BradD
Brad Joined: October 19th 2008
Logged in: February 21st 2009
Logged in: February 21st 2009
Travel Blog Posts
Turkey, Cappadocia Region
The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated. After a very long pause, I am once again adding to my travel blog. I've been in India for the last two weeks, Iran for the month before that, and had two more weeks in Turkey since my last post from Istanbul on December 24th. Since then, I have travelled by land from Turkey into Iran, and flew into Mumbai from Tehran, with a 4 hour stopover in Bahrain (my first opportunity to drink beer in a month! :). I have a partial excuse for my lack of blogging: While I was in Iran from January 7th until February 5th, I could not access to my blog site. The Iranian Mullahs block a lot of sites, including that one, so it wasn't possible to post a blog ... read more
Okay, I am actually in Turkey as I write this, but wanted to try one last time to get the video of the changing of the guard in Athens posted. If you are reading this, I got it to post okay. IT IS GREAT. So I have now arrived in Turkey, happy about everything except the cost of the visa. 45 Euros! For everyone else it is 10 to 20, but Canada is the most expensive of all nationalities. Why? Because when it come to visas to visit Canada, we are a bunch of tools! We make everyone pay $75 to apply for a tourist visa. Ridiculous, and it serves us right to have to pay the same. The Brits, other EU, and even Americans didn't pay more than 15 euro to enter Turkey. Canada is ... read more
Italian Dominoes?
Hello folks, I am now in Athens, it is nice and a little cheaper than Italy, but really, I need to get out of Europe, it is eating my money like a great monster. I made a bit of a gruelling trip to get here, overnight train from Rome (the italians have conceived an ingenious train seat that is uncomfortable in any position), arrived in Bari at 6:30 am, then an overnight boat to Patras in Greece, departed 6:30 pm, arrived 1pm the next day. Strange experience, I was travelling the cheapest ticket, which means you are on the deck. So me, and another guy were sitting on the carpet outside where the cabins are, in a very nice ship. We plugged in the computer, watched a couple movies, drank a couple bottles of wine, and ... read more
Pucky Makes Friends
Finally, i am getting around to another blog entry. I am in Rome right now, but need to cover Venice, and Florence with this entry as well. I want to start with Rome though. All of my life I have always heard, and always known that Rome was a vast and complex empire with an incredible capital city. That said, this "knowledge", was just something everyone knows, and that I had never really taken time to consider what that means. I am now in Rome, surrounded by ruins (as my friend Erwin says, the whole city is a museum), and I have seen remnants of the empire in other parts of Europe as well. It is really sinking in just how vast and powerful Rome was, and even more, what an incredible city it must have ... read more
tourist may NOT walk around in tighty-whities
Now in Nice, and it is by far the nicest place i have been in France. The people seem nicer, there is significantly less dog shit on the streets (in Marseilles it was like a doo-doo mine field). We made it out to the bar last night, and were very pleasantly surprised to find that there were women there. Every other place that we have been, the bars are filled with men, and nary a woman in site. Why would anyone pay 6 euro for a pint of beer to sit around and look at a bunch of dudes? It was a pleasant surprise. We are staying at the nicest hostel ever. It is clean, beautiful, and has 1/2 litre cans of beer for one euro in the very nice common room. Internet is free, and ... read more
Collisseum in Nimes
I am now in Marseille France, it is a rainy day, I just bought an umbrella... So to those thinking my life is all sunshine and lollypops....Yes, even into my currently cushy existence, sometimes a little rain does fall! After Carcassonne I spent a couple nights in Nimes. There is an old Roman Collisseum there that is in excellent condition...they still use it for bullfights...yes, bullfights in France. Apparently to appease French sensibilities they don't kill them. Speaking of French sensibilities, I cannot say i'm terribly impressed. What a bunch of pithy, unhelpful whiners i have encountered. There are exceptions, but the rule is pain in the ass. Hell, i was standing in line at a grocery store yesterday, there is a blind man behind with a cane...a woman comes up, checks him out, and joins ... read more
Pucky in Cadaques
Once again, a rush blog entry. Sitting in a Mcdonalds in Carcossonne....why?....It has free internet access, and those train tickets are getting expensive. Going to Nimes tomorrow, but there are no buses, only trains, so a daytime ride on the TGV (fast train) will have to be the way. At least it will be fast and comfortable. Brian and I spent 3 nights in the very quiet seaside town of Cadaques, in large part because we had a very comfortable 2 bedroom suite with kitchen, laundry, balcony etc...all for only 40 E a night. I'm going to attach a few pics, but again, sitting in Rotten Ronnie's use the free internet, so not a place to sit back and make a good entry. Managed to see the Dali museum in Figueres before heading here, it was ... read more
no time to explain the pics, running
Still in Barcelona, having a fine time. I guess I should explain the blog title.... Getting Groped.....wow the prosititutes are agressive. I was walking home alone, apparently into an area where the ladies of the evening gather, well, to say I got groped is an understatement, perhaps mauled is more correct. It was absolutely ridiculous, I had like 3 women at one time grab every part of me, the only thing I could think was ¨wallet, don´t let them get your wallet¨. After walking the gauntlet of groping i finally made it out, with my wallet intact, but i feel so dirty! LOL, ridiculous. Finally made it to the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi´s famous church still under construction (see pics below), it was pretty impressive, although the construction obscured a lot of what was there. Anyway, we ... read more
Main Mosque in Marrakech
Tree, Iku and I flew in from Marrakech yesterday afternoon, and we are now in Barcelona. I think I will be here six days, and am taking the opportunity to do laundry, catch up on e-mail, and add this blog entry. Not too many more pics, and just one quick video of the market in Marrakech is all I've got to add this time. The video really doesn't do the place justice, but hopefully it gives some sense of the place. Morocco was really great, and I wish I could have spent a little more time there, and perhaps ridden a camel out into the desert. Hopefully I will get another chance somewhere along the way, maybe India?. I am however pleased not to be solicited non-stop by "helpful" Moroccans. It is a lot of work, ... read more
Photo 1
Another quick entry, gotta get out in the square here in Marrakech! So far it is already crazy, snake charmers, monkeys, and people fighting over you trying to drag you into their restaurant, i almost got pulled in two last night. Here are a few more pics, mostly fes, but i will try to get some video in the square later; dusk it supposed to be the busiest time gotta run!!... read more
