Ryan's Globetrotting Adventures

New Blog

2006-10-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

Ryan is Blogging Again!!
I'm not traveling, but there is still lots to blog about.
Fort St. John Huskies Blog
Moose FM Afternoons Blog\
ch-ch-check me out.

London... Ontario

2005-11-04T16:04:00.000-08:00

Yeah, damn.
London, ON... not London, England.
Not that London, ON is bad ('cause I'm chillin' with my sister, having a great time), it just signifies the end of my exploring and wandering, as opposed London,UK, which would mean more nomadic behavior of which I am so fond.
*
First step on Canadian soil (or tile i suppose) was in Montreal's Trudeau International Airport (did you know Montreal-Trudeau is one of the only airports in North America that is prepared to handle the Airbus A380, which is expected to begin service in 2006?). Being off the continent for almost 3 months, I had a few goods/services I was eager to exchange for Canadian montary units. 1) The Hockey News - aside from Latvia, where I travelled people would ask if it was field hockey or ice hockey that I was talking about. 2) A National Newspaper - Globe, Post... I don't care. 3) Check my email.
Luckily for me all these goods and services can be readily found in Montreal Trudeau... usually. No Hockey News, Sold out of National Papers and Bell's Internet service kept crashing on me, whilst convieniently swallowing my loonies and two-nies.
*
Stopped by the HHOF in Toronto a few days ago. I figured Lord Stanley's Mug would put a smile on my mug. It did (it certainly wasn't the TampaBay Lightning Championship Photo).

*
It is tough to reflect on such an uncomparable experience that travelling is. It is the life for those seeking adventure. Now I have two months to get some money in my pocket, and dream about my future travels.
*
I hope that you have enjoyed the blog. It was a new experience for me and I found it fairly easy and fun. Hope you didn't find it too self indulgant or egotistical of me! In fact I think I am thinking about starting a new Blog. Not on travel of course, as my travels have halted for the moment, but perhaps on sports. Those who know me well know that I not often short on sports opinions. Who knows!
*
That's all for now.

Budapest... the end is near.

2005-10-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

Sad, but true.
Monday AM, I'm sooooo out of here and back to the Great White North. Back in Cow-Vegas a week later.
All this means I am soaking it all in here in my final few days. Budapest is spectacular, I was here earlier and made sure to save lots of time at the backend of my trip to do it right.
Hatsburg and Turkish Baths, Caving under Buda, The Terror Museum (tough to imagine this city still was under Russian/Soviet influence just 15 or so years ago), an "all you can eat & drink" restaurant, Skating outside of one of what seems to be an endless supply of Castles/Churhes/Palaces that are scattered across the skyline in both Buda (west of the river) and Pest (east of the river). I've been busy!
~
Just said goodbye to Richard MacLean and Max Dodd after a week or so of hitching up with them in Poland and here in Hungary. So random, and so against any odds that we met so out of the blue... it was really great to catch up with them after years of only occasional sightings and conversations.
~
The weekend nears... hope all is well whatever city/country the computer moniter in front of you is in.
~
as Linda Richmond from Coffee Talk (Cawfee Tawlk) on SNL said:
"I'm getting verclemped... discuss amoungst yourselves...
Buda Palace

The Parliament - Yeah, The Parliament!

Puking in Poland

2005-10-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

I've decided to publish this posting in this peticular colour for obvious reasons! I'm in Krakow now and I'm not getting more than 50ft away from a washroom at anytime.
-
I bumped into Richard MacLean and Max Dodd in a hostel last night. Small world... I hadn't seen these fellow hellraising junior high school amigos for at least a year each. We went out for dinner and were planning on having a few beers, until my stomach started doing its best rollercoaster impression! No doubt I have a virus/flu/fever at the moment. So my next move to Budapest is on hiatus until I can stomach something for more than 20 minutes. Goddam! I turn into such a baby when I'm sick (allthough I don't think anybody likes 3AM sprints to the washroom).
-
Crazy first few days here though:
a) Auschwitz was incredibly terrifying, I couldn't believe the lengths that the Nazis went in attempting to exterminate all the Jews in Europe. A serious hate on.
b) Krakow is sooo beautiful, the main square is stunning, I heard many complimentary things about the City, but not until I got here did I truely understand.
-
Oh, gotta run... ahhhh!

Hello Lithuania!

2005-10-17T03:07:00.000-07:00

Well, much like saying good-byes to friends as you travel only to find new ones around the next corner, leaving Latvia was sad, but I've been welcomed with open arms by Lithuania! I'm in Vilnius (the capital) today, I was in Kaunas (2nd biggest city) yesterday.
The baltic peeps can party! In Kaunas I stayed with locals my age. Night one we hit up a cool club playing sweet Drum and Bass music. Night two we went to the Kaunas Jazz festival to watch a Jazz group from the UK (Maceo Parker was the headliner... I saw him in CowVegas a few years ago).
Today I'll be wandering around Vilnius Old Town. 14 full days left for me... nuts.
The end is in sight!
Sad!

Jewish monument in Kaunas

Goodbye Latvia

2005-10-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

Well after sleeping outdoors and coughing up ca$h galore to get here, Latvia was without question worth the effort. 6 nights in Riga and 3 nights in Liepaja (old Soviet port city) made a lasting impression on me. While I expected a strong russian/soviet influence on the area, I was amazed how much the country felt Scandanavian.
-
The pic to the Left is the 2nd largest Russian Orthodox Church in Liepaja, which was a stones throw from the coolest hostel I've stayed in through all my travels: "Karosta" or"Ķ@2". Karosta is a Art Gallery/Residence, Hostel, Cultural Centre, and meeting place of great artistic minds! (www.karosta.lv)
-
Highlights of the last week or so include, stoping in a hockey arena to watch young Latvians play hockey, meeting a boatload of the coolest local folk in Riga (funner and cheaper than a tour guide, renting a tandem bicycle with Dan in Liepaja while everybody in the city snicked at us, and checking out the rubble left behind by the soviets on the coast as they withdrew their military presence in the early ninties. (see pic below).
-

-
Now I'm off to Lithuania, where I'll be visiting Kaunas, the second largest city in the country and home to one of the best european basketball teams in Europe (what else would you expect from the birth place of Arvydus Sabonis and Zdrunus Illgalskus).

Riga, Latvia

2005-10-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

Known to most Canadians for its export of a few fine hockey players (Arturs Irbe, Karlis Skrastins, the late Sergei Zholtok, and Sandish Ozolinsh to name a few), Latvia is a baltic country of about 2 Million people with about 750,000 living in Riga, The capital city.
-
Riga Rocks! The Latvian economy is one of the fastest growing in Europe, but things tend to be very inexpensive here. Ah, but rather than spend less here in Latvia, I have chosen to live like royalty instead, treating myself to fine meals and beverages under the same budget as the rest of my travels!
-
Dan and I are staying with some friends of friends in an appartment here, after two days at a hostel. The past few days were spent dancing, singing and not sleeping with a grooup of 15 Norweigiens who were being taught about the Soviet Occupation by one of Dan traveling friends!
-
As you can see I have photos now. YAY! Im going to go back through all my posts and add photos to spice up the Blog! Technology, eh!
-
As for the coming days, Dan and I would like to head to the coast and check out a coastal town that used to be a huge naval facility for the Russian/Soviet Military that nearly turned into a ghost town when Latvia gained independance (for the 2nd time) and now is turning into a cultural and educational destination in Latvia. Apparently there is a Prison where they re-enact the Soviet rule and you are in the cells. For two hours they interrogate you (''I swear I'm not a greedy capitalist officer!''), make you do push-ups and play mind games with you! I'm so down!!
-
hope all is well at home (wherever that is), the leaves have turned and are falling here, which means my scheduled time for adventure is shrinking quickly. WAHHH, I don't want to go!

Toulouse the Black Hole of Death (part deux!)

2005-10-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!
France continues to haunt my travels. As you may recall I had to blow off a ticket to Istanbul due to the black hole of death... Toulouse (from Budapest... see part one). This time it got worse.
here is a play by play of my last few days.
Tuesday
5:30am- walking around train station wondering why there is no trains
6:00am- find out about French National General Strike
6:15- fork over way to mush cash to cabbie to drive us for 45 min to airport
8:00- check in for flight
8:15- flight cancelled
8:30- get first leg of flight rescheduled
8:45- find out second leg of flight isn't fixable
11:00- go to mall... sit... play cards... listen to horrid french cover songs over mall sound system
14:00- go back to airport to sleep under staircase
19:00- get kicked out of closing airport
19:15- arrive at the golden arches
23:00- get kicked out of golden arches
24:00- back at airport planning to sleep on front step under awning. put on all clothes we own. brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Wednesday
3:00- brrrrrrrrrrrrr
7:00- wake up. brrrrrrrrrrrr
10:00- arrive in london pay $80 fee each for fixing second leg of flight.
19:00- arrive in Riga. Finally. Beer? Yes, Please.
Damn the French!
Im sending Jaques Chirac a Bill!

This clown owes me money!

Two Dozen and Counting

2005-09-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

yeah, yeah, yeah.
happy b-day to me!
woke up, went to the beach (its still damn hot in barcelona), swam, threw my disc (frisbee), hanging out with awesome folk, out to celebrate soon.
great day.
only gettin better.
palm tree and a sea breeze, I wouldn't want to spend it any other way.

Ronaldhino... Ultimate

2005-09-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, the FC Barcelona game was brilliant. For what it lacked in violence and flares (see my posting on the game I went to in Zagreb, Croatia) it made up for in brilliant football (soccer). A 4-1 win for the home side, with Ronaldhino getting a hattrick! Brilliant.

OKAY, HE AIN'T PRETTY, BUT HE CAN PLAY!
-
I somehow managed to stumble into one of the rowdiest hostels in europe! happy hour is 2L of beer for 3 Euros... thats like $4.20 for 6 beers. Yeah... the name of the hostel is Kabul.
-
If you need to get a hold of me in the next 5 days I'll be on the beach (Platja Barceloneta) throwing disc and playing ulitmate with a bunch of students here... and obviously at Kabul for Happy Hour!!
-
Late!

Toulouse the black hole of death

2005-09-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

Just spent four days in Toulouse, France chilling with good ole Calgary boy Dan Murray. Tons of students and young people that work at Airbus, so always a party to go to and people to meet. Getting out of that town was a mess though. I had a flight to Istanbul from Budapest, but I´m blowing off the ticket, as it was going to cost me a billion euros to get there to make the Flight (not worth the $380 flight I just flushed down the pooper).
-
I´m heading off to Riga, Latvia on the 4th of Oct. with Dan, as he is moving out of his place and quiting his job in a restaurant. The Baltics should be a blast. I´m going to work from Latvia all the way down through eastern europe to Istanbul. Excellent.
-
I´m in Barcelona right now looking to catch a FC Barcelona Champions League match tonight (im actually waiting for a ticket store to open now). Their probably the best team on the planet right now. Ronaldhinio is their superstar brizillian god, he is the highest paid footballer. Not bad!!

A Beginers Guide to Hitch-Hiking in France

2005-09-23T22:57:00.000-07:00

Supplies
1 black marker, 1 piece of cardboard (the bigger the better).

Technique
1)Write the name of desired destination on cardboard with black marker.
2)Stand by highway, point sign at oncoming traffic and wait.

Tips
-So, it sounds easy, but this is a very demoralizing experience. If you view every car that passes you in Paris as a possible ride to Toulouse, you must be ready to accept a few thousand "nos" before a single "yes".
-Nobody wants to pick up an angry or sad bum off the side of the highway, so to keep spirits high you can sing or whistle your favorite tune.
-wait for a few hours before quitting. When you are sure you are screwed and are ready to quit, wait for another 30 min. Consider it a sacrifice to the hitch-hiking gods.
-Start your hitching early in the day, otherwise you'll end up stuck in Orleans (old, not new) one hour out of Paris, eating a shitty dish of spagetti that looks like it was just ripped out of a dead animals stomach, glistening in pig snot at some cheap truck stop restaurant that plays shitty music, next to a crappy motel you're sleeping in where you can hear the couple next door fight... and then make up... and out.

WOULD YOU ACCEPT A RIDE FROM THIS 300 LBS MONSTER!? HOW HAVE THE FRENCH LOST ANY WAR WITH THIS DUDE IN THE COUNTRY!?

Pula-Ljubljana-Paris-L'Ile D'Yeu

2005-09-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

During a half-assed visit in Pula, Croatia, I met up with a pair of threesomes - one of the male and Irish variety and one of the English and female variety - and we made our way to Ljubljana, Slovenia ("lue-bee-anna") as a mean posse of seven explorers. What a beautiful town... it seems like it is a big city, but only has about 300,000 (beautiful) people. We were all itching for a big night of dancing & drinks, and indulged in a creepy cocktail bar with skeletons everywhere!
Then the trek to the Atlantic began:
A night in a train to Venice, a cheap flight to Paris, a 5 hr drive to the coast, a night in a VW Polo (apparently Golfs aren't small enough), and a ferry ride and I am now at a family friends summer place on an Island called L'Ile D'Yeu (France) in the Atlantic. Sailing, Frisbee, Bocce, Coffee, Muscles, ect., ect. Ill be here for another few days decompressing!
gosta go, the letters are all in different places on this keyboard and it is making me crazy!!

BIKING IN FRANCE AND THE ARENA IN PULA.

Croissants, Sudukos and a Glow Stick!?

2005-09-13T18:22:00.000-07:00

Yeppers that's right, loved Zagreb, but its time to move on. Talked to an old friend from Belgium over the phone a few days ago and we're going to meet in Paris on Friday and head to his place on the coast to do some sailing (I wish I was paying more attention in PE when we went to the resevior). Found a cheap flight from Venice to Paris via smartly named RyanAIR.
-
So my old man and I got hooked on Suduko Logic Puzzles a few months ago. Very addictive, if you've never tried one, don't! I Thought I would go cold turkey and go on my travels without any. It was all good until I arrived at my hostel on a rainy day in Sarajevo. I was like a chronic gambler whose flight gets re-routed through Vegas with a nights layover! The whole hostel was teeming with Suduko addicts. I began pulling at my hair and scratching my chin out of pure habit! "Stay Strong" I thought, but the cravings were too striong. Next thing I know its 2:00AM and I the only person in the hostel not sleeping. DAMN YOU SUDUKO, DAMN YOU!
-
Hoping to track down Dan Murray (aka GSD: Glow Stick Dan) while I'm in France. The Euro-Pimp is elusive, but I've caught his scent.

nil-nil and i loved every minute!

2005-09-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know nobody like soccer (football in the rest of the world) in North America, and the game did end in a scoreless draw, but I get it now. The game isn't about goals or wins or points in the standings... it is all about insane amounts of totally irrational foolish behavior! I've never seen such chaos at a sporting event.
The game was stopped a half dozen times due to flares being on the field, and there were four TNT detinations that nearly scared the shit out of me! Croatian fans are nuts.
apparently there were only 120ish arrests, but they have to escort the opposition fans from there own isolated section in the stadium through a wall of riot police that were getting mobbed by the local fans.
Insanity.

RIOT COPS GETTING READY FOR WORK (CHECK THE GEAR)!

Zagreb... On Drugs!

2005-09-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

Well, Sarajevo was incredible, but now I'm back in Croatia.
-
After a few days in Split, I'm now back in Zagreb (the starting point of my travels in Mid-August). I heard about a big football match here between Hejduk (Split) and Dinammo (Zagreb), and had to get here! The game is tomorrow and is between the two best teams in the country. I've been warned about fights, by almost every local I have talked to about the match. There are going to be 1,000 police officers and about 40,000 fans in the Stadium! I'm fired up.
-
As I mentioned before, this is my second pass through the capital. The first time I was in Zagreb I really enjoyed myself, but was told that the city was dead as all the locals were on the coast soaking up the sun. I've been walking around all morning and it looks like somebody just shot the city up with steroids! Dj's spinning in the Squares, way more people everywhere. I love it! De La Soul preformed here last night and the Hives are tonight! It would be rude not to go!
-
I'm sleeping in a tent on the front lawn of a hostel here. It's better than it sounds though, as the hostel is next to a Chocolate factory!
I've been dreaming about chocolate rivers, everlasting gobstoppers and Umpa-Lumpas in my tent at night!
-
The next posting will surely update my injuries following the hooliganism at the footy match!

Sarajevo!

2005-09-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

Life was a little to easy in Croatia! I needed to up the intensity. So here I am in Sarajevo, Bosnia/Herzgovina. WOW, shell and mortar blasts are visable everywhere. This is where a lot of the serious fronts of the war when Yugoslavia broke apart (following Tito kicking it) are. All of a sudden everybody wanted there own plot. Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia got there own, but Montenegro, Kosovo and others smaller groups did not get what they wanted. Also, a Milosovic led Serbia got all up in everybodys face and shit hit the fan... NUTS!
Bosnia/Herzgovina is quite a bit different from the other balkan coutries in that it is very culturally diverse, quite a large muslim poplulation. Lots of mosques, Turkish influence evident in architecture and food and such!
Sarajevo is beauty, could not have imagined it in 1984 when it hosted the winter olympics (before Calgary), then the chaos from 92-95ish. Now slowly rebuilding. Safe though!
Anyway, I am going to do a tour tomorrow of some of the serious war stuff and then back to Split in Croatia for more warm weather and water.

"WAR... HUH!... WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR..."

Stari Grad... The Road Less Travelled

2005-09-03T16:39:00.000-07:00

So, I wisely got my butt out of Hvar Town a few days ago. That place was eating my soul!
Some places are just too touristy to handle. I remember feeling the same way in Venice, Italy five years ago, wondering what the tourist to local ratio was... I imagine it was at least 20:1.
Hvar felt like shopping at Ikea, where you start at the enterance and just follow the track through the whole place. All the locals are just there to help you along the track. Wearing their yellow vests waiting to handle questions in english.
Okay, you get my point.
To escape the circus that was Hvar TownI headed on a 20 minute bus ride to Stari Grad (still on the island of Hvar, but what seemed like light years from Hvar Town). Stari Grad was such a breath of fresh air. I got my own appartment room with kitchen/livingroom, washroom and a gorgeous roof-top terrace overlooking the terra-cotta (spelling?) rooftops of the town and the belltower of the local chapel. Had an amazing dinner at the finest restaurant in the town called "Antika" with a smitten couple; Ernie and Simona. She Italian and He Croatian, they communicated in broken english. Perfect dinner guests for a solo Canadian! The meal was only $20 too, a fraction of what the price would be in snooty Hvar Town! After Dinner I ran into a Canadian film crew who were filming a movie in Stari Grad and chatted with the lead actress from Toronto. The film will be in production until winter and hopefully ready for the Summer Film Festival circuit. All in all a brilliant day and the perfect cure for a case of the touristy blues.
Sorry for the long post, but I'll be away from the computer for a few days as I am attending to international matters of the utmost importance.
I could tell you more, but I would have to kill you.

Hvar Town

2005-08-31T20:18:00.000-07:00

Hey! Hey!
I'm on the island of Hvar now, in the not so suprisingly named Hvar Town. Beauty, but uber touristy. i may rent a skooter and rock the rest of the island to rid myself of the map molesting, fanny pack sporting masses.
I'm finally getting some time alone with me, myself and I. My journal has become my new best friend.
Missed a bus to the port this morning, $60 and 45min taxi ride later, I caught my ferry here. looks like bread and Nutella is on the menu for a while!
Peace Out!

spelling air or...

2005-08-30T16:50:00.000-07:00

Whoops! I spelled the website with no "E" in globetrotter!
Too much sun!

No Good Without Evil

2005-08-30T12:14:00.000-07:00

So earlier I posted highlights of my first 10 days of travel... but all adventures have their downs to seperate the high times.

biggest downers:
1) When you swim in the Adriatic you get a salty taste in your mouth!
2) I stepped on a Sea Urchin and then danced on it all night... the day before 12 hours of hauling my bag around Split, on no sleep! left, ouch, left, ouch, left, ouch, left, ouch!
3) gave a 10000 Ft (Hungarian currency) tip... without knowing it! that's about CAN$59.00! the girl didn't have change and i thought it was a 500Ft bill (CAN$3.00). Whoops!

that's about it so far!
time for a swim, its supposed to get to 32 today. I never understood spray deoderant 'til now!

GET OUT OF MY FOOT!

The Eastern European Woman

2005-08-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

Beautiful girls everywhere... even the ugly girls are cute!
Something about a part of the world where women are tall, slender and heavy breasted (tragic combination) that makes you wish you had an open ended ticket.
it isn't that Canadian girls aren't beauties, because they are. It is just that here girls feel an obligation to be at their finest 24/7.
tight clothes are like cell phones here.
Everywhere! All the time.

Dancing Fool!

2005-08-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, Budapest is brilliant!
After what seemed to be two days of ferries, trains and passport checks we arrived in the "Paris of the East".
(We is Karis and I. I met her and four of her english galfriends in Korcula). After finding a closed hostel, and internet cafe, we finally got into some old school that has been converted to a hostel for the Summer. Then we were off to march the main steets of Pest (Buda is west of the river, Pest is east of the river) for a Parade/Festival that 650,000 people turned out for. The music afterparty started at 9PM and ran to 7AM. This is what we had come for. Four stages, tons of DJs from all over Europe... like Shambhala, but in arenas rather than the mountains (for any of you music festival-ers). Needless to say, at 7AM when the music stopped I was still in attendance on the dancefloor! we took the Metro home, had brekfast and crashed hard... that was 4 hours ago. Now I'm heading back to Croatia to catch some final rays of Summer sun.
Love it!

Getting up to Speed

2005-08-25T18:13:00.000-07:00

Trip Highlights from Zagreb to Korčula.

-These are the moments where you couldn't kick the smile off my face, the moments where I think to myself "there is nowhere i would rather be than right here right now"

1. I had no idea the night train from
Zareb to Split was going to so be rowdy! The train had an extra car with a DJ, Dancefloor, Strobe Lights, Bar, Dancing Girls and pounding dance music! Not so much sleep was had. Full Moon. All the windows in the cab were open as we twisted through the Croatian mountains trying not to fall over as we danced on the winding train!

2. Found somewhat of a hidden beach in Dubrovnik's "old town", by wandering down a staircase that went through the hundred foot protective walls and opened up to a rocky beach with a bar and music pumping! Lots of swimming, sunbathing (yes, i was topless too) and jumping off cliffs into the Adriatic! Spent two of my three days in Dubrovnik here, avoiding the masses of tourists (I'm a traveller dammit, not a tourist).

3. An amazing 2 hours of magic on a bus from Dubrovnik to Orebič with a Croatian Art Student. Thats all I'm telling!! More details possibly to follow as I may be meeting her in her home town in a few days!

4. Korčula. WOW!
Typical day: croissant, capuccino, swim, read, swim, music, swim, write, food, swim (after a half hour of course!), read, snorkel, shower, movie, beer, dancing with girls, food, sleep!
(Repeat)
That and and a kick ass hostel with amazing backpackers.
Korčula will be missed!

That's all for now. I'm off to Budapest for a music festival tomorrow morning bright and early. more posts to follow!

Getting Here

2005-08-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

Air Canada was at its finest again... delayed flights and unnessesary layovers. I missed my connection to Munich and so was routed through London (Heathrow) instead. The moment I got on my flight from London to Zagreb the tides turned. I knew I was in store for some great scenery for the next month as all of the flight attendants were total knockouts!
Brilliant!

The Send Off

2005-08-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

Props to all who were kind enough to stop by Ming for a drink. Cheers to Mariano, Kevin's Posse, Dani and Leigh-Anne who rocked it til the early AM, making my packing job that much more tricky!

"MY FLIGHT LEAVES IN 3HRS! WHERE IS MY SHIRT?''

blog?

2005-08-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

So, I have never done this before... lets go slow!
I figure a blog is much easier than sending annoying mass email to everybody.
I should be updating it every few days. It will be current, and won't fill your inbox!
Kinda creepy!?
Only one way to find out!
Let the bloging begin!