05-11-2008
Kicking it in Maryland and D.C.
When Knut and I arrived in Povoa de Varzim, I knew he was going home to work, before rejoining me on Gran Canaria in November, but I had no idea if anyone would be able to join me for the sail down to Gran Canaria from Portugal. That particular sail is around 850nm long, so it would be tough to do on my own. This meant I had a few days on my hands to figure out what to do. I put up a notice on couchsurfing.com and wrote a crewing site, but nothing materialized. I was getting a little worried and decided the best therapy would be to do something completely different.
Lauren really wanted me to come and see her … So I decided: Why not? You only live once! This was a perfect excuse to not think about the crewing problem. The next day I boarded a flight and flew to Washington DC, where I was picked up by Lauren in her sweet ride … granted her Jeep Cherokee has the World’s most dangerous tires and breaks … but it still gets you from a to b. In the coming days it proved to be a real workhorse.
We stayed in her mom’s awesome apartment and used that as our base of operations while we were exploring the vicinity. We managed to cover a fair share of things in the 10 days I was there. Downtown D.C. was only 30 min away, so we went down and had a look at the sights: The Lincoln Memorial, The Reflecting Pool, The Pencil (I forget what it’s really called), The Vietnam Memorial, the WW2 memorial (a lot of memorials to be honest), the White House (which will soon be inhabited by Obama :-)and last but definitely not least, we went to the Smithsonian. I LOVED it. We didn’t have a chance to see even a fraction of it, but I got a tiny overview. It was cool to see the dinosaurs, the Hope Diamond, their under water exhibit and my first IMAX movie “Deep Sea”. It was a winner! Everything in between was equally impressive, so I need to go back and do it proper justice one day.
We also went to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space museum out by Dulles. This was hands down the coolest museum I’ve ever seen. My favorites were the SR-71 Blackbird that set the record from LA to DC. It did it in 1 hour and 4 minutes. They also had the original Enola Gay bomber that dropped the a-bomb on Hiroshima. The also had a Concorde and lastly a space shuttle. On top of these amazing planes they had a couple of hundred other impressive air crafts. It was a stunning collection and very impressive to see. We also went and saw a new IMAX movie, this time we saw “Fighter pilots”. If I had seen that movie when I was in my teens, I know I’d be a pilot today.
October 31st happened to swing around while I was there and what better way to celebrate Halloween than at a house-party. We met up at a friend of Lauren’s and partied properly, all of us dressed up in costumes. It was good fun. Of course earlier that same day, I did my first pumpkin carving. Lauren did the sketching and then I did the carving. Lauren also proceeded to fry the pumpkin seeds in her own fashion, resulting in an interesting taste that only she enjoyed. At least no one will steal them from her!
On a particularly nice and sunny day, we drove down to Annapolis and enjoyed a good day walking around in the sun looking at the old town. I really liked it and what really made the visit was the awesome chilidog I got a diner. Yummy!
Besides these things, I also met most of Lauren’s family and got to hang out with some of her friends. On one of my last days there, we drove down to Salisbury and met her brother Erik and hung out with him. I learned to play beer pong and to my surprise I wasn’t completely crap at it.
The 10 days flew by. It was nice to get a little break from the sailboat and it was a lot of fun to hang out with Lauren. My crewing problem solved itself, when a guy who had called me a month earlier inquired if he could still come to sail to Gran Canaria. So when I flew back to Portugal, he was flying in on the same day.
16-12-2007
Hanging out in New York
It’s up to you New York, Neeeeew Yoooork! … It was up to New York to finish up my vacation in style and send me home depressed that it was already over. It succeeded on all counts, in no small part due to my buddy Campbell. I hadn't seen him since he was visiting Beijing in May, so I was really looking forward to hanging out again. He’d given me straightforward directions to find his office on Times Square, so it came as no surprise that when I called to find out which building he was in, that I was standing at a phone booth right outside the lobby.
He finished up work and we headed back to his flat in Brooklyn. I met his flat mates and dropped off my backpack, before we headed up to a German restaurant to enjoy a nice Jaegersnitzel and some locally brewed beer. We finished off the evening at Club 4 a bar on the corner from his house.
The next morning everyone was out of the house by 9 a.m. giving me time to have a slow start to the day. I grabbed a bagel in a small shop and was downtown around 10:30 a.m. My original plan had been to eat on the subway, but seeing that it was packed I opted to wait till I got to Manhattan. On my way to Campbell’s office I stopped by Bryant Park and watched some ice skaters while I ate my brunch bagel. We were supposed to return to the same ice skating rink at 11 a.m. together with a class of first graders, but the weather changed, so when I stepped into Campbell’s office at 11 a.m. we had a mix of rain, hail and sleet assaulting anyone out in the open. The ice skating was postponed and I headed over to MoMA and spent a solid portion of the day looking at art. By the time I was done there I walked back to Campbell’s office dodging the rain by popping into every book and electronics store I passed on the way.
Campbell and I headed straight over to a classy sushi restaurant where we enjoyed some tasty sushi washed down with Japanese beer and Sake. After the meal we went down the street to 2econd Stage theatre and saw Peter and Jerry starring Bill Pullman and Dallas Roberts. It was a very solid play that we both enjoyed.
The next day had an even lazier start to it for me and I actually found myself with space to sit and enjoy my bagel on the subway. 
I originally planned to look at the New Museum on Bowery, but I was there at 11 a.m. and they opened at noon. I therefore headed up to Chelsea and popped into every gallery that was open. I saw some stuff I really liked particularly at the 303 gallery. From Chelsea I headed up to midtown where I hung around window-shopping for a few hours, before I headed up to 84th street to meet up with Campbell’s buddy Conor. We grabbed a few Brooklyn Lagers while we waited for Campbell to arrive. I used the time to wrap a present for Campbell and some Christmas presents that I was bringing back to Beijing. When Campbell arrived our original plan was to shoot off to a place that served good BBQ, but when Conor informed us that a friend of his had cooked a chili on a deer he had shot a few weeks ago, we headed straight there to reap the rewards of Conor's hunting skills. It was excellent. We used the chili apartment as a rendezvous point for everyone heading to the Deep Banana Blackout concert afterwards. Before soon we were a good bunch of merry men shooting off in taxis towards the Bowery Ballroom. I didn’t know what to expect when we got there, except I was told that Deep Banana Blackout was a talented funk band. They weren’t kidding. The music was excellent. I also loved the venue, so everything really came together. We danced, sang and drank. After a while I was feeling the room shrinking, so I knew it was time to slow the drinking. Instead I went to the coat check and picked up my camera.
100 exposures later I was feeling on top of my game again.
By then the concert was coming to an end and we were getting ready to hit one last bar before we headed home. The bar we targeted was a good choice. We enjoyed more beer and had a great finishing dance, before we headed home. We were hungry for food but by the time we got back to Brooklyn, even the 24 hour diner had closed, so we dove to bed on “empty” stomachs.
The next morning Campbell and I returned to the 24 hour diner and enjoyed 2 great omelets. It was hands down the best one I’ve had in years. When the meal was over it was time for parting hugs, before I boarded the subway and returned to JFK.
5 weeks of traveling was officially over when I landed in Beijing 14 hours later. It had been an excellent vacation filled with contrasts. I had enjoyed luxury dining on a cruise ship, eaten palm tree worms in the Amazon. I had been diving, climbing mountains, riding mountain bikes and sailed several different sailboats. I had been in hot and cold weather, high and low climates. In short I had experienced a good variety of things and I was more than happy. I was also really happy to get home. Though it’s nice to travel, it’s nice to get back home to chill out again. My only question now: Where will I travel next? … Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam? … We’ll see! =)
13-12-2007
Chilling in Miami
Though Ecuador had been awesome it was nice to get back to civilization again. We went straight from the airport to Hertz and picked up a 2007 KIA. It served me very well in the week I was in Miami.
We drove back to Rasmus’s flat on South Beach, dumped our stuff, took a nice long shower and headed out to explore Miami. We drove towards South Miami, so that I could show Steffi my old hunting grounds. First stop was just past Dadeland. While Steffi fell in love with Target (pronounced Tarsjè), I browsed through Best Buy and Sports Authority. Unlike Steffi I came out empty handed. We then proceeded further south to The Falls. This used to be right next to where we used to live (in ‘88 – ’90) so it was nice to be back. We walked around for a few hours and decided that we’d return on Friday. Then Steffi could shop while I caught a movie in the cinema. We went across the street and ate a memorable seafood dinner at Red Lobster. I was genuinely surprised at both the quality of food and the level of service.
The next morning we were once again on the road before 5 a.m. Under the cover of darkness we shot through Alligator Alley to Naples and then north to Sarasota. There we met Dan Evans that showed us and a group of other potential buyers around at the Manta factory. I’ll go in detail about that trip here.
After the factory visit, we drove down south to Fort Meyers, where we met up with another couple and went out on a brand new Manta 42 MK IV for a little test sail. It was excellent. We didn’t have a lot of wind, but we got to test the Manta’s light air capabilities. We also saw a large steam of a hundred or so stingrays that circled the boat. Steffi was very happy a little later, when a couple of dolphins popped by to say hi. Seeing that I managed to forget my camera equipment on the pier, we don’t have any pictures of any of this, but we won’t forget it anytime soon. Darkness was rapidly approaching so as soon as we hit the pier we hurried back to Miami.
The next day we had a lazy morning. We went for a walk down Lincoln Road and on to the beach. After dipping our toes in the ocean we went up on Ocean Drive, where we decided that Versace’s place isn’t half bad.
When our stomachs started growling we dropped by News Cafe for a very tasty lunch.
Lunch was interrupted by some fairly heavy rains, but seeing that our waiter moved us to a table inside before we got drenched it wasn’t a problem. With freshly filled stomachs we picked up the car and drove down to the Falls. Steffi went shopping, while I saw Hitman. Both of us were happy =) Afterwards we headed back to South Beach and stuffed our faces courtesy of Dominos Pizza.
The next morning I drove Steffi to the airport at 4:30 a.m. She had to return to work, while my travels would continue another week. My remaining time in Miami was spent chilling out in the daytime and hanging out with Rasmus in the evening.
Rasmus and I have a fantastic understanding when we go out: Nothing is too stupid and everything is funny. Needless to say we're a great (bad?) influence on each other.
When I recovered from the evenings, I got some Christmas shopping done and got to drive around and look at Miami like I’ve never really done before. I really like Miami, it has a good feel ... and a great temperature. Rasmus and I also went for some nice rides on his new Triumph Rocket III. It makes my bike in Beijing look like a broken roller-skate.
When I handed the car back to Hertz and shot off to the airport I was sad to leave. I really like Miami and can’t wait to go back again.
15-11-2007
Tearing up the West
Stepping off the plane in San Diego felt great. The temperature was comfortable, especially compared to freezing Beijing, and I had just embarked on a fantastic 5 week vacation filled to the rim with adventures and fun stuff.
I’m dividing the trip up into five segments:
1. Tearing up the West
2. Cruising the Caribbean
3. Adventures in Ecuador
4. Chilling in Miami
5. Hanging out in New York
This is part 1, Tearing up the West
Joe met me at the airport and after hugs had been exchanged we shot straight back to his hood to devour a large very tasty Mexican meal at Miguel’s. Seafood Fajitas was washed down with a couple of drafts of Dos Equis. Ahhh … I was definitely on vacation. We used the time to catch up, because the last time we met Joe visited me in Norway for some proper Norwegian style mayhem … Our success can be measured by the fact that he missed his flight back, amongst other things =) I was fairly tired from traveling, so we soon called it the night and went to bed.
Joe worked till about noon the next day, and then we packed up his car and set off for Las Vegas. We got there just after dark and even though I had seen pictures, films and TV from Vegas, nothing prepared me for the sight that appeared on the horizon. It was a spectacle of lights and delights.
Joe had booked us into the Monte Carlo and had made an appointment with Shyla (an old colleague of ours from when we worked for NCL in ‘96-‘97) to meet up for dinner. We didn’t have a lot of time, so we showered, changed and jumped in to a cab to the Venetian. The taxi sped though the streets and my jaw got closer and closer to the dashboard the further we got. Vegas looks amazing at night.
At the Venetian we met up with Shyla and a crew of girls and one other guy. They were all colleagues and worked as respiratory therapists. Tonight they were out doing a post marriage bachelorette party (yea, you figure it out!) Anyway, they were out to party, but before the madness could commence we enjoyed an excellent meal at the Grand Lux Cafe in the Venetian. The food was excellent. I believe the restaurant is part of the Cheesecake Factory franchise. We certainly weren’t disappointed.
After dinner we had a quick cocktail in the girls room, before we surprise, surprise headed over to the Olympic Gardens Strip Club. The girls wanted lap dances and Joe and I “reluctantly” tagged along. We even managed to get in for half price ($15 p.p.) so it really worked out well.
We didn’t stay too long, nor blow too much money there amazingly enough. Next we did the most economical thing of the entire evening. We headed over to Polly Esther’s in the Stratosphere Hotel. They had a deal where if you paid $40 you could drink for free. Seeing that we were a large group we haggled the price down to $30 per person, but because of a lot of confusion at the door, only I ended up paying. When we got in, I got drinks for everyone and all of us got completely destroyed for a grand total of $30. Not bad!
The next day Joe and I had plans to get up early and shoot out to do some hiking at Bryce National Park. Needless to say that proved a bit ambitious. In fact the only thing we were capable of doing was checking out of the hotel and driving up to Shyla, where we chilled the rest of day. Towards the evening we felt better, so we dropped by REI, so that I could pick up some necessities for the Ecuador trip. We also went down to the Strip again, so that I could take some pictures. The rest of the evening was spent talking and eating pizza.
A chill day meant that we could set off before 7 the next morning. We 
hit the road towards Zion. Originally we were planning to go to Bryce, but after several recommendations for Zion, we changed our mind and headed there. As soon as we got there we went for a drive around to get our bearings. Then we parked the car and hiked up to the Emerald Pools. It was gorgeous there. After the relatively mellow hike, we headed down to Springdale where we got a room at the Zion Park Motel. Springdale is a cool little town where they do everything to keep their relatively rustic image. It’s very cool. We ate a couple of juicy burgers and headed over to the Bit and 
Spur where we enjoyed a couple of beers. To our surprise we had to order food in that bar as well. It’s the law in Utah: You can’t ONLY drink in a bar, you also need to eat. Thoughtful of them! We ended the evening by buying a six-pack of a local brew along with a bag of Doritos that we tore into while watching Hamburger Hill on TV.
The next morning we were also up at 6 a.m. and in the car after an awkward shower (the nozzle came out of the wall at navel height, so unless you were a dwarf, showering required some acrobatic bending). Instead of doing an early morning hike in Zion we shot off to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We would have loved to have stayed in Springdale and Zion, but time didn’t permit it. The sunrise drive from Zion to the Grand Canyon was awesome. The scenery was something out of this World.
Once we got to the Grand Canyon we changed into our hiking attires and set off. We had our eyes set on the Plateau Point: A 20 km (12.2 miles) trip that takes 3 – 4 hours one way due to the big difference in elevation. We started at 1:15pm, with the sun setting at 5:30pm we didn’t have a lot of time. The hike down was a breeze since we only carried water and a camera. The Plateau Point was … incredible. When you stand on the tip (which I did) you have an 1177m (3860ft) straight drop behind you. Forget the pictures you’ve seen: it’s more than enough to give anyone sweaty palms and trembly legs. After taking a few pictures and refilling our water bottles, we hurried back up. We did the whole trip in 4 hours and 45 minutes. We made it up just as it was getting pitch black. Perfect timing!
We bought a few energy bars and jumped in the car and high tailed it to Flagstaff. There we checked into a motel on Route 66. Feeling thoroughly tired we showered and headed out to eat. We found a great little diner and enjoyed a sensational Chili dog. I was very satisfied. We finished off the evening by heading to the Flagstaff Brewing Company to quench our thirst.
The next morning we were also off at the crack of dawn. We drove through Sedona and Prescott and back to San Diego. We made a pit stop in the desert, so that I could get an obligatory picture next to a huge cactus. No desert trip is complete without it.
When we got to San Diego we went over to the Boardwalk on Mission Beach and went for a walk on the beach. I was experimenting with the camera and Joe and I must have looked like a couple of idiots, because I would crawl around with the camera and then I’d get Joe to scare the birds, so that I could get some nice shots of them in flight.
When the sun had set we headed over to La Jolla (pronounced La Hoya) and ate a tasty meal at the Karl Strauss Brewing Company. The next morning I shot off to Miami to continue my adventures there.