Athens tomorrow!

Near the last leg of my travels! Booo. I'm headin' out to Athens tomorrow for the long holiday weekend with my roommate Ryan who is from SF and Michael who is visiting from Sydney. I hope the 90 degree weather stays and I can relax on some Greek beaches. The trip was expensive, but how can you put a price on 3000+ years of history!? Hasta ppl!

Stockholm tomorrow!

Off to Stockholm tomorrow! I have to wake up at 4am to make my 7:15am flight! gnite!

Knickerbocker Glory

Caitlin was in town this week and on Monday we ate at the Bridge Bar and Grill near the office. It was a nice dinner and I was glad to finally see a familiar face from MTV. After dinner we ordered a dessert called the Knickerbocker Glory. We had no idea what was in it, and didn't want to know, but Caitlin ordered it cuz the name was awesome! I ordered it for us and the waiter laughed. So we knew something good was coming! Turned out it was a sundae with raspberry puree at the bottom, then vanilla ice cream, then a layer of gelatin (similar to the pearls in boba), then a layer of chocolate ice cream, then some melon fruit topped with whipped cream and a cherry on top. We finished it.

Munich

We've landed! Par-tay in the airport!

Munich

Looking down onto Marienplatz

Back from Munich last weekend. With so much beer drinking there, it was 2 rough nights! I left with my coworkers Yvonne and Anja. Though I only saw them briefly on the trip, it was nice to travel with someone for once! We landed in the evening and took the S-baun into town. They were meeting a friend for the weekend, and I was just there to enjoy the city. They pointed me in the direction of my hostel and off I went again!

I stayed at the Euro Youth Hostel in an 18 bed room! I was skeptical doing this at first, but I figured I'd meet a lot of people this way, and I did! Right after I checked in, I met a lot of Canadians in the room, a few Americans and 2 traveling Koreans. The beds were clean and so was the room, so not that bad. That night it was too late to try to explore the city, so I stayed in the hostel bar all night! It was prolly the best idea ever because Jagermeister had a promotion and a group of promoters came and started serving everyone free shots of Jager! I ended up taking 5 that night before they headed out. I also met 2 other Americans named Graham and Anne who were traveling for 3 weeks after graduating from college in Chicago. I ended up hanging with them the following night as well, but I'll get to that soon! After many rounds of Augustiner beer, one of Germany's most popular, I had to call it a night, but only after getting a ham and cheese sandwich for 2 EUR from the bar! Mmmmm

The next day I woke at 9:30am only to realize the walking tour of the city started at 10am, so I rushed to shower and was in the lobby before 10am. The next 4 hours I saw Munich. I met an American girl named Iyellit who was from NY and was there traveling abroad for a few weeks. She became my walking buddy. Our group met at the Marienplatz which is just a large square with lots of shopping all around. We watched the Glockenspiel which was like an over-sized wind up musical which you'd see in a snow globe or something. It was just awful, but it supposedly depicts a medieval dance and the wedding of Duke William V and Renata von Lothringen (I had to look this up). After, we walked around and saw the Residenz, Hofbrauhaus, Odeonsplatz and of course the beautiful English Garden where I met up with Yvonne finally!

Nymphenburg Gardens

Yvonne invited me along with her friends to see the Nymphenburg gardens which were beautiful too! I think Germans love their gardens and drinking in them. I was more keen on the food! It was hilarious to order food the first time. During our tour we broke for lunch and everyone had recommended eating leberkaese which literally translates into "liver cheese"! It is similar to a meatloaf sandwich I guess. Most Germans speak English, but the place I went to the ladies didn't speak a lick. With much pointing and smiling, I managed to order my liver cheese sandwich and of course a bratwurst which they understood just fine! I loaded up on the mustard and proceeded to stuff my face! MmmmMmmmmm!

HAHA Forever 18???

I returned to the hostel for a quick rest then made my way out to par-tay! I went with the friends I met at the hostel to Marienplatz again. This time the square was packed with people wearing red because Munich had just won the national football title over Berlin that night! Woohoo! We stood for almost 2 hours, sober, waiting to see these football guys flash their trophies. Cool I guess, hahaha! Finally Anne, Graham and I broke off from the others because we wanted to get food and beer at the Hofbrauhaus. This is a renowned drinking hall in Munich and just insane once you walk inside. There are big wooden benches throughout this large building and you just find a seat, then hail a waitress and they serve you as much sausage and beer as you want! Oh, and the beer only came in 1 liter glasses too. Pretty awesome! While working on my 2nd liter, I had to use the toilet. I walked in and to the left were 2 big rooms each filled with about 15 urinals and to my right was a large metal sink with a faucet hovering above it. As our walking tour guide mentioned before, this was the throw up sink, not to be confused with the regular sinks that were straight ahead. I have to say, this was the coolest bathroom I had been in in a long time!

We were finally kicked out of the Hofbrauhaus since it closed at 12am. Then we made our way to this spanish bar where a local had told us about. We actually saw our hostel bartender there, so we knew it was a good local hangout ;) After a drink there, we headed back to the hostel bar to finish the night with a few Augustiners and of course more 2 EUR ham and cheese's!

The next morning I roamed around until I had to leave for the airport in the afternoon. Danke schön Munich!

ein bier bitte!

Off to Munich today! Will be traveling with my coworker Yvonne and her friend. We'll meet up in Munich for some biers for sure. One hour left before I leave, can't wait!

I miss you Cali weather!

I open up my iGoogle everyday and I have the weather posted front and center. All I see are big sun pics across the board! Someone play hooky and walk into work the next day with a tan for me!

Edinburgh, on my Jack Jones!

Edinburgh Castle!

Mel Gibson was in town

Greyfriars Bobby

Looking over new town from Edinburgh Castle

The Royal Mile

Back from Edinburgh! I loved this city! Just like everyone had told, I had a lot of fun on this trip, even though I went alone! I arrived at the Edinburgh airport in the late afternoon and took the bus to the city center. Super easy! The double decker blue bus #100 runs every 10 minutes. It was about a 30 minute bus ride into the city center and I was in awe by the city itself, mostly by the sight of Edinburgh Castle once it came into view! A huge castle atop a hill right in the middle of the city! So awesome! haha

I made my way to my hostel called Smart City Hostels which was only a block from the Royal Mile, where most of the tourist stuff took place. I decided to pay a little extra and stay in a 4 bed room. My last stay at the 20 bed room in Belfast was pretty rough. This time there were only 2 other people in the room and we all shared our own bathroom and shower. It was a lot cleaner. Anyway, I unpacked what I wanted and headed out.

Soo awesome! Lots of cool architecture throughout the city! Though everything seemed modern I didn't see any new high rise structures like you'd see in other cities. Everything looked as if it were there for 100s of years! I thought it was pretty cool. I ended up walking around the Royal Mile and Princes Street where there was tons of shopping, but I wasn't really there to do that. I was recommended to do a ghost tour, so that evening I joined one. It was quiet interesting and soooorta spooky once we were taken to the city's underground vaults and they turned off the lights. I took a lot of random pics in the dark because of the stories our guide was telling us about. We were all hoping to get something paranormal in our pics, but I got nothing haha! I met an American on the tour that night and we ended up getting a few drinks at a bar called Maggie Dickson's. After we parted I called it a night fairly early. When I went back to my hostel, someone was sleeping in my bed! It was ok though. There were still 2 other beds open, so I just took another. Sorta random though!

The next day I took a 3 hour walking tour recommended by the American I had met. I learned a lot of Scottish history and though the tour itself was mostly Americans (at least from what I heard them speaking), it was still very interesting! After the tour I finally saw Edinburgh Castle! Pretty damn big! Right after I got in though, thunder struck and then it started to pour rain even though the weather up til then had been amazing. I finished up doing all the touristy castle stuff and headed out in the rain. I ran to a couple souvenir shops to get junk and went back to the hostel until the rain subsided a little. Once there was a break in the weather, I got dinner at The Filling Station which reminded me of a Chili's in California. Sorta sucked, but it was okay since I was eating alone. After that the night began!

My last night I just bar hopped, trying to meet people. I walked along Rose Street, near the shopping area on Princes/George Street. The first bar, called The Black Rose, was a sorta hipster crowd. Not my type. I grabbed a beer and left. It started to pour rain, so after walking around George Street I ran into the nearest bar I could find. I don't remember what it was called, but everyone was sitting at tables so it was hard to meet people at the bar. I grabbed a beer and left. Finally I decided to just walk back to the Grassmarket area I was in the night before. I went to a bar called The Last Drop where I met a couple of English guys who were in Edinburgh for a stag party (aka a bachelor's party). They were great guys and started bombarding me with American entertainment that they knew, and I couldn't keep up! The Sopranos, Rocky, Bruce Willis, Lost, Cowboys (NFL), Seinfeld... it was like a ping pong ball in their heads haha! Nonetheless, they were fun and I spent a few more hours with them. They would tell people I was "on my Jack Jones" meaning "on my own." Basically because it rhymed. You can check out the pics from that night on my Google Photos.

I called it quits before it got really late since I had to wake up pretty early to catch my flight. When I returned, I was the only person in the room which was nice! The next day I grabbed the #100 bus to the airport and I was out! So long Edinburgh!

Off to Edinburgh!

I'm out this weekend to Edinburgh! Goodbye whiskey, hello scotch! Everyone keeps saying I'm gonna have a blast here, so I hope I do! I'll be traveling alone this time, but I'm sure I'll make some friends at the hostel. Slán!

Mexican Food!

I finally got some Mexican food the other night! I have been missing eating good Mexican food since I arrived here. I actually got a big burrito as one of my final meals before I left for Ireland! Though I was skeptical about eating Mexican food in Ireland, it turned out to be pretty decent. I ate at Acapulco. I ordered a burrito cuz I was looking forward to stuffing my face with big bites, but it came on a plate covered in "salsa" and I had to eat it with a fork and knife. Oh well, still good. I also miss good sushi.

London

Johnny and I jumping with Big Ben!

My fish and chips

The London Eye. Pretty high up!

Tower Bridge. We couldn't walk anymore by the time we got here.

The Rosetta Stone at the British Museum. Neato!

The final leg of our trip was in London! What an amazing place! It's was like the NYC of Europe. So modern, lots of nice cars, and everyone is always dressed up! The trains were easy to use going to our hotel. Johnny, again, hooked it up with a nice hotel at the Park Lane Sheraton! We checked in asked the concierge were a nice place to eat and grab a drink were. He mention Shepherd street behind the hotel which had nice restaurants and he also told us to check out the bar/club called Funky Buddha in the Berkeley Square. We ate at a place called Sofra which was a Turkish/Mediterranean cuisine. It was really good! And for only £10 you got dinner and a glass of the house wine. I was satisfied. Then we went off to find this Funky Buddha.

It was Thursday night when we were going out, so when we got to the line at Funky Buddha they said to Edwin that they normally don't let people in unless they wear a collared shirt. Edwin was wearing a sweater. That should have been the hint that this placed sucked already! Buuuut, the concierge recommended it and we had no idea where else to go, so we paid the £15 cover (!) and went in. This place sucked. There was prolly just as much security watching the reserved seats as there were people in this place. Whatever, we'll get a drink and bounce right? Edwin got first round. We ordered 3 vodka tonics for the price of £32! WTF! hahaha! I couldn't stop laughing as we drank! You needed a sugar daddy to enjoy this bar and Edwin was fitting the role! We finished and left. We walked around Piccadilly Circus that night which reminded me of Times Square in NYC. We crashed after that.

The next day we did it all! Wellington Arch, Buckingham Palace, changing of the guards, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, London Bridge, Tower Bridge and the British Museum! OH and got some fish and chips along the way. Wow my feet hurt! We took the train back and got ready to hit up the night, this time with better bar recommendations by Johnny's coworker who's from London. We went downstairs and noticed the same concierge working. We really wanted to walk up to him and slap him around a bit for his bar recommendations last night, but we didn't haha! We headed out to the Covent Gardens area and eventually found a fun bar/club called The Verve. We spent the night there enjoying our last night in London! Our £'s went a lot further at this place! hehe.

The next morning we had some time to kill before our flight so we hit up Harrod's which is an incredibly large department store selling practically everything, including raw meats! We finished using the rest of our £'s and took the train to the airport. What an amazing time the last 5 days have been! I was exhausted, but I still wanted to see more! I hope to visit Holland and definitely London again soon! Traveling with friends also made it more exciting!

One last night in Dublin and Johnny and Edwin were off! See you guys in July!

Amsterdam

Just as many boats as there are cars!

Me and the Queen?!

Queen's Day! Most of the canals looked like this with party boats and Heineken flowing. Oh, and the streets were our garbage can. Perfect.

Beautiful evening in Amsterdam

Ahh finally out of Ireland! We landed in Amsterdam Tuesday evening and made our way to the city central. The train system took us a while to figure out, but of course we managed. Johnny hooked it up with the hotel and we stayed at the Hotel Pulitzer which was super nice. Rooms were a bit small, but I think that's a trend in Europe, no matter! When we were checking in the hotel staff asked us if we were there for Queen's Day. Queen's Day? What's that!? We had no idea we arrived for the largest city party ever! The Dutch love their Queen and every April 30th they celebrate the her. The party starts the night before, which is of course when we arrived! During Queen's night the bars stay open all night and throughout the following day! Crazy!
We first met up with a couple of Johnny's friends and had some sushi with them. It was delicious. Then we were off to enjoy the night! Heineken was only 2 EUR! The cheapest beer I've found in Europe so far! Eventually I had to take pictures of street signs just to remember where hell we were! There are so many canals in Amsterdam and after a while they all look the same!

I fell asleep hearing people partying. I woke the next day from hearing people partying! Jeez. On Queen's Day, there is also an open "free market" where basically anyone can sell anything they want. Most was junk, but I took a few pics of it. Again, we got more cheap Heineken and enjoyed the day! Ate a lot of random stuff I couldn't pronounce... but I got plenty pictures of everything I ate! We came back for a power nap, but I was so beat from walking around the city all day that Edwin and Johnny nearly had to pull me out the door to enjoy the night. We hit up the Red Light district which was quite interesting to say the least. I snagged a few pics during the day when everyone was partying and lots of tourists were doing the same, but at night I didn't even want to try.

We came back and I crashed fast! Woke up, ate at a cafe (not a coffeeshop, big difference!), then we headed out to London! It sorta sucked that we couldn't do all the touristy stuff in Amsterdam since everything was closed for Queen's Day, but then again, I'll never experience a city party like that ever again. Well, until I return next April 30th!

Johnny and Edwin in Dublin

Wow finally back after taking most of last week off to travel with Johnny and Edwin to Amsterdam and London! We had a blast! I'll write more about those places later, but the weekend before we left, Johnny and Edwin stayed in Dublin. I saved a couple touristy things for them including the Guiness and Jameson factory tours. When they arrived Friday, I wanted to take them to Cafe en Seine that night. I've been there 4 times already, including the two times I went back in January. It's one of Dublin's largest pubs and they play pretty good hip hop inside as well! When we arrived and got in line, the bouncer asked me if it was just me or all of us. I said all 3 of us, then he pointed to the sidewalk! I asked why but he shook his head and kept saying no you can't come in. I was baffled! I stood there and argued for a minute, but he had none of it and continued to point to the sidewalk. So we left and walked right next door to another bar. I don't know the name of the second bar, but we just wanted to have a Guiness already! I walked inside first, then Johnny followed in as well. When we looked back, Edwin was gone! He came in a minute later, but apparently the bouncer at this bar stopped him and carded him! IN DUBLIN! Hahaha! Let's remember that the legal drinking age in Dublin is 18, therefore the bouncer thought he was 17 or younger! No wonder we didn't get into Cafe en Seine! Many bars in Dublin require you to be 21 or 23 and up because they don't want all the young riff-raft! Though Edwin is 24, bouncers in Dublin will just look at you and decide if you're old enough or not. Poor Edwin. It became a common occurrence the rest of the trip for Edwin to get carded. We eventually finished the night off at a really bad club called Copper Face Jacks. Nothing to say about that.

The next day we did the Guiness factory tour. It was fun and eventful and we got a beer with our ticket. Johnny and I took a few extra free "tastes" as well. Sunday we did the Jameson "factory" tour. It's not the real factory but the old Jameson factory, so it sorta sucked because no whiskey was actually made there. Johnny got picked to do the whiskey tasting though! The tour was pretty weak, but I enjoyed the company of my friends!

The night before Amsterdam we ate at FXB Steakhouse which was recommended by another Googler. My roommate, Ryan, came as well. My fillet was delicious! I'll be returning to there soon!