Bay Area, California, US

It is a bit weird knowing that I will be in one place for a while. That being said, the place is good. Found a tight spot in San Francisco that is a easy non-driving commute down to the Palo Alto. Touched base with some of the best people in the world who, coincidently live within the Bay Area. I got into the business classes I wanted to take and will be working again in a world class lab doing cutting edge research. Been a strange journey, but here I am in one piece and enjoying my forward momentum.

Nothing was stolen, I didn't get mugged and the worst that happened was that I missed a train or two. I am still processing the whole journey, but here are a few things I did learn. The world isn't that big of a place. People all over have the same motivations and fundamentally care about the same things, they just do things a little differently. And no matter what complexities, troubles and stresses that I find my way into the planet still rotates. Old folks are still chilling at the town square of Estramoz, the clubs in Taipei are still bumping and folks are still dodging taxis in Cairo. So I saw a little of what is out there, time for me to take that and do my best to make the world a little better. And if I can't pull it, I'll push it along.

My heartfelt gratititude goes out to Soness, Albert, Ben, Rio, Eric, Summer, Angel, Joe, Dan, ITRI, Carole, Martin, Angela, Leah, Arthur, Nasta, Saad, Wayne, Afy, Farah, Pavel, Paul, Jenia, Meriam, Francios, Zarina, Shara, Angelo, Noelle, Dario, Leah, Josh, Jeff, Calvin, Jeannie, my family and other friends and strangers who gave me a little help and hospitality when I was out on the road. Not only this trip not been possible without you, it wouldn't have been worth it.

So who is coming along on my next trip?

Houston/Austin, Texas, US

I don't think many people think of Houston as a modern city, but this place wouldn't exist without the twentieth century inventions of the automobile, the air conditioner and inexpensive energy. Once the oil booms and the highways that came about those arrived this place started growing. And when indoor climate control became ubiquitous this town exploded. Houston historically has had little to no zoning. This is a place built by profiteers and designed by engineers. One could call it ugly, but that misses the point. We get other things out of this city then aesthetics.

Houston is one of the most egalitarian places I can think of. You have anything you want or be anyone you want, just got to have the money. And if you don't have that you can still kick it and have a good time being yourself. Lots of immigrants here. There is an African music store down the street from a good place to get pupusas and my favorite Italian/Argentinean restaurant. No joke, I took an around the world trip and I couldn't wait to get home to get some international food.

And while other cities of 4 million plus get huge hype machines about their art and music scenes, one could have a sparkling personality and be talented and no one will care. No corporate money, no big galleries looking for new talent, no music industry reps looking for the next new old thing. So if you do art and music here and do it well it is just off blood, sweat and love. We have some talented folks here n the underground and those that decide to leave and do it full time somewhere else have a tendency to do well.

So why do people live here? Because it is comfortable. Living cheap and easy amongst unpretentious folk that care is something that can't be done just anywhere. Coming back has been good and I have been getting hugs, eating meals and hanging out with some of my favorite people. And while trying to get home late at night riding dirty switching 6 lanes on 610 to get to i-10, I can't help but getting reflective. I left here because things were so comfortable, which isn't the worst way to live. While I am glad I don't live here any more, this was a great place to live.

London, United Kingdom

This was a great last stop out in the world. I got into Luton which was a pain in the ass to get into London proper from. But I met up with my hosts and then dinner and the Mighty Boosh followed. British humor is quite strange at times, but mostly hilarious. Was exhausted from all the traveling, but did hit up the Tate Modern. What a fantastic museum and I like how they juxtapose pieces together. Had some fish and chips with vinegar and then did some window shopping. My bag at this point required me to sit on it to close, so I didn’t buy much. Dinner and drinks were had at a Belgian pub and then we went out to Ministry of Sound where my host dropped a drum and bass set in the medium sized room for a party the pirate radio station he spins at was throwing. The scene in London was just a silly as the scene in Houston was, just bigger.

An old friend made me waffles the next morning and it was cool to hang out in her neighborhood. London is an amalgamation of little villages and while it is a sprawling cosmopolitan metropolis, it hold some of that little town feel. Of the first tier cities I have visited, this would be the best place to raise some babies. Watched some more Mighty Boosh and then went to the pubs.

My non-DJ host is studying fashion and we had to check out a sample sale. I rock a T-shirt and jeans where ever I go and perhaps that is my lasting legacy to fashion. But I did get a $250 pair jeans for a mere 25 quid. No, these aren’t Bugle Boys… These be Maharishis thank you. I saw an old high school friend of mine who is doing well. He actually is raising babies in London and it made me smile to see him again. Grilled cheese sandwiches and then we went to another drum and bass night at Herbal which had some nice tunes played. Had a full on English breakfast, heart disease be damned, and then off to Heathrow excited to be back into my life again.

Paris, France

I like showing off my neighborhood. If someone visited me in Houston, I’d show the best spot to get a Vietnamese sandwich, a good dive bar to get a Lone Star and the one of the best private collection of modern art in the world which also happens to be right next to my favorite place to throw a Frisbee. My friends in Paris did the same, except their neighborhood has fancy cheese shops, the only spot in the city where there are houses and the Arc de Triumph. And with a proper set of folks a grand time can be had in either place.

People claim Parisians are rude. I disagree. I think they are over polite. Every interaction I had in France had a salutation and a parting. For example if you walk into that fancy cheese shop and just blurt out you want a kilo of gouda without the prerequisite “bon jour”, you might get a little sauce with that cheese. And this is a big city. People hustle to do their thing and if you do not need to be apart of that person’s world, you are not. And the dazed looks on the worker bees’ faces at 8pm when I am just heading out for a drink and they are heading home are the same as the expressions of the drones of New York, Tokyo or Bangkok. What I did find strange was this was the only place where if I asked for help in pronunciation or the right word, I didn’t get cooperation. French is something an outsider has to learn the hard way.

The food here is a way of life. I think a problem with American cuisine is that people just don’t have a strong connection with their food. We don’t even know what our food tastes like. Iceberg lettuce, ketchup and the taste of fried are flavors (or lack of) that I associate with traditional American food. There is history, protocol and custom with the food here. And the tastes and nutrients are balanced and cover the palette. And the wine is tasty and cheap. Ok, I am getting hungry thinking about it.

Brussels, Belgium

When traveling with people, the experience is always colored by the folks I roll with. My host from London came into Brussels for the weekend. They came for the beer. Belgian ales are good drinking. The Delirium cafe (associated with Delirium Tremens) has at least 2004 beers in stock. I like my beer and all, but a few 10% ABV brews… sometimes the color of the experience is hazy. It wasn’t just all about beer. Belgium is also known for chocolate and French fries. Combine them all and you have the trinity of smiles… or was it tummyaches?

I stayed in central Brussels which is mostly a business/tourist area. The Grand Place is pretty grand and at night the light show is a technicolor sight. Brussels is the administrative center of the EU. Did someone say fat cats hemorrhaging tax payer money? Not me. I was busy checking out the Museum of Musical Instruments. There one can look at all these old instruments and in the wireless headphones provided, get to listen to compositions with those instruments when you get close. Did I dork out over the early electronic instruments? Yes. Yes, I did.

In my travels I have seen some pretty ridiculous and large buildings, but the most ludicrous structure I have seen was the Atomium. In the 1950s a group of very powerful Belgian men sat around a table and said, yes, let’s build a 100 meter tall shiny model of an Iron crystal. Now, there is nothing that get’s outdated quicker then something that is supposed to look like it is from the future, but this building still has charm and wow value. If I had the power to do so, I wouldn’t have just renovated the building. I would have put it on a rotating foundation and make it a combination of a megaclub and the biggest disco ball of all time. Dreams… dreams make life worth living.

Maastrict, Netherlands

This is a small town where 13th century town walls and just a stones throw from modern glass and brick constructions. A few bridges, some great, some whack, integrate the town over the river that flows down from Rotterdam. It is probably most famous for the 1992 Maastrict treaty was signed which was instrumental to the little construction known as the European Union. But I didn’t know about all that when I got here. Hey, I just drink here.

My host in Maastrict was a tall female Dutch medical student. So. Perhaps unsurprisingly I spent the couple of days dining, drinking and dancing with tall female Dutch medical students. Yes, I know. It is hard being me.

This is a university town and there are plenty of schools here, enough that one could call it a college town. Summer has cafes and bars open in plazas, but winter is bar hopping and ending up in clubs that are enjoyable only after the prerequisite amount of inebriation. But one cannot be drunk enough to something to cause the cell phones to blow up Saturday afternoon with gossip. It is after all a very fine balance.

I had a couple of Dutch meals, drank Dutch beer and even rode a Dutch bike with a Dutch girl on the rear luggage rack. It was a good experience and if I only had working knowledge of the Dutch language and was born in the Netherlands, I’d be a total Dutchman. Instead, I’ll just settle for being a drunk brown man.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

The circulation in the city is based on modes of transportation I am just not used to. Cars, feet, trams, buses, boats and bikes can be used to get from point A to point B in this city. Those reddish sidewalks that bikers angrily ring their little ringers at me when I stubble on them are dedicated bike paths; not lanes for confused tourists. And these paths make sense when one looks at the bikes. These are heavy, single gear old school gliders that go at a pace somewhere between a stroll and mosey, not fast road bikes or mountain bikes with front shock forks. These are bikes meant for a pleasant ride. All uncharted territory for me since riding a bike in Houston while possible, I wouldn't want my last act on this Earth to be a speed bump for a Hummer.

Amsterdam is an odd mix of sensibility of decadence. The coffee shops here serve a mediocre cup of joe and soft drugs. Eastern European, Asian and African women stand behind doors lit by red and UV light. And African men stand on corners asking with a quick word if you would like something more scandalous. And then a few minutes walk away is some of the best museums in the world, shops full of the latest design and art books, and kids playing schools set in plots of mixed used com temporary architecture. There has been a Royal Architect for the last 200 years. The problems of space and use have been thought through and planned around.

The society here is progressive. I can't think of too many places where the science museum has a display of sexual positions demonstrated by wooden figures. The kids that peeked into the exhibit found the whole thing, and I quote, "gross". That being said, I don't think jackassery is tolerated here. Other then the tourists here with the Cannabis Cup badges proudly around their necks, people seem to have their head on strait.

Spent my time looking at art while I was here. There was a Kate Moss photo exhibit which I thought was kinda silly, but there were still other some amazing prints at FOAM. The Van Gough museum proved that impressionist painting is just not my favorite. It was amusing to hear the Dutch take deep morality questioning breaths while watching a Taiwanese art documentary about betelnut beauties. The Maritime museum has some impressive boats and I even crashed the Ship Repair and Conversion 2006 exposition. Not really my cup of tea, but there was a cool X-ray fluorescence system used to monitor ship engine fluids. Chemical Engineering, yo. And used the thought framework to better understand the batch bioenginering processes displayed at the Heineken Experience. Made the beer taste better, I swear.

Geneva, Switzerland

I was picked up from the airport which set the tone. It was really pleasant not having to deal with all the variables required to navigate into a new city. We had and espresso and I took a walk about the town. I am still having trouble wrapping my mind around how old European cities are. A nap was followed by Mexican food. Is mole influenced by French cuisine good? Yes, but I am still fiending for a burrito from that joint across the street from the Ikea and the funeral home in EPA. Conversation over scotch.

Woke up and used a laptop trying to piece the details of my life together and handle traveling administrative details. Had a tasty lunch at a place named after a Swiss explorer, plotted plans for next summer, went to a talk about climate change. I think I am doing this traveling thing right since I am on the cusp of warm weather and cheap plane fuel. Good thing I can benefit from it now because in the long run we are all screwed. Lake perch with french fries and then we saw Borat. The movie brought out my long hidden lust for Pamela Anderson. Not.

Slept in and then had Ethiopian for lunch. We drove to the local particle accelerator. The tour had a 6 week waiting list so we checked out the 80sque science museum. Making and antiproton beam took a lot of time and effort. The contemporary art museum here is in an old factory lit by fluorescent lighting and with a floor I could not stop admiring; paintings, optical illusion installations and video pieces. Another climate change talk by a Stanford guy who devoted much of the time in the disjointed presentation to his wife's research. Had a fantastic home cooked meal, saw a percussionist that was like a Ywinge Malmstien of the bongos, went to a bar where the wealthy students drink, then to a packed dancehall night. There is money to be made here in dance instruction.

Escargot for breakfast to tide us until we could get to the lake to have a picnic by the ducks and boats. Exhausted from all the effort of eating and lounging, there was subsequent chilling. Back to the bar (I differ from many tourists here since I didn't bring a few million dollars to drop in my private bank) where expensive raers were spun. Went to drum and bass live PA.

Omelets and chocolate cake at brunch killed all ambitions for working out and yoga. So we relaxed, did a little work and continued to read my book set in New Foundland. Tasty roasted vegetables and tequila were consumed. Talked about how the internet can create strange situations.

I said goodbye to my gracious hosts in the morning and then visited the UN. For all its faults and limitations it is an organization whose mission I support. For example the tour guide mentioned in passing that education is a fundamental human right. Damn right it is. One last meal of fillet of fish with my host and then checked out shoes and headed to the airport ready to be a tourist again.

Barcelona, Spain

From my brief time in Barcelona it seems a cool city. And I say that in that it might be one of the best cities in the world to live and hang out in, an idea seconded by many of the folks I have met here. It has the all night hustle and bustle, the art and music scene and the mixture of folks that make a cosmopolitan city. But again, like Prague, I felt I had to write off this place in order to maintain health and sanity.

Stayed at a small hostel. Is it rude to invite folks to dinner as a group and then expect people to play musical chairs just so a clique can sit together? Not that this would normally phase me, but I kinda like meeting people and trying to understand where people come from. That and I was quite comfortable in my chair. Still, the staff at the hostel took us out a couple of night and I did meet some people whose company I enjoyed. Even though we did hang out in another hostel while we were there. Gotta see how the other half lives.

Went to the MAC BA while I was there. I do not understand exhibitions about the life of an artist? Why would I care to look at the envelopes that some dude used to write other folks? This is detritus and recyclable materials and not worth the price of my admission ticket. While museums are the place to freeze a moment of time in the form of a piece, the displaying in hallowed grounds of things that don't even bring context is just silly. This is my way of saying I didn't feel the exhibits there. Instead I just sat by the water and enjoyed the beautiful weather I had there.

What I did kinda feel was the Gaudi work. His work is kinda silly in it ostentation and scale, but I have to give it up for execution of vision (even though a lot of it is unfinished). The Casa Batllo is a surprisingly practical and livable residence. One could throw a phat party in here. The Sagrada Familia was detailed and fantastic, but I only saw it from the outside at night. And the Parc Guell is a great spot to see the sunset over the city. Barcelona was a rest stop and unfortunately I want more time here. I think I shall be back.

Zaragoza, Spain

I saw Kraftwerk!

Violadores del Verso, Chemical Brothers and Derrick May were good too.

Valencia, Spain

Saturday morning and I roll into the in the country's biggest college/beach/party town with my Australian friend at 6am after a long stop-filled 10 hour overnight bus ride with no reservations for a place to stay. No bed, no clue, but the night shift at the hostel we wanted to stay at is ending and the clerk at the desk offers to let us crash at his flat. Oh, yes.

We sleep for a while and then wake up for a guided tour of the city. The Mediterranean is just as I remember it being; big and green. The old part of the city with small building is in endangered of being leveled for condos near the beach. The quickening cycle of gentrification is present in modern cities worldwide. Lunch at a university campus cafeteria which was perhaps the best value for a meal I have had so far in Spain.

There are a lot of universities in this city that rise up like huge Lego blocks educating the masses. But the masses seem like they just want to throw down. This is the ferry port to Ibiza. The place is bumping at night, the clubs here must be sweet (there is a Pasha here) and the live music I imagine is pretty good. It reminds me of Austin, if only by the sea and filled with Spaniards. This is the kinda of place where cute girls skateboard to the corner store to get another 2 liter bottle of cheap beer. We went out with a few friends before the exhaustion hit us. I was in the back seat of a small Volkswagen with an Australian and a Pole with the Spanish guys up front were singing and clapping to Manu Chao. Oh, yes.

Granada, Spain

College towns Spain style are pretty damn cool. Especially if they come with centuries and centuries of history. The palace of the Alhambra watches over the curved alley ways of the city. It is like the streets in these old town are designed to confuse tourists. Or just perhaps just invaders... some might argue there is little difference. The palace was a squatters camp for a while and now takes in 6600 heads a day at 10 euro a piece. The cash cow says moo.

I stayed at the Oasis hostel. There are some hostels that can trap a person and I stayed an extra couple of night because I enjoyed the company I found there. The last day we went up to the Sierra Nevada mountains for a little stroll. I am sitting in an outdoors restaurant in river valley in Spain drinking beer and eating salad and egg soup with a Willie B hipster, and English Pagan chic and an Australian party girl. Oh, and a couple of more Australians... there are always a bunch of Australians. Very chill time here and I'd love to have a drink again in the future with any one of them.

The graffiti in this city is the best I have encountered in the world so far. Walking around the city, it is everywhere. The hostel guide walked us to a graffiti wall with some brilliant art pieces. Hard to believe it was just spray paint. The area above the hostel had some nice work, but the signs saying "violent daily muggings" (in English) and "the police will not protect you" hanging from people's balconies made me a little wary as I snapped pictures with flash in the dark.

Granada is known for its tradition of a free tapas with a drink. Good thing I didn't go out so much. Well going out here means being out after 2am. I just didn't have the endurance. I learned the hard way that the siesta before the fiesta is a must.

Gibraltar

It is a big rock. Really, this town? This city? This country? is a series of of streets at the bottom of a big hunk of limestone. It is kinda pretty look at and apparently there are tourist biting monkeys on the rock. I don't know since it was pretty foggy and I couldn't be bothered to pay 9 pounds to see the apes in the midst. The appeal of this place is location. On a clear day one can see Morocco. As military strategic positions go, this is money.

Walking the streets this place seems like what I imagine England looks like. The walk from the Spanish border crosses the airport runway. And then it looks like you are in the middle of the projects. Much of the housing here seems government subsidized, if you ignore the high rise condominiums blocking the old machine gun ramparts. Lots of these new properties popping up and some of them even have space for my 50 foot catamaran. I have been wondering where I was going to dock that.

In the five minute walk from De Linea da Conception where I was staying you go from Spanish town to Brits. Plenty of pubs with the Manchester United game on the tube, high fashion stores and funny accents. But if you listen closely some of the word are Spanish. And there is the air of Africa that permeates deeper then the women in burquas who can be seen on the side streets. Money here is in financial services, ship repair, on line gambling and the smuggling of cheap cigarettes and booze. Talk about a place full of contradictions. There all these tweaked out little rides bumping broken beat on the street. How can a place only about 8 square kilometers have a car culture?