Santa Cruz, California

So I'm almost finished travelling. I'm in my final stop. It doesnt seem like it has been almost 8 weeks since I left, but it has. I'm not doing much here in Santa Cruz really, except relaxing and laying around. I'm in in UCSC where Kellie (the friend I'm visiting) went to college now in the library. Its a really beautiful campus on a hill overlooking the Pacific. We went to a cave earlier called "Hell Hole" and it lived up to its name. It was really small, so we didnt go in very far because I couldnt get very far being tall.

We went to the beach yesterday with some of her friends which was nice. The water is really cold, probably just as cold as Ireland. Most people wear wet suits going swimming. It was quite windy too, which just threw up the really find sand into your face!

On Saturday night we went to Batman Begins with 2 of her friends. Its really good, and if its out in Ireland now, you should definitely go. I'd nearly go watch it again. Downtown Santa Cruz is really cool. Its a very nice place to just walk around. We went to Borders, the book store yesterday which isnt especially exciting, except there was this guy dancing like a maniac as he listened to one of the listening posts. There are a lot of weird but interesting people in Santa Cruz, so its a good place to come if you like weird people watching!

Tomorrow we're probably going to the beach again. I might learn to surf, but its quite expensive, about $100 for board, wetsuit and a lesson. I'll see. Other than that, I'm happy to just bum around here and relax. As my flight is leaving from San Fran at about 12pm Sunday, I'm going to go to San Fran and stay there on Saturday night. Otherwise, it'd be a very early Sunday morning, and I'll be travelling for long enough anyway. Probably going to stay in a hostel in downtown, which should be nice.

Well, thats all. I'm off to get some food now. Chances are I may not post here before I get home, but hopefully I will. If not, I'll have to upload my photos anyway, which as promised I have not done.

Diaster!

Oh my God, what a diaster! Considering my flight to San Fran was at 5:50pm, I took the day pretty handy, thinking I had way too much time to burn. I didnt. I had to get the 2:24pm train to Miami Airport from where I was staying, which would take about an hour. But stupidly, I decided to stop and get a Subway sandwich, so I ended up missing the train. Not the end of the world, as there was another one at 3:24pm, which would get me to Miami Airport 1:10 minutes before my flight, close but plenty of time for checking in.

But it was late. Firstly, even though Deerfield Station where I was leaving from was only about 4 stops from the start of the line, it was still 10 minutes late arriving. Then 3 stops from Miami Airport, we stopped for at least 5 minutes if not 10 to wait for the train coming the other way to pass. For some reason, there is only 1 track, not 2. Anyway, I arrived at the airport before 5pm. Still, not bad, but it was lashing, and I mean lashing. There should have been a shuttle bus there to take me to the terminal, but it wasnt there. So I had to get a taxi that was a $7 flat fare for about 3 minutes in a cab. I knew I only had $3, but I got in anyway. Thankfully he let me off. I would have gone to an ATM, but he said it was ok. Maybe he realised he was ripping me off.

So I went to the self service check in and was helped by an American Airlines official who told me we had to hurry as I cant check in after a certain time as they need 45 minutes to get my bag to the airplane. I couldnt check my bag, so he said I can change my flight to the following day or take a boarding card and see if I can get my bag through security, which they thought might be possible, but equally not as it was so big (about a 18kg bag or 70 litres - big, but not massive). They also told me to detach the small bag at the front to make it look smaller. All this was at about 5:15pm, with my flight leaving at 5:51pm, and boarding starting at 5:21pm! And Miami is a big airport.

So I went to security, but he said I can only have 2 bags. I said I should be allowed through, but they kept saying that I need to go to the desk and check it. He then said that if I can come back with 2 bags, he would let me in. Thankfully he did, so I went to security with all my luggage, about 23kgs in total. I had everything in my bag, including a Swiss army knife and razor blades. I thought about taking them out as I waited, but I couldnt be bothered. I knew they would probably pull me aside anyway. But they didnt. I was allowed through security and on to a plane with a knife and razor blades! Amazing, considering how much they go on about it and the massive bins they have of confiscated knives.

Anyway, I didnt wait around and legged it to the boarding gate and thankfully me not having checked my bag wasn't an issue. They just checked it like they do baby buggies. I was never so happy to be on a plane. The thought of spending a night in Miami was bad.

I got into my window seat and was so relieved. I drunk so much water after being so sweaty, that eventually I had to go to the toilet, but they guy next to me was asleep. So I just asked the lady on the outside to get out and I jumped over him. He didnt notice so all is good.

But yesterday was the worst day of my travels. Thankfully it happened in the USA where I could speak the language and not in Bolivia which is not close to meltdown and civil war!

When I got to San Fran, all was plain sailing. I met my friend Kellie at the airport and drove to Sacramento and stayed with her Dad last night. Today we went to Old Sacramento, which is the original part of the town that was created because of the railways and gold rush. We got those old time photos done too.

We're off to get a 4 hour train to Santa Cruz, so that shouldn't be too bad, nothing like 16 hours on a Bolivian bus. Well, I gotta go. Only 9 days of My Misguided Travels left!

Its Hot in Florida

Florida is hot. Very hot. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday was pretty much the same. Ashley and I just went to the beach everyday for a few hours. Monday and Tuesday we went to the local beach, and on Wednesday we went to Fort Lauderdale which was much nicer. The water was perfect.

On Tuesday we decided to play some volleyball, considering I knew her through the UCC Volleyball Club. Big mistake. Firstly, I have never really played beach volleyball. The ball is much lighter, its much harder to run around in the sand, the sand is roasting, there is an onshore breeze and I haven't played volleyball in ages. So we got our ass well and truly kicked. By the end of the 3rd set, I was so hot, I don't think I was ever as hot in my life.

So our afternoons were pretty laid back at the beach. I got a bit of a colour, so I'm no longer pasty white! Woo hoo! On Wednesday night, Ashley (my friend), Ashley (her friend who we were staying with) and Josh, Ashley #2's boyfriend went down to South Beach in Miami. It was pretty cool just driving around the main place. Downtown Miami from across the river was pretty cool as we drove to South Beach, which is an island. We went for some pizza and then for drinks at a restaurant on the street. It was really nice just watching people walk by. We even saw some Cadillacs that have hydraulic wheels. One was driving on 3 wheels, while another was raised up in the front!

On our way home, we got caught up in a mini street race as about 15 souped up cars or Rice Rockets as they call them here sped past. It was crazy with all the cars diving into the lanes all around us. But it didnt last long as there was a cop car up ahead and they all filed off at an exit, which was disappointing. When we got back I watched XXX the movie, so I could fully understand the street racing theme.

Maybe They Were Right

So, maybe the people that said Santiago wasn't a great place were right. I still enjoyed it, but a few reasons suggests they could be right.

Firstly the market that was supposed to be great for getting loads of things dirt cheap, was pretty useless, not unless I wanted a pair of shoes (of which I already bought 2), 2nd hand computers or ink cartridges for my printer. Other than that, it was just the same few things on sale over and over. I left after about an hour.

Yesterday, before my flight I also went to a nice neighbourhood for a while to do some shopping too. It was nice, but I didnt buy anything. But the main reason why I think the people may have been right was because we got screwed by a taxi driver.

When we arrived at the airport in Santiago from Buenos Aires, we were approached by a guy offering us a taxi. We accepted, not really asking how much it was until we were in the taxi. We didn't have any sleep so we have an excuse for not being wary. But we were charged $20,000 instead of $7,000 that I was charged on my way back to the airport. I feel stupid for taking the taxi and paying over the odds, but it was the worst thing that happened on the trip, so I'm happy.

But in every other airport, there was none of "lets rip off the tourists" mentality, which was somewhat evident in Santiago. It was handy to fly out of there and it actually is a nice big city to do some shopping, but its only a 2 day city, max.

I'm in Florida now and its roasting. It was about 30C today which was nice. There was a nice breeze, but still it was roasting. I didnt get burned, nor did I get a colour. Better than getting roasted I suppose. Just going to have a barbeque now, which should be nice.

I'm back in the land of a decent internet connection, so I don't have any excuse for not uploading photos. I'll try and upload some later. But be warned, I have hundreds. You'll be sick of them by the end of it.

It Ain't All The Bad

I'm in Santiago, Chile now and its actually quite a nice city. Most people I've spoken with along the way have said that its not a nice place and that its not worth visiting. Thing is, its actually quite nice a city. The main shopping area is really nice as was extremely busy today.

While I wouldnt stay here for an extended period of time, its a great place to base yourself because there is great skiing nearby. And tomorrow there is seemingly a very good market that has everything for dirt cheap. I looked it up in my guide book, and it says that quite a lot of the stuff for sale fell off the back of a lorry! Should be good!

We had intended going to Valpareso today for the day, but we were wrecked tired from not sleeping Thursday night. So we just walked around the city and went to a few "Miradors" or viewpoints around the city. It was pretty cloudy today so we didnt see very much.

For our last dinner in South America we're probably going to an Argentine steak house near our hostel. Other than that, it'll be a quiet night as I'm wrecked after 5 weeks in South America and Billy is leaving for the airport at about 9am tomorrow.

Back in Buenos Aires

Its been a while since I've posted, so I'll try and bring you up to date. On Tuesday we went white water rafting in the morning and trekking and abseiling (or rapelling as they call it here). Thing with rafting is that there wasn't much white water. Its the dry season so there's about 1/5 the usual amount of water.

We left Mendoza Wednesday morning for Buenos Aires. Having got about 3 hours sleep Tuesday night, getting up to catch a 9:50am flight wasn't pretty. Yesterday we walked around the city and did a few things. Then last night, having sweated a little bit because we couldnt get our receipt for our tickets to the match we went to the Argentina -v- Brazil soccer match. It was amazing. The match started at 10pm, but it was worth the wait. Argentina scored 3 goals in the first half, 2 in the first 20 minutes. The second half was excellent too, but Brazil only scored 1.

We had excellent tickets right on the half way line half way up the stands. Couldnt really ask for better seats. It costs us A$250 for transport, tickets and a guide in the stadium, which is about E70. When we eventually got back to the hostel at 1:30am, we thought about going to sleep as we were both wrecked tired, but we felt guilty going to bed straight away. Turns out the few places we went were very quiet.

Today we left about 1pm and had a late breakfast, nothing like the breakfasts in Salta. We went to the Casa de Rocha (red building that Evita sang from), the main post office, the Congress, the financial district and did some shopping. I got a pair of shoes, pair of jeans and a jumper for A$270 which is about E75! The guy in the shop shook my hand as i left, probably because of all the commission I gave him. I'm going to have trouble packing my bag tonight as I bought 2 sports jumpers too.

Tonight we're off to a tango show and some dinner. Its our last chance for some quality steak, so its Bife de Chorizo all round I think! Then we're probably going to go out for a while before we get crap all sleep before we leave for Sangtiago at 7:30am.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the last of Argentina. Man its a great country. I'm coming back soon, mark my words. I might even put in a transfer request in CSFB and work in their Buenos Aires office.

Goodbye Cordoba, I miss you already

On Friday night, Billy and I went out to one of the biggest night clubs in Cordoba. Because we were lads, we had to wait for a while before we got in, but it was worth the wait. The bouncer was going out of his way to let the girls in, while we just stood around waiting. We actually got into the VIP section which was pretty cool.

For anyone who likes being surrounded by beautiful people, especially girls, then this is the night club for you: But Mitre. Its actually incredible the amount of girls in the night club, but also how beautiful they are. Either all girls in Cordoba are extremely good looking, or only good looking girls are allowed in the club. Either way, for the few guys allowed in, its great. I could go on describing how quite mind blowing the whole night was, but I'd just be repeating myself. On the theme of repeating myself, we went back to the same night club on Saturday night and stood in the same spot (for a while anyway) in the VIP section. I think being non-Argentine helped us getting in there, and also getting in there free.

Even though the nightlife in Cordoba is the best in the world that I've seen so far, we decided to leave today for Mendoza. We got home last night at about 3/4am and had to get up at about 8am for our flight at 10:50am. The under 21 French rugby team was on our flight and only then realised that the under 21 world cup is starting on Thursday here. Hopefully though we'll be in Buenos Aires on Wednesday for the Argentina - Brazil football match. We're trying to get a ticket but not being in Buenos Aires is making things a bit difficult.

Today, we arrived got to our hostel at about 12:30pm. Its really central, so once we got sorted, we went for a bit of lunch. The first place we sat down in seemed really nice, but then we noticed a dodgy smell and the bread roll on the floor. So we got up and made our excuses in poor Spanish. The 2nd place we went to was much better. There are loads of restaurants here and they're all really nice, but I think we got unlucky with this one. The place we just went to for dinner was amazing, and I had my best "non-steak" meal yet!

After lunch, we rented a bike for a few hours and cycled up to the main park in the city. We noticed the city was really quiet and we realised why when we saw thousands of people wandering around in the park. It wasnt really warm, but it was sunny and pleasant. A nice day for a cycle around.

Having about 4 hours sleep on Friday night and about 5 last night, combined with the cycle today was enough to knock me out for a few hours this evening. After dinner we went to a casino for a bit, but it was nothing special. The casino is attached to Park Hyatt Mendoza which is the HQ of the rugby world cup where all the refs are staying. A very nice porter helped us find the Irish team hotel. We went there, but they were in bed. The breakfast room was all decked out with mini Irish flags, so we'll go back there in the morning and say hello. Billy knows the coach and a player, so we have a decent excuse to go there.

Tomorrow, I'm hopefully going to do paragliding, but its dependent on the weather. In the afternoon we're going to do a wine tour for a few hours. Tuesday we're going to do a full day rafting and mountain biking in a place about 50km from here.

Well, I'm off to catch up on some sleep and then probably go out. Going out at 2am is standard for here. Although I'll probably give it a miss tonight. Not sure if there's much going on tonight.

Being Stared At

I think I´ve never been stared at so much in my life. Today I decided to wear shorts, sandals and a jumper. But for some reason, the locals felt the need to look at me wondering what the hell I was wearing. I mean, its been sunny here, around 22C according to a clock, but still myself and Billy were the only people to wear shorts and sandals. If our pasty white skin didnt seem to attract attention, shorts and sandals seem to.

Besides the fact the locals couldn´t get enough of us, I´m actually in Cordoba now. I had intended staying in Salta until today, but yesterday at about 3pm we decided to go to Cordoba for a number of reasons. We arrived in Salta on Tuesday evening, so we had enough time there. Its a great city to relax, but there really wasn´t much left to do there. Also, getting the flight yesterday meant we could fly directly taking 1 hour, instead of going through Buenos Aires taking 4 hours. And to change, it only cost us €4. So we´re spending 4 nights here in Cordoba, Argentina´s 2nd largest city.

Other than that, I´ve no major news. I might go to a free Salsa class tonight in the hostel, but then again I may not. I´ve also booked 2 hours of a Spanish class tomorrow for about €6. Not bad eh?

Well, I´m off to go wandering this city again. It´s a really nice city, but I haven´t decided if I agree with the crazy taxi driver last night, when he said Cordoba is better than Buenos Aires.

Great Place

Salta, Argentina is a great city. Everyone should come here. Today I wandered out of the hotel at noon and got some great breakfast for €2! Best breakfast I´ve ever had. We had it sitting outside on the main plaza with the sun beating down and loads of people walking around.

After that, we went on a cable car to the top of a mountain with great views of the city. The views were amazing, but I´m not sure if the haze over the city was fog or smog. Its probably fog because we´re 1,200 metres above sea level, but it could be smog as the exhaust fumes can get a bit bad here.

The only other thing of note that we did was buy tickets from Salta to Cordoba on Friday evening. We couldnt be bothered sitting in a bus for up to 12 hours, so we´re flying. Bit of a pain that we have to fly through Buenos Aires, but it only cost €40.

Last night we intended going to the BBQ at the hostel, but we never told them at reception that we were going. We didnt know that you had to pay in advance. So we starved ourselves until 9.30pm and went to the BBQ to find out that we couldnt stay. So we got a recommended restaurant to go to, which was amazing. The waiter was wearing traditional clothes that are hard to describe. He had a massive dagger in his belt and when he took it out at the table I was wondering what was going on. But it had a bottle opener in it, so it was all good.

I went with Billy and Joke, the Belgian girl we´re travelling with for the meantime. We all had steaks, that were only 450g (16oz) supposedly, and man were they good. I finished all of it, but the other two weren´t up to it. They failed quite miserably and couldnt finish it. When we asked for ketchup, we were told that they didnt have any as it clashed with the traditional feel of the restaurant! Weird!

So, we´re off again tonight for steak. I´m getting hungry now, so hopefully I´ll polish off 2 massive steaks in 2 nights. Tomorrow, we´re probably going to do a tour of the city for a few hours. And at 5pm, I have a Spanish lesson for 2 hours which is only €5 an hour.