Monkeying Around the World

Ivan, Jennifer and I had Subway for lunch on October 17, 2009.  We chilled at the hostel for the day.

At night, we met up at the Yesterday Bar for the 666 Anti Pub Crawl.  The bar had some great decor.  Our guide was an American lady with dreadlocks.  We waited a few minutes in the bar to wait for other people to arrive. 

The group took a train to the Ping Pong bar.  People were playing the game Around the World.  Anybody who wants to play goes around the ping pong table.  Each person must hit the ball – if you miss, you’re out of the game.  So, you keep playing until somebody wins.  Everybody was taking it so seriously – how boring!  Plus, there was no prize for the winner.  The bar was really plain inside.  Ivan played two rounds but he didn’t stay in the game long. 

Next, we headed to a goth bar called Last Cathedral.  It had lots of kewl decor inside. 

Ivan and Jen each had an Absinthe drink.  I had a nice cold banana juice.  We chilled for a little while.

We went to a gar bar.  It was pink and fluffy inside.  It was far too busy inside though.  We decided to go outside.  Our leader was nice, but she wasn’t very talkative.  She would just tell us what kind of bar we were at, but she didn’t provide any further details. 

We were going to head to another bar.  It was stupid because we were recently near there.  We had to take another train there.  So, we weren’t sure why we didn’t go there before.  The tour wasn’t very good.  We did see some kewl bars.  It would have been nice to have a better guide.  We wanted to check out the Panorama bar.  Ivan hailed a taxi.  When we arrived, the line was really long to get in.  We just told the taxi driver to take us back to the hostel. 

Ivan, Jennifer and I grabbed a Subway for lunch on October 18, 2009.  We got a taxi to the start of the Alternative Berlin Tour.  We got there a few minutes late.  The group must have left already.  Ivan ran to try to find them.  Thankfully, he found them. 

First, we went to an old department store that is now filled with squatters, artists and graffiti artists.  It was an interesting place.

We walked around and checked out lots of graffiti. 

There was another squat house.  It was filled with lots of art, postcards and jewelry.  We had a great tour guide who was very informative.  We enjoyed the tour seeing all the great graffiti and the squat houses where the artists work.

We went to Liquidrom next.  It’s a spa that has steam rooms, pools and a jacuzzi.  The jacuzzi was located outside but it was boiling hot.  Ivan and Jen ran to the jacuzzi and sat there for awhile.  I chilled on a lounge chair and read my Growing Better Bananas book. 

Ivan and Jennifer went to check out the Floatation pool. 

It’s very dim in this huge room.  There’s lovely electronic music playing.  They both put some floaties under their arms and head.  Then, they put their ears in the water.  They could hear the music playing underwater.  It was really relaxing floating around and listening to the cool music.

Ivan and Jen had an awesome avocado bagel.  I had a great banana bagel.

Ivan and Jen went inside the steam room.  They went in the Floatation pool again.  They got dressed and then we left the spa.

We walked to an Italian restaurant nearby.  Ivan and Jen shared a tomato soup.  It tasted okay.  They also had some wine that wasn’t very good.  I had a baked ziti with bananas.  It wasn’t very flavorful. 

Ivan and Jen shared a ravioli and pasta with tubes.  It was very tasteless. 

We got a train back to hostel.  We decided to use the internet and then get some sleep.

November 19th, 2009 | Category: Berlin, Germany | Leave a comment

Ivan, Jennifer and I got a train to the center of town on October 15, 2009.  We had some noodles at an asian place. 

It was sooo very cold out.  The wind was freezing.  Ivan and Jen each bought a jumper to wear over their jackets. 

We walked down the main street.  We stopped and went inside a bar.  Ivan had a tasty banana beer. 

I had a few sips and it was really good!  Jennifer had a cherry beer.

We walked to the Sony Centre.  We watched the movie Away We Go.  It was good. 

We walked to a German restaurant near our hotel for dinner.  The food wasn’t very good.  Ivan and Jen had a chicken dish.  I had a banana schnitzel.  Germans are not known for their food.  It was pretty tasteless.

Ivan, Jennifer and I checked out of the Best Western City OST on October 16, 2009.  We got the train to the Alcatraz Hostel.  We checked in there.

We walked to Subway for lunch.  It seems to be the only place nearby that serves lunch. 

I stayed at the hostel to work on the blog.  Plus, Ivan and Jen were heading to a place only for adults.  Jennifer will now write about the show they attended.

Ivan and Jennifer hopped on a train to the Venus sex trade show.  The fairgrounds was really big.  There were a couple different rooms like the Fetish Room, Web Area and the Show Area.  There wasn’t many porn stars there.  There were plenty of booths with sex products, dvds and clothes.  The show wasn’t as crazy as we thought it might be.  The Show Area had different shows like a naked dj or a lesbian show.  We saw Ron Jeremy.  He’s not very known in Europe because he had no line at all.  Jennifer took a picture with him. 

We watched some of the shows in the Show Area.  There was a Girls Only section.  Jennifer went in there and saw a bunch of guys dance and play with the girls in the audience. 

Jennifer got picked on since she was right in the front.  It was like a naughty Chippendales show since there was nudity. 

We walked around and got lots of free stuff. 

It was a good show!

We took a train back to the hostel.  We walked to an Indian restaurant near the hostel.  I can’t recall the name.  Ivan and Jen shared some tasty chicken tikka and chicken jalfrezi. 

I had a banana naan and a banana tikka.  We had a great meal!

We got a train.  We walked to the goth club called K17.  Tonight, we were going to see one of Jen’s favorite bands Clan of Xymox. 

Ivan and I didn’t really know any songs.  Jennifer loved it though.  I couldn’t believe how many people were wearing black.  I felt a little out of place.  Jennifer was wearing colors as well.  But, she didn’t care – she was enjoying the music.  She danced around and sang to most of the songs.  After the show, we went back to the hostel to rest.

November 19th, 2009 | Category: Berlin, Germany | Leave a comment

Ivan, Jennifer and I got a train to Milan on October 14, 2009. 

We walked around to find lunch.  We each had a pizza.  I got one with banana slices.  Ivan had a tuna and onion while Jennifer got margarita.  It tasted alright.

We went inside the Duomo di Milano which is the largest gothic cathedral in the world. 

The cathedral is known for it’s beautiful stained glass windows.  It’s really pretty inside.

We walked around Milan for a little while. 

We found a bar to sit in.  Ivan had a beer.  Jen had an espresso.  I had a banana juice.  I took a little monkey nap while Ivan and Jen watched The Fixer on the laptop. 

We got a coach to the airport.  We boarded a flight headed to Berlin. 

We arrived late.  We got a taxi to the hotel.  We checked in to the Best Western City OST.  It’s really cold in Berlin. Since it’s Germany’s winter already, the hotel doesn’t have air conditioning.  We had to open the window to make the room less stuffy.  Ivan likes the room cold.  We went to bed shortly after.

November 14th, 2009 | Category: Italy, Milan | Comments (1)

Ivan, Jennifer and I woke up early on October 13, 2009.  We walked to the train station to meet a bus.  Today, we were going on a Tuscan Tour. 

The bus was packed.  The views were amazing on our way to Siena.  It was a great day out! 

We arrived in Siena.  Our tour guide walked us to meet our Siena guide.  It was a local woman.  She took us to the oldest bank in the world. 

We saw a really big square.  Next, we visited a cathedral. 

There was lots of great artwork with vivid colors inside.  It also had amazing old murals on the floor.

We stopped to listen to a girl playing some amazing music.  I’m not sure what the instrument was called.  She was really talented.  We wanted to listen more but we had a limited time.  Watch the short video of the music below.

Music in Siena:

We walked to the main square and stopped for some ice cream.  We met the group in the square and walked back to the bus.

We drove to San Gimignano.  We stopped at Fattoria Poggio Alloro.  It’s a farm.  We looked at the wine facilities. 

It was time for lunch.  Ivan was getting vegetarian dishes.  We first got bread with extra virgin olive oil.  Ivan had pasta with tomato sauce.  Jen got pasta with meat sauce.  I had pasta with tomato sauce and bananas.  Next, Ivan got an omelet while I got a banana.  Jennifer got salami and ham.  Next, we received some tasty cheese.  All the dishes came with wine.  Ivan and Jen drank plenty!  We got some crostini next.  All the food that was served was made at the farm except for the cheese.  It was a great meal!  Ivan was talking with an older American lady during lunch who kept talking about her life.  She was really friendly. 

Ivan and Jen were feeling a bit drunk after all that wine.  They took some photos on the balcony. 

It’s a beautiful view.

Ivan picked up some wine for 5 Euros in the farm’s shop.  We walked back to the bus.

We were driven to San Geronimo next.  We went to the main square and admired all the tall buildings around it.

Jennifer loves the squares.  She wishes Vegas had some big squares too.

We stopped by an ice cream place that has award winning ice cream.  It was really creamy and tasted awesome.

We walked around and found a cheese shop.  Ivan and Jen purchased some tasty pecorino cheese.  They ate some and Jen decided to keep the rest for later on.

Our next stop was Pisa.  We saw the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

I don’t know how it remains standing with how it’s slanted is.

We were driven back to Florence.  Our Tuscan tour was lots of fun.

We walked back to the hostel.  We were stuffed from all the food we consumed.  We stopped at a store to buy some grapes and yogurt for dinner. 

November 14th, 2009 | Category: Italy, Pisa, San Geronimo, Siena | Leave a comment

Ivan, Jennifer and I checked out of the Aurelia Vatican Apartments on October 11, 2009.  Sam gave us a ride to the metro station. 

Ivan and Jen had risotto and pasta at a restaurant in the train station.  I had a banana and honey sandwich.  Ivan bought some extra food for the train ride.  The train ride to Florence lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes. 

We checked in to Plus Florence Hostel.  I worked on the blog.  Ivan and Jennifer used the internet.

We walked around to find a place for dinner.  We decided on Del Cellini. 

Ivan and Jennifer shared the tasty riboletta tuscan soup.  I had a pasta dish with bananas.  Ivan and Jennifer shared the tagliatelle pasta and a good tuna and onion pizza. 

After dinner, we walked around and saw some churches.  We saw a replica of Michelangelo’s David statue. 

We all had some good ice cream for dessert.  We walked back to the hostel to get some rest.

I worked on the blog on October 12, 2009.  It started raining really hard.

For lunch, we went to Mario’s.  It’s a traditional Italian place with no printed menu and shared tables.  The menu was listed on the wall.  There was too much meat on the menu and no bananas!  Good thing I brought a few bananas with me.  Ivan had the riboletta tuscan soup.  It’s a traditional Italian soup which actually means reboiled.  Back in the day, they would use day old bread to put in the soup.  We each had pasta with tomato sauce.  I had to add bananas to mine.  The meal turned out alright.

The rain stopped and the day turned out nice.  We walked around the city.  We all bought some ice cream.  Ivan and Jen had chocolate and raspberry.  I had banana and banana.  It was nice. 

We went inside the Il Duomo.  It’s beautiful on the outside.  It’s pretty nice inside as well. 

There’s some amazing artwork in the dome.

We walked around some more. 

We walked to a great bridge.  Then, we went inside a wine bar.  The wine guy was busy with a group.  So, we had a guy who didn’t know much about wine.  Ivan and Jen shared a cheese plate and each got a glass of Chianti wine. 

I had some banana juice.  Most of the cheeses were good.  There was an aged cheese that Jennifer didn’t like at all.  She said it tasted off, but it should since it’s aged!

We walked back to the bridge. 

We checked out the gold shops.  We headed back to the hostel for a short rest.

We went out late for dinner.  We wanted to check out a place recommended on tripadvisor.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t many non-meat dishes on the menu.  We went to the place next door.  I had banana and chicken manicotti. Ivan and Jennifer shared the pecorino cheese ravioli and a vegetable pizza. 

The pizza wasn’t as tasty as the night before.  It was really weird that the restaurant didn’t serve any wine, only beer.

November 14th, 2009 | Category: Florence, Italy | Comments (1)

Ivan, Jennifer and I ate some tasty sandwiches from a local cafe on October 10, 2009. 

We went to the Colosseum.  We bought tickets for the guided tour.  It’s a much shorter line and only costs a few Euros extra.

We met up with the group and our guide.  The guide was Italian.  She told us about the Colosseum. 

The Colosseum is nice, but it’s mostly in ruins.  It is amazing to imagine how big and beautiful it once was. 

Plus, it would have been cool to see the grand events that were held in the Colosseum.

We walked around the city.  We met up with couchsurfers Suzy and Max.  They took us walking around the city.  We saw a pretty church and a few cool fountains.

Suzy and Max took us to a bar (I don’t recall the name of it).  We went for apertif.  It’s a drink that’s taken before a meal.  This bar offers a buffet food as long as you order one drink.  The drinks were tasty.  We had some good food as well.  We chatted with Suzy and Max.

Then, we walked to another bar for more drinks.  Ivan and Jen had red wine while I had a banana juice.  We said good-bye and thanks to Suzy and Max.  It started raining.  We got a taxi to take us back to the apartment.

November 9th, 2009 | Category: Italy, Rome | Leave a comment

Ivan, Jennifer and I checked out of the Best Western Arosa on October 8, 2009.  We went to Metro station.  We took a train to the train station.  Then, we got a bus to the airport.

We boarded a plane headed towards Rome, Italy.  It was a two hour flight.

Ivan was trying to find a taxi to the apartments we were staying at.  One guy said 50 Euros.  He said no to him.  Then, another guy said it would probably be 35-40 Euros.  We hopped inside his taxi.

The guy drove really fast.  He wasn’t sure where it was located.  He kept asking people.  He would talk to them forever.  Ivan told him to stop the meter since he kept wasting time.

We drove around for awhile.  The taxi driver kept asking directions, but he still couldn’t find the place. 

Finally, we arrived at the apartment.  The meter was 50 Euros.  The taxi driver said we could pay 40 Euros.  It’s nice to see an honest cab driver.

We checked in to Aurelia Vatican apartments.  It’s really nice inside with a bedroom, kitchen, living room and a flat screen tv.

Sam, the guy who runs the hotel, told us about different places we should visit while in Rome.  He’s very informative and nice.

We got a train into Rome.  Sam recommended a restaurant to us.  We went to El Brillo Palante for dinner.  Ivan and Jen shared a boring salad with cheese, pear and pine nuts.  It had too much rocket and not enough pear.  I had a banana pizza – it needed more bananas. 

Ivan and Jen shared a pesto pasta dish and a mushroom pizza.  It wasn’t really a good meal at all.

We walked to the Spanish steps.  It was a long way to walk up.  We chilled at the bottom of the steps for a few minutes.

Next, we walked to the Trevi Fountain.  It’s really big and pretty.

We walked to a posh ice cream place.  We all had a few scoops of ice cream.  It wasn’t anything special though.

Ivan, Jennifer and I got a taxi into the city on October 9, 2009.  We went to a cafe.  We were taking a tour through the Vatican today.  We met up with the group in the cafe.  We were given headphones and a receiver so we could hear our guide talk.

We walked to the Vatican.  The tour guide was very informative.  We walked so much. 

It was really beautiful inside. 

The artwork is just amazing. 

It’s definitely something you have to see in person to really appreciate it’s beauty.

We stopped in The Sistine Chapel.  It’s really dark inside.  There were tons of people inside.  It’s hard to see in there.  We thought it was really gorgeous.  You have to keep looking at the ceiling though -  so it hurts your neck a bit.  You’re not allowed to pictures, but people still do.  Unfortunately, Jennifer’s camera doesn’t take good low light pictures. 

Ivan and Jennifer went to check out St. Peter’s Basilica. 

It’s a gorgeous church.  It’s really big and contains impressive artwork inside. 

The Pieta is really lovely.  

It’s behind glass so it doesn’t get damaged.

Ivan and Jennifer bought some souvenirs.  Jennifer sent a postcard from the Vatican. 

She wanted to send one since the Vatican is it’s own country.

For dinner, we walked to Dino e Tony.  There’s no menu.  We just let the server know our food preferences.  Ivan and Jennifer got anti-pasto to start off with.  It was bread with cheese melted on top.  I had some bread with bananas on top.  Ivan and Jen had some red wine with their meal.  Next, Ivan and Jen had al dente pasta with mussels. 

I had pasta with chicken and bananas. 

The last dish was fried fish.  I had fried bananas.  The meal was delicious.  One of the owners gave Jennifer a present.  It’s a wood carved man with the name of the restaurant on it. 

We got the train back to the apartments.  We were tired from all the walking we did.

November 9th, 2009 | Category: Italy, Rome | Leave a comment

Ivan, Jennifer and I went to Casa Labra on October 7, 2009.  Ivan and Jen ordered cod croquettes and a glass of wine.  I had banana croquettes.  It was really yummy.

We walked around and did some shopping.

We stopped at Canas y Tapas for lunch.  Ivan and Jennifer were thinking about doing the menu of the day, but it didn’t seem worth it.  Also, there wasn’t much selection for menu of the day.  Ivan had a toastie with tuna and egg. 

Jennifer got one with prawns.  They also shared a plate of potato bravas. I got a banana and chicken toastie.  The food was average.

We walked to the Prado Museum.  We explored the artwork for an hour and a half.  There was a lot of pictures of Jesus in the museum. 

We went to the hotel to chill.

It started raining.  Ivan bought an umbrella.  It was a cold night.  We walked to the Tio Pepe sign.  We were going on a tapas tour called Adventurous Appetites.  We met the guide James at the bear statue.  The other three people were late since they were stuck in traffic.  We waited a few minutes and the three ladies arrived.

The tapas tour was really quite interesting. We got to eat quite a lot of different tasty tapas in many places.

We also found out that all along we had been ordering tapas the wrong way – you see you are meant to order a drink and then you get some free tapas with the drink..but if you order a drink and some food at the same time (as we had been doing) then they wont give you any free tapas!

We were sad that we were leaving the next day for Rome – as we would have liked to have visited some of those tapas bars again, because the food we got in them was so tasty!

At the end of the tour the guide suggested that we visit a jazz bar that was nearby. We did just that, walked into a really busy bar, and yet somehow managed to get a table right at the front in the center. The band were amazing..really hardcore jazz with amazing talent shown from all the band. I think we were definitely the only non-locals in there.

October 21st, 2009 | Tags: tapas, tour | Category: Madrid, Spain | Leave a comment

Ivan, Jennifer and I packed everything up on October 5, 2009.  We waited for the taxi we ordered.  The taxi was late since he couldn’t find the correct street.  The taxi drove us to the train station in Alicante.

The train seats were nice.  We had a comfortable journey.  It took us 3 1/2 hours to arrive in Madrid.

We got tickets for the Metro train.  It only costs 1 Euro per person. 

We checked in to the Best Western Arosa.  Our room was nice with a great view of the street below.

In Spain, they have a siesta at 2-5 pm.  A lot of shops and restaurants are closed at that time.  Ivan bought a few sandwiches from a shop nearby.  We chilled in the room for awhile.

We walked to El Castello Restaurant.  It’s a small little Spanish restaurant.  There’s only a few tables inside. 

There’s no menu.  The waiter tells you what’s available for the night.  Ivan told him that Ivan and Jennifer preferred no beef or pork and that I liked bananas and chicken. 

Ivan and Jennifer ordered avocado salad, fish croquettes, goats cheese fried in an eggroll wrapper and tuna. 

I had chicken and banana salad, banana fried in an eggroll wrapper and a banana and chicken kebab.  The food was great! 

Ivan and Jennifer wanted dessert.  They ordered a tasty chocolate fondant. 

We walked to bar Cock.  The bar was quiet and the drinks were expensive.  So, we walked back to the hotel to get some sleep.

Ivan, Jennifer and I walked around Madrid on October 6, 2009.  There’s lots of amazing buildings everywhere.  The buildings are really clean. 

We stopped by a traditional tapas bar.  Ivan and Jen had cod croquettes.  I had banana croquettes.  They were tasty!

We went to lunch at Meson Cinco Jotas.  We all ordered toasties.  I had bananas with a light banana sauce.  Ivan got smoked cod with an orange sauce (can’t recall the name).  Jennifer had tuna and peppers. Our server gave us a free plate of potato salad.

It was time for more walking.  We went shopping. 

We went to another tapas bar.  This time we had tasty shrimps in a garlic sauce. 

Ivan and Jennifer each had a glass of wine.  I had a banana juice.

Next, we went to Las Bravas.  Ivan and Jennifer ordered potato bravas and a glass of wine.  I had banana bravas. 

We walked around some more.  We walked back to the hotel for a siesta.  We rested for a bit.

That night, we walked to Cardamomo.  We were going to see flamenco dancing.  Ivan reserved seats on the phone yesterday.  We got there early.  Our table was in the front row.  We were happy to get great seats.  The food at Cardamomo is expensive.  A cheese plate cost 18 Euros! 

We walked to a local tapas bar down the street.  Ivan and Jennifer got cheese and a glass of sherry.  I had two bananas.

We went to another tapas bar nearby.  Ivan and Jennifer got a huge plate of potato bravas.

We went back to Cardamomo.  The flamenco show started.  There was a band playing.  It sounded really good.  There was a guy dancing first. 

He was really into it!  It seemed like he was in his own world.  A lady started dancing as well.  She was awesome! 

It was very cool being so close to the action.  The dancing was really amazing.  The dancers tap their feet to the music.  I don’t know how they do it so fast!  The show was wonderful. 

After the show, we wanted to get some food.  We walked to an Italian restaurant nearby. 

Ivan and Jennifer shared a delicious pizza with goats cheese, apple and caramelised onions.  They also got a nice black ravioli filled with cod.  I had banana tortellini.  The food was really good and cheap. 

We walked back to the hotel and called it a night.

October 21st, 2009 | Tags: flamenco, tapas | Category: Madrid, Spain | Leave a comment