bout time I put up a pic..

from this trip thing..

Vancouver.

Kay so I'm home.

It was a long trip. Long flight to London, not a fun landing. Through all the security bullshit, though we were just transferring. Long wait, well it always seems to take so long, at London. A not so long flight to Berlin, but still. A not fun wait in a long line for goodness knows what in Berlin which turned out to be the passport control which was quite fast.. then the wait for baggage which shouldn't have been long or a wait at all as they were already there, I just couldn't get them because of the crowd of people camped out in front of the conveyor belt including a small child who's mother bothered to call her away from there right after we got out bags. Thanks.

Then the cramming onto the airport bus, being unceremoniously told to move back so we got separated.. s-bahn and walk to our boat. Oh we stayed on a boat, it was quite nice. So after this long, hot and annoying day, we rest a bit, freshen up, go outside and it's raining.

We had to walk because we had to eat, and we needed to change money too. It was late so there was nowhere to exchange. It would have been a nice walk though, if it hadn't been raining, and we weren't so hungry, but it was raining, and we were really hungry.

Finally withdrew some cash, got a falafel and went back. Finally unwound on the bar at the hostel.. on the boat with beer and some cheesy music.

Went back on the train the next day, which was yesterday. That was ok, spose. Now I'm home, and just back from work. I'd quite like another holiday actually.

Well.. it seems I'm almost going home.

I've been here forever, "literally" forever. That is, about 10 days... anyway I'm off tomorrow evening.. to fly to London to fly to Berlin and hang out there for an eve and then go home.. and back to work, and other things that are a clusterfuck of fuckedupness that I need to sort out which I don't want to think about but for today, I'm still in Vancouver.

So.. been to a wedding, a bunch more brunches and lunches and dinners and barbecues, some were fun, some were meh, met a whole fuckload of new people.. at least I think I did because I vaguely remember these people things, anyway I don't remember most of them.

Went to the beach, actually dipped into the water though it was really cold and... some other stuff, wandered around the city, a few bars. Hung around this house a lot. Seems like I've been here forever.. it will be so strange to leave.

Took a lot of photos too.

*burps, pats belly*

Been here for 4 or 5 days now.. I've walked downtown, gone to a mall.. even took a ferry thingy across the harbour or whatever they call it here, bought some stuff, but mostly I've been eating.

It's very full of functions at the moment, the 2 big reasons I'm here both have these sub functions related to them, which amount to about 3 things to go to on top of the actual events, and that's not counting stuff like barbecues, or visiting someone, which also involve meeting with people and eating lots of stuff.

Had about 3 buffets, I think, all filled with wonderful stuff that you pile onto your plate before you get to the part where the main course food is, it's a true dilemma believe me. The good thing is there are lots of salads and fruit things so I'm semi stuffing myself with food that's actually good, so I might get out of this not the worse for wear, that's if I don't drink so much, so.. well, I do that at home anyway so no difference there.

Went to the bat mitzvah already, that was all fun and weird and strange and full of people and revelry, and a lot of food, now we're moving into the wedding and accessories part of the trip, so it'll be a slightly different crowd of people for the next few days.. of course, the common element will be around, and especially the people living in the house are becoming quite familiar..

it's all so much, and also.. well, a lot of relaxing and hanging around, and as I said, eating, so hard to describe. I might get out to town or the seaside or somewhere worth visiting today.. but I don't know. Might just knock about here... and eat and stuff..

Hi from Canada.

So, after a lot of travelling, a very long day, with a lot of daylight we arrived in Vancouver yesterday.. the day before.. oh whenever. Now I'm in a house with a huge number of people...

so.. the longest day was, according to earth stuff, on the 21st, ie the solstice, no idea if the Orloj in Prague was working fine.. so let me know if you have that info, I'd like to know if the country I'm returning to is in peril or not..

anyway, we spent the solstice in Berlin, which was pretty fucking rad, if I may use that description, there was a city wide music festival, and every street corner had some music on it, so we wandered around the city, stopping a bit at Gorlitzer Park, and other spots, checking out a bit o music, and some graf here and there.. then settling nearby our hostel at Love Lite, where we drank beer and enjoyed a few bands, with a break to walk back for a rest, past a few more gigs, including the punk/metal fest... which I found enjoyable.

We got to bed quite late.. packed a bit and showed, and up again at 4:30 am. On to the S-Bahn, bus, plane to London, where we had relatively little trouble getting out of customs, and onto the tube into the city. It was a beautiful moment walking up out of Piccadilly Circus tube into heavy rain :/. Well it was nice, didn't rain the entire time, and got to walk to Trafalgar Square and get a photo on one of the lions are a short battle to claim the spot. Then the fun bit, Indian for lunch, and a beer in a charming pub, in the traditional English style.

So.. back to Heathrow, up into the airport, ride on a transit to our gate and waiting.. and the flight. We flew for about 11 hours, west... so it was the true longest day... something like 20 hours daylight.. we flew over Greenland, and Baffin Island and places in the Arctic.. it was pretty cool.. but too bloody long! Arrived in Vancouver.. relatively little trouble getting out except for a kinda long wait for bags, and onto the Sky Train on the Canada line to home! Got to Erik's place and no one was in the house. I think that's the only time I'll get to see the place with only 2, or less than about 20 people because after an hour or 2 everyone began to arrive.. his parents finally came late at night.. and then just one more wait for a few more people to show up... and after about 30 hours we finally went to bed.

So yeah.. pretty tired. Yesterday was hanging about day, more people arrived, we had a barbecue, and stayed in the house mostly, oh I went to the mall, a bit of North American culture I needed to experience.

It's nice to be here, I'm here for 2 weeks so I can settle a bit, and there's lots to do, lots of weddings, bat mitzvahs and dinners... well one each of the first 2 but lots of stuff related to them... so yeah, fun.

Weather's a bit crap though :/

Hi from Berlin..

Well.. we made it! done stuff, doing stuff.. off to London tomorrow to.. who knows, for a few hours.. and then Vancouver. Perhaps you can tell I dont have much time.. talk later.

One more thing before I go.

I mean I don't have time.. I still have to pack, and tidy up and.. well, the stuff I didn't get yet isn't gonna get got so.. spose I'll make it.

Been shlepping, rushing, waiting and.. well let's be honest spending plenty of time farting around, it's something I always manage to find time to do, but I've gotten stuff done, so you can be proud of me.

Speaking of.. just before I go, I don't want to forget, you know that thing? The thing I was going on about for like, ever, and never did anything, and then I did something but couldn't show it, and then I didn't do anything for a year and then I did and I fucked it up again, and then I did something else and for some reason didn't upload it, and then a little bit later did more and finally I uploaded an intro to the actual thing I'm doing?

Well this is the actual thing I'm doing.

See ya later.

Brilliant timing!

So.. leaving in... um.. tomorrow! Jeez.. and still have tons of stuff to do.. packing, cleaning, planning, shopping, and I've got a cool freebie thing to pick up which.. ok, it's good, it's really something I shouldn't grumble about but fuck.. I don't have the time, and can you believe there was a fucking transport strike yesterday! Well.. trams ran but few and far between and very packed, so it wasn't the most ideal situation for transporting stuff, or for getting to work for that matter, or for getting a bunch of tourists up to the castle...

The tour turned out alright, we got a tram and it was only seriously packed for one stop.. and after that, it was nice, spent a bit too much time int he brewery pub but so, the tour went over a bit and people seemed to like it. It didn't rain until afterwards when I was walking from the office to the tram stop.. with the monitor, and it didn't start getting heavy until I was just about to the stop, and a few seconds before I got myself to a bit of shelter. Then it stormed. Briefly.. well the storm ended and indeed it stopped raining before the tram came, and that's not only because of the weird weather we've been having, it took about half an hour to come. What was particularly vexing was that there were like, 2 number 9s that came before a 22 did. Yes, I need the 22.

So.. weird day, but overall ok, I spose. Now, to embark upon today. Still tons of shit to do, shit to bring home, heavy stuff.. packing.. etc etc etc. Jeez.