Talk Box Rock

a weekend of shows

Went to Lausanne and Fribourg to see some concerts. Lausanne is pretty rad and has alot going on for younger people. Fribourg was a bit quiet, but in fairness, we were there on a Sunday night.

Raphael Saadiq in Lausanne.

Peter Bjorn and John in Fribourg

This is what happens if you ask PB&J to sign the cd of the opening band :)

and I even grabbed some set lists. apparently the swiss aren’t as fanatical about concert artifacts, so I didn’t have to bicker and fight.

another plus. Like I said, Lausanne has a bunch going on at night, it’s not sterile like other swiss cities. coughzurichcough. A girl at the show pointed me in the direction I should go if I want to party at night. soooo going back.

berlin + munich + oktoberfest

went to berlin on a company funded trip, drank a ton of beer, nursed a hangover while wandering around the city with goran, went on a bike tour of the city, had a nice dinner, drank at a metal bar, stayed up till 6, wandered around the city with goran + ignacio + daniel + john like zombies, met up with lisa, went to a fucking sweet art studio in berlin, stared at some expensive hookers on the same street, ate french fries, paid some guy 20 euro to drive us to munich, drank more beer, spoke broken spanish, drank more beer, and woke up at 11 on monday, in time for work.

unfortunately, I don’t have many more pictures from berlin or munich (I figured I didn’t have to take pictures in berlin since I saw at least 10 dslrs from coworkers, though I’ve yet to see any evidence) and michael took a ton of pics in munich (which are on facebook) but here’s a tiny sampling.

holocaust memorial in berlin

some graffiti-ed politician’s faces in munich

michael in the burger kind costume.

Hiking at Capanna Cristallina

click for the larger version

Another intern coerced me into hiking up to Capanna Cristallina over a weekend. Twas beautiful.

though none of us could feel our asses the next monday.

Me estoy enamorando de España

translation: I’m in love with Spain

My sister and I spent a week in Barcelona, Sitges, and Valencia where the drinks are strong, and the men are pleasant. We went dancing most nights, and ran into festas in both Barcelona and one in Sitges. My lord, the Spanish know how to throw a party. When I heard there would be a festival, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I had no idea there would be booze and dancing and live music until 2 or 3 or even 6, and streets so crowded you have to wiggle for every inch when trying to get through. I also didn’t expect men with fireworks spinning around on sticks chasing people on the streets, nor did I expect every person to give me a lesson on how to speak the language properly. I never would have guessed I would be eating chocolate dipped churros at 1am, then dancing with a handful of 40 year old gay men, and I definitely didn’t expect to shoot water guns at unexpecting men while hiding behind carousel ponies.

In other words, I didn’t realize the festivals would be the exact opposite of an American festival.

My sister and I also went to la tomatina, the huge tomato fight in bunyol, but that certainly wasn’t the highlight of the travels. (no pics from that because we didn’t have waterproof cameras) I think I was more stoked about the sausage, tapas, clubbing, cheap mojitos, caipirinhas, wine, beer, etc. than I was about la tomatina. In the end, neither of us took too many pictures, but we had a blast.

la festa gracia




la sagrada familia, a crazy gaudi cathedral






la festa major in sitges


my sister, fetching for some churros


my most favoritest piece of graffiti so far


some stomach turning flavors of gelato. passed by here on recommendation of a friend who’s friend said, “you can have a whole meal of icecream” in reference to the flavors. I don’t want to imagine what smoked salmon would taste like.




valencia

I cannot wait to come back.

oh right, and about la tomatina. I was amused by how many accounts I heard of girls retaliating when confronted with boys who were being jerks; boys who tried to rip shirts and bikinis and stuff (I was glad to hear I wasn’t alone :P ). It’s amazing what some people think they can get away with if they don’t know the other party.

an extended weekend in the Swiss countryside

On this weekend, I biked around the western part of Switzerland. It was hot and sunny each day, which was quite pleasant, but left me with a quite funny tanline.

On Thursday night, I took the train to Geneva, and rode across the French border to a the house where I was couchsurfing at. There, I met a lovely 20-something German couple who were traveling around Switzerland, and of course the guy I whose house I was couchsurfing at. The couple and I spent the majority of the day wandering around Geneva, scaling church towers, and relaxing near the lake.

on the train to Geneve on the chairs in one of the cathedrals

After we parted ways, I hit the road towards Lausanne. I learned quite quickly that the Swiss bike map makers really enjoy hills, and odd routes. Beautiful, but odd. Also, I learned how easy it is to miss the markers that denote that certain routes are in fact bike routes. (sometimes they’re gravel roads, cornfields, highways, driveways, dirt paths, forested trails, gigantic narrow roaded hills, etc.)

By the time I reached Lausanne, I was very unwilling to find nightlife (it happens when your hostel is at the top of a hill), so I wandered around the waterfront park near sunset, and then I grabbed some dinner. The first restaurant I stopped by was closing, but the waiter pointed me in the direction of another by the name of cafe milan. I ordered the steak tartare. Normally I wouldn’t have ordered half a pound of raw beef, but the previous week, the food came up in conversation at work, and my co-workers assured me it’s safe to eat. Plus, it’s Switzerland. All the beef is sourced from Switzerland, and this country keeps its standards on beef quite high.

at a park/playground in lausanne

The next day, I hoped I would be able to bike along lake neuchatel, but I had grossly underestimated the time it would take, given the non-linear fashion of said swiss bike routes. I feel obliged to mention that this portion of the bike ride took me through what must have been a national forest, complete with pot hole laden gravel roads, and on a dirt road behind a large warehouse for a grocery chain. I also must have gone off trail quite a few times given that the sign for the trail was often pointing opposite to my travel.

In other words, I cheated and took the train partways to my next destination.

But before cheating, I arrived in Yverdon les Bains, a small town at the south end of that lake. I headed towards the lake, and jumped into the warm pale waters, and mucked around in the soft sand. I then took the train towards Biel/Bienne, then biked the rest of the way to my next destination, Lengnau. I couchsurfed with a very nice couple in their house, which was previously a barn, and a very cool habitat. They were having a barbeque, talking, drinking, and having a good time. They were very very cool.

at one of the prettier middle-of-nowheres

The next day, I rode to Solothurn, then off to Basel. (I originally inteded on finishing in Zurich, but the ride to Basel looked more interesting.) I scaled the biggest hill I’ve ever ridden, and coasted down for 10 minutes.

from the top of said ginormous hill








some quite clever graffiti in Basel