El Grande Sanchez

i seem to be getting lazier, but i still went to paris

2007-04-20T10:02:00.000+10:00

so after some more snow in london,

we set tracks for paris for a long weekend that we were able to swinder from work. We headed to the airport on a friday afternoon pretty much straight from work for a few vinos at ol'weatherspoons before jumping on board our plane direct for paris (it worked out way cheaper for us to fly than train it, by about half). We headed into town, checked into out cute little place with the view

in republique and headed out for some awesome vietnamese just around the corner.

After a beer and some food, it was to time to kip. We awoke determined to hit up a casa de cambio so we could burn some euro off, so we headed west, towards up the street before finding a cash house to fill our pockets & a bakery to fill our stomachs before finally arriving at Sacre Cour, an amzing old church built upon a hilltop with amazing views of the city;

we wandered around for a bit, taking in the sights and snapping a few photos before coming upon this little place where we could fuel our bodies with caffeine before moving on.

We spent the next 45 minutes walking around the area trying to stumble upon the musee de salvador dahli, which we finally found pretty much around the corner from sacre cour in a tidy little side street. The museum was awesome, not massive but it contained a lot of dahli's sculptures that went hand in hand with his ultr-unusual paintings.

Post Dahli, we wandered some more (we tended to walk quite a bit in paris)down towards moulin rouge

and we found some awesome street markets selling fresh seafood and produce abound.

We continued to wander around in loops

until we found a tube station we boarded before we fell and eventually we found ourselves at the beginning of the Champs-Elysees where we continued our wandering towards the Arc de Triomph.

We snapped away, grabbed a famous french baguette and pondered whether the weather was good enough to head for the mother of all sights - the most visited in Europe and I dare say one of the most visited in the world: The Eiffel Tower

We arrived at the ginormous monument,

not long after 2, jumped into the queue that seemed to wind and bend forever! 40 minutes later the cloud began to roll in and we thought we had made the wrong decision. A raindrop or 2 and everyone had thought they had made the wrong decision, but as we got close to the end of the line, the skies cleared up and you could hear a faint celebration within the crowd.

We skipped the first level, that was for pussies and headed straight to the end of the first lift being level 2. We took some photos

and wandered about before Lil lost her nerve and headed away from the edge for a hot chocolate as I headed for level 3 - the point that feels so far off the ground it's as if your flying! I had to wait in yet another queue and this one was freezing but the wait was well worth the vistas that were upon me from way up there.

I headed back down and met with lil before our final descent back down to the ground, we wandered through the gardens on our way south, before coming along a bus that went somewhere vaguely in the direction of the hotel. We jumped off the bus when we thought that we were close and walked along a road which seemed to never end before stumbling across parque de republique - yay: nap time!

We snoozed for an hour (had never walked so much in my entire life) before getting ready for a big night out on the town with all the students down in the latin quarter. Now I thought that the latin quarter got its name as every mother there was from latin america, so i was getting ready to spice things up with some tequila, sunrises and nachos but what i later discovered is that the latin quarter is called so because all the schools within the area used to focus on teaching latin, fat lot of good that did them. Anyway we found ourselves a cool little cocktail bar, very small, funky and cheap. We sipped away on a couple of drinks listening to the languages around us trying to figure out where everyone was from.

We headed from there to an awesome little wine bar with fantastic wines by the glass on a balcony overlooking this posh restaurant, we had a wine or 2 there before leaving on the hunt for food! We were scooting in and out of some backstreets looking for the ultimate in french cuisine, before we found this 1 little joint that offered very reasonably priced set menus specialising in local french food. We couldn't resist.

We had mussels and creamy things and all sorts of stuff that I can't remember as it was ages ago and a great bottle of wine, before stumbling from the place, extremely full, slightly drunk and exhausted. We headed for another quick drink before jumping on the tube and heading home to collapse in a heap in bed.

We got up relatively early for a holiday the following morning and decided that sunday was the day for marketing, so we headed out past the latin quarter to a place that was supposed to be pumping with stands, people and action, but when we got there we realised how quiet & smal l it was so decided to keep walking. We grabbed some breakfast, coffee and a baguette for lunch at a little bakery before gitting a U-turn towards the Seine up and over that and onto some more markets.

The markets we found were pretty interestin; full of loads of food, wine, cheese and other assorted goodies do we grabbed some dips and stuff from a little middle eastern stall for lunch and continued shifting through the stalls to see what else the place had on offer. Once we reached the end, we decided that seeing as the weather was pretty average, we would head for the musee louvre for a warm dry day inside.

We rocked up and was surprised by the lack of a line as we were told by all to expect to wait 3o - 60 minutes to get in, not that I am complaining or anything, we headed straight in grabbed our tickets and then found a cosy spot to each our recently purchased middle eastern lunch.

The food was great, very garlicy: just the way that I like it. We fished for some chewies, packed up our things and started to venture deep into the depths that is the louvre.

The place is amazing & amazingly huge, we wandered around all the different galleries checking out the world famous venice de milo, mona lisa and many other assorted arts, sculptures and jewels. The place itself is a work of art! After several hours of wandering, we decided to head back into town for a coffee and a walkabout before finally deciding to head home for what seemed to have become our reoccuring afternoon snooze.

That evening we had decided to head back to the Champs de Elysees to check out the area and the Arc at night, we wandered around for a little bit looking for a bite to eat when we stumbled upon a really cool african influenced restaurant serving up random game meats and dishes from the continent. The decoration throught the restaurant was amazing, loads of hand crafted wood carvings, masks and a really cool atmosphere at not too bad a price! We stuffed ourselves before heading home via an ice cream store.

Monday morning, still not satisfied with our achievements of marketing, we headed towards what is supposedly the biggest market in Europe, full of vintage clothing, new clothing, antiques, furniture and all sorts of random goodies. The markets were pretty much a massive group of shops rather than the traditional stands, although there were a few rows of stands chucked in amongst it here and there. We wandered around for a bit, checking out the sights before heading back towards the centre of town and onto.........

I actually don't know what I was writing about now, it's been like 3 weeks since i started writing this, very lazy! I guess that it was the?? I don't know but I will update further soon, time for zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

More of Prague & onto more of the UK....

2007-02-03T09:21:00.000+11:00

I have just figured out yet another way to post photos to the one and only El Grande, and therefore decided to give it a whirl to see whether this (much more sober) round makes a bit of a difference.

So this is us in Prague again, seems like ages ago but it was only about 6 weeks, awesome city, a little chilly, no snow but white was soon upon us!

So after we returned from Prague, the weather started to become a little more depresing, apparently the warmest weather in the UK for years, but after South America it all seems a little....shit.

I was glad to awake one morning however and find our local park and area covered in a little white powder you would not find back in South America. It was my first sober morning that I almost fell on my arse getting to work, i did one of those how's it going cartoon slipe and lide, running on the spot actions in the park whilst trying to take photos! Everyone else on their way to work thought that it was hysterical.....

What was even crazier but, was that the following weekend we hit St James' park in the sunshine

But last weekend we escaped the city once again for Catherine's (Emily, Lil's best friend's sister) & Harry's wedding in Cornwall. The wedding was in a small town called Goran Haven with an amazing church, beach and bakery. The reception was in another small town nearby called St Moor's, another picturesque spot, made us both realise why we are here slugging away in London. We love the nighlife here, but had a great time in the laid back country, drinking plenty of wine and eating plenty more Cornish Pasties!

We stayed in a B&B on the first evening where a enormous dog also hung out, we spent the afternoon walking around the town and the evening at the local pub. The wedding was the next day, in the quantest church that I have ever seen, with pre-reception drinks in Harry's Grandmother's cottage next door.

We then drove to our new amazing abode in St Moor's, continued the post wedding drinking followed by an amazing dinner and night where Harry and his family sung and entertained. You can check out Harry's Bands web page called Kubb @ www.kubbmusic.co.uk very cool music. The guys are just getting another album together so look out for it, no doubt I will let you know when and where you can find out more....

The following day we headed home via these crazy bubbles that were built into some cliffs and filled with rainforest action. They were quit cool but not as amazing as I expected. Poor Chris (Catherine & Emily's brother) was still suffering majorly from the night before. I did enjoy the break in the drive, but not sure it was worth it after listening to Chris once we had gotten back in the car and driving 40 miles in the wrong direction. Funnily none of us noticed until we crossed a bridge and saw above us a sign stating 'Welcome to Cornwall'.

The next evening we headed over to Catherine's house to have diner with Em before she headed off to India to meet up with her boyfriend. Lil and I are taking it easy for the time being, our next trip is to Paris for the weekend. Not sure where we will be heading from there, looks like Amsterdam for Easter before I swing home to Adelaide via Melbourne for Big Red's Wedding in April.

Looking forward to a couple of huge weekends, some sun & most importantly some Coopers that doesn't cost me $30 a sixer!

And again...

2007-01-20T11:52:00.000+11:00

Must read from bottom to top, cause b l o g g e r, is being an arse. They spell that the same here,

And it's packed in again!

will be back shortly...

2007-01-20T11:17:00.000+11:00

Actually will try now...

So above is my house,

and this is lil and our one of our housemates,

then there was the birthday:

They seem tame, it got very messy later!

Then there'e the other housemate:

And for Christmas Lil and I went to Prague, beautiful!

But blogger dies again!

Looks like.....

2007-01-20T10:50:00.000+11:00

I've just been chillin in Londres forever, well actually it ia almost like that, but have been having my share of fun and stuff whilst I have been at it!

This blog is going to be all backwards, fowards and messed up!

Since I last applied my skills to updating the public, I have ben to Berlin, Prague and, well that's it but it has been one hell of a ride! The dirty c's here in london town have got me wearing a suit!

We moved into our place and tried to settle in, but had a few issues with the lease, los bastardos tried tried to evict us after a week. I got a job, wearing a suit I must emphasise again, then i tried to save a little dinero to get my arse to Berlin to catch up with a very old amigo from Honduras. His name is Fabian, he showed Mr. Nathan 'Dickie' and I around for the weekend, i do have photos but Nath being dickie have lost the c's.

I will upload photos soon, when D finally gets around to giving them to me, but until then I have plenty of shizen to go around. I have been employed for 3 months now, working for a company that is all about being healthy and looking good, i fit in apart from the healthy part, at least I am trying.

Blogger, being apart of Goofle has decided to once again shaft me, so wil now atempt a differet photo upload.

Not working, why is technology easier in south america?

Just Chillin in Londres

2006-10-15T01:48:00.000+10:00

So I haven't been up to much over the last week, had a few meetings as I prepare to commence work on Tuesday, trying to find some shoes to buy as BA stll haven't found my bag and my toes are starting to get a little cold in thongs, been looking forward to the visit of one of my best buddies from Germany whom I have not seen since our departure from Honduras in 98 - he'll be here tomorrow, checking out some free museums and eating some not so free food with La Dickie, uploading heaps of photos and generally been very lazy! But it's been fun, looking forward to starting work (I say this now) on Tuesday with Farmacia as their Sales, Operations & Development Manager (a mouthfull I know, but the pay's worth it), but until pay day I am going to be doing the best I can not to spend too much (yeah right, it's London!) Move into Parsons Green next Saturday so it will be good to finally unpack the backpack semi-permenantly.

Anyway, below are some photos from when I got to catch up with my old amigos from Australia last Friday night as well as The Team from Madrid, with whom I ate ham and drank in the streets (like you do in Spain, what a great country!) Have uploaded plenty of photos to flickr also, so be sure to check'em out.

The London Crew:

Us and Dave

Stewy & Some Dude

Curtis & Linda

Jess & Celia

The Madrid Crew:

El Museo De Jamon (The Ham Museum)

And us getting stuck into it!

The Madrid Crew

Ryan means bad news, have you not seen those Granada 10 photos? Add a liter of beer and the night is as good as over!

See what I mean......

Where the Spanish learnt to liissp.....

This gos out to Santos Gonzalez G. My Sponsor Child in Honduras

Madrid's answer to Central Park

Granada to Kapital & onwards to Londres

2006-10-05T21:14:00.000+10:00

So after 9 1/2 months of sleeping in crappy rooms, hammocks, 5 star hotels and on buses & planes, I have finally made it to Big Ben! But here's what I got up to on the way here from Barcelona.....

I hit Granada after spending 13 hours on a bus (as mentioned in last blog) and made it Oasis just in time for some Tapas and a decent night out. The plan for Wednesday was to get up and check out the Alhambra, the last Arabic Walled City within Western Europe. but that sort of fell through before I even went to bed. I hung out with the dudes from the hostel instead, drinking some tea in the Moorish areas of town and grabbing a falafel whilst updating last blog entry before entering into a table tenis tornament with an intense American dude and a Australian Girl, followed by all you could eat Cous Cous & all you could drink Sangria!

I hit up the bar next, entering into a raging Jenga game, where loser buys drinks with a couple of Danes with whom I soon left with to go and check out some open mik flamenco, before hitting up another tapas bar to join thehostel crew and onto, once again Granada 10, where Ryan, I and many others danced the night away! A group of about 10 of us were supposedly meeting in the lobby at 8 to head up to Alhambra to score tickets (they only let in a certain number of people a day and it's either real early, or not at all), but even after I set many alarms, and the intense american guy named Peter didn't wake me, I once again miss the Alhambra 2 days running. Ryan also missed out so we spent the day hanging out, heading to the Mirador to try and make ourselves feel better!

That night I caught up with Gill & Emma, the sisters from Barcelona, with whom I had a few drinks, grabbed some Tapas (as it's free in Granada with every beer - works for me) before heading down Morroco Lane for some Sheesha and more bites, where Emma bumped into one of her friends for school. I headed home earlyish, determined to actually make it up the hill in time to get tickets to the second most visited site in Europe. Somehow, I managed to wake up before the alarm, making it to my first free breakfast since arriving in Barcelona before charging the hill and checking out the many gardens and palaces that make up Alhambra.

I spent another challenging afternoon around the tabble tennis court, before hitting up all you can eat Paella & all you can drink Sangria, before making y final rounds around the bars of Granada, purposely missing out Granada 10. The next day being Saturday, it was time to make tracks for Madrid. I found a travelling Kiwi companion so I headed to the bus station with her, her bus was full so feeling slightly hung over and tired from the previous weeks events, I headed to the cafe whilst I waited out 2 hours over pizza and a can coke for my 5 hour bus ride to Madrid.

On the way there, sick of the frequent travel, I made up my mind that I would not be taking part in any sort of Portugal this time round, I would ring to see if my flight could be changed to get me to London on the same day of leaving Madrid, even though I would still have to go through Lisbon, the area I wanted to go in Portugal was another day of travelling to get there and a day of travelling to get back just for 2 days of getting drunk and lying on a beach. I figure I can always return and do that next year, so I decided to mission it to London instead. When I finally arrived at the bus station, I realised I had no address for the hostel I was supposed to be staying in, the only answer was to catch a taxi. Too bad none of the taxi drivers had ever heard of the place, so after a few phone calls and some heavy traffic I finally arrived, buggered however, I simply showered, strolled through the happening Saturday night streets and took the opportunity to have an early night in.

Sunday: Priority number 1 - change flights. However easy this may sound, the spanish like to enjoy their Sundays off and Iberia being as unhelpful as they are, although open would only change my Iberia portion of my ticket, although every other one world partner is ahppy to chage everything. I tried to ring BA to change my Lisbon to Heathrow ticket, but the pomes decided to take the advantage of Spanish culture and take the day off, the only answer was to head out to the airport for some face to face changing action. After a couple of hours of mucking about, I eventually was able to change my flights to fly through Lisbon and onto Heathrow for Tuesday, meaning another night in Madrid, not so bad, another day to check out the sites! The idea was to surprise Lilla, but me being as hopeless at surprises as she is, rang her on my way out of the airport.

I spent the afternoon checking out the parks and museums of Madrid, before heading back to the hostel to meet up with Ryan, my old amigo from Granada. He and I headed out for some dinner of chinese, before meeting back up with a gang from the hostel, drinking a bottle of scotch on the streets before heading out for a very messy and confusing night on the town. We got lost on the way home several times, but eventually got there after taking a taxi for about 3 blocks! The next day was very quiet, taking in a movie, before hitting up El Museo de Jamon - The Ham Museum for dinner with a big group from the hostel. A few quiet drinks arounda patio bar before heading back to the hostel for some music and packing before my big adventure of much waiting and in air sleeping, heading to London.

An early start to the day, with ATM's working meant that I only had enough Euros for the taxi ride to the airport shuttle, as opposed to the whole planned way. A qucik jump to Lisbon, checking out and checking back in again with lots of hours to spare, but no friendly ATM's so no money for food, found a quiet chair and had a snooze. Next flight I learnt about English Politics and the up and coming Prime Ministerial election from my elderly Scottsh next door neighbours before landing in Heathrow and realising that somewhere along the way they had lost one of my bags, meaning that I am a few photos short, including the Ham Museum & Madrid, because my camera cord is in that bag (Sorry Ryan).

I headed out to Lil's place, which I eentually found, before I grabbed a shower and met up with Lil before heading to the Real Estate Agent to sign some forms and check out our new pad in Parsons Green, a 3 Bedroom, 2 Bathrrom, 3 storey Maisonette, very pretty and in a great area, home for a dinner party with Lil's housemates and some more chasing of the missing bag. Still with no bag, and no shoes apart from the old flip flops I had on the plane, I hit Oxford St yesterday looking for some for my final interview with Mr Farmacia last night, I wasn't sure whether a suit and havianas were gonna cut it! Found some bargain half business shoes, half cowboy boots before suiting up to meet with Sanjay over a beer. Seems as if I will be starting work on Monday, this guy is so keen he wants me to move up to GM within 3-6 months, sounds good to me!

Anywho, I am going to send out a groupie this arvo with all contact details on board so those who wish to get in touch may, I am expecting a postcard Helen & Dave!

But I will fill you in on how the gloomy days start to take effect on me as according to all other aussies I know, they start to make you depressed and miserable. The place seems very cool so far, will just have to wait and see.....

2006-10-05T21:05:00.000+10:00

So it took several alarms going off and 3 mornings of trying to get out of bed early enough, but I finally made it to La Alhambra!

2006-10-05T21:04:00.000+10:00

The entrance to the last Arabic Emporer's, in Western Europe, Palace in Alhambra

2006-10-05T21:03:00.001+10:00

Of course the Spanish had to add their touch

2006-10-05T21:03:00.000+10:00

one of the many doorways from the palace leading onto beautiful gardens

2006-10-05T21:02:00.000+10:00

attention to detail is out of control!

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and inscriptions

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Really beautiful architecture

2006-10-05T20:56:00.000+10:00

The ceramic work around the doors is amazing, there is actually arabic writing allthrought this

2006-10-05T20:55:00.000+10:00

Amazing tiled artwork within the palace

2006-10-05T20:54:00.001+10:00

The stairwell of water, this old school system feeds the entire walled city

2006-10-05T20:54:00.000+10:00

The Arabic Emporer's Holiday Getaway, about 10 minutes walk from his palace

2006-10-05T20:53:00.000+10:00

When the spanish finally conquered Alhambra, the last remaining Arabic city in Western Europe, the king decided to build his own palace and other buildings, unfortunately destroying alot of what once was

2006-10-05T20:51:00.000+10:00

An awesome view of the cathedral from the big tower

2006-10-05T20:48:00.001+10:00

The walkway in which the guards used to get around to the towers as seen in front

2006-10-05T20:48:00.000+10:00

A wicked view of Granada from one of the towers built to protect the walled city

2006-10-05T20:47:00.001+10:00

The wine gate, an important one!

2006-10-05T20:47:00.000+10:00

The 8 pointed Arab star is scetched althroughout the Alhambra

2006-10-05T20:46:00.000+10:00

The arabs had an amazing fascination for water

2006-10-05T20:45:00.000+10:00

Beautiful gardens, but you really wouldn't want to have hayfever here!

2006-10-05T20:44:00.000+10:00

pretty flowers

2006-10-05T20:43:00.001+10:00

and more flowers

2006-10-05T20:43:00.000+10:00

Emma, Gill & an Amiga from College meet for a true Moroccan Lane experience

2006-10-05T20:42:00.001+10:00

The art is what I love most about Spain!

2006-10-05T20:42:00.000+10:00

Beautiful Sight

2006-10-05T20:38:00.000+10:00

So it took me a while to actually get to Alhambra, but at least on my second attempt I made it to the view from Mirador de San Nicolas

2006-10-05T20:20:00.000+10:00

One of the best things about Oasis Hostel is the �3.50 dinners you get with all you can drink sangria, very dangerous!

2006-10-05T20:19:00.001+10:00

Granada is filled with really cool, Moorish streets......

2006-10-05T20:19:00.000+10:00

And tight ones!

2006-10-05T20:15:00.000+10:00

Doesn't my main man from that long lettered state think he's the bomb with these 2 Slovenian twins. Wouldn't you know it, Granada 10!

2006-10-05T20:14:00.000+10:00

Joining the Danes checking out some Flamenco sing off, very cool stuff!

2006-10-05T20:12:00.000+10:00

Mad just in time to Oasis to make the Tapas Tour and then head to our favourite place i town, Granada 10

Some more kodak momentos from the wonderfull Barcelona

2006-10-05T20:08:00.001+10:00

2006-10-05T20:08:00.000+10:00

My last memories of Barcelona was the mess I had to clean up just in the nick of time to miss my flight to Barcelona! Such a great city!

2006-10-05T20:07:00.000+10:00

Dickie & I spreading C.A. around the world, co-founders, I hope your doing the same!

2006-10-05T20:05:00.000+10:00

The lead up to Dickie's birthday started about 4 days before the actual event, but Emma always seemed more trashed than he was!

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Some live music.....

2006-10-05T20:04:00.000+10:00

Too cool for school, try telling that to the hotdoggidy dog selling dude.

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And this is how the night ended!

2006-10-05T20:01:00.001+10:00

La Sagrada de Familia.....

2006-10-05T20:01:00.000+10:00

Gaudi, you've done it again.....

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A little intense sometimes though!

2006-10-05T19:55:00.000+10:00

I almost got wiped out by these sparkler fanatics!

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Dickie on the look out for Pirates

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The pretty Barcelona Port, viewed from the high ski lift thing

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Could this be the Barcelona Eye?

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Apparently they dig really big balloons, i.e. flying dogs, down here around this time of year

2006-10-05T19:52:00.000+10:00

The not so pretty man made beach in Barcelona

Barcelona: It`s rockin Europe

2006-09-27T23:14:00.000+10:00

Where do you begin with one of the most amazing cities of Europe, very comparable to Buenos Aires in Argentina, this place basically rocked my world! We did happen to be there during the La Mecre festival which was a bunch of outside music stages with groups playing that ranged from Ojos de Brujos to small wicked Morocan Ska to dude's from the White Stripes new Get Up. The street art throughout the city is outrageous,

and the whole city is just full of squatters, living a squat life

and fighting for freedom!

I rocked in from san Sebastian and headed to Gothic Point where my old mate from Bolivia, Loic, had sorted me out with some cheap accomo. Half asleep and almost moneyless still not being able to withdraw from cash machines, I spent the morning updating my blog, grabbing some breakfast and a well strong coffee and basically roamed the gothic streets as I waited for my, as per usual, late Amigo from Melbourne ; Dickie. We eventually rocked in with Dave's old amigas whom I have heard bucketloads about, but never actually met; Helen & Linda. We cruised the streets for some time before meeting up with Dickie's girlfriend; Emma & her Mum; Jill who happen to be travelling around Spain at the same time, however on a slightly healthier budget - 5 staring it all the way! We grabbed a bite and then hit a nice stretch of green grass for a bottle of champagne to celebrate the magnificance of being in Barcelona.

This 1 bottle eventually turned into 12 as the many hours drifted by. We finally peeled ourselves away at about 11:30 and headed back to Emma's & Jill's Hotel Rooftop Bar for some Mojitos and many laughs and perhaps even a few debates on the current political situation in Colombia.

The next day we spent by the pool back in the 5 star, grabbing some food at a local veggie restaurant (these god damn vegetarians made me) before heading out for the first night of shenanigans for the festival. The next morning as I walked past this Gaudi building

I was inspired to go and check out the Gaudi Park which is a massive park that he designed and built and actually lived there throughout the construction of it. The entrance felt like walking through a Ginger Bread house get-up.

The park is very diverse, moving through stone tunnels

with wicked carved coloumns

as well as a great plaza sitting atop cool hand made seating over looking the city!

We headed past Helen's squat house where I admired there dorrbell set-up which apparently illumintes

before heading back to the center and and chilling before heading out for another night of festival, where we found some great music and this guy

The next day we headed to the beach before taking this massive cart thing over city for some great views,

before preparing ourselves for another night of music. Unfortunately the bands were cancelled due to rain so we headed to the other side of town for some dance tent action.

Seeing as most sights had been seen I am pretty sure we just spent Sunday feeling sorry for ourselves and lying in the sun in the park relaxing and taking in the city's vibe. It was a rather large night on Sunday though as Dickie turned 24 at midnight, we headed North to a new stage to see some cool Ska band with members from all over the world, before heading back to a guys house that we met at the party for a few more drinks and onto the main stage where we rocked on, celebrated the b day, had hot dogs stolen from us because they thought that we stole them and then smash into each other on the dodgem cars!

Dragged Dickie out of bed to check out La Sagrada Familia, a church that Gaudi started to build over 100 years ago, but got killed as he stood back to admire, wiped out by a tram. Took some photos but a lot of construction going on still so hard to get a good shot, supposed to be finished within 14 years - but I doubt it! Dickie still feeling shitty returned to bed, so I hung at the hostel for a while before we headed out for tapas, a few wines and some cards - teaching Dickie and some Slovenians the game that Dave, John & I are the co-founders of, it's basically a crazier shithead.

The next morning due to the incorrect setting of my alarm (thanks Dickie) I missed my flight to Granada so ended up on a 13 hour bus ride instead, finally getting into Granada about 12 hours after my expected arrival time. I did happen to check in as the Tapas tour was heading off though, so instead of resting like I planned I ended up out with a cool group of guys - Tapering and Discoteching afterwards. Granada has a very large Morrocan influence, it being so close, so we headed back to the bar for some sheesha before bedtime. Going to try and by a hooka (waterpipe) to take back to the UK with me, they are cheap and really good! Lazy day today but off tomorrow to see the ALHAMBRA, an old Arabic castle that is supposedly fantastic! Apparently the second most visited site in Europe - does anyone know the first?

San Sebastian (Little Melbourne): A magical Place

2006-09-20T18:12:00.000+10:00

Proving to get out of the airport in Barcelona seemed to be a little more difficult than expected. Even though i have been travelling now for close to 9 months and have not had an issue anywhere that I have been, for some reason Spanish ATM's do not like standard issue ANZ cards. My ANZ visa card was cancelled because of fraud occuring in Greece not long ago and my Virgin CC is pinless, well it's not but I don't know it and when I rang Virgin, using my CC, they told me that they couldn't give me my pin over the phone but they would be more than happy to send me a new card and pin, not that that was going to help me in Spain.

I thought that at least if I could get to the Train Station (last train leaving at 12:30, lunchtime, flight landed at 10, plenty of time to sort something out) I would be able to buy my ticket to San Sebastian on Credit and sort it out when I got there, but because Virgin Credit Cards are missing the corner for stylish reasons, the train station's machine where I had to purchase my ticket to get to the long distance train station would not accept my card! getting a little frustrated I thought that perhaps taxis might take cards, well apparently some do so as I waited for 1 to rock up that did (which I soon learnt was about 1 in 500), some yanky wanka pushed in front of me and took the cab before i even had a chance to scrtach myself, having waited for that cab for over half an hour, checking with all banks and ATM Machines in the airport and looking for an answer for over 2 1/2 hours, I got fed up with the airport and went and rented a car, on credit of course!

Finally relieved to be out of the airport, i hit the AutoPista and headed straight for San Sebastian, yay! I arrived in at about 5, but had neither any idea where the hostel was or where to park, so i found the closest car park and went for a wander around town, stumbling across the Urban House with much relief before being shocked by realising that almost everybody working and staying there were from Melbourne, after 9 months of hardly meeting any Aussies! So I decided to leave the car where it was for the night, grab my stuff, take a much needed shower and a beer! Hooked up with this cool Kiwi guy who leant me some money and we hit the Tapas. had a pretty big night in the end, but with my body clock still being in NY mode, I actually really got to bed at like 11pm.

Next day with my car still by my side (I had to pay an extra 30 Euro for 2 more days), I headed west along the coast solo, checking out some beautiful amazing little towns and coastal drives. I headed back to SS around dinner time and found a bargain supermercado that took credit cards, where I stocked up on Food, Beer & Wine. Out for a few more 241's at Zibbobo before home to crash, slowly re-adjusting the body clock. On Sunday we took a drive to France for some French cuisine and wine (SS is like 10 minutes from the border), we checked out some beautiful towns and great surf breaks before once again heading SS bound for a much quiter night and early bed time.

With the car returned it was time to actually start checking out SS itself, I walked up mountains and along beaches taking some awesome snaps before bumping into my old friend Felipe with whom I travelled with in Argentina 8 months ago and hung out with in Sao Paulo. The last email I had received from him stated that he was making his way to Spain, but I had no idea that we would be in SS at the same time. Spent the evening with him and a crew of about 8 from the hostel (most who are also now on their way to Barcelona, so we are all going to hook up) before spending yesterday working the tan on the beach before some more great SS Tapas last night along with a few glasses of Red Wine before jumping on my midnight bus through to the Big B where I arrived some 2 hours ago, which I have spent waiting for Dickie (friend from Melbourne now living in London whom I have not seen in 12 months) and crew finally catching up on Blog action.

I am also catching up with a guy called Loic whom Lil & I travelled with in Bolivia this afternoon, he works in the hostel where i am staying, so it looks like we are going to have a pretty decent crew to get the La Merce festival shennanigans underway here in Barcelona, will let you know how things go!

2006-09-20T18:10:00.000+10:00

San Sebastian at night - this is my first stop in Europe and it has definitley exceeded my expectations

2006-09-20T18:09:00.000+10:00

Felipe: My trusted Brasilian friend with whom I travelled in Argentina, is still getting into trouble around the world

2006-09-20T18:08:00.001+10:00

The sunset from the Christ Monument

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The three troopers who climbed to Christ to watch the sunset

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Beautiful architecture just lines both sides of the bay!

2006-09-20T18:06:00.002+10:00

Who doesn't want to live in a house like this!

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The San Sebastian main Bay

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Doesn't get much better than this

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The view from the top of the Funicular

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San Sebastian really is a wanderful place!

2006-09-20T18:04:00.001+10:00

One of the most beautiful beaches in Europe (or so I have been told) and just 2 minutes walk from the hostel

2006-09-20T18:04:00.000+10:00

The beautiful cathedral in San sebastian

2006-09-20T18:03:00.000+10:00

Being just 200km south of Bordeuax, I couldn't pass up a glass of Pinot, nor a 4 cheese crepe to go with it!

2006-09-20T18:02:00.000+10:00

St Jean de Luiz: Another amazing spot, just 15 minutes down from Biarritz

2006-09-20T18:01:00.001+10:00

Now that's a POT

2006-09-20T18:01:00.000+10:00

Biarritz: Very Posh, but beautiful

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The French Coast

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Beautiful French Architecture

2006-09-20T17:59:00.001+10:00

Biarritz: Home to the WTC (surfing comp) and our first stop in France

2006-09-20T17:59:00.000+10:00

Another Spaish beautiful small coast town, just can't remember which one it was

2006-09-20T17:58:00.000+10:00

Another small pretty coastal town, just forgotten which one it was

2006-09-20T17:57:00.000+10:00

The cliff hugging roads that provide the beautiful views

2006-09-20T17:56:00.001+10:00

the beautiful rugged Spanish coastline

2006-09-20T17:56:00.000+10:00

The beast that got me from barcelona and carried me through all my little side trips - Go the Citroen C4

2006-09-20T17:55:00.000+10:00

Zauratz: My first stop on my coastal road trip heading West from San Sebastian. Pretty little surfing town, cold water!

The Big, Big Apple

2006-09-20T17:52:00.000+10:00

So how do I begin to explain 1 of the world's most famous, built up, awesome cities in the world!

After slugging it on a 6 hour flight from Cancun, without food or free alcohol (thanks again American Airlines), I rocked into JFK just before 7, it took me about an hour to handle customary procedures, I think that when they recruit these guys 1 of their interview questions must be 'can you be a complete arsehole for a atleast 8 hours per day?' Because that's pretty much all that I have encountered in the US so far, couldn't be arsed spending the next 2 hours on the train/subway so I opted for the very expensive $45 + tolls + tip (of course) taxi ride into Manhattan and onto the Upper West Side where I would be hanging with some cool couchsurfers named Alex and Elizabeth for a few nights.

On the drive into the city I could already feel the neck cramps coming along as my face was pointed nowhere but up, checking out the rows after rows of skyscrapers and other cool and interesting stuff. After a lecture from the taxi driver about how people in America tip well, I arrived in the Upper West Side which is more so a residential area of Manhattan, but looks like it has come straight out of a movie with fire escapes everywhere, canopies leading from front doors to the curb and doormen in every other building. Great spot the guys have got there though, 2 blocks from Central Park and in between 2 streets packed full of good restaurants, bars and cafes, just what I was looking for.

Now to start checking off Dave's 5 page list of things to do before time runs out.........

I showered up and headed out to meet Chana who had told me about this cool place called 'The Other Room' - funky little bar only selling wines and beers down in the Meat Packing District (old converted wharehouses and stuff), met up with her about midnight before doing a little pub crawl through Grenwich Village and the Lower East Side, finishing the night of with a Yiros & Sheesha in little Middle East. Home about 4 but up at 11 to stroll through Central park and just pretty much be blown away by the city time after time. I checked out JL's memorial in Strawberry fields before getting lost several times trying to find 'The Mall'. Headed from here south searching for a pie and a beer from a little Aussie run Tuck Shop, before cruisng through Time Square aka Billboard Central, and up 5th to check out the street stalls.

After a couple of kilometers under the feet, I jumped on the Metro and headed homeward bound for some R&R, headed out for dinner not so long after that (been a while since I have curried up) and headed back out for some more weekend shennanigans. Met up with Chana again and her friends at a Country Bar, where you throw all your peanut casings on the floor, met this jewish doctor (like 50% of most manhattians, well either that or a jewish lawyer) who offered to take us for a tour around in his convertible 67 Lincoln. We thought we were the bomb after everyone kept commenting on how cool we looked in the beast!

Headed back down to the lower east side to listen to some more 80's Disco beats (they love that stuff here - weird!), before heading home as soon as things started to quieten down. Spent the next day lunching with Alex, Elizabeth & crew before heading to Tribeca and SoHo to get some NYC shopping in, picked up some bargains and then headed China Town way to meet up with A&E for some rather excellent dumplings at the Excellent Dumpling House. Quiet night Sunday, just dumplings and bed, had to be prepared for the mammoth day I had planned for Monday - 5th anniversary of September 11.

Woke up relatively early for my much more than lazy behaviour of recent, and walked along the river, checking out New Jersey across the bay (a completely other state), up to 112th where I breakfasted in the famous Tom's Dinner, before shooting across to Brooklyn on the Metro (seems like a ghost town after the craziness of Manhattan) to walk back into town along the Brooklyn Bridge where great views were to be had of all Manhattan. I headed from there down to Ground Zero where the emotions were flowing like a busted fire hydrant, I did a lap of the block before i had to get out of there as my eyes started to swell and headed southbound for the freebie close up view of Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty from the Staten island Ferry. Don't get to dock on the island but get close enough for a few photos, all you really need anyway. Headed back across the river after having visted my second borough other than Manhattan, both for less than 10 minutes, and walked up to Wall Street to see how people were taking care of business in the Financial District.

Stomach was started to swing so I hit up the Peanut Butter & Co sandwich joint where I got to experience fluff (spreadable marshmellow - won't be going back there again) but also got myself an awesome PB, Banana & Honey toasted sandwich, definitely worth checking out next time your in town. A quick check of dave's long list and I realised I still had to suss out out this off-Broadway show called Ave Q (basically an R rated, musical Sesame St, with puppets and all) so I made my way back to time square to see if I could win some $20, front row lottery tickets. Must have been my lucky day - realising that I only had 1 1/2 hours before the show started and I still had to move my stuff from A&E's to Chana's which is 2 blocks down from the Empire State Building in the East Side, I headed straight for the metro, chucked my shit together, said some rather rampant goodbyes and lugged my poorly packed everything down the street for a taxi. Chana was waiting with a beer and some food, so we threw that down and then headed out for a night of shits and giggles as Ave Q kept us entertained for the next few hours.

Tuesday I just spent a bit of time walking around my favourite areas, a bit more shop shop, before heading up to the Rockefeller center for some amazing views of the cement fortress and Central Park, no lines, just straight up and start snapping away, some more walking and checking out the schiz and grabbed a movie before making my way home. Chana and I headed down to Trader Joe's to pick up some stuff for dinner, before cooking up a storm and chilling out with some wine in front of the tube. So good not to have to share common areas with 50 other dudes in your hostel!

Wednesday I hit up Maven's Bagels before I finally found Yellow Rat Bastard and got my last of Dave's list checked off, as well as sorting through some vintage stores where the only cool stuff I could find was worth more than new T-shirts, so I headed to the famous Katz's Jewish deli for a corned beef sandwich the size of my head before grabbing a 1 last Coopers & Boag's Primo before back to Chana's to try and re-store some order in backpack, only lasted as long my next stop anyway.

Another quiet evening at home, making the most of non communal living before waking earliesh the next morning as the plan was to go for a ride through Central Park, but the rain soon put an end to that so I laid on the Sofa finishing my massive book which I did not want to take to my next destination considering I had been carrying it around with me since the worst hostel in the world in Flores, Guatemala. I took Finn, Chana's dog, for a walk before getting my final things together and making my way to the subway and airport bound. I wanted to get there early to see if I could cancel my conecting flight that went from Madrid to Barcelona, because the coastal town I decided to hit up in Spain is like 3 hours closer to Madrid, but for some reason if I was to do that, I would lose my flights from Madrid to Lisbon, Lisbon to London & London to Australia, such a crappy system, so I spent the next 3 hours at the airport wandering around like a lost sole - boring!

Once I finally boarded however, I was pretty surprised to find myself sitting next to Tom Williams (Australian Actor - Great Outdoors & Dancing with the Stars), we had a pretty good chat and dosed in and out of sleep (at least food & wine was served this time) until we touched down in Madrid some 7 hours later. Quickly transferred to make my connection to Barcelona and then that's when the fun began...........

2006-09-20T16:43:00.000+10:00

Great views of 52nd street south (& north) from the Rockefeller Center, no queing here Dave

2006-09-20T16:42:00.001+10:00

The Empire State Building

2006-09-20T16:42:00.000+10:00

Central park really is a monster!

2006-09-20T16:34:00.000+10:00

I do brother, just not your government

2006-09-20T16:33:00.000+10:00

Standard issue Living in the Upper West Side: Alex & Elizabeth's Apartment

2006-09-20T16:31:00.001+10:00

The view of Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry

2006-09-20T16:31:00.000+10:00

I went cheap and got the free ferry to Staten Island instead of the close up tour of the Statue of Liberty, but still snuck a few good peeps in

2006-09-20T16:30:00.001+10:00

Typical NYC or what!?

2006-09-20T16:30:00.000+10:00

The magnificent church at the end of wall street

2006-09-20T16:29:00.000+10:00

Heart Shattering stuff on 9/11/06 - 5 years after the attacks

2006-09-20T16:28:00.001+10:00

and the whackos together

2006-09-20T16:28:00.000+10:00

The destruction remaining at Ground Zero

2006-09-20T16:27:00.000+10:00

The Empire State certainly looms over the city but there was no King Kong to be seen this day

2006-09-20T16:26:00.000+10:00

The city is just impressive at all angles

2006-09-20T16:25:00.000+10:00

The walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, great views to be had from apparently once the longest suspension bridge in the world

2006-09-20T16:18:00.000+10:00

You have to recognize this: It's where Jerry Seinfeld and the crew love to hang out

2006-09-20T16:17:00.000+10:00

Double Parking is just a way of living for these Manhattians

2006-09-20T16:16:00.001+10:00

Alex, Elizabeth & I in the Excellent Dumpling House in Chinatown - Great Dumplings!