The Canals of Venice

This one is going to be short. I only spent the day in Venice and to be honest that was more than a single dude traveling solo needs to spend there. My train arrived around 7am and one of the two highlights to my day was watching the city come alive. Around 8 things started moving. Out of nowhere, kids came out of nowhere flooding the streets and you began to hear the banging of pots and pans inside the shops of all the vendors. I ended up walking around the entire island and worming my way through back alleys where no one else walked. I watched the gondoliers push couples through the canals. And no, I didn’t miss San Marcos square. The second highlight of the day was when I came across a park nestled just beyond the square. It was far enough away that you could faintly hear the sounds of activity. It came right up to the water’s edge so there was a beautiful breeze that fluttered the leaves of the trees making it a place of serenity for me to take a nap. I slid up next to a tree trunk, crossed my arms, and closed my eyes to soak it all in. I woke up about an hour later to the sound of a few kids running around with water pistols shooting at each other and giggling away. I gathered my things and walked out of the park refreshed and smiling. I continued around the island for many more hours trying to find hidden gems down the alleys. At one point, I was drawn down a corridor by the strong smell of basil to a window that made me salivate. I saw an array of pizzas that made making a decision nearly impossible. I bought a slice of primavera and sat on the steps at the edge of the canal to enjoy. Yum!

Venice alive!

Europe 2011 - Venice

Nantes to Torino… Locked!

I have to say that the French are by far the friendliest toward hitchhikers. I made it 1200km in less than 24 hours thanks to their kindness. This allowed me to sleep in a bed for my birthday, which was really nice after that kind of day. It involved lots of walking, lots of bad French on my part (but good practice), and 7 different rides. The drive across the border to Italy was spectacular as well.

Lake off the highway before crossing into Italy

As for Torino, I had a wonderful time, but I don’t plan on going back. I’m sure I will come across worse, but so far it is the dirtiest place I have ever been. Now, I’m not talking some garbage in the streets dirty. I’m talking, for a city with such magnificent architecture, culture, and history, they really have let that city fall apart. The people throw glass bottles at will and the shattered shards are scattered everywhere around the city. Every other kind of rubbish you can think of will be on the ground as well. Dog owners don’t clean up after their animals so there are smears of dog shit all over the city. There is more air pollution than anywhere I’ve been. Add to all of that it was spring time so my allergies were going absolutely berserk. And still, with all of that, I was able to have a fun time.

I don’t know how I do it, but I met two Nigerian guys, Lucky and Lawrence, in the park while I was having lunch on a bench. They decided to sit down next to me and we got to chatting. They offered me some beers and we had a great time. We spent the entire afternoon in the park getting to know each other. They were very interested in learning about the USA, so much so, that I couldn’t really ask them about Nigeria. I was able to collect bits and pieces about the country and think I have to add it to my travel list, really though, what’s not on my travel list? While hanging out on the park bench, we heard some music bumping across the park. We decided to check it out and it was worth it. There is a cafe that fires up the park with a dj from their patio. People can hang out tossing a Frisbee or kicking a football around while throwing back a few beers with some good tunes. It turns out that Lucky is a football player in Nigeria. He loves the sport so much that we kicked the ball around with a 5 year old for at least an hour. It allowed me to practice before we spontaneously entered a real game on our way out of the park with some locals. Of the 10 or so guys, only Davida spoke English, rather well, explained by the fact that he worked in London for a few years. He was the first Italian I had met that spoke English to me. I don’t know if that’s because no one else I met knew the language, but I’ve been told that it’s common for Italians that do speak English not to on principal.

National Liberation Festival

I met a German guy called Phillip on my last day and we walked the city until my train departed for Venice. We ran into an open-air market and picked up some fruit for lunch. It was really nice to have proper produce after being in the British Isles for so long. All in all, he’s a good kid, eager to travel, and absorbed what I had to say like a sponge. He asked lots of questions about how I go about traveling. It was a little awkward, because I really don’t consider myself a seasoned traveler. I suppose after 3 months of nomadic behavior you figure out how to do shit on the cheap. He’s off in Greece working his way back up the Danube now and says it’s bitchin’!

2011 Europe - Turin

Nantes in France

A quick flight from Shannon, Ireland with a near full body cavity search from a rather dedicated airport security agent and I was in mainland Europe. Apparently, first aid scissors that fall within the approved list of items allowed on a plane must not be in your bag, but pulled out and placed in the clear quart bag, even though every other security screening has waived me through without problem. Respek my authoritay!

You’re probably wondering where Nantes is and why I would go there instead of the obvious destination of Paris. Well, it’s in the west of France near the coast and there are two reasons. The first, though less important, is because the flight was €11 (≈ $16). The second is that I wanted to spend time with Hayley. Most of you won’t know who this is because I have only mentioned her by name once before, a few of you may know because I’ve talked to you directly about her, and others may make the connection from my posts about Southampton since vous êtes intelligent comme ça.

She invited me to stay with her family for a week in the countryside of the Pays-de-la-Loire region. Obviously, being in a rural area versus an urban one is going to change the experience greatly, but there are stereotypes around the world and the French-American relationship has always had nightmares attached to it for me. This is probably mostly due to the Paris tours us Americans like to do. Not being able to speak the language, I had tons of anxiety about heading to France. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience though. Everything: the cheeses, the wines, the food, the beautiful landscapes, and, best of all, the welcoming nature of everyone I met was incredible. I haven’t been to Paris yet, but I’d like to think most of the French are cut from this mold. Even if Parisians suck, I’m not going to take it out on the rest of the country. My favorite thing about France so far is Camembert cheese. I dare you to try it!

You can’t do much to learn a language in a week’s time, but I definitely wish I could have walked away with a bit more. No problem, I have taken it upon myself to continue studying and trying to learn the language even after I leave. It is a beautiful tongue that has incredibly difficult pronunciations, at least for me. You try and say ‘rue’ properly to a French person. The week went by far quicker than I would have liked as Hayley toured me around the coast. Oh, how I missed sunny, sandy beaches. It wasn’t an easy departure and I wanted to stay for months.

2011 Europe - Nantes

The British Isles Down

British Isles Journey (Fixed)

And that wraps up my travels through the British Isles. It was an excellent and enjoyable 10 weeks getting to know some locals, some travelers, experiencing foods, and getting a rough idea of how foreigners view the USA. I’m looking forward to crossing the English Channel and getting into some cultures where the primary language is not English. First stop is the countryside of Saint-Étienne-de-Montluc, France, just outside the town of Nantes.

Galway with Friends and Family! (2)

Galway Bay

I parted ways with Dian on Monday. She invited me up to Clifden for a few days, but I had a flight to the mainland that I couldn’t miss. I enjoyed the ambience of Galway and found it a fitting place to spend my last few days in Ireland. It turned out quite well. Dian dropped me off in town in the morning and I made my way to the hostel to drop of my bag. I walked around the town a bit more exploring some of the nooks and crannies. I found a little pizza shop called Pizza Napoli. The timing couldn’t have been better. I had been craving pizza for, well… I always crave pizza, but I hadn’t eaten any since Brighton with Alex. Withdrawals!? I wasn’t about to enjoy English, Scottish, or Irish pizza so I jumped all over Pizza Napoli. I went back to the hostel and met a few of my roomies. While they played an early afternoon of drinking games, I decided to be anti-social and go for a run along the promenade, totally worth it. The weather was still beautiful and they ran out of booze while I was gone. The lot of us ended up hanging out that evening drinking beer on the steps next to the river. Shane looked like a hobo, we met a group of locals that were almost drunk enough to go swimming in the river, and then headed over to a dive pub for some warmth and a pint.

Shane

Tuesday was lounge around and hang out day. It rained all day so I didn’t really have the motivation to get outside. I did in the afternoon for a bit, but it was pretty miserable wind and rain. I ended up moving into the common areas of the hostel and met a few cool people throughout the afternoon to talk with.

Galway is cool!

Wednesday all my friends left town, except Alice. She was heading out to the Aran Islands though. I was in luck! A German girl that I met briefly in Killarney, Monika, happened to make it up to Galway a few days after me and was staying in the same hostel. It was raining so we spent the early part of the morning in the kitchen hanging out. I happened to check my email and my luck was going strong. My dad had arrived in Galway the previous night (I missed his email by about 30 minutes!). I rushed over to his hostel but he had already left to spend the day down at the Cliffs of Moher. I got back to the hostel and hung out with Monika. We saw a gap in the clouds and decided to go for a walk along the promenade. There’s a lighthouse halfway, but apparently you can’t access it. We tried… and failed. We bounced around the rocks and pretended to be rebels thinking some security guard would shout at us to scram. Monika came up with an awesome idea to have some hot chocolate so we went on an adventure to find a market to pick up some cocoa and sip a cup in the lounge of the hostel. The hilarious part is that by the time we made it back, the sun had come out and it was warming up. It was still tasty! We made another trip around the town mainland to swing by my dad’s hostel again to see if we could bump into him at the right time. Alas, he had not returned and I updated the note I left him to tell him to meet me at my hostel.

Me, Alice, Chris, Monika and 3 locals excited to throw a hang loose sign

Finally, contact! Monika and I walked back into our hostel and right into my dad. It was awesome. He made a friend out at the Cliffs of Moher, Chris. The four of us conversed in the kitchen for a bit and met up with Alice before heading out to dinner. It was interesting to see my dad engage with everyone. Monika is from Germany and Alice is from Switzerland. Both of them speak French and German, as does my dad. Talk about being left out of a conversation at times! It was all good fun and we continued after dinner at a local pub that had some good Irish trad. I was leaving in the morning and didn’t want to say good night to my pops. We made plans to meet up for breakfast so I could be his IT support. That’s exactly how I want to spend my time in Europe, fixing computer issues… Love you pops!

Pops, Monika, and me

Me, Chris, and Alice

2011 Europe - Galway

Galway with Friends and Family! (1)

River Corrib

I spent nearly a week in Galway and loved every minute of it. Dian and I arrived Friday night after a day driving up the coast from Killarney. To show my gratitude for the ride and a place to stay, I threw together a nice home cooked meal for us to enjoy. We spent the evening relaxing and continuing the conversation of sharing our lives. We spent much of the weekend hanging out around the house doing a lot of this. If I’m half as independent and financially secure as she is, I will be one happy camper. On Saturday, I did go into Galway city to walk around and explore the town. It turned out to be an eventful afternoon. After walking a bit and figuring out where stuff was, I plopped down on the steps of Kennedy Park (Eyre Square for you locals) and had a drink of water. Within about 5 minutes, I was talking to a few Irish guys that were drinking in the afternoon sun. They offered me a beer and we hung out for a good bit of the afternoon. I probably wouldn’t hang out with these guys on any other given day, but it turned into some good fun. They heckled the knackers walking by, whistled at girls without shame, and even managed to get me to shout at a group protesting the clubbing of seals by Canadians. It was all in good fun though. Eventually, someone must have become fed up with the now 8 person group because the Po stopped in and broke up the crowd. I must admit, they were rather civil about it. They merely asked us to disperse and toss the open beers (Yes, I am specifying open intentionally). I got a good laugh out of all of this before heading off back to the town center.

Eyre Square / Kennedy Park

Shortly after leaving the park, I stumbled across St. Nicholas Market. This is an open-air market at the end of town. Not 30 seconds inside and Kerry says hello while I’m looking at Celtic jewelry. We exchanged greetings and she invited me for an oyster from another vendor. The last oyster I had was in London with my brother and it may or may not have caused a serious bout of food poisoning. Still, I love oysters and couldn’t pass it up. After swallowing a couple, we went for a pint at one of the pubs in town. There are plenty along Quay Street and we definitely had trouble making up our minds. We ended up settling for a nook in the patio of a particular fun looking pub. It turns out she is a working actress from Boston that is making a career in Beijing while taking singing lessons in Galway. Go figure… We said goodbye and I started my trek back to the house. I was unaware how far this actually was from the town. I was expecting a 5k walk or something. I’m pretty sure it took me every bit of 2 hours. I rather enjoyed it though as the path follows the coast. The weather was wonderful so it made it even better. People were out running about, walking their dogs, and having a merry ole time.

Galway Bay

Killarney to Galway

O'Connors pub

First off, if you ever visit Killarney and want to stay on the cheap. Stay at Neptune’s Hostel. I can’t say enough about this place. The staff is friendly, the place is clean, and the other travelers were open and ready for anything. The first night I arrived around 8pm and nothing was open for dinner except a small convenience shop. I purchased a few things, needlessly, and went back to the hostel where two Israeli girls, Noy and Leeron ended up inviting me to have dinner with them. Though they hardly spoke English and I not a word of Hebrew, we hit it off. The three of us and several others that we met following dinner ended up heading over to O’Connors for a couple drinks and some local Irish blue grass music (Don’t ask me…). The band was very cool and even let Noy and Leeron jump into the mix with the metal washboard thing. I swallowed my Guinness and threw some darts with Brian until closing.

My new friend

Muckross Lake

I woke up the next morning and took a late start to hiking around Killarney National Park. I will say this is an excellent little town because you can walk 5km south or west and end up along a lake loop through the national park. I opted to go south and check out the famous Torc Waterfall and Muckross Lake. I like to give credit where due and having a waterfall 5km outside of your town is awesome, but seriously, this is a little baby waterfall. How does it end up attracting tourists from around the globe? I mean, yea… If you’re in Ireland and happen to be in Killarney, take the little amount of time and check it out. I’ve met some people that have actually come over to Ireland specifically to see this thing…

Torc Waterfall

I know… RIGHT! It’s a little creek cascading over some rocks. It's very pretty and I would see it if you’re there, but don’t go there to see it. It’s not like it’s…

Iguassu Falls (Brazil)

When I returned to the hostel, I met Dian. Though our group bumped into her the previous night, I didn’t realize how cool she was until now. She’s traveled since she was 19 and has been to 76 different countries around the world. I loved hearing about where she has been and what she’s done. She invited me to have dinner with her so we threw together a stir fry of what we had (Or should I say she had since I provided zero of the food). Turns out she was in Ireland for a house swap and was based in Galway. I hadn’t planned on leaving for Galway until Saturday or even Sunday, but she offered to give me a ride Friday morning. I may not know much, but I do know that you do not turn down a ride somewhere when it is offered. It couldn’t have been any better. We headed north along the coast and made a few wrong turns that turned into a few amazing turns. Cliffs of Moher, who? Yea, go to Kilkee and hike along the trail they have for their cliffs. Bam!

Cliffs of Kilkee

Dian and me

Yea, we swung by Moher and for 6 euro (per person) I’ll tell you how they look from out the car window. I never understood how any country can charge for you to see its landscape. Dian and I pulled off the road up-a-ways and trespassed over to the Cliffside.  They’re nice and all but go to Kilkee instead. Plus, there is a nice beach right before the cliffs inside the small bay. We made it up to Galway safely and Dian invited me to stay the weekend. How could I say no?

King of The Burren

2011 Europe - Killarney
2011 Europe - Kilkee
2011 Europe - The Burren

Kinsale Away… Kinsale Away with Me!

Kinsale town center

First stop on this trek of Ireland is Kinsale. I don’t know how I discovered this place or why I wanted to visit, but it seemed cool enough for a stopover. I found what I presume to be the only hostel in town and sit in the lobby for 30 minutes before a soul shows up. The guy is nice enough, but charges me 20 euro instead of the advertised 15, I didn’t really like him anyway. I made damn sure I got my 20 euro out of the place. How? Well, first I took a really long shower. Ordinarily, I hate doing this because I care a bit about water conservation. Sometimes, you just need a hot shower though. Since I was a bit fatigued from the previously sleepless weekend in Cork, I decided to have a quick nap around 6pm before checking out a pub in town. At 10:30, I rolled over feeling good. I popped out of bed and grabbed a banana, slapped on some peanut butter, and enjoyed it in the silence of an empty hostel. A swift peek out the front door at the night sky and I crawled back in bed. I know, you’re wondering how I went from feeling good to crawling back into bed. Simply put, it was a really comfortable bed and after the Demolition Experience, I could use a bit of shut eye. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to sleep though after a 4 hour nap. 10 minutes of reggae on the iPod and I woke up at 9am. Where on earth does the time go? I must say, that was probably the best night of sleep I had since I arrived in Europe. There wasn’t a soul to bother me at 2am walking in the dorm and the town was small so there wasn’t any exterior noise to wake me up at 7am. Bliss…

The things that keep a smile on my face...

Rested, I gathered my things and began the trek to the road out of town along the coast. On the way, I took a detour and decided to hike to James’ Fort. Now in ruins, I decided to break in and check it out. Shhhh, don’t tell anyone. I climbed the stone exterior (Thank you rock climbing addiction) and snapped some pictures inside. After I was satisfied, I bailed on the hole hitching idea and decided to trek back to town and totally came across the first beach since St. Andrews, Scotland (Where it was raining…). The smell of that salty air while you step along the soft water soaked sand is something of which I never tire. A bit small, but it put a smile on my face nonetheless. Back in town, I wandered and snapped a few photos. For lunch, I decided to hit the weekly farmer’s market that happened to be on my only day in town. I’m pretty sure that I’ve never had a croissant as tasty as whatever concoction this lady had crafted up out of apples and dough. She somehow managed to not powder the croissant with powdered sugar, but rather paint it on. If you can’t imagine what I’m talking about, I don’t know what to tell you other than to visit Kinsale and find the croissant lady. The apricot bar was tasty fresh, but not as good. By now it was late in the afternoon and I decided that I didn’t have the energy to hitch along the Irish coast. Instead, I booked a ticket to Killarney. Glad I did!

yay! a beach!

2011 Europe - Kinsale

Pop the Cork Already!

Cork was an absolutely and utterly destructive weekend that I’m dubbing The Demolition Experience… I can’t wait to visit Eoin, Rick, and Tim again! I love the CouchSurfing network. I wouldn’t have nearly the amount of fun without it. It’s actually quite funny because they only signed up to promote their new business venture and I guess CS administrators sent them a notice that it was unacceptable. I didn’t know this when they accepted my request, but when I arrived they told me they had no intention of ever hosting anyone (I’m positive they were half kidding…). They saw my profile and I guess I’m that cool. We’ll see if they continue after a demolition derby weekend though.

City Centre

When I arrived in Cork, I made my way to their flat without any problems and… BAM… Rick walks out the front door as I approach. Timing couldn’t be better. Rick bailed to meet a chick he had never met before, good story behind that. Tim, Eoin, and I chat for a bit and then headed to the shops so they could scratch Mother’s Day off the to-do list. Conversation was immediately easy and fluid between all of us. Once Rick came home, the three of us sat around and shot the shit before the guys threw together some stir fry for dinner… delicious! We settled over some beers and then fired it up with shots before heading into town for a birthday party. Lots of drinking, conversation, and even a bit of dancing took place before heading back to the flat around 2 for an after party consisting of tea for some and vodka punch for the more adventurous. Well, not too long after that, we drank all the vodka. What’s that you say, “We have Jaeger! “ Now we’re out of Jaeger? I suppose it’s time to tap into the two buck chuck wine. We’ve now entered prohibition… I’m fairly certain I recall the time when I finally crashed being about 5:30a. I know this because at 4am everyone left and Rick performed a strip tease in the middle of the flat for Eoin and me, the lucky ones, to see him shake around his hairy ass. That’s when Tim (Who was sleeping at this point) came alive and jumped into the living room. Apparently, Rick decided to use Tim’s bed instead of his own to cap off his night.  Tim being the nice guy that he is felt obliged to leave the room for a bit. Solid night with a good story I’d say. For Tim’s sake, I hope the curtains aren’t as bad as I heard.

Rick

Tim and Eoin spent Sunday celebrating Mother’s Day with family. Rick and I were supposed to play a bit of rugby, which I was definitely looking forward to, but he phoned in sick with a broken ankle. Some people just shouldn’t drink until 5am. Instead, he and I hung out drinking in the flat all afternoon. He was holding out on us and had a secret stash of wine and cider… hair of the dog! I stuck around until I needed to make myself scarce for Rick to have a nooner with his night cap. That’s when I jumped out into the city for a walk around with a pitstop for more booze. It was about 2 hours later when I returned to the flat with a case of Stella and Rick answers the door with essentially no clothes on, love it but where’s my damn strip show? I dropped the liver elixir into the fridge and ducked back into the city again for some more exploration. While out this time, I ran into the same people I met at the hostel in Dublin, at the Guinness Storehouse, and crossing the river back to the hostel. How random is that? This was the 3^rd chance encounter with them and I made the decision to make evening plans for drinks and some live music. It’s just too small of a world to let that shit go. Anyway, I returned to the flat a couple hours later and finally clothes were on all around and it was time for the lass to meet some of her friends for dinner. Rick and I commenced our binge weekend and at some point he snuck away for a crash course in pillow cuddling. Tim and Eoin had returned by now and we kicked it for a few hours.

Bru Bar Festivities

Around this time, I started to hit the proverbial wall of tired. I tried to cancel my plans for drinks and music in town until Rick put on his game face. He smacked me and threw a can of Stella at me. We were ready to go again. This night took us to Bru Bar for some reggae… oh yea! It wasn’t great, but you have to love the mood reggae puts a group in. Tim and Eoin stayed in so after a few drinks, Rick and I brought the party back to the flat. Though there aren’t any good stories that came from this, a good time was had by all.

I did some touristy stuff on Monday while Rick hibernated and Tim and Eoin worked. I’m sorry guys but I can’t get on board with calling what you do “work.” Cork is small and fun with plenty to do but the people are really the big attraction. Once I got home, I cooked up some pasta with Italian sausage and sweet pepper marinara for the boys and we had a mellow evening of conversation. It was an excellent last night in the city. I left in the morning after the four of us chowed down on some porridge and tea. I’ll miss them but know that someday we’ll cross paths again.

City Centre - I did other stuff than drinking...

2011 Europe - Cork

Love Me Some Guinness

Tribute to the lioness cub :)

Oh Dublin… how I was not looking forward to you! You’ve left me pleasantly surprised. I was looking forward to visiting Dublin until the day I arrived. I don’t know why I was in such a downer of a mood, but I just wanted to drop kick the city in the ass and find somewhere fun. Turns out, I had already found it; I just needed to open my eyes. I arrived pretty late on Wednesday so I swallowed some dinner and hit the pillow to try and hit the next day with a better attitude. It didn’t really go quite as planned.

Bored on a park bench

I spent Thursday running around the city from museum to museum to park to galleries to lots more. I somehow managed to do all that after breakfast and before a late lunch. I should have packed and ate in the park, but I ended up back at the hostel around 2:30 with the plan of heading to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour and pint from the Gravity Bar and catch the sunset. Bad plan… Because I wasn’t in the greatest of moods, I ended up catching up on emails and a bit of blogging… 4 hours (Guinness closed at 5pm) later I forced myself to get offline for dinner. It was shortly after dinner that my weekend started to turn around. I jumped online to email my Cork hosts and had a really great chat with two awesome people that made me much happier. It must have come across physically because a group in the hostel struck up a conversation with me. There was one really drunk old guy hitting on the young girls and we ended up creating a fictional story about one of the guys being the owner’s son and told him to leave. Problem solved.

Oh, how I love me some Guinness...

Friday was really awesome. I thought I’d swing by the Guinness Storehouse and make a quick tour before checking out some live music over lunch in Temple Bar. I arrived at Guinness around noon and walked out the front door at 5pm. What can I say; they put on a good tour. And you totally get a free pint at the end. If you’re badass like me, some girl will give you her stub because she doesn’t drink beer. In all honesty though, you could get plastered on what people leave behind. It depressed me how many people would take one sip and then set the pint down and walk away. What’s wrong with you people! I enjoyed mine over a conversation with JR, a dude from Germany that was wearing a Texas Longhorns cap. A bit odd, but friendly enough. Randomly, 3 people that checked out of the hostel that morning walked into the bar and joined the conversation. Why do I mention this? Well, read on…

At the top... Gravity Bar

We all parted ways and I headed back to the hostel. I stopped to check out the Ireland Film Institute (Really had to take a piss) and saw a traveler sitting on the wall waiting around with her bag. I didn’t have anywhere to be so I decided to say hello and make friends. It turns out she’s CouchSurfing and obviously with better luck than I had being that I was in a hostel. She was due to meet her host in 10 minutes so I stuck around until then.  I continued on to the hostel and as I was crossing the river I see the same 3 people from the hostel and Guinness (Don’t worry, it gets better). We say hello and goodbye because they need to catch a bus down to Cork. Back at the hostel, I took a 30 minute power nap to some classical music, jumped into the shower, and hung out the rest of the night. A group of Brazilians was staying at the hostel semi long term looking for work and were having a bbq (I know, my mouth watered a little bit too). I picked up some beers and joined the festivities. It was tasty. They danced the night away and we shared some good stories.

2011 Europe - Dublin