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Up and Over

Posted August 11, 2013

PART 15 (DAYS 33-35): “How’s everything here?” I asked Chris, the manager at Southern Laughter Lodge, when I arrived back in Queenstown for a day in order to catch a homeward bound flight early the following morning.

“Oh, it’s quiet. It’s finally slowing down,” he answered.

“Oh, is the ski season over?”

“No, the season can go all the way until October,” he told me. “But all the Aussie kids have gone back to university.”

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King For A Day

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 15, 2004

DAY 263: “If this gets anymore romantic,” I said as the two flautists and solo guitarist serenaded us and the handful of other outdoor cafe patrons, “I may have to ask you to marry me.”

Jack took my joke only semi-lightly. “Alright, cut the music, that’s enough!”

Run Erik Run

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 13, 2004

DAY 262: The Running of the Bulls. The title has been heard over and over every year between July 6-14, usually on the news in a world report about someone getting gored by a powerful male bovine. Evolved from the old tradition of people moving bulls across town to get them into the arena for a bullfight, the encierro, as it is called locally, is now the most famous (and most deadly) of all of the San Fermin Festival’s agenda of week-long events, occurring every morning at 8 a.m. sharp.

To Run Or Not To Run

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 13, 2004

DAY 261: Most non-Spaniards know Pamplona’s San Fermin Festival solely as “The Running of the Bulls.” However, the Running of the Bulls is just one part of an eight-day festival that transforms the normally peaceful northern Spanish town of Pamplona into a huge Spring Break party where even wild bulls are allowed to participate. It’s sort of like the biggest barbecue where cows skewer the flesh of humans instead of the other way around.

Guidance in the Home of Paella

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 13, 2004

DAY 260: Every great city can be characterized by its local cuisine. Philadelphia, the birthplace of America, has the American classic Philly cheesesteak sandwich. The chilled out vibe of the Florida Keys spawned the cool and relaxed Key Lime Pie. And Valencia, Spain, a perfect fusion of things old and new, is the Home of Paella, the fusion of saffron-spiced rice with any mix of meats, vegetables and seafood.

Progression to the Typical

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 13, 2004

DAY 259: Pablo Picasso, the world famous painter, revolutionized the art world with his Cubist style. However, he didn’t always depict his subjects in the sharp angles and loud colors that made classical art buffs at the time what to hang themselves. Like most Modern artists that don’t get really famous until they die, Picasso had an artistic history of painting and drawing things formatively, mostly in his younger years in Barcelona. Gradually over time he progression his style into the one he is most famous for today.

Jack and I would also leave our “young days” in Barcelona and progress our travels together onto other parts of Spain, but not before one last day in the roots of our time together.

My First Celebrity Sighting

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 10, 2004

DAY 258: You never know when you may bump into someone famous in a major city. During my days in New York City, I’ve randomly stumbled upon Keanu Reeves, Nathan Lane and Sarah Jessica Parker to name a few — friends and acquaintances of mine have encountered Kiefer Sutherland, Uma Thurman, Andre 3000 from Outkast, Jerry Seinfeld and even the guy who played his TV dad Morty. Being in the world city of Barcelona, another celebrity sighting was bound to happen.

City of The Phallus

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 10, 2004

DAY 257: I don’t know if it was intentional, but I’ve heard that Barcelona seems to be obsessed with phallic symbols.

Second Time, Second Nature

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 10, 2004

DAY 256: Barcelona, has a particular allure unmatched by other Spanish city. It attracted the likes of wild and world-renowned artists like Picasso and Miro and lured the Olympic committee in 1992 for the Summer Games. It lured me once before and it was doing it again a second time.

Back in the Western World

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 03, 2004

DAY 255: Being in Spain, I was back in the Western World. On a morning walk to make a reservation at the train station, I saw the familiar images of scantily-clad women on billboards and the sounds of Vespas whizzing by. No longer would I be hearing Arabic, I was back to the language of Spanish, which I learned during the first two weeks of The Trip. However, the main difference between Latin American Spanish and European Spanish (other than some words being used differently) is that the Europeans pronounce their soft C’s with a lispy TH sound. I’m told that this was because a former king of Spain had a lisp and they changed the language entirely to suit him.

Out of Africa

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 03, 2004

DAY 254: “It’s the end of an era,” I told Sebastian as we rode on the last ferry from Africa into Europe across the Strait of Gibraltar. The nighttime ferry ride was the unforeseen final leg of a mad dash from Morocco to Spain.

Funky Old Medina

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted July 03, 2004

DAY 253: Founded in the eighth century and declared a World Heritage Site in 1981, Fez is one of Morocco’s premiere imperial cities with a “bustling, colorful medina [that] epitomizes Morocco. No visit to the country is complete without seeing it,” says Let’s Go. With only two days left in Morocco, I supposed at least one in Fez was in order.

Jamming in Morocco

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted June 30, 2004

DAY 252: Legendary international superstar Bob Marley has had a long lasting effect on the people in Essaouira. Long after his departure not only were people big fans of his reggae music, they also tried to look like Rastafarians with kitschy woolen hats with dreads knitted into them. But the Moroccan affection for Bob Marley epitomized at the Festival d’Essaouira’s big finale act: The Wailers, Bob Marley’s former band.

Laid Back In My Galabiyya

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted June 30, 2004

DAY 251: The Let’s Go guidebook calls Essaouira “one of Morocco’s most laid-back cities.” Compared to what we had seen in other tourist-frequented places, this was nothing further from the truth. Essaouira’s chilled out vibe — even with shopkeepers — was just like the book claimed, even with the surge of people in town for the music festival.

High, Dry and Hassle-Free

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted June 30, 2004

DAY 250: In the 1960s, Essaouira, the relaxed ocean city on the north west coast of Morocco, was a hippie haven that attracted the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens, Bob Marley and their faithful long-haired disciples. Nowadays, the hippies are gone — along with their big clouds of hash smoke — but Essaouira still retains its cool, relaxed vibe with ocean breezes and welcoming cooler temperatures than that of the cities inland. A new generation of music goers go there now, both locals and foreigners, more so in late June when the city hosts the annual Festival d’Essaouira, a four-day music festival with international appeal.

Heels On The Hill

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted June 28, 2004

DAY 249: One of the dangers of mountain trekking is mountain sickness, caused by the lack of sufficient oxygen to the brain in high altitudes. Mountain sickness (or “altitude sickness”) affects different people in different ways at different levels of severity. For example, when I climbed to the altitude of 5681m. up Mount Kilimanjaro with a Japanese guy named Kenji, the thin air caused me to vomit three times and it put Kenji into a delirious, near-vegetable state.

The effects of mountain sickness were bound to happen again as I continued the second day of a two-day trek up to the peak of Djebel Toubkal at 4167m. ASL, this time not with a Japanese vegetable but a Canadian named Sebastian.

Animated Ascent

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted June 28, 2004

DAY 248: “If there was any one song you could have in your head while riding the camels, what would it be?” Sebastian the 20-year-old Vancouverite asked me. I drew a blank.

“I don’t know.”

Sebastian revealed the one he had in mind, a song from his childhood when he was ten and I was in college:

Prince Ali, mighty as he, Ali Ababwa…

(from Disney’s animated feature Aladdin)

This was just one of the many references to cartoons throughout the day as we hiked up Djebel Toubkal, north Africa’s highest peak at 4167m. ASL.

Profit Mohammed

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted June 24, 2004

DAY 247: The Sahara, the world’s largest desert sprawling all over northern Africa, gets extremely hot in the daytime. (Perhaps that’s why they call it the desert, huh?) To combat the heat, our tour was set up to avoid the hottest part of the day, by first bringing us in at sunset the day before, and leading us out at sunrise that morning.

Carpets and Camels

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted June 24, 2004

DAY 246: I once read a story about how persuasive Moroccan carpet salesmen can be, using not a tactic of aggressiveness, but the strategy of feigned friendliness and hospitality to guilt one into buying a genuine Moroccan rug. That day in Morocco, I finally got to see these salesmen in action.

Rock The Kasbah

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted June 22, 2004

DAY 245: “It’s amazing there are no French people,” Australian Lucy said. She was referring to the fourteen people that had amassed into a small minibus tour group with the Imagine Le Voyage budget tour company based in Marrakesh. Despite the fact that a huge majority of the tourists in Morocco were from France, we were a rainbow coalition, all English-speaking, from other nations: Lucy and Steve from Australia, Russ from the UK, Maider and Serbio from Spain, Miguel from Portugal, Mazza from Japan, Kim from South Korea, Tina and Hendrik from Sweden, Coral and Waddah from California, USA, Canadian Sebastian and me.

Splish, Splash, He Gave Me A Bath

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted June 22, 2004

DAY 244: Most of Marrakesh’s main points of interest are within a 40-minute walk of the Place Djemaa el-Fna and without the comforts of a package tour’s air conditioned tour bus coach (complete with a guide holding up an umbrella for people to follow), I took to the streets to run errands and see the sights on foot.

Next Train to Marrakesh

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted June 18, 2004

DAY 243: If there’s anything that the French influenced on the Moroccans during its occupation in the mid-20th century other than language, it’s the idea of a fast and efficient modern railway system. Morocco has one of the most modern train networks in Africa, linking most of the major cities via rail, with trains that actually depart and arrive on time. The only drawback to the Moroccan railway is that you have to be at the correct train station for you to appreciate its efficiency.

Now in Color!

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted June 18, 2004

DAY 242: Casablanca, the Moroccan oceanside city made popular by movie quotes from the 1942 Humphrey Bogart movie, has come a long way since then. For one, it’s no longer in black and white.

Into The Arabian West

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted June 18, 2004

DAY 241: “Where are you from?” the nameless taxi driver asked me from the driver’s seat. I was in the back row, behind my carpool companion Rosa.

“New York,” I replied.

“Ah, New York?” the jovial portly man said. “My brother lives in New York!” He told me that he had planned to visit his brother in the Big Apple, but when he applied for a visa at the American embassy in Cairo, he was rejected. The embassy said he didn’t have enough bank documents to show that he could financially support himself there — even though he claimed he did. The taxi driver thought there was a different reason.

“I have three thousand dollars American, but I think they reject me when they saw my name,” he said. “My name is Osama.”

Talk about having the wrong name at the wrong time.

Last Day In Paradise

From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted June 17, 2004

DAY 240: It was only about 7:45 in the morning when I was out of bed and back in the comforts of the pillow lounge on the beach of Penguin Village. Reason (other than the fact that pillow lounges rule): I had to finish all my written homework for my Advanced Open Water diver certification course to turn in later that day. Apparently my classmate and dive buddy Oz had the same idea because he was out and at the pillow cafe by eight to do the same. I had finished most of my homework by the time Oz arrived — it was fairly easy; the homework was open book, and the book was written at a fifth-grade reading level — and so I did the courteous American high school thing by letting him copy.

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