Travel-Addict

Weekly NYC Blog Post - 2.13.2012

2012-02-13T06:47:00.000-08:00

EAST VILLAGE

Dorian Gray

Red Lion may be a favorite but I was outraged to find out I had to pay a $20 cover to watch the rugby game on Saturday. Absolutely not. So, we ended up at Dorian Gray's in the East Village to watch the match. The staff is really friendly and the bathroom has sheets of lyrics pasted on the wall for easy reading. My favorite lyric was "Nighttime in June, Right Time to Spoon." This may become a new spot at least until rugby season is over. Only knock is that there are closer places.

Photo Credit: Dorian Gray Facebook page

FLATIRON

Riff Raff

First off - I was here Saturday night and the DJ played the best playlist of my life. To the point that I asked him for his card. I'm going to start following him around NYC. Riff Raff is literally an underground tiki hut that is impossible to get into (my friend dropped $2500 just to get his friends in the door on his birthday) but extremely fun once inside. Do not wear something you like though because it is a drunkfest of people spilling all over each other while dancing. Also they come around and paint tribal designs on your face so don't sleep with your favorite pillow that night either. One of the best parties in NYC.

LES

Il Laboratorio del Gelato

I've been bugging my friend to take me here for awhile and the wait was worth it. I had the Chocolate Amaretto Crunch after taste testing five other flavors. Lots of unique choices. Check the website for the full list!

MIDTOWN WEST

Brother Jimmy's

The southern blood in me met its true love this weekend. Brother Jimmy's pulled pork is so good and so plentiful that I felt sick by the end of my meal because I couldn't stop eating it. They have three different BBQ sauces you can squirt on the pork (Original, Carolina, and Chipotle) - Original was still my favorite. Their brussel sprouts were also probably the best I've had in NYC so far which is a bold statement considering the popularity of brussel sprouts right now. The mac n cheese was a miss but overall DELICIOUS meal. And the atmosphere is awesome. Hit up the one at 31st and 8th because Katie, the bartender, is the shit.

WEST VILLAGE

Gusto

Gusto falls into the good but not the best thing ever category for me. The fried artichokes and burrata were good but not mouthwatering and my pappardelle with oxtail ragu was tasty but nothing to write home about. The atmosphere was pretty standard too. A good meal but not one I need to go back to.

Weekly NYC Blog Post - 2.6.2012

2012-02-02T13:52:00.001-08:00

CHELSEA

Pierre Loti
So I'm tempted to not even write about this place because I think it might become my special local spot and I don't want all of you to go rushing over there...but this place is awesome. Super small, dark, great first date place. The food is Mediterranean/middle eastern and very good and the bartender, Mustafa, is a doll. We had the hummus and beef dumplings which was plenty of food for two. Definitely coming back here!

Photo Credit: Red Lion Website

GRAMERCY

Kibo
So for those of you who don't follow this blog often...I am allergic to shellfish. Thus, when I go out with big groups of people to sushi/Japanese restaurants I tend to order my own stuff separate. That being said the yellowtail and spicy tuna handrolls here are delicious as is the wine by the glass. Everything else looked amazing and my friends said it was tasty so I will have to let you know next time I go - which I will be doing. The interior is very hip, although the service is a little slow. It was a 2.5 hour dinner mostly because I felt like the staff took so long to bring drinks and food. For us it didn't matter because the conversation was good but I wouldn't go here if you are in a hurry.

Photo Credit: Kibo Website

GREENWICH

Red Lion
Ah, it's that time of year - rugby season. And what better place to watch it than the Red Lion on Bleecker where the Scottish men are hot, the food is English, and the television screens are everywhere. Be prepared for a plethora of accents and crowds during sporting events and a chill, hang out atmosphere at night. The owner, Joe, is almost always there adding a "Cheers-esk" flavor to the place. Definitely a good time.

Photo Credit: Red Lion Website

LES

Hotel Chantelle
This non-hotel restaurant bar is going to give Bounce a run for its money as my new favorite party hangout. Much more hipster, artsy than Bounce so you won't run into the same type of clientele but the music is amazing. The mixed drinks are pretty horrible (definitely well vodka) but they do their job. The place consists of a rooftop bar/restaurant which I haven't been up to yet, the main floor which is a pretty standard bar, and then the basement which is just a massive dance party. Already planning on making this Laura Birthday 2012.

Photo Credit: Hotel Chantelle Website

Rayuela
Woohoo! I made it to a second Restaurant Week place. I'm on a roll! Always love saving money and still eating well. I'd heard great things about this place and was very excited to finally go. The restaurant itself may be THE coolest-looking place I've seen outside of Vegas. There is a frickin' TREE growing in the middle of it! I felt like I was eating in a tree house bungalow deep in a forest.

Photo Credit: Rayuela Website

For dinner, we did the Restaurant Week menu. Appetizers included:

CARAMIñOLA
(vegetarian)
creamy yuca balls stuffed with tetilla & manchego cheese,
served with poblano pepper black bean sauce, frisee salad and crème fraiche

These were good but too bland for me.

PANCETA EN SOPA
crispy pork belly in a curry lentil soup, with fried quail egg,
and green apple-smoked bacon salad

This was my order and I was definitely the winner. The pork was cooked perfectly but I wish there was more of it! I'm not a huge lentil fan which overpowered the dish a little.

ALBONDIGAS
lamb meatball drizzled with a mahon cheese-sesame fondue,
sprinkled with Serrano ham powder and crispy mint leaves

These were tasty but second to Pipa's albondigas in my opinion.

My entree was the Entrecot Callao which was grilled ribeye marinated in panca-pisco, green pea puree, cherry tomato chimichurri with crispy applewood tocineta. It was perfectly cooked and the egg on top was a great touch!

Dessert was lackluster, again because I'm a dessert snob. The Tres de Chocolate was chocolate cake, white chocolate ice cream, chocolate and toffee sauces. The cake was dry, the ice cream was delicious and creamy but there wasn't enough of it and I didn't even taste the toffee. It takes a lot for me not to finish a dessert and I didn't finish this one. Enough said.

I know I sound super harsh regarding this meal but that's just because I'm picky especially in NYC where there are so many amazing restaurants that I can find anything wrong with. The service here was also a little absent. However, I would still say it falls under a good restaurant to eat and you should go just for the ambiance. The booths are also very private so another good place for a first or fortieth date or a birthday party because they are bigger.

Weekly NYC Post 1.30.2012

2012-01-30T10:35:00.000-08:00

BROOKLYN

Manhattan Inn
This marks my first official nighttime foray in Brooklyn! My first warning is that every bar in Brooklyn seems to be cash only so ladies come prepared.... They sell a beer at this place called Pork Slap which tastes terrible but seems terribly fitting. The front half of the bar is mostly standing room only unless you can get the large wooden picnic table at the front near the door. In the back you enter a cesspool of crazy dancers which if you're drunk enough to an epic party...and if you aren't you can sit and have just as fabulous a time people-watching hipsters. The music was awesome and I would definitely hit this place up again.

Photo Credit: Peter D on Yelp.com

CHELSEA

La Promenade des Anglais
So glad that I finally made it to a Restaurant Week restaurant! We arrived and the manager charged my phone for me while I was eating! He also came over and offered to pair each of our courses with wine for $50 per person instead of the Restaurant Week menu of $35 per person which was a great deal considering he filled the glasses pretty high!

For dinner, I had the kale and red cabbage salad with duck prosciutto, candied walnuts, pomegranate and shaved cheese which I gobbled down in about three minutes. The duck prosciutto was inventive and delicious! The second course was gargarnelli pasta with fennel pork shoulder ragout which was also tasty especially since the pasta was homemade. The finale was warm chocolate fondant with stracciatella ice cream which was just the right size. The restaurant was warm and inviting and obviously the customer service was impeccable. I'm happy to find another great restaurant close to home for me to frequent.

Markt
This was sort of a last minute, let's eat here, option that was actually quite refreshing. I had the Croque Monsieur which was very simple, toasted Paris ham and cheese on whole wheat toast, but was nicely toasted and melty in the middle. Definitely a good local option but not a stand out.

GRAMERCY / FLATIRON

ABC Kitchen
ABC stands for Absolute Best Cuisine! This is by far my favorite restaurant in NYC so far. The dishes are inventive, delicious and beautifully presented. It's impossible to walk in and get a table but you can reserve a table or sneak to the back bar which is first come, first served, which is what we did. The restaurant is decorated white with lots of exposed wood and high-top tables. Very eclectic. Very cool. We also gorged ourselves....

1) Roasted beets with homemade yogurt - I would NEVER order this normally but the waiter convinced us to try it and it was amazing. The sweetness of the beets with the slight tangyness of the yogurt made this almost like a dessert. It was light yet rich. SO GOOD.

2) Roasted kobocha squash toast fresh ricotta apple cider vinegar - My other favorite of the night. The sweetness of the squash, ricotta and vinegar paired perfectly with the saltiness of the toast. Perfectly cooked - not soggy at all.

3) The special was a baked burrata with black truffle that was good but not worth the $40 price tag. I've had better but it was still very good.

4) Roast carrot and avocado salad crunchy seeds sour cream citrus - This dish was also very good although a little spicy for my palate. The fire of the spiced carrot was lightened by the softness of the avocado.

5) Roast suckling pig, plum and smoked bacon marmalade and braised turnips - I'm sure just reading that description gives you a pretty good idea of how good this was. I was so full and still couldn't stop eating this. Crispy on the outside; melty on the inside.

6) Sundae with salted caramel ice cream candied popcorn chocolate sauce (didn't get whipped cream and candied peanuts) - I really liked the ice cream but this might have been just a touch too much sweetness, but that could also be because I was bursting at the seams at this point.

LOWER EAST SIDE

Donut Plant
Another famous little spot in Manhattan, but not that tasty in my opinion. Granted I'm not a huge donut person to start but I tried both the cake and yeast donuts (they have two different types) and wasn't that impressed. The cake donut, The Blackout, was SO rich that I couldn't eat more than a few bites.

Alias
So I'm pissed because I took pictures of my amazing brunch at this restaurant and they came out blurry! This is the BEST brunch I've had in New York to date. I had the two piece fried chicken with coleslaw, biscuits and honey butter. The chicken was crispy and flavorful without being overly breaded and the coleslaw had large slices of cabbage and minimal mayo. Overall an explosion of tastes! As a lover of biscuits, these biscuits ranked just below the continuing incumbent - John O Groats, Los Angeles.

My friend as the brisket breakfast burrito with beef brisket, scrambled egg, guacamole, potatoes, tomatillo salsa and red onion wrapped in a flour tortilla with sour cream & cheddar which was HUGE but looked very good. We finished off the breakfast with a side order of the biscuits and cream gravy with sausage which was rich but delicious. I will DEFINITELY be back.

UPPER EAST SIDE

El Liberador
This little neighborhood parilla is located at 1725 2nd Ave (between 89th St & 90th St) deep in the Upper East Side. It was my first trek into unknown territory but the restaurant had great customer service and a friendly atmosphere. I ordered the yellowfin tuna carpaccio, ham and cheese and beef empanadas, skirt steak with garlic mashed potatoes and pappardelle bolognese. The carpaccio wasn't very high quality fish, the empanadas were a little greasy and the skirt steak with a little chewy but the pappardelle is one of the best I've ever had and we all know how often I order meat pasta. They also had delicious Argentinian wine by the glass.

WEST VILLAGE

Back Fence
This place brings back memories of Hermosa Beach/Manhattan Beach dive bars like Shellback. Home away from home. The band was mildly terrible, the drinks were cheap and the bachelorette party by the bar was entertaining. Lots of seats to sit and relax which is nice but if you can't get a table there isn't a lot of room to stand which is annoying. Great place to go if you just wanna chill and have good convo with friends.

Weekly NYC Blog Post - 1.16.2012

2012-01-13T08:34:00.000-08:00

So I've had a ton of people visiting this week and have thus been gorging myself on AMAZING food. Take a look at some of the top foodie places in NYC to indulge your sweet and savory tooth.

GRAMERCY / FLATIRON

Eataly
Mario Batali's famous Eataly is a market and restaurant in one. Literally every Italian item you could possibly want can be found here from meats, sauces and pastas to chocolate, gelato and cheeses. I haven't eaten at any of the restaurants because I heard they weren't the best but that the retail items are definitely worth it. Next time I go grocery shopping (which is never) this is going to be my new #1 choice. Anyone coming to NYC needs to take an impromptu tour through it.

Gramercy Tavern
Gramercy Tavern feels like walking into old New York even though it's only been around since 1994. The restaurant is wrapped in murals by Robert Kushner and the service is impeccable. It's on the bucket list for NYC dinner but we went for lunch. We shared the burger and pear salad both of which were excellent although not necessarily "inventive." I really liked it but probably don't need to go back. Everyone should experience it once though.

Pipa
Officially in the top rankings of my NYC restaurants, Pipa is a very romantic restaurants with low lighting created by tons of chandeliers juxtaposed by exposed brick and seashells. The food is Spanish tapas and delicious. We had the Bistec flatbread (grilled skirt steak, goat cheese, tomato, red onion, cabbage, chimichurri, and jalapeño), the beef meatballs (sofrito, green pepper demi-glaze, crème fraiche, and tomato), the catalan spinach (sautéed organic spinach, figs or golden raisins, and olive oil) and finally the tres leches (coffee genoise, banana ice cream, dulce de leche foam, dark chocolate espresso beans, and cocoa powder).

The flatbread was amazing with the steak perfectly cooked and the bread not too soggy. The other ingredients combined to make this a mouthwatering dish. The meatballs literally melt in your mouth (yeah I said it). Don't let them take the dish away after you're done - the sauce makes a great dip for bread. The catalan spinach was also tasty but not as memorable as was the tres leches (I hate banana so they exchanged this for another scoop of coffee genoise). Regardless I would definitely come back here (although since then I've eaten at their sister restaurant ABC Kitchen which is even better so hard to say).

Union Square Cafe
This place felt like the brunch spot of a trendy grandma or the perfect place for a bridal party but I loved it. When you walk in there is a bar of whiskeys the color of worn musical instruments. Absolutely beautiful. We went for lunch and my dish was delicious. I had the butternut squash tortelli with cranberries, balsamic, and sage brown butter. The tang of the cranberries and the sweetness of the brown butter paired perfectly and the butternut squash wasn't too sweet which is often the case. I also tried the butternut squash soup and the lasagna bolognese with ricotta, pioppini mushrooms, and pesto, both of which were excellent. The lasagna was one of the prettiest dishes I've ever seen. I will definitely be back here for brunch.

LES

Beauty and Essex
So this place got me excited at first! You walk into what looks like a pawn shop and then walk through the back door into a multi-level lounge/bar/restaurant. The decor is very very cool but the clientele kind of sucked. We didn't stay long...probably thanks to the whiskey shots. I might wander back at some point but hard to say.

PKNY
I would've walked by this place assuming it was abandoned if it weren't for the massive line outside. Luckily, the bouncer and I had a great convo about the trials and tribulations of living in Compton and he let us in without a wait. Thank you USC. This place may teeter on having a "C" rating but I kinda liked it!

MIDTOWN

Yakitori Totto
So I'm a bit of a Japanese food snob having been to Japan and lived in Los Angeles, which I contend has some of the best Japanese food in the U.S. That being said, Totto was tasty!!!

Yakitori for those of you who don't know are essentially skewers of different foods. We also had a couple other dishes as well. Everything we tried was really good but I ranked them from favorite to least anyways.

1) Harami Skirt Steak
2) Maguro Zuke (tuna sashimi in garlic-flavored soy sauce)
3) Kawa (chicken skin)
4) Tori Dango (steamed rice dumplings with chicken meatballs inside)
5) Amakara Age (sweet spicy deep-fried chicken)
6) Bacon-wrapped asparagus

The restaurant itself is inconvenient because it's in Midtown and rather standard in terms of decoration but I will definitely come back for the food anytime I'm in this area again.

Photo Credit: Totto Website

SOHO

The Dutch
I've passed this place a ton of times and FINALLY had a good reason to go. The setup is pretty trendy, the music loud, the bar crowded, but it's a fun scene. I will be the first to admit that I was pretty hungover when we came here which is a huge bummer but even with that "hanging" over my head I can say that my dish, the pecan duck with celery and organic dirty rice and the brussel sprouts with bacon and horseradish were SO good.

I also tried the spaghetti with black kale carbonara and a farm egg and the heirloom cauliflower with pear and sage which were both good as well but not the best I've ever had. I do like how you smash/stir the egg into the pasta though - that was fun. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling that great and didn't get to try the dessert here which I'd been really excited for so I will definitely be back - probably for drinks and dessert rather than dinner since the wait is ridiculous.

NOLITA

1534
So I found this place by walking down the street, seeing stairs leading into a basement and walking down them. Sorry Mom; that happened. This bar is tiny, dimly lit, feels like a speakeasy (yes another one of those) and has STRONG drinks. My favorite part about it are the Bar Rules:

You must enjoy yourself here.
Do not take yourself too seriously.
Do not sit quietly at the bar. You must engage in conversation.
We drink to be merry not to be boring.
If a beautiful woman/man is by themselves, you must attempt conversation and attempt courtship
When an awesome power ballad is playing you must sing along
Never pass up a free shot from a staff member
Finally, bad decisions are celebrated here not condemned. . .No judging.

Photo Credit: Ashley S. on Yelp.com

TRIBECA

Locanda Verde

Ranking right up there with ABC Kitchen (that review is coming next week) and Pipa, this restaurant combines homey with classy. It also featured some of the best individual dishes I've had in New York like the sheep’s milk ricotta with sea salt and herbs, the lamb meatball sliders with caprino and cucumber (some people order these as dessert) and the tagliatelle with bolognese.

I also tried the Locanda salad of bitter greens, dried cherries, hazelnuts and smoked speck and the fire-roasted garlic chicken (you can actually order this for one person FYI) which were also good but not my favorites. The chicken was almost too garlicky for me. We topped the night off with La Fantasia di Caramello for One which features caramel gelato, sour apple sorbetto, pieces of apple, gingerbread croutons and peanut brittle with coffee caramel drizzled on top. The gingerbread croutons were AMAZING - I keep rooting around the bowl to find them all.

Yet another great date option (if any boys are reading this figure it out!) or a fun birthday restaurant.

Sun, Savory Seafood and Late Nights on Croatia’s Adriatic Coast

2012-01-13T08:16:00.001-08:00

By James Ullrich

Croatia isn’t the first place most Americans associate with a fun time on a picturesque European beach. They’d be forgiven for thinking that wild nights, sunny beaches and great seafood are restricted to the coasts of Italy or southern France. But Croatia’s Adriatic coast is fast becoming the new beach party hotspot, drawing throngs of young European sun worshipers in search of affordable fun. And where there’s youth there’s no shortage of roaring nightlife when the sun goes down. I’ve found there’s a lot about “Eastern Europe’s Riviera” that’s worth enjoying.

Situated on the warm, blue waters of the Adriatic, the coast of Croatia has been the recipient of great press in recent years. Since the end of the Balkan civil war people from around the continent have descended on the area. Taking advantage of the low prices and warm weather, travelers like me favor the earthy charm of the region over the snootier, pricier locales of the French Riviera and Italy. With the savings, I can afford to stay longer—and play harder—on its picturesque beaches, seafood cafes, and open-all-night clubs.

Dubrovnik, jutting out over the bathtub-warm Dalmatian coast, is a treasure trove of tasty opportunities. Lovely and historic, the city’s cobbles once rivaled nearby Venice for supremacy. Rightfully called “the Pearl of Adriatic Sea”, its ring of thick, imposing defensive walls testify to its former importance. Now Dubrovnik plays the role of a world class city hosting festivals, cultural events, and tourists enjoying its inviting atmosphere, great restaurants, and sunny climate.

Photo of Dubrovnik - Credit: www.all-free-photos.com

Photo of Dubrovnik - Credit: http://www.world-in-picture.com/

Large chunks of the Old Town are now traffic-free zones, making ambling along the winding streets a stress-free experience. I love taking an evening stroll as the aroma of freshly caught seafood snakes through the cobbled lanes. Do yourself a favor and duck into a family-owned restaurant and enjoy some of the local cuisine. Like any coastal area, a rich tradition has evolved as generations of fishermen and local chefs translated their greatest food resource into a tasty art.

Some Croatian favorites include grilled red mullet, savory stews, fresh oyster with lemons, and the amazing shrimp buzara, a sauce of tomatoes, white wine, onions and breadcrumbs. Because of its proximity to other coastal countries, some Croatian fish dishes also carry Italian and Spanish influences.

Many restaurants hug the cliffs jutting out over the sea, affording diners with a breathtaking view of the aqua-blue waters spreading out into the horizon. Local restaurants serving great traditional fare include the laid-back Sesame, the old-fashioned Dubrovacki Kantun, and the popular Rozarij.

Photo of coast from Dubrovnik - Credit: www.all-free-photos.com

Once the shops of Old Town close for the night, revelers come out and the cobbled quarters become the scene of music, drinking and flirting till early morning. Clubs and bars abound along the winding lanes. Some clubs spin middle-of-the road electronica and some cater to a more artsy/underground crowd. Latino Club Fuego and Beach Club Banjo are popular, as is the unique Revelin, located inside the historic Revelin Fortress.

In terms of bars, there are plenty, particularly a clutch located behind the cathedral. Faux Irish pubs are the latest craze, packed with Aussies, Americans and UK partiers—but few locals. Katie O’Connor’s holds the title of Oldest Irish Pub in Town, and is situated in an old stone cellar. Pub Karaka, an Irish wannabe, is popular too.

Be warned: Revelers in Dubrovnik like to up the classiness when they hit the town, so don’t dress in your worn jeans, Nike trainers and unwashed shirt. If you brought some nice clothes, now’s the time to break them out. I feel embarrassed when I show up wearing the same undignified garb I wore that morning. My rumpled Adidas t-shirt and Converse shoes won’t cut it. Neither will yours.

In terms of Dubrovnik accommodations, cheap beds can be found at Vila Micika Hostel and Dubrovnik Backpacker’s Club and Youth Hostel, Dubrovnik. At the other end of the spectrum, plusher experiences can be had at the Hotel Kazbek, Hotel Bellevue, and Hotel Excelsior.

Don’t let an opportunity to visit one of Croatia’s great island experiences pass you by. A 30-minute drive across the causeway from Zadar, Pag Island hosts an interesting mix of traditional culture and modernity infused with the vibrancy brought out by its young visitors. The throbbing night scene in the town of Novalja has led the island to be nicknamed “the Balkan Ibiza” by young Europeans in search of a less touristy experience than its overrated Spanish counterpart. The party begins on the beach and continues through the night at the sweaty, crowded clubs.

Needless to say, afternoon siestas are popular here. Accommodations on the island range from hostels (the well-located Big Yellow House) to nice hotels (Hotel Tony and Hotel Boskinac) to camping grounds for the rustic set.

Once you’re sunburned and partied out, take a couple days to recover because there’s much left to explore. The Istrian Coast is charming, and its main attraction, Rovinj, is an idyllic town worth getting lost in (and you will; the ancient winding streets of its old town core are confusing but picturesque). Split is another great option. Considered Croatia’s “second city’, Split boasts a rich Roman history sharing space with some of the best upscale shopping opportunities on the Dalmatian coast. Try the seafood here. You’ll be glad you did.

Photo of Split - Credit: www.all-free-photos.com

Though still enjoyable solo (you’ll meet plenty of new friends), the region is best experienced with people who share your energy level and interests. Depending on your preference for nighttime activities, you might want to try the romantic/family route (think lovely snusets over the sea) or party it up with close pals who’ll keep your secrets (think Animal House on the beach). Summer is the best time to visit if you’re interested in the beach, particularly July and August. Winter brings shorter days, cooler temperatures, but lesser crowds.

Thanks to the proximity of mountains to the coast, mountain biking and trekking opportunities can be done without much extra travel. Treks can range from the simple coastal walks to complete mountain adventures. In the winter, skiing is hugely popular; the Croatian Olympic center at Bjelolasica is a top-notch facility and draws would-be slalom champs. In the summer, thousands of hard-core kayakers and scuba divers tag team the sea.

For those of you who only have a week or two to spend, I recommend spending a few days in Dubrovnik, scenic Rovinj with a quick jaunt to the island of Havar and then on to Split for a couple more days before returning home.

Photo of Havar - Credit: http://www.world-in-picture.com/

Balmy climate, blue water, and historic cities—at a more affordable price than the better-known alternatives to the west. I’ve found that the popular-again Croatian coast is more crowded every year, but that’s the thing about great places; there’s a reason why they don’t remain a well-kept secret for long.

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Author Bio:

James Ullrich is a thirty-three year-old freelance writer. He recently completed his first novel, a contemporary thriller set in Rome and Prague. When not writing, he enjoys traveling through Europe with a backpack and a journal. He’s currently working on his next novel. He lives in Seattle.

Weekly New York Post - 1.9.2012

2012-01-09T19:16:00.000-08:00

This week's blog traverses the West Village, Meatpacking, SOHO and the LES.

LES

Motor City Bar
Welcome to a crazy LES good time! Although before you order twelve tequila shots make sure you have the cash to pay for them - that's right CASH. Don't forget! Worst case if you do there is an ATM next door. This bar comes chalk full of entertainment too. The below dancer is Labretta Suede and she not only has the moves but is also very nice! The bar gets nice and cozy on Saturday nights and stays open late. It's got that biker bar vibe, PBR, and tons of fun people! Hit. It. Up.

MEATPACKING

Catch
I'm pretty sure we went up to the Catch Rooftop bar which is more of a club late at night. That's what I posted the picture of but I can't really remember...The dance mix was pretty good but we got there so late that the crowd was petering out so I feel like I need to give it another chance. Kind of a pain to get in too but that's Meatpacking for you!

SOHO

Anchor Bar
I've been pestering my friend for the name of this place for months because that's how much I liked it. The interior has got an awesome look to it (just look at the chandelier!) and the dance floor is HOPPING. Whereas Catch felt like your average dance club, Anchor I was all about. Definitely headed back there now that I know the name!

Photo Credit: Anchor Bar Website

WEST VILLAGE

Automatic Slims
Okay so there wasn't anything hugely special to this place other than that it is walking distance from excellent restaurants like Extra Virgin, but then again isn't everything in the West Village walkable? The one thing that I do love about this place is that I gave the waitress a $3 tip for two Bud Lights and thanks to my accidental generosity she gave me free beers for the rest of the night. BOOM!

Photo Credit: Andy H. on Yelp.com

BLT
Stopped here for an evening meal on a Sunday. The place is pretty standard but the food was good. I got the Steakhouse burger which is a custom blend of 30-day dry-aged prime beef (Brisket, Shortribs, Sirloin) topped with caramelized onions and an order of sweet fries. Overall great burger, great fries, average service. I'd go back if there weren't a ton of other places worth trying first. But if you are in the area and looking for a good burger without the wait stop here.

Photo Credit: BLT Website

Fatty Crab
Just had this last night with an old coworker. I went to the Meatpacking location and the place was cool-looking, the waitress was super friendly and helpful and voila! they had a shellfish allergy menu for me. It was the coolest thing ever! We ordered the steamed buns that are soft and fluffy and you fill them with a juicy piece of pork, some spicy vegetables and what I think is plum sauce? SO good but definitely not for a first date - they stick like crazy to your teeth!

We also ordered the watermelon, pickle and crispy pork which comes out looking kind of like a salad. The juicy sweetness of the watermelon and the crispy savory pork might a mouthwatering bite!

Great restaurant! Oh and they have Hitachino Red Rice Ale which is one of my favorite beers. My only knock on the place is that when we arrived the place was mostly empty and the only two tables they would seat us at were RIGHT next to other people. I practically had to sit in the lap of the guy next to me which was totally unnecessary. Prepare to be friendly with your neighbors and try the shellfish since I can't!

Photo Credit: Fatty Crab Website

Fedora
A group of my friends have a running inside joke about the Honey Badger. For those of you who live in the Dark Ages watch this video. So we walk into Fedora's and low and behold the second menu item is... The Honey Badger. Made with Rittenhouse Rye, Combier, fresh lime, honey syrup and house beef jerky bitters because honey badger don't care. There was no way I was ordering it because it sounds disgusting but I did have a large beer which was tasty. The crowd is a little older so we eventually left but it made the blog due to menu ingenuity! Probably won't be back for drinks though - I hear dinner is good though!

Photo Credit: nycprgirls.com

Tartine
Last one on the list is Tartine which is a TINY restaurant that has multiple things I don't like..

1) It's cash only - WHAT A PAIN
2) It's BYOB - also a plus but not when you don't bring enough
3) It's tiny so you are sitting on top of people
4) It's an unorganized line to get a table and the waitress skipped us after we'd been waiting for at least 30 minutes.

Outside of the above which isn't that serious the food was good but not spectacular. I spent $45 not counting my wine which wasn't hugely expensive but still a lot for a small app and entree. I had the tuna tartare to start which was okay - I don't usually like my tuna to be that chopped up. The sauce on it was good though. Then for dinner I got the beef mignonette with fries and what I call a "fake" salad because it's really just lettuce with tomatoes on top. It was REALLY spicy so overall not a favorite. To sum it up for New York there are places I'd rather go.

Weekend in Portland, Oregon

2012-01-06T07:20:00.000-08:00

It's pretty sad that this is my first really blog post about the city that I grew up in (or at least spent my high school years). So I've decided to give Portland, Oregon, a little love and tell you about my fantastic week wandering its streets while I was home for the holiday break.

First stop on the tour is Pine State Biscuits. Some of you may know it from Guy Fieri's Food Network show where he insisted that this place has one of the best biscuits around. So I decided to test it.

The famous thing to order here is the Reggie which is a biscuit sandwich with fried chicken, bacon and cheese smothered in gravy. Take it to another level and get the Reggie Deluxe and they add an egg to the sandwich which is exactly what we did.

As a biscuit connoisseur I felt it only fair that I had to taste the biscuits on their merits alone so I also ordered a plate of biscuits with jam and butter honey. And to top off the order we got the BBQ Biscuit for a little lunchtime flair which is Podnah’s pulled pork with Carolina style BBQ sauce topped with slaw (you can get it as a sandwich or as a plate - I recommend the plate).

All together here is what it looked like.

My verdict? The Reggie was a monster and when eaten all together was definitely very good, although I could feel my arteries harden as it made its way to my stomach. My main con was the fried chicken that seemed to be more bread than chicken. The pulled pork and slaw of the BBQ Biscuit was incredible - some of the best pork I've had. And lastly, there is the biscuit itself, which sadly was not the best I've ever had. I'd made rank it #3 after John O'Groats in Los Angeles and my grandmother's homemade biscuits.

As far as the restaurant, it is TINY and very lively on a weekend morning for brunch. However, by the time your food comes you can usually find a table and there were four of us. As with most Oregon establishments everyone is extremely friendly and the place exudes a neighborhood feel as if everyone has been pals forever. I would definitely go back, especially for the hash-browns, which I completely forgot to order and which looked amazing!

Now, I'm going to fast forward to nighttime locales that I hit up while home. These are in no particular order...

Voodoo Donuts
A solid late night food stop, Voodoo Donuts exemplifies everything I love about Portland. They just love to dance right on the line! Choose from a dozen different types of CRAZY donuts that incorporate everything from Cap n' Crunch to multi-colored frosting. Or if you are feeling particularly crazy...or drunk...order the Cock n' Balls. Yup I said it. And not only that I took a picture for you. While you may feel a little strange eating this uniquely-shaped donut, I can tell you that it is one of the best donuts I have ever had. And for those who love a little surprise...it has a cream filling. Hope you're laughing as hard as I was!

Doug Fir
This is one of the coolest looking bars I've ever been in. It's like drinking inside of a tree. One of the bars is made of cut logs, they have an awesome outdoor area and the lighting feels like Christmas. It is pretty easy to get drinks because it is a large, winding place and the atmosphere is like a chill house party. Check. It. Out.

Photo Credit : blog.mrandmrssmith.com

Valentines
Usually I'm down for a good hipster bar but this one made me feel inadequate. Our fratty group wandered in late night and within seconds we'd managed to send all the hipsters away glaring in annoyance. This place apparently has multiple levels but it was the holidays so we were confined to the bottom floor. I had a Guiness which was really watery. If you are super earthy you will probably love this place. It was a little weird for me but the people watching was excellent before they all left.

Tube
This place is so badass I can't even find a website for it so I'm giving you the address: 18 NW 3rd Ave, Portland, OR 97209. It is literally built like a metal trailer park trailer / underground subway tube. AWESOME. The crowd is the most eclectic gathering of people I've ever seen from hipsters to frat boys to ethnic to the upscale dressed. Everyone was having a GREAT time and the beers were $3.00. LOVE THIS PLACE. The DJ was playing amazing hiphop/trance/dance music so everyone got a song they liked. The bathroom is a little terrifying but it's all part of the experience. Definitely make this a stop on your trip.

Photo Credit: Yelp.com

Hubers
Welcome to Portland's Oldest Restaurant, established in 1879. Welcome to Portland's best alcoholic Spanish coffee. Made with Kahlua, Bacardi 151, Bols triple sec and coffee, it is then topped with fresh whipped cream and nutmeg. The best part? There is a whole ritual to making it, done table-side, complete with hand tricks and flames. Better be ready because this sucker is STRONG. You will be pursing your lips in between each sip.

Personally I went for the Shakespeare which looks like a hot chocolate with Grand Marnier, Baileys, Nocello & coffee served in a cinnamon rimmed glass topped with whipping cream & shaved chocolate. A lot harder to taste the alcohol, which I prefer, but still has a solid kick.

The bar itself is very speakeasy-esk with padded booths, coat racks, low lighting and a polished bar. It's a little loungey for me; I prefer to wander around and meet people, but it is a good place for a large group to sit and catch up.

Oven & Shaker
This restaurant/bar was a completely accidental stop that turned out to be a great place. If you like tattooed bartenders you will LOVE this bar. The cocktails are exciting and feature their own spin and the pizza (which I didn't have) looks AMAZING. I will definitely be back here to eat on my next trip. I recommend sitting at the bar just because the bartenders are the s.h.i.t.

Photo Credit: QPDX.com

NYC Weekly Post - 1.1.2012

2012-01-01T15:55:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year readers! So, since I live in such an awesome city, I'm new to it (which sort of makes me a tourist), and it is one of the hottest travel destinations in the world I'm going to attempt to write a weekly Monday blog entry on all the new places I've been to that I love. So, I'm going to start with last week and I'm going to continue to do this by neighborhood since that's how most people pick their hotels/restaurants.

Chelsea

Rogue
I went here to watch some of the college football bowl games. The chicken fingers were standard but delicious, it was relatively cheap and they have screens all around so you don't have to crane your neck to watch. It's only fault is that it was pretty dark which is great for football viewing but not so much otherwise. Also not a lot of standing room but this might change if you are there later at night.

Photo Credit: Rogue Website

Tipsy Parson
Officially added to my favorite places in Manhattan. The restaurant has this adorable atmosphere...you feel like you've just walked into someone's house. And the food was AMAZING. I ordered the lamb ragu pasta and was in instant love.

Photo Credit: Tipsy Parson Website

East Village

Big Gay Ice Cream Shop
Yup, that's the name! What started off as an ice cream truck that roamed the streets of Manhattan, BGIC became so popular they opened a shop! The shop features rainbow paraphernalia and a giant glitter unicorn painted on the wall near the register. It literally looks like my room when I was five which made it an immediate favorite. Then I tried the actual ice cream!

I ordered the Salty Pimp (vanilla ice cream, dulce de leche sauce, sea salt, and chocolate dip) and the American Globs (vanilla ice cream, pretzels, sea salt, and chocolate dip). The Salty Pimp tasted AMAZING and the American Globs was pretty good as well. I also tried the Mexican AffoGAYto with homemade spicy hot chocolate, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, cayenne and shaved chocolate which was my least favorite because it was kind of soupy and too spicy and the Cinnamax which is two Snickerdoodle cookies with cinnamon ice cream in the middle - definite fav after the Salty Pimp. Definitely headed back there to purchase a T-shirt and a unicorn bag.

Salty Pimp

AffoGAYto

Cinnamax

American Globs

Bowery Electric
So I didn't get to spend very much time here but I'm posting it because it is somewhere I definitely want to come back to. They have live music usually and a great looking space. I was there on a Thursday right before NYE so it was completely dead but that's probably not always the case. Again just posting it here because it looks like a great music venue!

Photo Credit: Bowery Electric Website

Momofuku Milk Bar
So usually I only stick to places I really like but since this place is so well-known I'm going to talk about it. I didn't like this place at all. I was born with at least ten "sweet teeth" and this place almost ruined my love of dessert. I went to the one at 251 E 13th st and ordered the Crack Pie and the Compost and Cornflake cookies. The Crack Pie was like eaten hard, dried, brown sugar mixed with milk paste and the Cornflake cookie was so greasy that the bag it came in was almost wet. The Compost cookie was decent. It tasted like a really rich oatmeal cookie. This is one place where I DO NOT need to go back.

Phebe's
The night that we attempted to go to Bowery Electric (no one was there) we ended up down the street at Phebe's which was totally hoppin'. I wouldn't stretch to say there is anything hugely special about the place but the crowd was fun, the music was good and I would definitely come here again.

Photo Credit: Phebe's Website

Gramercy/Flatiron

Ace Hotel
So I went to the Ace Hotel for New Year's Eve in New York so my experience there might be slightly different. They had transformed the lobby into a winter wonderland with sparkly lights and hundreds of giant balloons. We had a "table" which really consisted of a three-person couch and two armchairs. I'm not sure how much the table cost but there was a $50/person drink minimum which is quite easy to meet especially on New Years. The hotel itself was really cool with inspirational quotes littered throughout on doorways, stairs, etc. It has a very artsy feel which I liked. I can't speak to the rooms but if I was visiting New York I might give it a try!

Inoteca
If you Google this restaurant you will get the Lower East Side location rather than the location on 24th and 3rd which is the one I went to. This restaurant is fairly small (we sat in the bar area) and the food is delicious. It's sort of Italian tapas style dining so we ordered the three bruschetta plate (pesto, tapenade and gorgonzola & fig) which was delicious. We also had meatballs, fried brussel sprouts and meat pasta all of which were amazing. I would definitely come back to this place. Also probably a little "datey" but fine for a group as well.

Tribeca

Stuzzicheria
I swear Tribeca is the land of delicious food. This was yet another amazing meal. The meatballs were juicy and giant (yes that sounds hilarious I know), the lamb ragu pasta I had was top five, and the rice balls were good although they aren't really my thing. For whatever reason I sort of felt like I was eating in the kitchen. Not sure what gave me that impression but it was nice!

Photo Credit: Yelp.com

West Village

Blue Ribbon Bakery
There couldn't be a better place to brunch and celebrate 2012! This restaurant was suggested to me by some friends and I'm so glad they did. The top/ground floor looks like your average restaurant but if you ask to sit downstairs you will be taken into the bowels of what feels like an old brick wine cellar. We had a table that felt like it was cut into the brick wall which was SO cozy and cool. Also make some excuse to go to the bathroom so that you can pass the bakery in the back that is open to viewing by the public. It can get REALLY toasty down there because of the bread baking so probably not the most ideal summer locale. But for winter the pulled pork sandwich, the home fries and French toast were homey and warm. One thing I noticed is the food has some Jewish aspects (Challah bread, etc) which I thought I'd point out.

Extra Virgin
Brought to you by the talent of Cooking Channel! This place doesn't take reservations so be prepared to wait. The decor is organic, trendy and fun and the bar is lively. We definitely waited for close to 45 minutes to get a table but the food was delicious. The brussel sprouts (clearly I'm on a kick here) were really good because they are mixed with pears which adds kind of a sweet/savory taste. The mac n' cheese is also delicious. I had the lamb threeways for dinner and it was some of the juiciest, tastiest lamb I have ever had. I HIGHLY recommend this place but not on a night when you are already starving.

Photo Credit: Extra Virgin Website

Intro to the Big Apple - Local Style

2011-12-29T09:21:00.001-08:00

Alright readers- sorry I've been MIA. I have SO much to tell you. So I returned from Europe (yes still working on updating traveladdict.com) and immediately started wandering the U.S. visiting friends during my unemployment. I also made a trip to New York to network and find a job. Yup, that's right.

Fast forward three months and I have been living it up in the Big Apple for the past month. To repay you for my lack of attention I wanted to give you a preview of what I've found in NYC so far - what I'm liking and what could be skipped. To help categorize I've put them into the neighborhood where they are located (I'm an epic fail at the neighborhoods but these should be close enough). The neighborhoods are in ABC order as are the places.

CHELSEA

Grey Dog

So this hopping brunch spot is a block away from my apartment so I tend to frequent it quite a bit even though I'm not in love with the food. The atmosphere is homey and refreshing after a long night of drinking but the food could be better (than again maybe it's the hangover...). The one dish that I do love is the Roast Beef Press with Swiss, Sauteed Onions, Horseradish Sauce & Au Jus. Don't be turned away by the line when you first walk in. You wait in the line to order and than walk to your table which is designated by a handkerchief that one of the staff familiarizes you with. It's pretty laid-back but they do serve beer and my friends and I have been known to bring Lavo to Grey Dog.

Photo Credit: Chad W. on Yelp.com

Merchants NY
This little bar is right around the corner from my apartment and I kept passing it wanting to walk in. They have a great little patio with chairs in front when the weather is warm. I finally stopped in and had the bruschetta and the pigs in a blanket. Both were delicious! The random glass of wine I ordered was also amazing and not that expensive. The waitress has white blonde hair, covered in tattoos and a pleasant smile. It's a great place to just hang out and chat. I'm hoping it becomes my "Cheers."

Momoya
I was a little worried about sushi after having lived in L.A. for eight years but I was pleasantly surprised by Momoya. Another place right in my "hood," turns out this little sushi restaurant is no joke. I had the Momoya Spicy Tuna wrapped in seared yellowtail with almond on top, the spicy tuna crispy rice, the Greenwich roll and the gyoza pork with chili soy sauce. They were all extremely tasty. One thing to note though is that they do not have a full bar, just wine, sake and beer so keep that in mind. It's a great place to start the night though and it isn't terribly hard to get a table.

Tippler
One of my new favorites in town, the Tippler is another speakeasy-esk bar that just opened in the bowels of Chelsea Market (where I conveniently work). Thus, this has become not only a great happy hour option but also a fun late night hangout complete with live bands from time to time. The bartenders are relatively friendly although be prepared to wait because the crazy cocktail concoctions take some time to make. Call ahead to reserve a table or just wander the relatively large space and make some friends!

Photo Credit: Tippler Website

EAST VILLAGE

Decibel
This place is tricky to find since you feel like you are walking into a random shop only to come around the corner and end up in a secluded little sake bar. I'm not a huge sake fan so I probably wouldn't come here again but if you are this place is super authentic and really really cool.

Photo Credit: Decibel Website

Grape and Grain
Grape and Grain is one of my more recent restaurants - in fact it's technically two! Built right next to each other, you can either enter "Grape" which is a little more comfortable and cozy with cushioned lounges or "Grain" which is a little more wooden high top bar. You can order the same menu at either so it just comes down to the ambiance you prefer. I had the chorizo in a poncho, the beer sausages and the chocolate torte with fresh mint and honey ice cream and hazelnut chocolate sauce. The chorizo was okay, the sausages (really pigs in a blanket) were tasty and the dessert hit the spot. Not the best food I've had in NYC and a little expensive but a fine place for a date.

Photo Credit: G&G Website (Grain Side)

Photo Credit: G&G Website (Grape Side)

Please Don't Tell
At 113 Saint Marks Place there is a hot dog shop called Crif's Hot Dogs. I'd first like to point out that the corndog they make is pretty outstanding and they also have tater tots which are the best way to get me to love a place. But the "special" part of Crif's Hot Dogs is the phonebooth in the corner. Step inside, pick up the phone, and tell the man on the other line how many people are in your party. Ideally make a reservation in advance. If you're lucky the side of the phonebooth will open up and you will enter Please Don't Tell, a tiny speakeasy on the other side of the wall. It's really fun to do once for the novelty; after that you probably don't need to go again. But I did see Macaulay Culkin last time I was there!

Photo Credit: Please Don't Tell Website

Second on Second
If there is one thing I can't say "no" to it's karaoke. I stumbled (literally) into this place one night and was immediately taken with it. It was a random Friday night during Thanksgiving and yet there was still a good crowd. There's a large floor area for the karaoke that holds 125 people or you can opt for one of the private rooms if you want to pay. The song selection is pretty good even if the talent isn't. Happy hour is from 6-9pm and I feel like they close pretty late. I was a big fan and will totally return!

Photo Credit: Second and Second Website

FLATIRON

Bounce
Bounce vies with Blue Haven as my favorite bar to watch football. I'd say Bounce is a better option for college football especially if you are a Penn State fan as the whole bar is over run by alums on Saturdays. It can get VERY crowded but you almost don't care but it just adds to the atmosphere and even when at capacity you can still easily get a drink. There are TVs everywhere so you don't have to worry about being able to see and the food is amazing!!! I highly recommend all the following dishes:

TRUFFLE MAC & CHEESE
grafton cheddar, fontina, gruyere, thyme, shaved black truffles

PIGS IN A PRETZEL
mini beef pretzel hot dogs, spicy mustard

ROASTED FOREST MUSHROOM FLATBREAD
asiago cheese, marjoram, white truffle oil

And that doesn't even cover all the things on the menu that sound amazing that I haven't had a chance to get yet! This place is definitely fratty with hip-hop music and a lot of testosterone but that's probably why I love it.

Photo Credit: Bounce Website

Flatiron Lounge
I've literally only spent about five minutes here but I really liked the speakeasy underground feel of the place. It is very posh-looking with low lighting. However, it is pretty small and the music was REALLY loud so we didn't stay long because it wasn't the scene we were looking for at that particular moment. I'm definitely interested in coming back though!

Photo Credit: Flatiron Lounge Website

Lillie's

So I've also only been here once but loved the atmosphere - it's a total happy hour place with great beers and chicken tender strips with honey dill Dijon mustard. A good place to find a finance guy if that's what you're looking for or a good place to start a weeknight adventure! I would definitely return to spend more time in this elegant looking establishment.

Photo Credit: Jazz F. on Yelp.com

GRAMERCY

Barbounia
So I'm not particularly impressed with the food at this place. In fact it isn't that good. I recommend sticking with eggs your way. But what gets this place on the list is the all-you-can-drink mimosas and bellinis on the weekends. That makes this a much better place to hang out. Not to mention the ambiance is homey and some of the waiters are hot.

Photo Credit: Barbounia Website

GREENWICH VILLAGE

Alta
Alta began one of my foggiest nights in memory thanks to the extremely potent sangria they serve. The food is excellent Spanish tapas and the restaurant itself feels lost in time (in a good way). A great place for a date or a girls night out. My top favorite dishes were the fried goat cheese with lavender-infused honey, the lamb meatballs with spiced butternut squash foam, toasted sesame seeds and lebne, the crispy brussels sprouts with Fuji apples, crème fraiche, and pistachio nut, and the braised short rib of beef with beet-barbaresco taglierini and fresh grated horseradish. And that barely makes a dent in this amazing menu. Definitely one of my top restaurants in NYC!

Photo Credit: Alta Website

Blue Haven
Already turning out to be one of my favorite spots in NYC especially for Sunday NFL games. The food is amazing - I highly recommend the chicken and biscuits (buttermilk chicken tenders with two eggs your way served with sausage gravy on a homemade biscuit) or the pulled pork sliders. If you are feeling extra crazy you can take the "Blue Haven Challenge" which is a foot-long chicken and biscuits that you have to eat in under 30 minutes (four chicken tenders, 6 eggs your way and smothered in a sage sausage gravy). Survive and you get it for free. The best spot in the house is in the far back room which if your party is big enough you can take it over for the afternoon. Sports bar feel but a little more homey and always energetic but never crowded.

Photo credit: Rory M. on Yelp.com

Photo Credit: Bryan B. on Yelp.com

LITTLE ITALY/NOLITA

L'ASSO
This little pizza place is AMAZING. It's an intimate space with little tables and a small bar chalk full of delicious wines and beers. You buy your pizza by the inch (long, narrow pies) and my favorite by far is the "Dante" featuring tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy capocollo, peppers, basil & extra virgin olive oil. It has just the right amount of kick! A great place to catch-up with friends or for a romantic date for two. Definitely coming back to this one!

Photo Credit: L'Asso Website

Mulberry Project
I hit up this place randomly with a couple of friends and really liked the underground, DJ-playing appeal of the place (there wasn't a DJ it just felt like there should be). It's a tiny, narrow bar with a couple of booths. Can't really explain what it was I liked about this place but it just had a great vibe. I plan on going back.

Photo Credit: Dave H. on Yelp.com

Tacombi
Yet another amazing hungover brunch place in Nolita! Order for an array of tacos that are cooked inside an old VW bus. I chose the Picadillo taco with ground sirloin, chipotle, poblano, tomato, carrot, potato and the Short Rib Barbacoa taco with beef short rib braised chile pasilla and was NOT disappointed. It's a little spendy for tacos but two or three tacos is plenty of an average sized girl.

Photo Credit: Jeannie C. on Yelp.com

LOWER EAST SIDE

Barramundi
This dive bar might be short on space but not personality. It feels like a speakeasy with the red-cushioned booths and the slick-looking bartender. They even have a special ginger vodka drink that's pretty tasty. It can be a little hard to find seats for a big group but if it's just you and a friend this is an awesome place to spend some time. I like it as a starting point for the night. They also have some great beer selections. The vibe is lowkey but friendly and the lighting is low.

Photo Credit: Barramundi Website

The Back Room
This place is probably a little too hipster for me and falls into the novelty category in the sense that it was fun to visit once but I don't really need to go back. It is located near Nurse Bettie's and you basically walk past a little gate that says "NYC Toy Company." Go through the gate, down the steps, then up more steps and you will find the door to this speakeasy. Drinks here are served in the traditional Prohibition manner in coffee cups and paper bags. For those who are in-the-know there is a false bookshelf that sometimes opens into a hidden speakeasy within the speakeasy. I haven't been in there but don't think I really need to. Again go once; see what you think.

Photo Credit: Sam P. on Yelp.com

The Box
If you've been to an Amsterdam sex show you will know exactly what The Box is like. This cabaret-esk nightclub has multiple viewing floors that face a stage filled with acrobats, gymnasts, musicians, dancers and naked fornicators. I recommend being pretty drunk when you get there but it's definitely an interesting side of NYC that you won't find anywhere else. It can be VERY difficult to get in even for ladies and the bouncers are not particularly friendly. Not for the faint of heart but definitely a very cool venue if you can take the nakedness.

Photo Credit: http://domidollz.com/

The Meatball Shop
There are multiple locations but the best is the one at 84 Stanton in the Lower East Side. Embarrassingly enough I've only been here for their ice cream sandwiches (I'm a conneisseur of sorts) which are delicious, but they are of course known for their meatballs. I have yet to meet someone who doesn't think this place rocks. They do not take reservations and are always packed so I recommend getting there before you're starving, putting your name down and then grabbing drinks at one of the many bars nearby until they text you with your table. At the top of my list to return to so I can get in on the action.

Photo Credit: Meatball Shop Website

Nurse Bettie
I've been here twice and would probably go back just because it is "on the way" to so many other places. I wouldn't say it is a favorite but I could definitely see it being a favorite for some. It's small, intimate and clearly has a great name. Worth stopping by once for sure.

Photo Credit: Nurse Bettie Website

MEATPACKING

Revel
Meatpacking really does have some aesthetically beautiful places to check out. Revel is one of the prettiest bars I've been to with a gorgeous back patio with plenty of seating. Wander past the brick walled bar into a lush garden of fun! I was there on a very random night so the clientele was a little strange but have been meaning to go back!

Photo Credit: Revel Website

Spice Market
This is one of the cooler looking places I've been to NYC so far. It takes you right into the heart of Southeast Asia with the decor and the drinks are large and delicious. They even serve Hitachino beer which is an all-time favorite of mine and somewhat hard to find. Wander the main bar area or seclude yourself in one of the many booths for a little extra privacy. I have not eaten here yet but it would be a great place to throw a birthday bash!

Photo Credit: Spice Market Website

MIDTOWN

Lavo
Welcome to Las Vegas New York. I LOVE this place. We went for Lavo Brunch which involves dancing on tables, drinking straight from champagne bottles, wearing ridiculous sunglasses, and watching people dressed in crazy outfits. The music is hip-hop/dance and it is completely reminiscent of a Las Vegas club. To get a table I'm sure you need to spend an ungodly amount so come here if you are a girl and know someone. It looked like there was a line outside but nothing too bad. The interior of the building is really cool - kind of old tin ceiling, elaborate gold foil accents, etc. Prepare to get drunk. They also have a restaurant but I haven't eaten there yet.

SOHO

David Burke Kitchen
One of the best meals that I have had since moving to NYC hands down. Don't be cowed by the name, this is restaurant may be upscale but it feels familiar and homey. Customers were wearing everything from jeans and flannel to three piece suits. And I can see why it is impossible to get a reservation- the menu is fantastic.

We had mini tuna tacos with whipped avocado and salmon pastrami with pretzel and mustard to start. Then I had the bison tartare with egg salad, smoked tomato and thyme crackers for my appetizer and Vermont rabbit steak with mushroom pot pie, carrot puree and escarole as my entree. I would rank them if I could but they were all incredible as was the side of mac and cheese. I don't know that the ambiance is the most romantic; it's a little more business/family/friend dinner in my opinion but I highly recommend it regardless of who you go with!

Photo Credit: DBK Website

UNION SQUARE

Sidebar
I grew up an Oregon Duck for the first 18 years of my life so I've spent a significant amount of time here cheering on the Ducks. There are a couple of different "sidebars" and the one they hold the Duck parties in kind of sucks. It's tiny. The other area, the main bar, is AWESOME and tons of fun for Sunday NFL games. I haven't tried the food but they have pitchers of beer which more than makes me happy. The place has a fratty, sports bar feel to it. I've been to better but I've definitely been to worse. Something tells me it gets clubby at night but I haven't managed to stay sober that long.

Photo Credit: Sidebar Website

WEST VILLAGE

Wilfie and Nell
I've been to this place a couple of times and it continues to go on me. The last time I was there I definitely swiped some guy's corned beef & Gruyere sandwich with cabbage slaw and mustard - it was delicious! It's small, it's hip and it feels really friendly - a great place for friends to gather.

Photo Credit: NYMag Article

Employees Only
Another speakeasy-esk bar and probably one of my favorites (other then Tippler). The best part about this place isn't its drinks but the strangely amazing late night food. I ordered the reuben croquettes with pastrami, sauerkraut and swiss and the butterscotch & mascarpone cheesecake with sea salt and nut brittle. Both knocked my socks off, especially the cheesecake. I have a significant sweet tooth so it is hard to shake me but this was top notch for sure. The place itself was a little slow the night I was there but I'm pretty sure it was a Wednesday and VERY late so it might be a little more happening at other times in the week. Will definitely be back.

Photo Credit: Employees Only Website

Village Tavern
Probably my favorite way to end the night...this place has awesome people, an easy access bar, cheap Bud Light and Big Buck Hunter. What more could you want? Yet another fratty favorite!

Photo Credit: Village Tavern Website

DELIVERY
Lastly, this isn't so much a place as awesome cookie delivery. Check it out!
Insomnia Cookies

For my reviews on other NYC restaurants and bars you can also check out some of my posts from past trips to NYC...

Thanksgiving 2009
http://blog.travel-addict.com/2009/11/turkey-day-in-new-york-city.html
http://blog.travel-addict.com/2009/12/shopping-in-soho-and-dancing-in-midtown.html
http://blog.travel-addict.com/2009/12/art-and-sc-in-new-york.html

October 2010
http://blog.travel-addict.com/2010/10/im-in-new-york.html

Thanksgiving 2010
http://blog.travel-addict.com/2010/12/turkey-weekend-in-new-york.html

Europa Wrap-Up

2011-09-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Sorry I've been MIA (again). I returned home to a whirlwind of activity that included trips to LA, SF, and Austin so I have finally managed to sit down and provide a final perspective on my two and half months in Europe.

My final day in Amsterdam did not lack for activity - we made a homemade Dutch pancake breakfast, wandered the shopping streets in the Dam, stopped Eva's roof from caving in from the torrents of rain washing over the building, and watched a circuit breaker explode creating a huge fire just outside her apartment. What a way to finish the trip! I did manage to make it to the airport without mishap and spent the ten hours flying home engrossed in the final Game of Thrones book.

Looking back on my trip I've learned a lot about myself and travel in general. People often say that traveling is all about the destination; the cathedrals, the ruins, the paintings. But this trip has taught me that traveling isn't about that at all. It's about drinking so much Turkish tea with the locals that your stomach might explode. It's about riding on an ATV along the coast of Greece your mouth tightly closed for fear of a bug breakfast. It's about getting lost in a Spanish neighborhood and finding a bar of people who have gathered together to celebrate their favorite band in the most unusual way. It's about passing out on a hot Portuguese beach with your best friend, your sweaty shirt stuck to your back, sleeping off yesterday's late night. It's about watching the sunrise for the fourth time because you just couldn't stop dancing to Tiesto. And it's about sitting across from someone you've just met, sipping ice cold Belgian beer on a humid day, drilling them with questions about their lives, their dreams, their next stop in life.

I won't remember which paintings I saw in the Prado or how many tons a German chandelier weighs but I will remember the excitement radiating from my mother after buying an antique Turkish rug, the kiss of the sunset on my boyfriend's face as it set into Grecian waters, and the conspiratorial giggles with my best friends after a night we only half remember. And I won't soon forget the people I met along the way who shopped me terrible screenplays, introduced me to new music, and shared a bottle of tequila on a plane flight to Ibiza.

Thank you to all who have followed my blog these past few months; it's as if you were there with me. And thanks to all of you who inspired me in these pages by becoming friends that I hope to have for many years to come.

Chocolate, Waffles, and Beer - Three of my favorite things!

2011-08-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

August 16, 2011

Big day today! I woke up to find my friend gone to the airport which was really sad! Check out was at 10am and I was happy to be out of there so I went online and booked a room at the Black Sheep Hostel in Cologne since I'd decided that was the best place to go with the limited time I have left. I booked this particular hostel because the reviews said it was close to the clubs and it was easy to meet people so I'm hoping I make some friends to hang with.

From there I jumped on the S Bahn to the main station and purchased my ticket to Cologne. It cost me 48 Euros for one way! The train was easy to catch and I walked down to Coach 2. If you book too close to the departure time you can't reserve a seat so I had to wander through Coach 2 until I found a seat that didn't have a name above it. I settled in and caught up on my blog as the train made its two hour journey to Cologne.

Every so often I'd look up and see the cutest towns pop up as the train followed along the river. I'd already made sure to check how to get to the hostel so I easily bought a ticket on the KVB (local tram/metro) to Barbarossaplatz station. Just so you know you can only use coins in the KVB ticket machines so make sure you have plenty of them handy in Cologne.

Upon arrival I was a little sketched out...the neighorhood is awful! I walked into the hostel to find a long hallway of doors. The guy at the front desk (he has a beard) was relatively unfriendly and made me feel like an idiot anytime I asked a question. I was staying in the Africa room which was a six bed mixed dorm. Living with boys again is what that means! Each of the rooms has a different theme if you didn't pick up on that.

I was pretty positive I didn't want to spend another night here regardless of how cool Cologne might be so I spent some time on the Internet booking a two night stay in Brussels as my next stop. This time I chose the Sleephere "hostel" which apparently is more like a B&B. I thought about booking the SleepWELL hostel which is the party hostel but the choice was made when they didn't have availability. Well my attempt to pick the party hostel in Cologne backfired so maybe I just saved myself from a repeat experience.

I don't have much time to waste so I set out to explore the town. I was told that the Cathedral is the closest thing so I walked up past Neumarket station to the shopping streets. You can follow the shopping streets all the way to the Cathedral which was most impressive! It was also nice to order a coffee frappucino from Starbucks and get what you were expecting. Ah to talk to people who speak English - I so took that for granted!

From the Cathedral I walked towards the water and had a lunch of goulash and beer on the waterfront. This goulash was ten times better than the one I had in Rothenburg. It was thick, hot, and a little spicy!

I really wanted to stay at the restaurant until sunset so that I could get pictures of the buildings all lit up on the water but I had run out of money at this point and couldn't afford any more beer. The sunset looked to be hours away so I walked back to the hostel. The walk back was fine because it was daylight but this city kind of creeps me out. There just aren't enough streetlamps for me to feel all that comfortable walking at night.

Back at the hostel I chatted with a few of the other people but no one was going out or seemed to be any fun. Just my luck! Not to mention that the internet is horrible (there is one computer that everyone uses and no Wifi) and it won't work with a thumbdrive so I couldn't upload my pictures to the blog.

Just before sunset I took the metro to the main station and exited near the Cathedral to walk out across the main bridge to get my awesome pictures. My goal was to get the sunset pictures and get back to the train station just after dark so that I didn't get caught in Creeperville. I am an excellent navigator as many people can attest to and rarely look at a map after the first time. Well this time I managed to get REALLY lost. I think it's because I stopped at an internet cafe near the Cathedral to upload my blog pictures and somehow when I came out I thought I was on the opposite side of the Cathedral from where I really was.

Finally I pulled two older women over and asked them to point me in the right direction. Keep in mind I'd been really confident because the Cathedral is like five minutes from the water (I'd walked it that afternoon!) Apparently somehow I'd managed to walk south parallel to the water almost all the way back to my hostel. Wonderful. It took me twenty minutes just to get back to where I started and then I walked out onto the bridge. So much for avoiding walking around alone at night!

Once on the bridge there were tons of people so I felt much safer. The bridge is covered in locks that couples have left with their names inscribed on the side.

There are thousands of them and they twinkled under the lamps on the bridge. I got some awesome photos so it was well worth freaking myself out for the previous twenty minutes.

I also passed a bunch of fun looking bars right across from the Cathedral to the south but I wanted to be able to take the metro back to the hostel and it was quickly approaching 11pm.

The subway was COMPLETELY empty and the train itself was almost empty so it wasn't a pleasant ride. Once I got off at my stop though I was surrounded by tons of young people going out. So my hostel wouldn't be bad if you were in a group or had a friend - it is definitely a great location for going out. I probably would've liked this hostel more if I'd had a friend!

From there I decided to crash early since my friend's sickness is threatening to get me and I want to have a full day of it tomorrow morning before I take the train to Brussels. Night!

August 17, 2011

I had a horrible night of sleep last night. Whatever my friend came down with I'm pretty sure I have. It didn't help that some random guy came in at 3am and turned the lights on while saying DUDE, DUDE, DUDE, to his sleeping friend. He wasn't even drunk! It was really rude. I think my patience with hostels is thinning.

After checking out, I hiked up the Cathedral tower (3 Euro) and was greeted by a pretty lame view. If my history is right Cologne suffered alot during the war so there isn't much left of the medieval city to view from the tower.

My next tourist attraction proved to be more fun - an hour boat cruise down the Rhine river for five Euros. That's the student price but they don't even ask to see a student card. It was a beautiful day and the front of the boat had these little baskets you could sit in that were cushioned and shaded. There was even a lady who came around selling 2.70 Euro beers which was perfect to keep me cool. The riverbanks didn't have anything of much interest but just being on the water was really relaxing so I didn't care.

I continued the suntanning back at the hostel while I waited for my 5pm train to Brussels.
When I got on the train I was really confused because I'd been put in the really nice business class coach which only has four seats, air conditioning, and free Wifi! That's crazy considering I paid 39 Euros for a 2nd class student ticket. I would've thought I'd end up with the worst seat on the train not the best!

I arrived in Brussels Centraal Station and then took the metro to Louise (you can take metro line 2 or 6 to get there). At Louise you walk outside and take the tram to Faider stop on the 94 or the 92. Just ask someone to make sure you are going in the right direction! You can also walk to the hostel from Louise station but it's a little tedious with bags.

The hostel was by far my favorite of the trip. It's called Sleephere at 82 Rue de la Source and it more of a B&B. It's run by a man named Karel and his half husky, half collie, Cesar. I immediately fell in love with the building which is a house that was built in the early 1900s in the Art Deco style of the time. There are three floors and a lovely backyard. I was staying in the four person deluxe dorm and right away made friends with Sebastian from Montreal, Canada, and Nicolas from Santiago, Chile.

It was pretty late in the evening at this point so the three of us decided to walk to Cafe Delirium which Karel had recommended as a great place to start the night. We had to walk for quite a well because Sebastian got us lost but our wandering took us past a waffle stand called The Waffle Factory. I obviously had to get one. It was fresh off of the press and smothered in Nutella. It was warm, chocolatey and delicious but really rich so I couldn't finish the whole thing.

Next we stopped for dinner just around the corner from Delirium at a place called La Terrasse because I saw a sign that said "Steak and fries for 15 Euro" which sounded like a really good deal. Turns out you have to pay extra for sauce on your steak which is really ridiculous. The steak wasn't that great but I could've expected that for the price. Plus it is really close to the Grand Place making it overpriced and expensive but "c'est la vie!"

We made our way around the corner to find Delirium packed with people. We bought some of the "famous" Delirium Tremens which I thought wasn't that great and sat down next to a random tables of guys who were speaking English. I started talking to one of them named Ben who goes to Purdue and is from Chicago. His stepdad lives in Brussels and he was visiting with his two friends who soon headed home. Ben on the other hand couldn't wait to play tour guide and take us out for a good night. It started with us walking across the street for shots of some fabled absinthe.

Drinking absinthe has a whole method to it. The green liquid comes in a standard shotglass with a cube of sugar, a spoon with holes, and a lighter. First you dip the sugar cube in the absinthe, then put it on top of the spoon and then light it on fire. The sugar melts through the holes in the spoon down into the absinthe. Then you take the shot. It was a crazy little ritual. I felt like I was in a crack den or something and boy does that stuff burn on the way down!

From there we walked a little ways to a hookah bar and sat for hours smoking. It started off a little harsh but we perfected the coals until it was buttery smooth. The owner came out to talk to us for awhile and we stayed until the place closed around 1-2am. If you sit outside you can drink alcohol as a note.

We were finally ready to do some clubbing but I think Ben's navigation skills had dulled with the booze because we couldn't seem to find the first few places he was looking for. The first place was lame and had sort of slow reggae music so we left. As we were walking to some club called the U we passed a place that looked fun so we walked inside. They had a little dance floor and great U.S. top 40 pop songs like Kesha which Nico and I loved!

We danced until the place closed and then headed back to the hostel after saying goodnight to Ben. While outside the club I heard a girl say, "like Heath Ledger." That's my line that I use when I'm explaining how to spell my last name! I walked up to her and asked if her last name was Heath and she said, "No it's Ledger," to which I replied, "What! Together we are HEATH LEDGER!"

On the way back Sebastian almost ran into a pole. I pushed him out of the way just in time only to ran smack into an overturned sign.

What happened to good karma?! I ended up with bruises on both shins one of which was bleeding. I spent the rest of the walk back to the hostel telling Sebastian, "I bled for you!"

August 18, 2011

This morning I woke up...on the floor. And no, not the floor by my bed, the floor in the middle of the room. I have no knowledge of when or why this happened. I crawled back into bed and slept in for the first time in ages! That's the #1 best thing about staying somewhere for two nights instead of one is that you don't have to check out at 10am in the morning! The boys had a good laugh about sleeping on the floor and neither had any idea how I'd gotten there. Sebastian was positive I'd gone to sleep the night before in my bed. Random.

He, Nico and I decided to go on a search for some famous Belgian fries. We drank a different beer at each bar along the way. Belgium really does have GREAT beer but it can be a little hit or miss. Then again everyone has different taste.

One of them is called a KWAK. You drink it from a strangely-shaped glass that will make a quacking noise when you reach the thin part of the glass' neck. We listened for it but never heard it!

We finally reached the location of the famous frites only to find out it was closed!! Dejected we some at the random carnival that was going on near the Gard du Midi. They were really good! In my opinion it isn't the fries that are so amazing it's the mayonnaise. It's thick, creamy and rich and I devoured the whole thing.

The fries whet our appetite so we stopped at a cheese shop and bought goat cheese, salami and wine from the cutest old French lady. She thought we were crazy. The plan was to eat our picnic in the park but on our walk there it began to rain really hard.

We tucked our tails between our legs and made for the hostel. We were almost back when I insisted on going to the chocolate shop just past the hostel that Karel had marked on the map. We got there just before they closed and got to taste about 30 different types of chocolate.
This particular shop, Zaabar, is known for mixing different spices into their chocolate (Chaussee de Charleroi 125). They experiment with saffron, ginger, nutmeg, sage, pepper, mint, amaretti, lemon, banana, and more. I bought a ton!

Back at the hostel we had an indoor picnic of sorts before going back to Delirium with a giant group of kids from the hostel.

We were so tired though that we had one beer and then walked back to go to bed. Grr so sick of this cough!

August 19, 2011

Sad! Sebastian left early this morning. I too was supposed to check out this morning but thanks to the rain yesterday I still haven't seen any of the Brussel landmarks! Karel is the coolest guy ever because the hostel was completely booked except for the single room. He offered to let me stay there for a reduced price since no one had claimed it.

A big group of us decided to take the metro to the Atomium, a strange metallic structure that was erected for the World Fair? As its name suggests it is built in the shape of an atomic cluster.

Next to the Atomium is Mini-Europe, which again as its name describes is a park with mini structures of famous landmarks in Europe like the Eiffel Tower and Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was 13 Euro per person so four of us declined because we'd rather spend the money on beer.
Nico and I were joined by Emily and Joe from Manchester and the four of us decided to go to the Grand Place and wander around there.

We got fries on the Street of Fish and resumed the game of trying new beers at each bar as we meandered our way to all the famous chocolate shops! The first chocolate shop was Laurent Gerbaud (Coudenberg street) and we bought some chocolate-covered orange peels to share. Unknowningly we also met Laurent himself but I didn't realize it until I saw his picture in a magazine later. There was a park nearby so we decided to try the picnic idea again. We wandered through a little outdoor market and bought sausage, cheese and wine. This time we made it through the whole picnic in the park without rain!

Next we stopped for beers at a place that mixes the beer with fruit and chocolate. We ordered a glass of chocolate beer, peach beer, apple beer and raspberry beer. Apple was too ordinary and the chocolate too rich but the other two were delicious!

Our last stop on the weary walk home was the other famous chocolate shop, Pierre Marcolini (Rue de Minimes). From the outside it looks like a high-end jewelry shop or makeup store! The chocolates were tiny, expensive and so luxuriously tasty. My favorites were the The au Citron, Caramel Fondant and above all the Palet Or which actually has flakes of GOLD on top!

We rejoined most of the original group back at the hostel and spent the evening in the backyard drinking, chatting and sharing pizza from Pizza Box down the street before heading to bed.

August 20, 2011

This morning Nico and I woke up bright and early to take the train to Brugge, a famous medieval city an hour outside of Brussels. The train station was absolutely crazy because tickets in Belgium are half-price on the weekends. Somehow Nico was able to blaze a trail through the crowd so a forgotten counter at the other end of the room. Because of the lines we decided to not only book our train tickets to Brugge today but also a ticket to Ghent tomorrow. We even walked next door to buy our tickets to Paris (Nico) and Amsterdam (me) since we were already there. The best part is that all the tickets in Belgium (that don't require reservations like the TGV to Paris) are open-ended so you can hop on any train you want to a location and whatever train you want back as well.

Brugge was a beautiful, well-preserved town PACKED with people. It was so crowded that I felt uncomfortable.

We were starving so we walked into a little cafe built in the interior of a building that was open to the sky called Eetcafe. It was pleasant bereft of people. Lunch was stewed Flemish rabbit which was the best meal I've had since my goulash in Cologne.

There was a young Dutch guy sitting next to us whom we befriended. His name was Sander and he was attempting to learn Russian because he has a lot of Russian friends. He was raised by hippies, had been a vegetarian his entire life, and made art installations. He got really excited when I mentioned Burning Man and said he really wanted to go someday. I told him his English was really good and he said it was because he watched a lot of Michael Jackson when he was a kid. Random! He also bought us a round of beer which was really nice although I think the waitress, his girlfriend, had a hand in it! The beer was a lager called Brugge Zot and it was the best Belgian beer I've tasted so far.

After lunch we walked to the canal for a cruise on the water. There was an adorable three-year-old Vietnamese boy on the boat who I flirted with for most of the ride. He would hold open his palm and I would poke it with my finger as he tried to grab my finger in his fist. SO CUTE. His mom was adorable too and thankful to have him off her hands for a few minutes. I think I missed most of what the tour guide said about Brugge because the kid was so much fun! I highly suggest during the canal cruise because it's only like 6 Euro and it gives you a good idea of the layout of the city (not that it's that big).

We continued to drink beers on our way to the chocolate museum where we learned everything you could possibly know about chocolate, watched a demonstration of how it is made, and got free samples at the end.

There was a video about the process of making chocolate hosted by a fat old man with a really curly moustache. It was really cheesy and both Nico and I were crying by the end of the video because it was so funny. That alone was worth my entrance fee!
Here are some of the interesting facts I learned alone the way:

1) To turn cocoa into chocolate there are seven steps - Roasting, Winnowing, Grinding, Mixing, Refining, Conching, Viscosity.
2) The first chocolate house opened in 1657 where men (only) would drink chocolate, gamble and talk politics.
3) Chocolate started off as a drink and only later was eaten in its solid form.
4) Chocolate was originally only for royalty and spread through Europe when it appeared at royal weddings.
5) White chocolate doesn't have cocoa powder in it which is why it is white. Instead cocoa is put under intense pressure and the oil is extracted. This clear oil is then used to make cocoa butter. It's a lengthy, expensive process which is why white chocolate is more expensive then milk or dark chocolate.
6) Cocoa beans were so precious that they were used by early tribespeople as currency.
7) Here is the secret recipe that Cortez brought back with him in 1528:

700 grams of ground cocoa
750 grams of white sugar
56 grams of cinnamon
14 pepper grains
14 grams of cloves
3 vanilla sticks
1 pinch of aniseed
hazelnuts, musk, amber and orange

I will have to try it out!

We spent the rest of the afternoon near the center of the old city which was away from the bustle of the main square. We soon realized that we'd been talking for two hours and needed to head back.

We took a new route to the train station which passed through a lovely park with a beautiful building reflected in the water.

A much needed nap was in order back at the hostel and then we went out with the group again to an area of bars just past the hostel. I really wanted a real dinner but the only thing open was nasty kebab which made me feel worse. I chatted with Liv from Australia and Justin from Chicago in hopes of getting up the energy to have a big night but alas no luck. Justin did tell me a crazy story about his best friend who ended up marrying his neuroscience lab partner and then running off to join the circus. They've been doing trapeze for a couple years now and are apparently really good and have traveled all over the world! I guess some people really do run off and join the circus!

After a couple of beers I returned to the hostel to pass out. I think I'm almost ready to go home.

August 21, 2011

Today was another early day as Nico and I took the train to Ghent, 30 minutes away from Brussels. Ghent is much bigger than Brugge with less crowds, more young people and more interesting buildings. I immediately liked it much better! You have to walk quite awhile to get to the old center of the town but there is also a tram if you prefer.

We took a canal cruise here as well and learned that the oldest house in Ghent was built in 1112 and the smallest house is only a few meters wide. Not sure how it was possible to live in it!
Once again there were the cutest two little girls sitting around from us. One asked her dad if she could have her snacks. Her dad said she needed to wait until the boat ride was over because you couldn't eat on the boat. She promptly pointed at an older woman scarfing down a sandwich farther down the boat and said, "But she is eating." Clearly beaten her dad handed her a bag of chips. Ah, she reminds me of me haha.

After the boat ride we found the cafe that Sander from Brugge had recommended called It Spijkeb(?). It has terrible service! We waited for about 20 minutes to order and no one appeared even after I searched the interior. You can definitely see how it was be hopping with young people on a Friday night though. Ghent has the largest university in Belgium I believe.

We spent the next few hours eating fries (not as good as the carnival ones!) and buying chocolate. This chocolate shop was one of the many Leonidas shops that have sprouted up since the brand became famous. It was here that I tried my first Manon, a famous type of chocolate. It was really rich but really good. I could only eat one.

Nico also told me a funny story about how his older brother used to get lonely playing video games so he would give their sister a controller. She thought she was playing but really her controller was dead and his brother was playing the computer. Anytime the computer won she thought she had and would get really excited. It was cute!

The next place we stopped for beer an old man befriended us who told us about this place called the Street of Glass. It's the street where the prostitutes hang out. We decided we'd seen everything else so we'd check it out. It was a mini, dirtier version of the Red Light district in Amsterdam. All the women were really old, one was eating a sandwich, and there was a wire net above the hallway where pigeons were roosting, laying eggs and pooping. I had to run through it for fear of getting pooped on.

The Street of Glass led us through the older area of Ghent that no one bothers to see or has since forgotten. Old construction sites litter the canals and graffiti graces the rundown buildings.
The desolation led us to a large, shady park, Citadel Park, where we passed under a waterfall and hiked over green hills back to the train station.

Back at the hostel I read for a few hours and then Nico and I went down the street for a real dinner of lasagne and wine at Il Vecchio Mulino. The lasagne was fine; the wine was delicious. The night also came with free entertainment as a huge fight broke out at the cafe down the street. We watched as two police officers waddled down to see what all the commotion was about. Later two of the girls walked by talking angrily in French with long, angry red gouges covering their arms.

I was exhausted yet again and decided to get an early night in. I'm bummed I feel so sick because it is Nico and my last night to hang out! He has become such a good friend! Tomorrow I leave for Amsterdam so it is probably a good thing I get some sleep in!

August 22, 2011

Yet again Karel is awesome and let me sleep in until 3pm! I scurried out into the pouring rain to get money from the ATM, buy some more chocolate and test out the sandwich shop next to the Carrefour that Nico had recommended. You can make your own sandwich which was pretty cool!
Back at the hostel I paid Karel for the last three accidental nights and gave him a bar of chocolate for being so awesome. He was really appreciative. I highly highly recommend this hostel to anyone coming to Brussels. I wish I could just move in forever!

I got bored because everyone was out and decided to head to the train station (I had an open ticket so I could leave whenever). I arrived just in time to walk onto a train to Amsterdam and spent the next three hours with my nose deep into my Kindle catching up with Cersei, Tyrion, and Jon Snow.

Upon arrival in Amsterdam I found out that my friend, Eva, was expecting to have to work late so I tried to store my bags at the train station. Turns out you need a credit card to do so. Debit cards won't work. I decided to try my luck at the Flying Pig Hostel which is extremely famous. The girl at reception took pity on me and let me store my bags.

I went to an internet cafe and used Skype to text message Eva and my friend, Emily, from the hostel in Brussels. How cool is Skype?! Emily called me and I met up with her, Joe, and two Canadians from their hostel. We went to Green Light, a shisha place near the train station. It's crazy; I came to this same place back in 2008 and it is exactly the same! We sat in the boat. Yes, it is an actual wooden boat in the cafe.

Eva ended up getting off early and came and had shisha and beers with us before she and I went back to her place to settle my bags before going out for the night. To get to her place she gave me her parents' bike to ride. Uh oh! We all know Laura and bikes...I usually end up in a bush or running into someone! This should be interesting. Eva looked like a natural. She could even balance my suitcase on the bike of her bike and still ride it!

We sat drinking beer and eating my chocolate for a bit and then went to meet up with her friend, Lotte, who had two couchsurfers staying with her. We went to Alto in Leidseplein Square which is a cool little live jazz bar. It was a very chill night - not sure who was more exhausted, Eva coming off a 14 hour day of filming or me! I was super impressed with myself that I made it all the way back to her house without crashing the bike!

Prost from Germany!

2011-08-16T06:46:00.000-07:00

August 11, 2011

We woke up late and as usual missed both breakfast and the free hostel walking tour so we asked the girl at the front desk to create a walking tour for us. It was a great walk! You start at the hostel and then go under the arch down the main shopping thoroughfare past Marienplatz Square (the main square).

Don't forget to take a picture of the town hall which is beautiful! From there Dienerstrasse where you will pass more cool old buildings like the Residenz and walk through the manicured Hofgarten. Cut up through the garden and take a right on Princzregentenstrasse and walk until you see a huge collection of people.

They are watching the "Surf Wave" which is a surf wave created by a slab of concrete that fell into the river. Medium to experienced surfers spend the entire day surfing the constant wake. The best part is you can just drop in on the wave; you don't have to paddle out! Only one surfer at a time can go on the wave and they spend about 30 seconds each before letting someone else go. It was one of the coolest things I've seen.

This is also the start of the English Garden which is a huge park twice the size of New York's Central Park. As you walk north you will pass the "nude beach" which is an area of the park known for its naked sunbathers. There are also a bunch of "gypsies" practicing carnival tricks on the other side of the stream.

We walked even farther north to Chinesischer Turm or "Chinese Tour" one of the more popular beer gardens in Munich. We spent the next few hours at the beer gardens drinking giant mugs of Weissbier (wheat beer) and eating brats and rotissere chicken. The brats weren't very good but the chicken was amazing. Unfortunately, the bees thought so too. For whatever reason the city is COVERED in bees. Apparently it's because Germany has had a lot of rain this summer. All I know is it makes eating outside kind of unpleasant because they are constantly trying to drown in your beer.

There weren't that many people our age around (a group of four old men were sitting next to us playing a German card game that were drunk and hilarious) so we decided to play the two-person drinking my friend had created. It's very simple. Basically you play rock-paper-scissors or "roshambo" and if you lose the hand you take a drink. But if you TIE then you keep playing until someone wins. The loser has to take a drink for every tie that occurred. So if you tied three times and then lost you have to take four drinks. Needless to say I was terrible at this game and went through three giant beers pretty quickly.

A quick note about beer gardens is that when you buy the beer they take a Euro deposit for the mug and give you a token. You then have to go around the corner to the Deposit area to return the mug and get your Euro back. So don't lose your token! Or if you like the mug keep it! It was getting pretty late in the day at this point so we wandered back to the hostel. I bought a giant pretzel to chew on for the walk back and it was amazing. The pretzels here are the best I've ever had I think because they are made with sourdough? I don't know but seriously the best ever.

The best part about Wombats Munich is the WomBAR, which is obviously the BAR in the hostel. We decided to head in to make some friends since it was extremely lively at 6pm. Almost immediately I run smack into Brendan, my friend from Porto and Lagos! So random how you continually run into people all over Europe! He introduced us to three cousins from Illinois: Ben, Will, and Army (I can't remember his name).

After finding out they were still in college it became my mission to test their drinking skills. Will said he was the president of his frat so he was my biggest target. Within an hour Army bows out and the other two are DRUNK. Haha! At this point we'd also been joined by two other guys who just passed the bar, Carson and Justin. I'd also learned a thing or two about International Drinking Rules. This is a grouping of drinking rules that apparently are known all over to the elite few? Here are the ones I learned:

1) Don't drink with your right hand or you have to take a drink
2) If you say "yours" or "mine" you have to do ten push-ups
3) Don't say the word, "drink" or you have to drink
4) Don't point at people or "extend your digits" or you have to take a drink

And the #1 rule is don't tell people the rules so I'm taking a few drinks as I write this to atone for writing about them. There are likely to be a bunch of other rules but I don't know them...yet! The group of us, along with my friend, decided to hit the bars/clubs - whatever we could find. My friend who was still feeling really sick almost immediately headed back to the hostel to rest and we lost track of the rest (Will couldn't get into the club because he was wearing flipflops.

It ended up being Ben, Will and I at a random lounge that played great rock hits! I attempted to teach the two how to dance (Ben showed some promise). We came back and hung out in the lobby chatting until 4am because my sleep schedule at this point is so upside down.

August 12, 2011

We woke up at 8:30am this morning to go on our tour of Neuschwanstein Castle. I was definitely not feeling so hot...

We met our tour group at the train station near their office (Radius Tours) which was led by Mike/Spike/Orange T-shirt guy. He was super helpful, eager, on-time and knowledgeable which was a nice change from my last two tour experiences. I highly recommend Radius Tours. It took two trains to get to Hohenschwangau which is the town right below Neuschwanstein Castle. You have to be aggressive on these trains to get a seat so be ready!

Upon arrival (it takes two hours to get there) we stopped for lunch at a little cafe. It can take up to two hours to eat at the bigger restaurants so I recommend avoiding those. The cafe has amazing bratwurst for 2.50 Euro so why eat anywhere else anyway. I had two!

After the quick lunch, Mike debriefed us on our options for getting up to the castle. Basically you can walk (very strenuous), you can take the bus for like 2 Euro, or you can take a horse-drawn carriage (two hour line). The obvious choice was the bus which takes you up to Marienbrucke Bridge for a spectacular view of the castle. The bridge is pretty high up as a caution to people with a fear of heights! On the way I also grabbed a picture of Hohenschwangau Castle.

We had about 30 minutes or so to spend on the bridge before heading to the castle for our tour of the interior. You have to be on time or you will miss your chance. The whole tour was like a well-oiled machine just like Alhambra was (except better done). The interior of the castle was magnificent with very ornate wood carvings, lavish tapestries and secret rooms.

Here are some interesting facts I learned on the tour:

1) Hohenschwangau Castle (the other castle near Neuschwanstein) was built by King Ludwig II's father and was used as a summer palace by the royal family.

2) Neuschwanstein was built by King Ludwig II and was never finished because his family didn't want to invest more money in it after his death.

3) The building of the castle was started in 1869 and ended in 1886 when Kind Ludwig II died. It was opened for tourists only six weeks later even though multiple floors were never finished as well as the outdoor patio.

4) A structure can only be a castle if it includes both a palace and a fortress.

5) King Ludwig II was known as the "mad king" but he may not have been mad at all. The story around his death is still very suspicious. He was found dead facedown in the lake near the castle with his psychiatrist. This psychiatrist had just met him that day (after already signing a document saying he was crazy before actually meeting him). They had gone for a walk and never came back. Sounds pretty shady to me!

6) In 1996, they calculated the cost of building the castle based on the standard of gold at the time and it came out to about 124 million dollars.

7) The interior of the castle is based on Richard Vogner's operas because they were considered the best of culture at the time. Each room corresponds to a different opera from Tristan and Isolode to Lohengrin.

8) In the throne room the chandelier weighs over 2,000 tons and the floor is made up of over 2,000 mosaic tiles.

9) The dressing room of the king is accessed via a secret door built into the wall.

10) Neuschwanstein means "White Swan Stone."

We took one train back to Munich and returned to the hostel where I spent time updating the blog down in the solar (there's this awesome little outdoor greenhouse type area with couches and hammocks). It was there that I met Mitch Leiderhosen and his host of Aussies. They were headed to Augustiner which is one of the larger beer gardens in Munich and invited me to go but my friend was taking a nap so I said we'd meet up.

A few hours later my friend and I classed it up in little black dresses and walked to Augustiner with a bottle of wine and two glass glasses. Nothing like walking down a street in a nice outfit with a glass of red. It was a pretty ridiculous sight. We got a lot of stares.

Upon arrival at the beer garden we found tables filled with about 200 people. It was clear that finding the Aussies would be a task assuming they were still there. While waiting in line for beers we met a guy from Wisconsin named Billy who was so excited that I liked the Green Packers. He couldn't stop talking about his huge crush on Brett Favre.

Billy was on a pub crawl and eventually left at which point we began talking to a bunch of 18-year-olds who were training to be Formula 1 racecar drivers. Damn them! That's what I want to do! One was from Iceland, which confused my friend because she'd never really believed people lived there (sarcasm).

Next thing we know it begins to pour down rain so we make a hasty retreat to a taxi back to the hostel bar. What do you know? We found the Aussies!

We spent the rest of the night at the bar with only one excursion across the street to the takeaway pizza place.

This place has the BEST pizza (it's called Restaurant Ca'd'Oro). I suggest the artichoke and ham one.

August 13, 2011

Sadly we had to be out of the hostel by 10am which felt SO early but it didn't matter anyway since we needed to pick up the rental car by 12pm (they close early on Saturdays). We took two metros to get there and then waited forever for the car. We had been planning on going to the famous Hofbrauhaus beer hall for lunch but we didn't get back to the hostel until 2pm and really needed to get on the road. Oh well, I have to come back to Munich for Oktoberfest at some point anyway so I'll visit it then!

Somehow we managed to navigate our way out of Munich without a map - we only had to do one U-turn! Once on the A8 it is extremely easy to find the different castle towns. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention! We were renting a car for three days to travel a stretch of road from Munich to Frankfurt called the Romantic Road. It's about five hours driving directly but we were going to chop that up into stops at the different castles and medieval cities. We had the coolest car too, a sky blue Volvo convertible, but we couldn't get the top to go down which was very upsetting!

Our first stop was Dinkelsbuhl where we had a good lunch of brats and saurekraut at a restaurant called Kaffeehaus just off the main square. From what I could tell an older man and his son ran the place both of whom had faulty English and big smiles.

Back on the road we navigated ourselves towards Rothenburg which is probably one of the more touristy, famous castle towns. Along the way we made jokes about the word, Ausfarht, which means "exit" but we just kept yelling "Ass Fart!" every time we'd pass one (I'm extremely mature for my age). We also passed a bunch of creepy signs on the highway warning you not to speed or drive drunk. But rather then just having text the signs were pictures that looked like they'd been drawn by a little kid in crayon. One had a kid and a mom with a picture of Daddy on a cloud in heaven because he drove drunk and another of a little kid and parents visiting Grandpa's grave because he was speeding. Technically very effective advertising!

It was very easy to find our way into Rothenburg where we parked just outside the city walls in P1. From P1 it was a quick into the town where we checked into the Goldene Rose Hotel. The girl at the front desk was in a massive hurry because apparently there is a huge music festival going on down in the valley that she was anxious to get to. We'd been hoping for a relaxing night in a castle town but at the words, "giant music festival," we had to dawn our party hats once again.

At one point while we were getting ready I asked my friend if she wanted to go put money in the meter for the car and she said, "It's dark out and no one will hear me scream." This is hilarious because she lost her voice two days ago and can't speak above a very quiet whisper. It costs 5 Euro to park for 24 hours but they are nice and don't start the timer until 8am the next morning so it's really more than 24 hours.

On our way down to the concert we stopped at what appeared to be the only open restaurant, an Italian place called Pizzeria Italia on Herrngasse. We shared an excellent bottle of wine and our pasta was pretty good. The concert itself was sold out but apparently you can walk down the hill and listen to the music at the beer garden on the other side of the river which was just fine with us.

Halfway down the hill we were waylaided by an English guy who told us the music was ending in 30 minutes. He was with a sweaty group of guys who he introduced as a band from Belarus, Russia, who had just finished their set. The lead singer's name was Mat and he spoke excellent English. His two Russian friends didn't speak a word of it though. The English guy's name was Andy and he made up the fourth person in the group.

We decided to follow them back up the hill and into the town to an aptly-named bar called Rock Cafe. The two non-English-speaking quite drunk and apparently telling hilarious jokes because they couldn't stop laughing. One of them had one of those laughs that is so funny to listen to that you can't help joining in even though we had NO idea what he was saying.

Apparently the concert is made up of two parts. One part is the main concert which had big names like Iggy Pop and NOFX playing on the main stage. The other, smaller stage was the second part and dedicated to a European battle of the bands called Emergenza. Basically bands from all over Europe competed in their own country and neighboring countries to be one of the 18 bands selected to perform at this concert. The Belarus band was one of the 18, their band is called No Common Name and they are like a funky hard rock band.

The best part of the evening was that since my friend had lost her voice she had to write questions down on a napkin. They thought that was hilarious. After chilling at the cafe for a few hours we ended up back at their hostel trying a glass of Belarus brandy which was good but I couldn't stomach a whole glass of it. From there we walked around the corner to our hotel to sleep.

August 14, 2011

Today we spent the day wandering Rothenburg on a German food tour. We started with a breakfast of goulash and toast. Goulash is a stew made with meat and vegetables that's like chili without the beans. It's served piping hot. Of course the bees were trying to eat it too. I'm swear I'm going to kill the next one that tries to taste my food!

From there I took a jaunt up to the top of the church tour in the Markt square for 2 Euro. It actually was the best tower view of the trip so far! The inside of the tower was the most fun since it is all made of wooden stairs that are so old that the handrails are polished and slippery smooth.

Next I snacked on schneeballs as we walked down towards the concert. Schneeballs can best be described as the same material as funnel cake but more crispy and crunchy inside of doughy. Each schneeball has a different flavor. I ordered a cinnamon/sugar, a powdered sugar, and a dark chocolate-dipped one. They were okay.

This time we made it to the bottom of the hill where we found a little beer garden but all the tables were missing! We came around the corner and found crowds of people sitting at the picnic tables...in the river. Yes, they had carried the tables down to the shallow river and put them in the middle of the stream where they sat to listen to the music and enjoy their beers. The beers were 3.70 which wasn't terrible and we found a nice little bench facing the river where we sat for a few hours listening to the music.

I was on my way back to order another round when that famous German rain suddenly began to pour down on us. At first we tried to make a run for the city but we were soaked to the bone in about 15 seconds so we took shelter under a tent serving hot sausages and fries. Yes, I took advantage of the pitstop for a quick lunch.

Finally the rain began to let up and we trudged wet and freezing up the hill into the city. We were still hungry (we spend a lot of time eating in Germany it seems) so we stopped again for food on Herrngasse Street. We stopped at a hotel restaurant whose name I didn't catch but it is on the right hand side of the street as you walk into the city from the garden point before you get to Markt square.

We curled up in their giant overstuffed chairs and enjoyed piping hot mugs of gluvine with a warm plate of apple strudel. Gluvine is wine mixed with water, cinnamon and cloves and then heated so it is like wine cider. I wasn't expecting to like it but I found myself draining my mug.

All that was missing was a hot, hot shower so we walked back to the car and drove 18 km to our next accommodation in Colmberg. On our approach to Colmberg we saw a massive stone castle sitting atop the hill looking out over the town. I pointed it out to my friend and said, "That's where we are staying." We winded our way up the hill and pulled up in front of a legitimate castle with gate, tower, and gangway. AWESOME.

After an extremely hot shower I roamed the castle halls taking pictures. It was twilight at this point which made the dark hallways very authentic and equally creepy. The heads of stuffed animals lined the walls and the empty chapel felt like it was filled with ghosts. I felt like Nancy Drew on a mysterious adventure!

The castle grounds even boast their own herd of deer! This may sound messed up but when we went to the dining room for dinner 15 minutes later I ordered venison. What can I say I knew it was fresh! The venison was cooked to perfection in a juniper sauce making it one of the best meals in Germany. We also tried the wine and cheese soup and the Franconian wedding soup which has meat balls and noodles. Both were very tasty but very filling. My friend had chicken filled with cream cheese over a bed of rice that was also very good. All-in-all a perfect ending to a medieval day!

After dinner we took the rest of our wine out to the patio and I ran upstairs to change into pants because it was chilly. On my way back down the hallway I looked out the window to see the most beautiful sunset! Bavaria truly is a romantic place! The castle builders messed up because the patio doesn't face the sunset which is a major shame!

As we were finishing our wine, two guys around our age came up to our table. Their names were Mikhail and Tom and they were from New York. They've been friends since 7th grade, went to NYU together and then jointly launched a mobile company called Blue Bite. They asked if anything was going on that we knew of and we mentioned the concert although we weren't sure if it was over or not (it was almost 11pm at this point).

We rocked out to Aussie music on the ride and re-parked in P1 since our parking pass was still good. The concert was clearly over since streams of people were going in the opposite direction of us so we wandered until we found Rock Cafe again. It was hopping with people! My friend chatted with an Irish rastafarian while I talked to Tom and Mikhail. Tom told me that he wanted to go back to grad school for neuroscience because he thinks inception is actually possible. It was a really interesting conversation. Mikhail also told me about an old show called Caught in the Act. One of the episodes was about a bartender who stirred drinks with his you-know. Brings a whole new meaning to cocktail right?

We left soon after that because I was exhausted and the two guys weren't big drinkers. My friend was the only one who really wanted to stay out because she'd finally gotten her voice back! On the way back to the castle, Mikhail figured out how to put the top down AND get the navigation to pop up on the dash! Woohoo we actually get to USE the convertible!

August 15, 2011

Today was a big castle day! We woke up early and hit the A6. The first stop was Schwabisch Hall which is a small medieval town with a cool clock tower. The best part is walking along the river though because of the reflection of the old houses in the water. The food here was terrible though. We tried two different places and both were awful!

Next was Bad Wimpken which attracted me because of the weird name. You have to drive as if you are going to Heidelburg because it doesn't appear on the map. All of a sudden you see this spectacular view of a town looming down on you from the top of a big hill. That's Bad Wimpken. It was a hillier town with all old houses and an imposing church with many towers. We stopped for beers and I wish I'd eaten there because the people sitting next to us had the best looking pasta. Unfortunately, we left after I spilled beer all down the front of me. I'd been mid-sip when you guessed it a wasp flew right into my face. I swear to God I'm going to come up with a bee-kill spray.

The last stop was Heidelburg which was much bigger. You can take a funicular to the top of the mountain for a fantastic view (roundtrip is 12 Euro each). We were stupid since you can drive up there but we didn't think about that until we'd already bought our tickets! You can also tour the castle and the smaller medieval town halfway up the hill but my friend was castled-out so we returned to the main town area for some real food. We ate at a little restaurant called Thanner that was okay and then drove the remainder of the way to the Frankfurt airport to drop off the car.

We took the S Bahn to Messe. When we arrived we were a little weirded out because it felt like we were on the outskirts of town in the industrial area, a strange place for a hostel?! From the Messe station you can look down from the platform and you will see Meininger Hotel. When I booked it I thought it was a hostel but from the outside it looks much more like a hotel. The downstairs area did have more of a hostel feel with a small bar, reception and lounges occupied by people using the free Wifi. When they gave us a city map we realized that yes we were definitely on the outskirts of town. Why did I pick this hostel? Weird. Even weirder was that they had run out of room keys so they had to escort us to our room. My friend was leaving the next morning so we went to bed around midnight. I need to get the heck out of Frankfurt tomorrow. It is LAME!

Granada! Barcelona! Ibiza!

2011-08-03T01:34:00.000-07:00

August 1, 2011

I woke up this morning and took the train to Granada where I checked into White Nest Hostel. It's a funky little hostel painted in bright colors and crazy designs. My room was hot pink. You have to take a cab from the train station but it was only 8 Euro which isn't too bad. I had assumed my friend would be there waiting for me but she was nowhere to be found so I took a shower and settled in. We had a private room with a shared bathroom which was fine but the staff is a little slow.

About twenty minutes later in walks my friend looking a little disheveled. Turns out she thought we were meeting in Malaga and had flown there instead. When she thought to read my email she realized that she was in the wrong city. Luckily Malaga is only an hour or so bus ride from Granada so she'd managed to make it here in time. That's a good start for our trip haha!

We had lunch at a great little Spanish restaurant called Tabernas Salinas on Calle Elvira and then attempted to hookah but it tasted terrible. As I've mentioned before when I'm not sure what to do I just pick a street and go up as high as I can. We tried this and were rewarded with a beautiful view of the Alhambra. The Alhambra is a massive city-fortress-palace that sits above Granada and is the primary reason tourists come to Granada. You need to book your tickets in advance or walk up at 7am the day of and hope that you get on. I'd booked our tour for tomorrow through Viator.com. Hopefully this tour goes better than Sintra.

We drank a beer at a restaurant that overlooks Alhambra called El Huerto de Juan Ranas, returned to the hostel for siesta and then join in on the free tapa tour that the hostel puts on. It's pretty cool because if you buy a beer at a tapas place they will give you free food. We met Kendra, Josh and Noah from Arizona who turned out to be seventeen. Man I feel old! We also met Amy from England, a short, spunky girl whose little brother is traveling through America. I told her his accent was going to get him into lots of trouble with the ladies. Around 1am(?) we left because we were pretty bored and went home to sleep.

August 2, 2011

We woke up at 8:30am for our Alhambra tour. We stopped for coffee in the square and then took the bus up to the monument where we were divided into groups and given headsets so we could hear our tour guide. The audio on the headsets was terrible and our guide had a very thick accent so I spent the tour fighting to understand or cringing from the static. The bus was late getting there and so he rushed us through a lot of the fortress which pissed me off. So far viator.com tours are TERRIBLE! I'm extremely worried about my Neushwanstein tour in Germany at this point.

Luckily the Alhambra itself made up for the terrible tour. It is magnificent! It doesn't have the romantic fairytale feeling of Sintra but instead feels like a formidable, imposing structure of stone, carvings and history. You feel like you've been swallowed up by a giant of stone. Basically it is divided into a couple areas - the towers/fortress, the palaces, and the gardens and summer palace. The fortresses afford awesome views of Granada, the palaces are filled with gorgeous carvings and mosaic work and the gardens are lush, well kept and enormous.

The whole place is enormous. You have to be careful though because they divide up the day into tickets. You either have a morning ticket that ends at 2:30pm or an afternoon ticket. Also you can only see the palaces at a certain time and if you miss it you don't get to see them which would be awful. Thus, it might make more sense to do a tour to make sure you see everything but I recommend finding a different one from the one I went on.

Here are some quick facts on Alhambra that I learned:

1) It means "White Castle" in Arabic
2) Granada was the last city held by the Arabs before it too was taken over by the Christians
3) There are over 2, 000 meters of walls
4) Twenty-two sultans have continued to build out the Alhambra over 250 years
5) The walls are made of brick
6) The gates don't have roofs so that they could pour hot liquid on the top of intruders
7) The hand seen on many of the walls and entrances represents the five pillars of Islam
8) There is a quote written in Arabic on many of the walls that translates to "Only God is victorious"
9) The key symbol also seen throughout represents both protection over the people and royalty
10) The oldest part is from the 11th century
11) In Islam you are forbidden to paint people only motifs and calligraphy
12) The lions that guard the famous fountain are made from marble that was chosen specifically for each lion so that their individual characteristics would be heightened
13) During the Middle Ages the throne room in the palace was the biggest in the world

After Alhambra we returned to the square for lunch and wine and siesta. We woke up after dark and wandered until we found this random fondue restaurant called El Agua (casa de vinos) with a view of the Alhambra. The fondue tasted like pizza in a hotpot; I really liked it! We enjoyed a bottle of wine and then returned to the square on the lookout for something to do. There was NO ONE out! Maybe Granada just doesn't have a nightlife?

August 3, 2011

We woke up late today and wandered downstairs for the hostel's two hour free walking tour because we were too lazy to figure out what to see on our own. We made friends with three Australians on the tour - Tom, Tom, and Sara. One Tom was blonde and the other was a brunette so I will be referring to them as Blonde Tom and Brown Tom. Our guide's name was Eliza and she was a short, fiery Italian who knew ALOT of Spanish history. She knew so much random stuff about Granada including the fact that the Sultan (back when there was one) would collect all his concubines into a room and then throw a pomegranate and the one that got hit in the head by the fruit would be his lover for the night. Nice.

Here are more tidbits from our tour:

1) Flamenco originated with the gypsies
2) There are two kinds of gypsies - one set traveled through western Europe and the other went through northern Africa into southern Spain - they are completely different
3) Granada was a Muslim city until the 8th century
4) It remained Muslim for three centuries longer than the rest of Andalusia because they kept paying the Christians to leave them alone. They could afford it because as the last Muslim city all the rich Muslims had moved there.
5) Granada is very impregnable because it is surrounded by flat lands that can easily be overcome by Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada mountain range behind keeps enemies off its back.
6) The taking of Granada by the Christians happened over night and was completely bloodless. The sultan fled the city rather than fight in order to save the people. That is why Granada is the best kept Muslim city because it was never truly conquered.
7) Flamenco music is hard to dance to and sing to because it is 12 beats
8) When the Arabs first came to Granada they thought it was Atlantis because they'd never seen so much water
9) Alhambra was built in 1238
10) Queen Isabella of Spain was so happy when she came to Granada that she gave Christopher Columbus the money he had asked for. Imagine if the sultan hadn't fled Christopher might never have sailed to the New World!
11) The size of one's garden shows how wealthy you are. If you have bamboo in your garden you are VERY wealthy.
12) The streets are narrow and crooked to create shade because it gets extremely hot in the summer.

The tour ended at the same church my friend and I had found on our first day so we invited the Toms and Sara to our favorite restaurant for a view and a couple glasses of sangria. Next to us was a man, his wife and daughter, Emily, from England who we chatted with for a bit. Turns out he was a huge travel writer back in the day. So jealous! Unfortunately I was sitting the farthest from him and they left after a little while so I didn't get a chance to ask him about it. After the restaurant we wandered outside the city walls for tapas and wine. Two Dutch boys joined us for a while. I love how when you travel you just randomly meet people.

The only people in Granada left to meet were the gypsies that live up in the hills of Sacromonte above the city. Apparently back in the day two groups of gypsies left the east. Some headed through western Europe while the others went through northern Africa into southern Spain. They are apparently completely different gypsies and Flamenco originated with the ones that settled in Spain (with some Arab influence of course).

They all live up in the hills in caves that they've carved out of the rock. Apparently whenever they want another room they just consult with their neighbor to make sure they don't accidentally tunnel into each other's houses. One of them let us tour his cave house which was awesome even though I don't think he was a "real" gypsy but just a hippy who was enjoying the free rent.

Back down in the square we got falafel from one of the Moroccan restaurants and then took a quick siesta before drinking wine downstairs with the Aussies. We then started our excursion of the bars including a short detour back to the falafel place for another doner. So good. As soon as I showed up in Granada and saw the Middle Eastern influences I knew I would find falafel sooner or later!

At another bar we found the Dutch boys again and met another Australian named Alanna that was friends with the Toms. She accompanied us to the Flamenco show that the Toms and Sara wanted to see. I was too drunk at this point to really care - I think Flamenco is pretty boring honestly.

We got bored of the Flamenco pretty quickly and went wandering for something else to do. Earlier in the night I'd seen a poster with some hot chick on the front for a club called G10 and told the Toms that the girl in the picture would be there (sarcasm). We arrived, had our free drink which was terrible and spent the rest of the night dancing at the club.

Upon arrival at the club who should come up to talk to me but Ahmed! I originally met him in Portugal with my other friend, then ran into him in Seville and now here he is again! NUTS!
My friend spent the remainder of the night trying to teach the boys how to salsa and I talked with Blonde Tom about all the places he's traveled to - I was pretty jealous of the massive list.
Next thing we knew it was 6:30am and we had missed the bus to the airport so we had to take a cab which was 25 Euro (damnit!). Somehow we managed to get on our plane to Barcelona, grab another cab, and arrive at our hotel without mishap.

August 4, 2011

I will now transition to the next day since it technically is (we haven't slept yet). Our hotel, Rafaeleshotel by Casanova, at Casanova and Gran Via may be listed as a three star but it looked like a five star to me!

The bed was sooo comfortable, we had towels, toiletries, blackout blinds, etc. We ended up accidentally sleeping from 12pm to 10pm and then got room service for dinner because we were too lazy to go out. My friend's pizza looked awful so we split my grilled chicken with vegetables which was a little salty but otherwise really good. I was SOOOO sick at this point with a sore throat that I wanted to die. We didn't even venture out but went right back to bed. Literally 24 hours of straight sleeping to compete with our 24 hours of straight non-sleeping. And yeah that's pretty much all that happened today. Oh and one annoying thing is that they charge for internet so I couldn't post my Granada blog when I arrived. Grrr.

August 5, 2011

Today we woke up early (mostly because I literally couldn't sleep anymore) and spent the day with Gaudi. To start the day off we had breakfast at Escriba which is a funky little pastry shop. I had an amazing quiche Lorraine there. We started at Casa Batllo because I swore to myself the last time I was in Barcelona and missed it that I would one day return. It was 18 Euro to get in which is a little ridiculous but the money goes towards keeping up the monument so I guess that's a good reason. I tried to use my student card but they would't take it because there wasn't an expiration on it.

Casa Batlló was built in 1877 but was renovated primarily by Antoni Gaudi in 1904. The building is also referred to as the House of Bones because of the skeleton-like balconies on the front facade. The whole place is a study in modernism because there isn't a single straight line in the entire place. The coolest part are the crazy mosaics Gaudi is probably best known for. The interior feels like an underwater menagerie and the roof is designed like the spine of a dragon. It is a must see in Barcelona for sure.

Next we walked down the street to La Pederara or Casa Mila (14 Euro entry). La Pederara is an apartment complex that Gaudi designed that is now part tourist attraction, part museum and part office buildings. The complex was completed in 1912 for Pere Mila who was known throughout Barcelona as a man who loved money. Gaudi, a devoted Catholic, designed the details of the building to echo religious elements. There are four floors you can visit: the roof, the attic, the apartment and the lobby.

The roof is a crazy, curvy construction of walkways, statues, and holes that look down into the lobby. There is a pretty good view of the Sagrada de Familia from there as well.

Next we toured the attic which has been turned into a Gaudi museum where you can learn everything there is to know about where he got his inspiration (nature) and how he designed his buildings.

The next floor, the apartment, is a walking tour through an apartment that still resembles a family home from the early 1900s. It was really cool to walk through I thought.

The lobby was just a lobby except for the giant iron doors and wall painting that are near the entrance which are also pretty cool. Overall worth the 14 Euro I guess but barely.

Our last Gaudi stop was Sagrada de Familia which was 15 Euro (includes the lift to the tower). I last saw the basilica in 2007 and so much has changed since (to learn more read my blog from then - http://travel-addict.com/Trips/Spain/barcelona.aspx)! It's like a really building now! For those of you who don't know or haven't read my previous journal on the Sagrada it was one of Gaudi's last buildings and he died before he could finish it. With donations and ticket sales Barcelona contains to complete it in his name but they are certainly taking their time. I was still really impressed with the progress and stunned by how amazing it is to wander through the basilica. It remains one of the coolest structures I have ever visited.

At this point we were absolutely starving so we took the metro to the beach and walked the boardwalk for almost an hour because I desperately wanted to find the restaurant, CDLC, from my last trip to Barcelona (2007). We finally found it and the ravioli was just as good as I remember!

We ended the day with a quickest shopping trip to H&M and a walk up Las Ramblas back to the hotel. Our feet were killing us at this point but hey it's Friday we gotta go out right? We made a valiant effort, making it out after midnight down to Las Ramblas. Neither of us really wanted to go out but FOMO was eating away at us ("Fear Of Missing Out"). We figured we would go in baby steps. First we'd find street food, then made a bar, then maybe a club and if at any point we were over it we would just go home.

Strike One was two awkward Canadian kids (probably like 17) who zeroed in on us and followed us to Maoz (an awesome international vegetarian fast food train if you haven't tried it) where we listened to them drone on about skateboarding. Take the hint and GO WAY!

Strike Two was when we attempted to go to the hostel my friend stayed at last time she was in Barcelona in hopes of finding fun and were subjected to a pitch by two promoters one of whom was definitely on drugs. They were selling tickets to a castle nightclub which sounded let a god option until we heard you need to take a bus to get there. Too much work. I was entertained by this test written on a stall door in the hostel bathroom - Try to say Irish wristwatch three times fast. Impossible I swear it!

Strike Three was when we wandered to the marina looking for Poquito Vaso which was the shooter bar my friend had gone to. We found it but that wasn't the actual name and the only people there were two strangely creepy German kids who approached us. They were super shady and didn't have all their teeth. That was the last straw so we went back to the hotel and passed out. I think we are both too excited about Ibiza to bother.

August 6, 2011

We had Starbucks for breakfast and then took the metro to our final Gaudi spot - Parc Guell. I didn't get the memo that you need to walk up a giant hill to get there! It was a really cool place to walk around but it was sooo crowded that I felt claustrophobic and it is OUTDOORS!

On our way back to the hotel we stopped and bought a suitcase and filled it with alcohol because everyone had told us that Ibiza is mad expensive and then we grabbed our bags and headed to the airport for our 5:50pm flight to Ibiza. Along the way we stopped for a much needed lunch at Organic Market at Ronda Universitat. My friend had egg noodles with a bunch of vegetables that not only was well presented but very flavorful and filling. My ravioli was okay. This place totally reminded me of a New York cafe. We took the Aerobus from Plaza Catalunya which is 5 Euros each so if you have three people you should just take a taxi to the airport since you won't be saving any money.

Our flight was almost an hour late and we felt disgusting from wandering around all day. I got on the plane first thing because I just wanted to pass out in my seat. Luck was not with me. Onto the plane came seven rowdy boys from L.A. There was Doc (Brian), Coltran (Cole), Scott, Junior (Todd), Brock, McLovin' (Brian) and Abel. Next thing I know I'm taking tequila shots on the plane and they are insisting we go out with them directly from the airport. Any other day and I would've done it but I was in desperate need of a shower and food so we told them we would meet up with them later.

We hurried to the hotel, La Marina, and showered as fast as possible. It was a lot nicer rooms than I was anticipating (the website makes it look less nice) and a more social downstairs (like a hostel) then I was expecting. I was afraid it'd be hard to make friends to party with but that doesn't look like it's going to be an issue!

The guys were staying at Pacha so we got ready (no point in showering since it is sooo hot and humid here) and walked to Pacha. Of course right around this time my phone runs out of credit and we can't text the guys so we just hoped they were still there. It was about a 15 minute walk along the harbor and when we arrived I used the hotel phone to call their number. They had somehow managed to end up at a house party and were going to text me the address. Of course they never did which I figured would happen so instead we ended at the hotel bar. Turns out that Bob Sinclair is spinning at Pacha nightclub across the street. A little bit of a backstory - his song Love Generation was like the theme song of Australia for my friend and I back when we were roomies going to uni in Brisbane. We clearly had to go. Turns out it was better we didn't meet up with those guys or we never would've seen Bob!

The bartender was a super cool girl who told us that she works half the year here and half the year in London - rough life! We see three guys hanging out down the way so my friend boldly goes and sits next to them. Their names were Simon, Oliver, and Jordan from Liverpool. They seemed pretty cool and invited us to dinner at Madrigal in Marina Botafoch so we decided to come along.

I mentioned that Ibiza is expensive? Dinner cost 241 Euro! I split a plate of ham (29 Euro) and a bottle of wine (22 Euro) and it was still ridiculously expensive. We returned to the hotel so the guys could change and I was able to check out the hotel room. Pacha is definitely a nicer place than ours! The room was HUGE and had awesome decorations. I would definitely stay there if it was cheaper...

We bought our tickets to Bob (46 Euro ticket per person) and went to Pasha. Along the way a random guy was trying to sell discounted tickets for 50 Euro (he said it was 60 Euro at the door) - haha sucka ours were cheaper!! I also learned at this point that you don't buy from the random guys you buy tickets to clubs from little ticket booths. Sometimes the booths have promoters but they will always bring you to the booth to buy the ticket so don't ever pay a guy on the street for one.

We arrived at Pacha around 2am and danced upstairs in the Funky room for the first two hours. For some reason I was feeling AWFUL to the point that I really wanted to go home but my friend was hitting it off with one of the guys and I'd just spent 46 Euro to get in!
I spent close to an hour nursing waters like it was a hobby of mine while sitting on the couch. A water is TEN EURO. JESUS. That is extortion!

It is really nice that you can sit on the couches without having to buy a table. L.A. could learn a thing or two from this place! Around 3:30am Bob Sinclair went on so we made our way down to the main dance floor. As soon as he started playing I got my second wind and danced my heart out until he wrapped up at 5:30am with Love Generation. It was so worth it to stay!
The club was absolutely crazy and packed with people just like you would expect Ibiza to be. It's like if Vegas and Mexico had a baby together.

My friend's feet were killing her at this point so we took a cab back to the hotel which was only 7 Euro - not bad! I am thoroughly impressed by our first experience in Ibiza!

August 7, 2011

We woke up late and my friend was dying from yesterday. We could barely make it down the street to order some falafel for breakfast (yes in Spain and eating my fourth falafel). As I waited for my sandwich, I sat absentmindedly eating the french fries on the tray. It wasn't until they put a different sandwich on the tray that I realized it was the tray of the guy in front of me and he had been staring at me eating his food for the last few minutes. Awkward!

I'd been quite a few days without internet and I was starting to freak out about how much money was left in my bank account. My friend's debit card was blocked by the bank and my phone had run out of credit soooo we wandered until we found an internet cafe and I managed to transfer money into my account which only had $400 remaining in it. Yikes!

From there we asked directions to the bus to go to Bora Bora beach which we heard was the party beach. One person said it's near a fountain and another said go straight and right. Worst directions ever! We finally found it just by walking in circles and got on Bus 14 to the beach. It's pretty clear which stop it is because everyone with towels gets off but even if you miss it or get off too early you are still in the beach town area so it doesn't really matter. P.S. It takes about 10 minutes to get there.

On the bus my friend had the outside seat near the aisle and some strung out lady with hairy armpits got on the bus and spent the ride with her nasty pits in my friend's face. She was clearly on coke as she rapidly chewed gum and snorted every few seconds. We hung out at the beach for a few hours until my friend had to get out of the sun. Definitely wear sunscreen here even if you are really tan; the sun is REALLY hot.

Back waiting at the bus we were approached by a guy giving out wristbands to Amnesia tonight for a massive foam party. The wristbands get you in before 1:30am for 25 Euro and after 1:30am for 35 Euro (regular entrance is 60 Euro). He was giving them out for free so works for me! He then offered us drugs and when we refused that he offered to sleep with us. Wow friendly people here!

We were headed back to Ibiza Town and the hotel when we got a text from the L.A. guys saying to come to the Blue Marlin. We had no idea what or where that was but the taxi we jumped in did. Turns out the Blue Marlin is on the west side of the island and is an indoor/outdoor club. You can just go around the building to the right to get into the beach area but to get into the indoor area you either need to wait in line, know someone or go around back and attempt to sneak in. Lucky for us the guys knew someone and we passed right through the line - sweet!

The inside area had a stage set up with a bunch of artists and for how many people there were it was pretty easy to get a drink. This was largely unnecessary for us because the boys had conned the waitress outside into bringing us a tub of beer even though we didn't have a cabana. By the time we were halfway through the beers she just gave us a cabana because she was tired of us being in the walkway.

We spent the next few hours getting wasted, talking to the guys, meeting some kid from (you guessed it - Australia!) who told us the best places to go on which nights and finally a guy dealing marijuana who was actually really entertaining to talk to even though I didn't buy any product.
Before long all the guys we were with were making out with random girls all over the place which was hilarious to watch. For a girl with a BF and a friend who just isn't having it our time to leave came soon. These guys are going to make a killing because the entire club was gay guys. In fact this entire island is gay it seems like!

We came outside to the taxi line where some random dude was extorting people for taxis. We told him to screw off and shared a taxi back with a couple who gave us money once we reached their place. Back at the hotel we had every intention of going out to the club (it was around 1am) but I'd had one too many Heineken and accidentally passed out.

August 8, 2011

Woke up at 11am since I'd gone to bed so early the night before and we went straight to the beach. Bora Bora has a ton of promoters who wander the beach trying to get you to buy different packages from nightclub tickets to booze cruises to all-you-can-drink parties. Other just hand out wristbands for free with deals for the different clubs. One such promoter named Nick approached us today about a booze cruise. After 20 minutes of hard selling he convinced us to go on the booze cruise the next day. We paid 60 euro upfront which was half the cost and then we were supposed to pay the second half before getting on the boat.

We then tried to find an ATM to pay the rest and the lines were crazy because it was a saint's day in Ibiza today so all the banks were closed. The ATMs quickly ran out of money. Finally we gave up and went back to the hotel to get ready to go out.

For dinner we decided to have a real meal for once so we wandered randomly until we found this adorable restaurant that is hideously decorated with pink and doilies and plastic flowers. It's run by two out of breath older gay guys that were SO cute. I had the queso de cabra frito and it was so good I had to keep myself from picking it up like a hamburger and hoovering it with both hands. I WISH I could tell you the name of it but I forgot to ask. It is on Calle del Mar and opens at 8:30pm so try to find it if you can because the food is worth it!

My friend had ordered the tuna tataki and when it came out the Spanish guy sitting next to us explained that the sauce was soy sauce in snotty English. Then when I asked for the check in Spanish his girlfriend laughed and clearly started making fun of me with her boyfriend and the other guy at the table. And you wonder why people are afraid to try and learn a language??

By the time we got back to the hotel my friend was failing because it was close to 2am and she had sort of lost momentum. I had to do everything in my power to convince her to go out and eventually she rallied.

Finally around 3:30am we were in a cab to Privilege where they were playing Tiesto all night. When we arrived we gulped down drinks and then hit the dance floor. It was 50 Euro each to get in with the wristbands we'd gotten from the beach which was the most expensive yet. As a note when you are at the beach just collect as many as you can so that you can decide where you are going later.

Inside the club we talked to two Brazilian guys, one of whom showed me pictures of this gorgeous beach they went to earlier in the day called Jordal. The water was sooo blue and dotted with little sailboats. Too bad we are going on the booze cruise tomorrow or I'd go there instead!

We danced some more and my friend found a tall kid to dance with who had a shirt that said "It's T-Shirt time" which I thought was amazing. I want.

My friend soon tired of him and found a different English boy to dance with while I avoided the flood of midget men who kept trying to dance with me. Woe is Ibiza for single girls - it is a sea of short creepy straight guys, gorgeous gay guys, and other girls. We danced until the club closed, walked outside and were greeted by daylight (it was 7am). We took a cab back to the hotel, took some pictures with the SUNRISE and then passed out.

August 9, 2011

We woke up to the sound of my alarm going off reminding us that we needed to get to the beach for the booze cruise. We hurriedly dressed and then jumped on the bus. Note that the cafe right next to the bus stop has pretty good ham sandwiches you can get to go so we grabbed those for the cruise. Also note that during the week to get on the bus you need to buy a ticket in advance (there is a window right there) versus the last couple days where you could just buy the ticket on the bus. It wasn't a huge inconvenience just something to be aware of.

We arrived at the location of the booze cruise boat (near the Hotel Algarb bus stop) and sat eating our sandwiches debating on whether or not we wanted to go. Yes, we are fickle. Basically the guy had sold it to us as a booze cruise to Formentera island, then you hang out on the island for most of the day (sans free alcohol) and then take the booze cruise back. So really it's a glorified ferry to an island you can get to anyway with free booze only while you are on the boat. Did I mention that you also get a 5 minute jet ski ride included?? WOW so fun!

Realistically I couldn't stomach handing over another 40 Euro after seeing how many people they had crammed on the boat. The people looked awful, the boat looked like they had just pulled it up from a nap on the bottom of the sea floor, and there was WAY too many people for a boat that size. We watched them all get on and multiple people couldn't sit and had to stand smashed against the railing. And they weren't even drunk yet! No way.

Instead we wandered down the beach and completely passed out for about three hours when I was awoken by my stomach growling. We had lunch on the water which was nothing special and then took the bus back into town.

We tried to go to the internet cafe but the lady working there was YELLING so loudly it gave us a headache so we left. Now I know why they say you should never piss off a Spanish chick!
After spending 30 minutes sitting near the harbor watching the boats go in and out we wandered around to find dinner. We ended up at a funky little italian restaurant where I ordered ravioli that was pretty good.

We slept until 1am and then went to Space. The Spanish girl in line for the taxi was RUDE and as the cab pulled up tried to squeeze in front of us. I turned to her and so "Please take the taxi. We wouldn't want you to be late!" She glared at me and got in. It's like what's your hurry there are SEVEN taxis.

We'd gotten a card on the beach that day so it was only 40 Euro entry and we spent the next hour drinking and chatting with the bartender. As I was waiting in line to get in the bouncer asked me how old I was and when I said I was 26 he said "You're aging well." Um...thanks? My recommendation is to go to these clubs at 3am because yes you have to pay more but you don't wait in a line, it is a little less crowded because the lightweights have already gone home, and the club doesn't close until like 7am anyway and three hours is plenty of dancing time.

The bartender had lived in Santa Monica for awhile and was super fun to talk to. We also spoke with two French guys and this time my French was much better. Apparently the longer I am in Spain the better my French gets - go figure?

We danced with a random group of Aussies for awhile when one of them offered us Ectasy. We politely declined. Later one of them offered us water but we were already suspicious. Can't even accept water from strangers these days...what is the world coming to?
My friend wasn't feeling well at this point so we left early and went home - I think we are a little partied out.

August 10, 2011

I woke up with a horrible hangover even though I didn't drink much last night. I think my body is crashing and no surprise! We packed up all of our stuff and went to the Estrella cafe down the street for breakfast. I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich which turned out to be delicious! It came out grilled like a panini. Yum! My friend ordered the rocket salad with goat cheese and it too was surprisingly good. I was not expecting the cafe (which looks really touristy) to be so good!

We spent the remainder of the afternoon shopping for souvenirs. There was this one shirt that I really wanted but it was a guy's shirt and the smallest was a large. I kept looking in all the shops to see if anyone had anything smaller but had no luck. Suck! We stopped at the internet cafe to check our flight and I wrote down directions to our next hostel in Munich. While there I chatted with two guys, Yaniv and Allen, who it turns out are from Beverly Hills! Yaniv went to USC and both of them were headed to Berlin. They offered to have me meet up with them if I wanted to. Maybe I will!? I love how you can just meet people in Europe and meet up with them. Love the traveler lifestyle!

Our flight was on time and easy, we had a short stopover in Palma de Mallorca and then arrived in Munich at 10:30pm. We took the S-Bahn (train/metro) to Hauptbahnhof train station which is the main train station. Look for the Bayerstrasse exit and then walk across the street to Senefelder Strasse. The hostel, Wombat City, is the second door on the left. The hostel was hopping with music and people. So far it is the most populated and social hostel I've been to so far. We were exhausted though and my friend was getting a sore throat (whoops didn't mean to give that to her) so she went to sleep and I spent the next few hours doing laundry and updating my blog.

In the time it took for my laundry to finish I managed to accidentally walk in on two people having sex, listened to two Irish drunk guys getting into it about who lost the room key, and talked to a random guy who pitied me for my lack of clean clothes. Finally at 2am the laundry was done and I was able to pass out.

Whirlwinding through Spain

2011-07-31T03:15:00.000-07:00

July 26, 2011

So sad to be leaving Portugal! Here is a quick synopsis on Portugal like what I did for Greece.

I'm fine with having gone to Porto and Coimbra but I could've lived without seeing them and if I were to redo the trip I would've spent more time in Lisbon and the south of Portugal instead of going to these two towns. Then again hindsight is 20/20. Hostel-wise, the Porto Downtown was the worst hostel I've stayed in on the trip but by hostel standards it was fine. I give it the absolute average of 5/10. The Sofia Chill House in Coimbra was very cute and probably more of a 7/10. The people that worked there were super nice.

As for Lisbon and Lagos I loved both of them. Definitely both major highlights of my Europe trip thus far. Lisbon Calling hostel in Lisbon is the most amazing hostel I've stayed in. The style, the people, the rooms, the lockers - everything was awesome. I could live there. The Rising Cock Hostel in Lagos wasn't necessarily the nicest hostel but it suited its purpose - party. The people who worked there were the best staff ever and Mama made me feel at home. I give a 10/10 to Lisbon Calling and an 8/10 to Rising Cock. Travellers House on the return trip to Lisbon was fine probably about a 7/10 also. The staff there was nice too.

Both Lisbon and Lagos as places were amazing. I wish I'd had more time in both. I would for sure return to Lisbon, it ranks as a top city in all my travels with so much to do and see, a great nightlife, and good food. I had an amazing time in Lagos and am glad I went while I was young to experience the craziness. Do I need to go back? Probably not :-)

So that's Portugal in a nutshell. This morning we left our hostel via the Aerobus (3 Euro per person) to the airport for our flight to Seville, Spain. Quick note for travelers that Terminal One is for international flights. We ate breakfast at Harrods where I had a pretty good ham sandwich for relatively cheap. I woke up feeling pretty awful. My sinuses have been bothering me since Lagos.

Once in Seville, we took the airport bus to the second to last stop which is just down the street from our hostel, Samay Hostel. This was one of the hostels I was most excited about but overall it was pretty average. Clean, nice, great deck on the top of the hostel but the staff is pretty lame and so are the people staying there. The rooms and common areas don't have any personality for a hostel that is relatively expensive compared to the others we've stayed at. They did give me a free towel though so that earned some points!

I was feeling seriously sick at this point so we walked down the street for tapas which were only okay and then went to bed.

July 27, 2011

We woke up late this morning (it felt really good to get a full night sleep) and wandered through Barrio Santa Cruz (the old Jewish quarter) to the Alcazar.

Along the way we stopped at Corral del Aqua restauranat at Callejon del Agua, 8, for breakfast. We had scrambled eggs with asparagus and ham. It was a little too salty and hammy for me (where are all the eggs?) but the restaurant is adorable. You walk into a little patio area that is painted pink with a ceiling of grape leaves. Very romantic! Too bad we both felt like shit and it was 100 degrees outside.

From there we wandered to the Alcazar where we found out that you had to be under 25 with a student card to get the student discount (2 Euro) otherwise it was 8.50 Euro per person. I tried to be sneaky and use my card without my I.D. but she didn't go for it. The castle didn't really seem worth the money so we went to the Cathedral instead (next door). The Cathedral was 8 Euro (couldn't get away with student discount) but was absolutely gigantic so it felt worth the money. Plus like all good cathedrals it came with a tower for me to climb. The view from the top was pretty good but not that great. I think I'm just over churches at this point.

Next we wandered down to the river and crossed San Telmo bridge to the other side to walk along the water. The views of the city from the river are beautiful and very relaxing. We stopped at a restaurant, Kiosco de las Flores, with a view for beers and fried fish. I pointed on the menu to the dish we wanted but they must have thought I pointed at the dish above because they accidentally gave us the same dish but with baby prawns fried into the cake instead of cod. I was about to swallow when I looked down and saw a little face peeking up at me from the patty. Close fucking call!

We returned to the hostel (it was getting late) and decided we had to go out (because we make terrible decisions). Up on the roof we met two girls from SF and two guys from Christchurch who now live in England named Jack and Jeremy. They said that they were from the Isle of Men but I still don't know where that is or if it indeed exists. Regardless they were hilarious with the one liners which they dutifully provided throughout the night to come.

It had been decided that we would pay 10 Euro per person to go on the hostel pub crawl (we usually avoid these) but it was a good deal and not too much that if it sucked we could just leave and do our own thing. What do you know? It SUCKED. The first two bars were terrible, the free drinks we got tasted so bad I almost poured one in the toilet and other than the two Kiwis everyone was really lame.

So I spent the evening being entertained by Jack and Jeremy. Once they found out that I did work for Disney and Pixar back in L.A. they decided to pitch me a movie idea. They mentioned that they weren't sure if it should be animated or live action but they would leave that up to my expertise. The movie would be called "Chumans" and would be about a male chimpanzee who falls in love with a human girl. They felt that it was an extremely original premise. I brought up Planet of the Apes to which they replied that chimpanzees are not apes and its a MALE monkey. They were interested in the idea of having Mark Walberg be the voice of the chimp though (If you haven't noticed yet this is all said with a thick sauce of sarcasm).

While waiting to get to the bars in the first place (we had to pick up people from some other hostels) Jeremy had commented that "man's not a camel" aka "I need a drink." This was hilarious. Once we got to the club (the night's finale) they also explained their rating system to us for girls. It is made up of three numbers - face, shag, body. Face and body go from 1-9 and shag is yes/no so 0/1. So a girl with a nice face that shaggable but has an average body would be a 8/1/6. We spent the next few hours smoking shisha, rating girls that walked by and dancing. I also spent this time avoiding "The Silver Fox" who was a guy from Australia I'd been talking to on the walk to the club. I tried numerous times to tell him I had a boyfriend and wasn't interested but he never really understood until I was down right rude to him.

One other hilarity from the night was when I ordered a beer at the first bar and the guy next to me offered me his card. In confusion I took the card (it's not like I'd been talking to the guy) and read it. It provided his name and his occupation - personal trainer. He then pointed at my stomach and made a motion with his hand to say "Call me when you get fat from all the beer you are drinking." WOW. Not the best way to attract the ladies. Best part was that from the look of him he could use some training himself.

Back at the club we actually ended up having a pretty amazing time dancing. We each gave ourselves names based on the actors/actresses we looked like. Ben didn't look like anyone so he was nameless but Jack was Leo, Jeremy was Ewan McGregor, and I was Jenny from Forrest Gump. It was a great club. It's all outdoors with an island bar, tables you can stand at to shisha, and a giant dance floor with good music. The burgers outside the club are awful but I was too drunk to care. Pretty sure the name of the club was Alfonso but I couldn't remember.

July 28, 2011

We slept in again and took a taxi to the Santa Justa rail station to pick up our rental car for the drive to Marbella on the southern coast of Spain near Malaga. Coming out of the hostel we ran into Jack and Jeremy again who convinced us to come get gelato from Heladeria Villar just down the street on Losilla Parrilla S.L. The owner and his wife, Cecilia, are adorable and take pictures of customers they like. Jack and Jeremy had returned to take their picture. We got in on the action. Yet another funny story from Jeremy - the first time they'd gone to the shop he had asked for a "cone-yo" (coño) instead of a "co-no" (cono). Uh, I'll let you look up what coño means :-)

The rental car was with Europcar and it went sooo smoothly. We upgraded to an Audi A3 for only 18 Euro for three days and I drove 150km to Cadiz for the afternoon. The beach there was covered in young people (not all of whom were wearing tops!) and we spent a good few hours there. There was also a fun park with dinosaur statutes and a seesaw that we wandered through.

For lunch we ate at Rosa del los Vientos at Corralon de los Carros, 55. I had "carrillada iberico" which was so good (meat stew) and my friend had a ham omlette which was also quite good. The chef spoke surprisingly good English and was adorable. It was actually one of the best meals of the trip thus far and so unexpected!

Late afternoon we continued the drive to Marbella. The drive through southern Spain is the most beautiful drive I've been on I think. You pass through these shockingly green valleys surrounded by massive rocky mountains. Occasionally you come around a corner to see a sparkling lake off the freeway or a glimpse of sandy white beach. If you are going to go to Marbella PLEASE drive. It is sooo worth it. The only annoyance are the THREE tolls you hit (6.10 Euro, 2.95 Euro, 4.75 Euro). You also have to pay them both ways.

We arrived late and spent an hour looking for parking. That's the only downside of Marbella. There is NOWHERE to park. We finally had to make a parking spot by parking on the sidewalk on a random side street. No way were we paying 20 Euro a night for the underground legit parking. Finally we made it to our hostel, Hostal Berlin, which was sparse but clean. The lady at the front desk was very sweet and the beds here were extremely comfortable. This place felt a little more private like a hotel.

We didn't make any friends and I was very sick at this point so we just wandered down to the water for a late dinner at La Venencia. We had cheap good wine, meatballs with salsa, and rabbit. You can find the restaurant on Avenue Miguel Cano, 15. Time to pass out!

July 29, 2011

Another day to sleep in. Not sure either of us would've even woke up if my friend hadn't set his alarm. We wandered down to the beach where I managed to explain to a lady at the beach bar who to make the frappe coffee drink I've been looking for since Greece. She made it perfectly and it was SO good. I asked her to write the recipe down in Spanish so that I could show it to other restaurants. Here is what she wrote - "helada combinacion de chocolate y cafe con nato montada y hielo pile." I think that pretty much says ice cream with chocolate sauce and cafe mixed with shaved ice.

We finally made it to the beach we were looking for (recommended by the hostel). The beach itself is actually Playa de Casablanca and the hotel is Marbella Club. We had thought we were looking for a beach called Marbella Club. Either way we found it and it truly was the prettiest beach on the trip thus far. Yes I know I keep saying that but they keep getting better! I made friends with the Marbella Club security guard, Lucas, who allowed me to walk out on their private pier to take pictures. He even offered to take a few of me!

Back at the hostel, we took a much needed nap. At this point I have some type of gooey eye infection, a sore throat, a cough, a massive bruise on the inside of my leg from the booze cruise and a blister on the bottom of my right foot. Let's just say this has been the worst day so far sickness wise.

For dinner we wandered down to Avenue Ricardo Soriano which is a fun street with restaurants and bars and had dinner at Medium Rare Steakhouse. Seemed a little touristy but I was totally in the mood for a steak. Turns out the steak was like 22 Euro which was a little pricey for me so I went with the 10 Euro lasagne. It was literally the best I've ever had, or at least remember ever having. It was softer than American lasagne and came in an earthenware pot that kept it hot the whole time. As a side note in Spain they charge you for the bread they bring to the table automatically. You have to ask to have it removed from the bill if you don't eat the bread. Kind of annoying. The guy gave us attitude about it which made me angry but he took it off nonetheless.

From there we walked down the street to a little Irish bar called Maggy's(?) It's owned by a German guy who has lived in Marbella for about six years. He came outside and had a beer with us. At one point he turned around to cheers us and our beers were already empty so I made a joke of saying "I can't cheers! No beer left!" He then said he'd get us free beers if I could guess how many fingers he was holding up. I said "two" and was right!

While sitting at the bar we saw a ton of young people stream by going towards the water so we eventually join the melee. I was pretty reticent to party tonight because I didn't feel well but it was technically my friend's last night in Europe AND we just happened to walk by the bus stop when the bus to Puerto Banus rolled up. My friend somehow managed to get me on the bus (2 Euro per person) and next thing I know I'm on my way to P.B. with about thirty drunk 17-year-olds.

Once we arrived in P.B. I realized why all the kids on the bus were wasted. It is like 6.50 Euro for a beer here! That's nuts! So of course we buy two of them and sit outside watching the ridiculousness. There was an awesome Mercedes parked out front that was blue matte and definitely drawing a bunch of looks. My friend was obsessed.

From there we walked to Mumbai bar on Muelle Ribera (the strip of bars and clubs on the harbor) which had great people watching. We sat on the upper floor and watched people for awhile before continuing on down the street to News Cafe. Along the way we came across a random girl dancing in front of a car in the street so I joined her just for fun. Yeah I'm a weirdo.

News Cafe is more of a club and it had GREAT music. The DJ literally transitioned from an Oasis song to JayZ so smoothly it sounded perfectly natural to mix those two songs. We had an awesome time dancing although there was a circle of B-Men on the prowl.

To end the night we took a taxi to Funky Buddha which is a massive club on the way back to Marbella. A taxi from P.B. to Marbella center is supposed to be about 13 Euro but the taxi just to that club was 10 Euro so we knew we were getting screwed by the taxi driver but there's not a lot we could do about it. The club was gigantic, packed, and really really fun. It was also extremely expensive with a Heineken being about 9 Euro. Luckily, we swooped in the front door when the bouncer wasn't looking so we got in without a cover.

We danced until we collapsed and then taxied home.

July 30, 2011

By all rights I should feel way worse today then I do. We woke up and were out of the hostel by 11:30am and started our drive back to Seville. Along the way we randomly pulled over at the first town we saw. We took a wrong turn and accidentally ended up in this tiny little mountain town called Alcala de los Gazules so we went with it and ate at a restaurant called La Parada for lunch. It was absolutely hectic. There were a couple large Spanish families having lunch with their children racing around on plastic toy cars but it felt very authentic which was cool. The customary old men smoking were there too.

For lunch everything was definitely only in Spanish so I just pointed and guessed. I ended up ordering carne de salsa, pollo de roquefort, and picimentos relleno bacaldo. They were all delicious. We needed to get the car back by 5pm in Seville so we left shortly after we finished eating. Note - start looking for a gas station to fill up your car when you are about 30 km from Seville. You might catch the very last one before the city.

We dropped the car off back at Santa Justa rail station without a problem and I also booked my train ticket to Granada since we were already there. That went surprisingly smoothly!

We checked back into Samay and went to go grab our last dinner together in Barrio Santa Cruz which is the Jewish quarter. We wandered until we found a little restaurant called Bodeguita La Parihuela, with open seating outside (the whole area was pretty crowded). We had this queso tapa that was goat cheese with some type of marmalade on little toast crackers. It was spectacular. The rest of the tapas were fine but nothing to write home about. My overall assessment is that Spanish food is fine but not anything I'd go searching for.

From there we headed back to the hostel for an early night as my friend flies home tomorrow. Sad!!

July 31, 2011

My friend left early this morning and I took advantage of the noon check out to catch up on sleep. I need to kick this sickness before I get to Granada tomorrow and meet up with my other friend. Grr. I changed rooms to a four person dorm which is also nice although there are no lockers which really bothers me and the bottom bunk has ZERO head room so I know I'm going to end up smashing my head in the middle of the night. I'd rather sleep on the couch downstairs. Again not my favorite hostel. I'd rather have a shitty bed and be able to fit in it.

I spent today wandering around shopping for all the stuff I've run out of - shampoo, band-aids, etc. Unfortunately, everything is closed in Seville on Sundays. Literally EVERYTHING. So there went buying any new clothes (I can't stand the ones I have because I wear one of three outfits everyday)! I did manage to find a grocery where I got credit for my phone (Vodafone was closed) and a 24 hour pharmacy (go over the San Telmo bridge to Plaza de Cuba and ask someone).

On my walk back I decided to stop by the Plaza de Espana because the two German girls in my new room recommended it to me. It's a beautiful building in the midst of the park with a little waterway where you can rent boats and skim around the little manmade river. Very peaceful place.

From there I decided to go visit Casa de Pilatos since the only things open on Sunday are tourist attractions. How convenient! You can either choose to pay 6 Euro to see the bottom floor (audio guide included) or pay 8 Euro to include the top floor which is a guided private tour (you have no choice). I went with the 8 Euro because hey why not?

Basically the house is an Andalusian which served as the permanent residence of the Dukes of Medinaceli. The bottom floor was used as the summer palace and the top floor as the winter palace. They are replicate floor layouts but with the humidity the top floor was too hot in the summer so they lived downstairs and then vice a versa in the winter.

There were three phases of building the first being a primitive castle started in the early 1500s by Pedro Enriquez de Quinones (the mayor). Then Pedro's son Fadrique (first Marquis of Tarifa) went on a pilgrimage to the holy land, saw a bunch of sweet Italian architecture and returned in the late 1500s to add to the palace. He also gave the place its current name, "Pilate's House," because he determined that the distance between the original home of Pontius Pilate and the Golgotha is the same distance as his house and a temple just outside Seville city gates. This coincidence resulted in him naming the palace after Pilate. Random.

The rooms of the palace have 16th-19th century paintings from many greats like Pacheco, Goya, and Giordano and many 2nd century Roman busts. The coolest part was that one of the owners of the house was obsessed with the Apotheosis of Hercules because Hercules was the only mortal to join the Gods. Obviously a good example to follow right?

Outside of all of this, the Case de Pilatos was extremely beautiful and well worth the money. The downstairs is surrounded by two gardens and all the walls are done in the tiny mosaic tiling. The ceilings are wooden wonders of intricate carving as are the ivory facades above and around each of the doors. There was hardly anyone there when I visited so it was super quiet and peaceful to walk around. I liked it a lot!

From there I returned to the hostel to drop off my supplies and walked down to Levies, a tapas restaurant recommended by the hostel staff. I ordered fried spinach, fried chicken, chicken curry and fried Camembert cheese. They were all pretty good though nothing too special. The crazy thing was the plates were HUGE. I was not expecting that much food so I looked like a fat ass sitting there eating four giant plates of food. There were three guys sitting at the table next to me and they were splitting three plates! Oh well!

After dinner I headed back to the hostel to pack up since I'm headed via train to Granada tomorrow to meet up with my next travel buddy.

Stay tuned!

It's a Party from Lisbon to Lagos!

2011-07-26T12:39:00.001-07:00

July 20, 2011

Up bright and early because we wanted to make our way to Obidos, a tiny medieval town on the coast of Portugal. Apparently they are having a festival there until the 24th where the entire city is turned in a medieval city with knights, jousts, beer and wenches. Sounds like our kind of party! Unfortunately, we have our bags so we couldn't go directly there. Instead we decided to take the high speed train to Lisbon to drop off our stuff and then make Obidos into a day trip. It was a pretty easy trip to Lisbon although kind of expensive for a train (22 Euro per person).

We checked in the Lisbon Calling hostel which was the coolest looking hostel I've ever stayed at. Everything was made from wood with eclectic knick-knacks decorating the walls. The coffee table was a bathtub! The staff was amazing, especially Sofia and Num, who we spent the most time with during our stay. The only negatives were that the lights in the room which almost too low to accomplish much when you needed them and the way the common room is placed prevents you from being too loud at night. I did wake up with one bug bite too but I as yet have no proof that it was a bed bug and I didn't receive anymore.

Sofia was at the desk when we checked in and she called the festival company in Obidos to confirm it was still going on. Unfortunately, the festival wasn't until tomorrow. This did allow us to relax at little for once so we took the train (from Cais de Sodre station) to Estoril, a small beach town.

The first few hours we spent sitting at a bar on the water drinking caipirinhas (for 5 Euro each) which were REALLY strong but tasty. Being a beach, there were street vendors wondering around selling sunglasses and bracelets. I bartered a guy down from 30 Euro to 4 Euro for two bracelets. I rock.

After passing out on the sand for hours, we headed back to the hostel where we met Eva and Frederik, a couple from Amsterdam. They were the friendliest people, immediately offering up some of the pancakes they'd made to us for dinner. Also joining us at the dinner table was a guy from England named Warren. Dinner was delicious and we followed it up with a little Dave Chappelle but we were being too loud so my friend, Warren and I decided to hit the town.

From Lisbon Calling you take a left out the front door and then another left. You then walk up the street straight through a plaza into a maze of smaller streets filled with bars called Bairro Alto. I mean FILLED with bars. It was the easiest pub crawl situation I've ever seen.
About three deep V-neck T-shirts later we realized it was also the gay district. There were a bunch of fun street vendors selling stuff here too and we took a bunch of pictures with them. My friend and Warren bought me a hat for two Euro.

We wandered the streets and accidentally found ourselves at a bar with live music. After awhile we were super hungry (my friend and I had only eaten the pancakes we had for dinner today) so I walked up to some guys and asked them where the closest, open restaurant was. They told us about a bakery just up the street so we set out to find it.

Thirty minutes later, still looking for the bakery, we ran into the same guys. This time we stopped to chat with them. Their names were Bernardo, Sal, and Pedro and they were a riot to talk to. At one point, Warren, who is the funniest drunk person I've ever seen asked Sal, "I need to take a piss. Where can I take a piss?" Sal responded by pointing at the street and saying, "Piss on the street." To which Warren replied with, "I don't want to muck up your street." This had all of us laughing and Warren stumbled off to piss on the street.

They also asked us where we were headed next and we started Lagos. They told us that that is where all the "steaks" went. When questioned, they explained that they called "steaks" foreigners because we cook in the sun. This immediately became the word of the night. We finally made it home around 6am and slept for two hours because we have our tour to Sintra tomorrow.

July 21, 2011

Yesterday I'd tried to call the tour company to arrange for pick-up at our hostel and no one had answered the phone. I booked the tour through viator.com and believe me I was not happy that no one had answered. We woke up extra early this morning to try calling them again and still no answer. I had to go onto viator.com and read the reviews where I finally found a posting from a guy who had the same problem. His review said they just walked to the main area where the bus leaves from. We tried to do this but missed the bus by about ten minutes. I was really pissed because for two people the tour was over $200 and it was to Sintra which is one of the top three things I want to see in Europe. So instead we had to find our own way to Sintra.

It took us three tries on the metro to get to the Restauradores metro stop to walk to the adjoining train station. Everyone kept telling us the wrong station which was frustrating. From there we walked to the Rossio train station (the only one that takes you to Sintra - wikitravel is wrong FYI). We got the tickets and then my friend got stuck behind the gate because his ticket wasn't working and we missed the train. We had to wait 30 minutes to get on the next one. So irritating. Finally we made it on the train for the 30-40 minute ride to Sintra which is the last stop on that line.

We were planning on staying at Sintra until about 4pm and then taking a train to Obidos for that damn medieval festival so we started with the most important monuments first. Sintra is a massive place with a lot to see. You really should be spending a FULL day there. Since we didn't have a full day we paid 14 Euro per person to see the famous 19th century Pena Palace and the 8th century Castelo dos Mouros. The Castelo afforded amazing views of the surrounding area and ruins that were extremely well preserved. It reminded me of the European version of the Great Wall of China.

Even more impressive was Pena Palace. It literally sits on the top of the world and you can see 360 degree views of Portugal from the mountains to the beach. It is a surrounded by a forest that feels like it is straight out of a fairytale. The fact that I am reading Game of Thrones even added a specialness since I'd already been immersing myself in romantic literature. I half expected to see characters from the books canter by on their destriers.

The site of Pena Palace was once the home to a chapel during the Middle Ages that was later expanded into a monastery. The monastery was destroyed by an earthquake in the 18th century. Finally, in the 1800s, King Ferdinand II purchased the whole surrounding area and had the palace built as a summer home for the royal family. It was later purchased by State of Portugal and turned UNESCO World Heritage site.

I have traveled to almost 20 countries and this is by far the most beautiful place I have ever been. The combination of Arab and European influences to the architecture, the natural forest surrounding the palace, and the spectacular views of the country put it at the top of my list. It barely edges out Cesky Krumlov outside of Prague because you can also go inside the palace to see all the rooms. The rooms were filled with wood ceilings carved into leaves, animals and ribbons, ornately decorated porcelain serving dishes and gorgeous oil paintings. I think I was in a waking dream the whole time.

I also almost ended up with a new boyfriend who I met at the palace. He was traveling with his parents, his two sisters and his two brothers and was probably the cutest eight year old I've ever seen. I had asked his dad to take my photo and he stood next to his dad telling him what to do to ensure I got a really good picture. His dad then asked if his son could get my number and take me on a date and the kid turned bright red and punched his dad in the arm. It was pretty adorable. They were a super nice Belgian family traveling on holiday together. It made me miss my parents.

It was getting close to 4pm so we went to the bottom of the hill to catch the bus back to the train station. My friend had ankle surgery not too long ago and was definitely struggling with all the walking. The bus was taking too long so I stood near the side of the road and tried to flag a car for a ride down. I must be overly judgmental because there was only one car that I would've gotten in and three girls snagged a ride before we could.

Eventually the bus came and we took the train back towards a station where we could change to a train to Obidos. We kept trying to get the right train until finally we threw the towel in and decided Obidos just wasn't going to happen. Bummer.

Back at the hostel, we made breakfast for dinner (omelets and bacon). It was really good! We hung out a bit with Eva and Frederik and a new addition, Heather from Los Angeles. We then went out to the same area and bar from last night. The bar is called Rialto and there was a guitarist there who was playing great music and we all started dancing.

Three French girls had tagged along with us and I attempted to speak my broken French to them. I kept on counting in Spanish accidentally. I'm going to get home and have forgotten how to speak English!

Next we took a taxi to Lux, the best club in Lisbon we'd been told. It was awful. They made the girls pay and were dicks about it, the drinks were super expensive, the club wasn't all that crowded and the music was terrible to dance to so we eventually left.

Back at the hostel we were all been super silly brushing our teeth together. It turned in a dance that ended with my friend accidentally spitting toothpaste all over the floor. What a night.

July 22, 2011

Finally a day to sleep in a little! We woke up way late and went to get the rental car for our drive south to Lagos. The man behind the counter had the biggest, bushiest unibrow I have ever seen. It was really distracting. The service at the rental place was awful. They were so slow and took terrible care of the cars. The guy helping us left the car in neutral while he showed us the car and it started rolling down into the street. My friend had to run and jump in the car to stop it before it careened into traffic. Then the guy opened the trunk really fast and it slammed against the concrete ceiling. Wow. We definitely did a full once over on the car to note all the damage.

We returned to the hostel, picked up Eva and Frederik who were hitching a ride and headed out. You don't really need a map - you just hop on the A2 and take it for like three hours until you see signs for Lagos. If you go to Spain you've gone to far :-) We made a pit stop at a restaurant on the side of the road which was awesome because it was us and like four old men who were just chilling smoking cigarettes. We sat at the table with them and ate our ham paninis which were super cheap, really greasy, and hit the spot!

After about an hour we pulled into Sines, one of the main beach towns on the way. This was Eva and Frederik's stop. They were going to stay for a music festival that takes place in the castle in Sines. It was pretty cool. We hung out for a bit at the beach and in the castle and then my friend and I said goodbye and continued on our way. Eva kept pronouncing "castle" as "castel" which I thought was pretty funny.

If you ever lose the A2 on the way you can pretty much navigate but sticking near the coast or just follow these signs - Algarve Sul, Olimeria, Aljezur, Lagos. We finally pulled into Lagos at 10pm and my friend, who had been driving, was absolutely beat. He totally wanted to stay in tonight but I told him hell no we are in LAGOS!! Party capital of Portugal! We parked the car and asked randoms how to get to the Rising Cock Hostel (yes, an excellent name). Everyone knew where it was because it is a pretty famous hostel so we found it right away.

The girl at the desk had clearly had a long day of it because she was all over the place but we finally managed to get to our room. We were in the 69 room. Yes, they all have ridiculous names. While we were checking in a guy walked up and said, "Hey Laura, you guys made it." I swear I have never seen this guy in my life. I was so confused. Turns out Brendan from Porto had been here and told this guy (Mike) about my blog. Mike is the head of marketing for the hostel. He told us we HAD to go upstairs to trivia night or we'd miss it.

Upstairs we ran into Brendan who was on a team with a ton of Australians. Lagos might as well be a principality of Australia because we were two of four non-Australians in the entire hostel. What does this mean? We were going to have a fucking great time. Everyone had a nickname so I met PK, X-Man, Dolphin Trainer, and more. At first I thought they were calling me "Blonde Chick" which I thought was a lame name but turns out they were saying "Blog Chick."

We managed to make it there for the last three questions and my many hours of watching Discovery Channel helped me get the question, "What is the only male animal to give birth?" A seahorse - duh. Finally they tallied all the answers and our group and another one were tied. The guy leading the trivia, Pedro, announced that he was going to pick the winner based on who had the best name. I yelled out, "No way! It has to be a drinking contest!" Everyone loved that idea so Pedro said that the person who shotgunned a beer the fastest won their team the bottle of vodka.

Yet again I spoke up saying that I'd seen my friend down a margarita pitcher full of beer in about 30 seconds once. The Australians clearly weren't sure if they wanted to put their faith in two people they'd known for 15 minutes but Brendan spoke on our behalf.

Next thing I know my friend is standing next to this massive drunk Aussie girl I nicknamed The Linebacker. She was shit talking to my friend almost immediately saying she was going to kill him. Keep in mind my friend and I are pretty much sober so the look on his face was one of bewilderment. Pedro sounded the alarm and my friend trounced the girl finishing his beer before she'd even made it halfway. She started freaking out and saying he cheated but couldn't manage to make a coherent argument so our team snagged the bottle of vodka. Next thing you know our team is MVPing my friend around on their shoulders and making him take sandal shots. It was pretty ridiculous. We later found out that the Linebacker had gone straight to the bathroom to have a good cry about her loss.

From there we went out to the bars which are right around the corner. Lagos is tiny so you can walk everywhere and it is pretty safe you just have to watch out for gypsies who will steal your purse if you give them half a chance.

We ended up spending most of the night with our two roommates - Keith and Ginger. Ginger's name is really Tom but his hair was bright red so Ginger he was. The two bars of the night were Three Monkeys and Inside Out. The bartenders at Three Monkeys are insane and wear crazy costumes and Inside Out had amazing music for dancing. Lagos is also fun because there are a handful of bars so you keep running into people throughout the night. The night ended around 4am after I'd ordered a vegetarian pizza with ham on it. The guy behind the counter said it was the most random order he'd gotten in a long time.

July 23, 2011

We woke up the night morning feeling relatively good and set to drinking almost immediately. Before that though we headed upstairs to breakfast where "Mama" was making crepes. Mama is this adorable, older Portuguese lady who essentially takes care of all us drunken fools.

For breakfast she made us Nutella crepes and tea. The tea was crazy - you pour a cup of it (it's yellow) and then squeeze lemon in it. You stir the mixture while saying "Tiki tiki" and the liquid turns white. It tasted like lemons (obviously). I have no idea why this ritual exists but it was fun to do. A girl at the table was telling a story about how a gypsy had tried to yank her purse away. The strap broke and she screamed at the gypsy to leave her alone. She told us she was super drunk but just kept thinking about the fact that her passport was in the purse and she couldn't lose it.

Ever since we arrived we'd been hearing about the booze cruise. For 40 Euro each they take you out on a party boat for like four hours. Drinks and food on board are included. It is apparently THE thing to do in Lagos and it was completely full. Turns out having this blog just became worth all the work because Mike got us on the boat so that I could write about it. So write about it I will!

Once everyone paid and received their wristbands we walked to the boat with our two new roommates, Mike and Matt, after slathering ourselves in T-Shirt-in-a-bottle. T-shirt-in-a-bottle is almost as good as my Steaks-n-Strippers idea. Who wouldn't love to eat a really good steak ringside?

We arrived at the boat and Pedro explained the two rules - 1) If you get caught drinking with your right hand you have to down your beer. 2) There were a couple pegs on the boat (the clothesline kind) and if someone pegs you and counts to five you have to down your beer.

It was Matt's birthday so he was immediately attacked by two Aussies wielding beer bongs of sangria that he took back to back. He then headed straight to the bathroom to puke. I started the cruise checking out the landscape which was the prettiest I've seen thus far. We were moving along a coastline of massive rocks jutting out of the water to reveal tiny hidden beaches and caves.

It was pretty funny to see this scenery in front of me versus when I turned around and was met by forty Aussies dangling from the boat rafters, skulling beers and throwing them at each other, prancing around in their tiny Speedos, and motorboating girls. There was one girl in particular with giant boobs who had a line of guys waiting for their turn. And then there was the creepy old Portuguese guy who mans the smaller boat that takes you over to the caves who slapped my ass and tried to motorboat me and I was super creeped out and ran away from him. It was like Mexico spring break for those of you that have been.

I barely remember getting off the boat but we somehow made it back near the hostel where my friend, Mike, Matt and I decided to grab burgers. Apple Pan in Los Angeles, Fergburger in Queenstown, New Zealand, the burger I had in New York - all the top burgers in my life. But my burger today ranks among them. It was called The Cock Meat Burger...of course and it was giant, juicy and delicious.

After burgers it was pretty much us four walking around like assholes drinking beers as it got dark. At one point two Welsh girls were hanging out with us and Mike was telling us a story about how a girl he'd hooked up with on the trip "had her hand in my pants for like an hour" to which I responded, "Maybe she couldn't find it?" The two Welsh girls thought this was hilarious. A lay-up in my opinion.

Our wandering took us to Three Monkeys where some random guy offered to buy me a Jaeger bomb but I gave the bartender a look and then pointed at the massive beer bong on the wall of the bar. The bartender, who was dressed in a red Bruno-esk bathing suit with white lacy tights, smiled, rang the cowbell, plopped a construction hat on my head and gave me the beer pong filled with beer. By the time it was over my eyes were watering! The bartender then yelled "$2.50" at me and I gave him what must have been the most confused look like "I have to pay?" Whoops!

After that we partied a little more and eventually went back to bed.

July 24, 2011

Woke up this morning and feel like death. Pretty sure I'm coming down with a sinus infection. Can't imagine why! We woke up and started driving back to Lisbon.

An hour so in we stopped in a small beach town called Milfontes that had the most beautiful beach. Different from Lagos because this was more like a Southern California beach with soft white sand that stretched for miles. We ate a quick lunch that wasn't very good and then wandered down to the beach for a nap. A scruffy little dog named Daisy kept barking at us. My friend said that maybe she doesn't like steaks. She was pretty cute though even when barking. She eventually left us alone to bark at someone else.

After the beach I felt a little better but could barely get us home to Lisbon because I needed sleep so badly. Of course as soon as we get close to Lisbon we get stuck on the bridge waiting for people to pay the toll. It took forever. Two quick things of note for those driving cars - there are very few gas stations in the city so fill up your rental before you enter and the second is that when you get to the gas station some pumps are fill and some are pre-pay.

Finally we made it to our new hostel, Travellers House. It was on a really cool shopping street but I was too tired to really pay attention.

We walked straight to our room and passed out. Another day of Oreos for dinner. My mom would kill me.

July 25, 2011

Slept in soo late today which was amazing. First day I've felt rested. We donned our swimsuits and grabbed our towels to head to the beach when we realized we still had the rental car to return. Uugh! And of course we had only filled the tank halfway so when we arrived we had to pay at 25 Euro tax for not filling the car up. It could've been worse though. We finally made it to the beach around 3:30pm. The beach is called Cascais and is a lot more touristy then Estoril although they are on the same train line and only a few stops away (you take the metro to Cais de Sodre and then the train to Cascais).

Another note here - two people can't share cards. We learned this the hard way. There was a huge line for tickets so we just bought four on the same railway card. My friend used it to go through and then I tried and it wouldn't work. We realized it's because it knows you haven't come back yet. We tried to swipe twice and then send me through but the security guard came up and got all angry. It resulted in us wasting about two trips worth which was super annoying.

Cascais, as I mentioned is a bit touristy, but the beach was more sheltered than Estoril so less wind and sand attacked us. We promptly fell asleep after enjoying a glass of rose wine.

After our nap we wandered around town playing our travel game again. We ended up at a little cafe that had empada de frango which was like a chicken pot pie only twice as good. It was a total surprise since food from the cafeterias has been pretty shoddy at best. We continued along towards the coast and came out on the coastal road right by this really cool outcropping of rocks which we explored for awhile before heading back into town to catch a train back.

Upon arrival at the hostel my friend realized that his wallet was gone. Worst luck ever! Neither of us could imagine where he would've lost it and it remains a mystery. Luckily he left his passport at the hostel but that seriously sucks about the rest. Looks like I'm gonna be a sugar mama for the next five days!

We finally resigned ourselves to the fact that the wallet was gone and we weren't getting it back so we wandered into the main living area of the hostel for the traditional Portuguese dinner that the hostel was putting on. We dined on wine, cheese, sausage and bread all of which was delicious. It was nice to have some homemade food again!

We met some kids from Santa Rosa, CA, (I call them kids because they were 20) and two Canadian girls all of whom came out with us. We ended up in Barrio Alto again because it's the only happening place on a Monday and then made our way to the club district near there and spent the rest of the night dancing.

It was a good night although one of the guys in the group got really drunk and was pretty annoying so I spent most of the night ridiculing him in front of his friends because he was pissing me off so bad. At one point I bought his two friends beers and then handed him a water which really made him mad. His face turned bright red and his friends started laughing. What a little shit.

Finally the rest of us were ready to part ways with him but overall a good last night in Portugal as we head back to Spain tomorrow!

Ola from Portugal!

2011-07-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

July 17, 2011

Today we left Madrid and flew to Oporto, our first stop in Portugal. You can get a free map of the city from the Information booth in the airport and can even buy your two Euro metro card from them as well. We are staying at the Porto Downtown hostel so we took the metro to the Trinidad station and then switched to the yellow line to the Aliados stop.

The hostel was nice looking and clean but strangely absent of activity. We were in a four person mixed dorm and I sadly realized that they did not provide a towel... There also wasn't any shampoo so I had to borrow some from another girl. Maybe that should be my new hostel pick-up line - "Can I use your shampoo even though you are traveling for months and can't spare any? Thanks!" I used up using my bedsheet as my towel which was unorthodox but definitely worked.

We were all about making some friends but there was no one to be seen. It was getting pretty late so we started wandering down the street looking for dinner and found what looked to be a very cute restaurant. It was a little on the romantic side which made us feel kind of ridiculous (my friend's a guy if you haven't figured that out). Everyone else seemed to be couples but we figured it would feel less awkward if we just got wasted. Two bottles later we were nice and jolly. We had steak with butter and eleven different plates of tapas that ranged from biscuits with tuna to sausage to mini empanadas. It was really good and when the bill came we were shocked - it was only 45 Euros! That's a crazy good deal for the food alone not to mention the alcohol.

We ended up drunkenly wandering around the city until we were tired enough to fall asleep.

July 18, 2011

Up and at 'em at 9:30am! We made friends with a kid named Aaron who showed us a walking tour of the city in his guide book so we figured why not? Along the way I told my friend to hurry and stand in front of a church so I could get a picture of him but he was too slow. He mentioned that he needed more time to prepare for a picture and I told him that instead of "Cheese" I say "Scramble" because that's what you have to do if you want to be in my picture. For the rest of the day I would randomly yell this out before taking a photo. We also developed an assortment of other words such as "Ground hog (when you need to go #2)," "Spamsterdam (because Porto kind of looks like Amsterdam)" and "Sweetza (some sweet looking pizza we saw)."

We ended up along the waterfront and had a ton of beers at one of the restaurants on the water. The main source of entertainment was this old Portuguese guy trying to hit on this young girl sitting on the beach in front of us. It was pretty hilarious to watch. My friend would try and interpret what "method" the guy was using to snag the girl and I would then retort with what her reactions meant. Unfortunately for the old guy he just wasn't gonna win.

Once our source of entertainment had moved on we decided to as well. When I say "waterfront" I'm referring to the area along the river that the main part of Porto is built around. This river leads into the ocean about 20 minutes down the way. Across the river there is an old iron bridge that sits way up above the city so we went up there to check out the view.

It would've been a spectacular view if it weren't for the mucky weather. It's pretty cold here and extremely overcast which was a bummer since we were hoping to get our beach on! It also meant that the boat ride down the river that I was hoping for had lost all of its appeal. Instead we found a little deli and ordered an assortment of random baked goods that we took to the park overlooking the city.

I explained to my friend that we had to rank the baked goods before tasting them and then re-rank them after to see if the order was the same. Only a few things surprised us but in general almost everything was good. Keep in mind we had NO idea what any of these were. My top three were an almond cookie that looked crunchy but turned out to have the consistency of oatmeal inside, a flaky croissant-esk pastry with powdered sugar that when you bit into it tasted like coconut, and another flaky pastry with a lemony jelly center. There was also one that looked like a mini pretzel, one that looked like a plastic muffin, and one that looked like, well, lady parts.

We then took a cat nap on the grass before heading back towards the hostel. On the way back over the bridge we happened to look over the railing down into the backyard of a deserted house. On a quick side note - there are tons of abandoned buildings here. I've honestly never seen such a sad desolate city. The house whose backyard was full of cats had an amazing view and yet was completely empty. Apparently I need to buy up some property here, open a B&B and rack in some easy cash!

But back to the cats. A quick count showed eight cats in various stages of sleeping, eating and wandering. One grey and white cat hadn't moved the entire time we'd been watching so we dropped a rock into the bush near it to see if it was dead. When the rock hit the bush it made a rustling sound that had four of the cats immediately on their feet ready to investigate in case the sound was made by a yummy bush bird. This became a game between us and the cats. As soon as they would investigate one bush, we would drop a rock in a bush a little ways behind them. They would spring into action and run towards the other bush. Eventually they wised up though and went back to sleep but it was well worth the 30 minutes of entertainment.

At this point you can probably tell that there isn't a TON of stuff to do in Porto. It's a pretty lazy town. I don't particularly mind simply because Madrid was so epic and crazy that I could use a few days of downtime. We headed back to the hostel to chill and research the best place to go out tonight. Turns out that the beach area has a little scene with a few good clubs that sounded promising.

Instead we decide to head to Coimbra tomorrow which is a university town halfway to Lisbon. Then the next day we would hit up Nazare (popular beach town) and Obidos (medieval town) on our way down to Lisbon where our next hostel was booked. It was at this point that another traveler told us that there is a massive festival in Obidos right now and if you pay like seven Euro you can go to the festival and rumor has it they GIVE you a costume to wear. That sounds incredible! This same traveler, Brendan, in general began talking with us and we were soon making plans to meet up with him and his friend down at the waterfront (Ribeira) for half-price drinks.

First we suited up for the rain that was falling heavily outside and went down the street to a churrascaria where we had frango (chicken), bife (duh), and vegetable soup. The chicken and steak was grilled to perfection and served a la carte on a platter. The waiter and the manager were adorable old toothless men and the food really was simple but delicious. And CHEAP yes!

From there we started walking toward the waterfront and by the time we got there I was soaked. So glad I sent my raincoat home! I was soaked to the bone and mildly miserable by the time we got to the bar where we met Brendan, his Brazilian friend, and Bjorn and Jacob, two Sweds that are on a walking pilgrimage. Apparently, you can go to a church and get a pilgrimage passport in order to stay for free in all church-owned hostels and hotels along the route for free. Ridiculous! We explained about Birthright in the U.S. and how hundreds of Jewish kids take advantage of that every year for an international party trip. We then continued on to how a major political discussion with the Sweds that was both idiotic and strangely deep.

Soon that bar was closing so we wandered down the street where we met Paulo. Pretty sure Paulo was a Portuguese drug dealer because he kept buying all of us drinks using a massive wad of cash. Hmm... He had also taken an interest in me so I eventually went outside to avoid him. Our group ended up outside as well where my friend was trying to convince Paulo to do a back-flip. My friend promised that he would help Paulo do the back-flip. I finally had to lure Paulo away to keep my friend and Bjorn from splitting Paulo head open. Bjorn managed to get so drunk that he kept falling off the wall backwards. I'm amazed no one died.

So late, we finally made it back to the hostel where I had to help my friend brush his teeth and get to bed because he'd had far too fun of a night. I was laughing to myself the whole time. He kept trying to escape from his bed so finally I had to stand over him to keep him from drunken wandering the hostel until I was triple sure he was asleep. Phew - another night down!

July 19, 2011

We woke up this morning to the maid hustling us from our beds because it was past check out time. Oops! We got our shit together and walked to the train station where we took the hour long train to Coimbra (11.50 Euro per person).

We arrived at our hostel, Sofia Chill House, which was a really really cool hostel. They don't have small rooms, usually you are in a room with 6-8 people but it felt very safe, the people that worked there and who were staying there were extremely friendly, and upon arrival you receive a pillow case, sheet, laundry bag and towel. Towel! The bathroom also had a hairdryer, shampoo, soap, etc. The only issues were that there is one shower (two bathrooms) and the lockers they give you aren't in great condition and someone with a mind to get into it probably could've.

My friend was still reeling from his massive hangover so he took a nap. We only had one night here so I decided to take full advantage of this time to wander the city. In standard fashion I began my ascent to the highest section of the city I could find (at the time I didn't know anything about Coimbra). Accidentally, I found myself standing in front of the Universidade de Coimbra which used to be a palace.

The university is housed in a building that was once the Alcacova Palace. The tour provides extremely little information about the history which was a shame. For about 8 Euro (student price) you got access to the tower, the chapel, a few of the original rooms, and the library. The view from the tower was pretty cool but not the best I've seen.

The chapel was standard and the rooms were a hoax because you couldn't even walk into them to really study the furniture, paintings, etc. The only thing that made the ticket price worth it was the library which was beautiful. The ceilings soar above you held up by wooden walls covered in painted gold motifs. Even the air feels rich. There are over 200,000 books lining the walls that are from the 16th, 17th and 18th century. The external walls of the library are over two meters thick and apparently at night the keeper covers all the tables and releases bats into the library to eat any insects that threaten these valuable treasures. I thought that was extremely interesting. Thankfully they also clean up after the bats before letting the tourists back in! The shelves are also made of oak to help in the fight against insects as well as it is a very hard wood to eat through and gives off an insect repellent smell. Regardless I could've spent hours in this library.

It was getting relatively late to I went back to the hostel to wake my friend before he slept through the entire experience. We decided that for dinner we would cook at the hostel so we went down the street to the market and purchased all the makings for beef stir fry. The hostel kitchen was bustling upon our return so we sat and chatted with all our new friends while we shared or waited for knifes, pans and free space the stove. The other inhabitants besides ourselves were Laura and Dom from Australia, Craig from New Zealand, Yuri for Slovakia, Nadine from Ireland and this Australian named Kurt.

I was slicing peppers next to Craig which resulted in a long conversation about the earthquake in Christchurch. He has been traveling ever since the quake since the city is pretty much destroyed and he doesn't have a lot to go back to. It was really sad! After dinner I hung out in the living room with Nadine, Yuri and Kurt. Yet again politics end up becoming the topic of conversation (note to self to start running in the opposite direction as soon as this happens next time).

Nadine, Yuri and I were having a pleasant, polite conversation when Kurt decided he had something to stay. Basically, he spent the next 20 minutes telling me how awful America is and how it should get its nose out of everyone else's business. It was a pretty heated speech that was clearly more emotional then it was factual. He even took it back to the two world wars and said that America never should've gotten involved in World War II. I pointed out that we didn't until we were bombed. He then said that Pearl Harbor isn't really America. Everyone in the room looked at him in disbelief as I calmly reminded him that Hawaii is indeed one of the 50 U.S. states and that hundreds of Americans died that day without any cause. Even then he didn't back down and continued to mention his stance on every single world issue the U.S. has been involved in since. It was funny looking back because its often the small town, ignorant Americans that give us a bad reputation abroad and yet this Australian was acting just like one. Ah, the irony. Regardless, my friend and I made an attempt to get the rest of the crowd out to the bars but none of us made it.