mentioned that someone wanted to meet me.
From the get go conversation was great. We sat down for a homemade dinner of fish, rice, and some tomato based salad. Throughout dinner we touched upon just about every topic. Religion, politics, travel, love, life, culture, evolution, our pasts, futures, and & present. After a great dinner and even better conversation the woman left the room to get something to show me. She came back with her “Poisie”, a book filed with poems, advice and decorations from her grade school friends. Despite the fact that the various poems were dated back so the 1950’s the book seemed to be in perfect condition.
We continued on to a small room with bouquets of fresh roses. She told me to smell one bundle then another. She worked as an organic botanist. She had a request to provide a company with the best smelling roses. We went on to the next room. The ceiling was filed with dry flowers hanging upside down, an amazing site in itself. Then we continued on to the backyard to see her outdoor garden. Just before we left she showed me one last thing. It was a type of plant sitting in a cup of water. She said “most people use this drug daily, do you know what it is?!” I thought for a minute and guessed coffee. She then showed me a jar of dried beans we cracked on open to see an actual coffee bean. After that we left and walked home.
The dinner reminded me of a couple important life lessons:
1) Never decline an invitation to meet someone new.
2) As much fortunate as I have been to see so much in my life, I still have much to see, learn, and experience.
Then I began to wonder what if I do see more and more, aside from understanding more cultures how would I apply this my life, my career my interests and goals. A couple of hours later I was thinking about dinner and I realized that understanding coffee at its simplest form is the only way to fully understand why it has become a phenomena and why places like star bucks come to be such hits. Of course there is much more to it. But something I took away was to understand something fully you need to be able to understand it in its simplest form and through travel and experience there is often the opportunity to appreciate, observe and understand things in their simplest, original and natural form.
clearing my head
I had a lot on my mind the last few days, so i just now decided to take some of it off, literally…I gave myself a haircut :)