Monday, August 20, 2007

Drug dealers and a new guitar

Waking up to see the beautiful San Sebastian bay below me with the surrounding city behind it was one of the most beautiful sights I have seen in a long time. Unfortunately when you are awakened by rain at 6 in the morning you don’t have the opportunity to really appreciate it.

Budapest was an amazing city with its huge castle jutting out of a mountain and the Danube running down its center separating the Buda and Pest sides of the city. Dingo and I had a fantastic time staying with our friends there but decided to get out of the city for a bit and see the countryside. There was a PsyTrance festival going on down south so we went to check it out. Hitchhiking out of the city we were shortly picked up by a woman and her 11 year-old son. They were heading in our direction so we went with them for awhile. About an hour into the ride she invited us to come stay at her house with her and her two other children. Dingo and I looked at each other and said, “Why not?” so we went. We arrived at a small country house near Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Europe. The house was surrounded by wine vineyards and cornfields. We met the rest of the family including the grandfather who gave us homemade wine from his vineyard. Dingo and I cooked that night for the whole family by candlelight in the old pig shed. After dinner Dingo performed his fire show for the family who loved it. The following day we went to the lake with Julie, the 20 year-old daughter. We spent a few hours sunbathing and swimming in the beautiful body of water. In the evening we were invited to go to a friend’s house to hang out. We thought we’d meet a few people, maybe four or five, drink a few beers, and just chill. When we arrived we were greeted by about thirty-five to forty smiling faces. Apparently the family had told all their friends about Dingo’s fire show and they gathered to see it. Dingo did his performance to a wide round of applause then someone broke out a guitar and started playing while I sang. We entertained and were entertained all night long. As much fun as we were having we took off the next day to go back to Budapest. After singing along to the guitar player my flame for learning to play the guitar was rekindled. The day before my birthday, back in Budapest, I started searching for a guitar. Dingo and I went to a great musical instrument store where I found the perfect semi-acoustic guitar so I bought it for myself as a birthday present. The store didn’t have a hard case for it so I wrapped up the cardboard box it was in and prepared it for travel.

On my birthday Dingo and I took off. We debated about heading north to go to Germany, Norway, and Sweden but the weather up there was horrible so we decided to head to a surf competition on the Southern Atlantic coast of France where we knew it would be warm. Outside of Budapest we were picked up by a guy in a beat up car with enough room for the three of us, our things, and about two square inches left over for breathing room. The guy had just spent the last year in a Romanian prison for drug trafficking and was on his way to Portugal to see his family. He was heading all the way to Torino, Italy and although it was cramped and uncomfortable we went with him the whole way stopping in Tarvisio (where I began my hike through the Alps) for a nice birthday dinner. Switching off driving throughout the night we arrived in Torino at about 5 a.m. the following morning. After catching about two hours of sleep at the back of a gas station Dingo and I began hitching again. We caught several small rides through the Italian Alps and into France. South of Toulouse we caught a ride with a French guy and his girlfriend who had just come back from Morocco with cartons upon cartons of cigarettes. He was buying them cheap down there and selling them in France along with other substances he picked up there. He offered to give us a ride all the way to Hossegor where the surf competition was for fourteen euros. We figured that was a good amount for gas and everything, although fourteen is a weird amount to request, so we agreed. About three hours later around 2:30 in the morning we arrived at the beach. We got out of the car and gave the guy 20 euros since he went through a lot of trouble trying to find the place and we figured he could keep the other 6 euros. He looked at me and said, “Where’s the other 20?” I asked him what he was talking about, that he demanded 14 euros but he claimed that we had agreed upon 40. We thought that 14 was a weird number but before we agreed I tried clarifying with him that it was indeed 14 euros and he agreed on that. Well we gave him the last of our money which was another 7 euros and he went on his way. Dingo and I then crashed on the beach to the sound of the ocean surf. We awoke a few hours later to hot sun with sand in our sleeping bags and ocean spray hitting our faces. We got up and starting checking out the small surf city. By noon clouds rolled in and the wind picked up. It became cold and threatened to rain. We were walking up the boardwalk when we met to young dudes from Southern California who were quite typically SoCal. They invited us to stay with them in the small hostel place they were staying as there were only two of them but they had five beds in the place. So we took our stuff over there and hung out with them for the rest of the evening. They were kind enough to buy us food and drinks throughout the night and provide us with a roof over our heads which was very fortunate as it rained a lot that evening and the next morning.

When noon arrived on the following day and the weather hadn’t gotten any better, nor with the weather forecast would it, we made the decision to head south into Spain. Walking down the road with our things I stuck my thumb out and immediately someone pulled over and gave us a lift. We got a couple rides soon after that including one that then we were picked up by two really cute French girls heading to San Sebastian. They asked if we wanted to go and naturally we gave them an enthusiastic “yes”. Upon arrival in San Sebastian we found a large fiesta going on and joined in the fun. We spent the night dancing and partying like it was 1999. At about 5 in the morning we decided it was time to get some sleep. We snuck into a giant mountain park by scaling a 12 foot high wall that curved around the gate with steps worn into it. We then climbed up the mountain overlooking the town and found a great spot to set up camp. We slept about and hour before we were awakened by rain pouring down on our heads. If you have never been woken up by rain after an hour of sleep I must tell you it is an awful experience, trust me. Dingo and I were both in a fowl mood so we went our separate ways for awhile. I went to a beautiful church to meditate and pray then found a guitar case, finally, ate some food, checked email and things then went to find Dingo. I had no idea where he was so I just wandered in the direction I thought he might be saying to myself that if I find him, great, if not, oh well we’d probably meet up later. Walking down the road a tall blond guy stopped me and asked in English if I was looking for someone. He told me that my friend was in the internet cafĂ© on the corner so I walked in and found Dingo. Had the guy not stopped me to tell me I might have never found him. I told Dingo about it and he didn’t recall mentioning looking for me to anyone that morning… weird. We relaxed on a bench around the corner and I pulled out my guitar to play it for the first time since I had bought it nearly a week prior. We had siesta on the sidewalk then walked around the city a bit to check it out. When evening came around we watched a spectacular fireworks display then ran into a young couple from the Czech Republic drinking cheap wine next on a bench with their giant backpacks at their side. They didn’t have a place to sleep that night so we invited them to stay at our “Mountain Hotel” since it was a clear night and didn’t look like it would rain. It was still too early to sneak into the park so they invited us for a couple drinks. They and Dingo drank some beer while we watched a Basque dance party. The bands played Basque folk music to an upbeat tempo while the young and old performed traditional dances together. When the time had arrived to head to the mountain the Czech guy, Adam, was pretty smashed. We found our way to the gate and Dingo and I proceeded to scale the wall again. We turned around the corner behind the gate and waited for a few minutes. When the other two didn’t show up we decided to investigate. We dropped our bags then went back around the corner. We found Adam lying on the ground below the highest part of the wall unconscious with his girlfriend hovering nervously above him. He was still breathing and after about a minute he woke up with a chipped tooth and no memory of the incident but with no other injuries. Since he was drunk and had a heavy bag on his back when he fell he was relaxed and the bag absorbed the impact. We half-carried half-walked him up the mountain to our sleeping spot. While they got settled Dingo and I checked out the view from our place and saw the lights of the city down below along with the darkness of the bay. We slept quite soundly that night to awake the following morning to sunshine and a loud Italian guy singing above us at the top of his lungs. Adam was fine but still couldn’t remember what happened. We spent a little while basking in the sunshine and absorbing the view of the beautiful sights below us. Deciding to head out of the city that day and head to Portugal we took the couple to the train station so they could make their way back to Prague. Dingo and I then made the attempt to leave San Sebastian.

With no luck hitchhiking along the freeway we caught a bus for a euro that took us just outside the city. We then caught a ride with a guy in a camper who was heading to Madrid, so we figured, why not go to Madrid. We arrived in Madrid yesterday afternoon and checked out the city for awhile. Although we had no intention of coming to Madrid I’m glad we came. This is a gorgeous city though huge and would recommend it to anyone. Last night while searching for a place for Dingo to perform and earn some cash we came across a giant park. We heard many drums and cheers coming from a section of the park and headed towards the music. Upon arrival we found a huge drum circle with about 50 people or so drumming, dancing, drinking, and just having a good time. We joined in and Dingo performed for the crowd. We hung out for awhile meeting really cool people. That night we slept in the park but were brought out of our slumber quite suddenly by sprinklers. It isn’t as bad as being awakened by rain but its pretty close. We found another area as dawn was approaching and caught another hour or so of sleep before the park security woke us up and told us we had to leave. Now we are on our way to Grenada to see what the artistic city holds. After that I will be heading to a hippie commune about an hour south of there and I think I might stay there for awhile. So if I do not post again for a long time, do not fear, I am in safe hippie hands. Until next time, adios!

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Budapest: The enlightened rodent

While reading the following entry one may notice something missing compared to the other entries. This text has no accompanying photos. Your first guess to why is probably the correct one. A couple nights ago as I was sleeping someone went through my bag right under my nose and took my camera and mp3 player without my being aware. The mp3 player I don’t really care about and the camera itself isn’t that important, however there were photos on there that cannot be replaced and it is for these photos that I mourn.

The last two weeks have been quite eventful as you might imagine. After spending a few days sleeping on the couch of the apartment in Tricesimo Italy, biking through the hills and eating gelato I decided it was time to be off onto my next adventure. I chose to hike through the Alps of northern Italy into Austria. Adequately preparing myself for such a journey I bought a small camping stove, a cooking pot, rice, hard plastic utensils, and snickers bars, you know the essentials. In Tarvisio (a small town just south of the Austrian border) I bought a hiking map to help plan my route. Wednesday morning I left the small hotel room I had stayed in the previous night and started hiking. After about two hours on my feet I reached the Austrian border and walked right across. From there I took a gorgeous trail following the ridge of the Carnic Alps. Beautiful jagged mountain tops greeted me around corners while I was surrounded by huge pine trees and the songs of birds echoing through the forest. I came across mountain streams of fresh spring water about every hour or so where I could refill my water bottle and refresh myself with a quick splash to the face. During the day I would push myself from sunup to sundown only stopping for a quick rest by a mountain stream or to pick wild raspberries along the trail. When evening came I would set up my tent and write in my journal by the fading light of dusk while waiting for my rice to cook and listening to my growling stomach. For three and a half days I hiked finally arriving in St Jakob, Austria around noon on the fourth day. The afternoon of the third day and the morning of the fourth were very difficult for me. For some reason it seemed that every road I chose led me in the wrong direction. Now I wouldn’t say that I am an expert navigator but I do know how to follow a map and I have a fairly good sense of direction. Even with the map I continually chose wrong routes or missed turn offs having to turn around and make my way back several times. As in the desert of France I was about two thirds of my way to my goal but just could not get there. Even when I had reached the small village just outside of St Jakob it seemed that the roads I chose only led me around in circles. Finally, after hours of mindless wandering I arrived at my destination. I took a trip to the grocery store to buy anything that wasn’t rice then lay in the grass under the afternoon sun relaxing and eating fresh fruit.

From St Jakob I hitchhiked my way to Vienna, Austria to see what the city had in store for me. I made it there with a few hours of daylight left so after calling my parents to let them know I was still alive I took a small tour of the city. I set up camp under a tree in a park and slept quite soundly. The next morning I arose and started wandering around the city taking in the sights and sounds. I walked through the beautiful gardens taking my time to stop and smell the roses, literally. The botanical garden had so many rosebushes each with a unique look and smell. I had no idea so many different kinds of roses existed. After my garden tour I laid in the grass of a nearby park and fell fast asleep. What must have been a few hours passed as when I awoke the shadows of the surrounding buildings and statues were significantly longer. I got up, grabbed my sack and continued on down the road. I entered an area known as the Museum Quarter, a group of more modern buildings where more of the local Viennese hang out. While passing by some benches a large guy with tattoos and a shaved head called out to me and told me to come over. I walked over to him and he started speaking to me with his heavy Australian accent. The man’s name was Dingo, or so people call him, and he has been touring Europe and other places for the last two years performing as a fire breather. I hung out with him for awhile and we were shortly joined by a Hungarian and a Czech whom Dingo had met the previous day. The Czech was a young guy named Roland who had been living on the streets for God knows how long. The Hungarian was a beekeeper whom we called “T” as we couldn’t pronounce his real name. He was also living on the streets of Vienna and new the ins and outs of getting everything for free there. We went to the main square and spent the afternoon watching break dancers, jugglers, and magicians entertain the tourists. That evening T took us to a small park where several other people were gathered. At about 8 o’clock a van pulled up and started serving free hot soup and bread. Although I have volunteered at soup kitchens it is a completely different experience to eat at one, especially one like this. Being surrounded by other homeless people asking for more soup to satisfy their hunger is an incredible experience that not many people would choose to try. It was pretty nice to eat and have live entertainment without paying a cent. That night we slept in the foyer of a museum on leather couches with carved faces looking down on us from the ceiling.

We awoke the following morning to rain and cold outside the foyer. Dingo and I packed our things and caught a bus that afternoon to Bratislava, Slovakia. Dingo was to play drums in a band there on Thursday but we decided to head up early to check out the city. Before going there, had you asked me where Slovakia was I would have replied, “Over there” and pointed my finger in any arbitrary direction. We arrived in Bratislava Monday afternoon to be greeted by an empty city. There were no tourists and most of the locals were on vacation or something because the capital city of Slovakia seemed like a ghost town. We wandered around for a couple hours then decided to get some food. We went to the grocery store and bought fresh vegetables, beans, bread, and drinks for the equivalent of about two euros. Searching for a place to cook with my camping stove out of the wind we walked down an alley and found some unused tables and chairs at the back of a restaurant. People passed by looking at us but no one said anything until the owner of the restaurant came out and started speaking to us in Slovak. Dingo stood up and said he was Australian and that he didn’t understand a word the guy was saying. The man switched to English and told us that we couldn’t stay there because his customers walked past that spot to use the toilet. He helped us move around the corner setting us up with a table and a couple chairs. He left for a minute and came back with a beer for each of us. We talked with him for a time while our food cooked and it turns out that he spent a lot of time in Australia and loves it there. After we finished our meal he invited us out to his front patio for a couple more beers. We drank and talked, Dingo performed a fire show in front of the restaurant, we drank some more and just had a great time that evening. We finally said goodnight and Dingo and I took off to find a place to sleep. We found a small copse of trees where there was no foot traffic as it was by the highway and we figured it’d be a good spot to set up camp. We laid out our sleeping bags and were soon fast asleep. I awoke in the middle of the night to hear the sounds of wrestling near by. I sat up and saw Dingo holding a guy against a tree. The guy was yelling something in Slovak and Dingo was yelling in Aussie, neither understanding the other. I looked at my bag right by my head and noticed it was wide open with many of my things strewn about the place then looked at Dingo’s to see the same of his. The man was emptying his pockets trying to show that he hadn’t taken anything. Dingo searched him and found that he in fact hadn’t. After attempting to tell the man that stealing was wrong and that it wasn’t a good way to go through life he let the guy go, obviously terrified. I searched through my bag and noticed that both my mp3 player and camera were missing. We believe that somebody had come up before this guy, searched through my bag without me hearing, took the electronics, and left before this other guy came up seeing that we were easy targets and tried the same. Obviously he wasn’t as skilled as the other guy because Dingo heard him and woke up right away before he could take anything. We attempted to go back to sleep but I don’t think either of us actually slept at all after that. I woke up the next morning in a pretty bad funk trying to tell myself that it was only “stuff” and things could have been a lot worse. Dingo generously gave me a camera that he had been in possession of for awhile that only needed some slight repair. That morning we decided to go sightseeing at the castle but as much as I tried to enjoy it, it seemed that nothing would sink in at all. While at the castle we met a young Austrian woman traveling on her own so she joined us as we toured the town. As she and Dingo talked the day through about Australia and life ambitions I felt tuned out. I had that sinking feeling of abandonment again and that I was really in need of guidance. After a while things settled down and I moved into a complacent state. Dingo wanted to check out the club where he would be performing so that evening him and I left Tenya (the Austrian) and made our way to the abandoned bunker under the castle that had been renovated into the SubClub.


Upon arrival at the venue we met the only two people there that evening, the bartender and a DJ. They invited us in and the bartender poured us a couple of shots and gave us a few beers. Me, I’m not much of a drinker so by the time we left the SubClub about two hours later I was already feeling pretty pissed. The bartender locked up after us and started walking with us in the direction of the old city. He told us to come with him and led us into downtown Bratislava. We walked into an alley then down some stairs into another bar where he greeted the waitress with a big kiss. We sat up at the bar and he ordered us a round of beers. He offered Dingo and I a shot of some kind of crazy Slovakian drink but I refused as politely as possible. After he and Dingo had a few more shots and the three of us had had about four more beers we stumbled out onto the streets of Bratislava. The bartender said goodbye and pointed us in the right direction to god knows where. Dingo and I, barely conscious, wandered down the streets stumbling with every step until Dingo said, “This looks good”. We were at the corner of an old building right across from the main church. We subsequently passed out on the cobblestones not waking until the sun was beating down on us and tourists were staring at the two drunken hobos in the street. We sat there waving and saying “good morning” as the people in the little tourist tram took pictures of us. Finally the heat and light of the morning sun became unbearable to our aching heads and we moved into the shade of the church outcroppings When I felt up to it I went to the market to pick up some good hangover food and checked my email at the local tourist office. I received an email saying that my friend Sarah, in Budapest, was going to be home for the next couple days and I was welcome to come crash on her couch. After feeding Dingo and myself I told him that I was leaving and that if he was coming to Hungary after the band played he should let me know. I packed up my gear and headed out of town determined to hitch my way the 200 km or 125 miles to Budapest within the next couple hours. After five hours of waiting at freeway entrances and walking down the highway itself I was finally picked up by a Hungarian who spoke fluent English. He brought me all the way to Budapest and I showed up at Sarah’s door late that evening to be greeted by her roommate. I spent the next couple days relaxing with Sarah, her husband Peter, and their roommate Sanyi. Sarah and I went to the market, saw the new Harry Potter movie, went to the library, and saw bits and pieces of the city. I told them about Dingo and how he wanted to come to Budapest. As wonderful as they are they invited him to stay with them as well though they didn’t even know him. Dingo arrived Friday evening and shared a delicious meal with us as it was Peter’s birthday. Sarah left the following morning for America but Sanyi and Peter invited us to stay as long as we want. So here I am with a roof over my head in Budapest reading Sarah’s copy of the final Harry Potter book. The simplest things in life, such as sleeping on a couch, taking a shower, washing clothes, eating a hot meal etc. have become the greatest pleasures. I have now been on the road for over a month but am not close to stopping. I love this life and hope to be able to continue for as long as I want. Thank you for all your prayers and support, it really helps. Until next time, Szia!