Jaipur

by Teri Gerritz

Staying at a converted maharaji palace… beautiful room.. feel like the time of the colonists and am glad to be behind the walls.. so much cooler than on the street. Wonderful gardens and birds,, peacocks hoping rooftop to roof, water lilies, eagles according t Peter, bats and about 11 other varieties… pigs, cows, goats , camels…. The help dresses like out of a kipling fairytale… where is the cobra and the mongoose. Incredible dinner with garlic naan that melts in your mouth spinach paneeer like none I’ve had… cauliflower and potatoes good but more like home.. superb dancing and music… dancing with heads on fire in can, a flame eater and fie thrower… a woman who danced with seven pots on her head… after peter left took the invite to go on stage and try to dance with them,,, magical night climbed the stairs and had an over view of the city complete with lighted temples and castles loved the drive from 100 plus years ago to decorated trucks and trailers of today and every means of transportation sharing the road….gratitude for being one who has the comforts life like stories I have read.…So good to be out of self.. dinner on the green in the warm evening.. no humidity. So pleasant relaxing.

Indian idiocracy - the misadventures of my mother and I

From the wonderful lush, clean scrublands of South Africa, I descended into the chaotic, filthy, abyss that is India.

[Warning: The following blog entries are authored by myself or my mother]

by Peter

My Indian idiocracy did not initially begin in India, but in the bush of South Africa. Five days before I was scheduled to leave my fathers house in Thailand to New Delhi, India, I recieved an ominous email. My mother had just been to the Indian Consulate in San Francisco where she had applied for a $60.00 tourist visa. While there, she learned that 1) American Citizens require a visa for entry into the Republic of India; and 2) Visas could not be purchased in the Republic of India.

For the next three days, between morning and evening game drives, I panicked. I used all the resources of the luxury Ulusaba Resort to establish contact with the Indian Consulate in Johannesburg, while simultaneously trying to call the Indian Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand and in Kathmandu, Nepal. I had just weeks earlier confirmed my eighteen day tour of northeastern India with Indian Holiday Pvt. LTD; I like to call them incredibly horrible pricey liars but thats enough hate for now. In all my travelling, I have taken for granted that an American Passport is all that is needed for entry into most countries. In worse case scenario, like Turkey in 2003, you can pay double the normal price at the airport. However, India does not work that way. I should have known. A country with a millenium age caste system is a recipe for the worst and biggest bueracracy ever. It puts to shame the Berkeley High attendence ladies. Unfortunately, the Indian Consulate refused to talk with the staff of Ulusaba and seemed to enjoy hanging up on my cries for help.

I left Ulusaba separately from the rest of my family to try my luck with the Consulate in person. Thankfully South Africa bueracracy came crashing down somewhat with Apartheids end and for $300.00 I had my visa in a day. I left the next morning for Thailand and then the next day for India. I arrived in New Delhi on April 14th and made my way after being ripped off 60 rupee (40 rupees = $1) met my mom at a hotel in New Dehli

Monkeys, Gastroenteritis, and why one should not eat foreign plants

It all started two days ago. We were trying to decide if we wanted to go to the jungle to go tubing down the rapids in a rainforest or spend more time exploring the islands of Southern Thailand. I had made mention of Ling (monkeys) and everyone got excited. We ended up talking to one of the waiters at our resort and he had a friend whom would take us to the monkeys for around$60.00. We ended up taking a 15 minute drive and getting on a long tailed speed boat ( I will show you a picture later.) We went through the mangrove forests to another bank on the way out to see. Staring directly across from us was a terrestial monkey. Our boat drivers starting throwing chunks of pineapple ashore and monkeys started appearing from everywhere. Old monkeys. big balled monkeys, nursing monkeys, baby monkies. Many many monkeys. THe highlight was watching two monkeys boom-boom (I think you know what that means.) Ergi recorded the whole thing on his camera in a movie. We then went home to rest before taking a sea kayaking island tour the next morning. Ergi and Chris were exhausted. (Chris had a dirtbike accident before I met them and fucked himself up pretty bad... we call him gimpu). Bill and I went to dinner and stupidly ordered fruit lassies. We would end up regretting this later. In the middle of dinner a lightning storm began with a tropical shower that shut off the power leaving Bill and I running home using only lightning flashes as light along the beach front.The next day we all awoke, and lo and behold went to the same dock to get on the same Long Tailed Boat to see the same Monkeys. But first, we went sea kayaking and caving. The caving was ridiculous it was basicallty pitch black and one needed ropes to climb due to the steep elevation. By about midday, when lunch happened, Bill was really ill and started vomiting, gave the fishes a free lunch, and we ended up not spending much time on the Monkeys the second time around. While Bill lay, moaning in pain, Ergi decided to rip a large fern leaf with his teeth... About two minutes later he was screaming... it burns it burns, I can't feel my ams, I can't feel my arms. The plant he had tasted was an alkaloid like bathroom cleaner. We started washing his mouth out with salt water for the next ten minutes while everyone watched and laughed in amusement. By the time, we got back to our hotel, I was now bloated and nauseous. The next ten hours were my giving offerings to porcelain god while cursing the contaminated yogurt of the fruit lassie. This morning I feel better, but am still not one hundred percent. We leave to go the rock climbing settlement of Railey Beach.

The San Blas Islands, Panama (March 1st - March 4th, 2007)

I awoke this morning to the early crowing of roosters after awakening late last night to the freezing wind that swept through the thatched roof hut that Scott and I called home and our owner called his kitchen on the island of Chichime.

Yesterday, we finally got in touch with the Colombian, Hernando, who after walking off his dingy with a bad right leg and a left leg circumduction gait, the muscular dystrophy called to me. We got on his dingy and to the boat where a group of Irishmen and Australians dressed up as pirates greeted us:, "Aye Matey, we be pirates, and you gonna have to walk the plank." I immediately felt much better as Scott and I cracked open a beer and got to see the drunk captain at work. With a single sale raised, we cruised out to the outer islands to stay with the "hermano" of Hernando, Umberto. We were greeted along the way by two groups of Dolphins and rolling waves, as the boat pitched pack and forth. We arrived at Chichime several hours later around 2:30pm in the afternoon and all jumped off the boat and into the crystal clear water to explore the island.
We were introduced shortly to Umberto, an older Kuna Male who inhabited/owned the northeastern part of the larger island. He charged us $10.00 for accommodation and food. We watched hungrily as he grilled up a fish, only to discover our dinner would be a bowl of rice, a sausage like thing, and instant coffee.
I then walked to another part of the island to sit on some drift wood in the middle of a Coral atoll and watch the sun set before returning to the Pirates and a game of Maya, Exhausted and drunk, I passed out around 9pm.
Breakfast the next morning, was more sausage, plantains, and coffee. YUCK does not begin to describe the sausage like patties. Now it is important we get back to Porvenir. We are being charged $5.00/person for the boat ride back which is a canoe and an outrigger motor. Going through the sea and three to four foot waves in a canoe is pretty scary. We are arrived safely, and had a fish/plantain dinner and coconut. Scott gave me an airborne which made the drinking water tolerable. In the afternoon, I took a nap, went to hermit crab beach and took more photos.

Bocas del Toro, Panama (February 26th - February 28th)

Scott and I upon arrival immediately found our way to the Bay Area Native owned Hostel Mondu Taitu where we were initially pleased to discover our roommates would be five cute Argentinian girls. After dropping off ours and taking some much needed showers, we went to Starfleet Scuba to arrange for some diving the next morning.
The boat started off at Hospital Point and then Coral key. Between the two locations we came upon a pod of dolphins who swam around our boat while breaching every couple of minutes to show off. On our diving trip was a "move guy" from Southern California who was here to do some land development. Scott and I started talking to him about wanting to go out partying on Isla Basimientos to get some real local flavor. He said he knew the islands main drug dealer Coco and he would introduce us. At the time, he gave off a very weird vibe, but Scott and I just shrugged it off. There are not may forty something single men tromping around a backpacker island chain. We took a two dollar boat ride over and found one bar which was not packed and decided to explore the dimly lit streets of Basimietos. We wandered around finding nothing and ran into the guy, Ruben from earlier that day. He bought us a beer at his hotel and preceded to tell us that he went to Cocos party but had to leave. As the story started to unravel, it became clear that Ruben was homophobic and in denial of his own sexuality. Coco was his boy toy and when Ruben grazed Cocos arm at his party as would a lover, Coco flipped out and started threatening him with death. I guess its not good for a drug dealers image to be a homosexual with a older American boyfriend that could be your father. Scott and I decided to leave shortly after this tale, and get home safely.

The next day, we decided to go and find the Berkeley High Residents who were living in Boca town and building a house. I was expecting Tom Parsley, but was pleasantly surprised to see Mika and Owen Simms as well. The guys were all exhausted from working, so Mika and some of the other girls came over to Mondu Taitu for some pre drinking.

Cahuita -Bocas del Toro (February 24th - 25th, 2007)

Cahuita - The small town of Cahuita located 1km off the main road is a sleepy laid back community where north of town is a black sand beach, and north is the Cahuita National Park, a narrow strip of beach protection with a Coral Reef. The trail takes about 3 hours
We arrive around mid afternoon and find shelter at Bobo Shanti; a colorfully painted hostel in red, green, and gold. A rasta-relax place with four two-bed rooms with fan, shower for $12.00/night. We went to eat at Miss Ediths' which was described by the lonely planet as almost legendary with nice people, good food, and plenty of Caribbean style. I ordered a coconut vegetable curry and the only thin legendary was how long we had to wait to eat. The curry was very bland.

The next morning, Scott and I awoke the next morning and went to explore the Parque National Cahuita and were greeted to a loud tribe of howler monkeys in the canopy above. As we ventured further along the beach path, a Seattle native, and her two young sons joined us we viewed Basilisk lizards, the lizards that can run on water, and some friendly white-faced monkeys. No snakes so far, whew. Later in the day, we caught the bus to Sixapla on a twisty windy scary pot hole infested trail where the passengers behind us vomited at will. At the border, we walked across an old United Fruit railroad bridge and paid $5.00 for tourist visas to cross. From the border, Scott and I bartered with a private driver to take us to the dock to catch a boat to Bocas del Toro.


Bocas del Toro (Bulls' Mouth) - Northwest Coast of Panama
Panama's Caribbean banana-growing region has historical links with Columbus's fourth voyage and with the black slaves imported to work the plantations. Ports of varying age and activity lie on the Laguna de Chiriqui, provide the alternated land route to Costa Rica. The banana railway that was wiped out in the 1940/50's by disease is now the small commerical port city of Almirante, which today, serves as a transit point for tourists heading to the Bocas Archipelago. United Fruit with newer disease resistant bananas is still very active her. Across the bay from Almirante are the rain forests, reefs, and beaches of the Bocas islands. The most important of which is Isla Colon. The protected bay offers all forms of water sports and diving, beautiful sunrises and sunsets. All the islands, Isla Colon, Isla Basimientos, Isla San Cristobal, Isla Popa, and Isla Carenero harbour plentous wildlife but especially those east of Colon where tropical birds, butterflies, red, yellow, orange frogs, and a great variety of other wildlife abound. For some, this is being called the new Galapagos, but as in that fragile paradise, attraction and concern walk hand in hand. Formerly a major banana producer, the industry failed to revive alongside the mainland plantations and the major sources of income are now fishing and tourism. Bocas del Toro town, where most visitors stay is on the southeast tip of the island. Most activity takes place around the broad main street - Calle 3 - and the leafy square of Simon Bolivar. English is spoken by most of the black population and is home to the largest Panamanian population outside of the canal zone.

Costa Rica - El empieza de mi viajes (February 23rd, 2007)

I just arrived to the Costa Rican capital city of San Jose to meet up with Scott on his Central American Exodus for the next two weeks. After finishing my last clinical rotation of radiology at UCSF thursday, I feel like I can finally relax. Hopefully with a good book, hammock and tropical sun as my constant companions. I spent the day walking around the small capital city of San Jose before having lunch at one of the local sodas´ which serve beans, rice, and some meat for around $1.50. I then returned to our hostel Tranquillo Backpackers for a nap before we met up with some of Scotts backpacking buddies to hit the town. Around 6pm, we started drinking with the Canucks and made our way over to the El Pueblo, an area filled with small dance clubs. We met a group of bankers who we danced with at the first club before leaving to explore a couple more of the clubs. We stayed there partying until about 3am then headed back to fall asleep before heading out to Cahuita the next day.

The Garytale of Turkey, part 1

Welcome back everybody. First thank you to all you lovely people in Turkey:
Leah, Olivia, Cynthia, Sureyya, John, Katie, Jules, Jen, "juniour",
"Kapitan"and Casper. Maybe even "thug life", but thats another part of the
tale, actually not to thug life.

You'll are going to need to get out your atlases. Leif and I flew into
Istanbul, went to the Blue Mosque and an old place in Sultan Ahmet square.
This was all really cool and exotic. We got to see what a secular Muslim state
was like. Really no women at all and those that were out were covered in
shawls. From here, we took that bus to Izmir overnýght, then transferred Buses
for Dalaman and eventually Göcek. We got into Göcek exhauseted and walked from
the gas station bus stop down the rode to the sunny little resort town. The
views were amazing. Jutting mountains with a thick canopy of trees yielding to
a small harbor and village.

Thanks to my incredible fluency in Turkish, Leýf and I walked by the first
marina about a mile down the road to the last marina. Had we checked more
closely, we would have noticed, our lovely vessel, the Lady Crista was docked
right there. Hot, sweaty, and without a shower for two days, we smelled wonderful.
The boat was amazing. It was by far the largest sailing yacht I've been on in
my life. She was about 120 feet long, with two large masts. The entýre boat
was done in wood. I couldn't believe my eyes. I kept doing double takes.
However, next to her Lady Krista was Ecco Naigo, Casper(My friend Leahs Dads
Yacht). Custom built, it was a baller of the boating world.

Leif and I dropped off our stuff and went into town. We immediatly went an internet cafe, and
started browsing. If you'l see a ý instead of a i, its the weird turkish
keyboard. While Leif was surfýng, I discovered the thai massage of Turkey: A
haýr cut and shave. Nothing is better than a staight edge. Ý was very
ecstatýc. I had one more of these, da bomb. The first person to arrive was
Akmed and his mother, both frýends who were stayýng on ecco. Bye the way, Leýf
and Ý were enjoying 40ozs at this point. We chilled and waited till everyone
else arrived at 12:00 at night. Everyone arrived at 12:30, and we all went to
a club: thýs consisted of us and two bartenders. Thankfully, Jen was able to
use her gifts of persuasion and the drinks were on the house the entire night.
GOOD WORK!!! We rolled back to the boat, and passed out.

More to come....


Peter

Another Garytale, Sevilla and Granada

Whats up again,

I´m back in Madrid waiting to get back to Barcelona on Leif and I´s way to
Turkey via England. Its another three days of nonstop traveling. Time to see
the world we say. Sevilla was very nice. It reminded me of a Berkeley of
Spain. It was much more reasonably priced. We booked a hostel thru the local
information authority.
In the past, this has always worked out to be an advantageous idea, but this time it didn´t really turn out so grand. We got booked on a hostel by the name of Espiau, it was a converted spanish manor into guesthouse. It was only 18€/person and we though, great. We took a taxi on some small ass streets like in the movie, Ronin, only our taxi driver wasn´t a stunt driver, but drove like it. The hostel seemed really nice and an Englishman named Gino, cool Gino at this point. He took us up, showed us the room, and told us where the nearest supermarket, internet cafe, and bar were to kick it. The lack of air conditioning did not seem a problem at this point. Ben and I took one room with two beds, while Leif and Brian took another.
Ben´s Jen best friend from back home, Ryea, was staying there for another
couple of weeks and would be our American tour guide in Sevilla. We walked
around town noticing that which is Europe on a Sunday: Everything is closed,
lords day I´m told. We did find this great pizzeria about a block from the
hostel, and we all had some comfort food;cheese pizza and garlic bread. We
then preceded to all take naps. Ben and Leif attempted to raise Brian and I at
around 12:00 to go out and meet Ryea at a bar, but to no avail. Madrid and
club Kapital had taken their toll. The next morning I arose at about 7:00am
after getting the most sleep I´ve had in about two weeks to go and take a look
around.
Still nothing was open. The Spanish really know how to do it. Party
all night and early opening is 8 not 5:30. Anyway at eight I went to a nice
Cafeteria and had breakfast. I tried talking to the waiter, but his accent was
so strong. I kept repeating Que over and over again. I then went to the
supermarket at 9am and got cold water, canned octopus, bread, and two types of
tuna salad. I then preceded to return to the room and try to go back to
sleep. But boy was it hot. We all got up around 10:30 am grogilly to meet
Ryea at the central cathedral. From the cathedral, we headed to a parque that
had a museum of archeology with alot of roman and Moorish artifacts, but it was
closed on Monday. We then went to a white pigeon park where we bought birdseed
and were covered in pigeons. It was quite a grand time. Had these been normal
pigeons I would not have been amused. From the park we headed back to the
cathedral.
The cathedral was originally a Mosque and you could see the dome where the call for prayer used to be sounded. The cathedral itself was really big, ad lots of art, cool stained glass windows, and such. But the best part was it also had the tomb of Christopher Columbus. That man must have been hella short because I would need to crouch to fit in the tomb. We then
ascended 34 levels, shorter than stories, sets of ramps really to get to the main tower with views of Sevilla. There were two nice modern bridges and some old museums and a park. I liked the Falcons that made the cathedral their home and flew in and out of view, pigeon hunting. We then continued along to find a Tapas bar for lunch. This was the best part of Sevilla. Patatas Bravas are so good, they are basically potato wedges with a spicy tomato and mayonaisse sauce. We also go paella, tortilla, croquetes, olives, and paella. None of
the dishes were more than 1.5€. I wish everywhere had been this cheap. We
then returned to the hostel to nap. We went to the pizzeria again for dinner
and told ourselves we would make it out tonight. we met Ryea at this cool
outdoors bar playoing trance music by the river. We stayed thre for a while ,
went across the river to a couple other bars and went home at around 4:00am.
Ryea came back and we hung out until about 5:00am. We had to get up at ten to
get the train station in Granada the next day and Ryea stayed in Leif and Brian
room. When we got up, Gino, came up and asked in the I already know the
answer, if we had a guest. Leif said we came at 4:00 am and we didn´t want Ryea
going home alone. He then responded by saying how disappointed he was with us
and that guest were not allowed. Leif tried reasoning with the oaf, but it was
to no avail. Right as we were leaving, he comes up and wants 20€. 3 more than
even we paid for the guest who didn´t even have her own bed and slept maybe
four hours in some janky ass beds with no fan and no air conditioning. What a
chump. Grumpy and with a bad taste in the mouth we continued on to Granada.

Granada is a lot smaller than Sevilla, but the Alhambra is the coolest
fortress/palace. It located above the mountain and has beautiful gardens,
fountains, pools, Islamic and Christian influences, incredible views. By the
time we got there we had to walk three miles, one of which was up a hill as
steep as Marin ave in Berkeley and hadn´t eaten anything for five hours. We
still all really enjoyed it and even though we were hungry stopped complaining
once we got there and parted with the hefty 8€ fee. Starving student discount
please!!! We then went back to the hostel which was at the bottom of the hill
with our rooms overlooking a nice plaza where the Granadaens (People of the
Pomegranate) drink 40ozs and chill. Ben and I went to another Tapas bar while
Leif and Brian settled for what I call a snack of Patatas Bravas Grande at my
favorite Spanish food chain pan and company. Remember Barcelona, same place
overlooking plaza. We all went to sleep because we all took an 8:00 train to
Madrid. We tried to rise, but only Ben and Leif were successful, but w/out
Brian and myself they went back to bed.

My next ridiculously long drawn out garytale with commence in about 15 days
when
Leif and I get back from Turkey and meet up with the rest of the boys in Roma.

Peter

The Original Garytales - Madrid, dia 2 (6.29.03)

I return:

The club was kicking, but not when we arrived. I quickly made my way to one of the four bars in this four story club and ordered 4 red bulls and vodka, when the bartender gave me the bill, I was a bit pissed. I was trying to get involved with being a boracho, but 44 euros is a lot. We had our drinks, found some chairs and chilled. I tried hollering at some girls from Mexico, I could understand and speak in Spanish, unfortunately they were not interested. At around 2am the club was popping and I danced for hella long. We then went back where we all passed out with the sun rising.

About 6 hours later, we hobbled downstairs to enjoy a much finer breakfast, ice
water, ice orange juice, croissants, cereal, Cafe con leche. Ice truly is what
sets America apart. Ice is the greatest invention of all time when it’s hot and
10 in the morning with your head ringing like a 240 pound women hit you upside
your head with her heavy ass purse. Just recalling an incident in eighth grade
at King.

Today we went to the Museum del Prado, the statues were cool, the art was too
much Jesus and stuff. It would have been cooler had any of us taken an art
history class. Can someone please explain why Jesus has the cut on his right
side below his heart in every crucifixion painting? What does it mean? We
continued hungrily to the park of Madrid in search of food. Unable to
encounter any reasonably priced food inside the park, we ventured outside,
found the A.g. Ferreri of Madrid, bout some food, and went back the park to
have a picnic by the lake with a perfect blue sky with a cloud every now and
then. Madrid is fast becoming my favorite city in Europe and possibly the
world. Spanish ladies do improve the picture tremendously I might add. We
then went to another museum of which I can not remember the exact name, but it
used to be a private museum owned by some rich Spaniards, but now open to the
public. It was much cooler than the first. It was three stories with Monet,
Dali, and a lot of more recent artists whose names I forgot. There were about
five pieces I really liked. One contemporary, one Flemish, one Dutch, one
Italian, and one French. The French one was my favorite. It was from 1620,
called the Arabian and it was a man guiding his horse on a hillside, it was all
water paint.

We then returned to our hostel, tired and in need of another siesta.

Hasta Luego,

Pedro

Barcelona dia 3

Hola Amigos,

I woke up this morning to begin writing the first couple of logs in my
adventures which I hope you have all enjoyed and at least somewhat understood.
I woke up at 6:30 this morning unable to go back to sleep. It seems six hours
of sleep with lots of siestas is just too much rest for my body. Breakfast was
much better this morning, we actually have fruit. Aww Scurvy, a sailors worst
enemy. Anyway, my legs were so sore from walking the day before, I thought my
herculean workout plan needed to have a small rest. Oh yeah, why Leif also
hates his sandals, while I was gone, he and the guys tried to descend a small
fence. Unfortunately for Leif, his sandal broke and so did his shorts. Ben
couldn´t stop laughing until Leif gave a nice punch. Eventually, the sleeping
princesses, Ben and Brian awoke and we took the metro to the train station to
leave our bags. We also decided on a new name for the Sorenson, the cricket,
always chirping some complaint, but occasionally moving very quickly like up a
flight of stairs to get out of the muggy metro. The metro of Barcelona is
quite a maze, it can take five minutes just to transfer lines, and air
conditioning does not exist. Arrggh!!! We took a cab from Sants Estacion to
the La Ramba, where Ben, I come to Europe to go shoe shopping, decides we need
to look for Air Max 95´s. He decides against for the 145 Euros they want, but
still decides we need to stop at another foot locker and Niketown. We
eventually meander our way to the cathedral during the heat of the day. I
might as well be a fountain with the amount I am perspiring. I take a seat on
a stone bench with some famous Spaniard and its so hot, my but gets branded
with this guys name on it. We next under my gifted navigation, I am yet to
actually lead us in the right direction once may I add, to find a central park.
As expected instead of east we are going North. Ah what a compass would do.
We pass by a Salvador Dali museum, the loco painter of the 20th century and I
not seeking enlightenment nor the loss of eight euros deside a nice chair in
the air conditioned pan restaurant with a second story view of a plaza was more
suitable. Especially the view of the Spanish mujeres. Leif who also forsake
the museum tried to read, but either were passed out or busy watching the
street traffic. An hour later, Brain and Ben, the enlightened ones, strolled
back, told us we missed some shit, turned to look out the window, and realized
it was they who had missed the view(s). We followed the street further to
Zara, the gap of Europe, where Brain bought a euro shirt, too tight and small,
just like I like to wear myself. We actually found a metro stop, by chance of
course, and went to the Temple of the Sagrada Family. This awesome monument by
Gaudi was incredible. I have never seen anything as cool in my life. The mix
of architecture, the colors, the park, the slushee, yeah baby!! All right my
internet is about to expire, basically we went to KFC, took a train back to the
train station and went to sleep in some couchets. Brian and I were without
snorers while Leif and Ben got all the luck, a symphony of Spanish snorers
ruining a perfect nights sleep on the train.

Hasta manana,

Pedro

The Original Garyales - Madrid dia 1, el empieza de la garytale (6.28.03)

Hola amigos,

When last we met, the boys and I had awoken mighty early from our train ride.
The best thing about checking into a new hostel is definitely that I get to
take a shower. Clean, so good!! Anyways, we all took a short nap and decided to go a tour, that was supposedly not supposed to include a lot ofwalking, unfortunately it did. I am now referred to as el Gato, because I am always sleeping, eating, or walking, or a combination of the three. I preferred the Lion due to my hairy chest and shoulders, but it was vetoed. The
cricket is still chirping away happily, meanwhile Ben and Brian don’t have any
names yet. Ok, back to what we did, no more rambling. I like a brook, the
rest of the guys say, I just don’t stop babbling.

We started off by going to get breakfast at a local cafeteria about a block off our hostel. The hostel is money with air conditioning and a concierge desk, hold on is this a hostel or a four star hotel, I am getting confused. We then continued to the palace. This is a really dope spot, it is grand, plenty of wealth, and it has arms and armor. The day in Madrid is also much improved, the smells have either acclimated themselves to our nostril or Madrid is just
a much cleaner, and nicer area, that has less humidity and more parks. Its a capital bella. The palace has a huge courtyard used for ceremonies and overlooks the biggest park in Madrid, we went on a tour and I saw more wealth than I will accumulate in a millennium. Unfortunately, the cashier shiests me of five euros, he says I gave him 5, I gave him 10, sheisty Spaniards, they must know the Capybara and Scott Holmes I had no idea the Spanish monarchy was
connected to the Austrian Hapsburgs, when I learned this new fact it all made sense. There are too many little details to talk about, but let’s suffice to say that the many rooms we could see of the 2700 that exist were all really cool. The armory actually had knights on horseback in full armor and a really cool dragon helmet, I was really tempted to try it on. From the palace we
walked to the metro to go and see the Real Madrid football stadium. When we got out of the metro, lurking above us were two flanking tipped over buildings that were really cool, a central beam supported each 80 story building for some kind of Spanish Media Company.
Luckily, Ben and Brain decided we should go past stop because we were told the street was like La Rambla in Barcelona, after a 1/2 mile walk in intense heat, we reached the stadium under construction and were unable to enter for less than 4 Euro. I didn’t feel the
need to part for a stadium.

Returning back to the hostel, we took a nice long 6 hour siesta. Oh no we thought, its 10'o'clock, we need to go eat, so we went to a restaurant in the central plaza and sat under a terrace on the street to view the wonderful street traffic. We then made a stopover at a local bodega and went upstairs to enjoy my little friend 40 oz cerveza and his best friend 40 oz cerveza #2. Its now 12'0'clock and we think we are missing the party so we quickly head over to a Club Joy, after a 12 Euro cover, we party the night away until 4 am. I want to stay and try to convince the others that the hostel is shut and we will have to lie in the street, but they don’t agree. Will continue soon.

Peter

Barcelona Day 2

Hola Amigos,

I awoke this morning to the best news ever. I got into UC Irvine, and basically
came up on 120,000 dollars seeing that as the tuition difference between UCI
and USC. UCI also is one of three medical schools in the US offering
alternative medicine electives. I am very juiced. Back to the viaje.

I woke up refreshed, jump roped for fifteen minutes, and went on a jog with
Leif. I then continued to have the lowest class European breakfast ever, there
wasn´t even bread, just packaged pastries, warm juice, and whole fat milk.
Lovely. Not feeling into the meal, Leif and I cruzed the streets and found a
cutsy little spot with waters for 0,65 Euro and a pair of sandals for Leif. If
only Leif, knew the trouble these sandals would bring him... Got back to the
hostel, woke up Ben and Brain, took the metro to the train station where due to
my recent rehydration a bathroom was all I desired but the first two were
being cleaned. Found one out to my biological relief, literally, made
reservations for a couchet tomorrow evening to Madrid and began el gran
caminando (great Walk). From the train station of Sants estacion, we proceeded
six or seven blocks to the main plaza with the museum of art of Catalonia on
top of a hill. Tow huge 100 foot bell towers marked the entrance to this
gorgeous mall of old building, parks, castles, and Olympic stadiums. The main
plaza consisted of beautifully adorned statues with a multiple tiered fountain
that if working probably shot water from one tier to the next. As we ascended
the stairs to the museum , the stench of urine, bear and all that is Europe
urban aroma was replaced by flowers trees. stray cats scattered from
underneath bushes and hedges to meow hungrily. Lack of funds and a desire to
enlighten ourselves of 17th t 19th century art, we continued to dine at a small
cafe situated behind the art museum and between the Olympic stadium and
swimming pool. For a lovely 3 euro($3.75), I got a baguette with four pieces
of salami, a feast fit for a Spanish king. A little cheese, tomatoes, anything
else would have been nice. The Olympic stadium for all its grandeur is dwarfed
by the beauty and size of just memorial stadium in Berkeley. These euros, no
idea how to build a decent sized stadium. we then continued on a another
quarter mile up hill to take a gondola to the Castillo (Castle). The view of
the skyline and sea was gorgeous and if the smog of the city had lifted we
would have seen all the way to Mallorca and Ibiza. The castle was in good
shape and last renovated in the 18th century. One addition, thanks to our
fascist friend Franco were 20mm artillery anti aircraft guns and turrets
outline the castle. I think one B-52 would have taken Francos bastion and made
it go bye-bye. By this point, we had walked over thee and half miles, and
leifs feet were communicating things not even lacrosse practice could. The
rest of the guys took off and left me to the my vices and the arms and armor
museum inside the castle. A half an hour later, depresses after previously
visiting such museums like the one in Vienna, I left. I took the gondola back
down, and tried to figure out how to get off the mountain back to the hostel
where me and siesta could hang out. after another hour of climbing and making
my own path, I found my cama only to be awakened by the atrocious sound of a
fellow American telling her Dutch bunkmate, I thought my boyfriend and I would
fight after five weeks...., cerra su boca(Shut Up!!!!!). We woke up at
around 9:00pm, went to dinner, bought some Vodka, and called it a night.

Hasta manana,

Pedro

Barcelona, la ciudad al lado de la mar (6.27.03)

Hola again friends,

Barcelona Day 1:

When I last left Leif and I were sleepless in London, flying to Barcelona. We
arrived in Girona airport, where the only thing Leif or I had were offerings
for the porcelain gods. six hours and 7 kinds of alcohol make my stomach feel
wonderful. we took another hour long bus ride, Ryan Air airports are in da
cuts, to Barcelona, and a cab to our hostel, down by da beach. I actually used
some Spanish for the first time in years and we found out halfway thru that we
are charged a euro for each bag we bring. Sheists.... Our hostel is right on
the beach where they just finished celebrating the Spanish Independence or
something. the beach is a worse wreck than Leif or I, hard considering our
current state of hangovers and an hour of sleep in a day and a half. We try to
find some nice camas(beds), but we can not find this comfort until 2:30 and its
10:30. we meet back up with Ben and Brain, who are fairing just slightly
better than Leif and I. They go off exploring while Leif and I try to
ascertain nirvana on the foul smelling beach. About a half-an-hour into the
best sleep ever, the rain gods send us a gift alond the los dios de los
vientos)wind gods) at one as well. Thankfully, we stroll down to find a nice
bench where another hour and refreshment is finally due. we find our beds,
pass out, and six hours later awaken to go find some dinner. after arguing
about a place to eat, in other words, lets get everybody what they want, the
non-vegetarians are treated to a five course seafood dinner and Leif gets a
half cooked pizza with a cheese that reminds him of the plane flight from
London to Barcelona. We go out trying to find the party, only to see a bunch
of empty clubs and bars at 1:30am. We reluctantly roll back home and pass out.

Cheers,

Peter

The Original Garytales - The Beggining of the Trip Around the World (6.26.03)

Que tal?

It is 7:30 am and I am kicking it, writing from Barcelona, Spain. It is warm and grand. Three days ago, Brian, Ben, Leif, and I all started this crazy journey from Oakland, California. As Leif and I arrived to my cousins borough of Queens Park in London (Westside), I was happily reunited with family. I had not seen either of my cousins: Kiki or Jonathan in over 12 years since the first time I traveled over the rock that is North America to Europe. Kiki and Johnny entertained us magnificently, after washing off the dust from our first flight; Leif and I were treated to some fine English cuisine. Next Johnny brought out my most hated of all friends: Jose Cuervo, and subsequently told Leif and myself to "get involved." We all took our salt, tequila and lime, and preceded forth to me better friend Mr. Gin and Tonic. From this point, we took a cab with a Cabbie from the Southside (southwest-London) to the media borough of Soho where Jonathan works as a music video director. The clubs were the definitionof Posh, with retro chairs, outlandish designs on the walls, and uniqueness lost among my favorite equivalent establishments in the US. This started a wild night of 100 pound (170 dollar) festivities and cocktail after cocktail, and round after round was consumed. At the second bar, a drunken Aussie, and her hairdressing friend convinced that I needed a fade, so I agreed. Just as were about to commence with the festivities the bar manager coming roaring out talking about human hair and alcohol is not one of his featured cocktails in this establishment. We then proceeded the to "the Player", a tight ass bar with a very interesting decor, kind of like Ali G was able to mimic the American rap culture and morph it into a bar. We then continued to another club, where the not so delightful voice of an English rock band overwhelmed my
ears. Thus, we continued on to the next club where all we knew was the club owner’s name, and it was a BIO (By invitation only). We rolled up in there at 1:00 and were welcomed with the stiffest drink. This is quite a statement considering my current threshold of “wastedness”. Leif’s flight and mine left at 6:00 am and we had a cab to the airport an hour away to the north at Stansted with ghetto ass Ryan Air. At 2:00, we felt it was necessary to eat some Chinese food then get back to the house and the rising sun at 3:30, just perfect to catch the cab. Leif and I pass out for the first time in about twelve hours and made our way to Barcelona.

Peter