So I decided the other day that I wasn't going to post any more cuz we are almost done but I'm bored and the computer was free with a nice American Keyboard and MTV is on. BTW MGMT has the best music videos.
Budapest was cool and we did some nice touring. The one night I went out was ok. Apparently Wednesday night in Budapest is Karoke night everywhere. Every bar we went to we did Karoke, or it was being done. And Karoke out here is a bit different. Some people really take it seriously. I bet some of these dudes really wait for Wed so that they can get on stage and sing their hearts out. Some dudes were singin some serious Hungarian ballads. Then Jay and I came up and sang Bon Jovi , "Its my Life" aren't you proud Natali. We had a good group of kids with us so it was fun but the night overall was a bust. The day I woke up sick with a gnarely sore throat so that kind of ruined the rest of the week for me in terms of going out. We went to a bath house and it was great for me. They had these thermal baths that we 38 degree Celsius which isn't that hot but its decent. I think thats around 90 degrees. Is there a way to put the degree symbol? there's got to be. oh well. But they also had a sauna and steam room. Very lovely. Mostly old dudes in speedos walking around but definitely a few hotties. We were looking for the mud bath rooms and I was really excited to experience a mud bath, but we couldn't find it and no one really spoke enough English to tell me what was what.
Jay went out that night with this really cool Australian dude we met and some others but I stayed home, but I didnt really miss much. The next night I was still feelin shitty and we had an early train so we stayed in. I watched 3 movies. 28 weeks later - decent. Also watched Superbad - instant classic. Lastly, watched In Brouge - great movie, kind of dark but I like it alot. That night a bunch of really cool people including a group of unbelievably hot British girls checked in so not going out sucked. But the next day we made our train on time and got to Karkow with no problems. While running to a train hungover with a 30 pound pack on seems fun and all, making a train on time is also nice.
Like every city before, we decided to get drunk on our first night out. We met this American who moved to Poland 4 years ago to teach English and decided to just stay. He showed us around a bit and I got pretty drunk. We met some more British girls, they are everywhere, and they were alright. But we learned a new bar game called 21 which is really fun and easy to learn. Got pretty drunk and headed to a club called ProZac. It was fun and of course the girls got in for free and we had to pay. These girls were really cool though and bought us a beer cuz we had to pay to get in. I almost danced with a really cute local girl. The Dj's were sick, as usual. I wish I knew what they were spinnin but alas I do not. We then headed back to the hostel cuz we had a long day ahead of us.
We headed to Zakopane which is a mountain town, a lot like Tahoe minus the lake, in the south of Poland. It was a two hour bus ride from Krakow and we went to a campground and set up shop. We hiked into the National Park for a while and had to stop cuz we got a sheep grazing pasture and couldn't get around it. Jay was in charge of buying food for the trip and he came back with some bread, matzha (sp), fruite, granola, and CANNED MEAT. Canned meat is gross but the good stuff was too expensive so it was apparently our only alternative, however we quickly canned that shit. We hiked for the majority of the next day and it was awesome. We climbed some really great trails and got to the tops of these ledges and had amazing views the entire time. Jaz took some epic pictures and it was really what we needed, a serious break from the big cities. I however had a serious rash breakout all over my body. We concluded that I'm allergic to my sleeping bag which is weird cuz I've had it and used it for years but whatever it was our last night camping so I'm fine now. I still have the marks but its going away, I'll be beautfiul again by Canada.
So we went back to Krakow and had a good day of touring. Our hostel is really cool and nice. Great location and reallycool people. We went on a vodka tasting tour which was awesome. We went to this shot bar and tried Ginger, Cherry, Honey and Chocolate Vodka. All amazing, and that's coming from me who is not big on the stuff. Also, Winner's Cup has not made it out here yet so they didn't know about most of my vodka experiences. We did those 4 shots in about 20 minutes and headed to another bar. Had beer out of a pipe which was an experience. Basically this huge tube filled with beer and a tap on the end. It was cool and we had a very social group with us, mostly British and it made the night.
Then off to a club which was again spinning some great beats. We were all dancing all over the place and doing shots. I was wasted. Then off to a second club with some more good music and tons of beezies.
Side Note: Polish chics are amazing. My favorite so far of any country by far. Hitler would be proud. All of them are stacked and just beautiful bodies and all have that supermodel look to them. No idea how a country can produce this many beautiful babies but they can. And sooooo many MILFS. Everywhere.
Back to the club. So we walk by a hip hop room and it catches my ear. I walk in and found a girl who was cute and down to dance. That was really great. The music was what you would expect from a hip hop room. But being wasted was fun. I left the room and the club was packed. I was really drunk and decided that I couldn't find Jay if i tried so I left the club and I actually knew where I was. I wandered down the main street and got a Kehbab and headed home. I got home and chatted with som Beezie and Natali and checked email.
Checking email wasted is great, btw.
livin large,
alex
Beautiful People
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Running Hungover
Thats got some ultimate undertones in it, right Natali? Basically thats defined our train making experiences and catching the train from Prague to Budapest was not really different. Thinking back on it, I'm not sure if we were hungover or not but Im leaning towards not but it's definitely a possibility. Actually we weren't but definitely had to do some running and run we did. Jay also thought the train was leaving earlier than it did and so he made me run a bit more than necessary but he's yelling, "don't stop running Bitch" you run. We made our train no problems and actually met two guys from Santa Barbara and one is studying in Santa Cruz, small world. The train ride was whatever, but the more train traveling I do the more I like it. If you have the time, its way better and less stressful than airplane travel. If the US had an efficient train system I feel like more kids would do a big US tour.
So we get to our hostel and meet a girl from Chico and she played Ultimate there, always a good in with the ladies. Soon find out she's a got a bf and so we go out and get some food and beer. We start drinking and meet these two crazy Aussie girls. They were from Australia but one lived in London and the other was spending significant time in the Middle East. We definitely got a bit tipsy and then headed to some bars. The first bar was really mellow and quite expensive so after one drink we bounced. Then Beth, one of the Aussies, talked to a bouncer and got directions to the Old Man's Pub, which were hoping was a deceitful name and it was. Great Pub with a lot going on. Solid dance floor which was moderately filled with women, and attractive ones at that. I actually got a dance out of one of the cuter ones and continued to get some beers from the bar. They were pretty expensive so we only got a couple. Then one of the girls wanted to go back so we decided as a group to take her back and hit up a NonStop (24 hour) store and get some roadies. Interesting Note: Aussies call roadies, travelers. Not a better name we felt but a nice change. So after getting some travelers we headed back to the bar to continue dancing. After that the night was the usual stumble home and headed to bed.
This morning we definitely woke up hung and had to find our next hostel. We got directions from google maps and were on our way. Getting the address of the place was not written down and we figured that the hostel would have a sign showing whats up, but it didn't. We spent a significant amount of time with our packs on walking around looking for this goddam place. We eventually found an internet cafe, which was a mini adventure, and got the address. Turns out we were in the right place the whole time but the name of it is on some small name plate. Oh well, the hostel is very quaint and the people are cool. We met some Brazilians who think I talk too fast, me talk to fast? Come on! Today we met this Australian dude, great race of people, and we are going to explore some caves. Its raining really hard over here, but hopefully by Poland the weather will be better.
Livin Large,
alex
So we get to our hostel and meet a girl from Chico and she played Ultimate there, always a good in with the ladies. Soon find out she's a got a bf and so we go out and get some food and beer. We start drinking and meet these two crazy Aussie girls. They were from Australia but one lived in London and the other was spending significant time in the Middle East. We definitely got a bit tipsy and then headed to some bars. The first bar was really mellow and quite expensive so after one drink we bounced. Then Beth, one of the Aussies, talked to a bouncer and got directions to the Old Man's Pub, which were hoping was a deceitful name and it was. Great Pub with a lot going on. Solid dance floor which was moderately filled with women, and attractive ones at that. I actually got a dance out of one of the cuter ones and continued to get some beers from the bar. They were pretty expensive so we only got a couple. Then one of the girls wanted to go back so we decided as a group to take her back and hit up a NonStop (24 hour) store and get some roadies. Interesting Note: Aussies call roadies, travelers. Not a better name we felt but a nice change. So after getting some travelers we headed back to the bar to continue dancing. After that the night was the usual stumble home and headed to bed.
This morning we definitely woke up hung and had to find our next hostel. We got directions from google maps and were on our way. Getting the address of the place was not written down and we figured that the hostel would have a sign showing whats up, but it didn't. We spent a significant amount of time with our packs on walking around looking for this goddam place. We eventually found an internet cafe, which was a mini adventure, and got the address. Turns out we were in the right place the whole time but the name of it is on some small name plate. Oh well, the hostel is very quaint and the people are cool. We met some Brazilians who think I talk too fast, me talk to fast? Come on! Today we met this Australian dude, great race of people, and we are going to explore some caves. Its raining really hard over here, but hopefully by Poland the weather will be better.
Livin Large,
alex
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Ultimate is Fun!
After having a relaxing evening together we decided the next night we had to go big, especially sinec we had to get up at 6:30 to try and get to this ultimate tournament. Also, by relaxing night I mean Jay going to sleep and me staying up till 3 am drinking pints with foriegners and exchanging all of our redickulous stories. I love telling stories and Jay already knows all of them so having a new audience was nice, plus you get to embellish a little bit and they'll never know so thats always fun. So we toured around the next day and had Rick show us around some more. We grabbed another Kehbab, we have to be in the teens on those things by now, for dinner and headed back to the hostel to start drinking. We had another bottle of "quality" rum which costs us like 5 bux and some American Cola. I threw back a few drinks while we played some cards and met this really cool guy from Boston. He grew up in Boston but lives in New Zealand as a park ranger. Basically he works for 6 months and lives in the woods and then he gets 6 months off. So he had a bunch of moeny saved up and decided to tour the world, not a bad plan for another out there who can live in a forest for 6 months at a time. I wonder how the girls are up in the woods? Are Rangers allowed to sleep with the backpackers they are in charge of? So many unanswer questions.
Then we met up with some Danes and we went to the beer factory, again, because they have cheap beer and a good vibe and no cover. When we went there on Tuesday the Dj was spinning some good electronic music, this time however it was much different. I guess the Czech think all American love 90's rock when they are drinking and so that was going on. But not like good 90's rock because no Third Eye Blind came on. But the beer was still cheap and I was able to get sufficiently drunk by the time we left. We then went to this club called Lucerna, thanks Julie, and it's an 80's club on Friday nights which is always fun. Grabbed a few more cheap beers, man I love this place, and headed to the dance floor. We ran into the ultimate guys from Carlton that we met and talked with them but they were drunk and we were drunk and the music was loud. Definitely had an ultimate girl with them and so I headed to the main floor. First attempt was an older lady, definitely cougar status. She had a younger hotter, stacked, friend but the Dane went in for the kill and I decided to be the good wingman, plus a cougar makes a better story. And as usual nothing happened. But I was still hearing good music and buzzed so I kept dancing. I wandered around a bunch and then I finally gnabbed a girl. Really cute, and tiny and we were actaully dancing, like Americans do. It was great but short lived. Not sure if I was too much or too little for her but I got like 3 songs out of her and thats 3 more than Ive had this whole trip, minus the one's with Jay and Andreas. Then I hit my usual 3 am wall. In the states I can sometiems make it past 3 but thats cuz I know what Im doing and no one is smoking cigs, but out here I turn useless at 3. So I found Jay and he was still rockin out, cuz he's cooler than me?, and I decided to head home.
Now this was a drunken stooper back home. First time that Ive walked around without Steve or Jay to guide me, and it showed. I walked probbaly an extra 25 mins but I eventually made it home and passed out. Jay was in charge of getting us up at 6:30 and so we did that. We raced to get our shit packed together. I was really hung and Jay was still wasted. We raced around jumping on different forms of public transit and finally got to the needed bus stop but we were 10 mins late. Luckily another one was coming in like 45 mins. So we waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some more. 11:00 rolled around, we got there at 8, and no fuckin bus ever came. Jay and I are both veterans of getting wasted and waking up early for Ultimate. We both have extensive resumes in that dept, in fact I enjoy playing hungover cuz its the best cure. But when you do all of that and can't play, its worse than blue balls. Luckily we had Jay's iPod and so we sarrendaed(sp? the singing word) the morning crowd with Eve 6 anthems. We had a great time. And a bum who was obviously wasted and just finished peeing behind us told us that both of our sunglasses were really cool. He then stood there and looked and wandered off. So after calling it a quits on the bus we headed back to Prague and added a night to our hostel no problem. But we had to wait till 2 to check in and it was only about noon when we got there. So we just sat hopelessly in the lobby till 2 and we proceeded to pass out in our beds.
Jay was still spent after dinner but I knew it was Saturday night and we were in Prague. So we met some more foreigners and started drinking. Jay stayed in and I had a few beers with these kids. We then split up cuz they wanted to go to one bar and me and this other fellow didn't want to spring for the taxi ride. So we headed to this five story club near the Charles Bridge. We get there and the line is around the block and full of dudes, so fuck that we say and head to the club next door. We get there and grab a drink and pound a jaeger bomb which was delicious. The club was still filling in so we watched this girl dance while drank a beer. She was a hired dancer and she had her own little platform and she was top shelf, she definitely rivals the northwest beezies. Watched her for a while and chatted with this guy. He's a huge sport nut like me and it was good to talk sports cuz Jay is not so big on that. We then headed down to the DJ and he was spinning a lot of good stuff. Heard some sweet Tiesto remixes and was getting my groove on. Tried dancin up on this cougar but I think she caught me staring at her abnormally large, perky breasts and that was that.
So the main dancefloor had different rooms going off of it with different bars so we started checkin those out. We get to one and notice that there is a girl, topless just chillin on the bar. She was obviously hired and she was beautiful. She was open for pictures and hangin out. You would give her your drink order and she would relay that to the bartender, add her premuim and give you a smile. Great business strategy in my opinion. So that was definitely worth $7 cover we paid. Then came the walk home. Again without Jay or Rick and again I got uber lost. I got close but ended up having to take a taxi home. All in all a good night. Not that drunk but some cool guys and saw some boobies. Now Im exhausted and figuring out the rest of my life. There is supposedly another tournament in Poland but we aren't too sure how much effort we want to put in to it but who knows. The weather has been awesome the last two days but of course we have spent those days not playing ultimate and sleeping, fuck us right?
Keep it safe.
Livin large,
alex
Then we met up with some Danes and we went to the beer factory, again, because they have cheap beer and a good vibe and no cover. When we went there on Tuesday the Dj was spinning some good electronic music, this time however it was much different. I guess the Czech think all American love 90's rock when they are drinking and so that was going on. But not like good 90's rock because no Third Eye Blind came on. But the beer was still cheap and I was able to get sufficiently drunk by the time we left. We then went to this club called Lucerna, thanks Julie, and it's an 80's club on Friday nights which is always fun. Grabbed a few more cheap beers, man I love this place, and headed to the dance floor. We ran into the ultimate guys from Carlton that we met and talked with them but they were drunk and we were drunk and the music was loud. Definitely had an ultimate girl with them and so I headed to the main floor. First attempt was an older lady, definitely cougar status. She had a younger hotter, stacked, friend but the Dane went in for the kill and I decided to be the good wingman, plus a cougar makes a better story. And as usual nothing happened. But I was still hearing good music and buzzed so I kept dancing. I wandered around a bunch and then I finally gnabbed a girl. Really cute, and tiny and we were actaully dancing, like Americans do. It was great but short lived. Not sure if I was too much or too little for her but I got like 3 songs out of her and thats 3 more than Ive had this whole trip, minus the one's with Jay and Andreas. Then I hit my usual 3 am wall. In the states I can sometiems make it past 3 but thats cuz I know what Im doing and no one is smoking cigs, but out here I turn useless at 3. So I found Jay and he was still rockin out, cuz he's cooler than me?, and I decided to head home.
Now this was a drunken stooper back home. First time that Ive walked around without Steve or Jay to guide me, and it showed. I walked probbaly an extra 25 mins but I eventually made it home and passed out. Jay was in charge of getting us up at 6:30 and so we did that. We raced to get our shit packed together. I was really hung and Jay was still wasted. We raced around jumping on different forms of public transit and finally got to the needed bus stop but we were 10 mins late. Luckily another one was coming in like 45 mins. So we waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some more. 11:00 rolled around, we got there at 8, and no fuckin bus ever came. Jay and I are both veterans of getting wasted and waking up early for Ultimate. We both have extensive resumes in that dept, in fact I enjoy playing hungover cuz its the best cure. But when you do all of that and can't play, its worse than blue balls. Luckily we had Jay's iPod and so we sarrendaed(sp? the singing word) the morning crowd with Eve 6 anthems. We had a great time. And a bum who was obviously wasted and just finished peeing behind us told us that both of our sunglasses were really cool. He then stood there and looked and wandered off. So after calling it a quits on the bus we headed back to Prague and added a night to our hostel no problem. But we had to wait till 2 to check in and it was only about noon when we got there. So we just sat hopelessly in the lobby till 2 and we proceeded to pass out in our beds.
Jay was still spent after dinner but I knew it was Saturday night and we were in Prague. So we met some more foreigners and started drinking. Jay stayed in and I had a few beers with these kids. We then split up cuz they wanted to go to one bar and me and this other fellow didn't want to spring for the taxi ride. So we headed to this five story club near the Charles Bridge. We get there and the line is around the block and full of dudes, so fuck that we say and head to the club next door. We get there and grab a drink and pound a jaeger bomb which was delicious. The club was still filling in so we watched this girl dance while drank a beer. She was a hired dancer and she had her own little platform and she was top shelf, she definitely rivals the northwest beezies. Watched her for a while and chatted with this guy. He's a huge sport nut like me and it was good to talk sports cuz Jay is not so big on that. We then headed down to the DJ and he was spinning a lot of good stuff. Heard some sweet Tiesto remixes and was getting my groove on. Tried dancin up on this cougar but I think she caught me staring at her abnormally large, perky breasts and that was that.
So the main dancefloor had different rooms going off of it with different bars so we started checkin those out. We get to one and notice that there is a girl, topless just chillin on the bar. She was obviously hired and she was beautiful. She was open for pictures and hangin out. You would give her your drink order and she would relay that to the bartender, add her premuim and give you a smile. Great business strategy in my opinion. So that was definitely worth $7 cover we paid. Then came the walk home. Again without Jay or Rick and again I got uber lost. I got close but ended up having to take a taxi home. All in all a good night. Not that drunk but some cool guys and saw some boobies. Now Im exhausted and figuring out the rest of my life. There is supposedly another tournament in Poland but we aren't too sure how much effort we want to put in to it but who knows. The weather has been awesome the last two days but of course we have spent those days not playing ultimate and sleeping, fuck us right?
Keep it safe.
Livin large,
alex
Friday, July 18, 2008
Resetting the Dump
Since Austria things have mellowed out a bit as one would imagine. The Austrians really spoiled us and kind of ruined the rest of our trip. Regardless we had to march on and we headed to beautiful Bratislava. Its a small city for being a capital and doesn't really offer much. Rick, our tour guide, isn't really big on Bratislava and he didn't have much to say. Its only an hour train ride from Vienna to Bratislava so we decided that we would catch the train closest to our check out time. We again miss read the schedule for trains and got to the train station too late. However, Vienna is blessed with two train stations and the other one, the South one in case Gil was wondering, had a train leaving really soon so we headed on the tram and go to it in plenty of time. We jumped on and chilled out trying to recover from yet another night we spent till 5 in the am. We got to Bratislava and checked into our hostel and then hit the town to do some touristy things. Rick began to explain the town to us and it seemed ok. They have these random statues around the town for various people of the town. They are kind of cheesy but they are fun for pictures, which Jay is doing an amazing job of taking. Then while walking around our good and loayl friend Mr. Rain decided to stop by. We were both pretty tired and decided going back to the hostel to chill would be a good idea. We made ourselves dinner which was whatever and ended up meeting some kids and watching Donnie Brasco with them. Kind of dicked around and headed to bed early with hopes that Monday would bring better weather and some fun, being that it was Jay's Bday. We wake up kind of early to get a start on the day and quickly realize that everything we want to see is closed on Mondays, except for their famous castle. So we make the journey up to this castle only to realize that its under rennovation. But don't worry because the councilmen of the town reassured us that when the rennovations are finished we will truely appreciate them. I don't think that the council men realize that not many people make a second trip to Bratislava. We played a little disc in the courtyard and then headed back. We a few mid afternoon beers and made some lunch. Then we kind of just chilled out till dinner.
Not sure if I mentioned, but Jay and I try and eat one authentic meal in each town we go to. So for Jay's Bday we decided to go to the Slovac Pub which supposedly had some good food at affordable prices (did that just sound like a commerical?). We order some local beer which was nice and then the food came. These Bratislavaians? know how to put flavor in their food. Jay got a potato dumpling dish with some bacon and heavy sheep cheese which he was not too fond of. We later talked to some other dudes who ate the same thing and they disliked it as well. I got Grandma's Speical and it was really good. Had some good meats with roasted potatoes and bread. I of course didn't finish the whole thing and so Jay had the rest. We then had to go down to the docks to meet up with our friends Lukas and Lorissa, Lukas' sister, who decided to come to Partyslava for Jay's day. We got a bottle rum and beared the shit out that thing. We then started hanging out with these British folk and went to a bar. This bar did not want our service. So we had our beer and headed for a club/bar. We got there and continued drinking. Started really talking to these British kids and find out that they're highschool kids and that they drink every night. They were cool and fun to hang out with. Then we hit the dance floor where again we experienced some amazing music. The DJ was spinning some phat beats which would again make the likes of Jordan and Corbin happy. We heard some deadmauS and a few other DJ we are accomsted to hearing. And again it was full of dudes. Maybe 1 or 2 single chix in the bar, one of which was Lukas' sister, she's very cute but you know how the whole sister thing goes. So around 3:30 or so I was ready to leave and Lukas needed to be taken home. So I took my good friend Lukas home who is only a good foot taller than me. I'm sure it was a sight to see for the policemen that we passed. But Lukas reassured me that these policemen didn't care. Our friends ended up crashing on the floor and leaving early the next day. We also decided to leave a day earlier than expected because Bratislava was not living up to its name and Prague was next.
So we check in to our first of three hostels in Prague and this place was a spectacle. Probably a converted sporting club it was fully equiped with a tennis court, archery range, and basketball court. Also visiting Prague were Sarah Neuoff and Tori Frasier and their group. So we met up with them at their hostel and they were well on their way to finishing a bottle of Skyy. We grabbed some beers and joined the festivities. We headed over to the Beer Factory in New Town and it was awesome. Its a bar/club that encourages competitive drinking by providing you with your own tap and a scoreboard so you can track your results versus the rest of the place. We quickly rose to second place after downing close to 10 litres of beer. I ended up puking in the bathroom, made it to the toliet this time, but dont' worry it was just beer. And that made room for me to help the team reach our second place finish. Beers were like $2 a beer so it was fun cheap night. This was followed by our drunken stooper to find a late night Kehbab place and we found it alright. We devoured our late night munchies before going our seperate ways. Everyone eventually got what they wanted after our not so pleasent chef mixed the order up.
The next day we toured the Jewish quarter and got a little culture. It was quite interesting and just the tip of the iceberg to all the culture that is Prague. We lost Jay momentarily but it was smooth sailing after that. We grabbed some slices of Pizza for dinner. And then some more beers. We went to another bar for the other group's last night in Prague. This bar was quite interesting. When you walked in there was a live Cuban band playing some sweet tunes. Then we headed downstairs to hear the heavy beats of DJ Sunshine. Luckily there was a bar downstairs so getting our first beverage was easy and then we headed up to hear the band. It was alright and a calm night overall. We had a few beers and then wandered over the Kehbab place. Ate some more and then parted our ways. The other group had a train to catch a 9am and needed to figure some shit out at the train station in the morning.
The next day Rick took us to tour the Castle Quarter and the Little Quarter. Definitely the best castle area we have visisted and probably will visit. We didn't want to shell out the extra Crowns, their currency over here in the Czech, for the massive church but looking back we probbaly should have, but we've had our fair share of churches. Got some McDonalds in the little quarter and apparently the dollar menu doesn't translate well into the Czech cuz I paid close to $3 for a cheeseburger and fries, kind of bullshit if you ask me. And these Czechis love their McDonald's just as much as those crazy Austrians. Not sure what McDonalds does differently out here but they seem to hit every demographic.
Then for the rest of the night we decided to be mellow and have our authentic meal. We went to a Pub and it was Delish with an X. I got some Pork Tenderloin with Potato dumplings, real dumplings, some bread and sauerkraut. Also tried this cold Pork spread with Onions and it was good too. Jay got a Pig's Leg and went to town on that thing. We got Pilsner from the tap and it made the meal complete not to mention our waitress was stacked. All in All a great meal and definitely our best since leaving Italy. Then we headed back to the hostel to chill. We started playing some cards over a beer and one thing leads to another and Im 6 pints deep playing Never Have I Ever with an Aussie, a kid from Philli, and a kid from New Orleans. Heard some great stories and then hit the hay around 3 am. I was a bit tipsy and probably drank a beer more than I should have but I had to represent for Cali.
Today the weather continues to suck and it might not hold for us and this tournament we want to go to. Hopefully it can otherwise we will be forced to stay in Prague and get drunk again and wander around for Kehbabs.
Side Note:
My day pack got stolen. I was stupid and didn't put it back in my locker. Nothing too valuable was in it. My ipod Shuffle and cell phone was in it but both were dead. Some things with sentimental value were in there however like everything we have been collecting for our trip and our journal. Also, the SCAB disc. I've never more scared for a SCAB disc in my life. It has reached bad hands and Im sure they have no idea what to do with it. Also, my toothbrush and toothpaste were in there. So I got to get a new toothbrush which is always nice and some new toothpaste which is always fun to try. Lasty, our deck of cards was in there so my dominance over Jay will be put on hold for the moment.
Well tonite is Friday and we are in Prague so who knows what will happen. We met some random ultimate dudes from Carlton and we are going to go out with them. Should be fun and we can spread the SCAB name around a bit.
livin large,
alex
Not sure if I mentioned, but Jay and I try and eat one authentic meal in each town we go to. So for Jay's Bday we decided to go to the Slovac Pub which supposedly had some good food at affordable prices (did that just sound like a commerical?). We order some local beer which was nice and then the food came. These Bratislavaians? know how to put flavor in their food. Jay got a potato dumpling dish with some bacon and heavy sheep cheese which he was not too fond of. We later talked to some other dudes who ate the same thing and they disliked it as well. I got Grandma's Speical and it was really good. Had some good meats with roasted potatoes and bread. I of course didn't finish the whole thing and so Jay had the rest. We then had to go down to the docks to meet up with our friends Lukas and Lorissa, Lukas' sister, who decided to come to Partyslava for Jay's day. We got a bottle rum and beared the shit out that thing. We then started hanging out with these British folk and went to a bar. This bar did not want our service. So we had our beer and headed for a club/bar. We got there and continued drinking. Started really talking to these British kids and find out that they're highschool kids and that they drink every night. They were cool and fun to hang out with. Then we hit the dance floor where again we experienced some amazing music. The DJ was spinning some phat beats which would again make the likes of Jordan and Corbin happy. We heard some deadmauS and a few other DJ we are accomsted to hearing. And again it was full of dudes. Maybe 1 or 2 single chix in the bar, one of which was Lukas' sister, she's very cute but you know how the whole sister thing goes. So around 3:30 or so I was ready to leave and Lukas needed to be taken home. So I took my good friend Lukas home who is only a good foot taller than me. I'm sure it was a sight to see for the policemen that we passed. But Lukas reassured me that these policemen didn't care. Our friends ended up crashing on the floor and leaving early the next day. We also decided to leave a day earlier than expected because Bratislava was not living up to its name and Prague was next.
So we check in to our first of three hostels in Prague and this place was a spectacle. Probably a converted sporting club it was fully equiped with a tennis court, archery range, and basketball court. Also visiting Prague were Sarah Neuoff and Tori Frasier and their group. So we met up with them at their hostel and they were well on their way to finishing a bottle of Skyy. We grabbed some beers and joined the festivities. We headed over to the Beer Factory in New Town and it was awesome. Its a bar/club that encourages competitive drinking by providing you with your own tap and a scoreboard so you can track your results versus the rest of the place. We quickly rose to second place after downing close to 10 litres of beer. I ended up puking in the bathroom, made it to the toliet this time, but dont' worry it was just beer. And that made room for me to help the team reach our second place finish. Beers were like $2 a beer so it was fun cheap night. This was followed by our drunken stooper to find a late night Kehbab place and we found it alright. We devoured our late night munchies before going our seperate ways. Everyone eventually got what they wanted after our not so pleasent chef mixed the order up.
The next day we toured the Jewish quarter and got a little culture. It was quite interesting and just the tip of the iceberg to all the culture that is Prague. We lost Jay momentarily but it was smooth sailing after that. We grabbed some slices of Pizza for dinner. And then some more beers. We went to another bar for the other group's last night in Prague. This bar was quite interesting. When you walked in there was a live Cuban band playing some sweet tunes. Then we headed downstairs to hear the heavy beats of DJ Sunshine. Luckily there was a bar downstairs so getting our first beverage was easy and then we headed up to hear the band. It was alright and a calm night overall. We had a few beers and then wandered over the Kehbab place. Ate some more and then parted our ways. The other group had a train to catch a 9am and needed to figure some shit out at the train station in the morning.
The next day Rick took us to tour the Castle Quarter and the Little Quarter. Definitely the best castle area we have visisted and probably will visit. We didn't want to shell out the extra Crowns, their currency over here in the Czech, for the massive church but looking back we probbaly should have, but we've had our fair share of churches. Got some McDonalds in the little quarter and apparently the dollar menu doesn't translate well into the Czech cuz I paid close to $3 for a cheeseburger and fries, kind of bullshit if you ask me. And these Czechis love their McDonald's just as much as those crazy Austrians. Not sure what McDonalds does differently out here but they seem to hit every demographic.
Then for the rest of the night we decided to be mellow and have our authentic meal. We went to a Pub and it was Delish with an X. I got some Pork Tenderloin with Potato dumplings, real dumplings, some bread and sauerkraut. Also tried this cold Pork spread with Onions and it was good too. Jay got a Pig's Leg and went to town on that thing. We got Pilsner from the tap and it made the meal complete not to mention our waitress was stacked. All in All a great meal and definitely our best since leaving Italy. Then we headed back to the hostel to chill. We started playing some cards over a beer and one thing leads to another and Im 6 pints deep playing Never Have I Ever with an Aussie, a kid from Philli, and a kid from New Orleans. Heard some great stories and then hit the hay around 3 am. I was a bit tipsy and probably drank a beer more than I should have but I had to represent for Cali.
Today the weather continues to suck and it might not hold for us and this tournament we want to go to. Hopefully it can otherwise we will be forced to stay in Prague and get drunk again and wander around for Kehbabs.
Side Note:
My day pack got stolen. I was stupid and didn't put it back in my locker. Nothing too valuable was in it. My ipod Shuffle and cell phone was in it but both were dead. Some things with sentimental value were in there however like everything we have been collecting for our trip and our journal. Also, the SCAB disc. I've never more scared for a SCAB disc in my life. It has reached bad hands and Im sure they have no idea what to do with it. Also, my toothbrush and toothpaste were in there. So I got to get a new toothbrush which is always nice and some new toothpaste which is always fun to try. Lasty, our deck of cards was in there so my dominance over Jay will be put on hold for the moment.
Well tonite is Friday and we are in Prague so who knows what will happen. We met some random ultimate dudes from Carlton and we are going to go out with them. Should be fun and we can spread the SCAB name around a bit.
livin large,
alex
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Getting Back to the Basics
So before I write this blog I just want to say thank you to a few people:
Gil - You are awesome. Your extensive list of shit to do in Vienna was extremely helpful and detailed. Andreas doesn't know a lot outside of food and booze, which isnt a complaint, but the information on places to see and cafes to sit at was delightful. More importantly, I want to thank you for introducing us to Lukas, Andreas, and Tobias. You all are beautiful people.
Tobias - You are a very generous guy. I know its your job to deal with guys like Jay and myself but you went out of your way to make sure that we had the best time possible and we did. You gave the best directions and the cell phone was clutch. Lastly, the futbol match was unreal. Tons of fun, great beer, and great team spririt. People may say Austrian Futbol sucks but I had a great time and the game was really exciting. Thanks for everything.
Andreas & Lukas - You guys know how to live it up. When it comes to eating and drinking there is no one better to know. All your friends were very generous and there is not a better group of guys to drink with. Andreas, taking us to Linz was something you didnt have to do but it allowed us to experience an authentic Austrian expereience. You are the host with the most (get it?) and Ill never forget out time in Austria. The country expereience would have been shit without and thanks for spoiling us.
So now that, that is out of the way let me tell you why I thanked this people. So (I use that word a lot) Andreas decided that we needed to have an authentic Austrian experience. Austrians love to eat. Austrians love to drink. Austrians love to somke cigs. Austrians most love to eat, drink, and smoke at the same time and thats what we did for two days straight minus the smoking although our clothes smell like we did. Andreas took us around Vienna for a day and was an excellent tour guide, of course he had some help from Gil's dissertation on Vienna. We saw almost everything on her list which included some old cafes, the castle, the palace, and all the other must sees in Vienna. Of course Jay took tons of pictures (he forgot his connecting cable so thats why we cant upload any plus its expensive) regardless it was fun. We all woke up drunk this morning which was great cuz Andreas was driving us around. He first took us the massive castle right outside of the downtown. This place is gorgeous and probably has a lot of history but neither Rick Steves nor Andreas knew much about it. Regardless it was beautiful and massive. We made the climb to the Glorrietta which was nice and thats when the hangover hit. Luckily there was a nice bench for us to all sit down on and admire the view of all of Vienna. Andreas pointed out the important large buildings, most of which were churches and then we toured around the rest of the day. We had Gil's list handy and so we put a dent into that and then decided to rest up that night cuz the next day we were going to Linz.
Linz - what a great town. Andreas grew up here and so he knew the ropes. We went to the hightest point and saw a great view of Upper Austria. We rode the Gottenbaug (sp, sorry Gil) and toured around the town. Unfortunetly the town was under massive construction because next year its going to be the Cultural Capital of Europe. We headed back to his house where his brother was already wasted. The whole day we were drinking beer and eating different types of sausage. These Austrians know their meats and how to prepare them. I couldn't pronounce any of their names but it was all good. We get back to his house and continue the booze fest. BTW Andreas has a beautiful house, very modern and very cool. Great energy flwoing through that place which his mom is in charge of. Has a nice pool and it was fun to get some lay outs in.
Then we headed out for some Most. There is probably some of kind of accent mark on the O but whatever. So its basically this vineyard where they serve only food that they prepare on their farm. They raise their own meet and produce their own wine, the Most. The meal was probably 2 hours longs and we had about 10 pitchers of this stuff along with about 5 different kinds of meat. So we got a good buzz going and then headed out to their favorite bar / club.
We show up and its looking pretty average. Its got some people and the DJ sounds good. The whole night the DJ was stellar. Mixing phat beats and making the girls crazy. So we order a round of drinks which Jay paid for, so thanks. But that pissed off Andreas. He said if either of us paid for another drink we wouldn't be allowed to stay in house. He was dead serious too. Andreas then orders champagne, magnum style. And from that point on the champagne never stopped flowing. Andreas says its makes you crazy in the head and boy did it. We got housed and were dancing all over the place, although never with a girl. In this club the dudes dance with dudes and the girls dance with girls. Andreas says you have to make eye contact and then go from there. Our American cock rubbing techniques dont work out here. We still had a great time and were at the club till at least 4 am. Great thing having bars never close, Blinky's should take note. Then we ate some authentic Austrian drunk munchies, liver cheese. Sounds weird but it was awesome. Then we headed back to Andreas place around 5 and continued drinking. Jay and I both passed out before 6. We woke up at 11 to find the dudes still drinking, so we had to join them. Andreas then had us try another 4 different sausages for breakfast which was jsut what the doctor ordered. We then got a ride back to Vienna and headed straight to the Futbol match with Tobias.
This blog is getting long, but our hostel has free internet. So we picked up some more beer and headed out to the Hutteldorf to drink with Tobias' friends and get ready for the match. There we tried yet another type of sasauge and drank more beer. We headed to the game and it was awesome. The game had everything you would expect in a game. It was a rivarly game and it was huge. We got lucky to see such a big match and it lived up to the bill. These fans have a cheer for each player and every part of the game. Tobias thanks again for the game. He knew about every player and translated all the cheers and really made it an authentic experience for us.
We then headed back to our hostel to get ready to go out for our last night in Austria. Running on about 5 hours of wasted sleep requires a lot of motivation but we had it. Lukas and his sister were going to take us to Flex. This is the quintessencial Jordan club. Amazing music and tons of people. This club would let anyone bring in anything into the club. People had bottles of booze and people had backpacks on which Im sure were filled with drugs some these people were definitely on drugs. I was not and did not have any desire to do any. But the music was awesome. We left the club at 5 and headed home for a quick nap before our train ride. The whole night was awesome and what not. Again no dancing with girls still havent figured that whole thing out yet. It was still fun.
Now we are in Bratislava recovering. Im out. Hopefully everyone is having fun wherever they are and keep telling me funny stories and whats up in the Western Hemisphere.
Livin Large,
alex
Gil - You are awesome. Your extensive list of shit to do in Vienna was extremely helpful and detailed. Andreas doesn't know a lot outside of food and booze, which isnt a complaint, but the information on places to see and cafes to sit at was delightful. More importantly, I want to thank you for introducing us to Lukas, Andreas, and Tobias. You all are beautiful people.
Tobias - You are a very generous guy. I know its your job to deal with guys like Jay and myself but you went out of your way to make sure that we had the best time possible and we did. You gave the best directions and the cell phone was clutch. Lastly, the futbol match was unreal. Tons of fun, great beer, and great team spririt. People may say Austrian Futbol sucks but I had a great time and the game was really exciting. Thanks for everything.
Andreas & Lukas - You guys know how to live it up. When it comes to eating and drinking there is no one better to know. All your friends were very generous and there is not a better group of guys to drink with. Andreas, taking us to Linz was something you didnt have to do but it allowed us to experience an authentic Austrian expereience. You are the host with the most (get it?) and Ill never forget out time in Austria. The country expereience would have been shit without and thanks for spoiling us.
So now that, that is out of the way let me tell you why I thanked this people. So (I use that word a lot) Andreas decided that we needed to have an authentic Austrian experience. Austrians love to eat. Austrians love to drink. Austrians love to somke cigs. Austrians most love to eat, drink, and smoke at the same time and thats what we did for two days straight minus the smoking although our clothes smell like we did. Andreas took us around Vienna for a day and was an excellent tour guide, of course he had some help from Gil's dissertation on Vienna. We saw almost everything on her list which included some old cafes, the castle, the palace, and all the other must sees in Vienna. Of course Jay took tons of pictures (he forgot his connecting cable so thats why we cant upload any plus its expensive) regardless it was fun. We all woke up drunk this morning which was great cuz Andreas was driving us around. He first took us the massive castle right outside of the downtown. This place is gorgeous and probably has a lot of history but neither Rick Steves nor Andreas knew much about it. Regardless it was beautiful and massive. We made the climb to the Glorrietta which was nice and thats when the hangover hit. Luckily there was a nice bench for us to all sit down on and admire the view of all of Vienna. Andreas pointed out the important large buildings, most of which were churches and then we toured around the rest of the day. We had Gil's list handy and so we put a dent into that and then decided to rest up that night cuz the next day we were going to Linz.
Linz - what a great town. Andreas grew up here and so he knew the ropes. We went to the hightest point and saw a great view of Upper Austria. We rode the Gottenbaug (sp, sorry Gil) and toured around the town. Unfortunetly the town was under massive construction because next year its going to be the Cultural Capital of Europe. We headed back to his house where his brother was already wasted. The whole day we were drinking beer and eating different types of sausage. These Austrians know their meats and how to prepare them. I couldn't pronounce any of their names but it was all good. We get back to his house and continue the booze fest. BTW Andreas has a beautiful house, very modern and very cool. Great energy flwoing through that place which his mom is in charge of. Has a nice pool and it was fun to get some lay outs in.
Then we headed out for some Most. There is probably some of kind of accent mark on the O but whatever. So its basically this vineyard where they serve only food that they prepare on their farm. They raise their own meet and produce their own wine, the Most. The meal was probably 2 hours longs and we had about 10 pitchers of this stuff along with about 5 different kinds of meat. So we got a good buzz going and then headed out to their favorite bar / club.
We show up and its looking pretty average. Its got some people and the DJ sounds good. The whole night the DJ was stellar. Mixing phat beats and making the girls crazy. So we order a round of drinks which Jay paid for, so thanks. But that pissed off Andreas. He said if either of us paid for another drink we wouldn't be allowed to stay in house. He was dead serious too. Andreas then orders champagne, magnum style. And from that point on the champagne never stopped flowing. Andreas says its makes you crazy in the head and boy did it. We got housed and were dancing all over the place, although never with a girl. In this club the dudes dance with dudes and the girls dance with girls. Andreas says you have to make eye contact and then go from there. Our American cock rubbing techniques dont work out here. We still had a great time and were at the club till at least 4 am. Great thing having bars never close, Blinky's should take note. Then we ate some authentic Austrian drunk munchies, liver cheese. Sounds weird but it was awesome. Then we headed back to Andreas place around 5 and continued drinking. Jay and I both passed out before 6. We woke up at 11 to find the dudes still drinking, so we had to join them. Andreas then had us try another 4 different sausages for breakfast which was jsut what the doctor ordered. We then got a ride back to Vienna and headed straight to the Futbol match with Tobias.
This blog is getting long, but our hostel has free internet. So we picked up some more beer and headed out to the Hutteldorf to drink with Tobias' friends and get ready for the match. There we tried yet another type of sasauge and drank more beer. We headed to the game and it was awesome. The game had everything you would expect in a game. It was a rivarly game and it was huge. We got lucky to see such a big match and it lived up to the bill. These fans have a cheer for each player and every part of the game. Tobias thanks again for the game. He knew about every player and translated all the cheers and really made it an authentic experience for us.
We then headed back to our hostel to get ready to go out for our last night in Austria. Running on about 5 hours of wasted sleep requires a lot of motivation but we had it. Lukas and his sister were going to take us to Flex. This is the quintessencial Jordan club. Amazing music and tons of people. This club would let anyone bring in anything into the club. People had bottles of booze and people had backpacks on which Im sure were filled with drugs some these people were definitely on drugs. I was not and did not have any desire to do any. But the music was awesome. We left the club at 5 and headed home for a quick nap before our train ride. The whole night was awesome and what not. Again no dancing with girls still havent figured that whole thing out yet. It was still fun.
Now we are in Bratislava recovering. Im out. Hopefully everyone is having fun wherever they are and keep telling me funny stories and whats up in the Western Hemisphere.
Livin Large,
alex
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Gettin into the Flow of Things
So I'm finally on a real American keyboard so this should be fun. So yesterday we toured around the old part of Vienna to get a little cultured. We even entertained the idea of going to an Opera, and yes you read that right. We walked around and saw some very historical stuff and the architecture out here is amazing, very impressive. We had our good buddy Rick Steves to show us around and he did a decent job. He's not too big on Austria and so while the tour was good it was very topographical. After that we got another Doner Kobab and headed up the room. We were going to meet Meg's friend Tobias at 8 at our hotel lobby and he was going to give us a tour of the city. We also made plans to meet up with Lukas and Andreas so we knew the night was going to involve some kind of drinking. So we picked up a bottle of cheap rum, which was surprisingly good. You have no idea how nice it is to type on this keyboard. So we took some pulls while we ate our Kobabs.
We met up with our local friends and went and bought a bunch of beer. So drinking in public is huge over here, cuz its legal, and its awesome. So we picked up some beer and headed over to this outdoor hangout. It had a bunch of benches and what not. For anyone who knows or cares, Meg, we started at the Museum Cortier. Drank a few beers there. Great thing about their beers is that they are all big. They don't 12 ounce beers they do half liters which is like a beer and a half. Makes keep count of how you had a lot tougher and more fun. So we met all our new buddy's friends and talked a lot about life in Vienna and Futball and all that good stuff.
So then Tobias decided to take us to this underground hip hop club. We had to pay a cover to get in, which sucked, but it was chill. Good music and drinks weren't too bad. Overall the bar was kind of low key and we were looking for something a bit more up beat. Meanwhile I downed quite a few rumcolas (rum and cokes). We decide to leave and to the Leopold Museum bar which Meg suggested and we had to put a few checks on her list of stuff to do, thanks by the way Meg. But we decided if we were going to another bar we had to make a pit stop to our room and pick up the rest of our rum. So we got that along with the rest of our dinner and devoured everything, rum included. That hit us hard and of course we were drinking in public which is an added bonus. So after accquiring a heavy buzz / being wasted we headed over to this bar. Not a lot of people in there, I guess wasted Wed didn't spill over into Vienna, but when you are wasted with your buddies its all good. So I think we got a few drinks, not sure, maybe just a beer. Actually now that I think about it we definitely got at least a beer. We then called Meg to brag and tell her how much Vienna sucks. Andreas hung up on her I think but it was and he couldn't really hear her, and our message was delivered so its all good.
Then it was time to go the clubs. So we showed up at what appeared to be a subway station entrance but it was actually a club. So of course the locals get in then Jay walks up and the bouncer says no. He wasn't looking cool enough. I was looking good enough but I wasn't about to ditch my buddy and I was in no to be going to another club. I was nearly passing out as we were walking around. Jay got pissed off and flipped the bird to the bouncers who took it the wrong way. Lukas tried to play it off as a California way to say goodbye but they weren't havin it. I thought it was high larious and was laughing which probably didn't help the situation. By now it was like 2:30 am so we decided that a drunk walk back home would be in order.
Funny side notes though. Lukas ended up going into the club with his sister and realized that it was only dudes and then passed out in the club. Woke up and then passed out on the subway and missed his exit. Then eventually got home and passed out on his couch. Then today woke up at around 1 met us for lunch and missed a work meeting. Yeah last night was fun.
So we stumbled into our hostel and passed out. Today I woke up wasted. Jay was drunk and so was Andreas. We had a great morning laughing about nothing and being loud. Makes the mornings so much easier when you are already drunk. It also makes drinking throughout the rest of the day much easier. So Andreas picked us up and gave a tour of this huge castle. We walked around and climbed up this hill to a great viewpoint where you can see the entire city, and that's when Mr. Hangover decided to show up. We all started feeling like shit at the same time and so we sat on this bench and pounded water as we talked about how prostitution works in Austria, which by the way they have a great system. Also we decided that from an economics perspective you are better off getting a hooker versus hitting on girls at bar. Follow this logic:
You go to a bar, probably a bit buzzed, but regardless you need to buy yourself drinks which costs money. Then you buy the lady friend you acquire some drinks. Then you have to talk to her and pretend to listen for probably an hour minimum. Then you have to convince her to go back to your place. At this point you still need to make sure that all the necessary tools are in working order. Overall it can a huge ordeal. Or you can drive down some street, find yourself a nice young, talented lady, give her 40-60 euros and have your way. Obviously none of us are going to get a hooker but we thought we would lay it out in economic terms cuz we are business guys and we think like that.
We ate some authentic food today. We had a Schnitznel and a Strudel. It was all amazing. We also had this beer which was mixed with like a lemonade. Really good way to nurse a hangover. Walked around bunch. Meg gave us a dissertation on Vienna so we followed that with a little Andreas mixed in. We saw a ton of stuff and had a real authentic experience which was awesome. We also went to the Prata which is like an amusement park. Kind of cheezy but its home to Austria biggest beer garden, which is a lost concept in the states so we should get one going. So we get there and its like heaven. There are waiters running around with huge slabs of meet and trays full of beers. We looked for a table and couldn't find a single open one. The place was packed but we got to look around and smell what a real beer garden is like. The park is also conveniently located near a local hooker hang out but we didn't have time to venture over there. Also, another one of the major hooker hang outs is located near the Child Genius Schools so thats neat.
Now we are really tired and trying to decide to out or not. We will probably go have a beer or two and go from there. Tomorrow night Andreas is throwing us a party at his house in Linz which will be sweet. He promised some beezies so that should be a nice bonus.
Burger King was good the other day too in case you were still wondering. Have a good and don't get burned by the fires.
livin large,
alex
We met up with our local friends and went and bought a bunch of beer. So drinking in public is huge over here, cuz its legal, and its awesome. So we picked up some beer and headed over to this outdoor hangout. It had a bunch of benches and what not. For anyone who knows or cares, Meg, we started at the Museum Cortier. Drank a few beers there. Great thing about their beers is that they are all big. They don't 12 ounce beers they do half liters which is like a beer and a half. Makes keep count of how you had a lot tougher and more fun. So we met all our new buddy's friends and talked a lot about life in Vienna and Futball and all that good stuff.
So then Tobias decided to take us to this underground hip hop club. We had to pay a cover to get in, which sucked, but it was chill. Good music and drinks weren't too bad. Overall the bar was kind of low key and we were looking for something a bit more up beat. Meanwhile I downed quite a few rumcolas (rum and cokes). We decide to leave and to the Leopold Museum bar which Meg suggested and we had to put a few checks on her list of stuff to do, thanks by the way Meg. But we decided if we were going to another bar we had to make a pit stop to our room and pick up the rest of our rum. So we got that along with the rest of our dinner and devoured everything, rum included. That hit us hard and of course we were drinking in public which is an added bonus. So after accquiring a heavy buzz / being wasted we headed over to this bar. Not a lot of people in there, I guess wasted Wed didn't spill over into Vienna, but when you are wasted with your buddies its all good. So I think we got a few drinks, not sure, maybe just a beer. Actually now that I think about it we definitely got at least a beer. We then called Meg to brag and tell her how much Vienna sucks. Andreas hung up on her I think but it was and he couldn't really hear her, and our message was delivered so its all good.
Then it was time to go the clubs. So we showed up at what appeared to be a subway station entrance but it was actually a club. So of course the locals get in then Jay walks up and the bouncer says no. He wasn't looking cool enough. I was looking good enough but I wasn't about to ditch my buddy and I was in no to be going to another club. I was nearly passing out as we were walking around. Jay got pissed off and flipped the bird to the bouncers who took it the wrong way. Lukas tried to play it off as a California way to say goodbye but they weren't havin it. I thought it was high larious and was laughing which probably didn't help the situation. By now it was like 2:30 am so we decided that a drunk walk back home would be in order.
Funny side notes though. Lukas ended up going into the club with his sister and realized that it was only dudes and then passed out in the club. Woke up and then passed out on the subway and missed his exit. Then eventually got home and passed out on his couch. Then today woke up at around 1 met us for lunch and missed a work meeting. Yeah last night was fun.
So we stumbled into our hostel and passed out. Today I woke up wasted. Jay was drunk and so was Andreas. We had a great morning laughing about nothing and being loud. Makes the mornings so much easier when you are already drunk. It also makes drinking throughout the rest of the day much easier. So Andreas picked us up and gave a tour of this huge castle. We walked around and climbed up this hill to a great viewpoint where you can see the entire city, and that's when Mr. Hangover decided to show up. We all started feeling like shit at the same time and so we sat on this bench and pounded water as we talked about how prostitution works in Austria, which by the way they have a great system. Also we decided that from an economics perspective you are better off getting a hooker versus hitting on girls at bar. Follow this logic:
You go to a bar, probably a bit buzzed, but regardless you need to buy yourself drinks which costs money. Then you buy the lady friend you acquire some drinks. Then you have to talk to her and pretend to listen for probably an hour minimum. Then you have to convince her to go back to your place. At this point you still need to make sure that all the necessary tools are in working order. Overall it can a huge ordeal. Or you can drive down some street, find yourself a nice young, talented lady, give her 40-60 euros and have your way. Obviously none of us are going to get a hooker but we thought we would lay it out in economic terms cuz we are business guys and we think like that.
We ate some authentic food today. We had a Schnitznel and a Strudel. It was all amazing. We also had this beer which was mixed with like a lemonade. Really good way to nurse a hangover. Walked around bunch. Meg gave us a dissertation on Vienna so we followed that with a little Andreas mixed in. We saw a ton of stuff and had a real authentic experience which was awesome. We also went to the Prata which is like an amusement park. Kind of cheezy but its home to Austria biggest beer garden, which is a lost concept in the states so we should get one going. So we get there and its like heaven. There are waiters running around with huge slabs of meet and trays full of beers. We looked for a table and couldn't find a single open one. The place was packed but we got to look around and smell what a real beer garden is like. The park is also conveniently located near a local hooker hang out but we didn't have time to venture over there. Also, another one of the major hooker hang outs is located near the Child Genius Schools so thats neat.
Now we are really tired and trying to decide to out or not. We will probably go have a beer or two and go from there. Tomorrow night Andreas is throwing us a party at his house in Linz which will be sweet. He promised some beezies so that should be a nice bonus.
Burger King was good the other day too in case you were still wondering. Have a good and don't get burned by the fires.
livin large,
alex
Monday, July 7, 2008
A New Offense
Our first night in Innsbruck, Austria was a different slice of life that Im not used to. Saturday was our first night in Austria and we are in a city called Innsbruck. Great city, mid sized but has hosted two winter olympics. Jays dad studied abroad there for a whole year so we figured we could give a few days worth of our time. So we get to our hostel and get our bearings strait. We grab some grub and some beer and let the night begin. I got a decent buzz as we headed out to the main downtown area to see how the austrians spend their Saturday nights.
We see a Guiness sign and decide to head into this pub. We walk in and order two pints and quickly realize that we had brought the average age in the place down by about 10 years which isnt always reassuring. Also the bartender had an Irish accent. When you're (first ' I've used in my blog so far, I think, bear with me) expecting to hear German and you get an Irish accent it throws you off a bit like a little reverse pitching. So I got a stool while Jay went to the head. He comes back and tells me of a live band downstairs. So we head downstairs and thats where all the cool kids were at. Downstairs is like a different bar. After walking in I realized a few things. The Aryan race is still alive and so is the side part. The band was a Beetles cover band. Im not the biggest Beetles fan in the world, in fact I don't like them at all, but I know their stuff and I know they are very talented. So these kids did a decent job but the German accents didn't do them much justice. So we had our pints and left for the mainstrip we found earlier in the day.
We found a studnet bar \ beer garden but it looked lame so kept walking. What didnt look lame was the Goth Rock 80's Techno Underground Club we found. We walked in and immeditely got a chuckle from the bouncer. We paid a small cover and walked in and instantly got some interesting looks. First off, Jay was wearing a bright yellow shirt which doesnt fit in really with the whole Goth theme. I luckily decided to wear my black Sockeye jersey, thanks Mike, and so I kind of fit in. We got some beers and just started talking about how crazy of a place we were in and what kind of experience it would be. We could talk freely in English cuy no one could here us or probably understand what we were saying. The music was good in our opinion but no one dancing excpet this one dude. Kind of reminded me of the time Carrie, Adrie, Hill, Nate and myself saw Tiesto. Then some more people who really didnt fit in wondered down the stairs to our lovely hidden gem. We cheersed them as we all recongnized the choice we made. Then some local ladies wondered down and they were whatever. Tough to speak with them although they spoke above avg English. We talked about basic stuff and their schooling and what not I wasnt too interested. Then the lady I was talking to started smoking and that was a game over.
So being a bit drunk and disinterested I started to dance. I figured I'd never see any of these people again and the DJ was good so I started bustin some moves pretty much by myself. Im not going to lie I was lookin pretty good out there, and I was having a good time. After that the people who intended to be at the bar started dancin a bit more and thats when I got my cue to leave. I mean I enjoy critizing their look and watching from a distance but its not my scene. So Jay and I left knowing that the next day would be a bit of an adventure.
We didnt know exactly where we were going to stay the next night cuz Inssbruck was all booked up minus a few 5 star hotels, but we aint that cool. So we knew of a few campgrounds but didnt know how to get there. So next morning we jump out of bed at 8 am to start the day. And by jump I mean limp. Regardless we get a good start to our day and figure that the campgrounds arent too far away so that was a big relief. We toured around all day and saw some pretty cool shit. The mountains are really close so we hiked around for most of the day. We really wanted to take a Chairlift to the top but it was like 38 euros which is a bit out of our budget. But the hiking was awesome and we got to toss the disc around a bit. But after the hiking we could see some friendly rain clouds coming our way and sure enough it started to rain. Luckily it wasnt too bad when we got to our campground so were able to set up without much hassle.
This campground was something to see. It was what you would imagine a gypsy hang out would look like. Tons of RVs of all different shapes and sizes. In the middle area there were a decent amount of tents but most were coupled with a car of sorts. The facilities were good and so we had bathrooms and water and what not. We spent the rest of the night bro chillin with a few beers and playing some cards. We met a really awesome couple from Sweeden who spoke very good English. We talked with them all night and it was really interesting to hear about Sweeden and they really didnt like it. I thought Sweeden would be cool but apparently not if you live there.
Today we woke up to rain. We didnt set up our rain tent as well as we could have and so a little bit of water came in but my stuff was fine, Jays not so much but oh well. Today we toured around in the rain to make the most of the day. Now Im going to Burger King to have dinner and head back to the campgrounds.
Hows life at home? Somebody has got to have gotten drunk and done something stupid by now.
A few side notes:
Im owning Jay in cards especially Cribbage
Austria might have the most beautiful country side Ive ever seen
There is a Serles peak out here
Innsbruck is pretty damn expensive
Rain is not the ideal travel condition
Sweedish people think that Americans are fat and drink and drive a lot.
Everybody is always drinking in Austria, no joke. Not sure why I didnt get this in earlier. But bars always have people and not like people you find at Blikys. I mean they look like regular, put together people. People drink in public all the time. The other night three girls were standing on a street corner with an open bottle of Capt. Morgans and they each had a coke in their hand. They were probably in between rounds of bear, I didnt stay long enough to see. But its redickulous. Im very jealous. Well I think thats all, the King is calling me.
livin large,
alex
We see a Guiness sign and decide to head into this pub. We walk in and order two pints and quickly realize that we had brought the average age in the place down by about 10 years which isnt always reassuring. Also the bartender had an Irish accent. When you're (first ' I've used in my blog so far, I think, bear with me) expecting to hear German and you get an Irish accent it throws you off a bit like a little reverse pitching. So I got a stool while Jay went to the head. He comes back and tells me of a live band downstairs. So we head downstairs and thats where all the cool kids were at. Downstairs is like a different bar. After walking in I realized a few things. The Aryan race is still alive and so is the side part. The band was a Beetles cover band. Im not the biggest Beetles fan in the world, in fact I don't like them at all, but I know their stuff and I know they are very talented. So these kids did a decent job but the German accents didn't do them much justice. So we had our pints and left for the mainstrip we found earlier in the day.
We found a studnet bar \ beer garden but it looked lame so kept walking. What didnt look lame was the Goth Rock 80's Techno Underground Club we found. We walked in and immeditely got a chuckle from the bouncer. We paid a small cover and walked in and instantly got some interesting looks. First off, Jay was wearing a bright yellow shirt which doesnt fit in really with the whole Goth theme. I luckily decided to wear my black Sockeye jersey, thanks Mike, and so I kind of fit in. We got some beers and just started talking about how crazy of a place we were in and what kind of experience it would be. We could talk freely in English cuy no one could here us or probably understand what we were saying. The music was good in our opinion but no one dancing excpet this one dude. Kind of reminded me of the time Carrie, Adrie, Hill, Nate and myself saw Tiesto. Then some more people who really didnt fit in wondered down the stairs to our lovely hidden gem. We cheersed them as we all recongnized the choice we made. Then some local ladies wondered down and they were whatever. Tough to speak with them although they spoke above avg English. We talked about basic stuff and their schooling and what not I wasnt too interested. Then the lady I was talking to started smoking and that was a game over.
So being a bit drunk and disinterested I started to dance. I figured I'd never see any of these people again and the DJ was good so I started bustin some moves pretty much by myself. Im not going to lie I was lookin pretty good out there, and I was having a good time. After that the people who intended to be at the bar started dancin a bit more and thats when I got my cue to leave. I mean I enjoy critizing their look and watching from a distance but its not my scene. So Jay and I left knowing that the next day would be a bit of an adventure.
We didnt know exactly where we were going to stay the next night cuz Inssbruck was all booked up minus a few 5 star hotels, but we aint that cool. So we knew of a few campgrounds but didnt know how to get there. So next morning we jump out of bed at 8 am to start the day. And by jump I mean limp. Regardless we get a good start to our day and figure that the campgrounds arent too far away so that was a big relief. We toured around all day and saw some pretty cool shit. The mountains are really close so we hiked around for most of the day. We really wanted to take a Chairlift to the top but it was like 38 euros which is a bit out of our budget. But the hiking was awesome and we got to toss the disc around a bit. But after the hiking we could see some friendly rain clouds coming our way and sure enough it started to rain. Luckily it wasnt too bad when we got to our campground so were able to set up without much hassle.
This campground was something to see. It was what you would imagine a gypsy hang out would look like. Tons of RVs of all different shapes and sizes. In the middle area there were a decent amount of tents but most were coupled with a car of sorts. The facilities were good and so we had bathrooms and water and what not. We spent the rest of the night bro chillin with a few beers and playing some cards. We met a really awesome couple from Sweeden who spoke very good English. We talked with them all night and it was really interesting to hear about Sweeden and they really didnt like it. I thought Sweeden would be cool but apparently not if you live there.
Today we woke up to rain. We didnt set up our rain tent as well as we could have and so a little bit of water came in but my stuff was fine, Jays not so much but oh well. Today we toured around in the rain to make the most of the day. Now Im going to Burger King to have dinner and head back to the campgrounds.
Hows life at home? Somebody has got to have gotten drunk and done something stupid by now.
A few side notes:
Im owning Jay in cards especially Cribbage
Austria might have the most beautiful country side Ive ever seen
There is a Serles peak out here
Innsbruck is pretty damn expensive
Rain is not the ideal travel condition
Sweedish people think that Americans are fat and drink and drive a lot.
Everybody is always drinking in Austria, no joke. Not sure why I didnt get this in earlier. But bars always have people and not like people you find at Blikys. I mean they look like regular, put together people. People drink in public all the time. The other night three girls were standing on a street corner with an open bottle of Capt. Morgans and they each had a coke in their hand. They were probably in between rounds of bear, I didnt stay long enough to see. But its redickulous. Im very jealous. Well I think thats all, the King is calling me.
livin large,
alex
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