Here are some random pics.  Will be heading to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand on Tuesday for a 3 day trek through the jungle.  So I will be off the radar until Saturday.  Weather hasn't been a problem here yet, only a couple of major rains and they have been late at night.  

Met some girls from Cali on the floating market tour who happen to work for airtreks, the company I got my airfare through, and work next to the guy who worked with me.  small world.  

Digestive system is gone haywire.  possibly the coconut milk or the spices that hate my guts.

Bangkok

Well my first real day out and about here in Bangkok.  Woke up at 3am and watched tv and finished a book until about 7am.  went and had the lousy breakfast here at the hotel.  walked around the markets again but didnt get anything.  found a supermarket and got a huge jug of water for my room.  finally figured out the intoxicating smell of bangkok.  its about 3 parts car/motorcycle fume, 2 parts fish sauce, and 1 part durian fruit.  fantastic.  then worked out from 9-10.  relaxed in the room until 3pm.  then took the bts sky train which is only a couple blocks away to the Siam shopping district which cost less than $1.  walked around the mall for 3 hours and eventually found a book store to restock.  been noticing i get the obligatory head nod from other white people visiting here.  kept looking for the shirt you wanted mark but no luck.  eventually saw some white guy wearing one and asked him where he got it, he said any outdoor market will have one.  next mission!

Also noticed the ever too frequent white guy holding hands with a tranny and old white guy holding hands with young thai boy.  I can see why you want to be here so bad Mark...sicko.

headed back home and hit the street markets that completely surround my hotel.  after watching for a minute figured out you just grab the skewers you want and put them on the grill and keep on eye on them until the vendor deems them ready.  asked the lady next to me what i should get and she pointed to some balls on a skewer i would guess to be pureed chicken.  then i thought i also picked squid but from the laughs and the ladies talking it turned out to be turkey balls...as in testicles and well hung turkeys for that.  she put them in a plastic bag and i chose the red sauce and they laughed again.  pretty spicy but little did they know i was from texas.  walked around some more eating my turkey balls and sweating then settled on another vender and grabbed another 3 random skewers.  this time chicken hearts, chicken liver, and some ground pork?/fish sauce sausage.  all pretty tasty.  then found the red bull tshirts and picked you up one Mark.

still hungry so settled on a outdoor cafe right near my hotel with a mix of locals and tourist.  started off with a large bottle of thai beer and then told the waitress to bring me whatever is the house specialty.  she nodded and walked away but something was lost in translation cause i never got any food.  oh well.  had another beer then heading back to the street markets.  this time finding the insect cart.  got me some crickets and meal worms.  had the crickets first, not bad and will get again, crunchy asian flavored crunchness.  meal worms were crunchy fried egg textured asian flavored stuff.  satisfied i headed back to the hotel.  all in all i spent around $20 today.

will do probably more of the same tomorrow and then look into taking one of the many tours the hotel offers.  probably the river market tour on monday.

looked into my visa problem and the consensus appears to be if i dont leave the country just show up and pay the $2 fine at the airport when i leave and look confused when they question me.  

if anyone wants to vacation this month i highly recommend joining me here.  

the pics are the view from my window.

Viva La Revolution

Any possibility of running for public office have now been thrown out the window as I attended my first Communist party yesterday.  Fete de l'Humanite, a French Communist newsletter, host a end of the summer music festival.  About 100 tents with all the different regional parties playing music and eating and drinking.  Didn't bring my camera with me.  Ended up in a tent with a bunch of young French filmmakers eating foie gras, cassoulet, cheese and drinking wine till the wee hours of the morning.

Adios Espana. Bonjour Paris.

Have arrived once again in Paris.  My roommate in Barcelona gave me a cold.  My throat is sore and taste buds are non existent, perfect timing.  Starting to get a fever too.  Will rest now. 

 Au revoir.

Back To The Market

Spend the day hanging around the market and eating.  Met a French lady who quit her job as an investment banker in New York and is now traveling the world in search of the best local food.  We have made plans to hit a few spots later this week together.

Dali Museum

Took the train up to Figueres on Thursday.  Was a little disappointed in that the majority of his more famous works were not there.  However still had a good time.

Yes Sir

Finally found a place in Paris.  Another craigslist ad from a 27o journalist for the Paris version of Rolling Stones.  Seems like a really cool guy from the few emails we have sent.  Will be flying there on the 1st of Sept.

Downloaded a French language audio cd and started learning today.  Was pretty amazed at how many English words are derived from French.  After I finish this course should be pretty comfortable making my way around Paris.

Tomorrow I will take the train North up the coast for 2hrs to Figueres and the Dali museum.  Spend the day there and then head back to Barcelona in the evening.

Earlier tonight as I was heading back from a bar 3 Pakistanis? stopped me and asked for directions in English.  I found my self replying in Spanish.  That caught me off guard.  There were only a couple of blocks from their destination and along with my hand gestures I pretty sure they found it.

Parc Guell

Things and Stuff

More pics...

Comfortable With The Heat Now

I can now cross off seeing both Arc de Triumphs in the world on my things to do before I die list.  After which I headed over to Mercat de La Boqueria.  This place puts Pike's Place Market to shame.  What I would give to live next to this place.  Had lunch there and will be heading there at least once a week while I'm here.  Then I hoofed it over to Museum de Pablo Picasso.  Still gonna have to go with the Van Gogh Museum in Holland as my favorite but this ranks #2 now.  The museum centered around Picasso's interpretations from Velazquez's Las Meninas which were on display at the Prado Museum in Madrid that I visited as well.  There were also a few works by Dali but not enough.

Out side the museum a couple of musicians were playing.  Spent some time listening to them and ended up buying a CD from them.

Also got a pic of the huge penis building, Torre Agbar, which is also just a 10 minute walk from the apartment. 

Sunday Aug 3rd

Spent the first half of the day exploring the area around Casa Mila, another Gaudi building no too far from where I am staying.  Then left with the roommate for a Capoeira get together with some of the other schools of various methods here in Barcelona.  I believe there were 4 diiferent schools all getting together at the park to "play".  It started out only about 15 of us and then quickly grew to over 120 people.  Basically Brazilian music and play fighting expedition for over 2 hours.  

Day 2 Barcelona

The Sagrada Familia originally designed by Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) and scheduled to be completed in 2026.  A Roman Catholic Church yada yada yada...you are all capable of using google.  Nothing like this in the US.  Bought some sandals today.  Sometime this month sister you will be receiving a care package of wine and half of my backpack contents.

Barcelona>Madrid

So day 1 in Barcelona has been pretty good so far.  Ended up walking from the hotel to my new apt which took about an hour.  The metro lines here do not connect underground like the ones in Madrid fyi.  The apartment here is night and day compared to my Madrid home which will now be referred to as Jarrod's dirty little hole.  

Miguel, originally from Atlanta, is a very nice host.  Apparently I will have the place to myself for 2 weeks later this month...ohhhhh yeah.  He also has a French lady staying in another room here for another week vacationing as well.  I forgot her name 2 sec after she told me and are awaiting Miguel to get back and hopefully use it before the night is over.  She made us all lunch then she and I headed out to a swimming complex "right near da beach man".  I must say doing laps in an indoor pool and then looking up at the glass wall at one end and being 50 yards from the water is pretty sweet.  The beach pics are from the deck of the outdoor pool right next to the indoor one.  Spent about 3 hours there and then we headed back into town for groceries.  

Currently awaiting Miguel's return from his job where he teaches capoeira so we can cook he and some of his friends dinner.  He also said he has several friends in the restaurant industry that may give me a part time job or at least an opportunity to learn some new skills in exchange for some free grub.  What's that...my Estrella Damm is calling.  

Adios mi amigos que no estan aqui 

Hola Barcelona, mi nuevo hogar!

Oh how I have missed the intoxicating sensation of air conditioning.  At first look Barcelona is a lot more sprawling then Madrid.  Gonna lay low tonight and enjoy the hotel room and then head of tomorrow to wreak havoc on yet another unprepared population.

Party Time!

There will be celebrations in the streets of Madrid tonight.

El Retiro Park

Here is just a small portion of the park I spent my day at. It's slightly less than half the size of Central Park in New York.  Reading The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky now.  Finished On The Wealth Of Nations and The Ethics Of What We Eat.  The former had too many big words and the latter I highly recommend.  I fly over to Barcelona on the 31st, will stay the night in a hotel, then I will be spending the rest of the month at an apartment near the beach I found on craigslist.

Planning on then flying over to prague just for a couple of days after which I'll spend the next month with a eurail pass slowly making my way through Germany, Northern Italy, and then up through France until I reach Paris for the last several days before flying out to Thailand.  But things could change.

After spending a month here I realize that Seattle needs an authentic Spanish tapas bar.