Croatia

Well, it was a perfect arrıval ın a new country 'cause the ferry came ınto the port ın Split at about 7 am (check out the vıew..... pıc left), and we had plenty of tıme to grab another local ferry out to Hvar island, just 2 hours from Splıt. We were so rev'd upto see thıs amazıng coastlıne and gorgeous ıslands. Hvar ıs "the" ısland to see supposedly (pıc rıght) and we were not dısappoınted one bıt; just the opposıte.............


Hvar Island

Stari Grad

Sımply GORGEOUS!!!!!! The prestıne crystal blue waters, and pebble beaches, and sun galore.....early october and stıll over 20 degrees every day. Can't beat that!!!! SUCKERS back ın Quebec !!!

Well, our ferry touched down ın the vıllage of Stari Grad, whıch lıterally means "old town", and ıs actually the oldest town ın Croatıa.....founded around 370 BC. Once we hıt the shores there's a platoon of lıttle ladıes and people of all kınd welcomıng you and offerıng accomodatıon. We were actually bankıng on that and the prıces were very good sınce ıt was out of season. 20$ each a nıght for a double room ın a sweet plant fılled courtyard locatıon, wıth a kıtchen and everythıng, and sınce there was no one else, we had the whole place to ourselves. Really romantıc and super cool to have some alone tıme fınally wıth my sweetums!!! Really perfect cause we were checked ın, and off to check out the town before noon.

We were surrounded by cıtrus trees, pommagranıte trees, and kıwıs, the fırst tıme I ever saw the latter two......pretty exotıc....and we actually were gıven some rıpe good ones by our lıttle croatıan lady hostess. It's really cool cause the kıwı vınes are used as fıller on mesh ceılıngs to gıve shade and ıt looks and feels so fresh and natural (pıc rıght).

Starı Grad ıs a quaınt and perfect relax lıttle fıshıng vıllage (pıc left), and the stone houses really gıve you a feelıng of antıquıty and humbleness (pıc rıght). There are, of course, beaches lınıng the whole place..... It's a frıggın island! Of course we went to explore a bıt, and took a swım (pıc left.....what a smıle). Usually there are resorts and people stealıng all of the space but agaın out of season, we had our own spots. It gave us plently of tıme to check out the wıldlıfe (pıc rıght). It was so relaxıng to fınally kıck our feet up and actually do nothıng but let the shrımp tıckle our feet ın the water. We both needed to chıllout, stop runnıng from cıty to cıty, sıte to sıte, stay sedentary for a few days,and actually get some vacatıon tıme. We also bought some fresh fısh of the day and Andre cooked up a delcıous storm.......We were ın heaven!!!

And a major hıghlıght, we rented a scooter for a day and went all over (pıc left). We went down the nearby fınger-shaped penınsula whıch offers many secluded beaches. The road gıves you a 360 degree vıew of the clear blue water on both sıdes of the penınsula, and the whole way ıs a contınuous money shot (pıc rıght). The road ıs just dırt and rocks thus hard on the scooter, and arms, but we made all the way to the end of the path and were compensated wıth thıs to ourselves (pıc left). We also saw the bıggest and juıcıest spıder ever. I was about to walk ınto ıts web, goıng for a pıss, and the colours screamed out at me (pıc rıght); ıt was about the sıze of a can of coke.....no joke......

We even took the scooter out to Hvar cıty, the more tourısty town, to see what we were mıssıng. The town was really nıce, but the rıde there and back was the greatest adventure. We went up through, and around the hılls, seeıng a great sunset (pıc left) on the way to Hvar, and a dark yet ınterestıng rıde back at nıght. Really cold, under dressed, takıng a guess for the dırectıons, but we were alone ın the world......scootın' along...... and ıt was awesome........

After 3 nıghts of pure pleasure and contentment, we took off for.........


Korcula Island

Korcula town

Another perfect pıck. A beautiful island that caresses the mainland so you have a gorgeous mountainous backdrop view from everywhere. There is also an old town part to Korcula which is I guess part of the attraction but we were mostly interested in the coastline and prestine water again and again and again........always and always ...

We had a great room for cheap.....another little lady met us coming off of the boat again. Check out the view of the old town we had from the terrace (pic left). The mountains in the background are the mainland. It was really cool at this place'cause it was all dark wood panel and it felt like a sweet charming winter chalet.... and it had a fat kitchen, with a really funky old carpet (pic right) , which was actually on the wall.......how do ya like that picture! Of course we had a lot of fun with the carpeted wall..

Korcula was another great place to relax and walk along the coast and just bask in the wonderful scenery, and little creatures everywhere, and you just can't beat this moment (pic left). My sweetheart's content and heartwarming smile just makes me so happy, I melt in her eyes, and I loved being in such a chillax place with her........we both really needed the time off, so to speak. It's hard not to jump around everywhere when everything is so beautiful and unchartered for you.

After Korcula, we set off by ferry again towards the mainland, to Dubrovnik. This is supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and every traveller that had given us their thoughts really sold it as just that.


Dubrovnik

appartments....I don't know why but I was attracted by a younger guy and we went with him....the house he was letting has 2 rooms, a huge kitchen, huge yard and nice roof terrace..we lStepping off of the ferry we were met by another arsenal of locals looking to rent out theirucked out cause we got a sort of suite room, there was nobody else at all, so we had a full house to ourselves for 3 nights....big double bed......washing machine......great view from terrace....made great cheap seafood......and all for $16 each a night. We found a pretty sweet hat in the house that was perfect for a little introduction to the town, and of course created a friggin sexy skipper! n'est-ce pas????

So Dubrovnik has an extenive old town which incredibly beautiful and well upkept, but it is pretty touristy. From just outside of the town, you can see the mini peninsula-like old town stickin' out (pic left). The other main attraction is the collection of beaches all around the town. We finally had our first day, well half day, at the beach since we started travelling together. Small, sorta private inlet with crystal clear water, a pebble beach but clean sandy floor. It was sunny, and still super warm in the middle of October. A little dip, soakin in some sun, doin' a little readin', and a gorgeous sunset to finish it off (pic right).

We just loved every little bit of Croatia. We wouldn't ever say no to a return visit, and the chance to discover more of it!

The next challenge was to get to Greece. We were told time and time again that the best way to get to Greece was to take a 8 hour ferry back to Italy and then another overnight to Corfu or Athens or wherever, and that going over land through Montenegro, and Albania or Macedonia would be really hard and not recommended.....so......we decided "FUCK THAT !!" We came to europe to see the countryside, and live a few challenges, and why not see some of these formrt Yugoslavian countries and get to discover something rather different....the off-beaten track...so to speak.

First we took the bus from Dubrovnik, and went down the Adriatic coast all the way until the town of Budva in Montenegro. This ride revealed the most beautiful natural scenery I have ever seen!!! Stuff that you only see in movies and don't realize how wonderous it is. About 3000m mountains right at the edge of the water, and little villages lining them all of the way; a long bay that twists and turns and everywhere you look, you're surrounded on all sides by water and mountains. Rather spectacular!! You have to check out pictures on the net or something of the town in this mountain surrounded bay called Kotor, there must be good pics.


Budva (Montenegro)

We stopped here cause it looked to be a nice beach resort town with some nice old part again, but in this time of year, it's not a resort town at all. It was pretty dead but that's just fine cause we appreciated the tranquility and low-season prices!

We went to check out a place with a girl that met us at the bus station and it was a room in her mother's appartment in the slums, pretty shitty so we decided to go ask the other little lady that was at the bus station and we hit a goldmine,a little montenegrian couple called Slobo and Nada have an extra appartment to rent.

Since we were the only ones we had the whole appartment to ourselves. They even invited us down for supper at their place one night. They were so sweet and welcoming.....just the nicest people ever.....again, people with no money always have the biggest hearts! They hardly spoke a word of english but we were able to get some conversations going and the old man Slobo is so expressive that you get the jist of what he means. He was so proud of showing us around and talking to his buddies on the street and telling them he was taking us to this and that. We actually just ran into Slobo in the street and he took us to a hidden beach which was so cool. You walk along the sorta out of the way coastal side walk, and arrive at a sweet beach with a perfect view (pic right of perfect view.....foreground is pretty hard to beat!) and not many people, and huge waves. And then you walk through a little bridge and opening (pic left) to get to another hidden beach....the waves are crashing in on you and you have to move quick, especially when you have a camera and other non-impermeable stuff........It was so cool!

Montenegro kicked ass, but we needed to get to Greece rather quickly so we shoved off towards my second Muslim country, Albania.........This is where the challenge started.

We take a minibus to the montenegrian town closest to the Albanian border. We met a really cool couple on the bus. A german girl that looks egyptian, and a german dude that has family from ecuador thus he looks it. It was a mutual practical meeting, you'll see. We get to the little border town and search to take the following bus into Albania and the ticketlady (who's outside smokin a cigarette) says there's no bus today, mmmaaybe tomorrow............mmmmaaayybbbee tomorrow hey! what the hell does that mean....so instead of waiting around in this shitty town forever, all 4 of us took a taxi straight to Tirana, the capital of Albania.

We had a "professional" driver as he said it, and he was screamin' down all the way through the mini winding roads and holy shit was it "eye-opening" I guess. The country side there is kinda nice; at first it reminded me of Morocco with the men on donkeys dragging their produce or wheat along with the slow and rather non-industrialized, and non-machinized society...really cool, and Andre was enjoying seeing all of this type of stuff for the first time. You also see many bunkers everywhere, filling up the countryside, left over from wartimes and being used as storage and being decorated with plants and whatever.

Tirana

We then saw the outskirts and center of Tirana. What a shit-hole. I thought Albania was a hundred years back like Morocco in terms of industry and that was cool, but it's not at all like that. The whole country is in deconstruction........they say reconstruction, but there are unfinished and abandond buildings all over...... garbage......massive air vents on the sidewalk without grills thus you can just walk along and zzip, disappear into the street....... bricks..... and just an overall feeling of teenagers that didn't clean up their room. It shows Albania has had rough times, but there are the rich and the super poor in Tirana. The main square has the parliament and a monument and a 5 star massive hotel, and everything else in ruins......There is also a more trendy side of town with shishy stores, and it gives a nasty contrast to the decrepid and rundown areas. I didn't take any good pictures but you can imagine it. A sort of chaos!

The 2 germans stayed at a locals place; we thought it looked kinda scary so we ended up staying at a cheap hotel. It was goddam cheap and the bathroom had not been cleaned in about 2 months, NO JOKE!!! but we didn't stay long anyways.

We didn't really know our next move but we kinda wanted to get outta this town rather quick. We finally found a street that has all of the travel agencies, and we saw buses straight to Athens, for 25€. That's super cheap, especially for a 16 hour ride. Only hick was it took off at 4 in the morning and arrived at 8pm in Athens, and we also wanted to see Meteora which is halfway to Athens but in another direction. So we bit the bullet; slept 3 hours, of course didn't shower, and took the bus all day (I still don't understand why they do this trip during the day and not overnight). The ride was really nice cause the scenery was beautiful as we cut across the mountains and went through small villages. As soon as we passed the Greek border though everything was much cleaner and more organized, and less poor..........It's crazy how an imaginary line can make such a difference in the surroundings, and welfare of the people.

So that was our day and a half in Albania. A snapshot at the slavic muslim country that isn't the best to see when you're in a hurry like we were. It would be nice to go back for real.

We arrived at 8pm in Athens with nowhere to sleep yet, but our luck turned. We were right beside the cheapest and probably best hostel in town, a good old HI.

Tune in next time for our quick look at Greece.

love all y'all

ciao

Italy

So I took a shitty "overnight" from midnight to 5am, sitting straight up, from Munich to Verona, and I knew that Andre was in Cinque Terre on the northwest coast......just about at the kneecap of da boot, so I went there, telling her around what time I'd be there. I arrived a little after noon, and as I was walking up the hill to the auberge she had mentioned in her last email, I saw a vision. A hot little Italian chicky walking down the hill, but no, it was my little Italian chicky!!!!
Andreanna.........Belissima!!!!! Goddam was I ever happy to see her again. It felt so nice to travel across a little part of europe to grab'er in my arms......and in Cinque Terre no less......A rather romantic setting.......you'll see!

Cinque Terre

What an amazing spot........actually the most beautiful scenery I have seen thus far !!!!! Cinque Terre meaning literally the 5 lands, is a collection of 5 small fishing villages on the coast. Each village has it's own flavour but all of them are equally amazing and collectively the area is just sublime. The multi-colour houses are perched on the cliffs and mountains that line the coast, and the area is so lush with plants. It's a sight to see for sure.

It was cool too cause Andre had made friends with a quebecer chick, Emilie, while in Florence so they headed to Cinque Terre together and were really enjoying each other's company.

Andre had been in Florence while I was in Munich and also had one day before me in Cinque Terre, so when we met up, we went walking over to the little village she hadn't seen yet, and hiked up the hill (pics). As you can see, we were in the clouds, but it was rather foggy anyways.

There are paths that connect each village, be it via train which winds in and out of tunnels and waterside......pretty cool (pic left), or via foot, which is sublime......simply majestic hiking alnog the paths going through the vinyards (pic right), lemon trees, and other dense lush vegetation.....it feels like a rain forest almost......and you walk right on the coast along an old rather decrepid path which makes it so friggin belissimo !!!! You have some of the villages just nestled in a little inlet, on the sea, or up in the mountains, hidden behind the next bend of the trail (bottom pics). It surprises you all the time how much this place is a hidden gem. It is rather touristy but still a gem. Hiking between the villages was by far my highlight. It was beautiful, and warm, and I was doin' it with my hot Italian chickita.......Nothing could be better !

After meeting up with Andre, I was content no matter what, but Cinque Terre blew me away. I was thus anxious to check out more of Italy. So, we headed down to Napoli.......mostly to check out the surrounding area because it's a good base city with many attractions near it, tat are good for daytrips. We knew Italy would be expensive but we were starting to realize it was a little too high, even in the off-season......about 50-60 euro per day.

Napoli

We were forewarned by the Lonley Planet and Let's Go about the erratic, insane, and free for all organization of Naples, yet we still weren't ready for the most hectic and "in your face.....crazy, no laws, abundant traffic" ever !!!!!!!!!!!

We arrived by train, and fought our way to Giovanni's Place, a hostel that was written in one of our guides somewhere, and was by far the cheapest in town. We headed through some tight and rough areas, but still there was always life, and plants out in the street. The city itself is rather drab, and not very clean nor appealing, but it has some cool classically Italian cultural areas with street markets, and of course the street vendors with their fake Louis Vitton and Versace bags, and souvenir bullshit all over every cm possible.

Giovanni's Place is smack dab in a tight dark street, but we hit a goldmine. Giovanni (pic right) is the owner of the hostel and is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. What a crazy cooky, yet great man with the biggest heart, which is hard to imagine and out of context in Naples because of the go go go, push everyone out of the way mentality and feel of the place. The hostel itself was a little rickety but it was so perfect that way, and there was a huge beautiful roof terrace. We got to the hostel a little late, and he asked us if we were hungry, of course yes, and so he made us some really good pasta, and fed us wine and everything. We were a little overwhelmed by his generosity, and immediately fell in love with the dude.

There are a few things to see in Napoli, yet we didn't really want to wander around too much cause everyone, including Giovanni, told us not to take anything but the money you need for your outing with you........leave everything of value at the hostel......so........we weren't so up in arms on straggling through the streets on a nowhere or even on a detailed itinerary so we checked out the neighbouring highroller's island of.........

Capri

Only the rich and full of themselves can live here......otherwise, well-off tourists can come and gauck and also spend an arm, leg, and half-torso on a vacation here, but we were very content with our day trip to this gorgeous little island (pic left). Kinda like Cinque Terre with the little houses on the slopes of the hills, and fruit trees everywhere, this place was very nice. I felt it also reminded me of Cassis with the huge white cliffs and clear blue water down below.

We walked around the island and poked fun at the crazy window shops with the high-priced goods, and the snootily expensive restaurants, as we walked some more, and settled in to eat our very fatty mortadella + gouda sandwiches. They weren't pretty, or that good, but the sandwiches did the trick. We actually found a great spot down by the water where we could set up shop and dive, and swim a bit, which was right beside the "beach" which was private and cost 12 euro per person, to sit or lay on flat concrete, and have access to the water. Fuck That !!!! We hit our own "beach" instead, and really were alone in our alcove.

It was a gorgeous day, the water was great, and the island was a rewarding trek and discovery (pics).

Then, we had another daytrip, and checked out, of course..................

Pompei

Now this place really attracted us......Ca nous branchait en crisse!.........It was a major reason for going to Naples in the 1st place, and it didn't disappoint. One of the realy quirky cool things is that there are stray dogs all over the place. It seems the administration of the site let them roam free. They're super friendly, are passes out all over the village, and wait around all pitiful like sometimes for scraps of food. They really add a certain charisma to the site.

We spent almost 6 hours on the site and it's incredible how big the place is. You really realize it was a big, full-fledged, and well organized village that was covered in volcanic ash around 75 BC. Ash, not lava. So the village was hit by hot, noxious gases in a flash by the volcanic eruption, and the people were sorta suspended in time. The ash kept some of the villagers in their ultimate positions, and then the excavation process with-held this via plaster moulding...most still with the skeleton leering at you ..........some villagers seemed to be in agony (pic left), while others were praying, knowing it was probably the end (pic right). This was quite a blow.......to see these "statues" that were once living, and walking like anyone else.

The whole village was really impressive in terms of the organized civilization, and the temples, houses, and bureaucratic assemblies and structures. Really cool to see how advanced they were back then. It was quite beautiful too. It always leaves you to wonder how wonderous it must have been when it was brand new, cause even in ruins, it's gorgeous.

The coolest thing was the Bordello.....an actual legal whore house, that had greek slaves as prostitutes. There are sexual position paintings on the walls (pic left), and the very small cement beds (pic right) used for........ you know........doin' the not so mutual deed.

"Le gros salot" as Andre dubbed him, the dirty culprit in all of this, Mt. Vesuvius just lurks down at the village from beyond (pic right). I tried my best to reach inside, but I couldn't find anything bigger than what's up my nose (pic left).

Well.....with all of this cool stuff around Napoli, we had enough of Napoli, so we headed where all roads lead to..........

Roma

Now this place has a few things to see, and a lot of them for free ! The only thing is it's so feckin' expensive just to be there. 23 euros a night in a friggin' dorm, and forget the food, hard to make our own, and the sandwiches were pricey..........anyways.........

It's a gorgeous town. So clean, and so much less crazy than Naples. The slower pace of Rome (you won't hear that one often) was well appreciated. Of course there are shitloads of tourists but it ain't as bad as they say.

Of course, we checked out this guy (pics), where every road in Rome was supposed to lead to thus all roads would lead to the Colisseum. It was quite massive and it was cool to see this structure with my own eyes....from the outside only.......cause it was 12 euro to check it out from the inside.....screw that !.......way too expensive, but there's much more to see anyways. Almost around every corner is a ruin or spectacular monument or combination thereof waiting for you. It is quite pleasant just to wander around this town.

Of course, we went to check out the church with it's own area code, the city-state of the Vatican City (left). That was also very impressive, from both the outside and in. It is insane though to see how much money went into this place....it's pretty indecent.......imagine if all of that money had gone into health care......or titty magazines........just imagine how many people would be happier and healthier today because of it........I kid, I kid ! This place is something to see, and it's free! The mosaics, frescoes, stained glass, and all around artwork and stature of this place almost makes you wanna start going to church....ALMOST !!!!.... This place is so wonderous, it's kinda worthless taking pictures....you have to walk in there and feel it for yourself. Andre and I walked up the 5 hundred and whatever steps to get to the top of the Cupola, but I was rather sick that day, and had a fever, and didn't really enjoy it, and Andre was equally disappointed since there are too many people going up there, and it's super tight and claustrophobic all the way up......we even paid 4euro each just to walk up the friggin thing, but atleast we got a good view in the end(pic right) ...... but since we did the Cupola, we missed the Sistine Chapel, and that really pissed me off royal.......we couldn't do it the next day cause we had to get to Ancona in time to take our ferry to Croatia.

One funny side note is that I was supposed to meet up with my buddy Abe, that I met in London ;he was Kim and Gabe's roomate. He is now in Rome for the semester as he gets around, if you know what I mean..... and OF COURSE I mean he travels a lot for his program in school. He is an industrial engineer, if I remember correctly, and after doing a work/study term in London, he is now doing one in Rome until December. Super sweet deal......anywho......I was supposed to meet up with him but when I called him, there was a screw up with the phone, and he couldn't hear me, so I called again, and when he couldn't hear anything again, he said, in a kinda pissed off tone "stop calling me". I thought it was pretty funny, and so I stopped calling him..........Kinda sucked to be there and not be able to go grab a beer though but I guess it'll be for next time.

The impressive part of Rome is the fact that there are so many exterior free things to see, and they all put you in awe. It is a gorgeous town, but I will need to check it out further once I get the chance........We weren't really in the party mood. We were really anxious to get going to Croatia and its supposed beautiful prestine beaches, and we had enough of the incredibly pricey Italy, so we were happy to catch a night ferry from Ancona to Split. The cool part is that we got half-price for students, thus it cost 35euro each to cross the adriatic, and we had our own bunk beds in our own private room in the boat.....PIMPIN !!!!! We were livin large for that crossing atleast.

we'll talk soon from the wonderful Craotian coastline.

ciao..............................................................

Austria + Oktoberfest

I'm a little behind as always, but that doesn't mean times are hard nor are they boring. Just the opposite.

Before I begin, I just wanted to send best wishes to anyone and everyone that knew my cousin Jean-Philippe, especially to Marie, Simon, and Leonie. JP past away in a motorcycle accident recently, and it was a huge shock for everyone. Some dipshit in the oncoming lane cut across into his lane to pass another car. A-hole! Talk about a guy that never wanted to bother anyone, and was always there to help and put a smile on your face no matter what. Je ne l'ai pas vue souvent dans ma vie mais il m'a quand meme beacoup marque. Ca me fait chier aussi que je n'aurrait pu la chance. Quand tu dit que c'est un crisse de bon Jack, ca fais juste relever la poussiere de son personnage. Il y'en a beacoup plus! Avoir une face haissable comme ca et te faire rire comme si c'etait contagieux! On va tous le manquer enormement! I really would've liked to be back home for the service atleast. The picture was taken but a couple of months ago when my brother and JP went to drag races. It kinda gives me the fuel to keep on going though. I gotta live it to the fullest, because JP always did and I know he would kick me in the ass if I didn't. Carpe Diem!

well......


Vienna

After coming from the Czech Rep., Austria was a nice old slap in the face........monetary slap that is. Holy Crap! Welcome back to the euro! Atleast the beer was still cheap but the food, lodging, and especially transport was considerably more expensive.

Vienna was a nice surprise in terms of the sheer beauty of the city, but it's for good reason that everyone there is so bloody rich. You need money to live in Austria, and especially in Vienna.

There are amazing monuments, and parliament buildings (pic left), and churches (pic right), and estates that give a certain imperialistic charm to the city. It is very clean and it was nice to have passed by and seen the city, but that's about it for me. The condescending look that most poeple give you there is really gives me bad vibes. Both the Austrians and other tourists look at the backpackers and "lower classes" as if they were swine. The whole Vienna scene is high couture and all of the major brands are there in the ring old town icluding LV, Versace, D&G, and all of that shit that I don't really appreciate. Thus the city was gorgeous on the aesthetic level, just like all of the people that call it home, and most of the people that visit it, but nothing deeper than that.

One very impressive Palace that we visited was the estate of the Hofburg Palace. Talk about having too much money and power and not knowing what to do with it. Sissi actually became depressive because she had no one in her life, just money and open spaces (pics). We didn't even check out half of the estate and it was enough time spent galloping in the wonderous gardens and gorgeous countryside. Quite massive, and cool cause wandering around is free free free!!!!!!

We still enjoyed ourselves immensely in Vienna. We got ourselves a little Viennese coffee. Actually one for the both of us cause it was rather expensive. I know, we splurged! We also met a really cool young quebecer couple in our hostel, JS and Noemie.

and then we were off for Salzburg, near the German border. You know that it cost 42€ each for the goddam train from Vienna to Salzburg. A 3.5 hour train ride...........42€.......... It's just stupid how expensive transpot is in Austria.



Salzburg

No wonder everyone talks about it, it's a really nice town. A little on the over 55, white haired tourist, hotel style but still beautiful nonetheless! We got beds in a decent hostel, and who do we see in our room, JS and Noemie (pic left). They had left the day before us, and it was so weird to fall upon them in the same hostel and same room no less. The 1st night, we met an amazing stand up Scotsman named Alex (pic right) that had been in Salzburg for a while and he paid us (4 quebecers) all a few and took us out to the bars. We ended up pretty drunk, at the Irish pub he usually works at, and he almost got into a fight cause some dipshits were pushing people in the bar and seriously just looking to pick a fight. It was quite an exciting night!!!! Alex is the type of guy that really has found what you need in life to be happy. He's wise beyond his years and he's a living example that people can make their way out of shitty environments. He was a necessary addition to my travels.

The town itself was quite nice to check out but once again, the vibe in the place was rather snobby. The town is surrounded (a little further back) by mountains, there's a castle, and a river runs through it. Pretty picturesque (pic left). There's again very nice gardens, and palatial grounds (pic right), and I almost forgot, it is the birthtown of the "Wolf"........that's right......... Wolgang Amadeus Mozart. There are also some naughty vixonesque godesses riding around on their unicorns here (pic left). It is still a very mythical place!



To get in the mood for the upcoming Oktoberfest, I gots me a little Tyrolian mountain hat (that fits great on my sweetness... pic left), and we went to a monastarian brewery that serves the beer in fat 1L steins, and out of huge classic wooden barrels (pic right). Good Bavarian Beer! I can't wait for the real deal in Munchen.

The train ride to Munich was really cheap since there's a group deal from 2 to 5 people on the same ticket, thus it cost me 5€ to get to Munich directly, about a 2 hour ride.

From Salzburg, I also split up from Andre since she was heading to Italy, and I was going to meet my cousin Alex in Munich. No ladies allowed, so it's going to be a perfect weekend of debauchery to do a little male bonding and especially get to discover Alex whom I've seen only twice before in my life. It should be really cool cause his buddy Antonin lives in Munich, and is receiving me, Alex, and 4 of their other friends.

Andre and I needed a little space I guess to keep things rollin' on sanely and this will be another nice separation to see how much I will miss all of her sweetness. I will see her after in Italy somewhere........we'll see!



Munchen

The official biggest beer festival and one of the hugest parties in the world. OH MY GOD what a good scene! Celebrating beer. What a splendid idea!

Already getting into town at the train station was pretty hectic. People everywhere but actually standing, and not staggering around to walk, but it was only noon. The best part is seeing so many people, young and old, in their classic dress. Guys in leiderhosen, and the girls in dirndle. So awesome..........I really wanted my own hot little leather shorts with suspenders but they're way too expensive.

I met up with my cousin Alex, and his buddies that he came down from Paris with: Vincent, Francois, Sebastien, and Thomas. We hit the beer garten at the Englischer Garten and got some steins. That's right, one full liter of good Bavarian beer! That's us in the pic on the left except we don't see Vincent which is off on the right of the pic. The righteous host of the weekend, Antonin, was to join us later, and from there things got a little, how do you say, skewed I guess. After drinking 2 beers (2 L) you feel pretty good so you have 2 or 3 more, and then, you're screwed! But all good fun! And you can see we were all sleeping in Antonin's one room appartment (pic right). It was quite tight but all you needed, a floor to pass out on, and great people to cheer you along and join in the FUBAR festivities.


The best part is I got to discover my awesome cousin Alex over the weekend. What a cool cat! He's such a great guy, and the life of the party. I had so much fun with him, and laughed so hard, and he had his own fun too...........I'll let the pics do the talking.... I can't reveal everything that went on. It was so cool to be taken in by him and his friends and to really party, and Alex just treats me as one of his best buds as if we had known each other all of our lives. I really love this guy!


I was really surprised at what extent the vibe is really good all over town. People are seriously drunk but there are hardly any fights. We only saw 2, in the same night, right in front of us, but otherwise people are there to just have fun. One night we went to one of the brewery/rest aurant halls downtown, not at the Oktoberfest. It was the Hofbrau Brewery....we had some great meaty, real mens food, (full roast chickens, and massive roast porc chunks......slurp slurp.....ahhhhhhhhh) with a few beers, and then we went downstairs in the main hall to have a couple more (pic left).......really great time!

Another really amazing highlight was the Englisher Garten again, but not for boozin', for the actual park, and especially the river. There's glacial water that runs down from the mountains and goes through the whole town and park. At one end, there are dudes surfing (pic left) as there's a dip or crack in the floor of the river which creates a continues wave that the guys just go back and forth on, almost like an indoor surf thingamajing. And also the river itself is so nice and refreshing. Antonin, Alex, me and one of Antonin's buddies, Mike, jumped in and let ourselves flow down the river through the whole park. It is so much fun !!!!!! The current is really strong so you just ride down in the cold-ass water for 10 minutes....no joke.......it was the best thing for a hangover......I loved it so much and never thought I could ever do that almost right in the middle of a rather big city.......Munich is so nice and clean and cool !!!!!

Back to the partying. The actual Oktoberfest site is made for the whole family. Rides and games and food galore, and then.....there's even huge beer tents. These are actually huge halls for each of the beers brewn in the Bavarian area and most of them in Munich. So there's a hall for each beer. There's one hall, I forget which one, maybe the Hofbrau hall, that holds 13000 people! No joke, and holy shit do these people ever party. Again the guys in leiderhosen, and girls in dirndle, and everyone up on the benches and tables dancing and singing with their stein in their hand (pic left). A really cool ambiance!....and absolutely insane!!!! I had a great time with the men of the hour, Antonin and Alex (pic right).

So here are the guys and me in front of the Olympic village to round out the weekend.......So I really got a great tour of Munich, had an amazing time with the guys, and discovered a goldmine in my cousin...........what a sweet time.

Next, I take off to Italy to join my gorgeous sweetness, I guess to Verona 1st, since it's rather central and overnight, so I can meet her wherever she is once I find out......where she is. I can't wait.......boys and booze is good almost all of the time, but girls can give you something the boys can't.......I leave you to fill in the blanks........make sure to paint a good mental image!!!!!!

I gotta go, but love all y'all and till next time.