Read Me

Well its been a while but I finally found time and a place to update this thing - even after figuring out why the ISP suspended my site haha. Paris and SS below - more to come in due time. Of course this was eons ago but hey we`ll catch up proper to today soon.

20.9.07 Barcelona

I'm not in Spain anymore. I`m in Catalunya. They like to consider this area of "Spain" separate...some people even speak Catalunyan. Either way this was more like it. A huge city, which means there´s more people, bums and places to see. It feels like a new york type of city with the addition of cool architecture and worthy beaches. As soon as I get to the Metro I´m solicited by not one, but two bums. It was kinda hard not to give the first guy 20 cents holding out a hand of coins before putting 1€ into the ticket machine. The second guy jabbered some crazy shit in Spanish -obviously thinking I was too-to the point where I was like exclaiming back in English ´bro get a fucking job.´ A few hand flailing movements later and he was gone. As I pressed on I end up behind this weird hipster bum who smelled worse than the portashits at Reading. He ended up being one of those tonette players on the Metro asking for money. Fucking putrid. But I like it, this is a real city. Now I see why people are drawn here. The city has character. On La Rambla, the main street, theres mad people, er tourists, walking about. And with street performers. I mean they go all out here.

Yea thats a cat in a garbage can. Every day I walk by I hear meoww meoww. So redundant.

Transport the same artists from Times Square and you got a happening street. It was funny, they rock the same tourist things like your name in Chinese crayons, caricatures and those dudes who make spray paintings with tin can lids and shit.

Kabul Backpackers Hostel is crazy. Right in Placa Reale. Happening place. Interesting street markets too. Lots of candy, meats, fruits and skinned goat heads?

Even with the markets this is all I ate here: mad good and cheap falafel.

Met some cool people from Vancouver at the hostel. Went out for some excellent non touristy paella. Forgot who the other two dudes from London were but the one in red looked a lot like Chris Cuomo.

mmmmmmm paella...............







I happened to show up and found out the Merce Festival was goin down. Four days of parades, a dozen free concert stages and fun along every corner of the city. Enough to give thousands of people the idea to converge upon Barcelona this weekend. I just happened to land here without knowing it until I saw a stage going up in Placa Reial outside the hostel. Merce has serveral stages set up all over the city for free concerts and a bunch of other stuff like parades, fireworks, come crazy holiday I guess. And get this, The Undertones were playing! Indie band that Neil rocked in the McTour bus from Scotland.

I couldnt walk and not run into the traditional Spanish parade with rediculously tall statues being touted up and down La Rambla.

The guy operating this flaming dragon literally didnt know which way he was going nor how close the sparklers were getting to bystanders. The thing was turning around in constant circles. The dude had to have been dizzy.

I hit up a bike tour of the city during my 5 day stay here. Wanna know some more about Barcelona? Well let me pass on to you what I figured out. Managing a bike thru massive crowds and small alleyways can be interesting, but thats what we did.

Both Hitler and Mussolini were invited by Franco to bomb Placa de sant Felp Neri in 1938. It just so happens that was the Jewish neighborhood back in those days.

The building today still has damage left by the bombs and a plaque memorial as a reminder to what happened here. Cathedral de Barcelona. You wont believe why they've been taking over 100 years to clean the outside of this joint up. They've been using toothbrushes to do it. No joke. Being built atop an old Roman aqueduct, the cathedral breathes in the massive pollution from the surrounding city. Which is why a fine toothbrush is needed to clean it.

Placa de Rei. The spot where Columbus was welcomed back from his New World journey. Cant find the picture at the moment.

A statue at the end of La Rambla. It's Columbus - pointing to Italy? All the beaches in the city were man made for the 1992 Olympics. The 1888 worlds fair here created the huge park but the Olympics put Barcelona on the map as we all know.

As part of the Merce festivities, I trekked down to the Forum for some crazy free concerts. This diagonal looking structure is really the largest solar panel in Europe. Funded by a mall, arms manufacturer and some Chinese company. Whats fucked up is that the Chinese company had some Forum for Peace exhibition there a while back. But the Chinese government said the Dalai Lama couldnt speak at it. I think he did anyway. But its well known the idea of the Forum was a flop in Barcelona.

We biked pass a big fish. Just so happens some dude named Frank Geary created it. Right in front of the most expensive hotel in the country - the white building on the left.So posh some Arabic prince or gas mogul lands his helicopter on the roof. To visit his 24K per month penthouse apartment. Only once or twice a year. Fucking gasoline moguls.

The current mayor rules like a Facist. He gave the police more power to clean up the pee smell, drunks and enforced new bike laws. But failed to tell vehicle drivers how to deal with the bikers. So its still insane to ride around the city. Which I enjoyed anyway.

Bull fighting is a Spanish thing. Remember this is Catalunya so that tradition is about to end here. This is the last season for bull fighting in Barcelona at the Casa de la Marina. But they still protest every fight all the time.

One of the more well known names in the city: Antoni Gaudi. He had been comissioned to do most all lampost artwork in the city. He had building battles with Domenech i Montaner. And took over the design of the Sagrada Cathedral. It's been 100 years and still not done. They hope to finish it by 2024 but there's no way I see that happening. Gaudi blends his designs in with the environment so the look of the place was controversial. But Gaudi, the determined architect he was, spent his life savings on this project. He became so poor that in 1924 he was hit by a tram. People thought the ragged old man laying on the street was a bum. But in fact several days later they figured out it was Gaudi. He died by tram a poor old man. How sad. Side note: they treat the bums like crap here - most all of them today were stuck on the street after the psych ward closed doors. To top things off, Franco - the asswipe who allowed the bombings - had burned the cathedral plans laid out by Gaudi. So now no one knows how to engineer and finish the project - only a few sketches remain. Not enough but the work carries on. Eventually there will be 16 towers, one to represent each apostle. The other famous joints Gaudi completed are these: Casa Batillo which looks like a dragon. The building next door was designed by rival Montaner. And Pacele Da - an apartment building with no straight edges anywhere, all curved.

Interesting thing about the streets in Barcelona. In the new city the building edges are beveled, angled. They intended to cut the edges of all new buildings to allow for ocean air to flow thru the town. And it actually does feel like the beach inland.

While we were at Placa de Sant Jume they were doing the famous nine person stand. Bunch of people who hold each other up. This is a four person high stand (imagine picture here). I seemed to be at right time at the right place all the time for the Merce festivities.

Each weekend people congregate at the Magic Fountain to see the water dance to classical music. Like the Borgata in Vegas but this was much better.

So apparently I'm still Spanish. I guess I do look like it and fit right in. Good enough for a few laughs. Like when I was eating another sugar cone ice cream in McDonalds some American guy walks up to me and literally makes the Pac-Man chomp gesture face and asks in Kindergarden English you buy cone here? As I ate in amusement I pretty much nodded and exclaimed yes you retard as he walked away. He wasnt the only one...lots of locals would approach me, jabber in Spanish (or Catalunyan) and I'd be like no habla espanol bro. There's lots of shady tourist trap food all along La Rambla. Dont ever eat along it. My last night there me and some Canadian friends - Jamie, Tess and Sara - hit up one of the best paella places in town, right outside Placa Reial where our hostel was. 6 Euro for a giant two person vat of rice and seafood mess. Mad good yo.

While waiting we saw this guy - who makes a living lifting random people up in the air. So thats all for a week or so in Barcelona. A place where the graffiti rocks and the food is mighty good.

18-19.9.07. MADrid.

I jumped on an overnight train from San Sebastian to Madrid. The most uncomfortable seats ever haha. Wanted to see Lagos, Portugal during this time. But being the spontaneous type I didnt plan it out at all. I discovered trains from San Sebastian to Lagos take a century so time was a crunch. Thats why I ended up in Madrid - not on my list at all. But a good city nonetheless. The metro is clean and modern; I was impressed. Madrid is kinda small (if youre from nyc terms). It was almost too easy to navigate the metro and city streets. Armed with a map you can cover it all in a day, which I kinda did. I'd like more of a challenge so Madrid was just ok. The MAD hostel is mad good, stay there. Right in city center. Mad Germans here. I had three German girls in my room of four beds. No I didnt. Everyone here speaks Spanish, no habla ingles. Yet I had at least a dozen locals come up to see jabbering in Spanish - because ya know, I look like Spanish. I found that funny. That sparked me to get a Spanish lesson book. I will learn the language; at least so I wont be lost in South America. Hey I got my train ticket speaking Spanish on paper I was all proud of myself. yes, this is what you tend to do when you travel alone, amuse yourself by learning Spanish.
But there are lots of things that amused me here. Orange iced tea. I couldnt belive it, and it was mad good. McDonalds ice cream served in sugar cones! I'm eating 3 a day. The things to see are cool too. The metro was extremely clean and efficient as well. A gift from Egypt - some temple on the west side of the city...good spot for catching the sunset. And thats pretty much it - off to Barcelona on this nice high speed train with TVs yo.

15-16.9.07 San Sebastian.

I made the train Saturday morning by 5 minutes. I love cutting it close. Its so much more exciting. I was running on fumes by then, too much fun in Paris. So I slept on the train, literally, even after it stopped and someone kicked me awake in Boardeaux. I just made my connecting train to Irun. I found this funny: I passed out in France and woke up in Spain. Not too often we can say that aye? The train conductor was about to jack my backpack when he realized I was sleeping in the seats below. Caught the train to San Sebastian and here I was on the Spanish coast. Awesome scenery.

A town where old folk roam with the surfers, people bust out the real Jose Reyes theme song and they play with fire. Stay at Olgas Place you wont go wrong. I cant say much cause I didnt do much. At this point I was too tired to talk. I didnt want to meet anymore people. I needed a break from the break. Thats just whack. The pictures tell the story better. Excuse the smudges in the images I have no idea what got in my camera lens. Photoshop cant be found abroad these days.

The saddest part about the place? Seeing dozens of stray cats living amongst the rocks on the shore. But the people there leave food and shelter for them so I guess thats life.

11-14.9.07 Paris.

Just a Eurostar away. The first thing I see? Little kid trying to sell me whack Metro tickets. I wasnt expecting a whole lot from Paris - it smells like pee and is kinda dirty. But its who you meet along the way that make the experience for you much better. I met Tina from Vancouver on the street. We spent two days seeing Paris. Words are not needed and I dont feel like going into much detail yo. this is Washington Square Park:

Uh I mean the real Arc de Triomphe.

One night got lost and found this joint:

Decided to fly thru the Louvre and see what was important. The place is massive.

Napoleon and his dining room and the triangle thing from the da Vinci Code.

View from atop Notre Dame:

The gargoyles and whatnot.

Nice day to see Luxembourg Park.

The museum of modern art and its controversial facade. Found some of Van Goghs stuff among others.

The Musee D`Orsay interior















No less than 2 hours after parting ways with Tina I met Öykü at my hostel, a Turkish girl from Istanbul. Another two days in Paris and we had a blast. Had some good French crepes and enjoyed navigating the metro with the local Parisians (passing out on the floor is apparently common).

Like I said, its the people you meet who make sustainable memories last forever. We all hear stories about the Tower Eiffel but let me tell you seeing it in person up close has no words to describe. It was a wow moment. Especially when it lights up like Christmas every hour at night. Memorable. Romantic. All that stuff.

10.9.07. Back to the London.

Yes, I had to go back once more. But just overnight before Paris. Checked out some cool stuff at the National Gallery. Like Van Eyck's Arlnolfini Portrait, Monet's Giverny paintings, Van Gogh's Sunflowers and even Leonardo, Michaelangelo and Raphael! Quite a spectacle of art. Also caught a wicked good showing of:
One of the best musicals I've seen in a while. There's a reason it got best new musical. Go see it. 19 pound discount tickets at Leicester Square - ya cant beat it. And that was it, I'll be back again. yo Val when you goin?

9.9.07. Edinburgh...still.

Well I couldnt resist. I liked the place that much I stayed another day. Had to catch some more bagpipes. They have free walking tours too. Cant beat that. Met someone from Wisconsin so we toured the city together. Checked out Edinburgh Castle. View from the edge of the city: On the tour you learn funny things like why to Edinburgh residents spit on the Heart of Medlovin. This heart engraved in the sidewalk marks the very spot of...the old tax office. Back in the day people really did spit at the tax officers. Why not? If you had a symbol of the IRS to spit on wouldnt you? Plus they have two football teams here, one of which is the Hearts. So quite possibly the rival teams fans could be spitting on their enemy.

There's Green Market where people used to be hanged at Martyr Square. They had their last drink at a place called...the Last Drop.

And we have Greyfriars Cemetary. The place where the famous MacKenzie Poltergeist and Greyfriars Bobby reside. Which I think is a movie? Bobby was the loyal pet terrier of his master, a former city worker. When his master died and was buried here he stayed next to his grave for years. People soon flocked to see this loyal animal given the key to the city. The dog is buried here, and its statue outside is the most photographed in Scotland. I had to take one yo.

What else about Edinburgh? Ah yes Deacon Brody. He was the inspiration for Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde - who in fact were not real. But Deacon Brody was. Back then there were a lot of hangings and the plague (they actually built a city wall around people who had the plague and let them die there). But the point is the local university needed bodies to meet the demand for medical school. Brody stumbled on one body one day and got a good pence for giving it to the medical school. They wanted more. Brody went on to kill at least 30 more unsuspecting victims who had no connections, family, etc. Brody was caught, and hanged at Green Market. The irony? They used his body at the medical school and his skeleton still hangs there. That is the true inspiration for Jekyll and Hyde. And not only was Deacon Brody one of the first serial killers, his joint named after him serves some good local grub.

Something Scotland is known for - haggis. A mixture of sheep heart, liver, intestine, all that intestinal shit cooked for hours in a sheeps lung. my god was it good haha. Dont be afraid, try it sometime.

Here´s a did you know? moment. Did you know that Scotland is the only country in the world where Coca-Cola is not the number one selling soft drink? Because the number one soda in Scotland is:
IRN BRU. Yes, its called iron bru or something like that. And it tastes like bubble gum. It goes well with some Thai Chilli chips I got hooked on. Burns yo mouth and mad good.

Now back to some less grusome things about Edinburgh. JK Rowling still lives here. And shit, she wrote Harry Potter here. She's almost richer than Oprah.

Less grusome, but more spooky. the City of the Dead tour. Take it, I enjoyed the scare. We go into Greyfriars Cemetary at night to test the patience of the MacKenzie Poltergeist. Plus you learn the graveyard, stupid small, actually houses over 500 graves. But ther'es only like 100 tombs or (those things that stick out of the ground). Why so many? They had to put victims of the plague somewhere. People were dying to frequently sometimes you got buried alive. No joke. They used to leave a chord in the coffin. Had you woken up 6 feet under you pulled the chord which rang a bell above ground. Hope someone hears it to dig you out before you did die. Thats where the phrase 'Saved by the Bell' comes from. Its not that stupid tv show with Zack haha.

So back to Greyfriars. You get to go into his tomb but cant wait more than 10 minutes as the fear built up by 20 people piss him off. Being a class 4 poltergeist he's been known to knock people unconscious and leave unexplained scars. I was kinda mad nothing happened when I was there. Me and one of the Auzzies went back alone but still nothing. Oh well. I'll believe it when I see it.

So thats it for Edinburgh. Left at in the dark for an overnight train to London. Fucking cool city - you should go!

8.9.07 McTour Day 5.

What did we do today? Stopped by Kilmartin, site of mad old stones dating to the time of Stonehenge. No one can explain why the Standing Stones and gravesites exist here or what is the reason for them. Maybe an alien connection? Who knows.

Here's a good story. That of the Stone of Scoon or Jacobs Pillar. Back in the day it was a sacred stone to the Scots. Its said where the stone lies the Scots will rule. Around 1870 a secret Scottish society of monks (Knights of Templar kinda thing) held the Stone. This I think was during the English rule over Scotland - ya know cause they lost that Colochee battle - so King Edward was like yo I want that stone. He gave the monks two weeks to hand it over. They said hmm lets give Edward a fake and hide the real one. So they did. The English used it to crown each queen since then. What do historians say it looks like? A fucking toilet seat. The toilets back then were shaped like this stone so the monks are said to have buried the real one - recently someone found a similar stone buried in Scotland to kind of prove it. So what does that mean? That stone todays Queen Elizabeth II sat on was really a Scottish toilet seat. After crowning the queen on a toilet England, in a political move by Tony Blairs election opponent, gave it back to Edinburgh. Funny enough it didnt generate the Scottish votes needed to win. The ironic thing? Blair was the first in centuries to say Scotland can kind of be independent somewhat. So where the stone lies the Scots rule.

Ah and maybe you know of Doune Castle? Its the one they used to cast off cows in Monty Python. I cant find that picture at the moment so hold your suspense. This, though, is not a picture of Doune, its another random castle. I just played frisbee on the beach here.

We stopped by Fort William, home of the real Braveheart battle. This is the memorial dedicated to the real Braveheart dude. The highest point in the city, a good climb up too.

There was a local sculptor who became fascinated with Braveheart once the movie came out. He decided to dedicate his time into this - a statue of the real William Wallace - which apparently looks a lot like Mel Gibson? It was so bad the locals disfigured the face (it was fixed) and vandalized the head with blue paint so many times they actually put a steel cage around the thing at night (you can see it behind there). Thats just some funny shit yo.

And that was it with a ton of fun in between. The end of one of the best tours Ive ever been on. Made at least 23 more friends and we should all stay in touch. Shit its why I had to sign up for Facebook - you should too, the rest of the world is on it. Freakin US is so backwards these days with their metric system, gasoline by the gallon and Myspace.Thats all for Scotland. One of the best tours I´ve been on and some of the nicest people you´ll ever run into. We´ll keep in touch yo.

7.9.07. McTour Day 4.

The party moved to here:

This be a place called Fairie Glen. Neat little rolling hills. The kind where hobbits might live.

A view of Kylekain where we stayed two nights. Small little Scottish town where all they do is live the simple life, play music and dance at the local ceileigh. And from the bridge you can see the sunset. Freaking cool yo.

Hopped on a ferry back to the mainland. I mean for real is this sign necessary? No not the toilet sign.


We took a hike in Glencoe. Pretty neat scenery. On our drive to Oban we passed the Hogwarts Express. Yes its a real train. For all you Harry Potter fans the aquduct used in the movie is out here too. No I´m not going to show you a picture of it haha.
Nothing too eventful in Oban, but it is a nice little coastal city.

6.9.07. McTour Day 3.

More ceilighking and hairy cows. moo. Isle of Skye exploring day. There's a healing river out here that if you dip yourself in you're healed. Kinda like the Ganges? Learned of the story of Kukullen (giant man warrior) vs Shia (kinda like Zena) and how Shia kicked his ass repeatedly until one day she knocked him over. His body is laid out in the shapes of the mountains, with one ¨point¨ now called the Old Man of Storr. Look it up and you'll see why its funny. Unfortunately too cloudy that day for us to see 'it' sticking up.

We had lunch in the cool little town of Portree:One picturesque spot out here is Kilt Rock. Vertical stratas which look like a kilt. Fitting since we´re in Scotland, aye? And its said mermaids call you out here. I didnt hear any but shit did I see some memorable views.
Some of you who've seen Monty Python may notice this joint. Yup they filmed it here. And Highlander among other flicks. Pop quiz - anyone know the name of this castle? Clue - back in the day Alexander gave it to some guy named MacKenzie via F Scott Fitzgerald (I think). the Jackobites (the Highlanders) took it over, surrendered it to the English around 1712 and blew it up before the Brits got it. It was in shambles for 200 years before being recently restored. More of it´s grandeur:

5.9.07. McTour Day 2.

Some more interesting Scottish things. Clootie Well. Place where people leave pieces of garments to rid an ailment. So if you got the shits you leave your underwear kinda. But if you take something its said you're doomed to inherit the ailment. Shit if I touch some of these things haha.We drove north more thru Achnasheen - the isle of storms. Well a city stuck between the Atlantic and North Sea which means they get storms all the time. What else? hmm well its hard to describe the journey with just words and pictures. Imagine 24 travellers, most were Auzzies, German or English, and all packed in a minibus like Little Miss Sunshine. We'd listen to Neils Scottish stories and hear some hot tunes, from Teenage Fan Club to Scottish bagpipes to the Beastie Boys. All the while checking out Scotland. Oh, and we played frisbee on Gairloch Beach.
Our next few nights would be in Kyleakin near the Kyle of Lochalsh in the Isle of Skye. This night was heaps (as auzzies say) of fun. We were introduced to traditional Scottish dance called a ceiligh. One called Strip the Willow was kinda like a big weave, or something fit for a wedding dance? I dont know you just had to be there to experience the live music and crazy dancing. Even the local elderly get down with it.The Germans.

The Auzzies and I.

4.9.07: Edinburgh

My first impression: this city is cool. I showed up at night to see the old city lit up. Pretty impressive. We dont see this kind of architecture in the states at all. Stayed at Castle Rock, which was a cool joint. The next day we were ready to roll on the MacBackpackers tour with this dude Neil.
Just picture 20+ travellers in a Little Miss Sunshine type bus and atmosphere. With a tour guide who wore a kilt. A true Scotsman - with the accent and all - aye. Our first day was strolling up to Inverness and on the way learned a thing or to. Like the kilts we all think are Scottish - not true. Romans, Egyptians, etc all wore kilts before the Scottish ever did. And bagpipes? Not originally from Scots, either. Apparently the Scottish are the best English speakers on Earth. Call centers in India (you know, tank yoo faur callink microsaft, hov mat aye halp too?) are actually training their responders in Scottish accents to enunciate English words better. And it's somehow been proven a Scottish accent sounds more 'trustworthy'. So pretty soon we'll be calling Microsoft and they'll answer thanks aye for callin, mah name be John MacDonald, whats yer probleme aye? I doubt it. Speaking of Mac - that really means "son of", so MacDonald is you guessed it, son of Donald.

We hiked to a waterfall somewhere out there. Ruthven Barracks was another stop. Used by the Highlanders back in the day.

Another tidbit - we almost might have been speaking German in the US. We can thank the Scottish highlanders for the English. Heres why. The Battle of Colochee. Back in the 17th century the Scots in the Highlands - north Scotland - we're battling the English invaders. The Scots rolled in mad unprepared and picked a site that well, wasnt really high. They liked to come flying down the hills and scare their enemies by allowing their kilts to flap unfettered as they came roaring downhill. The enemies usually were stunned by such naked barbarism they just were in shock and took the first blow. But at Colochee the site was flat like this:So the English won. And this began 65 years of English dominance over Scotland and the start of the Highland Clearing - a kind of ethnic cleansing 17th century style. No more bagpipes or flapping kilts. The Highlanders were forced to clear out of their land. Thats why when I was there...it was dead quiet. No one's home. Pure silence.

Where'd they all go? The new world and America of course. What did they influence? Apparently a vote was taken to decide what primary language America would use - German or English. The exiled Scottish pushed the majority to English. So we can all thank them for that. Shit imagine how the world would be different had the Scottish won the Battle of Colochee. They would have stayed in Scotland. World War I? Would a German speaking USA would have sided with Hitler? I dont even want to mention the implications for that.

So after some Scottish history stops we arrived at Inverness. Famous for a place called Loch Ness. If ya hadnt figured out ¨ness¨ is synomic with lake. Yea I didnt see anything out there.
Neither has this guy whos been living on the shores of Loch Ness looking for 15 years now.
Loch Ness is stupid deep tho. Fathoms deep, actually. There's a species of Arctic fish that can only survive the Artic Sea and well, Loch Ness. So who's to say there isnt something else lurking beneath the water? Let that thought marinate a bit. Overlooking Inverness:

3.9.07: cuttin' it close

I had such a good time in Dublin I stayed half a day longer. Which means I rolled on the later train to Belfast. When I got there I had 2 hours to kill before the Stena Line boat to Stranraer left, so walked around. Interesting town with some cool buildings.

But you know me, I strolled around long enough to shit my pants when I couldnt find the Stena port. Well I really thought I was taking the other boat service (which was closed) and had to walk further (30 minutes) to the real ferry. Let me tell you I was a tad nervous for had I missed this boat I would miss my Scotland tour the next morning. But shit I made it for a trip on the:

(worlds largest passenger ferry)
Stranrear is another middle of nowhere port city - but with rolling farms and sheep. Thats it; and a train (the last one that day) I just made by 10 minutes too. It's more of an adventure when you roll in at the last minute haha.

2.9.07: next stop

I'll be rolling out of Edinburgh Tuesday on a 5 day tour of Scotland. Thanks Val for the hookup. No Internet so dont feel obligated to not check this joint out for a week, ya fekker!

1.9.07: Dooblyn - fek fek fek

The Dublin spire and town center.

My conclusion so far: this entire country has a drinking problem. I thought the drunks on the ferry were just a random bunch, but no - everyone in Dublin is like that haha. I roll in here at night - totally lost - and just walk around thru mad debauchery until I find the hostel.

I'm like fek it i'm going out too haha.

This city is rediculous on a Saturday night. Everyone goes out. Everyone is drunk. I literally saw several bar fights, couple of dudes either with a black eye or stitches under their eyes, a dozen or so stags (bachelorette parties), skeletor, super Mario and Luigi, Mysterio, Scooby Doo, some other wrestler in tights, old people out late - it was nuts haha.

I mean old people - I ran across an old lady who was wobbling across the street.

And everyone curses - a lot. Fuck is really fek! or fak! with a wee irish tone to it. I actually had an awesome time and probably met more people in this one city than in all cities combined so far. Brazilian on the bus, went to eat with two girls from Rhode Island, met a Calgary girl on the street, more people from Toronto in my room (what is up with all the Canadians here?), group of girls from Canberra at the hostel (which I did not know is the capital of Australia - yea its not Sydney), more Canadians in the park, other people I forgot. Point is, Dublin is the place to see on Saturday night. Stay at Kinlay and you wont go wrong. I got all these pictures to post later cause words dont do justice to the shit I saw.

Other than the debauchery there are some other things to see - like the Guiness factory, Dublin Castle (whack) and Trinity College. Trinity College is mad old and they have the Book of Kells there. No pictures allowed, but it was well worth the 8 Euro to check out the original books containing the four gospels of the Bible written in Latin by some scribes back in 800 A.D. I laughed when the Book was open to the page about the story of Lazarus (Jac would appreciate that). Plus the college has a collection of over 200K in mad old books, most I think dating back to the 14th century. You know those movies or on Buffy the Vampire Slayer where they have mad old libraries lined with books 30 feet high - well thats what the Long Room in Trinity College was like.

You can also visit the local town drunks. Each day they spend along the promenadre politicking. Quite entertaining as soon as they found out I was American. The dude slurred something and all I heard was Iraq War. Before ya knew it I was thinking he was gonna crack the bottle over my head haha.

I guess you cant go here and not see Leprechauns?

Fek. FAK! goodbye Dooblyn aye!

1.9.07: fekking funny

I finally got off my ass and left London. Didnt want to but have to keep moving ya know. Took a train to Holyhead, which is what I think a desolate port town (i.e. shithole). Walked around a bit and didnt see anything amazing other than run down boats and a port reminiscent of the Booklyn Navy Yards. It's where one would catch a ferry to Ireland.

And this is where I get my first real Irish experience. While getting tickets for the ferry there comes along drunk Irish dudes. Totally rude, obnoxious and loud. Oh and they were drunk too. It was 3pm. One of them was so wasted he could not even stand straight and he looked high on something - like his eyes were rolling in opposite directions haha. Also on the ferry - a group of mentally challenged adults. Now the funny thing is I could not tell the difference between the mentally retarded (even the mentally challenged were drinking) and the Irish drunks, except for one thing. The Irish drunks kept screaming "fooking this, fak that". I mean grown men who reduced their brain power to a level so low it was pretty sad to witness.

And the Irish drunks were an interesting bunch comprised of mullets, missing teeth, red hair and a lazy eye like Tracy McGrady. While waiting for the bus the lazy eye drunk slurs some incoherent jibberish at me so whack even I could not fooking understand a shit what he said. I think he wanted a cigarette. Or another drink.