Los Angeles - The Last Port of Call

Like all good things, Texas (and the South -border-senoritas) came to an end and so, on the 20th I packed my bag for the second last time to catch my flight to LA.

I spent my first couple of days in California at a hostel located just off the famous Hollywood Boulevard. For those couple of days, I spent my time walking around Hollywood, catching buses through downtown and visiting nearbye beaches such as Santa Monica. I guess it was kinda cool to see some of the stuff you see in the movies like the Hollywood sign, the boulevard and those freaks dressed up as batman and spiderman outside the 'Chinese Theatre' but if I had to stay in Hollywood for any longer than I did, I would probably have topped myself. Something about the whole area (especially Hollywood boulevard) gave off scents of pretentiousness and false hope. I couldn't start to imagine how many people have flocked to the city with a promise of an acting career but have come out with a street job dressing up as batman, harassing tourists.

I think I made the right move my getting out of there and heading to an area on the coast called Venice beach. I found a really cruisy hostel there with big comfortable couches and an included pancake breakfast. As soon as I saw the place I knew that the last days of my big adventure would be best spent here, falling asleep under palm trees during the day and watching the sunset from Santa Monica Pier in the evening. So that's exactly what I did.

Here I am now, sitting on a computer in Melbourne reflecting on the last days of what was the most significant thing I've done in this life. There's no promises that the blog you're reading now will see much activity for a while but what I can promise you is that the next chapter of my life here in Melbourne will be geared towards setting myself up for a life where I'll have the opportunity to write another one of these things titled "Matt's Second Biggest Trip".

Having seen some of the most beautiful places in the world, I've already got a couple of ideas for life after what I hope to be a successful career.

Something about a boat with sails, representing what I've earned for myself in my passed life, cruising through Santorini's caldera, watching the sun sink into the ocean particularly appeals to me. When I stand on the deck of my boat in that magic place of the world, I'll know I've made it all worth it.

Rootin' tootin' Texas

I'm so glad I made the trip down to Texas.

As some of you may be aware, my great-uncle Andrew Burgess and his American wife of many years, Joanna, live right down near a little town called Brownsville in the very South of Texas, close to the Mexican border. When they heard that I'd be flying through New York and LA this year they were quick to offer me a bed at their place if I wanted to get down there to check it out. This was an offer that I was to accept and later, greatly appreciate. Thanks so much guys, I had a ball.

Andrew and Joanna actually live in a housing estate called 'Rancho Viejo' which is Spanish for 'Old Ranch' (a suiting name for a converted Ranch to Golf course/housing district). Located right in between the two towns of Brownsville and Harlingen, Rancho was a great place for me to kick back for a little while and get to know a couple of rellies who I hadn't previously had the luxury of hanging out with for most of my life back in AUS.

It is unfortunate that these two characters do live so far from where I call home since they are indeed a lot of fun. During the time I was there Andy and Joe took me around to do all sorts of things like: playing golf on the ranch course, going to the movies, shopping, going for drives about the Rio Grande valley/South Padre Island, meeting a couple of the local kids and even driving into Mexico for lunch!!

I can't say my golf skills were the talk of the neighbourhood.... Well I guess they were in a way.

Andrew, however, was an absolute gun at the game. I was very impressed.

I have to say, although I enjoyed every minute of my time with A and J in Texas, I particularly enjoyed the first Saturday night I spent there when Joe had organized about 12 local students to come by the house for dinner. She was friends with most of their grandparents which worked out rather well. After we demolished the Lasagne (however you spell that) that we had for dinner, a couple of the girls offered to take me to a party that was on that night with some of the other people from their school. So, after a quick nod of approval from Andy and Joe I changed from thongs to shoes and in no time, was in the car ready to party.

It was indeed a cracking party. There was everything a party-boy could need. An esky full of iced beer, good music, a comfy sitting area, a BBQ fired up and ready to go, about 40 stunning hispanic girls and wait for it... A 20KG SLAB OF MEAT BY THE BARBIE!! The idea was that when you get hungry, you simply pick up the meat cleaver next to the quarter-cow and lop off a piece of meat to chuck on the flame grill! I was in heaven...

Another worthwhile venture was when A and J took me across the border to Mexico. There, we visited a lovely Mexican restaurant that Joe has frequented all her life. The margharitas were amazing and the food, even better. Since this was my first go at real Mexican food, I thought it would only be right to get the 'Mexican plate' which sampled an erray of typical Mexican foods including: Tacos, Enchilada, a stuffed pepper, rice, beans and a tomale. This thing was massive. The picture below does the meal no justice. This thing was a meal for three... I did my best...

These bad boys are the American border patrol agents. Their job is to keep the illegals on their side of the fence.

Here are some shots of South Padre Island which is this long island that stretches for miles along the East coast of Texas. Really nice at sundown.

Here's a couple of pics from when Andy, Joe and I went to visit friends of theirs on the island. I was told I could bring one of the girls from the party, Mariana.

During one of the other days, Andrew and I drove out to a Wildlife reserve. We were overly keen to see the hordes of wild birds and cougars native to the area but by the end of the circuit we'd realized that it was a pretty dull day for cougar spotting... We did see an Ocelot though...

I thought I might just throw this pic in...

Sitting in America, looking at Mexico through a Corona. Nice...

Montrèal

Back in Greece, I was working behind the bar in Athens one night when this massive group of French Canadian girls came through. Even though I was working, I had a great time with these girls and we ended up going out after my shift had finished. Unfortunately they all had to leave for the islands the next day so I ended up getting their facebook addresses so that I could catch up with them sometime again. This worked very nicely when we coincidently ran into eachother on Santorini and then once again on Lesvos where I met this fella called Nick who was also meeting up with them there. As Nick and I got along well there, he told me when I left that I could come stay with him in Montrèal if I was ever around that way. After I left Europe and was in NY I did just that.Nick was nice enough to offer me a bed in his house, where I've been staying for the last couple of nights. During the time I've been here I've met a whole bunch of his uni mates, been to my first College football game, watched my first ice hockee game on tv, walked around the city and picked up where we left off on the the dirty French lessons.

This was the college team of Nick's University (Dark Blue guys)

This is me watching the Quebec (French Canadian team) Vs. Tampa Bay (American team) Hockey game with a Bud and a shirt Nick gave me to represent the locals.

Yes my friends, that you see there is indeed a double Big Mac. A pounder.

Isn't it beautiful...

Despite all the fun we've had outdoors, the first exciting thing we did here in Montrèal was actually right here inside the house. When Nick picked me up from the Bus station, one of the first things he mentioned was that my head looked like a broom. So, in light of this brutal opinion and with the mention of how French Canadian girls like guys hair, we dropped my bags and plugged in the old sheers for my first haircut since Greece. As you can see, we had a bit of fun with it.

It was only after we took this photo when we realized that the clipper top had shifted from a 4 to a 2 during the shave...

The BIG Apple

I've been to some pretty expansive cities during my travels. Cities where I've walked for hours to get to a place that looks like a couple of blocks on the map, cities that I feel like a grain of sand in, but nothing could prepare me for New York.

The sheer size of the place first struck me on the airport express bus from JFK into town. When you look at most cities, the CBD will be visible from a distance. In Brisbane you'll see maybe 4 or 5 buildings that mark the centre of the city, in Melbourne you'll see a few more but when I took my first glimpse of New York, I had to look out both sides of the bus to see all of the dominant CBD skyscrapers. I couldn't believe how big it was.

I was left in a state of awe as we entered the city. The buildings grew taller and when I looked down any given street, they didn't seem to end!

For some reason I felt like I wouldn't have much to do in New York before I arrived but after I had a little chat to my Aunty Karren (who lives and works there) I realized I wouldn't have enough time to see everything! In the few days I did spend there, however, I did manage to see all the main things I wanted to see. These included places like: Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, Wall street, Ground zero, Times Square, China Town, Harlem and the UN building.

I probably coudn't of picked a better time to be in New York for the Central Park. It was Autumn and all the leaves were falling in different shades of orange, red and brown covering the whole park and it's hidden bodies of water. The Park itself is massive! Rectangular in shape, it takes about 20 minutes to walk one length across the top or bottom end but hours to walk the East and West sides. It just keep going!

Ground zero was also a really surreal thing to witness. It was an eerie feeling to stand at the sight of the 9\11 attack. A quick walk around the area revealed a handful of small and large plaques commemorating the fire fighters both living and dead that did their job on that day. On the sight of the fallen towers, they're now building massive memorial building which will serve as a museum for event. Preliminary plans posted on the industrial fences bordering the sight look pretty impressive.

Although I enjoyed all the things I saw in New York, the UN building was the sight that struck a chord for my imagination. As a future 'International Business/Relations' student, I couldn't think of any other place in the world to inspire me for my imminent studies more than here. Having considered what I'll be doing for the next three years of my life, I thought 10 bucks would be a fair price to pay for a tour of the facility. On the tour we even got to visit the massive conference room where reps from every one of the 192 countries in UN gather to discuss worldly issues. Unfortunately I didn't get to see the little gold plate with AUSTRALIA on it because the reps sit in alphabetic order from the front.

My time in New York was also good for seeing my Aunty Karen with whom, until now, I've had very little contact. We went out a couple of times for lunch which was good for catching up on lost time.

At the moment I'm in Montrèal. I simply didn't have enough time in New York to sit on computers during the day and write blogs. Too many things to do in too little time.

Seriously Scenic Stuff

Alrighty then... What have I been up to you might be asking yourselves...

Scenery, scenery and more scenery. The last week and a bit of my stay in Ireland has been geared towards the prettier part of the country down South West way. Down there they've got all sorts of things to see, the most famous being the 'Ring of Kerry' in Kerry province and the famed 'Cliffs of Moher' in the Clare province.

On my way to the south-west corner of Ireland, I rocked on by the second biggest city in Ireland, Cork which is situated right on the South coast. Here I stayed at the nicest hostel I've stayed at in the UK and Ireland. It felt like more of a hotel than a hostel which was nice for the same price. I only spent a couple of days in Cork but whilst I was there I managed to have a little kick around town and even got offered 24 euros worth of gig tickets by the receptionist who couldn't attend it! So another Australian fella and I went to check it out. Had a ball.

The next stop out of Cork was a sleepy little town called Killarney. I stayed here because in a bit of research I did on the Ring of Kerry I found out that it was a good place to base oneself whilst heading out to tour the peninsula. After I settled in here I set out to the tourist information centre where I was able to book a Ring of Kerry tour for the following day. The tour was great.

I took tonnes of pictures which you'll all see when I get back soon but here's a few of the crackers (the first pic is of Killarney national park which I stumbled into accidently whilst waiting for check-in time). Not bad eh.

And yes, that is indeed a chiwawa sitting on a donkey... Don't ask me...

And this is me flying through the air like superman.

After Killarney and the Ring of Kerry, I caught a bus to Galway which is supposed to be one of the more happening cities in Ireland on the upper West coast. It is indeed a pretty cool city and there's this really nice walk you can do along the water on the edge of these green as green sports fields. And in case you're wondering, I haven't become an alter boy just yet. I was just playing dress ups in the hostel with that pope attire in the pic below.

After Galway I set off to check out this tiny little village (not even a town) called Doolin. The only reason I even considered going there was cause I heard that it was the heart of traditional Irish music. Having heard this, I thought they would at least have a proper place to buy food etc. but I would soon find out that my food was to be bought from another hostel that cooked Irish scones daily.. Needless to say, I couldn't survive here for long, not just because the only options for food were scones or 15 euro pub meals but also because the closest ATM was at the Cliffs of Moher.

And I was really running short on cash haha. The brief time I did spend in the town was cool though. During the day I took pictures of my hostel's neighbors (namely cows and horses) and during the afternoon I went to 'Gus O'Connors pub'. Here, my trip out to the sticks became worth it. At around 6pm a group of raggy looking musicians started to conjugate on one of the tables in the pub. One had a guitar, one had a flute, one had some form of percussion and two had instruments that I've never seen before (one of which sounded a bit like the bag-pipes). So after a bit of tuning and getting comfortable, these guys began to belt out the sorts of Irish tunes that induce an infectious knee-bounce. The place lit up and that's exactly what I came to see.

The next day I woke up early for breakfast and to check out the bus time table for buses to the cliffs. True to the spirit of the sleepy village, there was only two buses running that way all day and the first one was not for three hours so I headed off to buy some more Irish scones.. When the bus finally did come, I boarded it and enjoyed the 20 minute drive right up to the cliffs. When I got off I drew out some cash at the only ATM in and hours radius conveniently located in the gift shop before heading up to the top viewing platform. Check this stuff out!!

If I received a dime for every beautiful thing I've seen on this trip of mine, I wouldn't be sharing a bunk with some fella called Rico from Portugal tonight..