International Travels

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I don't think anyone who knew me 6 months ago could have ever imagined I'd be so heartbroken to leave this city. Last night in Sydney was a success, and I will definitely be back to visit my mates.

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Queenstown, New Zealand is so beautiful it hurts.

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I have come so far and changed so much over these last 7 months. Some days have been painfully difficult and some absolutely wonderful. This is how I want to remember Australia. I'll definitely be back someday.

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Thanksgiving, and my return to America

Sitting here in my apartment alone on what should be Thanksgiving is such a surreal feeling. No family around to eat ridiculous amounts of food with, no friends around to drink and celebrate with on Black Wednesday, none of the familiar comforts of America. My Alaskan roommate and I are going to attempt to prepare a Thanksgiving meal tomorrow night, but even that is proving difficult because some ingredients aren't readily available in Australia. And that's just it: I've realized that's what living in Australia has been - difficult. It isn't at all what I believed it to be...not work, not social life, nothing. It's quite unfortunate to realize that sometimes, your dreams aren't attainable - and not for a lack of trying, but because they aren't realistic for one reason or another. For me, the idea that my field is incredibly advanced in Australia and cutting-edge just isn't the case. With that said, I have decided to return back to Chicago. A beautiful city that I hadn't even realized I had fallen completely in love with until I saw the skyline from the Adler Planetarium. I've learned a lot here so far: mostly what I can and (more often than not) what I cannot handle. I've also learned to be much more appreciative of the US, to accept it for what it is, and enjoy its wonderful imperfections. And I've learned that sometimes, you should choose life over career. I will take a lot from Australia, mostly their love of travel and their mentality of life not being only work. But, at the end of the day, I'm proud to be an American, and I'm tired of being ridiculed for it in this country. USA, here I come!

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Alright, alright. My Mom and I ventured to Coogee today, finally, to see the town I'll be living in and meet Colleen. There's a Cliff-top Walkway that goes from Coogee to Bondi that we also decided to tackle. This is one of the "baths" on Coogee beach that is open to the public so you can enjoy the water without the disgusting living creatures in it. Needless to say, after today I'm warming up to the idea of living here for the next year.

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A distant second from the greatest skyline in the world, the Chicago skyline. This was taken today while on the ferry ride from Circular Quay (incorrectly pronounced “key”) to the Taronga Zoo. The buildings to the left and Opera House, opposite the Harbour Bridge, make for a halfway decent view. However, I truly think nothing will ever compare to the view of Chicago from the Alder Planetarium. Another thought: instead of saying “how are you doing”, here people say “how are you going”. Wait…what? Sidebar, two days ago Denise (my Mom) was caught making the comment: “why can’t they just speak English???” in reference to the Aussie accent. Kangaroo count: 10ish after the zoo; Marty count: ZERO.

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Arrival

Sleeping 11 of my 14 hour flight is the thing I feel most proud of in my 26 years. The flights are long and arduous, but if anyone considers coming to visit do yourself a favor and fly Quantas. This morning, I had the most delicious breakfast, and that's not even taking into account the fact that it was airplane food. It's freaking cold and rainy in Sydney today, which wouldn't have chapped my ass so much if it weren't for the fact that my brother convinced me that I didn't really need to pack those 3 hoodies because it's Australia. Ugh. The send off party was great before I left, so many people showed up and it made me feel incredible. Saturday was spent with the family and Saturday night with Joe. I wouldn't have had it any other way. Now, to warm up, get a bank account and a new SIM card...big day ahead!

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Departing words

Well, I kind of failed on this blog thing...but it's only because I was too busy enjoying the vacation along the way. We spent two nights in Barcelona, then my trip was rounded out by going with the guys to Pamplona so they could run with the bulls. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life, and the videos don't do it justice. I'm happy to say that everyone made it out alive, and Adam even did one better and was able to touch three bulls (apparently that's a goal?). Leaving Spain, I have some likes and dislikes, and unlike previous countries I've visited, I'm actually ready to get home. It was a long and event filled two weeks. If you ever get the opportunity to travel Spain, my suggestion is to spend less time in the big cities, and more time in the smaller ones like Sevilla and Valencia. Adios Spain, and vaya con Dios! HELLO 'MERICA!

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Memorable Quotes along the way...

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“that guys gonna die in the next week, seriously…he does not look good” Adam -“that’s a Spanish shandy, it’s a Spandy” Rachel -“you can go generic on your Pussy, but I don’t recommend it. Generic Pussy is called Snatch” Brandon -“you always do it in the girls bathroom, the guys bathroom smells like piss and shit” Brandon -“anyone who gets that excited about 5000 Rupiah…I mean that won’t even get Luke Hemenover a bag of dicks” Adam -“well…at least we made someone cry tonight” Aaron -“she’s not working here because she’s smart” Aaron -“cook, lemme ask you something…do you like to fight?” Brandon “nah, why, do you wanna fight me?” Aaron, “no, you’re a sizable guy” Brandon -“Rachel I hope you’re live blogging this, cause I don’t know how long this is gonna last” Brandon -“did y’all see there’s a thunderbolt on this car?” Brandon -“why would you try to get a ticket?” Adam “why do people trophy hunt? They not gon use it. I’m not gon eat a gazelle, but I’ll shoot the motherfucker” Brandon -“BRANDON, DROP A PIN!” “I don’t think y’all know what dropping a pin means” Brandon -“you wanna know an uncomfortable position? Driving drunk in Madrid, with “Maps” Watterson next to you” Brandon -“ya know what Hormigos are?! Slutty friends” Brandon -“so what was in your bag?” Rachel “mostly my stuff, iPhone, iPod, a really nice issue of the Economist…” Adam -“an oscar Meyer wiener parade: American football players, cheerleaders, American police man, Oscar Meyer wiener, cowboys, and Uncle Sam in stilts” Adam describing the American Independence Day parade in Madrid -“I’m testing Granada…I’m not paying for food the rest of the time we’re in Granada” Adam, “fuck it, I’m not paying for beers” Brandon -“what do you think people from Granada are called? Granadians?” Rachel “Grenades” Brandon -“yeah, she didn’t drop out because she was popular and became a rock start, she dropped out because people kept telling her she smelled like hotdogs” Brandon on Christina Aguilera -“did you just VCD that guy?” Brandon asking Adam if he told the older gentleman leaving the bus Vaya con Dios -“I’ve built my own computer” Aaron “sounds pretty geeky Aaron, have you built your own sex bot too?” Rachel “I have, I call her Rachel and she’s great. She’s got a great set of Teterias on her” Aaron “64gigs” Brandon -“if we weren’t traveling at warp speed I would take some pictures of this scenery” Rachel “I mean, I could drop it down to warp speed” Brandon -“so by you did surgery on a cat, you mean you went in the woods and field dressed a cat?” Rachel -“cook, how’s that World of Warcraft game going?” Brandon “I’m working on my Rachel Bot…software upgrade” Aaron -“this beach reminds me of Daytona Beach” Adam “that’d be fine if it were Daytona Beach at Spring Break, but it’s more like Pensacola Beach on Mothers Day weekend” Brandon -“look at how much I paid for these beers” Brandon showing Adam the receipt for his 9 beers for 8€ -“cook, are you down with going to a titty bar on the way to Valencia?” Brandon “whatever, I’ll throw my coins at them” Aaron -“sometimes you’ve gotta wine yourself up” Rachel -“for your first time Brandon, you did great…though I’m sure you’ve heard that before” Rachel

-“I’m glad I brought these jeans,” Brandon “were you being facetious?” Rachel “no, I was being sarcastic” Brandon “is that because you don’t know what facetious means?” Rachel “no, I like sarcastic better…reminds me of Garfield” Brandon “the President?” Aaron -"you want me to get a market and draw a Nike swoosh on your Espadrilles? Make 'em some 'Drill Force Ones?" -"when you see bagged sangria, you gotta buy it" Rachel "sometimes you gotta take the sangria by the bag" Brandon

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Barcelona

While overall I think Barcelona is incredibly overrated, last night was the best meal we’ve had in Spain. While touring Alhambra in Granada a few days ago, we ran into a couple of girls from New York who had just finished their stay in Barcelona. They said we HAD to go to Cervecervia Catalana. Our first night and morning in Barcelona, Brandon and Cook cooked us meals at the apartment we are renting, which turned out delicious. By our second and final night, we decided to try their recommendation since it was only a 15 minute walk from our apartment. Holy shit. Amazing. If you ever go to Barcelona, eat there. For real the best food we’ve had all trip, expensive, but worth it. Get the prawn skewers if you want your life to be changed.

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Termed "FGC" - Freaking Good Cocktail, aka Agua de Valenza.

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Spanish sunset.

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Backtracking...and Brandon HATES backtracking...

A few things we missed. First and foremost, in Madrid there is an energy drink called Pussy. Yep, that’s what it’s called. And, as Americans, we couldn’t help ourselves but laugh and take pictures next to the advertisements. Perfection.

The drive to Sevilla was about 6 hours, and it was mostly beautiful rolling mountains and what we are guessing are olive farms along the way. We made it to The Garden Backpacker around 9pm and were greeted warmly by the girl working the front desk. There was a pub crawl at 11, so we decided to run out for a couple of beers and tapas after getting cleaned up. We quickly learned that Sevilla has NOTHING on American pub crawls. There were about 3 pubs over roughly a 3 1/2 hour span. Not conducive to getting drunk like we had planned, plus the area had to be a solid 1.5miles that we ended up walking from the hostel to both bars. After the second, we decided to find our own bar and pound some beers before calling it a night. Needless to say, we were successful. We woke up the next morning, promptly at 12pm, and spent the day walking around Sevilla, seeing the Catedral and some other buildings, before deciding to go on the 2 1/2 hour walking tour of Sevilla. Between the time we went on our own tour and the walking tour, a tragedy struck in the form of the Great Toe Stub of 2012. Adam stubbed his toe on one of the many uneven stone walkways of Sevilla. He has since been wearing tennis shoes almost exclusively. The walking tour was great, and since we had been out and about so much that evening, we decided to grab some tapas, stop at a grocery store and buy some wine, and head back to the hostel for a relatively relaxed night in. I charged my devices and started up this blog while the guys sat outside, played cards with people, and ended up meeting the girl they offered a ride to, which was referenced earlier.

We made it to Granada with all 8 of our kidneys intact, and Brandon learned how truly narrow the streets were. We stayed at a place called the Funky Backpacker, which was another great hostel. They even had a small garage they let us park the car in for free! We immediately high tailed it out to get some tapas in the city, and go on an unexpected hike up to Mirador de San Nicolas, which offered beautiful views of Alhambra. That evening, we learned the greatest thing about Granada. You don’t pay for tapas if you buy a super cheap beer. Fine.

The next morning we woke up and started our drive along the coast. Not having any real place in mind, other than stopping at some sweet Spanish beaches. First beach we stopped at was Playa del Cabo de Gato, which was a gorgeous pebble beach in the middle of nowhere. We stayed there for about three hours, enjoying the Mediterranean Sea, the beautiful mountain scenery behind the beach, and the cool sea. We hopped back on the road, got a bit lost, but eventually made it to a killer McDonald’s for some food and wifi gratis. We quickly booked a hostel room for the night without paying much attention in Alicante. After finally arriving around 10:30pm, we found the hostel…and realized why the scary movies with that title were made. Needless to say, I was happy we all woke up the next morning. We put our things in the car, and visited the Alicante beach. “This beach reminds me of Daytona Beach” Adam, “that’d be fine if it were Daytona Beach at Spring Break, but it’s more like Pensacola Beach on Mothers Day weekend” Brandon. Judging by that quote, you can guess that we didn’t stay more than two hours at that beach. While driving, not far from Alicante, we passed what seemed to be some nice beach scenery and stopped at Benidorm. It was the most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen. All different colors of blue in the sea, highlighted by mountains on each side and a rock island in the middle. The guys loved it because of the Teterias (yes, we know this does not mean what it sounds like, but we like our definition better). We stayed here for about three hours and had intentions of stopping at another beach along the way, but the traffic in Spain foiled that plot and we made it to Valencia to stay the night.

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Mas de Benidorm.

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More of Benidorm.

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Two jackasses.