Sorry!

Yeah, I know - its been a while... but my dog ate my homework.

So I think the last town I wrote about was Tucuman. After Tucuman me and Catherine (girl from Montreal) went to Cordoba which is the second biggest city in Argentina. We walked around, and saw some cool sites, but I just wasnt getting the vibe I wanted from the place. I tried to go out and find some nightlife so I went to the area where the bars are and hit up some cheap rock dive called "Donde es la rock" which translates to where is the rock (awesome), but the place was kind of dead. I tried looking for other bars that were hopping with no luck, so I went home.

But on the way I saw an awesome muscle car, and saw the guys who owned it. Of course we made friends, and we talked about cars and engines till 3 AM! Those guys were cool. They dont have much to work with in their country, but they hold the fort down. PS: Dont ever try and guess what kind of car it is and call it a FIAT next time...

Ohh wait, I cant forget. The oddest thing happened to me in Cordoba. I remember when I was in Panama I met this girl, and we were wasted at the time but she told me that there is a theory out there that everyone on the earth has a twin somewhere whether they know it or not. I kind of thought this was interesting, and I kind of saw her point. When I was in Cordoba I was in the hostel taking a nap talking to these two guys. I told them I was from NY state, and the one guy kept asking questions as to where exactly. Its usually at this point that I tell them something like "you wouldn't know the area, its really small, this, that, and the other." Well he kept asking. He kept asking because this guy is my twin!!! Brett Farrell, Binghamton (Harpur - psych) class of 2006, was in my hostel. This guy lived on Chapin & Oak street, knows all the chestnut guys, was at almost all of the good parties (oaktoberfest, the party where Bill threw the microwaved pickle at the cab driver, etc.), and was good friends with the seminary girls (including Lynnie and Steff), knew Jeff K (my roommate and best bud in college), etc. We were at all the same parties, and even had some of the same classes. When we became friends on facebook we had like 20 mutual friends.

Then it got really weird. He was also on an around the world trip with a ticket from the same company, he was going to almost the same countries as me (but in the opposite direction), had the same Kelty big backpack as mine (but in blue), the same style camelback (small backpack), the same boots as me, and we were reading the same book. I'm not sure that there can be any other similarities here people...

The same type of protests that were going on in Peru were going on in Argentina about food prices. When in Cordoba they shut some of the streets down, and they were marching throwing leaflets, and shooting off these firework things every minute or so. The fireworks sounded like bombs, and scared Catherine so we had to get out of there. When in Mendoza I watched the news and found out that it got really bad the day after we left. The cops were shooting the people with rock salt, and a bunch of people were beaten.

This is what it looked like when I was there, but it only got worse

The next day Catherine, Brett, this older French guy, and Myself went to Alta Gracia. The main attraction there was the house where Ernesto "Che" Guevara grew up. The man was Argentinian, and spent most of his youth in Alta Gracia because his asthma was so bad that he had to move to a more arid area of the country. Ironically by todays standards, this tough freedom fighter would be considered weak and feeble during his childhood. His asthma restricted him from participating in organized sports, he loved chess more than anything, and he was a real bookworm - he would read anything he could get his hands on. From Alta Gracia he went to medical school in Buenos Aires, then started his political movement in Guatemala. After the effort lost hold due to the assistance of the CIA he went to Mexico where he met with Fidel Castro. It was at this point when they strategized the takeover of Cuba. Che was the commander of the revolutionary forces, and was the one who took hold of Havana and seized control of the country. It wasn't until 6 days later that Castro came to Havana to take power. After that he went on to try and spread his theory and teachings to other nations. Under false identity he went to Congo to try and overthrow the government there. After some time, and being unsuccessful he returned to South America where he strategized the unification of all Latin American nations (he was probably reincarnated as Chavez). He thought that Bolivia would be the turning point, and winning there would cause all the other nations to join the resistance and unify. It was there that in 1967 he was killed, slayed by a puppet government instilled by the CIA. He was killed in captivity by a drunk officer of the Bolivian Army that was trained by US special forces. Today you recognize his face all over the world. Many people don't understand what he represents.

Any man who drinks coffe while engaged in armed combat is the man

See, I totally rode his motorcycle...

When he was just a teenager he took a 4,000 km road trip on a motorcycle throughout Argentina. That later inspired another road trip from Buenos Aires to the south of Patagonia, all the way up to Venezuela (this time 18,000 km). It was during this time that he really understood the suffering that the people of South America endure on a day to day basis. As a doctor he was able to see the poverty and oppression firsthand. He wanted to stand up to the injustice, and free these people from such terrible existences. He was a revolutionary mind that was looking to fight for the people of his land, and so am I (as you can see in the picture below... lol). Norm, you were right all along!

Water Mill Taliban

So from there I went to Mendoza. Turns out this cool guy from Cordoba was on the bus, and his seat was next to mine. So we struck up a conversation and traveled for the next four days. Clement is the coolest guy I've met thats over 30. Hes a German teacher, and was traveling solo because his girlfriend is a student and she has no money (kind of funny). Mendoza is the wine capital of Argentina, where 97% of it is produced. When we got there, we linked up with this crazy guy JB who was an ex marine. He was full of crap, and was definitely mental. He told everyone he sleeps 3 minutes a day, and was poisoned by agent orange, and all this stuff. When I told him I went to OCS, and knew everything he was talking about he would only talk to the others in a low tone so I wouldn't hear his lies. He was really entertaining though. We also linked up with this girl from Rosario, Natalie. Its funny because hands down everybody in Argentina will tell you the most beautiful girls in all of Argentina come from Rosario. I cant explain this, but it must be something in the water.

After we got together we went to the wineries. You rent a bike for 20 pesos and get a bottle of wine with that which is awesome. Basically you ride down this one road with all the wineries and get trashed for free, or very little money. Some wineries charge a very small fee, but some are free. Natalie killed me when she kept iterating how she earns pesos, not dollars so she kept having to get more free shots at this liquor making place. At the liquor place, if you ever go they had a hot pepper liquor. Of course I'm going to drink it just because nobody else will, but it was by far the worst thing I have ever tasted. For lunch that day we had the best empanadas in all of Argentina, and hit a few more wineries.

Told you

If you ever go to Mendoza DO NOT have this drink whatever you do! Ten seconds after that cute smile was nonexistent

This winery was lucky I got this cool photo out of them because all we wanted to do was get bent, and they wouldnt even let us do that - jerks.

The next day me and Clement went horseback riding all day in the Andes with this gaucho Gabriel. He was a real cowboy. He has a home in the high mountains that takes three days on horse to get there. He lived there for two years to get experience before he moved to the city to take up a law degree. He loves wine, asado, and women - a modern day John Wayne. We started the morning off right with a couple of mates. A mate is a bitter herbal drink that is a tradition in Argentina. The whole country drinks it, and they really like it. To the unaccustomed its a bit distasteful, but if you give it a chance (and a little sugar), its an excellent choice to have when either relaxing, or to use as a pick me up. They drink it from a unique cup, and a more unique metal straw. We wrapped the day up with Asado (Argentinian BBQ), where the guy basically put a half a cow on the cooking rack above some logs (awesome). Clement is also a huge cowboy too, which is funny for being a German guy. I think hes more cowboy than me. Wait a minute... not possible - I take that back. He was having so much fun though it was hilarious. Just before we left Gabriel saw the bull they had at the stable. After telling him all my exploits in making my way to the top of the PBR circuit (SIKE, I really mean that one time in Harpursville with the guys from work) he asked if I wanted to ride it. HELLS YEAH! Turns out it was just a baby, and had no fight in it. I broke its spirit in 3 or so seconds, and it went on to live in shame for the rest of its life...

Starting off right with a mate

Marlboro country - come to where the flavor is

Couldnt turn this down

I told the gauchos how they train the bulls in the US for rodeo, and they thought it was nuts. I told them about that crazy guy who when we went bullriding was yelling "im going to turn you to hamburgers" to the cow that wasn't bucking enough. I agree with them. That guy sucked.

The next day Clement, Natalie, and I went on this tour of different areas. We went to this old Inca bridge which was stained yellow by the sulfur released by volcanic activity in the area. Then we went to Los Penitentes which is a ski resort close to Mendoza. The snow wasn't that thick so we bailed on the snowboarding. The winters in Argentina and Patagonia have been weird recently with global warming, and the skiing hasn't been as good as it could be is what I hear. On the way to all this we had to stop at this area with a parking lot, and nobody knew why. Apparently the weather gets so bad in the area that they have to shut the roads down every now and then. Its risky to go to Chile around this time of year, because you either will get stuck in Mendoza with a bus ticket worth nothing, or you cant come back. The airlines make good business of travelers who have set plans and don't take this into consideration. Catherine got stuck in Mendoza for four days trying to go to Santiago (Chile). I was thinking about heading over with her, but with the whole border situation and the fact that Chile is more expensive than Argentina I decided against it. Oh well...

Dont mess with the Andes

Inca bridge

All these people were waiting because they couldnt go on the road to Chile

From the same spot

And again

For some reason there was this shovel thing there

After that I met up with Catherine out of coincidence because she got separated by plans, but then were reunited. This whole time the Clement, Natalie, Bejuan crew were cooking up a storm in the hostel with all food that was stolen. Trying to stick to our budgets we were taking food from wherever we could find it, and managed to scrape together awesome meals. It was really a lot of fun.

When Clement left, me and Natalie went to the Mendoza Zoo which was cheap, but depressing. We really wanted to see a pig, but it was like they had every animal but pigs. On top of that the animals were in really bad conditions. They just went back and forth in their cages, like every single one. They all must get the same dope. But on the bright side they had cool rams, toucans, tigers, and the lion was in this cage where you could get like two feet from him. I have a special place in my heart for rams. Being an aries, they are my zodiac. Stubborn and bullheaded they perfectly define my character.

I almost got arrested taking this picture. Apparently you arent supposed to discrace national monuments (in this case of general San Martin in pursuit of the ultimate picture). Who knew.

In deep conversation with a Guanaco

Two feet

My favorite

They also had this cage of monkeys where you could feed them, and if you did they'd fight over the cookies. It was really funny. They were the type of monkeys that had red butts that were made of a hard material. It was like they had a red watermelon for an ass - that kind of monkey. Those monkeys just let their D's hang all day long. It was hilarious. What was even more funny was that some of them were even aroused just chilling out waiting for cookies. Also good was while we were waiting for a hippopotamus at the hippo tank, a huge seal jumped out and almost ate our faces off. Natalie was so scared so we told some other girls to get close and that they had to lean over to really see it, and then like clockwork the seal almost ate their heads off. Unsuspecting bystanders... hilarious.

Yeah big guy, let that D hang

I then took the 12 hour bus to Buenos Aires and hopped on the 6,500 mile flight to Madrid. When I got there I had a layover so I ditched my big bag in the corner of the airport and headed for the center of town. Puerta del sol is the center of Spain, and is also mile 0 on their radial road system (pretty cool). I checked out the outside of the opera house, the downtown, had the chocolate drink famous in Madrid, and went to the presidential palace. The chocolate drink is basically liquid chocolate. Its very thick like syrup and is served with churros. Its cheap and fills you up, but is a bit overwhelming if your not a huge chocolate lover. The presidential palace is awesome. I couldnt really take any photos of the inside, which is the best part but you can take my word for it. Its amazing simply in the fact that the King of Spain (his power is incomprehensible compared to a modern day president of any nation) resided here. The other reason why it is so amazing is because of how intricate, beautiful, and amazingly well decorated the place is. Every inch of the place is a piece of art work. There was a room made entirely of porcelain, one for smoking and smoking only, one for getting dressed, etc. None were bland (ok, well maybe the one that held the pots and pans and cutlery, but im sure Wanda and many others would get a kick out of it).

Madrid airport is cool

Tio Pepe was my second favorite thing in Madrid

Told you I was in Madrid...

Presidential palace from outside

Presidential palace from inside

Plaza del sol

I have to say the one thing that was weird for me is how clean Madrid was. I would literally brush my teeth with the subway handholds if that was possible. I don't like it when a city is so spick and span, it almost makes me uncomfortable but maybe it will just take getting used to. I still cant get the prices from Peru out of my head, and they make Europe look shameful. It really sucks to be on the other end of the exchange rate, and I really give more credit to the people of South America for traveling despite how expensive it is for them.

A couple of hours later I got into Athens. Traveling from Mendoza, Argentina to Athens took about 37 hours and I was whooped when I got here. Its really beautiful, and I really like it. Its got a very romantic feel to it, and is ultra clean. Its also not as expensive as other European spots like Rome for example. I dont have a lot of time here, but I really want to come back and hit all the islands (Corfu, Crete, Santorini, Mykonos, etc...). Wanda (my mom) lived in Greece when she was in her 20s, and she is really getting nostalgic about it in her emails.

The candy bar of choice after 40 hours of travel nonstop

The Plaka in Athens

If I could adjust this with picassa I would be golden, but I think this is one of my favorite pics of all time

The one thing that I dont like so much being here is the other travelers. They are a different breed than the travellers in South America from what I have seen so far. The most obvious reason why is that there are a lot of them. I think this city has made a real effort though because things aren't overly touristy. They have a good balance. The other reason why is that there are no budget travelers, or at least I haven't found them so far. The backpackers here eat out, go out drinking, and have really nice clothes and really nice sunglasses. About 60 to 70% of them are Americans. Now, not to offend anyone but Americans are the worst travelers in my opinion. They are gaudy, loud, and not as friendly as others. I know because I am the same way, but I take on a self imposed responsibility to set a good example. A good majority of the people of the world have a negative image of the US, and I try and set that straight.
Of these American travelers I have seen I get the sense that a majority are spoiled by wealthy families. I literally overheard 6 different people talking about how they spent too much so they needed their dad to send more money. Thats fine by me, and maybe I have a chip on my shoulder because I'm self made but Id much rather travel with people who make it on their own and have to be ridiculous and budget to survive.

When I meet people who have traveled to the US, almost all have nothing but good things to say and understand that it isn't the people of America that are bad, that its the government. Its the other 80% who haven't touched American soil that need to understand that we aren't all that bad. You know its fairly common for some backpackers from the states who feel similar to me to put a Canadian flag on their backpack and tell everyone they are Canadian. This gives you less grief with officials (partly because Canada is a part of the commonwealth), but also relieves them of dealing with explaining what the US is doing, why, and when. I don't agree with it, but I can see their point.

Im here in Greece for a few more days, and then I head out to Egypt to meet Ashley. I think she's nervous because its a middle eastern country (in her eyes), but theres nothing to be worried about. Its hot here, around 35-40 C, and Egypt is only going to be worse (awesome)!!! Hopefully when Im there I can put my scuba diving PADI certificate to use because I hear there are some good spots that are cheap.

This is the first time I have used the spellcheck so I hope you like it suckas....