What if a Doctor told me I had 3 years to live??

"You should write a book!"

2005-05-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

In 2001, I asked myself what I would do if my doctor told me that I only have 3 years to live. What would be important to me? Would my priorities change? The things that I always thought that were important might not be so important anymore. I tried to stay within reason, but I really tried to stick to the premise that I had about 3 years to live. What were the things that I would focus on over that 3 years? I quickly decided that I would travel and see the world.

Traveling was always exciting to me but I only took on average, one or two international trips a year before my whirlwind adventure began. After I started my adventure, I would often be in three different countries every month.The USA is one of the best countries in the world but Americans have this warped sense of reality that we are the center of the Universe. It is estimated that less than 20% of Americans own a passport, thus a very low rate of international travel. Many Americans can't locate both Mexico and Canada on the map which is shameful. In my extensive travels outside of the United States I began to see how "ugly" Americans can be.

In many places around the world, it was the Americans who were loud and obnoxious, didn't make an effort to blend in or just didn't respect the country that they were in.Everyone that I have ever met has told me that I should write a book. My friends all use to tell me that my life was unbelievable and they wouldn't believe it if (a) they didn't know me and (b) I didn't have the pictures to prove it. My friend use to tell me that my life was a mixture of a Seinfelt episode mixed with a soap opera combined with a Lifetime TV movie.

I do admit that I have lived an extremely exciting life. I have been blessed with good health and a positive outlook on life. I have always had the attitude that no one is going to give you anything in life. If you want something you have to go out and get it. No one gave me anything. Everything that I have I did on my own.

Most people lead an ordinary life. They have an ordinary job, have an ordinary house and do ordinary things all their lives. I believe you must do extraordinary things in your life to be special and take full advantage of this short time we have here on Earth. Traveling and seeing the world was one of those extraordinary things.

It will take a long time but I will eventually post detailed reports from various places I have traveled to. I type over 160 words a minute so that will help but I'm really pressed for time working. I love photography as well and took many photographs from most of my vacations so I will post them as well.I have done some crazy things during the past 3 years. From the time that I met a girl in Cali, Colombia that I didn't know and bought her and her brother passports, clothes, suitcases, plane/train tickets to fly and meet me in Peru... to the time I met a girl online from Mexico and dropped everything to go fly and meet her to the countless vacations where I decided to fly to Paris or London "this weekend" at the last minute. Hopefully it is as entertaining as it was fun for me.

I enjoy writing and took my small Dell laptop on most of my trips to listen to music and write in my journal. Luckily I saved my journals so many areas (not all) I will post my diary as well. I always planned on writing a detailed book about my life and my adventures. Almost every single person I have met has told me that I life was a good "book" or "movie" in the making. Who knows.... maybe someday I will sell the rights to make a movie based on my adventures called "3 Years to Live". Maybe I can ask them to star Ben Affleck to play me?

Paris, France

2005-05-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

Sacre coure

(I took this photo of Sacre Coure at sunset. The photo turned out great. The other photos I took of the sun going down over the city were amazing.)

January 2004

Hi all. I've been in Paris the past couple of days. I know I've said it before about other cities but this is a world class city. It's truly amazing! Anyone living in Paris is truly lucky to be able to wake up to some of those sights. It's also THE most romantic city in the world. Wow!

I was lucky to meet a really great girl my first day in the city. The circumstances of this meeting are actually funny. Often times before hitting a new city I'll do a search on Yahoo or MSN under profiles and email some girls and ask them what the hip clubs are at the moment. Several emailed me back giving me the names. One girl emailed me back some names of places she wanted to hit but hadn't since she was relatively new to Paris too and didn't have many friends there. I quickly invited her to meet up and was surprised when she said Ok. I had a great time with her. Like many things in life you have to put forth an effort to obtain results. She was really beautiful, smart, funny and just an all around cool girl. She’s from Romania and is studying at the University here in Paris. We’ve been spending everyday together and hitting it off very well. I think she'll meet me in the French Riviera for my March trip. I hit the jackpot. Sometimes I ask myself how I got to be this lucky!

I'm staying in a nice hotel near the Eiffel Tower and on Friday night I was kind of solicited while in my lobby bar. I know I’m a lucky guy but not that lucky when beautiful girls from the Ukraine as asking me to buy them a drink. Ha, ha. She was obviously a “working girl”. The girl was really nice though and I did buy her a drink and we chatted about Paris, how she ended up here and just about life in general. Everyone has a “story” and I enjoy talking to new people.

I walked down the red light district near the Moulin Rouge. Tons of strip club type places and XXX porn shops. I just walked and avoided the hawker’s pleas to come in. I did talk to a group of Indian guys that were tourists. They told me they got pulled into some strip club and girls were all over them. The manager brought over a "complimentary" bottle of champagne but when they got up to leave 15 minutes later they demanded 600 Euros!!! Be careful and avoid these clubs.

The clubs are really cool! Hit Les Etoiles, Les Bains Douches (long lines - beautiful people come here...if you're not young, dressed well, hip they won't let you in). Also, there was a new club I think called Caberet that was hip.I walked around for 4 hours last night with my Romanian girlfriend. Very, very very romantic city. It was the Chinese New Year week and they celebrated with a parade in the street and the Eiffel Tower was red last night with lights. We walked hand in hand for hours just taking in everything.

Bring your wallet though. EVERYTHING here is expensive! Expect to pay about $200 a night for a 4 star hotel. I'm staying at the Novotel Tour Eiffel which is 7 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower. It's a true 4 star hotel. I paid an extra 100 Euros to get a view of the Eiffel Tower. I'm on the 29th floor. (Get a room on 20th floor or higher to get an unobstructed view of the Tower). Bottled water and Pepsi's on the street are 3 Euros!

Taxi's are very difficult to find at night. Especially on the weekends. Unbelievable! I got done with dinner close to 2 AM with my girlfriend and there were amazingly long lines for taxi's and none to be found. We ended up eating in Bastille and it's too far to walk to my hotel. Luckily some guy asked me if I wanted a ride to my hotel. I asked how much and he said 20 Euros. I thought it was steep but it was probably a bargain. Took a while to get home since there was so much traffic at 2 AM!

EVERYONE should hit Paris at least once in their lives. For those that don't believe in God you will once you see the view from the Montmartre. Amazing! Go up there at sunset.Make sure you get the guidebook called Plan de Paris par Arrondissement. It's a valuable took for sightseeing and getting around Paris. It's a small book as opposed to many fold-out map type guides. The guide has maps of each neighborhood (arrondissements), and metro and bus routes. You can buy it on Amazon.com or any Barnes and Noble bookstore. I also noticed it in many shops in Paris.

Arriving at the airport:

The airport code for Paris is CDG. There is another airport but if you are coming from the USA you'll be arriving at CDG. I researched the various and cheapest methods of getting from/to the airport. You can take the Metro (RER) into town but it takes some time. I didn't mess around with it. The various shuttles are the quickest and most convenient way to get into town. Most of them all cost around 24 € each way and it's door to door service so they will take you directly to your hotel. I found one company called Blue Van - http://www.airportshuttle.fr/ The reason I used them as opposed to the many others is because I found out they charge the same in US$ as Euros. You can pay before you leave with your credit card via Paypal.com (I paid $44 US as opposed to $57 with the horrible Euro conversion).The only semi inconvenient thing is that all the shuttle companies in Paris make you call upon arriving at the airport and then they pick you up. They all say to call from a payphone toll-free but I just called from my cellphone and it worked fine. Make sure to tell them which terminal/gate you are near.

The other cheap alternative is you can take Air France's shuttle bus no matter which airline you fly into. I believe it leaves every 15 minutes and the cost is 12 €. The disadvantage is it doesn't take you door to door so pay attention where your hotel is. Do a search on Google.com under Air France Shuttle and you can find out more info.

Hotels:

There is no shortage of hotels in Paris. Most of the nicer 4 and 5 star hotels are quite pricey though. Be careful as many countries in Europe use a different star system. Many times it is one star level below US standards. So if they say 5 star it's really 4 star; 4 star really 3 star, etc. Go to a site like http://www.hotels.com/ and you can get an idea of the price range. Most 4 star US equivalent hotels are at least $150- $300+ tax per night. The further outside of touristy Paris the cheaper it is but keep in mind that taxis are expensive here.

Getting around:

My goal was not to take any taxi's at all. I technically managed to do that since I couldn't find an available taxi on several nights while out and about. For a city the size of Paris there aren't too many taxi's. During the day there is no problem but at night, especially on the weekends it was difficult to flag down a taxi. There are various spots where people literally wait in line for a taxi. The lines can get long for taxi's that don't come too often.

One night in Bastille I was with my girlfriend and we needed two separate taxi's. She kind of joked around that maybe we would have to walk home. Only the joke was on me because she wasn't kidding around. We walked around for a while and even at 2 AM it was difficult to find a taxi. We walked to a hotel and there was one taxi that she took. She didn't want to take a taxi believe it or not because she said they all scam people. I didn't see any alternative. I gave her 30 € and she didn't want to take any money from me. I stuffed it in her pocket though and then I had to find my own taxi.

I went back to this long line and there was some French guy asking people in line if they wanted a ride. I guess he was just some dude that owned a car. Some people would tell him their location and he turned his nose and said no so I guess it was not far enough. He asked me and I told him I was staying near the Eiffel Tower. I asked the price and he said 20 €. I didn't even try to negotiate. I was tired from walking around all night with my girl and it was cold out.The traffic believe it or not was horrible even at 2 AM! On the way home I saw several lines of people waiting for traffic and I felt relieved to have a ride home. He made several attempts to talk to me but I couldn't understand him. I bought Pimsleur French before the trip but only listened to 9 lessons. Those 9 lessons helped though.

Keep in mind the Metro stops after midnight. That's the reason I couldn't use it late at night.

The French People:

Forget the preconceived notion that French hate Americans before coming here. Almost every American at one time or another has said, "I hate the French" or "the French hate us Americans" . Heck, I've said it before and I kind of used it as an excuse for never visiting France. Sure, the French are wimps when it comes to many Global issues but we as Americans tend to over generalize. The plain truth of the matter is that the majority of Americans have never been to France or even know anyone from France.

People say, "the French are rude", which may be true but I didn't experience this phenomenon. Maybe part of the reason why is because I at least made an effort to be open minded. I took the time and effort to learn at least the words for please, thank you, good morning, goodnight, how much is that, do you speak/understand English, I am American, Mr./Miss/Mrs. ,I don't understand French, can you please help me, where is ___, and some numbers and other various phrases. Always try to speak some French (even if it sucks) when you encounter someone or enter a restaurant, club or store. It will go a long way.

Never be an "ugly American" or become loud or obnoxious. Don't let yourself get upset by something. Make sure you don't wear clothing that is considered offensive or just plain tacky/ugly. On many international adventures I see guys dressed like slobs or wearing T-shirts that say the city they are from in bold lettering. (Example: ARKANSAS!!! ). The French and Europeans in general tend to dress better and the girls especially will treat you better if you're dressed nicer.

Exchanging Money:

The best rates typically can be found by using your ATM card but I've always believe Cash is king when traveling and usually just exchange some. I did change some at my hotel and I got a bad rate as I fully expected. I got 72 € for $100 US which would be a rate of about 1.39 € : 1 $US. The official banking rate is 1.28.

Note: Be careful where you change your money! I typically never exchange money at those exchange window places in touristy areas. On a weekend the banks weren't open and my driver told me there was a good spot with a good exchange rate near the area where we were at. I was not paying attention and I didn't notice there were 3 places where he was talking about. I went to the wrong one. I did look at the rate and it said 1.38 which was bad but ok with me.

Most countries must display if they charge a commission but I didn't ask since my driver said this place had a good rate. Upon exchanging $100 US she only gave me back 51 €. I was shocked! I asked her where the rest of my money is and she gave me a receipt that showed they charged a commission of about 20 € !!! I asked for my money back but she said it was too late.When I got back to my driver I told him and he was so upset. I guess he was talking about another place a block down. I think he was more upset than I was. We went to this place and true to his word it was a good exchange rate of 78€ per $100 US. ALWAYS ask if they charge a commission and more importantly ask them if you exchange $100 US how much you will get back in Euros when it's all said and done.

Conclusion:

I found the prices for most things to be more expensive than most places. Paris isn't a cheap city. What is especially difficult to believe is that Parisians don't seem to earn more than their European counterparts even though the city is more expensive. I'm not sure how they can afford to live there.

Bottled water and a can of soda in most touristy areas is 3 € (almost $4 US). When I told my driver how expensive I found things he said that you can buy things cheaper at grocery stores but I explained to him that tourists don't have time to go to these places or can find them easily. He agreed. This guy was really cool.

Paris is a great walking city. You must explore Paris by foot. It's a good idea to take a mini tour of the city one afternoon or morning to get a good idea of the layout. I did this one day then walked around on my own after that. The wonderful thing is that you can just follow the River up and you can see so many wonderful areas. It's an easy way and you can't get lost this way.Paris is a melting pot of different races. I found it funny that several times people said that they thought I lived here. When I asked them why they just said that I didn't look like a tourist which really puzzled me. Even my driver said that I could pass for a local student. Maybe it was the way I was dressed or just my attitude. I'm not sure. There is no 'typical Paris look'. Unless you are dressed horribly "American" you won't be singled out as a tourist.

I found the restaurants to be quite good. There are many higher end restaurants but there are also some affordable restaurants too. You don't have to spend a lot of money dining if you don't want to. I did treat myself to one good restaurant each day. There are many neighborhood eating establishments in Bastille. I liked Bastille and it looked like a cool area to stay in. It's not too close to many touristy stuff but it's easy to get here with the Metro. DEFINITELY stop and have a hot chocolate at a place called Angelina. It was an orgasmic experience and they had lines out the door.

Parisians are a very proud people. Some might consider them arrogant but I didn't find this to be true. I would be very proud if I lived there. They are quite fortunate to live in such a beautiful city. I asked my driver one day if he realizes how lucky he is to live here. He said it's easy to forget after living here so long and seeing these sites day after day. I would move to Paris in a New York second if I could earn a good salary there.

People talk about how expensive Europe is. Generally this is true after hitting it a few times in only a few months. I'm also headed back there next month, again in March and again in May. Keep in mind though many important things don't cost a lot. It doesn't cost anything to walk around and see the sites. (Granted they might have a high admission to get in).Paris is probably one of my favorite cities so far in the world out of all the cities I've visited. The food is GREAT there. There are tiny cafes all over the city that aren't too expensive and there are also many great restaurants.The ones that I went to were:

Goumard which had really great seafood. It's in the 1st Arrondissment. The hotel recommended it when I asked them for a good seafood restaurant. The address was 9 ue Duphot. Make reservations as it was very very crowded. I had to wait a little bit. I can't remember exactly how much I spent but I think it was like $80 just for me. Something like that.I also went to a hip spot called Buddha Bar. It was near Champs-Elysees in the 8th Arrondissement. It had a mix of food with some Asian and French combined. Many beautiful girls were there just drinking upstairs in the bar. I had some spring rolls, chicken skewers with orange sauce and some other appetizers. All the food was excellent. It wasn't super expensive but not cheap. I think I paid around 30 Euros for the main dish and about 13 Euros for the appetizers. 8 rue Boissy d' Anglas

I had lunch one day at a place called Kambodia I think it was called. That's the great thing about Paris. They have great food from everywhere. There were a ton of Asian restaurants. It's a good romantic spot also close to the Champs-Elysees. I had lunch here with my girl. I had the chicken roasted with lemon and honey. It was devine! 15 rue de Bassano. Wasn't terribly expensive. I think like $27 per dish.

I was in the mood for Lebanese food one day and found Al Dar. It's in the 5th Arrondissement on the left bank. This also was pretty inexpensive for Paris standards. Main dishes were about 15 euros I believe. They had good hummus and tabbouleh. Address is 8 rue Frederic Sauton.

There were a lot other places I went to but I didn't write them down in my diary or have their business card. I didn't have a bad meal in Paris and I ate out 2-3 times every day. I liked the area around Bastille quite a bit. There are tons of neighborhood type restaurants that aren't too expensive. I enjoyed walking around that area with my girl at night. The only downside was there were no available taxis on the weekends. They were all full.

Paris is a magnificent city that everybody should visit at least once in their lifetime.

Lugano, Switzerland

2005-05-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

Lugano, Switzerland

(I took this photo near the lake on a rainy day. Even on this rainy day it was breathtakingly beautiful. Notice just how clean the city is. No trash anywhere).

November 2003

Wow. I'm having a wonderful time here in Lugano. What a beautiful city. Bring your wallet though. Everything here is damn expensive. I spent two days in Zurich and I'll write about that in the Zurich section. I took the train from Zurich to Lugano. A first class ticket was 99 CHF (1.28 CHF to the $1 US). Very comfortable with gorgeous views. I had my small DVD player so I watched a movie on the way here. It took 3 hours. I think a 2nd class ticket was about 70 CHF.

It was pouring raining out when I arrived so I took a taxi. A taxi from train station to my hotel in Paradiso was 18 CHF. You can take the bus (number 2) if you want for a cheaper option but I didn't want to mess with my bags. I decided to splurge and booked the Grand Hotel Eden right on the Lake. Wow! A beautiful 5 star hotel with an awesome view. I booked a Deluxe Lakefront suite. A little steep at $250+ US per night but worth it. The bathroom is all marble and it has a nice balcony. Everything in the city is expensive. Bottled water is like 3.5 CHF each. A Gatorade was 4 CHF. I went to a simple Pizzeria yesterday and with a Pepsi it was 28 CHF with tip for a pizza!

I walked all over this beautiful city. Learn some Italian. Almost no one here speaks English including many restaurants and taxi's. You gotta love a city with S series Mercedes Benz for taxi's! I rested then decided to shower and head to a club that a friend told me about. The short ride in the Mercedes was 20 CHF one way. It's really easy to drop a lot of money here. Do NOT come here only for the girls. This is one of my real vacations so I didn't come for the girls. Thank God I listened to the first 10 lessons of Pimsleur Italian. I don't know much except for a few basic phrases but they have helped alot. Learn some basics. You can get by with just English so don't worry. It can just be a little frustrating at times.

I went to a few clubs and was really surprised to see many girls from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and parts in between. Luckily I am conversational at Spanish and decent at Portuguese so didn't have any problems communicating with them.

The next day I spent more time exploring Lugano. As mentioned, it's a beautiful, beautiful city that I'm positive I'll be back to. It is very serene down by the lake and there are plenty of parks and benches to watch the lake. There is a casino that I wasn't really interested since I went to some casinos a few weeks ago with a friend and I lost $700. (Ouch). Still I walked in to see how nice it is. They won't let you in without your passport so don't go there without your passport. I felt quite at home in Lugano. Now I only have to learn Italian and I think I'll be fine.

You can also buy a 24 hour bus pass for 5 CHF. There are several machines that you can buy it from at the bus stops. You can walk but my hotel is at the end of the Lake so it was easy to hop on the buses to get around. I didn't notice any internet cafes. My hotel has a "business center" that consists of one computer but it faces the window to the street. The alternative is they will let you use a laptop and you buy a card for their wireless high speed access. Worked very well but expensive at 19 CHF for two hours. Showered then went to some clubs to meet some girls.

Something strange to see is that there are these bars with photos on the outside of the windows with naked girls. I'm not talking abotu a red light district either. I was staying at one of the nicest hotels in town and there was a bar next door like this. I didn't know what they were but figured some clip joint since they are all near the expensive hotels -- I have to admit I was really curious.

Anyway, this taxi driver, Rodolfo, that I met earlier told me that his cousin, Susy, is the bartender/manager of one of these clubs right by my hotel. The place is called Cava connected to the Cava Hotel. Wierd. They aren't owned by the same owners apparently. I'm a curious sort so obviously I checked it out. I headed over around 11 PM. It's pouring rain outside but luckily I packed my good umbrella so no problem. The place opened at 10 PM. I walk in and there are only about 5 girls and NO guys. I order a drink and all the girls are watching me like a hawk. I sit down and am a little worried since I don't know what the deal is here. For all I know my drink was expensive but I didn't ask how much. A girl comes over. She wasn't that beautiful but spoke good English. I could tell by her accent she was Russian. We talked some but I wasn't interested. She eventually asks me if I will buy her a drink. I didn't care and said sure. The manager comes over and confirms that I want to buy her a drink. I said yes. Then he says....it's "chen-to". 100 CHF!!! I tell her no thanks. I tell her I'm gonna have one drink and leave.

Two other guys come in. Older and in suits. They look super wealthy. Another Ukranian girl comes over and also spoke good English. I clearly tell her I'm not interested in "anything" but ask her to tell me the deal with this place. She said it's simple. You buy a girl a drink that enables you time to negotiate. What?? So the 100 CHF drink does nothing but pay for one drink. Yikes. Around about that time I decide to leave. There was only like 2 really gorgeous girls in there. I walk to the bar to pay the bill and I see an older lady. I ask her if she is Susy. Then she says yes with a huge smile. We spoke in Portuguese so no one could understand us. I tell her that her cousin told me to say hi to her. She is so friendly and I tell her that I love Brazillians. She tells me I'm in the wrong place. No kidding! Small world as she actually knew one of the girls I had met in Lugano.

I was going to leave and she tells me to wait. She buys me a drink. Yes, that's right. She tells me not to leave and bought me a rum and coke which incidentally was 30 CHF. (I paid for the first one). Damn expensive for a drink. Some customers came in but we talked about Brazil and such things. She loved Brazil. That's the thing about Brazil. These girls love their country and love living there. She told me about a good club that I would like. Great! I tell her to call her cousin and he is on his way to pick me up. Meanwhile a totally hot hot hot smoking hot Russian girl comes up to the bar and talks to me. She speaks very good English. I tell her I'm leaving and she pleads not to leave. I tell her this isn't my scene and she said she is willing to negotiate but I told her my driver is on the way. This girl was Playboy, Victoria's Secret type hot. She said she is an aerobics instructor in Russia. Rodolfo comes and picks me up. I tell Susy goodbye and ask how much for the drink and she said she got it.

I spent a great time in Lugano and had wonderful meals here. My hotel was great and the people were really friendly. I found the people in Zurich a bit cold but the people from Lugano were really great. I'd love to come back here again. Off to Italy.

Back to London, UK

2005-05-14T18:19:00.000-07:00

February 2004

This was my 2nd trip to London. I really enjoyed it so much the first time that I decided to go back. I did keep a diary of my trip but I decided to post more information for the first time visitor that might not know what to expect. I hope it helps those that have never been to London.

General Observations

London is a very big metropolitan city that is very spread out. There is a unique vibe and flavor to this city. There is something for everyone here…. but at a price. The flight isn’t that easy though due to the 8-hour time difference (from West Coast). If you have the extra FF miles upgrade to business/first class. It makes the flight much more bearable. I’ve upgraded the last few times to Europe and it’s hard going back to coach.

You won’t have much down time here because there is so much to see and do here. I’ve said it before about other cities that I’ve written about but I’ll say it again- bring your wallet- because you’ll definitely need it here! London is one of THE most expensive cities in the world. However, people here seem to earn much more than their European neighbors. I didn’t find that to be the case in Paris. The wages seem proportional to the cost of living so these Londoners can’t complain too much. I spent a lot of time with a Brazilian girl I met here (non-hobby) and she has no formal University education and is making £29,000 ($55,000) a year in a normal job there. Although her rent for a really super tiny studio apartment in Kensington is £900 per month. Most people coming here will find it unbelievably expensive. The unit of currency here is the British Pound (GBP). It’s currently £1 = $1.90 so our dollars are almost worthless here. I can’t imagine even more worthless currencies like Canadian dollars here.

People here seem to complain a lot though. I guess not everyone makes a lot of money. I met a few waitresses and bartenders that thought they would come to London and make big bucks but instead they are stuck in a dead end job making about £6 per hour ($11.40) and no one really tips here they told me. I always tip well for good service and the staff always seems to be extra appreciative here. People need to understand how the tipping structure works in many countries. They think since the restaurant is already adding on the tip on the bill the server is getting that amount. That is NOT the case in most countries. The waiter/waitress is getting a salary and that 10% covers their salary. If you get great service tip a little more. If the service is bad than don’t feel like you need to. When I’m in Brazil often times the service is horrible because they don’t get that 10% that you see on the bills. They only get their salary. The good servers around the world understand that it’s not just about being a warm body there working. Good service will earn them more money.

One thing that is clearly evident is there is a big part of the population from other countries. I’m not sure of the actual percentages and I’d be really curious to find out how many people are actually Londoners NOT from foreign countries. I’ve never been to a United Nations convention before but walking around London has to be the closest thing to it. Many interesting people that I met claimed to be “students” but I’m sure that can’t be the case with all of them. I’d venture to guess London has a very high percentage of illegal immigrants. I also met several people that lived here that seemed to be a little down on their own city. When I told them how lucky they are to live in such a beautiful city they told me it’s an entirely different world when you’re just visiting as a tourist and another living here as an actual citizen. Many were itching to move out of London. One girl I met even inquired about the possibility of marrying to “trade passports”. I told her I wanted to live in Europe and she wanted an American passport. I told her I’m quite happy with just my “blue book”. Ha, ha. Seriously though, I know how these people feel. The USA is great but I’m itching for the chance to live abroad. The grass is always greener on the other side. Right?

There is so much history and culture here. I find London to be one of the most historic cities in the world. The architecture, as I pointed out last year in my diary is amazing! It’s also romantic like Paris but in its own way. I find the history amazing in Europe. The United States is relatively new so our idea of history is the corner pharmacy or ice cream parlor that has been around for over 100 years. It’s sad.

A good source of information about city events and the hip places to eat, drink, shop and just about everything else can be found in the weekly edition of a magazine called “Time Out”. It costs roughly £2. If you want to check out some events before you hit London you can visit them online at: http://www.timeout.com/london/index.html If you’re going to be here a while and can take advantage of a lot of sightseeing then you might want to consider buying a “London Pass” card. I heard it has good discounts but I never bought one since my trip was only a few days. You can check out the details at: http://www.londonpass.com

Arriving at the Airport

There are 4 airports in London. Actually it’s a little misleading since none of these airports are actually in London. Gatwick, Heathrow, Stansted and Luton are all outside of the city. Everyone arriving from the US will be flying into either Gatwick or Heathrow. I’ve always flown into Gatwick but probably should try Heathrow as it’s the only one on a Tube line. I believe it’s on the Picadilly Line but you can go to this site to find out all you would need to know: http://www.baa.co.uk/main/airports/heathrow/ You can also take the Heathrow Express into Paddington station for a quicker journey to London but it costs more at £13. http://www.heathrowexpress.com/. It runs every 15 minutes and journey time is about 20 minutes. I was told there is an Air Bus for a cheaper alternative but it takes forever and can get quite crowded. I wouldn’t recommend it.

The cheapest option seems to be the Tube via the Picadilly Line. I looked at the map at a station and the airport looked like it was in Zone 6 and the cost was £3.80. The airport code for Heathrow is LHR. Gatwick is about 30 miles from the city. There is a ”Hotellink” bus shuttle (http://https://secure.fast.net.uk/hotelink/index.html) that you can take with other people. You pay a flat fee of £22 and that includes your ticket on the Gatwick Express (http://www.gatwickexpress.co.uk/) to the Victoria station. Then a representative picks you up and takes you to your hotel. The airport code for Gatwick is LGW. Since my hotel is close to the Tube I just take the Gatwick Express (first class is £36 or $68 for roundtrip ticket) to the Victoria station, which is on the Circle, District and Victoria lines then walk one block to my hotel. Again, everything you would need to know including buying tickets ahead of time with your credit card can be found on the site.

I highly recommend buying the tickets ahead of time because you can use your credit card. You’ll get a confirmation # and you just go to a ticketing machine and punch in your confirmation and you can collect your tickets. Luton isn’t on the Tube line either. It’s 35 miles north of London. The cheapest way to get into the city I believe is to take the Thameslink train (http://www.thameslink.co.uk/) to King’s Cross station, which is on the Circle, Hammersmith, City, Victoria and Piccadilly lines. It runs about 8 times an hour and takes about 30 minutes. You can also take the bus which is called the Green Line (http://www.greenline.co.uk/) You can get special discount offers for about £8.50 from Easyjet.

I included this info because several EasyJet flights are out of Luton. For those of you that aren’t familiar with EasyJet you should check it out. It’s a discount airline that flies all over Europe for cheap. Think the Southwest Airlines of Europe. (http://www.easyjet.com/ ). Stansted Airport also isn’t on the Tube line. It’s 38 miles from London so a long haul. I’m including information because it’s the fastest growing airport in London due to the growth of the discount carriers. Easyjet and Ryanair (http://www.ryanair.com/ ). All the flights here are European and UK based flights. You can take the Stanstead Express (http://www.stansteadexpress.com/ ) into the Liverpool Street station. I think it runs every 15 minutes and it takes about 45 minutes for the jouney. A cheaper option is to take the Stansted Air Bus which is cheaper but takes longer.

Do a search on Google to find out more information. Some other budget airlines for flights here are: BMI – http://www.flybmi.com/; http://www.europebyair.com/; and Virgin Express (via Brussels) – www.virgin-express.com.

Transportation

When I’m in Europe I try not to take taxis if I can help it. Taxis are expensive and not really necessary most of the time. Unless you are in a big hurry you can easily get around on London’s Underground subway system (the Tube). I was told it is the world’s oldest subway system. There are plenty of free small maps of the Tube at each station. There’s also a big Tube map on each individual train.

There is a small learning curve when getting acquainted with the Tube but anyone can figure it quickly. Take the time to map out your path to your hotel and such before you arrive to London. It’s hard to believe but I never took any means of public transportation like this until last year. My first subway type experience was last March in London. It’s very efficient but the Tubes can get quite crowded during peak times like rush hour at the beginning and end of the workday. It gets surprisingly busy on the weekends sometimes too.

The biggest negative I had with the Tube is that it can get very crowded during peak times. I can’t imagine what someone Closter phobic would do because it would be impossible to take the Tube. Also the ventilation system probably could use some work. I bet in the hot summers here it must be unbearable.

Familiarize yourself with the lines and routes. Each line has a different color. There’s the yellow, green, red, blue, black, silver, brown and navy lines. Although I’ve found that most locals refer to them more by the name of the lines than the colors which I thought would be the opposite. The cost of a 24-hour Tube Pass is £4.30 ($8). I got one each day and got my use out of it. Armed with a small Tube map, I could make my way to anywhere around the city.

Just about everything you would need to know about the Tube is located at the link below. You can download maps of all the lines. It’s a really valuable resource that someone took the time to put together so use it. http://www.geocities.com/themole7/maps.html Main Tube map from official site: http://tube.tfl.gov.uk/guru/index.asp

You will inevitably use a taxi at one time or another if you’re in a hurry. I’d recommend the black taxis. I’d never been in a taxi like that before. There is a lot of room in them and it’s unique. I think everyone should take one at least once to experience it.

Where to Stay

Deciding where to stay can be a difficult decision. My first trip I stayed in the Kensington area and really liked it. I wanted to find an area that was very walk able. I also wanted to be near a Tube line that was convenient and accessible to all parts of the city. It’s near many museums, attractions and great shopping. I think the area is a little more expensive than some other areas but I think no matter where you go it’s not going to be cheap.

Before arriving, decide what’s important for you. It might be smart to note the locations of your favorite attractions, activities, cost and the atmosphere of the neighborhood. You also might want to note areas where there is good dining. I like the restaurants and bars around the Kensington area too. I also like being close to Kensington Gardens and Holland Park. Although London is an expensive city there are tons of hotels and price ranges available. Do a search on http://www.hotels.com/ or http://www.expedia.com/. Any nice hotel will range from $150- $300+ a night in most nice areas. Remember, those £99 a night deals you see online translates into about $190 a night. Sometimes it’s easy to forget how crazy high the conversion is.

Dining Out

As I mentioned, it’s extremely expensive here. There is no shortage of possibilities when dining out but any decent meal in Central London isn’t cheap. Sure there are tons of fast food type places but I like to eat well when I’m traveling. The great thing is there are so many different types of restaurants here. You won’t lack for a choice of what to eat. There are several resources online to help you eat cheaper in London but honestly I didn’t use them. Here is one site that has some advice. http://www.londoneats.com/news/news3.asp You won’t have a hard time finding a good meal in London. There is something for everyone’s tastes.

Generally I found that the nicer places are priced similar to US restaurants only the prices are in £’s so you have to almost double the prices! One day I spent £25 ($48) on lunch just for me! The meal was good but not that great.

Final Thoughts

No matter how expensive any city is, I’m a firm believer you can spend as little or as much as you want. London is no different in this regard. As I mentioned in my Paris report, it costs nothing to walk around the city and enjoy the scenery. London is a very walk able city. Part of the fun of a city for me is walking around looking at the architecture and discovering quaint little neighborhoods. Don’t feel like you have to spend tons of money or hit every museum if that doesn’t interest you. I find walking around a city more enjoyable than viewing pieces of art in a museum. To me, each city is its own piece of art.

Just pick a part of the city you want to tour and start walking. That easy! You can take the Tube to stops like Knightsbridge where Harrod’s is located or areas like Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, or Westminster.

I got no universal feel to London from the people that live there. Some seemed to love it, some seemed to hate it. Some seemed content to be living/working there now but mentioned they won’t be here much longer. The majority of the areas are very clean with no trash in the streets. If you wake up early and walk around you’ll see city workers cleaning up the streets every morning.

I really love London but it’s just such a massive city. It almost has an impersonal feel to it. People really keep to themselves compared to other cities. Even on the Tube it seems like people are scared to even acknowledge each other. Not only do they not talk to one another but also they don’t even look at each other. I like to people watch and watch the world going on around me. I’ve now taken public transit systems in Europe in Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany and England and Londoners have their own system of keeping to themselves.

I love shopping when I travel internationally but London is definitely not the city you want to be spending money on a shopping spree. Everything is more expensive here. Save your money for other cities. Even Paris was much cheaper to buy clothes. It seemed like every single store had 50% off sales when I was there a few weeks ago. Even 50% off sales in London make things normal cost for USA. London has a bigger selection and better stores but the stores that I did go into the service was not that great. I didn’t really plan on buying anything but the clerks didn’t know it. I have a few Platinum cards with no limits that I could have done some serious damage with but the customer service I found to be quite bad compared to other cities I’ve been to.

Be careful when walking around here. Pedestrians must not have the right of way here. I’m not sure but it sure seemed like cars didn’t watch out for pedestrians too much so be very careful and look both ways before crossing the street. I only noticed cars yielding at specific crosswalks. However, something that IS helpful is the “Look Left” and “Look Right” lettering at the crosswalks of many streets. It’s probably saved a few dumb tourists’ lives.

The club scene is quite good here although surprisingly it starts and ends earlier compared to a most big cities around the world I've been to. A hip spot right now is a place called “Egg” near Kings Cross. I stand by my opinion that the majority of girls here aren’t as attractive as other major cities. There are beautiful girls here though. I again found that most of the super gorgeous girls here were from Brazil, Spain, Russia, Italy and other countries in Eastern and Western Europe. It truly is a melting pot here.

Something surprisingly great about London is that they don’t charge an admission fee for their national museums and art galleries. They stopped charging a fee a few years ago. In other cities like Florence, Italy and Paris the admission fees can be quite high. The parks are also great here. It’s kind of nice to see all the swans swimming gracefully in the many parks here.

London is one of the great cities of the world. The other great thing is that they speak English so there are never any communication barriers. Everyone needs to come here at least once or twice in their lives. I plan on coming back over and over. Good luck.

Montreal, Canada

2005-05-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

2005-05-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

Havana, Cuba

(Water from the ocean splashing on the Malecon)

Day 14 in Cuba

The gang all did the best we could to sleep in. We decided today would be a relaxing day. It was TAD’s last night and we let him decide what we were going to do. TAD was a great guy to hook up with. We spent over two weeks in Cuba together and he was a good traveling companion. It felt good to know I made a new friend. I would probably have never gone to Trinidad if he didn’t suggest we go. Stu was skeptical when I emailed him telling him I met a cool guy but Stu got along with him really well too.

We walked around Havana Viejo and then decided to walk the Malecon for some sunset pictures. I got so many great photographs this trip of the city. I really started falling in love with Havana. It’s a totally different destination that really takes some time to get to know but once you do it will get under your skin. I really will miss this place and don’t want to leave in a few days. Stu’s girl from the day before called him and she was interested in a seeing him. She said she was with her friend. We happened to be in the area where she lived so I gave her our location and she said she would meet us.

Shortly thereafter she arrives with her friend. Her friend was nothing to write home about. I ended up leaving with another girl I had met earlier in the trip. We spent the afternoon together then I hooked up with the fellas and we went to dinner at this awesome restaurant next to La Chorrera. You can’t miss it. It’s at the end of the Malecon before you hit the tunnel to Miramar. It’s not a cheap place and fancy but the food is good. TAD was nice enough to pick up the tab for dinner, a bottle of wine and drinks. He said he appreciated all that Stu and I had done. Stu and I weren't on a budget so we picked up several tabs and expenses.

I was sorry to see him go. It would end up being our last night together since Stu decided to drive to Trinidad alone the following morning. I should mention that Stu saw the BSG (blue shirt girl) as usual in her predictable spot. We grew to kind of feel sorry for her. She always had on the same blue shirt every single day that we were in Havana. Stu saw her and wanted to give her a New Year’s present. He stopped and gave her $10 at the side of road near the entrance to La Chorrera. As he gave her the money some dude whistled to signal that the cops were behind in a car. She scurried away scared. We were right at the restaurant parking lot and parked. TAD was driving. He didn’t have his driver’s license on him. The cops were looking for another bribe for not having a license. We all had had enough. We said we weren’t paying but the cops wouldn’t leave. My Spanish is totally decent and I didn’t have problems communicating with the police. They asked for $30 and I told them that was ridiculous.

Finally I confidently told them I was a lawyer that did business in Havana. I told them I had many co-worker friends that were lawyers here. I said that TAD would be happy to pay the fine but that I needed a receipt with both of their names on it. As soon as I said that they both got scared and said they would never demand money and that we didn’t understand them correctly. Bastards! We laughed about it afterwards. If you rent a car and stay in Miramar and are in Havana for any significant time you WILL get pulled over by the cops. Just don’t show fear. That was the 6th skirmish with the police. I was getting good at avoiding shakedowns. Stu also got pulled over once. He also was motioned to pull over by police on foot. We just ignored the police if they didn’t have a motorcycle or a car. There isn’t really anything they can do. Sure they could radio ahead but they are just looking for a bribe. Do NOT pay these as it will only encourage them to keep doing it. I’m sure many guys pay it as they can’t speak Spanish or are scared. Make sure in Miramar you don’t make a turn anywhere you aren’t supposed to. For some stupid reason you can not make a turn on many of the streets. You have to wait for a major intersection or just go around the block and find a street with a light.

After dinner we went behind the restaurant to Los Jardines for a “fashion show” that was going on. It was horrible. Some of the girls were hot but the clothes were hideous. We had one drink and left to go next door to La Chorrera. In the parking lot TAD saw the girl that we saw almost every night. Most nights she was just drinking and hanging out. I never saw her leave with anyone. Even last night when we were there around 4 AM. We had to convince him to go with her but he finally did and we bid him farewell. Stu and I entered La Chorrera. There are many girls that ask you to pay for their way in. Do not pay for them to get in. We always told them if they have their own money they could come in with us but the majority was looking to find some guy to pay their $5 entrance. I’m not entirely sure the girls couldn’t enter on their own. Some places they couldn’t enter without a male escort but I don’t think this was one of them. If you want to be a nice guy and pay their cover that’s your prerogative. The times I did the girls didn't even say thank you so I stopped doing it.

Stu and I walked around a bit. It was about 12:30 am and I was getting tired from a lack of sleep so I wanted to meet some girls. I was talking to this cute girl and we decided to go back to my place. She had a cute sister that I wanted Stu to hook up with but he was off chasing some other girl he said he saw on the Malecon one day. I wished him good luck on his trip and we said goodbye. It was another great trip with Stu. This was our fifth international trip together in only one year. We had so many good laughs and good times this trip as usual. I took a taxi particular home with my girl.

Day 15

I tried sleeping in but woke up at a reasonable time. Stu and TAD were both gone. I had various calls from other Americans that wanted to meet up throughout the trip. I never did meet up with anyone else. I’m content traveling with the good friends I’ve already made. I tried getting a taxi on Calle 5 in Miramar to no avail. Believe it or not it isn’t too easy to get a taxi unless you are in front of a big hotel or in a touristy area. Even when you call the Panataxi # of 555-555 it is usually busy or not available. If you’re staying in Miramar it is essential that you have a rental car. It was a beautiful day so I decided to walk as far as I could down to the Melia Cohibe hotel. I assumed I’d be able to flag down a taxi but there simply were none that didn’t already have people in it. It was a little hike but manageable. I wanted to see what stores were in the Galleria Mall next to the hotel. There was nothing there that any tourist would need.

I decided to walk around Havana Viejo some more. I wanted to take some more pictures in the Plaza de San Francisco which I really liked. It was the most uncluttered area that I noticed. There is a good outdoor café with good food. I had lunch there and walked around the area for a few hours. Something that I noticed is that instead of a bag or backpack I carried around my camera and stuff in a plain plastic bag that the convenient stores give out when you buy something. I didn’t even have one tout approach me for anything. Maybe it was a coincidence. I took a Panataxi from the Ingleterra Hotel all the way to Calle 28 in Miramar and it was $6.14 so don’t ever negotiate to pay more than this. Always round up and give them the change. Shortly thereafter one of the girls I hooked up from La Chorrera called me and I had her come over to my apartment. It was very convenient since she lived in Miramar. I spent a nice afternoon with her.

I really like my apartment here in Miramar but I miss having the car here. Stu took it to Trinidad. I tried renting a rental car today but they are all still sold out. After my girl left I went and checked email at an internet café at the corner of 28th and 3rd in Miramar. I had to wait a little bit since they only have one working computer. It didn’t work that well. I only was on 20 minutes when I got tied of waiting for pages to load (it was a dial up connection). There was a girl waiting and I gave her the rest of my card which had 40 minutes left. She was very happy. The cost of 1 hour access card is $5. This is the minimum time you can buy. I walked down to this ocean front bar that the fellas and I frequented near our casas.

I had a few Mojitos then decided to come home and made a few phone calls. I was trying to reach one of the girls and I accidentally called Stu’s girl that he hooked up with a few times. Be careful storing numbers in your phone. 90% of the girls we met had names starting with Y. It was kind of comical. Even girls with names like Jessie were spelled Yeissy. Anyway, since she answered I thought I might as well see if she was doing anything. Stu wasn't serious with her so I didn't see it as a problem. She wasn’t exactly my type but she had a great personality and was really funny and fun to spend time with. She came over in a little more than an hour and stayed for several hours.

I ended up resting a little and listening to music and reading a book. I went out to the clubs that we frequented and I partied a little and met a friend and spent a good last night in Cuba.

I’m in Cancun now. My room isn’t ready so I’m typing this in the lobby of the hotel. Final Thoughts No trip report or no guide book could have prepared me for what Cuba was going to be like. There were certain things I really loved about Cuba but other things that really bothered me. I didn't like the fact that you couldn't go to a club or meet a normal girl without the girl worrying what people would think about her. I am not shy and have traveled around the world. I've met girls all over the world but I've never felt how I felt in Cuba. No single guy that is doing nothing wrong should have to feel guilty about spending time with a girl just talking or having dinner or in a taxi with her.

One thing I was very surprised at is that there is virtually no people begging for money or giving you the line that they have no food. It seems like no one is starving here. For those that travel to Latin or South America you’ll notice many people begging for money for food. The entire trip I maybe had one person begging for money. The whole idea of socialism in theory is good but it just doesn’t work. The Cuban people as a whole seem to be a very happy and proud group of people. Music defines their society. There is music everywhere. It is in the streets, restaurants, cafes, and the beach. For example, in Playa del Este on a 50 meter stretch there were maybe 3 separate groups all playing music.

It was kind of interesting to see that the men aren’t the only ones that come to Cuba to meet girls. I saw several middle aged and older women with young Cuban guys. Hopefully these ladies aren’t deluding themselves into thinking these men really care for them. I saw many older men with young girls. It was interesting when I brought up this topic of conversation with several of the girls. Many told me that they had many chances to marry middle aged or older Italian or American men and they would rather live in Cuba then be in a relationship where they had no attraction or love for the other person. Almost all of the girls I saw had no interest in dating Cuban guys. They are looking for an opportunity at a better life. All of them loved their country but what future does a girl have when the most she can make even in a professional job is $30 US a month. I’m sure finding love in Cuba is very possible but in the end you have to stay realistic. One day TAD and I were having coffee at the café next to the Ingleterra. An older guy that spoke almost no Spanish was sitting with a girl. The girl didn’t speak English. I didn’t find her attractive but she seemed nice. She was holding hands with the guy and they were sitting with a tour guide. She told me that the guy was her fiancée and that she was going to be married in a few months. I guess the guy was supporting her. I’m not sure if he knew it or not but we saw the girl "working" and spending time with senior citizens almost every day the rest of our trip. I guess love is blind huh? I will miss Cuba and everything I experienced. I could have done Cuba alone but it was so much fun with Stu and Tad. I made another great friend in Tad and I’m sure I’ll see him somewhere in the world on another adventure.

Life is good.

2005-05-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

Havana, Cuba (New Year's Eve 2003)

(I took this picture on New Year's Eve in Havana. It looks like this guy started toasting the New Year a little early).

Day 13

We did some touristy stuff today. Saw more of the city and took lots of pictures. Havana is a great walking city. However, I would highly recommend renting a car. It isn’t a cheap option but you have the freedom to go wherever you want whenever you want. It’s an easy city to drive in since there are not too many cars on the road. The only problem is if you go outside of the city, since there are virtually no signs to direct you where to go. We walked on the Malecon and decided to stop by a café. It turns out it was a Chinese Restaurant believe it or not. Some young kid was pestering Stu. Stu was taking pictures and this 18 year old kid followed him down to the Malecon. We had to chase him away. Stu ended up meeting this girl and we invited her over to our table to have a drink. He ended up leaving with her.

TAD and I walked around and took more pictures. We had a drink at the café next to the Ingleterra. It was slow since it was NYE. Tad was a good influence on me. Usually I'm always in a party mode but Tad is really easy going and laid back and just liked doing simple things. He was starting to rub off on me.

The girl I was going to spend NYE with was acting flaky and appeared to be having family problems. I really didn't feel like dealing with her problems on NYE. I talked to Stu's girl and she confirmed her plans to show up and meet us at my apartment. I told her to bring 2 of her beautiful friends. She said no problem. TAD and I had to decide who would see who. We had this problem another night. I gave him the option to take the first or last girl that walked in. He chose the first. When the girls arrived I was really disappointed but there was nothing I could do. We planned to spend NYE at Macumba for one of the hottest gigs in town. One of the hottest bands in Cuba was playing. (Charanga Habanera). I figured worst case we could pay their entrance fee and then drink a little and leave. We were told it was a $20 cover to enter. When we got to Macumba there was a line. I told them we had reservations. They weren’t letting anyone without reservations in. Many people were walking away. We made our way to the front of the line and I again told them we had reservations. I guess it was impossible since they weren’t taking reservations just for the entrance. Only if you had their NYE dinner special you were allowed on the sacred list.

In any case they told us to stand to the side and this rude bouncer told us to go back to the line. Stu was especially annoyed but couldn’t really argue in Spanish so kept telling me to. I tried a few times to talk to someone with authority but the bouncer wouldn’t let me in. I figured money talks and bull crap walks. I had the telephone number and called the club on my cell phone. I told the lady that answered that I was in line with 5 of my friends and I had us$100 to spend to get us in ASAP. Stu put in $50 and I put in $50 and we essentially bought our way into the hottest gig in town without reservations. The cover was $40 per person instead of the $20 that they advertised. Oh well, like anything else in Cuba…. What can you do?? Unfortunately only Stu's girl was cute. My girl had a cute face was just not my type. Truth be told TAD’s girl was downright scary. It turns out the two girls were cousin’s of Stu's girl.

TAD and I thought if we drank heavily that would solve our problems. As predicted, it did not. My girl was cute but just had this really bad attitude. I tried pulling out all the punches to butter her up but it wasn’t happening. It was getting late and TAD and I decided we must leave and look for girls somewhere else. Honestly I didn’t care if we met other girls or not. I just wanted to leave these girls. It wasn’t a good situation. Stu’s girl is bright and figured out we just weren’t interested. I told my girl that I had a stomach ache and had to leave. TAD didn’t make any excuse. He barely talked to his girl as he didn’t want to give her any hope whatsoever. They just asked for taxi fare home. We each gave them $20 and I explained to Stu’s girl that there were many drunk Italian guys and I’m sure the girls could meet other guys up if they put their hearts into it. (I was happy to hear the next day from Stu that both girls hooked up with drunk Italians. I’m sure the guy that hooked up with TAD’s girl woke up regretting coming to Cuba).

By this point it was very late. It was 3:00 AM on NYE. The chances of hooking up were not in our favor but we took a taxi ride to La Chorrera. Predictably there were very few cute girls in the club. We both met a few girls but TAD and I decided to cut our losses and just go home. It was after 4 AM at this point.

2005-05-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

Havana, Cuba

(I took this photo on a typical street in Havana. It looks like a nuclear bomb went off a decade ago and the shell of buildings are the result)

Day 12 in Cuba

Went to Playa del Este and it wasn’t sunny but had a nice time joking around as usual. Stu and Tad were good company. We all had books with us so we laid on the beach and read most of the afternoon. A really relaxing day.

I called Stu's friend for him and she came over. He couldn't speak Spanish so well but he was holding his own. Tad just didn't seem too interested in trying to meet girls. Like me, he didn't like the fact that really sweet girls that we were meeting were being scared to be seen with us because we were tourists. One of the girls that I met that I spent a few days with called me and I told her to bring a friend for Tad. She said she was anxious to see me.. She wanted to come over earlier but I was at the beach. When I called back she seemed to be having family problems.

I waited a while and Stu and TAD went to eat. Finally I just said enough of this. I walked to where they were eating (which was great by the way). Yasmine calls saying she wants to come over. I tell her to come to the restaurant and she says ok. 15 minutes. Then when I get there she wants me to pick her up. It was just too much. I told her that we could do our own thing tonight and we were planning on going out for NYE together.

We started at the parking lot of La Chorrera which is at the end of the Malecon. Anyway, I left with them to Casa de la musica near the Prado and it was horrible. I was going to go in with TAD and Stu but the lines were long, the girls were aggressive and seemed to all be "pros". I left alone and took a taxi to this club I went to a few times. I felt good. Got a drink and had to chase some girls away but one of them in a cool manner told me she thought I was attractive. We flirted with one another and then we ended up leaving together.

2005-05-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

Back in Havana, Cuba

(I took this photo in Havana Viejo. There were some really interesting buildings in that part of town)

Day 11 in Cuba

We woke up semi early and got packed up. I went over to Seaman’s place and the family he was staying with was talking to us. They were totally cool and their casa was nice with a nice balcony where you could sit and have drinks. TAD picks us up in the car and as we are waiting for Stu, I happen to see the girl that I originally was going to see the night before. I just didn’t understand what happened to her. She saw us and walked by and she was crying. I suspect that maybe she spent the night in jail or something along those lines. She clearly looked a little scared and didn’t even talk to us this time. Just think that she got into trouble just for talking to us on the street. This is the part of Cuba I didn’t like. I'm all for having fun as long as no one gets hurt but I didn't like the idea of a girl getting in trouble just for TALKING to me. Can you imagine a girl you just brought home with getting 4 years hard labor for spending time with you?

We head back and Stu is deciding if he wants to go to Matanzas with TAD. I could give a rat’s ass what they did. I only requested they drop me off in Havana on their way. Stu told me that he also wanted to head home to Havana. That left TAD stuck in Havana as Stu and I were paying for the rental car. We decided to take the same route we took to get here. It was a shame we couldn’t stop and take photos the first time. The views were amazing driving back once again and this time I took lots of pictures. I just got 5 rolls of film developed and almost every one is great. Cuba is a very photogenic place.

We stopped a few times to try to get bottled water but it was tough finding it. Most places only had carbonated water in the small towns. We finally did find some in one town where TAD and I went in. The funny thing was some Cuban guy in line was apparently trying to impress us with the wad of cash he had. He must have had at least $500 on him. His clothes were soiled, he looked like he hadn’t showered in weeks, his hands and face had dirt on it but somehow he thought he would impress us with his wad. I found it interesting more than anything. He was getting two sodas and first pulled out a $100 bill. The cashier said he had no change so he pulls out a $50 then a $20. Finally he ends up paying for it with two $1 bills. It was kind of comical. We get outside and Stu is in the car talking to some Cuban guys. The guys are trying to ask us if we want girls but after the fiasco with the girl crying that I saw I decided no.

We were on our way to Bahia Honda. We joked around on the way home. Stu and I have bonded on a few trips this year but it was nice that Stu and TAD got along very well too. We were all pretty like minded individuals. Different in our own ways but still had things in common. We arrived at La Palma to eat and have lunch. No restaurants were visible from the main road so we decided to have pizza which we saw everyone eating. There was a line for pizza because they were making it fresh. It’s not the same kind of pizza we have in the US. It’s more like bread made in iron cast molds and a little tomato paste smeared on and lots of cheese. It was actually pretty good. The cost was 5 pesos. (26 pesos = $1 US). I got two pizzas and told her to keep the change because I doubt she would have given me any. She clearly knew the exchange rate though as I told her in Spanish 26:1 and she nodded yes. We walked around a bit and the city had some cute girls. One thing I noticed here is many of the girls had green eyes and were lighter skinned. We went to a grocery store and got some water and some snacks. The people here are all friendly.

We were a novelty as there were no tourists in town. This town is not on the main highway so I doubt many tourists come here. No one has any intention to scam that I noticed. Even when we bought bananas on the street here there were no signs with prices. TAD gave him a 50 cent convertible coin which is equivalent to 50 cents US. We only grabbed a few bananas and they guy looked at the coin and kept trying to give us more bananas. It was funny. Another funny banana moment was in Piñar de Rio after dinner the lady didn’t have dessert but gave us bananas. When we weren’t hungry she tried giving us the bananas to take with us. I joked that we were going to the bar to meet girls and unless the girls liked bananas we had no use for them.

We got back to Havana and called some girls that we met earlier in our trip. It was good to be back to Havana.

2005-05-14T16:21:00.000-07:00

Piñar del Rio, Cuba

(I took this picture as we were driving on the road from Viñales to Piñar del Rio. We stopped for a bathroom break at the side of the road when I noticed this abandoned shell of a house. I saw two girls playing in the yard. Stu and I both love photography so we asked the girls if we could take their photo. They were natural models and the photo turned out great. It was sunset so the lighting was perfect. We gave them some gun and candy which they loved.)

Day 10 in Cuba

We decided the night before to meet at 10 AM after breakfast and head to Piñar del Rio. First we drove around Viñales a little and snapped some photos. My casa owner was beautiful and probably would have been a site to see 10-15 years earlier. It was a shame she was married. She was sweet and gave her the name of her friend in Piñar del Rio. We arrived in town and went straight to Zoima. She was this spunky 28 year old with a good attitude. I was flirting with her but she too was married. Her room was booked but she went all over helping us find 3 rooms. She was great. We kept confirming that we could bring guests home and each place said no problem. We were excited. This town seemed like it had a life and it was bigger. Instead of giving Zoima some money we decided to eat dinner at her house that night so she could make some money that way. I flirted some more with her and she was taking things well joking around.

We went off exploring the city and taking some pictures. We spent several hours eating and drinking at a neighborhood outdoor bar. So far I wasn’t seeing any hot girls which was worrisome. I still held out for hope though. In the bar we saw this nerdy looking American with this big black lady. I needed some rest so I decided to just try to relax a few hours before we ate dinner. My casa owner was super cool but the problem is their neighbor had a loud dog that kept barking all afternoon. I wanted to kill that dog. I got zero rest. I knew I couldn’t stay there more than one night. The bed also was horrible which was common in every place we stayed in Cuba. I walked up one flight of stairs to Stu’s pad. His casa owners were super cool. They had a cute daughter that lived in Havana studying in a University. We had a few cocktails then headed to dinner.

At dinner I joked around with Zoima that we wanted to meet some nice girls. I asked her to set us up with her friends. She promised to the next day but said that at this late notice she couldn’t arrange it. We had a decent meal and joked around with her. It’s funny that many of these people have very little money but several places we went had these big ghetto blaster type stereos. It was funny after dinner Zoima's mother who cooked the dinner didn't have any dessert to offer but she kept trying to give us a banana to take with us. I told her in Spanish I could try to put it in my pocket but I didnt' think I needed it. We all had a good laugh at that.

We were feeling good and decided to go to the place everyone said was good. Café Pinar was the name of it. It was predictably dead since it was still rather early. It might have been around 10 PM. Here is where the story gets interesting. I see this girl alone in the street. She was cute and I asked her if she wanted to have a drink with us. She followed us as we went to the corner store to get some beer. I tell the fellas I’m going to leave with her to my apartment. She gives me the scoop on Pinar del Rio. She tells me it’s extremely difficult for the local girls since if they are with a tourist the police automatically assume they are "working girls". She told me all the girls are scared to hang out with tourists. Then I asked why she wasn’t scared and she simply told me she wasn’t a "working girl". Ok..all the better I thought. She went on to say that no girl would go to a casa particular because they write down their ID # and the police regularly check the log books. No wonder all the casa owners were saying it’s OK to have guests. Because they knew no girl would ever come over for fear of the police thinking they were "working".

She tells me that she can't come back to my apartment but I can meet her at her place. She comes back after about 5 minutes saying her place isn't available. She asked me to please wait there. She was going to check on a friend's apartment I guess. I waited around for a while but she never came back. Stu, TAD and I were kind of surprised at the scene here. It was very depressing here. I wonder what happened to her and I hoped she was ok. I worried that something happened to her. The ironic thing was the next day as we were going to leave in our car we saw her. She walked by us without saying anything and she was crying. We speculated the night before the police saw her talking to me and they might have automatically arrested her?? I was starting to get really depressed at the local scene. I also felt guilty for just TALKING to her.

So, after this we hear about another place that has a party scene. We were originally told it was 5 blocks away. We kept walking and walking and walking. We’d ask directions and they kept saying further and further. By this point we’d just killed about 35-45 minutes. It was about a mile away but we finally made it there. I just wanted to go to this disco that the girl from Stu's casa was going to with her friends. She was all dressed up and looked pretty good. Anyway, we’re at this hotel and it looks like a total tourist hang out and we didn’t see any girls so we don’t even pay the cover. I flagged a taxi and we went to the disco club. We get to the disco and there is a very very long line and they are not letting many people in at a time. We waited but ended up leaving to check another club we heard about. It was dead! TAD was getting tired but I told them there is no way in hell I was going home without at least trying that disco again. We took a taxi back to the disco and the line was still there. We waited and waited. We offered bribes to the doormen and believe it or not they didn’t accept it.

There was a Cuban American from Miami there visiting his friends and he was drunk but also annoyed they wouldn’t let him in either. Cubans were climbing the fence to get in but that did little good because there was security at the front door. I couldn’t believe it. Here we were in Cuba and the doormen wouldn’t take a bribe to get in. Ridiculous! Finally we gave up when they said they are definitely not letting anyone else in. At that point I didn’t even care about anything. I just wanted to see the inside of this place. I couldn’t believe it. We agreed to leave the next day. There was some talk between TAD and Stu about hitting some other cities. I politely asked them to drop me off in Havana on the way to wherever they were going. It was about 2 AM when I got home. I came home and finished one of the books I brought called The Pilot’s Wife. It was actually a good book but it was kind of surreal to believe I was in Cuba at 2 AM and reading a book.

2005-05-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

Santiago, Chile

2005-05-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

Vina del Mar, Chile

2005-05-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

Back to back to back to Rio de Janerio, Brazil (I hit Rio over 10 times in 3 years)

2005-05-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

Banff, Canada

2005-05-14T06:55:00.000-07:00

San Pancho, Mexico

2005-05-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

Kauai, Hawaii

2005-05-14T06:35:00.000-07:00

Montevideo, Uruguay

2005-05-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

Villa Traful - Pategonia - Argentina

2005-05-14T06:31:00.000-07:00

Villa la Angostura - Patagonia - Argentina

2005-05-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

Bariloche - Patagonia - Argentina

2005-05-13T23:20:00.000-07:00

London, UK

2005-05-13T23:18:00.000-07:00

Rio de Janerio, Brazil

2005-05-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

Back to Paris, France

2005-05-13T22:50:00.000-07:00

Lima, Peru

2005-05-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

Cuzco, Peru

2005-05-13T22:48:00.000-07:00

Machu Picchu, Peru

I took this photo at the top of Macchu Picchu. I got lucky and got truly magnificent weather. I took many photos that day. This is only one of them. Photos were taken with a 5 mg Olympus digital camera.

2005-05-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

Curacao

2005-05-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

Nuremburg, Germany

Prague, Czech Republic

2005-05-13T22:45:00.000-07:00

Prague, Czech Republic

(This is just one out of dozens of photos I took in Prague. Almost every single photo is post card perfect).

May 2004

Hi there. A quick live report from Prague. I arrived yesterday and the city is really beautiful. The weather couldn't be more perfect. Upper 60's maybe lower 70's. This is high season. Last night I stayed in the Renaissance which is very nice but pricey. Today I moved over to the Marriott across the street which is even nicer than the Renaissance. A true 5 star hotel.

I met a guy named Mikhal from Sweden. He's also a younger guy so we got along pretty good. He has been here before so he kind of knows his way around. Last night we went to a nice restaurant and food here seems to be relatively cheap. I think we paid like $12 including tip for a pasta dish and a coke but it was in a super touristy area.

The girls here are amazingly beautiful. This was my first trip to Eastern Europe. The nightlife is pretty good here in Prague. Mikhal and I hit some clubs and we had a great time. He was also single so we shared the same attitudes about life and had no restrictions or anything or anyone holding us back from having fun.

MAKE SURE you only call AAA Taxi to get a taxi. Actually the first thing you should do when you arrive at the airport is to go to the T Mobile store and get a SIM card for your unlocked GSM phone. If you don't have one, make sure you rent one. A cellphone is a MUST in Prague in order to call the taxi's and if you are meeting girls. The number to AAA Taxi is 14014 from your cell phone.

The Prague Airport is actually not that good. Their system of baggage is horrible. The conveyer belt won't load bags if there are bags in the way so it took almost 45 minutes to get my bags. One Czeck lady was even yelling at one of the airport workers telling them they were horrible and didn't help at all. The system was really antiquated and it was almost something out of an old Russian movie.

The taxi from the airport shouldn't cost more than 500 Krns or so. I saw a shuttle that said 480 K. (26 Kn= $ 1 us) so I negotiated with a taxi to take me to my hotel for the same price. I gave him a tip though. Taxis can be rip offs though. Last night we didn't have my cell phone and M. didn't know to use AAA taxi so we had to use a regular taxi. We had to pay 500 Kwn! ($20) to get to this club not too far away! Another time before that we had to pay 200 K to go a short distance. The AAA taxi's you can go across town for about 100 Krn. They are VERY honest. If you call them it only takes about 5 minutes for them to get to your destination.

Mikhal was really funny and an all around good guy. I love girls more than just about anyone but this guy takes chasing skirt to a new level. This was his 2nd trip to Prague and he never made it to see any of the city or even take one photo. He would stay out partying all night, go to clubs picking up girls and then sleep until late afternoon.

I did party a lot with him and we got lucky with girls almost every day of our trip. Still, I was in town to mainly see the city.

Keeping with my "A doctor told me I only have 3 years to live" scenario, I usually stayed in 5 star hotels with great beds and great service. Yeah, they are more expensive but I guess I tend to spoil myself. I went to check out Mikhal's apartment. He got a really good deal. He was joking that he paid less for his entire stay than I was paying just one night in my hotel but I couldn't sleep on that crackerjack box that was his bed. It was clean though but there were some gypsies in that area. If you're not picky with your bed than the apartment is a good, viable cheap option. The bed was a single though so I'm not sure where the girls slept that he brought home.

Quick update. I am taking refuge from the rain but I have to meet Mikhal soon. We just parted company since he is busy with girls he met. We are having lots of laughs! He is a cool guy. Today was beautiful out until late afternoon and it started raining. I walked all over the city and have to say this is one beautiful city! The architecture is great. There is something quite mysterious to me about Eastern Europe. I had a few beers with Mikhal where he was reluctant to confess that he met an older woman today and took her home!!!! I was surprised but to each his own. We had a lot of laughs about it. He was curious about what it would be like to be with an older woman. The lady said she was 51 which we laughed about because we were joking how all the girls in town claim to be 21 or 22 when they are really 26 or 27 so I told him the 51 year old was probably closer to 60. Oh well. I asked him what the Swedish word is for senior citizen and he said something like "phar mor". Ha, ha.

We both have a metro card that was 250 Krn. And it's good for a week. The metro is easy but sometimes you might have to walk a bit. . We just ate in a restaurant in non-touristy Praha 3 with NO English menus so we didn't really even know what we were going to get. No one there spoke English. We both didn't like our dishes. We have reservations for a nice place I read about in a travel magazine for dinner tomorrow. I thought I'd take charge of the dinner plans as I need to eat well. Most of the girls we are meeting speak no English so although we are having fun...we can't communicate too well. Life is tough, huh? More later.

So many of my friends and people that hear about all my adventures and my trips ask me how I do it. They tell me that I'm wasting my money and that I'm not thinking things through by going through all my savings traveling under my imaginary scenario. Here is the answer I give them:

What I'm doing is not for everyone. You ask how I do it? Simple. I stepped up to the plate about 4 years ago when I decided to leave my wife and get divorced when she told me she wanted kids. Many of you have kids, wives, etc. I'm a single guy so while you're paying for Susy and Johnny's college education.... I'm traveling and seeing the world. In life you make choices. You can either step up to the plate and decide to do it or you can bitch and complain about how life is unfair and how everyone else has it better than you. Life is as fair as you make it.

I keep meeting these great girls that I could potentially settle down with. Then I ask myself, "am I ready for this"? "How will it affect my lifestyle"? Then I know I'm not ready. Could I do better things with my money? Sure. Is my money better off sitting in a Money Market earning interest? Sure..I guess? To me, there is no better investment than enriching yourself and seeing the world. Knowing different cultures. Do what makes you happy in life I always say. Also, if you don't think you are getting enough vacation at your work. Ask for more. If they say no, try to find another job. If you can't afford to travel, try to make more money somewhere else. There are no shortcuts for having a lot of money in life short of winning the lottery or having a trust fund. (I have neither. ) The best advice I can give is work hard, make a lot of money, then play hard and spend your money. That formula works for me. Good luck.

Yet another fun filled day/night under my belt. I met up with a girl that I met earlier on my trip and had a great afternoon with her. I met up with Mikhal after the date and we had some great Za (pizza) at this place next to the internet cafe I go. It was really good. We both kept really busy. Mikhal with girls and me with girls and also seeing the beautiful city. Mikhal had yet to take one photo. I had to promise to email him my photos.

We walked around and met up later for dinner. I made reservations at a place I read about in one of my travel magazines. It's called Arzenal and it's a cool Thai restaurant in back of an art gallery. You'd never know there was a restaurant back there unless someone told you. So I'm telling you. The food is really good and not expensive for Europe standards. Address is Valentinska 11, Praha 1. Tel: 224-814-099. www.arzenal.cz I highly recommend it. I'm making reservations tonight for somewhere else.

We did some clubbing and hit some good places. We went to Ocean Drive and Tretters. Tretters is a cool bar with a good atmosphere and good drinks. There are some beautiful Czech girls here that were getting hit on by every guy under the sun. We had a good time just drinking Black Russians and chatting about life. We really have become good friends and I'm sure I'll see him again. I invited Mikhal to my home in USA and I hope he takes me up on the offer sometime. We decided to go to this new club. Here is where it gets funny. We've had a lot of funny moments. The taxi driver from AAA can't speak English and he doesn't know the address. We are screwed. Then I took out my cellphone and called my friend in the USA who is always on his computer. Luckily there is a 7 hour time difference so even though it was 2 AM in Prague it was early in USA. He looked up the website and gave us the phone number. Talk about the beauty of high tech! We are in the taxi and he calls to get the directions and address.

Mikhal is here now at the internet cafe. We are going to eat. This is our last day in Prague. The time flew by quickly. It's beautiful out today with lots of sun. I like this city. More later.

I’m somewhere over the Atlantic now headed back to the USA from London. Sadly another European adventure comes to an end. Prague was more than I could hope for as a total vacation destination. The city has to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. The history there is amazing. Yesterday when I last posted I was getting ready to go to dinner. Mikhal and I went to this upscale diner called Dynamo. It was a cool spot and kind of eclectic but the service was super slow and the food wasn’t anything to write home about.

After that we met up with some Czech girlfriends we had met. My girl from Budapest wanted a little farewell and so did I! His girlfriend was really pretty and mine was model material. (This girl from Budapest). We had a great afternoon.

Later that night we went out and laughed and joked and reminisced about our trip and how it went by so quickly. I’ll miss going around to the various places with him as we got along very well and had so many laughs. We kept a pretty busy schedule. I was barely in my hotel. He came to my hotel and saw my room and was blown away. I had this luxury suite that was really big with a separate living room, big bedroom with King Size bed and luxurious bathroom. It was much different than his small apartment. Ha, ha.

Anyway, it was a great trip. Until the next adventure.

2005-05-13T22:44:00.000-07:00

Zurich, Switzerland

2005-05-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

Mexico City, Mexico

2005-05-13T22:41:00.001-07:00

San Jose, Costa Rica

2005-05-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

Menton, France

2005-05-13T22:40:00.000-07:00

St. Tropez, France

2005-05-13T22:39:00.001-07:00

Nice, France

2005-05-13T22:39:00.000-07:00

Monte Carlo

2005-05-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

Cannes, France (French Riviera)

2005-05-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

Back in Havana, Cuba

(I always saw photos of the vintage cars in Cuba but thought it was just a gimmick for photos. It was amazing to see that they actually did drive older model cars everywhere. This was a typical parking lot in Havana).

Day 6 in Cuba

Tad and I woke up early. We both liked Trinidad and could have stayed longer but I had to come back to Havana to pick up Stu who was arriving later that afternoon. We had an uneventful trip back to Havana. I really enjoyed driving through Cuba. We took turns driving and had some good conversations about Cuba. I think TAD was falling in love with Cuba just as I was. We arrived in Havana and I had to rush around and do some errands. I dropped TAD off so he could find a place to stay. I had to rush home and then meet this guy, Mark, that I met in Buenos Aires a few months earlier. He was in Buenos Aires staying at my apartment and needed to pay me for the rental. Rather than wire the money, he found out that I was going to be in Cuba as well so we decided to just meet. It was extremely nice of him to do that. I met him at the Ingleterra and he was with his girlfriend. She was a pretty girl that seemed intelligent.

Mark asked me to fib and tell her that I was a colleague from the States. No big deal to me. I hope he had fun with her. I had to rush and pick up Stu. As I was nearing the airport I got pulled over yet again by another police. I wasn’t doing anything wrong but he asked to see my driver’s license. Of course I didn’t have it. Remember to ALWAYS have your driver’s license with you if you rent a car. I think this is one of the easiest ways for cops to make money. I told him I wasn’t going to pay a fine. We sat there arguing for at least 20 minutes. He wanted a $30 fine. I told him I didn’t have that much anyway. I told him that I was going to be late and I was starting to get angry. He said that he would have the car towed away. I knew he was lying but I now running late picking up Stu. I offered him $10 and told him to take it or leave it. (Keep in mind the average salary in Cuba is like $30/month). He immediately started being nice and I called him a ladron (thief) to his face as I was pulling away. I picked up Stu and he wasn’t ready. He was up at the VIP lounge finishing his cocktails. It was good to see him again. We last saw each other in Rio de Janiero just a few months ago.

He activated his cellphone service and we were on our way. Of course we had to ask for directions on the way back to Havana. I think Stu got a sense of what Cuba was like when we asked this group for directions when we were on the road for only about 15 minutes. He forgot to lock the back doors and this group of drunken guys and one girl gets in our car! They were obviously drinking all day as it was Christmas Eve. Believe it or not, 4 of them fit in the backseat along with their 2 BIG bottles of rum. Stu and I were ok with it at first until after about 3 minutes they were obnoxious and I kicked them out. We make it to Havana and Stu gets checked in to the same apartment as me. We both showered and headed out and met TAD at the Ingleterra Hotel. We had a few Mojitos then headed to Casa de la Musica near there. There are two CDM’s. The cover was $15 but there were plenty of girls outside. I didn't feel like going in. Tons of girls were asking us to pay for them to enter. I went to the restaurant next door with this girl that I met. Her attitude was really horrible.

I am the least judgemental person in the world. I believe what two people do is their own business. As long as they aren't hurting themselves or someone else it's all good. I can't stand judgemental people so if you are one of them, please stop reading my blog now. I'm a young, single guy so I followed along with my "life is short and I have 3 years" scenario.

Stu and I met two girls that seemed nice enough. We invited them back to our apartment for some drinks and to listen to some music. Back at the apartment, the "nice girl" I thought I was with turns into this pyscho. I was just unwinding and offered her something to drink. All of a sudden she demands money. It was just a really horrible scene. I told her she could leave. She said she was leaving with Stu's girl and I told her to just leave alone. She went and got the other girl and we were all sitting in my room for a while. It was kind of awkward since the two old ladies we were renting the apartment from couldn’t sleep and they were in the other room watching TV at about 2:30 AM. They were open minded and didn't care that we had girls with us. They tried to call for a taxi but no luck. They just left. Stu and I joked around for a while after that in my room but we both decided to find a new place the next day. It was strange seeing two women in their 60's laugh at us for kicking the girls out of the place.

Day 7

Stu and I did our best to sleep in. He succeeded. I didn’t. The traffic noise from the street on Linea was a little too much to handle for me. Seaman had a guy from the UK staying next to his room (we were in a 3 bedroom apartment)and I guess Stu accidentally locked the bathroom door they shared so I had to wake him up to open it. We ended up all having breakfast together. Mitch from the UK was a really cool guy. This was his first trip and he had never been to Cuba before. He assumed Cuba was this easy place where model quality girls were willing to hook up with you for a Coke and a smile just because you were a foreigner. Everyone makes Cuba sound like this easy place with tons of nice, beautiful girls but it simply is not. Mitch had the same opinion as I did that the quality of the general population of girls here isn’t that great. He was dating a Brasilian girl in the UK so he was used to really gorgeous girls. He was also a younger good looking guy. Stu and I told him about some of our adventures and I showed him my travel journal and he was studying it like a good novel. It was pretty hilarious.

I told him maybe we’d hook up later in the trip and he did call a few times but I was always busy with a girl. Stu and I hooked up with Frank (the guy that picked me up from the airport) and took him to Ingleterra for a few drinks. I kept telling Frank I wanted to move to Miramar (nice part of town with big houses) but he said everything was full. After the drinks I told him that I just wanted to go to Miramar and we would find something. TAD bumped into us while we were having drinks so we all went together. We ended up talking to a guy that knew a guy that had a place. That is usually how it is when you’re looking for a place. All of the casa particular owners help each other with referrals. It’s a nice system of you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. We saw several nice apartments and we all decided to book our places. TAD had the nicest apartment but he was sharing it with a fruity looking gay Italian guy. My casa owners were by far the coolest. I was super happy with my place. We were going to travel in a few days and we negotiated a deal where we wanted them to hold our casas while we were gone. We paid about $35 a day while we were there and $25 a day while we weren’t. It was a good insurance policy for me. We were planning on traveling 3 nights and then coming back for NYE. At the Ingleterra we tried calling some girls that we met but couldn’t get through to many of them. I think I left a message at one of the girls place because she called me back. I asked her to bring a friend for Stu and they arrived shortly afterwards.

My girl was this super gorgeous girl and Stu's girl was cute too. His girl had an awesome personality. She was really funny too. I stayed in my apartment and Stu went over to his place a block away. TAD decided to take it easy and wait till the night. Stu and I had a great time with our girlfriends. After about 3 hours we called each other and decided to have dinner with our girls. I told Stu to walk over to my apartment. After a few minutes Stu calls me to tell me there is a problem. He was walking with his girl when they spotted a cop and they did something that probably wasn’t too smart. He walked away from the girl which probably signaled to the cop they were scared. I'm not sure why they did that but basically the local girls don't like being seen with tourists because the police think they are prostitutes even if they aren't.

Stu tells me the cop is talking to her and he asked Stu to go back and get his passport. I tell him to call me back in a few minutes with a progress report. He calls me back and tells me the cop says he is radioing for a car to pick up the girl! I figure it’s all bull and tell him to wait there. TAD comes over to my apartment and I tell him what’s going on. He hangs out with my girl while I grab my passport and head to talk to the cop. I arrive with Stu looking frazzled. I go over to the cop and ask him what the problem is and why he is harassing my friend. I told him Seaman flew here to spend NYE with his girlfriend that he has known for 6 months. The funny thing is he was probably like me and couldn’t remember their names. Stu tells me that he offered the cop a $10 bribe which he didn’t accept. Then the cop plays hardball with me asking me where I’m staying. I tell him the street but not the apartment # but he starts naming all the addresses on Calle 28 that rent rooms. I immediately call TAD and have him get my girl out of there as she didn’t have an ID on her and I didn't want to cause problems for her.

The cop asks who I’m calling and I whip out a business card of a lawyer I had met. I told him I have friends in Cuba that are lawyers. At this point I could sense he just wanted to get out of there too. The last thing these cops want is attention or to get in trouble. He tells Stu and I to go stand away while he talks to Stu's girl. I guess he demanded the $10 from the girl and not us. He didn’t want us to know he was doing that. Jerk! We all walked off together and got in my car and went to my place. TAD was alone and we drove around to find my girl that left after we called. We found her walking home alone a few blocks away. We all were in the car laughing and joking around. The girls wanted to eat with us. My girl suggests this restaurant but she was wasn't sure where it was so we end up driving around a good bit. It turns out it is right near our casas.

It wasn’t a cheap place (in fact maybe the most expensive restaurant in town) but we had a great time. It was hilarious in the restaurant because Stu and I were convincing TAD to ask one of the flute players (there were musicians playing music for the restaurant patrons) to sit down and join us. TAD thought she was cute. We are the only ones in the restaurant and the singers are serenading us and making up songs about us. It was funny. Then I ask the head waiter to ask the girl to join us. I think she was shy and another couple walked in around this time so she had to continue playing her flute. I would have loved to see TAD spend time with her. The bill wasn’t cheap as me and my date had steak and lobster. I think my portion with tip was around $90 or U$S100 that included several drinks, appetizers, dinner, dessert and coffee. During dessert I ask Stu's girl if she has any girlfriends for TAD. She says of course. She goes on to say that the girl lives far away. I tell her if it’s a problem we can just forget it and hook him up later. I thought she said it was too far but we ended up driving all the way to this girl’s house which was a good 30 minute ride towards the airport.

It was comical. Picture this. We drop the girls off at their friend's apartment. They tell us to wait. We are waiting outside for a good 15 minutes. I guess the girl was sleeping. They woke her up and got her dolled up and all walk up to the car. I saw the girl’s mom in the doorway and I wondered what she thought about all of this. TAD’s girl was cute and had a killer body. He was very pleased. At this point it’s after 1 AM and we decide to head to our apartments. I had another great time with my girl and she fell asleep in my arms. Stu’s girl claimed to have to wake up early at 6 AM but around 10 AM I get a call saying she had to leave and we rounded up the girls. I had to wake TAD up with a phone call and he and his girl came over. I was kind of in a difficult situation because at dinner my girl who was a totally normal girl was asking me why I gave her money earlier. When TAD was rushing her out I told him to give her some money for a taxi. So she was asking why I was giving her money. She was offended and pointed out she wasn't a prostitute. I told her it was taxi fare but taxi’s didn’t cost $35. The next morning I didn’t know if I should have given her more but I stuck another $10 in her purse. She never mentioned money to me. I wanted to leave more but didn’t want to offend her. We found out later that TAD gave his girl $35 or so and a few days later the girls told us the girl was not happy that Tad only gave her $35. Oops. I guess I got lucky not having to deal with this problem. Again, I'm not a judgmental person. Tad was also a young, single guy. One of the nicest guys I ever met.

Day 8

After the girls left we all showered and agreed to meet back at my place. We were going to do some sightseeing. We went down to Havana Viejo and walked around a good bit. We went to the street vendors with all their old books. It was really fascinating to see all the old relics that they were selling. I seemed to always be hungry this trip. I think part of it is that the food isn’t really that filling there. I eat very well in the USA and when I travel so my body wasn’t used to these smaller sized meals. Stu and TAD joked throughout the trip how I was always hungry or eating. We had some drinks in Plaza de San Francisco and I of course had a salad, fries and a pork sandwich which was actually pretty good. We ended up driving around a bit.

My mind is a little fuzzy for some reason on Day 8 during the day. One thing I do remember is the day after I saw the girl from Casa de la Musica (the girl I kicked out of our apartment) somehow she got my cellphone number. I think she was playing with my phone and dialed her cellphone so she had it on caller ID. I never gave it to her. She ended up calling me and asking if I wanted to see her again. She had a “Y” name too (it seemed like all the girls we met had a Y in their name - Yanina, Yasmina, Yuana, etc) and at first I thought it was another girl. When I figured out it was her I hung up on her. Stu and TAD were laughing. I went on to see her later in the trip and she asked me why I hung up on her. My only response was she was the devil.

That night I think we went to La Chorrera which was where I had the best luck. There were several cute girls that night. The funny thing is there are several girls in the parking lot hanging out. When we were getting in our car a group came over. One girl had a very pretty face and amazing eyes. I think her name was Correlia or something like that. She seemed really shy. She said she was 22 years old. She was wearing jeans and this aqua blue shirt. She later became known as BSG (blue shirt girl) because every single day she wore the same shirt. Poor girl. Stu was deciding if he should session with her or not. I told him the classic line, “if you don’t I will” which usually always did the trick. BSG got in our car and we were going to drop Stu off at his place with his girl. She was really nervous and her hands were shaking. I was sitting in the backseat with her and trying to put her at ease. I can imagine how nervous she was sitting in a car alone with for all she knew were 3 perverts.

There was another cute girl there that TAD liked but when he inquired her age she was only 17. He took a pass. We were all adament that we couldn't do anything illegal while in Cuba because there is no US Embassy here. Tad was traveling under an Israli passport but Stu and I are American. We saw that girl too several other nights. She was always usually drunk but always had a smile on her face. We dropped off Stu and TAD and I decided to try going to Macumba. It was very difficult to find but we finally arrive. It was funny along the way a white Mercedes pulls up to us asking if the girls can enter with us. We tell them we don’t even know if we are going to go in. I kind of just wanted to see it. We get there and I tell the girls I don’t think we are going to go in. I went in to look at it looked dead so we took a pass. The girls were bummed because they couldn't enter with out a male escort. They get in our car and we drop them off where they can flag a taxi. It was funny because TAD remembered one girl from two nights before when he was at Casa de la musica in Havana. TAD ended up picking up a girl that night from that place. It's late maybe around 2:30 AM or so at this point. I’m not too tired (I have severe insomnia and only sleep about 3-4 hours a night) but TAD is so I drop him off at his apartment and I go back to La Chorrera.

I flirted with this girl and invited her to come back to my apartmen. She was really pretty and a little shy at first. She stayed several hours and she ended up falling asleep at my place. It was maybe 5:30 AM or so when she left and I slept very bad that morning. We were leaving for our little side just a few hours later so I had to get a few hours sleep.

2005-05-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

La Boca (Trinidad), Cuba

(I took this photo on the beach in Ancon near Trinidad)

Day 5 in Cuba

TAD and I were both sleeping horrible. The beds here pretty much all suck and the pillows are pretty bad too. I’m not used to “roughing it”. Our casa owners were great though. Nelson and Narcisa were great people. Narcisa was a great cook and her meals were the best food in Cuba. We never had a bad meal in her house. Anyone that is in Trinidad should at least eat dinner/breakfast everyday there.

We decided to go to Ancon early since it was sunny. The beaches are pretty good there. There were no Cubans there except some selling Pizzas on the beach and the one’s working at the hotel. Tad took a brief Salsa lesson. After a few hours we ran into HHG. She seemed to be everywhere we were. Trinidad is small so you can expect to bump into people you see. I guess she shared a ride to Ancon with some other backpacker types to save on taxi fare. She said taxi fare from Trinidad to Ancon was $8. We thought about avoiding HHG but I had a plan to use her to help us tonight with hooking up with girls again. It’s easy for a female to talk to the locals but problematic for the male tourist. HHG wanted to bum a ride back to town.

Tad and I planned to shower then head to Topes de Collantes for a side day trip. We heard good things about it. HHG asked if she could go with us. Sure. Why not? The road there was dangerously curvy but not too bad. We did see one car that went over the cliff and an ambulance was at the side of the road. There is a little rest stop on the way to Topes. Definitely stop here and walk up the stairs. There is an area where you can see the entire area. It had breathtaking views. We arrived at Topes and most of the hiking trails were closed since it was getting dark. I noticed the general population here was ligher skinned and more European looking. There were tons of kids walking home from school. Everyone looked happy.

We headed back to Trinidad. That night Tad and I had the best dinners of our trip. The dessert was fabulous too. We headed to Casa de la Musica to listen to the live music and scope out the scene. There were a lot more tourists out since it was a little warmer. The girls really didn’t do too much for me. A few cuties but few and far between. Tad spotted a cute blonde with a great body. Tad made eye contact with her but then she danced with someone. Tad and I were wondering if girls just come here to dance. The answer is no. The majority of the girls that are here are here to work. It might not be obvious and you may even think for sure a girl isn’t working. Some have good covers. One girl that was there said she was a professional dancer. She was an awesome dancer and in fact might have been. She was there with her “brother” who also danced. She was here every night and he always escorted her. We always would see them come and go and then later saw them in Fresca Chocolate looking for tourists. Just make eye contact with a girl and motion for her to follow you and you’ll be set. I was hoping to just meet some normal local girls but there were none.

TAD’s blondie was dancing and TAD and I decided to just walk around. Before you knew it the blonde was behind us a few blocks down. She was with a very ugly girl. The downside was we would often see a hot girl with an ugly girl. Many times they weren’t willing to separate. This was one of those cases. This girl made it clear that she“isn’t one of those type of girls” (i.e. prostitute -- which was fine by me). Then I asked her if she knew of a private place she and Tad could go to “talk”. She told me no. I made it clear that Tad wanted to see her but she kept trying to talk to me. She wouldn’t leave her ugly friend and Tad was getting frustrated and just wanted to leave. I was more patient and saw a more fruitful outcome.

I found a nice guy on the street and asked him if he knew of a private place to rent. He said yes. He was super cool and never asked for anything. The girl was still difficult and wouldn’t leave her friend. Finally Tad and I drove away. We went to Fresca Chocolate and when we came out she was there waiting with her friend. She was crying though. The Cuban guy helped us talk to her. The police came and parked right in front of the girls. I told the Cubano to tell the girls to meet us 2 blocks down around the corner. We waited and the blondie showed up. TAD was still frustrated but I told him we could make it work. There was no way I was going to leave with her ugly friend but I offered to hang out with them. We couldn’t bring the girls back to our casa so I suggested we just stop by our casa and grab some blankets and go to the beach. We went to the beach where I explained to the ugly friend that I wasn't interested in her but we should let our friends have fun.

The funny thing is TAD’s girl tried giving me a note with her full name, address, phone number, etc. I asked her why I needed this since my friend was the one interested in her. It was clear that she wanted to start some sort of long distance relationship with a tourist. The ugly girl was very offended that I shunned her. She wouldn’t even get out of the car. There was no way I was going to sit in the car with her so I grabbed my blanket and layed it on the beach and rested while Tad was with her new girlfriend. It was funny because Tad’s girl came over to me at first. I told her to go back over to Tad. I think she was a little frustrated that Tad couldn't speak Spanish.

I couldn’t fall asleep and the sad thing is that the rocky beach didn’t feel much different than my bed in my casa. It was awesome on the beach. It was so dark and the stars were so bright and you could hear the ocean waves crashing on the rocks. I was a real trooper. I waited until
Tad yelled that he was ready to leave. I think we were there over an hour or so. It was late by the time he was done. Maybe 3:30 AM. He called me over and I asked him if he was ok. At first he said, “not good”. Then he explained it was fine but that he couldn’t concentrate. I guess the girl he was with was lactating. She claimed to have a 2 year old but I guess she was still breast feeding. He said at first it was a novelty but it just kept gushing out and I think it freaked him out. He had milk all over him. I was dying laughing. We had to drive the girls back to the ugly girl’s house in Trinidad. It was funny because the girl now gave TAD the note with her info on it. I wondered to myself how many times she gave out this information. She never asked for any money or anything. I think she just wanted the chance to meet a nice guy. TAD gave her about $25 and she never even looked at it and sort of seemed surprised. She simply said for him to write her and she walked away. We were cracking up the whole way back to La Boca. I was calling him the Milk Man. The first thing Tad did when we got back home was take a shower.

2005-05-13T22:35:00.001-07:00

La Palma, Cuba

(I took this photo from the side of the road on the way to Viñales. The views were amazing)

Day 9 in Cuba

We had to renew the car rental that day and figured we would go early and get a good start on driving to Viñales. We get to the rental car place and there are 5 guys sitting around not doing much of anything. Such is life in Cuba. People are employed by the government even if they have no primary functions or responsibilities. Rental cars were impossible to find this time of year. I got lucky into getting the week long rental I had and my travel agent said that was only due to a cancellation. The guy I rented it from told me no problem getting it renewed on December 27th. I trusted him.

So we are in the office and these clowns said no way we can extend it. I say to get the main guy on the phone. He says he needs to talk to his manager then says it’s impossible. I refuse to take no for an answer. In the meantime we are calling all these other agencies. There is not even one car available to rent in all of Havana. I finally get him back on the phone and now he is saying it’s possible but to come back at 2 PM. This shot our plans as we wanted to leave early. We decided to go to Chinatown and eat. There really is no real Chinatown. It’s all of 3 blocks or so and there aren’t any Asians there. We only saw one guy that was the manager of the restaurant. It’s not real Chinese food but kind of a hodgepodge of ingredients. We all got the same thing and the order was huge.

We get back to the car rental agency and now it’s possible. Yeah! We extend it and add Stu’s name to the contract. Now, all three names were on the car contract. We blow out of there and head to Viñales. We are on the highway and Stu and I want to take the backroads as the view from the highway is not that great. We drove through Bahia Honda – La Palma – Vinales. Stu missed his calling. He could have been an Indy race car driver. The problem is that these roads weren’t NOT made for racecar drivers. They are windy and the roads in certain spots are in very poor condition. A few times we were airborne and one time we lost some tread on the tires. I think TAD and I were kind of wondering to ourselves if we were going to get into an accident. I was sitting in the front seat and decided to put on my seat belt.

The views were BREATHTAKING and amazing. I wanted to take pictures and so did Stu but TAD was very nervous about it getting dark. I had never seen him get nervous. I kept saying we’d be fine, no worries. Stu didn’t seem to be too worried either but that was part of the reason he was driving so fast. We didn’t want to be on this crappy road when it got dark. There are absolutely no lights on the road and the roads are windy. Also, if your car breaks down there is no AAA. I would highly recommend driving along this route. It was amazing some of the things we saw. There were mountains in the background nestled with palm trees and sugar cane fields. Certain parts of the drive approaching Bahia Honda there were great views of the bay.

We made it to Viñales and it’s a very very small town. We had to drive around looking for enough rooms for 3 people. We all wanted our own rooms. We finally managed to find 3 places. I kept asking people about the party scene and they kept saying there were places to go. Let me tell you something…. There is NO party scene in Viñales. We showered then met at the only restaurant in town. It was decent. Then we began exploring. The town like most towns in Cuba had a Casa de la Musica. We went and it was filled with teenagers. We left and went to two bars that were packed with tourists but no locals. We then went to the Caves where they had a bar but it also was dead. We got one drink then left. I asked a few guys there were all the action was and they told me Café “Arta”.

Turns out it was Café Artex and that was the horrible bar that we already went to filled with tourists. We were in disbelief. We kept walking around the main stretch but there were only very young kids out. It was like an Alfred Hitchcock movie where all the adults in town were eliminated. I only saw young kids. We were all in disbelief. Stu and I wanted to party. There was ZERO action in this town and we decided to leave the next day.

2005-05-13T22:35:00.000-07:00

Trinidad, Cuba (One of the many interesting billboards at the side of the road. I really loved the billboards they had. This one depicts George Bush with a Hitler mustache).

Day 4

Tad and I had talked about going Scuba diving so it was ironic when we were eating breakfast and the friend of our casa owner had a scuba shop. He waited for us to finish breakfast and then we went scuba diving. I had never been scuba diving before but he gave me an introductory course and then allowed me to scuba dive for about 45 minutes with him. It was nice and relaxing. There were some colorful fish but nothing compared to other places I’ve been to like Curacao or Hawaii. Cuba is a beautiful place. The people are really laid back. I especially wanted to visit Cuba before the USA restricted their travel restriction (which I find idiotic). Once that happens, it will be like going to Miami with a McDonalds on every block and everything with crazy prices.

Trinidad is a very small town but we were always doing something and keeping busy. We went into the city near the historic center. There is not much there but still a quaint and beautiful place to visit. It even had an internet café. We decided to go to Playa Ancon which is about 9 km from La Boca where we were staying. We stayed just a hundred yards from the sea. It was nice and the people we stayed with were wonderful. After the beach we came home and we sat in the patio and talked to the owner of the casa. He was such an intelligent guy. His kids are living in the United States and Spain. He is very well spoken. My Spanish is getting better and better to the point of being able to have detailed conversations about politics. It was funny whenever we talked about Castro he wouldn’t say his name but would just make a “beard motion” with his hands. He explained life pre and post Russian assistance, talked in details about the laws there and how he longed for change. People should note that things will change. I firmly believe things will change within the next 3 to 4 years and so did the owner. Change is inevitable. I’m glad I got to experience life here before it does. He also told me that casa particulars have to pay $400 US a month to operate their casas. That is such a high price and it boggles my mind. He said every few months the government makes it more and more difficult for casa particular owners as they are trying to drive tourists into the state run hotels so they can profit from tourism. Now, the government only makes the $400 per month from the casa particular owner as opposed to the $100 a night from the nice hotels and the expensive meals.

I’m sitting here in my casa particular just relaxing and updating my journal. This is one of the few downtimes I’ve had. I’ve brought about 7 paperback books and only am halfway through one of them.

Later that night – What an adventurous night. HHG called us to see if we would meet her at Casa de la musica. We met her for a drink and then we watched some dancing. We were determined to find some girls to party with tonight. We went to a few places that the locals said were good. Casa Arte and a Bar called Chocolate. Both were completely dead so we went back to CDM. We were getting a little frustrated on how difficult it was to meet local girls here. We even talked to this guy from Mexico City that spoke English. He told us he has been to Cuba 4 times and never had this much trouble in any town. He was leaving in the morning for Las Tunes. He was complaining how expensive Trinidad was but I thought it was cheap. I’m not sure how you can expect it to get cheaper than $20 -$30 for a place to sleep. (I was use to paying $200 - $300 per night at 5 star hotels). Food isn’t expensive.

Anyway CDM was still hopping. When we arrived there we immediately ran into HHG. She was with two Cuban girls. One was really cute and had a nice body. She was just my type. The other girl was black. HHG told me that she was coming to find Tad and I to party with these girls. (I kept telling HHG I wanted to meet some local girls). Then the cute girl says she can’t talk to me here in public. I tell her OK let’s go talk somewhere in private. It's very frustrating to try to just meet and party with the locals. I guess the cops assume the girls are all prostitutes if they are with a tourist.

Tad and I ended up partying with these local girls. Tad couldn't speak Spanish but he still seemed like he was enjoying himself with his new girlfriend. We ended up going out after we left our girls. We went to Fresca Chocolate where there was not much action. There were a bunch of gay guys so we left. When we walked out we bumped into our girls from earlier that night. I was surprised when my girl asked me for a ride home. She said she lived several miles away and didn’t have money for a taxi. I asked her why she was so worried before and now didn’t seem to be. I told her it might be dangerous for her and her friend but she didn’t seem worried. I asked her again and got the same answer. They got into our car and I told them I was hungry. She asked if I would buy them something to eat too. I told them sure but maybe it wasn’t a good idea to be seen with tourists. She said as long as we weren’t in the historic center it was fine. I was doubtful but I asked her about 3 times and she kept saying it was OK.

We get to this rapido (fast food joint) that is open 24/7. We order some sandwiches and we are joking around having a good time. TAD and I are laughing about how Trinidad has a big learning curve but we were happy to have figured it out. Right around this time a cop outside motions for the girls to come out. The girls look scared. I’m thinking this might happen and that’s why I asked them 3 times if it was ok. The cop takes their ID’s. I ask them if it will help if I talk to the police officer. She said maybe. Unbeknownst to me the cop is not there. I figure out that there is a police station around the corner. I guess the cops told the girls to stop by the police station. I couldn't figure it out. All we were doing was eating with them at a fast food place. Just talking and laughing. Doing nothing remotely illegal.

I go into the police station and explain to them that we were dumb lost Americans that needed something to eat and they showed us. Then the girls were hungry so we offered them something to eat. The cop clearly didn’t want to deal with me. His only words to me were, “are you her husband”? There was nothing I could do. The girls motioned to leave. TAD and I felt terrible but I did ask the girls about 3 times if this was ok. The girls were stupid to do this. I think the police were just shaking them down. We talked to several girls throughout the trip that said the cops just wanted $5 or $10 whenever they can get it. Horrible. The cops here are horrible. I went to bed that night wondering if the girls were ok and hoping the cops didn’t search them because they would surely find money that we donated to them. I’ve never felt guilty for spending time with a girl and this wasn’t a good feeling.

2005-05-13T22:34:00.000-07:00

Cienfuegos, Cuba

(I took this photo at the side of the highway driving from Cienfuegos to Trinidad. The scenary was really breathtaking through much of Cuba).

December 2003

Day 3 in Cuba

Day 3

I woke up late and Tad and I had talked about maybe going to Cienfuegos and Trinidad today since we would spend several more days in Havana. I had to pick up Stu on the 24th so I agreed. I told the owner of my casa particular (apartment) that I was leaving for a few days. They seemed ok with it and I left ½ of my stuff there. Before coming over to pick up Tad, he puts aa American girl on the phone and she asks if we will give her a ride. I wasn’t too thrilled but I thought why not? I picked them up and off we went. Of course we got lost on the way there. As usual there were NO signs. And the one time there was a sign for Cienfuegos I guess it was for a different Cienfuegos. (there are two?). A guy offered to show us the way and got in the car. He went quite a long way with us. I gave him $2 at the end of the journey and he wanted more. The girl with us took it upon herself to give him all these magazines I had that I was going to read on the beaches of Cuba. I would have rather given him more money. Oh well. If you drive outside of Havana, make sure you ask directions every 20 minutes or so to make sure you are going the right direction. There are a lot of forks in the road and there are NO signs so it’s easy to get lost.

None of these people speak English in the countryside so don’t even attempt to drive unless you are the adventurous type. We stopped in Cienfuegos and I bought lunch for the 3 of us. There was a really scenic restaurant at the end of the main throughway of town. There is a view of the water surrounding the restaurant. It sucked they only had 2 dishes though and they weren’t that good so we didn’t eat that much of it. The girl with us was an American “backpacker” type. I don’t know how she was going to survive on her meager budget. She planned on seeing a lot of different cities within Cuba. I guess one of the ways was by mooching free rides from city to city?? She was a nice enough girl though. She slept most of the way. Cienfuegos looked too small for us so we decided to go ahead and drive to Trinidad. The view on the way there was very serene and scenic. There are tons of people hitchhiking on the highway. I still can’t imagine what they do if they can’t hitch a ride.

You forget how lucky you are until you come to Cuba and experience everything we have that they don’t. The drive only took about an hour from Cienfuegos to Trinidad. It’s about 75 km. Like fools, none of us thought to make a reservation anywhere. Trinidad is a very small town so many of the places were already booked. To make things worse, now we needed 3 rooms. We had this guy show us some places. I asked to be near the ocean. We couldn’t find a place with 3 rooms. I only asked that there be hot water for the shower and a good bed. We arrive to this casa and there is only two rooms. We reluctantly agreed as Tad agreed to share a room with the hitch hiker girl (HHG). Then I asked the casa owner if I could have guests (i.e. girls) over and he immediately says NO. Then to make matters worse they tell us we must eat breakfast and dinner there or we couldn’t stay. That broke the camels back. Too many restrictions. Even if it was only for one night.

We headed back and I decided to ask another casa owner I saw. They had two rooms. It was a quaint place with hot water which sealed the deal. They also said we had to eat there but I didn’t care at this point. It was dark and the last thing I wanted to do was go through town and try to find a place to stay. HHG was making phone calls trying to find a place but everywhere was booked. Around about this time I knew it was a mistake to bring her. We couldn’t leave her hanging now. I told her to go back to the original casa that we refused. I drove her back there and I’m really glad we didn’t book there. There was a baby crying and screaming and it was just chaotic. Plus she was complaining about how Havana is so much cheaper than Trinidad. HUH??? I told her to call me tomorrow and I’d drive her back into town to a casa particular that she booked on the phone. I asked her how much it was going to be and she had a worried look on her face since she didn’t ask. The casas are only about $25 a night in this town. I’m not used to traveling with people that think that is too much for a room. It was starting to get annoying so I’m glad we ditched her.

TAD and I took hot showers and he rested while I typed all of this. We went to Casa de la Musica here in Trinidad and it was open air outdoor music and dancing. Mostly tourists. We were told there would be some nightlife but I sure didn't notice anything. Then we went to Casa de la Tropa. Same story there with uglier tourists. We read about this cool Disco that was in a cave. It’s called Disco Ayala or “la cueva”. We went there and it was a cool set up. US$10 admission which included any drink. It wasn’t that crowded with mostly drunk tourists and a few local girls but nothing to write home about. Everyone kept saying it would pick up but we waited until 1 AM and nada so we split. We drove around but not much action everywhere we went. I’ve only been sleeping like 3 hours a night and starting to hit the wall a little. Especially with all the driving and not eating that often or well. Did I mention the food here sucks? I’m going to bed. It’s about 2:30AM and I’m already in bed. How sad is that?

2005-05-13T22:33:00.000-07:00

Havana, Cuba

December 2003

I will preface this report by saying I’ve always wanted to go to Cuba. Last year I almost bit the bullet and went. I never went and kept going to South America. South America is a long haul but there is no risk or hassle (besides the long flight). The flights are long but the time zone change is only 2 hours and the flights are at night so it’s not too tough. Cuba was never far from my mind though. I always take a 2-3+ week vacation in December/January. (Last year I spent 5 weeks in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro). I was thinking about going back down to South America and traveling throughout Brazil with my buddy Stu. There were no award tickets for the dates that I wanted. A coach ticket was $1,700+.

I started to think about it. I have visited South America over about 15 times in less than 2 years. I decided I’d go to Cuba. I started my planning. I could have used an award ticket on American Airlines to go through Nassau, Bahamas. I held the ticket. I decided to go through Cancun instead (which I’ve been to about 8 times before). No award tickets on American. I had to buy a ticket to Cancun. Probably better to save my miles since I’ve burned almost 400,000 miles this year alone mostly on upgrading to first class.

I went ahead and contacted a travel agency in Canada. Nash Travel. http://www.nashtravel.com/ There are several agencies but I liked them because they spelled everything out on their website. No hidden fees or gimmicks. They seemed to be straight shooters. I emailed them and Martha emailed me back. martha@nashtravel.com or you can email jury@nashtravel.com or do both for quicker response. She told me the fees which matched their website. I gave her the dates and she said she would call back the next day to make sure the flights were available. Next day she called and I gave her my credit card information and voila. The cost of the ticket was good at about $235 including the taxes and fees from Cancun to Havana.

About a week later I received a confirmation in the mail along with a voucher to give to the Air Cubana ticket counter in Cancun. Very easy. Next I wanted to book a casa particular since it would give me more of the Cuban experience. There are several people that said they had friends that could get rooms or recommended rooms but there were no pictures. I decided to do it on my own. There are tons of websites out there. So far this seemed easier than people make it out to be. Always only pay one day in arrears or at the end of your stay. Never pay upfront. It is not required and is actually stupid to do.

One of the guys I met in Rio and that have been to Cuba several times gave me some good tips and advice. This guy, George, was good enough to call me and give me his take on the island. He gave me the email/phone number of his Cuban friend, Frank, that could pick me up and help me around Havana if I needed it. I’m not big into using guides in places that are very easy to get around like Rio. I planned on having him at least pick me up from the airport. I emailed Frank and he emailed me back within 2 days. He seemed to be a friendly guy that speaks/writes pretty good English. I emailed with him in English and Spanish. He told me with my level I’d have zero problems there. I asked him if there was something I could bring from the USA for him. He told me it was unnecessary but if I had any old clothes or old shoes that would definitely be great. I was already bringing a ton of stuff and worried because the ticket voucher said there is a 40 lb. limit on Air Cubana and every additional lb. was like $1 or $2. Still, I had a ton of nice clothing that I don’t wear anymore. I brought him some nice clothes. I highly recommend everyone that goes down to Cuba bring an extra bag of clothes they don’t wear anymore. (not rags. give them good stuff. Most of mine was really nice clothes that I barely wore. – Ralph Lauren polo shirts, blue jeans, etc.).

I’m conversational in Spanish and I’d recommend everyone learn some before going to any Spanish speaking destination. A good audio lesson program is the Pimsleur series. There are no books involved. You just listen to 30 minute lessons in your home or car. There are 4 levels. Levels 1,2 and 3 are 30 lessons. Level 4 is 10 lessons. It’s not cheap at over $1,000 for the complete series but you can buy MP3 versions from various places for much cheaper. Before going down I bought several books on Cuba. It is kind of hard to fathom how these Cubans make it through life down there. It’s unbelievable that the amount some of us executives and professionals earn in 2, 3 or 4 hours the average Cuban makes in a year!

Down to the trip. I flew to Cancun and partied there one night before flying to Havana. Cancun is a fun city that I’ve always loved. At the airport surprisingly there is no one at the Air Cubana desk until less than two hours before the flight. My flight was leaving at 4 PM so I got there at 1:30 PM since I didn’t know how bad the Cubans are with organization. I’m glad I got there early. There was a long line forming and there was some worry some wouldn’t get on since yesterday the flight got cancelled for some reason. While waiting in line I met a cool guy that lived in the US. He was close to my age and we quickly found out we were both headed to Cuba out of a desire to see the country. Let’s call him Tad.

We quickly learned you have to be alert 24/7 with Cubans. They will try to extract money whenever they can. The guy in line that was giving the tickets looked shady and actually was. Tad only had a fax confirmation that he paid for his ticket. The guy at the counter said that he didn’t pay for the visa yet and the security tax. Tad thought he did but he said what I heard so many times on this trip. “What can I do, I have to pay”. Then the ticket counter asked him how long he has been in Cancun. I bumped Tad to tell him something but he already answered. “Yesterday”. The agent asks, “what time”. Tad says 1 PM. The guy then says TAD owes another$25. HINT: ALWAYS say you just got in today in the morning. If you’re in Cancun more than 24 hours you have to pay an additional $25 security tax. They do NOT verify this and I think the guy keeps the money for himself.

In fact, when it was my turn I knew what to do. I also had my travel agent include that I paid ALL security taxes and for my tourist card. I recommend this because you can charge it on your credit card. Pay for as much as you can with you credit card before so you can conserve the cash with you. He asked me the same thing about what time I arrived. I said I just got in earlier that day. He still tried to scam me. He gets on the phone and pretends to call someone about my tourist card. I just told him in Spanish, “Look! Read the letter, I paid for everything. Please issue my ticket, my friend is waiting”. You have to be firm with these people.

So you get in another line to actually get your boarding ticket and drop off your luggage. This was a long line. A very slow process. We literally were in line until 3:30 PM and the plane was originally supposed to leave at 4 PM. I knew my bags would be overweight since I was bringing a ton of stuff. TAD was cool and didn’t have that much stuff. He offered to put one bag on his ticket. We did that and I was still over. You can have up to 30 kg. (66 lbs). Anything over that is $2 per kg. Then they give you a ticket that you have to go pay in cash to the other window where you got the tickets. They keep your passports and you don’t get it until you give the receipt. The guys tried scamming us with the security tax thing again but I said, “hey! You already tried getting us and I told you we already paid it. Heck, they tried collecting it again from TAD who just paid it.

Predictably the flight was an hour late. Before the flight, I called Frank from Cancun to tell him the plane was delayed and not to go to the airport. His sister answered and said she would tell him. The flight was uneventful but I joked to TAD that this was actually the one airline you want to pay attention to the flight attendant about how the flotation device works. It was funny during the flight the overhead bin drawers kept popping open. They were old planes that look like they have had their better days. Still, it was a short flight at around one hour.

So you arrive. Get in another long line and wait. I’m not sure why they are so slow into letting tourists come in and spend their money but they are. Took a while to wait in line as another Iberia flight arrived at the same time. Definitely get the VIP service that is available. Ask at the ticket counter when you get your ticket issued. I asked some people if it was worth it. Some said yes and most said no. Don’t always listen to people. Sometimes people let costs dictate their advice. Customs let me right in. Didn’t even ask what hotel I’m staying in. Got the bags and were on our way. I told TAD that we’d hook up that night at Hotel Havana Libre at 11 and we both saw our drivers. I met Frank and he seems nice. He does complain that he has been waiting 3 hours. I’m like huh??? I called his sister to let him know but he said that he left before then? Huh? I told him in multiple emails NOT to come to the airport earlier than 6:45 or so since my flight didn’t get in till 6 PM yet he still decided to come at 5 PM.

It didn’t make sense to me but oh well. Also, he didn’t help me with my bags and I had 3. Apparently he hurt his leg or something. I’m not sure. A few times he forgot his cane and seemed to walk around just fine. It was no big deal but after flying and arriving with 3 bags it would be nice to get some assistance. His English is good and he seemed like a nice guy. We get to my apartment and even though I asked ahead of time to the lady booking my apartment she said it was an “official casa particular”. It was not because there was no blue triangle on the door as the guide books said there should be. I didn’t care. It was clean but basically just a room. The bathroom was VERY small. Also, believe it or not it didn’t have a toilet seat. Many of the restrooms didn’t have a toilet seat. I’m glad I expected the worse before coming. Whatever expectations you have about your casa cut it in half.

Frank came up to the apartment and I gave him all the clothes, some socks that George said he would like, and about 5 lbs of chocolate, gum and candy for his daughter. It really surprised me that he didn’t really even thank me for all that stuff. Maybe he was busy, maybe his mind was preoccupied. Good guy or not when someone goes out of the way to bring you a gift you say thank you and make sure the other person knows you appreciate it. He told me if I needed him to call him. I thanked him and told him I might call him tomorrow. I showered and met up with TAD. I couldn’t reach a taxi or flag one down but I looked at a map and it didn’t seem far away. I just walked and asked people along the way.

I cannot emphasize enough to learn some Spanish before coming. Personally I wouldn’t come to a country like Cuba if I didn’t know any Spanish. I met him at the Hotel and he said up at the bar there wasn’t anything going on that early. We were both hungry. We didn’t have any of our notes or maps. We flagged down a taxi and told him to find us a restaurant or paladar close to this club we heard about. He drops us off at a place that looked closed. I told him it’s closed and he tells me that it’s open to go in. Hint: Never trust people completely.. Most don’t know what they are talking about. Go with your best instinct. Of course it was closed and we had to walk all the way around back to the club. I ask the front door guy if they have food in the place. He says no then directs me to ask some girls standing around. They tell me no and that the only food is a food stand around the corner in the park. Hint: Don’t eat food from those little places in the middle of nowhere. The food was truly horrible. Hint: Whatever low expectations you have about the food in Cuba multiply it by 10. We ate quickly and I regretted eating that pollo “chicken”.

We went to this club. Tad had a difficult time because he couldn't speak Spanish. I was doing fine though. We ended up having some drinks and stayed out pretty late. I met a girl and we stayed up and partied till late. Tad went home alone.

Day 2

TAD and I decided to meet the next day at the rental care agency where I was renting my rental car. As I posted above, I lost my wallet at the airport with my driver’s license before the trip. I figured it wouldn’t be a problem as long as I had my passport. WRONG. Hint: Make sure if you rent a car you have your driver’s license. I prepaid with my travel agent and as you can guess.... NO refunds. I told him I’ll just have TAD rent it. He looked a little hesitant at first but I said I already paid and he agreed. We put both are names on the contract. In the meantime I thought I’d go activate my phone. I went to the Cubacel office in Vedado. It was closed. The guy at the door said the one in Miramar is open in the Melia Havana Hotel. This taxi driver is making a fortune carting me around. The taxi fares can add up. The guy was wrong. Not only is there not a Cubacel office in Melia Havana Hotel (it’s across the street) but it was also closed. I had no choice but to go back to Havana and wait for TAD. Another taxi fare. I spent $21 in taxi’s that morning.

I went to the Hotel Ingleterra and their internet was down. I went next door to the Telegrafo hotel and their internet was also down. I had a sandwich at the café next to the Ingleterra. It’s a beautiful part of town near the Capitol. Definitely walk around. Havana is actually a pretty good walking city and if you speak some basic Spanish you can ask directions. (Of course, half the time the people don’t exactly know where a place is or they just give you a wrong answer). I met up with TAD and he agreed to put the car under his name. No biggie. I paid for the entire rental car, insurance, etc. He said he would pay for some gas which was fine. He was on a limited budget but I wasn't so I didn't care. We got along very well as he was very laid back too. We decided to go to the airport to activate my cell phone. If you rent a car note that there are virtually NO signs anywhere. You would think going to the airport there would be some signs on the road but there was not even one sign until we got very close to the airport. Many streets don’t have signs. Some have markers near the bottom of the intersection in stone. As long as you are comfortable driving in traffic or have rented a car in a foreign country you will be fine.

Some guy on an internet board posted that he would never rent a car. If you’re used to traffic it’s very easy except for the no signs. Keep in mind a car rental with full insurance during high season for a mid-size car is about u$s 90 per day with full insurance and unlimited milage . It would take a lot of taxis to equal that amount. However, you have the freedom to go wherever you want whenever you want. I really enjoyed renting a car and had no problems whatsoever getting around. I’d highly recommend renting a car. Taxi’s proved to be problematic finding other than the main touristy places like hotels. We finally made it to the airport after asking about 4 people on the side of the road. You will notice tons of people hitchhiking. It boggles my mind how long and how far some of these people have to walk. Use your discretion if you should pick them up or not. Personally I wouldn’t pick up anyone. There is no upside to drive some strange person except the feeling to help them which could backfire on you.

Oh yeah, on the way a police obviously pulled us over because we had a T (license plate – tourist). We were following traffic yet he said we were speeding. It was obvious he wanted money. There is no radar that I noticed anywhere. How would he know if we were speeding? I told him I was following traffic. Then he discovered that I didn’t have my driver’s license. He immediately dropped the speeding and all of a sudden driving in Cuba without a driver’s license become a $40 US offense. No way I was going to pay $40 US and I told him that. I told him that whatever fine I paid I was going to take a copy of a license after I got it to their version of City Hall and get a refund. He acted like he didn’t know what I was talking about. Then he said he could let us go for $10. I didn’t feel like arguing so I gave it to him but told him it just wasn’t right. He had me sign some ticket but he wouldn’t give me a copy. He kept it. Of course, it was so obvious he was keeping it. He immediately becomes very nice and helpful after I paid the money. What a jerk! There wasn’t anything I could do since I WAS driving without a license. Oh well. I was irritated because I travel around internationally very often. I never let myself get scammed. I’ve been to Rio seven times in the past year and not once have I been scammed.

The Cubacel office is not located in the airport in Terminal 2 where we were at. There is a small office near the Cubacar rental office. I would highly suggest you activate your phone while you’re at the airport. The office hours were long at the airport. It turns out there is a Cubacel office downstairs in the airport in Terminal 3 where you would arrive. I was told it was free if you brought your own phone. Wrong information. If you get the cheapest activation with no contract it’s $3 a day. If you rent the phone I think it was $5 a day. Luckily the dude that rented me my car told me if you rent a car with Cubacar they will give you a free phone (but you still pay the $3 a day. Since I had my phone the nice girl waived the $3 and $5 a day fee. You just pay for your airtime which is highway robbery. It’s 75 cents a minute with no contract. This is what most guys will do unless you come to Cuba a lot. Even then it’s 50 cents a minute to call locally or receive incoming calls. You can deposit how much you want and they will activate your time ASAP. You get whatever you don’t use at any Cubacel office before you leave Cuba. That part is a good deal. However, I had a few dollars left and went downstairs to get a refund. The line was about 7 people deep and it wasn’t worth it.

We were on our way. We ended up taking a different way home but made it to Vedado fine. Again, no signs to tell you where you are going, so buy a good city map of Havana. We decided to have a daiquiri at El Floridita. It’s a cool spot to have a drink in. Drinks were $6 US each. The weather was chillier than I would have liked. I didn’t pack warm clothes and it gets chilly at night. I emailed my friend, Stu, who was flying to meet us in a few days and I told him to bring warm clothes. I had met up with Stu on several trips around the world. It would be funny. I had a core group of friends that had the flexibility like me to travel so sometimes we would be sitting at our desks in our office on a Monday and we'd plan to be in Rio or Buenos Aires on a Thursday. It was great.

TAD and I decided to meet in front of the Ingleterra at 9:30 PM. I had a coffee while waiting and many came to my table to talk. Many girls also make a “hissing” noise to try to get your attention. It’s kind of funny. Tons of jineteros everywhere. Just ignore them and don’t even make eye contact or they will keep following you. We walked around the area for a while. We decided to go to Casa de la Musica in Miramar. We passed it and some kids needed a ride so they agreed to show us where it was. At first we were thinking they were just conning us for a ride. Nope. We took them to a concert in the park and they were exactly correct where it was located. We went to Casa de la Musica. It was dead. It was early so we left and were going to come back. The management said no problem. Cover was $15 US.

We decided to go to this concert in a park. There were TONS of people. All locals. No foreigners that we spotted. There were maybe 900 people. I was surprised there were only about 3 police officers for such a scene. TAD commented that there were no tourists to “protect”. He was right. Still, I can see where a group that size drinking alcohol and possibly doing drugs can get out of hand. It was nice to see the locals so happy. There were listening to music and dancing around. They didn’t have a care in the world. What they lack for financially they make up for in spirit. Cubans might not have traditional “freedom” but they have their own sort of freedom. Most aren’t a slave to their job. They can do whatever they want for the most part. They sure seemed happier than the people I see going up and down the elevators making tons of money in the USA. People were always friendly. It was nice to be in an area with no jineteros (pimps). No one bothered us at the concert. A few guys asked if were we were going to Casa de Musica.

We left and went back to CDM. It was dead! I was seriously regretting coming here. I thought it would pick up but it was NOTHING like people previously posted. There was barely anyone there. To make things worse they only would make like 3 drinks. They couldn’t even make a Mojito! What the *?+*!!?? Tad ordered a Jameson as it’s his drink and it was horrible. It was clear they poured something else in the bottle. They give you a drink menu then tell you they only have Rum and Coke’s or beer. Horrible! Hint: Do NOT come here. This place has gone downhill which others confirmed to us later. We decided to go back to the Ingleterra area but by this time it was late. Maybe 1 AM. We went to the Habana Libre Hotel which has a disco on top. It was a $15 cover and we asked if we could look. He gave us 2 minutes to look. It was mostly couples or people staying at the hotel. It was maybe 1:30 AM at this point. Maybe later. Tad was going to go home and I told him there was no way he was going to go two nights in a row and not meet any girls. Tad was easygoing. We went to this disco and we both met some girls. His Spanish was getting better. :)

Again I’ll mention that the food here really is horrible. I like going on vacation and eating well. Do not come here expecting to eat well. The food really is horrible. Say that over and over and over again before coming. I heard it was bad but expected better. The city of Havana is beautiful but could be so much more beautiful. It’s a shame that the government doesn’t invest in the upkeep of the building. It literally looks like a nuclear bomb went off decades ago and the buildings survived and they are in same condition.

2005-05-13T22:32:00.000-07:00

Milan, Italy

2005-05-13T22:31:00.001-07:00

Cali, Colombia

February 2004

The US Government instills so much fear into Americans against traveling to Colombia. I can honestly tell you to take the warnings with a grain of salt. To me, Cali seemed like a safe city as long as you don't stray outside of the city. The people are some of the friendliest I've ever met anywhere in the world. The city to be blunt is...well ugly but the people make up for it with their hospitality and genuine warmth. I only met one other American the entire 11 days that I was there. As expected, there is no tourism here.

I had an uneventful journey although during the descent to Cali it was very turbulent. I was flying first class so I was the first to go through customs. It was very quick and easy with no lines. Something interesting here is they don’t stamp your passport with a traditional stamp. It’s fed through a computer and imprinted on your passport page. Kind of like a deposit receipt at the bank. After customs you go downstairs and get your bags if you checked luggage. If not, you simply go through the final security area and hand them your papers. I wasn’t checking luggage so I was the first one out. There are lots of people waiting outside for their friends and family members arriving. It kind of reminded me of Cuba.

My driver was waiting for me. I knew I could simply take a taxi from the airport but
the owner of the hotel I was staying at told me he’d arrange it if I wanted. I asked the price and he said $19. I’m sure it was a little more than simply taking it but what’s $2? It was actually nice to have someone there ready waiting for me and that took my bags. It’s comforting after a flight.

The ride to the hotel was quick and easy. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Take some time to learn some basic Spanish. This is another country where almost no one speaks English. I could communicate well with my taxi driver and he was pointing out certain areas. Upon arrival I meet Rigoberto or “Rigo”. He’s a great guy. His English is perfect as he formally lived in the US. He has a very genuine outgoing character and we got along well.

I normally stay in 5 star hotels but I wanted to get a sense of really getting to know Cali and other people I talked to recommended the Hostel San Fernando. I got a room with an American style mattress. It was nothing to write home about but I was able to sleep a few hours the first night. The pillows aren’t that great though so you may want to pack your own. The place is quaint and nothing fancy. It’s like the high end casa particulars (apartments) in Cuba.

The women here in Colombia have to be some of the most beautiful in the world. People take great care of themselves here and it really shows. The city is not too exciting though. It's not beautiful. Sure there are nice neighborhoods but almost every nice area is next to a bad area. It's an anomoly. I hired a taxi the other day and paid $8 an hour for him to just drive me around the city for 4 hours. I went to nice areas, I went to poor areas. I went to the top of Cristo Rey. I've really enjoyed discovering new cultures and getting to know the people.

I’ve been enjoying traveling around the world lately and just taking in new cities and cultures. Some of my friends tell me to slow down or that I’m over doing it. What they and others don’t realize is that traveling makes me happy. In general I think traveling makes all Americans happier. Most just don’t have it high on their list of priorities. It’s one of my top priorities now if you couldn’t tell already. I’m starting to understand and appreciate different cultures.

Cali isn’t going to win any beauty contests. The city isn’t beautiful at all. In fact, I can argue that it is one of the uglier cities I’ve been to around the world. Something that is redeeming about it is its citizens. People are so friendly here. It seems like no matter what your ethnic background is they would accept and embrace you here as long as you respect them and aren’t an “ugly” tourist. Everywhere I go people are so polite. When I ask for directions, when I’m ordering food, when I’m buying something, the people are very friendly. I almost always here, “con mucho gusto” (with much pleasure). The thing of it is they really mean it!

The US State Department warnings can probably be ignored if you’re only visiting the city. I was a little nervous before coming because I heard so much it makes you wonder what it’s really like. It’s no different than any other city I’ve been to. If you practice common sense and good judgment you’ll be fine.

These people take good care of themselves. The majority of the people are in great shape here. Even the men seem to take pride in their appearance. There are a lot of esteticas around the city where people ‘get pretty’. This morning I went to the supermarket near my hotel. I tried getting cash with my ATM card but it wouldn’t work at these 2 ATM’s near the supermarket. I had a few hundred $US that I went to the casa de cambio in the supermarket but they wouldn’t exchange it without my actual passport. I offered a photocopy since I never walk around with my passport but they wouldn’t accept it. The exchange rate was not that great at around 2550:$1. I think the official rate is around 2700:$1. I bought some drinks and snacks as they accept credit cards there.

When I came back it was still early so I had the maid make me some breakfast and then I planned to go get a normal massage. I ran into Rigo and he offered to exchange money at the same rate as the supermarket. I got $300 from him and planned to use the Bancafe at the mall. Rigo said others have had problems but the Bancafe ATM’s will work. I went to an estetica not too far away. Most taxis are very cheap. It’s interesting how the taxis work here. All the taxis have meters but they don’t run a tab. Instead there is a number and it gets higher. That number corresponds to a price. The minimum cost is 2300 pesos. It can escalate up to 9,000 pesos on a very long journey to Unicentro Mall.

This place is a nice salon. It’s very big with a ton of staff sitting around waiting for customers. You can get haircuts, manicures, pedicures, massages, etc. here. I inquired about a massage and she said there was a 45 minute wait. I decided to get a manicure and pedicure while I waited. I’m sure you guys are snickering but it doesn’t matter to me. Occasionally I’ll get this done in South America. I like to take care of myself. Surprisingly so do several men here as there were several guys in here getting it done too. It was very cheap. I had them doing a manicure and pedicure at the same time. The two girls were nice. You can ask for Daisy. She did a good job. It was something like 15,000 pesos for the manicure and maybe 12,500 for the pedicure. I gave them 20,000 peso note to share as a tip and they seemed happy. Then I went upstairs and got naked and got a full body massage from Gloria. She is the only “masaje terapeutico” there. She was really excellent. The cost was 25,000 pesos for 1 hour plus 5,000 for a ‘hot rock treatment’. She takes 2 extremely hot stones and rubs them on your body. I had the same thing done at another spa before except there it was something like $15 extra instead of 5,000 pesos. It was really relaxing. At first I felt kind of weird since there was no real draping. The washcloth sized towel fell off a few times. It’s ok. Luckily I’m not shy. I told her I’d come here every day I’m in town for a massage. I gave her a 20,000 peso bill and told her that was her tip for today and tomorrow. I made a 1 hour appointment for tomorrow too.

I know some preople have something against tipping people for good services. I don’t and I could do without the smart ass comments. I’ve always been this way and probably always will be. It’s not automatic but if the service is good it’s kind of nice to brighten someone’s day by giving them a nice tip. I’ve always thought to myself how I would feel if I were them.

After that I took a taxi to Chipe Chopi shopping Mall. It was kind of a hike. I think the taxi fare was something like 9000 pesos. It is a maze of stores on one level. You walk in an open-air mall. I didn’t find the clothes for men to be that great. It can’t compare to clothes in Brazil and stores like Yachtsman in Rio Sul mall. However, there are many stores for girls. The jeans here for girls are amazing. Most girls walking around are wearing jeans. No one is wearing shorts and I didn’t even though it’s warm out. I don’t like completely standing out. It’s not too crowded on a Friday afternoon. I heard the weekends are packed and I’ll come back tomorrow to do some shopping. I took a taxi to Unicentro mall. This mall was even further away. Traffic was very heavy since it’s the end of the month and a Friday so everyone is getting paid today.

The taxi driver was really friendly and we talked the whole way. What you realize when you start to travel a lot is you realize not everyone is envious of Americans. Sure we have it good in the States but many of these people are content with their lives. People here in Cali seem very happy. They might not be wealthy but I guess money isn’t everything. I arrived at Unicentro and it’s a little bigger than Chipe chopi mall. I was able to get 300,000 pesos from my ATM card and I figure I have plenty to get me by for tonight and tomorrow at least. I got something to eat and had a good BBQ ribs meal for something like 20,000 pesos with drink. There were two cuties and they kept looking over at me. I went to get some more napkins and then I asked them if they wanted some ice cream. (Yeah, I know kind of cheesy but it worked). One was hotter than the other. It looked like they got done working and they confirmed it later. They were wearing blue scrubs as they worked in the hospital.

I’m going to rest a bit then shower and get ready to go out. Later. It was pretty early but I wanted to walk around Cali and hit a few spots and clubs and see the town. I took a taxi to La Casa de las Cervesas and it was packed even at 9 PM. It was a Friday night though. I stayed and had a drink then I walked around. If you walk down the hill you’ll take a curve and at the bottom of the hill you’ll take a right and you’ll come across this area with tons of younger kids. Many are the hippie type but everyone was friendly. There was also a strong smell of pot in the air here. I guess the cops don’t care? I walked around that area some. I never felt unsafe at all but then again I’m kind of the adventurous type. I decided to take a taxi to Chipe Chope mall to see how it is at night. It was packed and there were tons of people of all ages. Families, younger crowd and 30’s crowd. I looped around and just watched people. I got a lot of smiles and looks here. If you want to make an effort you can meet girls here.

One thing I found a little reassuring I guess is many of the place carry around machine guys. The police here are serious and don’t look like they take crap from anyone. They all are in good shape. Not like some of the American cops that let themselves go and are out of shape. These guys are everywhere but especially in the shopping malls. Maybe because there are so many ATM’s here?

I came home very late and I was surprised that Rigo was up and drinking outside on the patio with a Cuban guy I met the other night. I sat outside with them on the patio and we chatted about girls, life, Cali and everything else. I really liked Rigo. He’s an honest guy that will do you right. If you need anything he is the guy to talk to. He like many in Cali seem to have a high quality of life. A quality of life that isn’t measured by how much money you have but the lifestyle. I know many guys that could never begin to spend all the money they have but they slave away at their jobs always under pressure. I’m sure I could make more money working harder but at this stage in my life it’s more important for me to experience new places and cultures. To “walk the earth”.

I got an early start on the day yesterday and was out and about all day. It’s only 8 AM and I’m going to go walking around. It’s Saturday so the nightlife should be good. I might go to the Cristo Rey statue on top of this hill and have a look at the city.

Dear Diary,

Today is Sunday. I had a very full day yesterday. I went out at 9 AM and didn’t come back till 10 PM and then I went out again and didn’t come back until 2:30 AM from the night clubs. I hired a taxi driver to take me to Cristo Rey and drive me around the city. It was $8 an hour which seemed like a bargain to me. I went up to Cristo Rey but it was cloudy so it obstructed the view of the city. I could still see the city but it didn’t make for good photos. My driver Al was a good guy. He was bilingual and used to work in the USA. He had an interesting background. I asked him why he left the States and apparently he got into some drug problems and fled rather than face the charges. That was over 10 years ago so I’d assume the statute of limitations would kick in. He was an intelligent guy that got over a wicked drug problem. He seemed too intelligent to be driving around a taxi but he almost accepted it as a penance for all the bad things he did in the past. He married has a kid and appears to be happy. He doesn’t cheat on his wife which is probably difficult in a town with so many beautiful women.

We talked on top of the hill about Cali, USA and life in general. I had a massage appointment later in the day but I had him drive me around Cali so I could get a better picture of it. Cali is reported by the locals to have around 3.5 million people. It’s not a small city. It’s also not a very walkable city. Taxis are so cheap so it’s easy. The air isn’t that clean in the city. There is a lot of traffic most days and the fumes from all the buses, taxis and motorcycles cause a hazy mess. I toured a community called Cristales. It had some nice houses and apartments. There were tons of them for sale. I guess several years ago many drug dealers bought houses there. They put in gold plated this and that. Spent millions on them. Some of them even have pools inside of them. But now those guys are either in jail or moved on so these houses are for sale for a fraction of what these guys spent on them. Who here can afford these kind of houses? Not many.

We drove around the city for hours. I was hungry so Al took me to another mall. I forget the name of it but it was smaller. We got some pastels which were pretty good. There is this chain of rapidos called El Locuro I think. There were several beautiful girls here too but Chipe Chope is THE place to go to be seen. Al took me to my appointment and I saw my dream girl again. The receptionist from the other day. She is my ideal Colombian woman. Hell, she is my dream woman period. Great body, model quality face, great smile. Just perfect! I wanted to talk to her the other day after my massage but she was gone already. I reasoned that she had to be married. I went up for my massage and asked if this girl was married. Gloria told me no.

She could tell that I was interested in her. I told her that I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I asked if she would mind calling down and finding out what time she worked until because last time she was gone. I guess she goes to lunch or break from 1 PM to 3:30 PM. The girl asked why Gloria wanted to know and Gloria said that I wanted to know and that I wanted to talk to her. The girl tells her that she is leaving at 1 but she’ll be back at 3:30 if I wanted to talk to her. I had another awesome massage and I was surprised when the girl was still there. I paid my bill and gave Gloria another good tip. Then I talked to this girl. I could see everyone was looking at me but I didn’t care. I pulled her aside and asked her if she was married. She said no. I told her that I wanted to talk to her yesterday but she was gone already. She was kind of shy. Then I asked if she had a boyfriend and she didn’t seem to like this question. But I didn’t to get shot by some jealous boyfriend so I asked. She tells me that she does have a boyfriend. I asked if she was in love with him. She didn’t answer then shook her head no. I asked if he was a good guy. She didn’t answer then kind of said no. Then I asked if he is a good guy sometimes. She said, “a veces” (sometimes). I knew she was interested but my driver was waiting and she had customers waiting in line to check out.

I figured I’d call her later. My friends told me to be careful with girls I met here in Colombia because there is so much drug trafficking that some of the girls could have a druglord boyfriend and not to do anything that would make them angry. Then I thought to myself there is no way she was hooked up with some drug dealer type. She’s been working here for 2 years and making peanuts probably. She wouldn’t be here if she had that kind of boyfriend.

I went to a country club that Rigo was at. We played racquetball and I sweated my ass off. I really liked Rigo. He’s a smart guy that is what you see what you get. Then the other Cuban guy joined us. His name was Jay. Jay was a great racquetball player. He was also a really good guy. He was originally from Cuba and he found my observations about Cuba to be spot on. We all went to the sauna and it was great. It had eucalyptus in the steam so it was really soothing. We all had a drink that was full of fruit. I forget the name but it translates into “splash”. I ate because I’m always hungry. I think both these guys were a little amazed by my journeys. I told them I couldn’t the beautiful receptionist off my mind. Rigo suggested to call her and I thought the same thing. I was gonna do it later. Rigo had to go home but I wanted to hit some clubs. I asked Jay to go with me. He seemed up for it. This guy was funny. He is here with his wife for vacation. His wife was waiting for him at the hotel but we went out all afternoon to some clubs and had a relaxing day.

I suggested we go to Chipe Chope to grab a coffee and I needed to get some more money from an ATM as I ran out already. We arrived there at 9 PM or so and there were TONS of beautiful girls. Oh my God! I’ve never seen so many gorgeous girls in one place. This is the place to be seen. These girls walk around like they are on a runway. It’s amazing. They know they are beautiful and they like being watched. We had strong espressos that were great. Jay was a good guy. He was amazed that I had such a strong interest in the Latin culture and commented my Spanish was quite good. Honestly, it’s not that good but conversational. I really believe you need to learn at least 20,000 – 25,000 words at a minimum to be conversational. I’m taking a Spanish class at night but it’s worthless as it’s too slow and I’m way ahead of the class so I stopped going before the trip. Plus, I was always out of the country so I was missing classes anyway. Every week I’d make the excuse, “sorry but I was in Paris or Germany or Costa Rica”. One lady asked me if I work for the CIA. Ha,ha.

We people watched for a while. We decided to talk only in Spanish so I could improve. We talked business and about life. We thought a lot alike. Their was an age difference but most of the guys I meet are significantly older than I am. It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t have too much in common with most guys my age anyway. I told him that his wife must be worried. At this point it’s 10:30 PM. We were going to eat there but we decided to go back and eat near our hotel. We get there and his wife is waiting at the gate. Oops. I ate with him and his wife and we talked about Cuba. I was drained of energy and didn’t know if I would go out. I’ve only been sleeping 3 or 4 hours a night. Plus, we played racquetball all day. I went back and we sat out and talked with Rigo. I decided to take a shower and see how I feel. Of course I wanted to try to go out to some clubs. Those guys couldn’t go so I went alone. It didn’t bother me though. I like being independent. It is very easy as an American to meet girls here. I got many phone numbers from girls and stayed busy most days.

When we got back to the hotel from dinner, Rigo was laughing and had this big smile on his face. Remember that gorgeous girl that I couldn't get out of my mind from the Day Spa I went to? Well, she called the hotel and wanted me to call her. Rigo had her number written down and she wanted me to call her. It said to call no matter how late it was. I called her and she was being cute. She told me that she did have a boyfriend but the relationship was on the rocks and she wanted to spend some time together. I certainly wasn't complaining. She told me her parents hated him and he was a loser. Ok. No problems with me. She was going to Bogota in the morning but coming back a few days later. I was scheduled to leave the country the day she got back. I told her that I would change my plane ticket so that we could spend some time together. (Am I a sucker or what??).

The next day I explored the Andes Mountains. Definitely take a trip up there during the day. There are some really nice views up there. You can take a taxi up there. I heard some have to have a special permit to go up there but I’m not entirely sure I believe it. Just hire a taxi by the hour instead of running the meter. It will be cheaper. Ask to go to Kilometer 18. It’s about 35-45 minutes up the mountains from the city depending on traffic. It’s interesting as you first approach slums then it slowly turns into mansions and big estates of what must be drug dealers. Some might try to tell you that it’s dangerous but I doubt there is any real danger during the day. There are two main restaurants up there. Bring a light jacket or sweater because there is a vast temperature difference up there. Also, it’s high so when the clouds roll in you are in the fog of the clouds. It’s kind of cool. I read the last kidnappings up here were about 3 years ago. The FARC just rounded up about 40 people (most were locals). They were all released after their families paid for their release. Don’t let that scare you. I heard there is a new police chief in the area and security is much better. I’m so dead tired. I’m going to rest then I have a date tonight with a girl I met the other day.

I just got back from an interesting evening. The girl I met for dinner brought her kid with her! Anyway, I’m not exactly the father figure. I think I’ll be an excellent dad someday but I wasn’t expecting to have dinner with her 3 year old too. After dinner I made an excuse that I had to go meet Jay. I tried not to be obvious about it but she probably knew. I honestly think some of these girls just want some relief from a difficult life. Sometimes I wish I won a mega lottery so I could help more people. Oh and travel more too. Hee, hee.

It’s semi-early at 11:30 PM but it’s Sunday so I think I’ll rest up. I’m not sure what I’ll do tomorrow. I’ve had very little downtime since arriving. There isn’t too much to do in Cali during the day. I’ve been taking the time to sightsee. I really enjoyed driving in the mountains today to Kilometer 18 area. Some of the views were really striking with the Andes Mountains and the mist of fog with all the houses and the city below. I’ve been fortunate this year to see so many wonderful sights the past two years.

Personally I hear that Medellin and Bogota and Cartegena are more beautiful cities but I doubt the people can be as friendly as these Calenos. The city as I mentioned several times isn’t beautiful. The people are the biggest asset here. I had a taxi driver from Bogota today. He told me that he adores Cali. He prefers it over Bogota because the people are very nice here. He said that in Bogota it’s such a bigger city so people are distrustful of one another. Here everyone pretty much gets along. I’m thinking about getting on a plane tomorrow and hitting Medellin but I’m afraid I’ll like it so much that I don’t come back to Cali in time to hook up with my girl. A big part of the reason I extended was to spend some time with her. We’ll see what happens.

Ok. I've had a pretty busy day so far. I just stopped home to shower. I woke up then walked around Avenida Sexta where there are lots of restaurants, shops and cafes. It's not particularly a beautiful street like most of the city but it's interesting. Then went to Chipi Chope to hit an internet cafe. Here are some hints before I forget. GSM service is new and just started last year. You can't buy a SIM card at the stores but it's probably possible from someone. I'm not here long enough to need to buy one. Rigo has old bigger style cellphones you can use for free. You just have to buy refillable credits (like Brazil) at the store. FYI. The company is BellSouth. My AT&T GSM phone does work here and I used it a few times to call my office. I'm not sure the rates but I bet expensive. You can buy relatively inexpensive calling cards at the store to use in the payphones or use an internet cafe cabina.

The internet cafe at Chipe Chopi is called Matrix. It is all the way in the back then go left. You can't miss it. Just ask if you can't find it. The taxis are all friendly. Try to at least round up or tip them like a 1,000 peso note. I'm always generous and I think it bodes well for future Americans that visit. Don't be an ugly American and treat these people with respect and dignity. Not many Americans are here so if you're a loud, obnoxious, drunk ass then they will remember it and maybe not be so kind to the next American that visits. You want to leave them with the impression. "How thoughtful and polite American tourists are".

Food is cheap. I find the restaurants aren't as nice or plentiful as in places like Buenos Aires but the quality of food is quite good. You won't have a problem finding what you want. After Chipe Chopi I had my daily massage appointment. First I decided to get a facial. It was nice. Not cheap for Cali standards at 60,000 pesos but in the USA it is quite pricey for a good one. There are tons of esteticas or salons so you won't have a problem finding one. I'm sure they are all pretty decent. Again, I spotted several guys getting manicures/pedicures. They also have several stylists to cut your hair if you need it. I'm sure you can get an old-fashioned style shave in most too. It was nice that my masseuse told me that my hottie was talking about me. I hope extending will be worth it. Also, remember not to slam taxi doors. Keep in mind them paying off their taxis is equivalent to us paying off our mortgages on our homes. The taxis aren't cheap here and most are paying them off on loan installments. The interest rates can be as high as 30% so remember to treat their cars with respect. You wouldn't want someone sh*tting on the side of your house would you?

One of the guys I met up with on one of my adventures around the world told me that his friend worked at one of the ice cream stores in the mall. I went and had an ice cream and said hi to her. She is a totally cute and sweet girl. It was cute how she had this paper of English phrases. I guess she is studying English which I really admire. After I finished my ice cream I was going to leave but she wanted to talk some more. I ordered a Lemonade then we talked for about an hour. I asked her if she had any pretty friends she could set me up with. She said yes but that they weren’t available now?? Oh well. She ended up giving me her phone number so I’ll try to hook up with her friends.

It was funny. I asked her status with my friend who told me to say hi. Friend, boyfriend, etc. She told me to ask him. Ha, ha. I walked around some and I got 2 phone numbers of these cute girls. It’s relatively easy to get phone numbers here if you can communicate with them. The girls are very friendly and it's obvious I'm a foreigners so I have just talked to a few then just asked them for a phone number. So far, I haven’t been turned down yet. The girl I met in the salon, Erika, comes back into town tomorrow. I shouldn't feel guilty for seeing other girls but I have to be honest. I do (but just a little).

I ate something bad last night and I've had bad diarrea all night. At least I haven't been throwing up but still. I think I've lost every bit of liquid in my body. I gotta go shower and drink lots of Gatorade. I'm still not sleeping well but hasn't slowed me down yet.

The girl from the ice cream shop, Maria, called me which surprised me. She asked me if I would have lunch with her and she wanted to practice her English. She was really nice. We made an appointment to meet up after her work.

Ok. It was bound to happen. I officially hit the wall tonight. I feel terrible. I was on a another date with this really gorgeous girl I met the other day. She is so sweet. We had some beers, walked around and I did the "shopping mall" test with girls. I see if they ask to buy them anything. Get this. I noticed her birthday was coming up in a few weeks on her ID so I told her I wanted to buy her a pair of jeans. We went into 3 stores and she told me to save my money. She didn't buy anything! We're talking about $70 jeans even in Cali in the high end stores. Oh well. We went to eat at a Parillia but I was feeling so aweful. Not only did my stomache hurt but I started getting a migraine. Í mean I feel so sick that if she was naked and attacked me I'd have to turn her down. That's how bad I feel. I told her that I didn't sleep last night (which is true) and that I ate something bad. She asked me if I wanted her to come over to my hotel and take care of me. I said no because I had to call Erika that returned home from Bogota tonight.

At dinner she was showing me pictures of all her family (sisters, brother, son, mom, dad). I think they do this once you build a rapport and some trust with them. Shit. So I drop her off at her home and we make out a bit. She told me to call tomorrow. Meanwhile I'm dying on the way home in the taxi thinking I'm going to puke. I get to the gate and Rigo tells me that Erika called me and that I needed to get ready. I told him I was sick and dead. I did talk to her and we talked for 35 minutes on the phone. She wanted to do something tonight but I just can't move. We are meeting for lunch tomorrow and maybe tomorrow night. We'll see how lunch goes. But on the phone she already told me that she wants me to meet her parents! (These girls move quickly!) We'll see how it goes. She's a totally sweet and gorgeous girl. I hope I don't feel like crap tomorrow because I want to make a good impression on my new "friend". I'm dying. I'm going to try to get some rest. Tomorrow is either going to be the greatest of all days or it's going to be crap with me being sick. God help me.

I did wake up with a full recovery. I think I just needed to get a few good hours of sleep. I feel fresh and I'm meeting my sweetie pie at 3 PM when she has her break from work. I can't emphasize enough how good of a guy Rigo is at the place I'm staying. There are nicer accomodations in Cali. In fact, I usually try to stay at the nicest places in town when I travel since I have a difficult time sleeping. There are many untold benefits of using Rigo. First of all he goes the extra mile to help you and he asks for nothing in return. I was sending roses to my girl today and I wrote out a letter. My Spanish is decent but there were still mistakes. Rigo took the time to correct them and printed the letter out for me. He also arranged to have them delivered. He is a genuinely friendly guy and he gets my seal of approval. I'd highly recommend him if you're coming to Cali. http://www.calihotel.com

I was supposed to meet my friend's girl, Maria at noon but I had to reschedule because I'm meeting another date, Eve at noon. Funny...Maria just called now and I'll meet her after 5 PM. So I'm meeting Eve at noon, then going directly to meet Erika at 3 PM, then going to meet Maria at 5 PM. It will be a long day. Plus, I'll do something with one of the girl's tonight. Probably Erika. We'll see how our dates goes today. I'm sure the flowers will be a big hit. I had flowers sent to her work today.

Damn. I just had the best date of my life! I met with Erika for our date. We spent two hours together laughing, talking, eating and getting to know one another. She is the type of girl that I could maybe settle down with. (Wait..did I say that???). I'm meeting her again tonight and going to her house to pick her up. She wanted me to meet her parents which I don't really want to do but maybe that is a custom here??. She is just a simple girl. She doesn´t like going to the clubs/bars, prefers to stay at home, has a big heart and is as beautiful as they come on the inside and outside. I've met a lot of beautiful girls in my life but she might be the most beautiful one.

Everyday I´m here I have a deeper respect for their way of life here. There is a simplistic way of life here that I really admire. They treat people like a member of their family. I can´t tell you how nice the people are are with the few tourists that are here. Every single taxi driver has been so nice to me. Most give me their phone numbers inviting me to use them again anytime I need to. I do tip them and they really seem to appreciate it as the locals probably can´t afford to tip them. Again, I think the nicer Americans are with them it bodes well for future American visitors. Treat these people right and they will treat you right. Americans often travel around with the attitude that we are the best in the world. That isn´t right. Not everyone envies us. In fact, I envy the way of life here and the respect that these people seem to have for one another. I feel great! I´m here at Chipi Chope waiting on Maria. We are meeting for a drink. Life is great!

Wow. Today could very well have been the busiest day I’ve ever had in my life. I had a lunch date then another lunch date with Erika then I just spent the past 3 hours with Maria (friend of a friend). One thing is becoming very evident to me. Don’t come to Colombia expecting not to meet some dream girl. This is THE place to come if you want to fall in love with an affectionate, beautiful girl. My friend's girl, Maria was really amazing. You can’t meet that kind of girl in America. Hell, you can’t meet that kind of girl anywhere in the world. She is so beautiful on the outside but more so in the inside. I’m so proud of her for learning English. NO ONE here speaks English. There are not many tourists here so people in restaurants, taxi drivers, stores don’t have a need to learn like the other countries I’ve been to. The only one that speaks English that I came across is Rigo. I really think my friend is foolish if doesn't try to have something with this girl.

I would have talked to her longer but I looked at the time and I noticed I have a date with my new girlfriend, Erika. I just got out of the shower and I’m waiting on my taxi. I’m meeting her family tonight. Maria is learning English. It was so cute how we were doing English lessons. I was so impressed by her wanting to learn English that I gave her my $100 English/Spanish electronic dictionary that conjugates words too. She loved it! She couldn’t believe that I gave it to her as a gift. Then she asked me about music so I whipped out my Ipod and we listened to songs in English while I translated. We were sitting at Reggae Pop (a little bar stand that usually a younger hip crowd goes to). One earphone was in my ear and the other in hers and she wanted me to translate songs so I was translating Dido and Sade songs to her. The girls here are great. I think I could fall in love every day here. I can’t say enough great things about the people here.

Ok guys. I'm just home to grab more money then I'm out the door. I just went to dinner with my new novia and her family. I was a big hit at dinner. Damn it helps that I could talk to them. I was cracking jokes and I have another date tomorrow and I invited her younger brother to come with us with his girlfriend. Her family was so blown away by this gesture. Her brother loves me. She loved the flowers I sent her today. Her mom commented to me that she thought I was perfect for her daughter. I wanted Erika to come home and spend the night with me but I didn't dare ask her with her parents there.

A meal with tip for me, her and 4 of her family members was 200,000 pesos with a generous tip. I had the restaurant call 2 taxis. One for me and one for her family. I paid the taxi driver and told him to take out a 3,000 tip and give the change to her family. They were also blown away by this gesture.

Anyway, I asked Erika at dinner in front of her family if she wants to go to Peru with me next month to see Machu Picchu. I already had tickets booked for myself and it was a lifelong dream of mine to see the ancient ruins. She said, "Si!" I'm not sure how much a ticket costs from Cali to Lima. Probably a few hundred dollars. Her family laughed when I joked in Spanish if her parents didn't trust me I would get seperate rooms. Surprisingly her mom said that she trusts me a lot and that she thought I was perfect for her daughter. However, they didn't know me. To put her parents at ease, I offered to fly her brother there as well. (I am a glutton for punishment). Stay tuned...I'm seriously thinking of extending my trip again but I think I wouldn't have a job so I won't push it. I'm already leaving for the French Riviera in two weeks then I might fly from there back to Cali. Am I nuts?

Well. As much as I love any one city I just feel it's important to see the world. I absolutely love Buenos Aires and I hit it over and over and over. Some of you know I even got an apartment there I liked it so much. I broke away and forced myself to visit other cities and countries and I'm glad I did. I feel like a better person for doing it. People need to visit other countries. For instance, visiting Germany really touched something inside of me. I knew the hell that the Jewish people went through during the war but it didn't quite touch my heart until I went I visited Germany and was reading books while in Nuremburg. We all know the horrors but we don't really think too much about the past. We are a society that forgets the past very quickly. Now I'm really fascinated and I'm reading the Diary of Anne Franke now. When I hit Amsterdam in May I'm really interested in visiting the museum there. Every city has good things and bad things.

Cali truly isn't a city I could find myself living in. The people are great but I live a good life. I don't give up living in a great house or driving a luxury car to travel. I have those things. However, if I lived here I'd have to give up so much. As nice and friendly as the people are here there is very little to do during the day. I met an American here that has been living here for 6 years. He seems content but a little under pressure to make money since he has a kid and another on the way. Even Rigo here at the hotel seems happy but money seems like it is a problem. He mentioned since interest rates are so high here he is forced to get low interest loans on his credit cards back in the USA. I doubt Cali will ever be a high end destination. One guy emailed me telling me that I shouldn't post such good things for fear of it turning into a Costa Rica. I don't think that will ever happen. Americans are too scared and lazy.

I'll see how this relationship goes but i know that I may be incapable of a committed long term relationship. I have to except certain truths about myself. I always think the grass is greener on the other side. I was married to about the perfect woman (gorgeous, smart, big heart, from a wealthy family, etc.) and I didn't want to be in it anymore and was cheating on her. I had a lot of guilt from the actions that I did during the marriage and I'll be really careful about getting into something serious again.

Something I love now is being able to go wherever I want to go, sleep in on the weekends without being asked to go run an errand, eating out every night, eating on the couch or the bed in front of the TV. Being single is the ultimate freedom. Still, the institution of marriage is so great. The idea of marriage. About having someone there to take care of you and love you for the rest of your life. I have a soft spot in my heart that will never give up on the idea of getting remarried again. Sometimes I think to myself do I really want to be alone when I'm 35, 40, 45, 50? Men are foolish sometimes. We only think about today or tomorrow whereas women think about next year and 5 years from now. Sorry to get so philosophical on you all. I just have been doing a lot of thinking while listening to my Ipod walking around various cities like Paris, London, Nuremberg, etc. Anyway, I woke up really early. I didn't sleep much. My hottie girl called and wants to meet up before work for a drink then I'll go out with her on another date tonight to the movies at ChipiChope mall. Maria called me too. She noticed I had no Salsa music on my Ipod so she said she wanted to give me a gift of a Salsa CD. I have a busy day planned but I thought that was a nice gesture and will stop by and pick it up later in the afternoon after I visit my girl.

This is probably my last update this trip. Sadly, I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I had another good day. It's been interesting getting to know the people and the city of Cali. The nicest group of people I have ever known. I met my girlfriend, Erika for some drinks before she went to work after I hooked up with an American that moved here. I think I could sit for hours just staring into her eyes. Physical attraction is important but the thing about these Calenas is they are genuinely sweet. (ellas son muy carinosas y muy dulces!) I laughed a few times because when I was in Cuba with my buddy Stu, our theme chant everyday when we'd get together that we'd all say is, "una chica muy linda, con una cara muy bonita, un buen cuerpo, con un corazon grande y muy carinosa!" (a very pretty girl, with a very pretty face, a good body with a big heart that is very affectionate). Those guys razzed me because every time a girl asked me what kind of girl I was looking for -- I would throw out that answer. Every single time so he and Elie (another friend from Israel I met in Cuba) would chant that every day. Pretty soon we'd be in our rental car and just chant out those words. It was pretty funny. Stu, if you are reading this you'll be happy to know that I'm finding all those qualities in these girls.

Some generally interesting things I noticed is that places like McDonald's, Subway, etc. are here. And you know what? They are making a fortune. You have to understand that the price of an extra value meal here is not cheap. In fact, it's just a little less than one in the USA but these people don't make much. I've met lots of non-pro girls that work 6 days a week and only make 600,000 pesos a month (about $225) yet they are eating at McDonalds. You know what? I think it's sort of a status symbol thing. They want to be able to say to their friends or other family members... "hey, I took my family to McDonald's last night". It's really strange to see all the McDonald's packed. The other thing is do you think all these US businesses would be doing business here if it was as dangerous as people portray Colombia to be? While I will admit that Colombia statistically is a dangerous country and the American living here threw out some statistics to me that weren't too good, I find it a little gem. I seriously doubt Cali will ever become a mainstream destination. Some people might be worried about "getting ripped off" here. The thing they don't realize is there is no big tourism industry here so the locals probably wouldn't even know where to begin.

If you rent a Bell South cellphone you can buy rechargable cards all over the malls at the Bell South stands or in most major supermarkets. They come in 10,000; 20,000 and 30,000 peso refills. They might have higher too but just get a little at a time. I find the cell phones to be expensive here. You dial *611 to add refill credits and to check your balance. It's all in Spanish. Just dial 1 to add credits and 2 to check your balance. If you're calling a local NON-cell phone from your cell phone you need to dial 032 before the local # or it won't work. If you speak Spanish definitely rent a cellphone so you can talk with the chicas. Remember what I said about first impressions. These girls like guys that dress well. To them it's a signal that you have your stuff together and can take care of yourself. They take good care of themselves and even in the malls like Chipi Chope you'll see free big industrial scales that have a sign that say, "Watch your weight". Jeeze. The American girls could sure use those, huh? Anyway, I'm waiting on my girl. She is coming over to pick me up then we're going to the movies at Chipi Chope. Some of you emailed me asking where I went to dinner last night. It was a place in the South of Cali called, Rancho de Jonas. Her family picked it out. It was ok. Outdoor patio type place with a mariachi band. Food was pretty decent but not fabulous.

I’m sitting here at the Miami airport. Damn I hate connecting through Miami. It’s always a zoo. I thought I’d give details of departing Cali’s airport. Damn, it’s a zoo. My flight left at 8:15 AM so I was told to leave my hotel at 5 AM. I had to get up at 4 AM. I only slept two hours so I’m dead. Everyone told me it could take a while to go through the airport so I took their advice and left by 5 AM. If you are flying First/Business or you’re Platinum/EXP you don’t have to leave so early since you avoid the long lines. The regular line was long but I zipped through the First Class line. You should note that before you go through the ticketing agent you need to go upstairs to get a waiver form so you don’t get socked with extra taxes. Your airline should have already taxed you the $25 however, if you don’t go upstairs and get the waiver form and your passport stamped you must pay extra money. Go upstairs then go to your left and there is a small window with a guy working. He will ask for your passport and will stamp it and fill out a form then hand it back to you. Go back downstairs and get in line and you’re set.

The airport was the only place I went where a few people spoke English (only the American Airlines employees). At the entrance of the door to say goodbye there were all these people crying. You have to understand that Colombians have it extremely tough. They need visas for just about every single country except Peru, Argentina, Brazil and maybe a handful of other countries. The ones that are lucky enough to go to the USA take it, sometimes even if it means leaving family members behind. I’ve never seen so many people crying at an airport before and I’ve been to quite a few airports. It broke my heart to see what these family members were going through. Imagine your mom leaving alone with your sister while you’re standing there with your dad and your other sisters and brothers. That’s what I saw. The father looked at me and I just gave him a kind of “I’m sorry amigo look”. I was also sad to leave my new girlfriend behind but I can’t even compare it to these people. Seeing this scene made me realize just how damn lucky we are as Americans. It just doesn’t seem fair to me that we have it easier just because we are born just a few thousand miles north of these people. Unfortunately the majority of these people will never have the opportunity to improve their life too much. No one wants to loan them money even if they have a good idea or they are intelligent or have a good business sense.

I did meet a few people that were lucky to get visas but they stayed behind because of almost the exact situation as the family above. In one case the father and mother and 2 of their kids got visas but 2 didn’t. Rather than split up the family members they all stayed behind. There is no rhyme or reason to the decision making process of giving out visas. I also met others here that lived in the USA before and came back. They made it through the difficult process of getting a visa but they found life in the USA disenchanting. Everyone thinks the USA is this easy place where great jobs are falling likes leaves off a tree. Where money is easy to make. The reality is the USA is one of the easiest countries in the world to make a little bit of money and difficult to make a lot of money. These people were working 2 or 3 jobs just to pay for their rent, food, kid’s clothes, medical bills. They came to the USA to improve their lives but they were slaves working daily to break even.

Another person that I met that fell in that category was my taxi driver back to the airport. He was a cool guy. His name is Felix Franco. Younger at 40 years old and his English is perfect. He is easy going and I just really got a good feeling from him. If you speak little to no Spanish or even if you do he is a good guy to call to use as a driver or translator. Most of these guys in Cali charge about $10 - $15 an hour. I told him I know some people that might come to Cali. I got the price down to $8 an hour for you and if you use him more than 6 hours a day he’ll drop it down to $6. I’ve been fortunate to meet good people. I’m a good judge of character and this guy will take good care of you. It’s funny in the taxi we were talking about how hot the Caleñas are and he told me I’d like the Paisas (girls from Medellin) too. He married one.

I asked him how he could possibly be married here with so many beautiful girls. He told me honestly he wakes up and the first thing he does is pray to God that he can be strong and not give into temptation. Ha! Talk about a strong guy. He also told me that sometimes he feels lucky not to be wealthy here because there would be too many temptations with the opportunities it would bring. The ironic thing is even if you had a ton of money you probably couldn’t spend it. I mean, you don’t want to stand out too much. You can’t have too nice of a house; you can’t buy a nice car, etc. I was surprised to see not even one convertible in a town with perfect weather for a convertible but it’s just too dangerous I’m told. I only saw American and Asian cars. I only saw one BMW the entire 11 days I was there. Cars are expensive here.

I originally was only staying 5 days so I just had a back pack and a Travel Pro 22’ suitcase. You can actually pack a lot in those Travel Pro’s. I went through customs which was easy. Here is where I made my mistake. I went into the Admiral’s Club which is immediately to the right after Passport Control. The airport is hot and humid with no air conditioning. The Admiral’s Club isn’t that nice here but the air conditioning is extremely strong. There was no one at the front desk so I imagine anyone can use it since no one checked if I was a member. There is only coffee and orange juice. They didn’t even have bottled water. They did have CNN though in English. I was dead tired and fell asleep. I woke up and it was 7 AM. Perfect… so I thought since my plane didn’t leave till 8:15 and boarding started at 7:30 AM. I go out and I see this LONG line. I think to myself sh*t! To make matters worse there is only one x-ray machine, a drug sniffing dog and they were frisking everyone so the process is slow. If you come here skip the admiral’s club and just go to your gate.

I waited there one hour standing in line. Yes, you heard that right. The only comforting thing was that many in line behind me were on my flight too so I knew the plane wasn’t going anywhere. So I finally get to the front of the line. The guy decides to open up my suitcase and take out EVERYTHING. It took me a while to pack since I bought some stuff and it was jam packed. They even checked the lining. They made me turn on my laptop. It took forever. If you use drugs I highly advise to leave them at home or don’t do them this trip. This isn’t the country you want to get locked up in. Also, in Miami the first thing you see is drug sniffing dogs. I’ve never done any drugs in my life and glad after hearing some of the problems they caused some of these people that I met in Cali. I’m on my plane now and missing Cali.

There is a guy sitting next to me on the plane and I told him I went to Cali and he looked at me like I was out of my mind. He told me how dangerous it is. I asked if he’d been there and he said no. I do realize that statistically Colombia is a dangerous country. I was only there 11 days. I can honestly say that I felt as safe in Colombia as I did in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In fact, I’d say I saw more shady characters in the Copacabana area than I saw in all of Cali. I will definitely be back here. Maybe in as few as 3 weeks. Good or bad I started some sort of relationship with my girl here. I’m ok with the courtship phase. It’s been a while since I’ve gone through this process of dating. I'm not exactly the serious boyfriend type since my divorce a few years ago.

It was sweet at the movies my girl told me that she is breaking up with her boyfriend tomorrow. I was pretty honest with her. I told her that I’ve really met a lot of girls all around the world and in my life. I also told her that I haven’t been able to forget her which is true. I asked her how much she makes working at the salon 6 days a week (sometimes 7) and I was floored when she told me only 350,000 pesos a month (less than $150). I couldn’t believe it. I know her family struggles but they seem like they have a happy life. They are so wonderful together and love each other so much. You should have seen them at dinner that one night. I’ve never seen a stronger bond and a better relationship. I was actually envious and wished I had that kind of family growing up. I had the things that most would consider essential: living in a nice house in a nice neighborhood, went to the best private schools, didn’t lack for food or clothing etc. but I can’t remember a time when I experienced what I witnessed that night at dinner with her family. Many American families look good on the outside looking in but are dysfunction as they can get.

Anyway, after the movie it was late but I asked her brother if I could walk around with her a bit alone and talk. I gave him some money to buy a drink but I didn’t see anything open. I’m not sure if this was a right move or not but I gave her some money and I told her that I wanted to help her. I told her not to work so hard and to take more English classes. She is only taking English classes 2 nights a week but has made very little progress since she can’t study too much. She wouldn’t take the money at first but I reasoned with her and by the end of the conversation she had tears in her eyes and was thanking me. She told me she couldn’t believe she met me. I told her that I’m not a wealthy guy but I will help whenever I can and I’ll be there for her. We kissed and we just held one another for a while. Neither of us really had to say anything but we both had the same look in our eyes. It was a bittersweet moment. Maybe some of you that live in Colombia can tell me if this was an OK move or not what I did. I didn’t want to offend her and she certainly wasn’t offended. She never asked for anything from me.

Sometimes I just like helping out a little. I’m not expecting anything in return for this. I did it in Buenos Aires too where I met a girl working in a restaurant slaving her ass off. I had no romantic interests in her even though she was cute and expressed interest in me. I gave her about $150 (500 pesos) a month for almost a year. I opened up a US bank account and added her name and added money in it. It helped her get a tourist visa and she now is living in Europe. We keep in touch from time to time and she always tells me that she will never forget what I did for her and will pay me back someday. I’m not writing this to hear what a great guy I am. I don’t think it’s anything special. I just think sometimes in life you have to do nice things for the sake of doing them. I feel so happy that my friend is happy now in Europe. She would have never gotten anywhere in Argentina. Some of you have met her. She handed out flyers at one of the restaurants on Junin street in Recoleta. I hope this in some way inspires other people to help others in some small way.

Even if I don’t stay with this girl I’m thinking of telling her that I’ll give her 600,000 pesos a month (almost double her monthly salary) if she agrees to take English classes full-time. It no doubt will help her have a happier future. Her best friend lives in the USA and she doesn’t seem to have a big desire to live in Cali. She has no friends in Cali and is kind of a home body. She doesn’t go out much. I asked her mom at dinner if she would miss her daughter if she moved to the USA and her mom had a tear in her eye and told me that her daughter is her life. She loves her more than she loves herself. She told me though that if knowing that her daughter was happy and had a legitimate chance of a good future she would be happy. It was a Hallmark moment. I know some of this sounds gushy. If so, stop reading. No one is forcing you to read this. Many emotions and thoughts are going through my head right now but I’m so happy that I went to Colombia. I didn’t know what to expect but it was a very enriching experience if you couldn’t tell from my diary. Sometimes you just have to do something impulsive. I just got a ticket on a whim with very little notice. Life is short and you have to take advantage of the time you have. I truly hope some of you were able to gain some valuable information from my diary. I hope you could take something positive out of it. Good luck. I hope people visit this city full of amazing and wonderful people.

2005-05-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

Lake Louis, Canada

2005-05-13T22:30:00.000-07:00

Florence, Italy

2005-05-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

Hermosillo, Mexico

2005-05-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

Amsterdam, Netherlands

2005-05-13T22:26:00.000-07:00

Cancun, Mexico

2005-05-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

Buenos Aires, Argentina

"You should write a book!"

2005-05-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

In 2001, I asked myself what I would do if my doctor told me that I only have 3 years to live. What would be important to me? Would my priorities change? The things that I always thought that were important might not be so important anymore. I tried to stay within reason, but I really tried to stick to the premise that I had about 3 years to live. What were the things that I would focus on over that 3 years? I quickly decided that I would travel and see the world. Traveling was always exciting to me but I only took on average, one or two international trips a year before my whirlwind adventure began. After I started my adventure, I would often be in three different countries every month.

The USA is one of the best countries in the world but Americans have this warped sense of reality that we are the center of the Universe. It is estimated that less than 20% of Americans own a passport, thus a very low rate of international travel. Many Americans can't locate both Mexico and Canada on the map which is shameful. In my extensive travels outside of the United States I began to see how "ugly" Americans can be. In many places around the world, it was the Americans who were loud and obnoxious, didn't make an effort to blend in or just didn't respect the country that they were in.

Everyone that I have ever met has told me that I should write a book. My friends all use to tell me that my life was unbelievable and they wouldn't believe it if (a) they didn't know me and (b) I didn't have the pictures to prove it. My friend use to tell me that my life was a mixture of a Seinfelt episode mixed with a soap opera combined with a Lifetime TV movie.

I do admit that I have lived an extremely exciting life. I have been blessed with good health and a positive outlook on life. I have always had the attitude that no one is going to give you anything in life. If you want something you have to go out and get it. No one gave me anything. Everything that I have I did on my own.

Most people lead an ordinary life. They have an ordinary job, have an ordinary house and do ordinary things all their lives. I believe you must do extraordinary things in your life to be special and take full advantage of this short time we have here on Earth.

It will take a long time but I will eventually post detailed reports from various places I have traveled to. I type over 150 words a minute so that will help but I'm really pressed for time working. I love photography as well and took many photographs from most of my vacations so I will post them as well.

I have done some crazy things during the past 3 years. From the time that I met a girl in Cali, Colombia that I didn't know and bought her and her brother passports, clothes, suitcases, plane/train tickets to fly and meet me in Peru... to the time I met a girl online from Mexico and dropped everything to go fly and meet her to the countless vacations where I decided to fly to Paris or London "this weekend" at the last minute. Hopefully it is as entertaining as it was fun for me.

I enjoy writing and took my small Dell laptop on most of my trips to listen to music and write in my journal. Luckily I saved my journals so many areas (not all) I will post my diary as well. I always planned on writing a detailed book about my life and my adventures. Almost every single person I have met has told me that I life was a good "book" or "movie" in the making. Who knows.... maybe someday I will sell the rights to make a movie based on my adventures called "3 Years to Live". Maybe I can ask them to star Ben Affleck to play me?