Thursday, February 22, 2007

Back in Pacific Standard Time


We'll here I am back home. Santa Barbara, California. Home of Karch Kiraly, La Super Rica, and rude, honk-happy L.A.ers who think that they own the place. It's good to be back home. But really, I'm happy just to see my family and friends. SB is a beautiful place. The Coastal mts. slope to the foothills flattening to the beach where the sea extends to the Channel Islands. On the eyes it doesn't get much better than these next of the woods. But all this said and done I'm not quite sure that SB, California and the U.S. is the place for me at the moment. I can't handle the rules everywhere. I'd like to make decisions based on my ability to judge what's right and wrong.
Maybe this is just my initial reaction to change. Well of course it's my initial reaction and I'm in need of adjustment. We'll see.
Back to the last few months of my trip. It's amazing how lazy I was writing this and how fast time flew. I believe I left off in Hungary. My plan after Hungary was to head down to Romania. I was intrigued by Transylvania, castles, the grand party on New Years Eve due to Romania's EU accession, and rural areas virtually unchanged for the last couple hundred years. I arrived at the Budapest train station early in the morning mid-December in order to transfer to a train heading in the direction of Bucharest. My connecting train wouldn't arrive for the next 3 hours and during this time I started to have some doubts. Did I really want to continue heading east in the dead of winter? Where temperatures can drop to -20 or -30 Celsius? I had planned on meeting my friend in Madrid at sometime and heading in the complete opposite direction with an exceedingly depleting bank account didn't make much sense. I took out my little organizer and made a list of 5 possibilities. Going to Romania, back to Berlin, staying in Budapest at a hostel, or with a friend there or catch the next train heading west. I went with the last choice. I checked the schedule saw a train leaving to Prague in 30 minutes and decided to head back to the Czech capital.
I spent a semi-frigid birthday and Christmas in the once Soviet invaded capital. I really enjoyed this tour of duty in Prague. Probably because I mostly stayed out of the touristy areas. I would walk through neighborhoods, sit in squares and read in cafes. A great book to read, especially in Prague because it takes place in Prague and is written by a Czech, is "the Unbearable Lightness of Being." Strange but good. I met some really cool folk at the hostel. A couple of savage Tasman's, a stony Canadian (from you guessed it BC) and a couple of wrilly Americans to name a few. After almost two weeks of guitar playing (I bought me a travel size for my birthday) and countless Czech Budvars I decided it was time to get to the Iberian peninsula.
Through Germany and onward to Paris. I spent a day in Paris with my friend Louis. I ate an amazing eclair, watched a weird movie and did a tasty bistro dinner. After goodbye cheek kisses to his cousin and her friend I hastefully grabbed my bags from his apartment and metroed it to the train station. I jumped on the train, unloaded my bags and went to put on my iPod. Bummer. The pod was back at Lou's plugged into the wall charging. It was alright, I had been listening non stop to anyone of my four different ones for the past 5 years. I slept upright in a seat that night surrounded by African immigrants. I woke up at the crack of dawn in fog shrouded French Basque country.
My final destination was San Sebastian. Or as I will refer to it for now on as "the Bastion." The Bastion is the cultural center of Pais Vasco, or in English, Basque Country. The Basques are a cultural group with one of the most distinctive and unique languages on Earth. No one really knows where the language originates from because it has no linguistic relatives. Some scholars believe it was the language of the original Iberians who occupied the peninsula thousands and thousands of years ago. The Basques were heavily oppressed during the Franco regime which ruled Spain from the late 30s, following the civil war, to the mid 70s when Franco eventually died. During this period the language was banned. Not only in schools or public but in households as well. A story goes that a couple was married for thirty years and only after Franco died did they realize they both spoke Basque. During the civil war the Basques sided against Franco and with the Communists. The communist promised complete self rule to the Basques if they helped in winning the war. Unfortunately they lost and the Basques were to pay a heavy price. A quick factoid. Hitler and Mussolini were allies of Franco and helped him with troops and fire power. In fact one of the first aerial bombardments was executed by the Nazis on the Basques in a town called Guernica. This slaughter was later depicted in a famous Picasso painting of the same name. Check it out here.
I really enjoyed my time in the Bastion. It's one of the most picturesque places I've been...ever. Two large cove shaped beaches are separated by a river that empties into the Atlantic. Or when the tide is right big swells come up the river and crash 20 yards in. Next to the river a large, lonesome hill bearing a Basque flag and a statue of Jesus is squeezed between the sea and the old quarter. The old quarter is full of bars serving pintxos. Pintxos, or tapas, are little snacks that one eats generally during lunch or before dinner. The Bastion has the reputation of having the tastiest ones in Spain, but also the most expensive. Here's a picture. During my stay I went on hikes through the surrounding hills, played soccer on the beach, played more guitar, met fabulous people and rang in the new year. The Bastion is truly a special place and I can say very confidently that it's my favorite small city that I went to in Europe. Go if you can.
After two weeks, I decided to head west along the northern coast of Spain. While in San Sebastian I met a girl who was to be studying there for the semester. Classes didn't start for a little while so she decided to join me for about a week. We went to the provinces of Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia. They are all quite small but unique in their own ways. Asturias is famous for its sidra, a cider made of apples, Galicia for its language and Celtic heritage and Cantabria, well actually it doesn't have much going on but that's what makes it unique. We departed in Santiago de Compostella, a famous destination for many catholic pilgrims. There is an amazing cathedral there and we stayed with a nice guy who we met on couchsurfing.com.
Lisbon was my next stop. An amazing city, which I fell in love with. I met amazing people, saw things my mind hardly could comprehend, and discovered some fantastic music. For these reasons and many more I am going to devote the next post entirely to the Portuguese capital.
Till Next Time...Ciao.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Better Late than Never...

Okay. Now I'm not sure many people care about this thing anymore because I know a month and a half break shows a lack of interest on my part. I could explain why it wasn't a lack of interest or care but that just I didn't get around to it. But all of that is rhimsical, not living in the now, twig terd bullocks. (Haven't heard that one in a while, huh?) So let me began where I left off. Seeing that I'm on a community computer in a stylin Lisbonion hostel this may take a couple posts, I like to share.
Left off meeing Co Mike Elwell in Paris. Or better me meeting him. In Paris, I emailed Louis, a buddy I had met a few months back on the Laotian and Chinese border waiting for a promised, but uncertain, bus. He hooked me up in Paris at a friends house and I was able to really enjoy Paris. IE: talking politics while chewing on a flakey croissant, and adjusting my beret in the mirror.
After Paris I went up to Amsterdam. I stayed with Jess and his girlfriend Jenneka and once again had a blast. I went to the Van G(hrrr)ogh museum and the Rhikts museum. Both really interesting. Van Geezes and Rembrantdizzles.
From Hammsterdam on an over night train to Prague(Praha). Supposed to be a sketchy train but it was cool. I shared my compartment with two German citizens of Russian origin were going to visit a friend for his 30th birthday. Had a brew hit the sack.
Prague:
Arrrived to Prague central station at 8ish. Get my berings, take a bus(don't pay, play ignorance) find my hostel. Hostel Elf. Really nice play, patio, nice lounge, cheap original Czech Budweisers. Not consistent hot water, but yoiu gotta know the right times to take a shower.
Mitchel B showed up a day after I got there. He was geeking out on the drive from the airport. We caught up a bit and then took a walk around the city. Czecked out Charles Bridge, an Ice Hockey game and our fair share of bars, clubs and restaurants. After a few days in the Czech capital we went down south to Czesky Krumlov. A small medievel city, with a large ominous castle and a horseshoe shaped bend that nearly encircles the old town when viewed from a bird's eye.
Budapest, Hungary was the next to be red X'd. Budapest was great. We walked around the city a bit met up with some folks we had met in Praha, climbed a fantastic hill, Citadella I think was the name, and rewarded ourselves a g'old Hungarian bath. Huge pools of hot spring water undera doom contructed of tinted glass. Mosiacs on the walls. The sauna was killer though. The heat stung the flesh of your lungs.
Following Hungary we took numerous trains up to Krakow, Poland. Another beautiful place. A red castle sits on a large hill along the river. From the castle's vantage the old town, with it's huge square, and the Jewish quarter are easily spotted.
We went out to Auzwitz and Birkenau. Heavy, heavy stuff. Stuff I can't understand. How can humans treat other humans so bad? That's been my question everytime I think of the Nazis. Actually, frankly, its all wars. Yeah I know some are worth fighting for. I dare anyone, including the US army to come into my home, my city, my state and enadnger those I love. But before this happens every last means necessary must be taken to avoid the armed conflict. This US Admistration, and I mean admisitration because it was me and it probably wasn't you either, who concocted every thing. WMD, greeted with flowers, other governments will follow, link to Al Qaeda. That's not me and that's not you. I don't understand how these people get away with that. Are we letting them? Do we not care enough about others? I guess this is old news. Kinda though. 21,500 more troops. Ouch. I'm not home, I don't know how everyone is reacting and truthfully I feel a bit odd questioning fellow Americans when I'm not even home. But 21,500 more. On top of 120,000. On top of 3,000 troops, sons and daughters, dead for lies. How many wounded? 10, 20 thousand? 30? This is not right. I gotta do something.
Back to the Past. From Poland Mitch took an overnighter to Praha where he was flying out a day after the morning his train arrived. At the last mintute I decided to stay in Krakow. I was enjoying the city and I thought I was gonna head over to Romania. Transylvania, wildlike, castles, Dracula, all intrigued me. I stopped off in Eger, Hungary on the way. Really cool place. A road lined with door that lead to wine caves, cellers and barrels. Some great, young, still fermenting wine. I met some Russians studying in Budapest. We hit it off clanking glasses full of the local red, "bull's blood."