Encore en Paris

My trip came to an end in the same city that It all started. The last week of my trip was spent getting to see the parts of Paris I missed the first time around. I had planned on visiting a few more cities including Lisbon and Porto in Portugal. After Barcelona I needed a much more relaxed experience.

I arrived in Paris just in time to join Scott for one last night out. We tromped around the Marais, of course, and managed to have a pretty good time. Again nothing safe for public blogs :)

After Scott left it was back to sightseeing for me. I was able to meet up with my friend Altan and spend a few days with him and his family. A word to the wise; if you figure that you'll be spending a good amount of time with French locals, learn some French.... Not all Europeans want to speak English. Lucky for me Altan's family was hosptiable enough to speak English while I hung around for 3 days :)

- Jesse Mah (says goodbye to Europe)

4 hours in Cebere

On route to France, I had a 4 hour train stop-over in a small town called Cerbere in southern France. To be honest I had no idea which country I was in when I got off the train. The town was super cute and very mediterranean :)






Best cous cous ever!!



- Jesse Mah (wants more good cous cous)

S'Owen my Wild Oats

Hey everyone... Hopefully someone is still reading this blog :s The last days of my trip were so action packed that I didn't make any posts here on deemed. I thought I'd rewind and fill you in on what was left unwritten.

After Granada, I returned to Barcelona for a week with my friends Scott Owen and Roy Steurererrerr (he's Jewish.) I don't think I could have had enough Barcelona time on this trip, it was by far my favourite city in Europe.

Scott, Roy and I spent a week in Barcelona letting our so called "freak flags" fly :) The days were spent parading through the city (usually making more noise than necessary) or lying on a jammed packed beach. At night we didn't sleep much, usually to busy drinking Tinto de veranos, which is essentially cheap Spanish wine and lemonade. Unrated stories can be shared upon request ;)

From Barcelona we spent a day in Sitges, a beatiful beach town just an hour away by train. It was a great place for some quality beach time together and again, being in Spain, wearing a speedo was mandatory.



Here are the boys showering at the beach... Watch it Roy... The waters cold ;)

- Jesse Mah (loves the mediterranean)

Tapas Tapas

Granada has the best tapas ever!!!! I'm actually screaming this right now!

The thing we forget about tapas is that it's supposed to come with a drink! Somewhere along the line, North Americans were tricked into buying tiny portions of food for a ridiculous amount of money. In Granada it is the opposite. You buy a cheap drink (around 2€) and you get a plate food with it :)

I met two really cool girls (Mexican and Spanish) who came tapas hunting with me. We had a blast trying new drinks and walking around Granada. Which by the way has the hugest personality for such a small city.

The main attraction in Granada is the Alhambra. This is basically what they've called a huge piece of land containing Islamic architecture and gardens. I loved it, even if I almost passed out from the sun. My pics don't do the place justice... Google it if you have a chance. Or if you end up in Spain, make sure to go to Granada to see for yourself ;)


(A gateway to the Alhambra gardens)


(Standing in line for the palace. The temp was mid 40's :s)


(The Alhambra Palace! Totally worth the third degree burns while waiting in line)

The utility room

Going for €15 a night in Madrid :)

Picasso's hometown

Málaga has a killer beach, great Picasso museum, an old fortress with stunning gardens and a really charming town centre... Filled with French and German tourists :)



I stayed at a really great place where a girl named Vanessa makes giant delicious mojitos. AND it just so happens that she's from Vancouver/ Kolewna... Small world.

It seems like a luxury to have an English speaker around these days. The further south I travel in Spain, the less people are willing to put up with my "Spanglish." (thank you Adam Sandler) I've promised to study Spanish back home, so hopefully some of you can hold me to my word!

I've already have this memorized:

A que ora sale el proximo trenh parah en Granada?

Hot Hot Hot

Seville is hot! How hot you ask?

So hot you need to drink 9 liters of water (or sangria) per day to avoid dehydration.

So hot that you might think you were in Morroco, but really you would be in Andalucía (the most southern province of Spain).... Taylor that was for you

So hot that some form of ice cream must be consumed every hour on the hour..... Ninianne, for you ;)

So hot that if you attend a 2 hour walking tour, it MUST end before 11am or start after 10 pm.

So hot that siestas are more important than your first born child... I'm not proud to say that I've witnessed this :s

Sooooo hot that you can only take pictures at night!


(Nicely lit houses)


(A concert, or maybe protest, in the street)


Jesse Mah (is going to see his first flamenco show in spain!)

Valencia (orange you glad I didn't come up with a cheesy title)

The cities core is a labyrnth of polished marble roads and delapitated walls. Most of my time in Valencia was spent lost in the maze of streets, and in no way is that a bad thing. I was never really sure what would be around the corner.

I had an amazing moment one night having a drink outside a café by popular plaza. The church bells were going crazy at 12am and the outdoor plaza was buzzing with spaniards. I won't forget Valencia anytime soon :)

Annnnddd, certain parts of the city really do smell like oranges. It's a pleasant contrast from the subtle wafts of sewage smell that can creep up from time to time ;)

Here are some pics!

Oh My Gaudi

I absolutely love Barcelona. Taylor has pointed out that I say this after every city, but i'm 70% sure that Barcelona is different.

So why did I love it so much? Here are the top 20 things I love about Barcelona:

mosaic tiles, tapas, paelle, palm trees, subtle hippy influences, gaudi, architects who copy gaudi, siestas, pants with really low crotches, Diagonal, fashionable women in their 60's, clean metro stations, patates bravas, late nights dinning, late night drinking, late night walking, good-looking locals, Picasso exhibitions annnd elaborately designed old wooden doors!




Parc Güell


La Sagrada Famillia (still workin hard)


Green shirt envy

Special thanks to my buddy Altan who showed me around for the first few days. Altan brought me to my first "real" tapas bar, and for that I will forever be in debt to him :)

Here are the only reasons, I could think of, to NOT go to Barcelona:

- if you absolutely cannot stand hippies
- if you hate curvy lines
- if your worst fear is being pick-pocketed
- if you were hoping to practice your Spanish (the local dialect is Catalan)

- Jesse Mah (is going to watch VCB and point out all the places he's been!!)

Arrivederci Italia

I just finished 30 hours of travel! Siena to Chiusi, to Rome, to Civitavicchia, to Barcolena!

The ferry to Barcelona ended up being more of a mini cruise ship. This almost made up for the fact that it took 20 hours to get to Spain. Luckily the captain was also a live singer/ performer so he kept us all entertained throughout the night.





(A very uncreative shot of the pool from where I was tanning.)

Jesse Mah (has another burnt back)

Chink-weh Tay-reh

I spent a day hiking the Via Dell' Amore of Cinque Terre. The walk was absolutely gorgeous! Here are the pictures to prove how well travelled I am now :)


Village #1 Riomaggiore (the cute one/ the one I stayed in)


Village #2 Manarola (the one I forgot to take a photo of)


Village #3 Corniglia (the middle one)



Village #4 Vernazza (the most interesting one with the best swimming, food and locals)


Village #5 Monterosso (the resorty one)

One Night in Siena

Shawwwwwing!

But no... I really did spend a night in Siena, and it was great. So far, the being here has been the closest thing to my experience at Medieval Times in Disney Land when I was 8.



I happened to visit just after a knights battle between the different districts of Siena. I guess every year they fight for ultimate awseomeness.

Ergg... I really don't know why they fight but I know it's "holey" and I promise to find out as soon as I have some down time.

These are some pics of their victory march, and alot of stretchy pants.


Woody Allen isn't impressed.

Still leaning

...And being held up by these strong ladies ;)



Thank god


I also did a day trip to Lucca, where you can bike around the old stone wall that surrounds the village.

Firenze Frenzy

Florence was a much needed breather after Rome. Not that there is any less to see, just that the overall feel is much more relaxed. The city is full of art, gelato, wine, piazzas and thousands of tourists.



The last thing Nin I did on our trip together was visit this fleamarket in Florence. Jaeg you would have gone crazy over this place! I wanted to buy more stuff but I would've needed another backpack.



The duomo! It's huge and cost €10 to get to the top... So I took a picture of the outside :)



Awwwwww, the summer season has this one all tuckered out.



Florence is full of Mosquitos... Here is my mutated forearm (upside down).

Laine & Justin

This post is dedicated to Laine & Justin. Without whom my poorly edited blog would have no poorly edited comments.

I miss you two like I miss smoked salmon and maple syrup. (I'm not sure who is which)

And much like the above combination; Laine & Justin are both sweet, enjoyed all year round and provide a truly Canadian experience :)



Thanks boys! Keep up the good work!

I'm alive :)

I WAS NOT on the train that exploded in Italy today. But it IS on my route to Riomaggiorre tomorrow :s

Just wanted to let everyone know in case it was on the news... I hear it travels fast these days.

- Jesse Mah (needs to find a new route to Cinque Terre)

Ps. It was a gas leak... no evil people involved.

Bye Ninimuggers!!!

Nin left me in Florence today. She was the ultimate travel companion... A human Swiss army knife. I will miss many things about travelling with Nin. Mostly, I will miss her long winded readings from Rick Steve's Travel Italy 2008. The book that has now become my Italy survival guide... Tell it like it is Rick.... Tell it like it is...


(Nin crammed on SITA bus in Amalfi)


(Nin covering up for the Churches, while maintaining her charismatic charm)


(Nin stranded at the train station)

Bye for now Nin, see you back in Vancouver!

- Jesse Mah (is most definitely alone)

Roaming

Michael Jackson died !?! What the F... conspiracy theory much? I think MJ and Tupac are now living on the same tropical island somewhere. Semi-kidding.

Nin and I had planned on spending a night on the town, but when we found out about Michael, we ended up eating pizzas and watching MJ music videos on MTV all night.



Since that night, any Michael Jackson song reminds me of Rome. And when Nin leaves me I'm sure I will be singing "you are not alone" to myself while walking through cathedrals.... ALONE.

As for Roma, she's crazy. The city is 99.9% tourists and you have 55.5% chance of getting hit by a moving vehicle. (numbers may have been dramatized.) Still the city is a living museum. It isn't possible to escape the history... you can frolik through the history. Please restrain from mental images of me froliking through history :)

- Jesse Mah (is not alone)

Pompei and Napoli

Sorry no pics this time... I was too scared to bust out my iPhone in Napoli.

That said, Naples is probably one of the most unique cities i've visited in Italy so far. At first we were a little freaked out, as the city has a pretty shady history. But it might even be worth getting mugged in Napoli just to experience it's gritty charm. There are mountains of garbage in the streets and tons of dark alleys full of shifty characters (who I can only assume are part of the mafia.) On the flip side the piazzas are full of children playing soccer, vespas zooming by, people yelling and lots of mom & pop shops. It was grrrrreat.

Pompei is huge, and to be frank quite tiring. We spent 5 hours walking around with handheld audio guides that played really cheesey music. If anyone ends up going I'd suggest paying the full 10 euros for a walking tour and save yourself a blister or two ;)

Bring on the gelato!!

Enough writing.... Here are some pictures of my time on the Amalfi coast. (Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi Town)


(enough said)


(looking down on Positano from our hostel! Denzel W was visiting..... Hi Denzel!! I loved you in that movie were you played a basketball coach for underprivilaged kids aka. Every movie you've been in!! Snap :p)




Purple! Italians weat alot of purple... Literally every local is decked out in purps.


(looking up from the beach. It's a hell of alot of steps to get back up :s)


(Drinking wine at night in Amalfi/ waiting for the mama SITA bus)


(BIMBOS!)


(Amalfi at night)


(Ninianne getting ready for one of the worlds last great "white knuckle rides"... It's a quote from Rick Steve's travel book)

- Jesse Mah (Italian resort destination lover)

24 hours to Sorrento

I am just finishing my first 24 hours of non-stop travel! At this point I feel like a total hippie!



From Dubrovnik, Nin and I took a ferry to Bari Italy. We planned on catching an overnight train to Naples from Bari, but the ferry was 3 hours late and we missed the train. This led to my first time sleeping in a public ferry station! I'm sure my parents are proud :)



We are now on a train to Naples, which is known as the birth place of both pizza and the mafia. I also hear it's the worst place for travelers being scammed by shady locals.



Once we get to Naples, we're off to Sorrento and finally we can sleep in a bed!!

- Jesse Mah (getting ready to sleep and then eat pizza!!)