Sitges

Sitges
Thursday, July 16, 2009
2:14 PM
From the Consulate General I met a guy who raved about Budapest although he had a strange experience wherein his hostel was filled entirely of Americans and Aussies. He took me down to Nord Station where I met up with Anna, who was a friend of Kim's friend who had shown Kim around Barcelona when she was here in March. From the station I met Kelly who was visiting from London and Kendra from the Bay who also worked in Barcelona. Kyla joined us on the beach.



We went to Sitges which actually had a real beach and was pleasant in a very Mediterranean way. I had a wonderful sandwich from a very quaint shop on the way down to the sand which was great. The water was absurdly warm and we rented a paddle boat with a giant slide which was more enjoyable than I would have imagined.

Consulate General

Consulate General
Thursday, July 16, 2009
12:47 PM

So I woke up a few short hours later and I figured that losing my passport would cause me to miss my flight to Turin which was at 630am the next morning. I ventured to the US Consulate General with limited hopes, especially considering their inability to answer the phone and interesting 9am to 1pm business hours. To my complete surprise I walked out with a new (3-month) passport in 30 minutes, God Bless America.

Beach and the Evening

Beach and the Evening
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
8:00 PM
So as I was completely checked into the hostel I decided to take a stroll/jog around Barcelona, hitting Las Ramblas and the coast to get a feel for the city. The Ramblas was as vibrant and touristy as I could have imagined. It also runs right into the Barcelona Marina which is an eyesore of a public works project at best.

From there I ventured down the beach coastline which was fairly overcrowded and looked like a marina, not a beach. I soon found out that it in fact was not a natural beach and all the sand was imported, regardless it is still nice to have usable coastline. At the end of the coast I asked a cop about how far it was to the cross-streets of my hostel, he said 2km, ended up being more like 5 which became 8 when I got lost but that was cool.

Once I got back to the hostel I went to grab my laptop out of my locker and found that my passport had been stolen out of my locker. Great form to drop the big one within a few hours of arriving in the city. Thankfully the thief, who I assume was the guy who checked me into the hostel (didn't see him again even the next day and in hindsight he made a big deal about me staying only 1 night), was kind and passed on both my iPod and Laptop.

Ah well, after searching through my bags multiple times (I tried hard to hope that it had simply been misplaced although I knew it wasn't), I came to the conclusion that it was a lost cause. I was encouraged by some new friends in the hostel to join in for the night out instead of sulking like a douche. At midnight everyone went out to a fairly well put together club called Hyde, and we got home around 630, it was a good night.

1.1.1

1.1
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
12:30 PM
While waiting for the hostel to get ready, walked across the street to the mini-grocery and picked up some pepperoni, cheese, a mini baguette and 2 bottles of water for under 4 euro. Grubbed on a bench.

Very Rough Itinerary

Very Rough Itinerary
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
4:53 PM

Barcelona 7.15-7,17
Have a good time in the Hostel, meet up with Kim's friend and do tourist shit

Turin 7.17-7.23?
Kick it with my boy Carlo and Stef! I'm real stoked to be in their hometown, especially before Carlo heads out to Chicago for the next academic year.

Croatia 7.24?-7.28
Meeting up with Mitch and Ron who will be en route from Munich, possibly MS too assuming hes not too busy doing pre wedding shit in Beograd
Hitting Split and Dubrovnik and lavishing on the beaches and going big

Beograd 7.29-8.10?
Going huge for Jele and Alek's wedding festivities that go from the 29th to the 7th or so with the focus on the 1st and the 2nd
Hitting the legendary Serb Brass Festival Guca on the 7th or so

Hungary/Greece 8.11-8.25
Lingering around for Yaron/Mitch's last few days and then with Marko
Gonna make my way down through Greece and take the ferry somewhere in Southern Italy

South Italy/Sweden/Ireland 8.26-9.2
Looking at Cruising through South Italy a bit, then jumping a cheap flight to Stockholm to check it out for a few days then Jumping into Dublin to hopefully kick it with some old friends.
Easily the most up-in-the-air block because I have no idea what my finances are going to look like, I just need to make sure I'm in Dublin on the 2nd for my flight to LAX and the first UCLA game that Saturday.

JFK to Barcelona

JFK to Barcelona
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
4:37 PM
Flying into JFK was interesting as I had forgotten how green the East Coast was. The view from the window was we descended was amazing. Talent is pretty non-existent on the plane which is actually surprising to me, but I guess early evening Monday flights to Europia aren't of the highest demand.
I'm about 50 pages through Ulysses now and I have never been more fucking confused by a book so quickly. Once I get some WiFi I am definitely checking up on some readers guides or something of the sort. I'm also going to work on meeting up with Kim's friend who is a Londoner living in Barca. Given that a tour guide was unexpected the prospect of it is really exciting especially since I've got such a short stay.

LAX to JFK

LAX to JFK
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
11:15 AM
So this is it, I am finally locked in. Mitch drove me (thanks again brah) up to LAX at 5AM, it took me about 30 minutes to get through checking my baggage and security. Although I was rushing a bit near the end I'm really happy that I spent the last days of summer in Mesa on the beach and with good friends. It took awhile but I've become convinced that although my financial ruin is already determined, it is going to a good cause. I am looking forward to seeing how much I can ball on a budget.

Trip Recaps

Trip Recaps
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
6:58 AM
Over the past months I've taken a few little trips with friends. Obviously this will be by far the biggest one with the Rondog, Mitch Mangler, and The Sage Stankovic. Yet even the smallest of these recent trips were wonderful, I really should have started with the Final Four from Spring 08, but I'm sure I won't ever have issues recalling that.

The Bay for UCLA/Berkeley
Flew up at 6am after a great UniCamp Banquet, jumped on the Bart and met up with Marko
Met Dover/JJ/Kmack at Bruin Bash, Marko was the only dirty bear, had a wonderful time
Refused high scalped ticket prices, hung out with Polo/CM, got tickets from Mike Montgomery
Hit it hard with UCLA in Berk then in the Marina, had an few laughs at 3am at Johnny Rockets
Didn't have a return flight, Marko talked me into staying through Thursday
Caught up with Scott, worked out at Cal (worst gym ever), sat in on a Lecture, and ate well

San Diego with Alex/Tommy/Sniff
Checked out Tommy's beachfront property, great place one street off the sand
Had a great time, ran into KC at the bar and played the small world scene

Arizona to visit Becca
Got picked up by Dover/Dave/JJ and drove out to Phoenix, watched a loss to ASU at Cheddars with the newly engaged Oney and Katie in attendance
An absurd morning found Cheddar/Dave coined the term 'Buildup', Cheddar jumped on for Tuscon
Got to Tuscon late, Becca had baked goods prepared like a champion and went to Meat Rack, ugh
Spent the day by the pool, got to know E-Lee and C-Mizzle, had a hilarious dinner with Dizzle wherein Dave wore "The Man the Legend" t-shirt, continued awe at Becca's ability to promote.
Had an awesome Valentines night out, had Eric Burns pass off a chick and buy drinks for the Bruins

Vegas with LA
Got in at midnight with Evan, met JJ/WD/AB/DK/MG/JP at JET, got back around 5, met next door
Met Ty and Roman, enjoyed the Super 8, FML'd at UCLA getting smashed by 'Nova, hit it hard
More neighbors, Dinner at Hoffbraugh House, kicked it with Vitale, got stopped by 5-0 got real absurd with the neighbors, had the drive back from hell

Vegas with MNSA
Drove out with Ronnie, caught up with Marko/Mitch/Gary and Bardia, upgraded at…. Excalibur but ate lavish at the 2for1 buffet, MM threw down shrimp tails and MS flipped
Hit the Wynn, got in touch with DR, Ron led VIP into Tryst, stole a bottle, spoke Romanian
Hiba/Monica/Friend met up, hit the pool at Red Rock, met Alex/Sniff/Tom/Olivia/MonicaG/Jared at Mirage, got bottles at JET sponsored by Aleks and Jelena for Marko's Birthday, raged
Went back to the Pool, hit the club at RR with all the Serbs, hit Hard Rock, wandered the strip
Hit the Pool Again, got after the buffet at RR, lavished on prime rib, decent drive home

San Diego Judo Tournament
Went down with Doves/JJ/Mischivious/Dave and met up with Paul/Adriel/Ashley/Jay
Stayed in the Marina with a great view and wound up at Maloney's the first night
Watched Big Dave in the tournament, went big in Gas Lamp at Shout House

The Bay for Marko's Grad
Drove up with MS' rents and got dinner, hit up the city and went huge with Scott/Connor
Left the city with Jele/Aleks, went to MS' very casual grad, hit the Mission with Oscar/MS/SU/CC
Hit B2B with Scott and boys, had a great afternoon on the roof and met up with Jarrod
Went to Berk with Jarrod, toured and ate at the K-Ghetto, saw Erin/Grubba/Vicky for a sec