My Reverse Immigration

In 1845 the Great Famine in Ireland struck. Masses of Irish Immigrated to the U.S. to find work and food. By the end of the famine the U.S. Irish population surged to 12%. Amongst those that came to avoid starvation was my great grandfather. Until I came to Ireland, I hadn't noticed the subtle Irish ways were passed down through the generations to my brother and I. Two of these became clear after my first night hanging out with the Irish: horseplay and a rip roaring sense of crude humor. After a few pints, no matter the gender or age, everybody is playfully shoving and getting punches in the arm after making fun of each other. Its like this island is one big family reunion for me. I feel at home here.

My time in Dublin was brief. Saw Trinity College, snuck into the Guinness Storehouse, saw all the touristy bars that I vowed not to go into and I was off. My first stop was Galway on the other side of the Island to visit my friend Alva that I had met in Laos. Its an Irish custom to say 'You should come visit' when meeting people in other countries, but they don't actually expect you to do it. I did. Couldn't help myself, I love it when people say 'Never thought I would see you again.' We hit the town and found my first, proper pint of the black stuff. After a few of those we went and found the traditional Irish music at a famous pub called The Crane. The music was fantastic and I wanted to seek out this 'trad' every night for as long as I'm in Ireland.

I decided to get as far from the tourist stuff as possible so I started hitching up the west coast until I found a place worth staying. I eventually came to a place called Dunegal... in the county of Dunegal. It can be very confusing. Here in Dunegal they speak English by mumbling as incoherently as possible. Watching the conversation between my new host and the barkeep gave me a headache. Some of the people in the town cant understand what I say unless I mumble it. That night we had quite a few pints then moved over to find some more 'trad'. We found an accordion and a guitar rocking it 1800's style in a pub where my host and I were the youngest by at least 30 years. I was pleased to be informed that I was, most likely, the only tourist in the entire town.

This town is tiny and I love it. I think I'll stay here for a bit. I updated the photo archive. All my pictures are there from Turkey, the Balkans and so on. Enjoy.

Spain

Compared to Spain, the rest of Europe is pretty homogenous. I hitched my way into Barcelona and for the first time since Turkey, I felt the warm sunlight on my face. Barcelona´s fantastic beach, food, sunlight and architechture made me sure that I will be here again. The best way to see it all is on a bicycle. There nothing more fun that zipping through the little back streets all the way to the beach.

Eating Spanish style is very different from the U.S. First of all, lunch doesnt start til about 2pm. It usually consists of bread, olives and semi-cooked meat called chorizo and jamon. Jamon is the meet from a pigs leg after it has been smoked for a really long time. In the picture you can see one lunch spot has pig´s legs hanging from everypart of the cieling, just waiting for thier chance to be carved.

Next up was Madrid. I didn´t have enough time to cruise down to souther Spain, I´ll have to leave that for another trip. Madrid is more of the buzzing metropolis of Spain. I did find some cool things to see while I was here though. My favorite was the Royal Palace. Everyroom was decked out in silk, gold and marble. The best part of it all was Royal Armory. This is where I got to see all of the medevil swords, pistols and armor. The armor was an amazing sight. Armor for knights, horses, dogs and childre. They wouldn´t let me take pictures inside... I tried.

Today I leave for Ireland. Two weeks of Ireland then NYC.

Last Call for Gifts....

Spain is a beautiful country with an incredible density of culture.  After my fantastic time here im heading to Ireland to reunite with the culture of my forefathers: Potatoes and Whiskey.  If you would like a present from one of these two places, go here and make a donation

Hitching France

I pretty much sprinted though France so that I could spend some more time in Spain.  It was everything that imagined... which was mostly inspired by WWII video games.  They love good food and even their curse words sound elegant.  Here are some photos and a video of a badass german I hitched with in his truck (the inside had a movie setup, coffee maker and a GREAT stereo).

Say What? 2

"Whats the best pickup line at a bar when you are traveling, Gavin?"
"Do you speak English?"

"We have to view a rectoscopy again" - Milosh. Belgrade, Serbia

"Hey Milosh, what happend to that building? A massive fire?"
"No, YOU BOMBED IT" - Milosh. Belgrade, Serbia

"You American? Uuuuuuugggggg. Me no go America. No give visa. Me criminal" Illigal immigrant driver in Austia

"Are you listening to ZZ top?"
"Oui!" (French for yes, "Wee") - CS host in Montpellier, France

Travel Buddy Reunions

Ive been traveling almost seven months now and I've met a lot of great people from all over the world. The French are always polite in not liking my kind, the Canadians are usually just Americans avoiding political debates, the Aussies always have a great sense of humor, but the Dutch... they always lead to great times. I dont know what they put in the water, or maybe its the laid back culture that and growing up with all the those legalized drugs but if you ever find yourself in the situation of a group splitting up to different bars and you dont know which half to go with, just follow the Dutch.

I got to Germany just fine by thumbing it. The problem was that I had been there before and I have been running out of time before my flights. I looked on a map and had two options: Go slow to Barcelona through France or haul ass to see where all these cool Netherlanders come from. I chose the latter

Back at Tiger Leaping Gorge, a national park in China, I met up with a Dutchman named... Actually I cant tell you his name. This guy has a very long arrest record because of how active he is in protests and other community activism. A sweet old granny gave me a ride into his hometown. There is a long story to this guy but Ill just give the highlights. One hell of a character. Take all the cool, smooth talking and stone face expressions of James Dean, the attitude and clothes of a punker, mash them together and let it run wild in Holland.

This guy is most famous to me for what he and his group does as "Squaters." In short, they take over properties that aren't being used. They usually do this because its a waste of a building, to preserve affordable housing or to save a historical fort from becoming a yuppie hotel. About six years ago my friend and his very large group broke into Fort Pannerden, a beautiful for that was in use during WWII, kicked out the security forces and then barracaded themselves inside. The local response was for military and police forces to evict them by using force. I'll try and find some footage. My buddy took me for a tour of the Fort and we spent the day hanging out with other activists sharing stories of protests, fights with police and brawls with Neo-Nazis. I just kept quite. That night I actually slept at a squat downtown. Nice place, they did a lot of renovations since they kicked the door in and took over.

After some walking around in Amsterdam I made my way to Dan Haag to visit Janice, who I met in Laos. We haven't done that much. Just relax in glorious Holland and ate... a lot. Ive never met anybody that eats as much as Janice and she is only 90 pounds. No travel for a couple days, just sitting, eating, movie, eat, sleep, eat eat eat and cruise suberbia on bikes.