They say traffic in Los Angeles is horrible. I can tell you it’s not just a myth, it’s true. It takes an hour to get anywhere in LA by car. And car is the only way to go. LA is very spread out, and in between the different places you would like to go to is nothing but streets filled with cars almost standing still.
Anyhow, we had a good time in LA. Mascha hosted us in Westwood, one of the nicer areas of LA, with cute cafés and interesting stores. Mascha, and her boyfriend JD, seem to know everybody in LA. So of course, we were invited to various parties. The private party with Linkin Park, somewhere in Hollywood, was good – it’s not every day I go to a party with open bar and a chocolate fountain. That was as close as we got to celebrity-spotting. Although we also got to know a couple of days later, that Paris Hilton was at the party we didn’t go to. Mascha’s friend talked to her all night, and she was very nice, he says.
Selling the car didn’t go all that well. We did find one sketchy car dealer who wanted to give us a small amount of money for the car, but we were too stubborn and didn’t accept his offer. Instead, after having driven Anton to the airport, I went to the Salvation Army and gave the car away. With no Anton and no car, the road-trip was over.
It seems that everybody in LA is very much into all kinds of new-age stuff. There are raw-food organic vegan Buddhist people all over. So it seemed like the proper finale of my LA stay to go to yoga with Mascha. I boarded the flight to NY dehydrated, but the stewardesses were happy to serve me one drink after the other, so all was good.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
California dreaming
Going through north-eastern California, we were not really able to enjoy the national parks. Possibly because of still being tired from Vegas, possibly because of being sick and tired of desert. Ok, Yosemite is not really desert, but mountains and trees. But it’s still wasteland. Coming into the San Francisco area, with highways and skyscrapers and other man-made stuff, was beautiful.
From San Francisco, we went down highway 1 (which is about as nice as they say it is) to San Diego, where we were greeted by Shannon and her three (or two, or four – who knows) roommates in a funky house-like apartment in La Jolla, a fancy beach community type thing. Two intense days followed. To maximize the contrast to the snowboarding of the beginning of the trip, we went to the ocean to surf. I managed to stand up on the surf board twice. Too bad it was not really on a wave. Instead, the waves thought it would be fun to throw me around like a rag doll. The whole thing was not made easier by the party at Shannon’s the day before. Being better at partying than surfing, we were invited to an all American frat-like theme party that night, which was great fun. The theme was Around the world, and obviously, me and Anton dressed up as Swedes.
Leaving San Diego for Los Angeles, we realized that this was the very last time on the trip that we were on our way to a new, unknown destination. It is sad that this trip is coming to an end. I think we both feel that we could do this for another month or two. But it will also be nice to get back to Sweden and meet everybody there. I wonder if these months have gone by as fast in Sweden as they have here.
Now, it’s time for those last days in LA.
From San Francisco, we went down highway 1 (which is about as nice as they say it is) to San Diego, where we were greeted by Shannon and her three (or two, or four – who knows) roommates in a funky house-like apartment in La Jolla, a fancy beach community type thing. Two intense days followed. To maximize the contrast to the snowboarding of the beginning of the trip, we went to the ocean to surf. I managed to stand up on the surf board twice. Too bad it was not really on a wave. Instead, the waves thought it would be fun to throw me around like a rag doll. The whole thing was not made easier by the party at Shannon’s the day before. Being better at partying than surfing, we were invited to an all American frat-like theme party that night, which was great fun. The theme was Around the world, and obviously, me and Anton dressed up as Swedes.
Leaving San Diego for Los Angeles, we realized that this was the very last time on the trip that we were on our way to a new, unknown destination. It is sad that this trip is coming to an end. I think we both feel that we could do this for another month or two. But it will also be nice to get back to Sweden and meet everybody there. I wonder if these months have gone by as fast in Sweden as they have here.
Now, it’s time for those last days in LA.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Mormons and gambling
The ride through the mountains of Colorado, on the way to Utah, was spectacular. We stayed for lunch in Vail, and it was not hard to see why this is a popular destination for American ski tourists. All you had to do was to imagine lots of snow. Once we crossed the border to Utah, all the beauty disappeared. What we were left with was flat and boring semi-desert for miles and miles and miles. It took us two hours of driving before we saw anything man-made (except for the road). It was a shed. Following our new tradition of going to Sunday church, we found our way to a Mormon service, which was just as boring as the rest of Utah. Although it must be said that the Mormons were friendly to us.
One might think that we would be tired of desert, and just flee the Mormons and go straight for the west coast. We didn’t. Instead we went south to Arizona. Our waitress in Vail had recommended the little town of Sedona, Arizona, where, supposedly, some energy lines cross which soothes your soul. We saw nothing of the energy lines, but we did, again, see some spectacular nature. The mountain/canyon/desert combination, some say, even beats the Grand Canyon. For the first time, we couchsurfed with a family: two parents and two kids. We never really figured out which kid had which parent, if they had any kids together, or if any of them had any other kids. But we had a great time with them in their kind of big Sedona house with a backyard well suited for hamburger grilling.
The Grand Canyon was cool. But not as cool as going in a helicopter. I might have to buy one of those when I get really, really rich.
Las Vegas is probably the first destination on our trip that met, or ever exceeded, my expectations. It was everything it sets out to be. I think I spent some thirty hours by black jack tables in a bunch of different casinos, and it is the most pleasant experience. Free drinks are served, so what you’re actually doing is to sit around a table, play a game and talk with total strangers from all over the US (and the world) over a drink or two or three. I guess that it’s less fun if you lose money, though.
One might think that we would be tired of desert, and just flee the Mormons and go straight for the west coast. We didn’t. Instead we went south to Arizona. Our waitress in Vail had recommended the little town of Sedona, Arizona, where, supposedly, some energy lines cross which soothes your soul. We saw nothing of the energy lines, but we did, again, see some spectacular nature. The mountain/canyon/desert combination, some say, even beats the Grand Canyon. For the first time, we couchsurfed with a family: two parents and two kids. We never really figured out which kid had which parent, if they had any kids together, or if any of them had any other kids. But we had a great time with them in their kind of big Sedona house with a backyard well suited for hamburger grilling.
The Grand Canyon was cool. But not as cool as going in a helicopter. I might have to buy one of those when I get really, really rich.
Las Vegas is probably the first destination on our trip that met, or ever exceeded, my expectations. It was everything it sets out to be. I think I spent some thirty hours by black jack tables in a bunch of different casinos, and it is the most pleasant experience. Free drinks are served, so what you’re actually doing is to sit around a table, play a game and talk with total strangers from all over the US (and the world) over a drink or two or three. I guess that it’s less fun if you lose money, though.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Boggleblog
We had a wonderful, wonderful time in Boulder, Colorado. More than ever on this trip, I felt like being at home. In a real home. The cast of this Boulder home: Kristen our hostess, Ryan the boyfriend, Mary the roommate (or actually, housemate), Kristin the neighbour and Macaroni Mary’s little schnauzer-like dog. A typical day, Kristin, Ryan and us would cook dinner and play cards, Mary and Kristin making interesting attempts on baking banana pound cake. As it happened, there were two cakes, since the first one lacked milk, and some other vital ingredients. The whole thing felt very homy.
Boulder is a smallish college town just north of Denver, that we heard well of. Again, it seems that towns that are European in style, are those that Americans themselves like. It doesn’t take a genius to ask the question: why don’t they make more towns like that? Who knows. The streets in Boulder have sidewalks, there are people out walking, there are restaurants, bars and even stores with clothes that seem to be made to fit people. Not only real big people. Colorado people seem to be in better shape than others. I guess it’s because they’re all outdoor freaks, which is reasonable – the nature here is spectacular.
At the hip local mall, we tried to enter a store, but it was closed. We realized it was Sunday, and also that we had been talking about going to church and see what that’s like. Said and done. The First Presbyterian Church is where our GPS took us, and it was good stuff. There was music that was actually good (and not awkwardly cheesy), and speakers that actually had interesting things to say on the topic of the day (which was money – will it control you, ore can you control the money). Now, I don’t believe in the eternal life, so the pun was kind of lost, but everything up to that made sense, and was interesting.
Having been such good Christians, Kristen took us to a microbrewery where her brother happened to work. There is lots of good beer in the states, and the microbreweries is where to find it. It’s weird that the tasteless Bud, Miller and Coors are the only ones that are bestsellers, when there apparently is knowledge all around about how to make real beer. We had some of these real beers and played Boggle until it was time to go home. Never start with too nice a place when going out for a pub-crawl.
Boulder is a smallish college town just north of Denver, that we heard well of. Again, it seems that towns that are European in style, are those that Americans themselves like. It doesn’t take a genius to ask the question: why don’t they make more towns like that? Who knows. The streets in Boulder have sidewalks, there are people out walking, there are restaurants, bars and even stores with clothes that seem to be made to fit people. Not only real big people. Colorado people seem to be in better shape than others. I guess it’s because they’re all outdoor freaks, which is reasonable – the nature here is spectacular.
At the hip local mall, we tried to enter a store, but it was closed. We realized it was Sunday, and also that we had been talking about going to church and see what that’s like. Said and done. The First Presbyterian Church is where our GPS took us, and it was good stuff. There was music that was actually good (and not awkwardly cheesy), and speakers that actually had interesting things to say on the topic of the day (which was money – will it control you, ore can you control the money). Now, I don’t believe in the eternal life, so the pun was kind of lost, but everything up to that made sense, and was interesting.
Having been such good Christians, Kristen took us to a microbrewery where her brother happened to work. There is lots of good beer in the states, and the microbreweries is where to find it. It’s weird that the tasteless Bud, Miller and Coors are the only ones that are bestsellers, when there apparently is knowledge all around about how to make real beer. We had some of these real beers and played Boggle until it was time to go home. Never start with too nice a place when going out for a pub-crawl.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
There's always room for desert
West Texas was the start of the desert part of our trip. It is strange how this boring landscape can be so beautiful.
We needed to go to a travel agent to arrange some stuff, and we found one in El Paso, just by the Mexican border. In the office was Doris, an elderly American lady, who used to walk over to the Mexican sister town Juarez every Sunday to get her hair cut by her favourite barber and stroll around in what she describes as a colourful and culturally exciting environment. A couple of years ago, she stopped. Mexico had become too dangerous. Maybe it has gotten more dangerous. But it feels like the main reason is that Americans are getting increasingly afraid. And it feels like a shame. In Doris’ defence, it should be said that a relative of hers was kidnapped in Juarez some years back, and was released for the facile ransom of $30000. And that there was a shoot-out in her favourite restaurant there. Things that would scare most people, even iron-lady Doris.
Iron-man Robert and iron-man Anton were not intimidated. (Though we didn’t actually dare take our car over the border.) Our two days in Juarez offered an underground rock concert and a fun Mexican karaoke birthday party that ended in a fight between two of the attending girls. Fortunately, our Spanish was not good enough for us to understand what those girls were shouting to each other. Together with our hosts Sofia and Jover, we discretely left the party. Altogether, Juarez was lots of fun.
Outside Truth or Consequences (yes – that is the name of a town), New Mexico, we needed to stop for gas. Filling the tank, we realized that we also needed food. We had the best piece of meat I’ve ever had. Not many Swedes come to this charming desert town. Jeremy, a local, offered us some drinks, and a soak in natural hot springs. Unable to refuse the proposal, we stayed the night in T or C. They say the town has magical powers that make some people who just happen to pass through stay for good. Which is easy to believe.
There are maybe 5 roads in New Mexico. I’m not kidding. Not having many options, we ended up in Gallup, a dirty hole on the historic Route 66. We felt like staying at one place for a couple of days, but clearly Gallup was not the place. We continued straight through the Navajo Indian land of north-western New Mexico to the slightly larger town of Farmington, where we now look forward to having some peace for a day or two.
We needed to go to a travel agent to arrange some stuff, and we found one in El Paso, just by the Mexican border. In the office was Doris, an elderly American lady, who used to walk over to the Mexican sister town Juarez every Sunday to get her hair cut by her favourite barber and stroll around in what she describes as a colourful and culturally exciting environment. A couple of years ago, she stopped. Mexico had become too dangerous. Maybe it has gotten more dangerous. But it feels like the main reason is that Americans are getting increasingly afraid. And it feels like a shame. In Doris’ defence, it should be said that a relative of hers was kidnapped in Juarez some years back, and was released for the facile ransom of $30000. And that there was a shoot-out in her favourite restaurant there. Things that would scare most people, even iron-lady Doris.
Iron-man Robert and iron-man Anton were not intimidated. (Though we didn’t actually dare take our car over the border.) Our two days in Juarez offered an underground rock concert and a fun Mexican karaoke birthday party that ended in a fight between two of the attending girls. Fortunately, our Spanish was not good enough for us to understand what those girls were shouting to each other. Together with our hosts Sofia and Jover, we discretely left the party. Altogether, Juarez was lots of fun.
Outside Truth or Consequences (yes – that is the name of a town), New Mexico, we needed to stop for gas. Filling the tank, we realized that we also needed food. We had the best piece of meat I’ve ever had. Not many Swedes come to this charming desert town. Jeremy, a local, offered us some drinks, and a soak in natural hot springs. Unable to refuse the proposal, we stayed the night in T or C. They say the town has magical powers that make some people who just happen to pass through stay for good. Which is easy to believe.
There are maybe 5 roads in New Mexico. I’m not kidding. Not having many options, we ended up in Gallup, a dirty hole on the historic Route 66. We felt like staying at one place for a couple of days, but clearly Gallup was not the place. We continued straight through the Navajo Indian land of north-western New Mexico to the slightly larger town of Farmington, where we now look forward to having some peace for a day or two.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Hot, hot, hot
In Austin, we had a house to ourselves. Martin, an old school buddy of ours, let us stay in his house, in which he no longer lives since he moved in with his girlfriend. Now, I have to tell you that sitting out on the shady porch of your house, under a fan, with a cold beer or a glass of bourbon in your hand, is a very pleasant experience. But don’t get me wrong, Austin was no lazy days. I played golf for the first time in my life. I think you can imagine how that went, but it was great fun. We also played pool, bowled and went for a real Texas BBQ. Man, that stuff is good. I think we ate half a cow.
Austin has a big university. So we thought hey, let’s go to some random lecture, to see how those are here in the states. First, we stalked some people with backpacks, who seemed to be in a hurry. That led us to dark hallways, restrooms or in some cases nowhere. So instead, we tried to find the auditoriums. We finally did, and we now know more about accounting and first-order logic. We did not blend in as well as we thought we would. After looking at us nervously for the first ten minutes of the lecture, the logics teacher finally asked us: who are you and what are you doing here? She unwillingly bought our explanation (that there was no particular reason), after a short speech to the class about Virginia Tech.
Our first visit to a national park would be to Big Bend, right on the border to Mexico. It was spectacular. But also hot. So hot, in fact, I thought we might die. 45 degrees Celsius in the shade is a lot. And shade is a rare thing in a desert. Even so, we managed to make a hike in the dusk, and one in the dawn. In one of them, we had a close encounter with a mountain lion. Ok, we didn’t actually see the lion, but hearing it was scary enough for us to pick up some big rocks to use as weapons and hasten away.
As I write this, I’m in a motel room in the middle of nowhere, Texas, enjoying an air-con more than ever before.
Austin has a big university. So we thought hey, let’s go to some random lecture, to see how those are here in the states. First, we stalked some people with backpacks, who seemed to be in a hurry. That led us to dark hallways, restrooms or in some cases nowhere. So instead, we tried to find the auditoriums. We finally did, and we now know more about accounting and first-order logic. We did not blend in as well as we thought we would. After looking at us nervously for the first ten minutes of the lecture, the logics teacher finally asked us: who are you and what are you doing here? She unwillingly bought our explanation (that there was no particular reason), after a short speech to the class about Virginia Tech.
Our first visit to a national park would be to Big Bend, right on the border to Mexico. It was spectacular. But also hot. So hot, in fact, I thought we might die. 45 degrees Celsius in the shade is a lot. And shade is a rare thing in a desert. Even so, we managed to make a hike in the dusk, and one in the dawn. In one of them, we had a close encounter with a mountain lion. Ok, we didn’t actually see the lion, but hearing it was scary enough for us to pick up some big rocks to use as weapons and hasten away.
As I write this, I’m in a motel room in the middle of nowhere, Texas, enjoying an air-con more than ever before.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Guatemalamania
I always feel empty inside when returning from an intense experience. I was sad to leave Guatemala.
Yes, we left the country for a week. Anton went to Argentina to meet up with his girlfriend, I went to Guatemala. I knew absolutely nothing about Guatemala. And I had never really traveled on my own before. But I would not be lonely. In Antigua, I stayed with Cynthia, a Guatemalan restaurant manager chick, who at the same time hosted German coffee expert Thomas, British DJ Adam, and American teacher Ben. The five of us became what Guatemalans for a long time will remember as The Gang. Antigua is a cute little town full of life. The Gang was invited to have a barbecue at Priscilla’s porch, so we went to the market to buy what we needed: prawns, chicken, avocados, peppers, pineapples, bananas, mangoes, garlic and lemons. All obviously locally produced, and ours for a couple of bucks. Also, to Priscilla’s surprise, we bought a live rooster, who she now keeps as her pet.
There are active volcanoes in Guatemala, and I and Adam decided we’d go climb one. It was actually really cool. At the top, all forces of nature tried to tell us: guys, you’re not supposed to be here. There was fog and thunder and lightning (that once even struck the very mountain top we were on), and of course there was the lava. And then the rain started pouring and I was soaked within minutes. And then Adam slipped on the magma gravel and cut his hand pretty deep. There we stood, trying to tie a piece of cloth around his hand, while nature roared. The only good thing was that as long as we were close to the lava, we were warm. But of course, as we started to climb down, it got really, really cold.
The two-day trip that I, Adam and Thomas made to lake Atitlan, was far more comfortable. On arrival, we had lunch at restaurant Buddha in San Pedro, which might be the most relaxed place on earth. Big sofas on the second floor, overlooking the mountain lake and its surrounding green and lush volcanoes. After lunch, we just chilled and had a couple of beers, until it was time for dinner. We ended up staying until they closed, all the time comfortably horizontal.
On a trip around the lake, Thomas taught us all thee is to know about coffee, which grows abundantly in the region. Back in Antigua, it was time to say good-bye to all these fantastic people and wonderful places. The car was waiting for me at the Dallas international airport, and I must admit that it felt as if I had not seen that car for months.
Yes, we left the country for a week. Anton went to Argentina to meet up with his girlfriend, I went to Guatemala. I knew absolutely nothing about Guatemala. And I had never really traveled on my own before. But I would not be lonely. In Antigua, I stayed with Cynthia, a Guatemalan restaurant manager chick, who at the same time hosted German coffee expert Thomas, British DJ Adam, and American teacher Ben. The five of us became what Guatemalans for a long time will remember as The Gang. Antigua is a cute little town full of life. The Gang was invited to have a barbecue at Priscilla’s porch, so we went to the market to buy what we needed: prawns, chicken, avocados, peppers, pineapples, bananas, mangoes, garlic and lemons. All obviously locally produced, and ours for a couple of bucks. Also, to Priscilla’s surprise, we bought a live rooster, who she now keeps as her pet.
There are active volcanoes in Guatemala, and I and Adam decided we’d go climb one. It was actually really cool. At the top, all forces of nature tried to tell us: guys, you’re not supposed to be here. There was fog and thunder and lightning (that once even struck the very mountain top we were on), and of course there was the lava. And then the rain started pouring and I was soaked within minutes. And then Adam slipped on the magma gravel and cut his hand pretty deep. There we stood, trying to tie a piece of cloth around his hand, while nature roared. The only good thing was that as long as we were close to the lava, we were warm. But of course, as we started to climb down, it got really, really cold.
The two-day trip that I, Adam and Thomas made to lake Atitlan, was far more comfortable. On arrival, we had lunch at restaurant Buddha in San Pedro, which might be the most relaxed place on earth. Big sofas on the second floor, overlooking the mountain lake and its surrounding green and lush volcanoes. After lunch, we just chilled and had a couple of beers, until it was time for dinner. We ended up staying until they closed, all the time comfortably horizontal.
On a trip around the lake, Thomas taught us all thee is to know about coffee, which grows abundantly in the region. Back in Antigua, it was time to say good-bye to all these fantastic people and wonderful places. The car was waiting for me at the Dallas international airport, and I must admit that it felt as if I had not seen that car for months.
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