LON-done...

London. Lets see, what happened here. First off I almost didnt get let into this country. One of our closest allies, and I´m the one who gets shit. My friend Luke walks through customs and gives me a wave, as in I will see ya in a minute. Yeah, didnt happen. Thirty-five minutes later I´m still trying to explain to London customs that why im there is to see buckinghamm palace. Some reason he wanted to give me a hard time. This is how it went:

Golden Child: How are you today?
Dickhead: Good, Passport?

GC: No problem
DH: Where you coming from?

GC: Denmark
DH: How much money do you have on you?

GC: 70 kroner: 10 dollars
DH: Where are you staying? How much does that cost?

GC: Picadilly hostel, 20 pounds a night.
DH: So, your telling me you dont have enough to pay for your hostel?

GC: Have you heard of a Visa card?
DH: How much do you have in your bank?

GC: Enough.
DH: Can you show me a bank statement? Where do you work,and live?

GC: Why would I carry a document that said how much money I have? Sounds safe. Unemployed and homeless.
DH: DO you have your boarding ticket for your returning flight?

GC: No, everything is electronic nowadays.
DH: Hmm, Not looking to good for you. I want to let you in to this country, but let me go talk to my co-worker.



I could keep that going, but have decided its easier to sum the rest up here. Basically the guy returns with the ïts still not looking to good for you bud, shit smirk on his face, and says now you have to convince me why you want to come to London.

Holy fuck, this guy is a ass. All I want to do is kick him in his balls, take my passport back, write the queen a letter and tell her to flush her douche next time, and move on. Instead I tell the guy that I have just finished my education, and stepped down from work to travel the world to see the sites. London has a lot to offer that I would like to see. The changing of the guard, buckinghamm palace, Big Ben, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Jack the Ripper. Basically, I was shocked how much crap I was getting. His response was, ¨Your not that intellegent¨, Thanks I said, can you please explain.

DH: If I wanted to come to the states and see the pentagon I could do that in one day.
GC: Why would you go see the Pentagon? As I thought, shit if I was working customs and some foreign shit said im here to see the pentagon in one day, and then Im leaving, It would definitly raise a flag in the back of my head.

Dh: You need to be a bit more convincing than just telling me that you want to see tourist sites.
GC: In my head again. Why the fuck am I here? Okay, Im here with my friend to see him off and see the sites. Afterwards I am going to see my family in Spain for the holiday. I return home in January to start work, and pay off my student loans.

DH: Most people I know run from their debts.
GC: Americans don´t.

DH: What?
GC: I dont run from my debt. I have goals set and plan to follow them out.

DH: Allright. Your lucky Im doing this for you, but again your not that smart. What im going to do is blacklist you in London.
GC: And, what does that mean.

DH: You cant work or receive goverment funds for the next 6 months.
CG: Oh, thanks. In my head again, (What cant this guy get? Do I get paid in london to give them money to see their sites. Why would I want to work when I am on vacation?) But what did come out was, Sorry for being an inconvienance today.

DH: Oh, you werent.
GC: Have a good day.



My friend is now sitting outside looking at me like what the hell took so long, Ive been waiting here for ever. I told him the same story, and for the next day or so it was his laugh. Besides that, London was great. Everyone says that its pricey, but not if you know how to budget. First dont drink. I set out to see all the tourist stuff as you can see in all of the pictures. Again, I have much more, but this is what you get for now. The tower bridge, which is the last photo was one of my favorites. This is where the infamous Jack the Ripper roamed the grounds. It was also a place that took me forever to find. There was this great castle that is right next to it where all of the executions took place, and now is a huge financial district. With not much to see, but the dark side of things. I ended up spending about four days in London running around and taking photos, but had to take off when I heard that it was getting ready to snow. As of now all of Europe is covered with snow, and freezing. Dont come. Im still having a great time though, and now sitting on the straight of Gibraltar trying to make more stories.



Thanks for checking in.
Clarke

Lagging....

Well, lets see, where to start. First off sorry about not posting better pictures, but its kind of a pain in the ass doing it in a hotel lobby. Second, sorry for not updating this a bit more, but Europe is pretty small so theres been a lot of jumping around and not much time to sit down and find a computer. As of now I am finishing up my last day in Denmark, and let me just say I can't wait to go. Not that Denmark is a bad place, but its a bit cold, too expensive, and there really not much to see. My friend Luke and I even rented a car to go explore the rest of the country, but found nothing but farms and a bridge that cost us about 50 dollars to cross. Good story's did come from renting the car though, so ready here I go.



We get in the car ready to go explore some Viking shit for the first day, which everyone here has recomended and its only 20 minutes away. Pumped to go see some battle axes and other various viking things like boats, and maybe a Brett Farve helmut we arrive at the museam. Well, they had the boats, or better yet pieces of the boats arranged neatly on a much too expensive exibhit with nothing to show. What they did have is Viking clothing that made a good picture, but its on the other camera. Ill show you when I make my way through your town.

Back in the car we hit the road again not knowing what to expect at the next destination. We find out that we have to drive onto a boat and take a three hour tour across the Baltic sea, which was awesome. (Also did this on a train earlier in the week) After the cruise its decided that we just stay in the town thats closest to port cause the day is already running out. Upon arrival we find out that every hostel/ hotel is booked. What option is left? Urban camping! For those that dont know what that is, it means we slept in the car. A car that we parked in the woods. What happens when you sleep in the woods? You get freaked out. Stepping outside for a pee im quick to jump back in the car, and Luke ask if its cause its cold outside? Quick reply back, NO, its creepy out there something moved. He laughs and calls me a pussy. One hour later he has to pee, and is in and out of the car in less than a minute. Gets back in and says and agrees with my first thought.

Waking up freezing, we find out that day that the car has heated seats... Not knowing what to do we open our lonely planet to find out that a little place on the west coast of Denmark has a Water Park, well pool. Let me remind you that its anywhere between 20 and 30 degrees outside. Ofcourse, its the best idea in the world and we are on our way. One slide, wavepool, and a couple of diving boards = two fat old hairy guys buying two tickets and scaring the crap out of the local kids. Luke claims that I now own the speed record for the slide.

Out of the pool and towards the next hostel we go. Fun night full of beer and darts. Next day contains a trip to a viking fortress, which was awesome if it wasnt freezing outside. Ran around and took as many pictures as possible before my fingers went numb, but its crazy to walk through these places that existed over a 1000 years ago.

Last night was the best night though. Another small town with nothing to see except the next day was where we would sleep until we could wake up to go see the white bluffs of the east coast. We took the night easy, cooked food at the hostel and decided to watch the tv for a bit. In the middle of the night I see this person walk by the front window, and she comes by to knock at the door. I jump up to see what she wants and all she is doing is speaking in Danish. Oh, forgot to mention that she has blood coming from her left eye and her mouth. I tell her I cant understand what shes saying, and she ask if I speak English. Yes, and when I reply I notice that the blood isnt real, and now I start to wonder what the hell is going on. She keeps asking for a cell phone, and I just have to shut the door on her, because every horror film that I have ever seen is now running through my mind.

The next couple of hours were a bit uncomfortable, but here I am back in Copenhagen getting ready for my trip to London. Cant wait to make my way out there.

I should be on top of this a bit more in about a week. Dont count on it though, Im having way to much fun suckas.

Dont Cry for me Argentina

Well, well, well. Gotta say im sorry for not updating this in a bit, but what can I say? Europe is amazing, but ill have to talk about that in a bit. These pics all came from Argentina where Andrew left for home, but we made sure we had a good time before he left. Had three other friends down there as well that are all studying architecture so I was given a different perspective of the city.



To finish up my six weeks in South America I spent two weeks in Buenos Aires, which is a huge dense city with around 18 million people occupying it. Traveling with architects is pretty fun. There were no tour guides needed. Everyday they knew of a cool museum, or structure that we could go and check out that not to many people would ever visit.



Besides having fun there were a lot of things that you learn about when traveling in such a big city. The first thing is always use your head. A big city brings forth a lot of little problems for the tourist. Luckily nothing really happened to us, but here are some of the things that I now know to look for. On the Subte, or Subway, they pack you in like sardines and its common to have a couple of wondering fingers in your pockets. Never happened to me, but Andrew has a pretty good story where he was so packed in that you couldnt walk and all the sudden he has a hand in his pocket. Pissed off, he finally makes his way to turn around and confront the man, but cant really do any thing cause its so tight and just starts to belly bump the guy until he gets the message. You have to ask him about it the next time you see him, hilarious.



Scam 2: Bird Shit. Walking down to see these underground tunnels from something like 1714 a little lady comes up to us with tissues and saying, um, I think a bird shit on all of you. I look at my friends back and im like wow, you got covered. Then we check eachother out and it looks like a pigeon emptied a little bird septic tank across all three of our backs. Holy crap, how does a bird shit that much, and yet get all three of us. One second later, we figure that they dont, and my friend Jon remembers the scam. Dont let her touch you he says. We find out that its lotion that one of her degenerate friends has sprayed across all of our backs. We wipe it off our shoulders and rub it into our skin and thank the kind women. The scam involves getting the bird shit talk then they offer to wipe you off, and when doing so they swipe your wallet, or bag as soon as you go to remove it to take a look. I can laugh about it now, but just wanted to kick her in the shin at that moment.



Final days were spent powerless because of a water leak in the walls. Thank goodness Stella is cheap there. Rooftop sodas above the city made up for it. Spent about 2 days in the airport, but finally made my way to Europe. Have to get some photos up when I get the chance. Ill try to do it sooner than later, but who knows might find another interesting door to go through before I get back bloggage town.

Peru, Cusco that is...

One weeks time simply wasn't enough to see everything the small town of Cusco had to offer. I stayed in the Pariwana Hostel, which I highly recommend if anyone is making their way to Cusco. My first couple of days were spent adjusting to the altitude. Arriving from sea level to 10,000-15,000 feet requires rest. The first day at about 13,500ft involved pounding headaches and stomach pains. The only thing that took these pains away would be the pressurized cabin of an airplane, which I will be seeing a lot of. After adjusting to the altitude, and not knowing what Cusco had to offer, the first day was spent wandering obliviously around the town trying to grasp my surroundings stumbling upon church after church, connected by beautiful plazas.



Each turn throughout the city was greeted with "Amigo, Al Paca this, Al Paca that" Of course I was suckered into making a purchase and then continued to see the city. Surprisingly everyone spoke english, but when put into a situation where no one did speak English I was given the responsibility. Lot of fun, but I still prefer my English over my Spanish. Over the next few days I would spend my time dodging Spanish speaking areas, and stuck up a conversation with the first blonde girl I would see. Rather happy that I did because she had the motivation to leave the hostel everyday. The week was planned to hang out with her group of European friends after playing a game of 38 person flipcup.



Rising from the nights slumber the days plan was to head to the local market after a warm cup of coffee. Jeff, new friend Ashley, and I were the only three to embark on this days journey. Jeff got me super excited telling me that Anthony Bourdain had visited this very place that we were going to eat. Upon arrival of the place that Jeff was talking about we noticed its location. It happened to be right next to the butcher aisle, which made the stomach turn from the sites and smells of peeled cow heads, moist livers, swollen cow testicles, goat things, and various pig parts etc. We ended up a few rows down from Anthony's spot that day, but still left with a smile on the face.



After the final sip of "Leche de Tigre" I hear "I want Quail eggs come out of the mouth from my new friend. Jeff concurs, and I'm fucking disgusted. Set off to find the Quail man, and now hes no where to be found. I dont care at the moment, and frankly im happy, but Jeff and Ashley are determined to eat their quail nuggets. Jeff steps up and says he will try to order some in spanish from a vendor. Quatro Quail heuvos? The vender returns with four packets of raw eggs that we now have to explain that we only wanted four single eggs. After settling for one pack Ashley ask "How are we going to cook em?" Jeff says that you just eat em raw, and now Ashley is disgusted. Ashley still on the hunt sends us deeper into the city. Things get denser by the second and backpacker by backpacker all seem to vanish. We take one more corner and Bam! Quail city, 3 vendors wheeling around their stupid egg carts. Fuck, I do have to do it runs through my mind.



Walking back to the Hostel with Quail embryo stuck to my teeth I can say that I am happy for my second day out of the hostel. After another night of nothingness I awake for the sacred valley tour. A trek that would include three ruins that surround the city. I really didnt know what to expect from this journey except for the fact that I was going to see green hills with intricate rocks constructed throughout them. There was a lot more to it then that. Each ruin was constructed in a way so that every piece of land would be used for Living, education, and agriculture. You have to go and here the stories, amazing.



One of my best days in Cusco is a day that no one would join me with except for Jeff, and thats cause this day was his idea. Cusco bungee, the highest in all South America and #4 in the world. The jump is set in the hills of city and I am nervous as we drive to our decent. Ill go first, jump on the scale then strap up, and away I go. The guy is trying to calm your nerves and ask if I have done this before, I say yes, and he replies how high? 30 meters, how many is this? 122. Didn't really help to much with my nerves, but then 3-2-1 bungee and I jump. Its a feeling that I don't really know how to describe with words, but after my feet touch back to the ground I'm off running in circles and laughing like a little kid. Definitely doing bungee again.




Machu Picchu was everything I built it up to be. Lucky enough to arrive early we were allowed to climb Wayna Pichu which allows a birds eye view of the famous Inca ruin. The trek is about an hour up and an hour down. The view from the top is worth it. Clouds rising from the valleys make the moment feel surreal until the moment that I remember that I dont do so good with heights kicks back in. Sitting back down to view the sights I struggle with ways to comprehend what I am seeing and how I will be able to explain it to everyone. Strange enough I can't. My camera struggles to capture the view that I want to show everyone when I return, and even if I did have that picture I dont think I could come up with 1 of the 1000 words that, that, picture would be worth.




All in all, the trip was great and I am happy to have that stamp in the passport. More to see though so I believe that it should pop up on my futures itinerary. As of know I have made it back to Buenos Aires to explore a little bit more. More stories to come, but their not gonna happen if I keep sitting on this computer. Maybe try to go and shoot archery at the bar again, who knows.



Thanks for lookin'
-C-

So the thing about traveling is...

Once you arrive to your destination travel is great. Its the inbetween stuff that sucks. The photo is of me running on about 32 minutes of sleep during my travels. As of now I am staying in Cusco, Peru, which is a great place, but getting here was hell. I booked a ticket with a south american airline which involved about 17 hours in the airports each way. My first night was spent in the Bolivian airport where I found out that I would have to purchase a Visa to enter the country. Something the booking agent didnt tell me about.



Long story short I paid about $150 dollars for a first class bed/chair to stare at this mountain. The closest hotel was about an hour away, and from the looks of the airplane I thought it would be wise just to stay put. 5am and the airport is functining again. Only four more hours until my flight leaves. All I wanted to do is sleep on the flight, but as soon as the plane was in the air I peeked out the window only to see the Andes. I didnt even want to blink and miss a minute of this unexplored landscape. The Excitment took over and now that im settled everything is how it should be. Good coffee, good beds, good people, and amazing geography. So excited to use my tickets to Macchu Picchu. I will be putting up photos of Peru soon.


-C-

This little piggy went to the....

What iv'e learned early on in my travels is that every individual will have a different perspective to view each situation. It all depends how you approach certain things. I'm used to having everything prepared, and yes taken care of for me, via restaurants, but sometimes the excitement of something different takes over any view that you will ever have. Andrew and i were invited to Diego's birthday the other day and this is how every birthday should be celebrated!


Diego is one of Mar Del Plata's local surfers so it was only right that his birthday celebration included the local lineup. What Andrew and I did not know is that the feast that they were to cook was one that we could never produce. Diego was in charge of the grill, but after the hard work that the process calls for I think there was a reason for his duties.


It's a long process, as was the night, but for a short story here I go. The whole process begins with the wood. There are different densities for different types of cooking. Each grill, or Parilla as it is locally known, is credited for how they prep their parilla. The wood is burnt into a hot coal until the pig/meat can be put on the grill.


When the coals are hot the parilla is lowered towered its final decent for the night. Snacks and Beer are easily at hand, and the jokes have already started. English/Spanish it doesn't matter everyone knows that they are there to celebrate a birthday and to have a good time.


Everyone also knows that the pig and other items have been lowered toward the parilla and the coals are hot. Not only does the smell take over the house, but the coals from the grill light the house like a good fire should. Vacio, Asado, Blood Sausage, and Chorizo to make every fat kid sing.


Many laughs later the pig is finally flipped signaling everyone to go and sit down at the table. Eager to take more photos of the whole process you really start to learn that this is how somebody should be celebrated. Not through gifts, but through friends and good times. The whole process was something that was simply great to be a part of. Nothing but smiles and good times, for the rest of my trip that is.


Thanks,
-C-

Day by day...

Things keep getting better day by day. Right down the street there are three or four coffee shops that amaze you every time you get to have a cup.








After a cup, or two the daily adventure starts. Usually a good day consist of going to the beach and convincing yourself that the waves are good enough for the 45 degree water, but thats were the coffee helps. Returning from the beach there really isnt much to do, but thats why vacations are nice. As you can see the city landscape is quite dense with plenty to go see.








The food here is simply amazing. Everyone talks about how good the steak is, but what they dont know is how good everything else is. The italians had a major influence towards the local cuisine. The pasta is all hand made with fresh vegetables and cheeses.










When I'm not eating I'm exploring. So much to see. The town is very old with a lot of history. Much of it I dont understand, because most of the history has been explained is in Spanish, but you make what you can of it. Though it sounds as I am growing cultured I still have a TV to turn into and make sure that I can watch my football and keep some of my American ways.










Had to show the last photo is of the gym that we work out underneath. Well, thats about it for now. Thanks for tuning in.





-C-