After leaving Rome I headed north in search of more modern things. Wanted to check out Pisa but just didn’t have the time. I was on my way to Cinque Terre and I wanted to make sure that I check into the hotel at a decent hour. Hopped on a train bound for Florence so that I could go check out the Michelangelo’s statue of David. I managed to get stuck on the train because the door wouldn’t open. Ended up in Bologna for a quick bite to eat before headin back.

Florence is an amazing city. In contrast to Rome it is the sleeping beauty. The streets were cobblestone and lined straight to the centerpiece, the Duomo. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. A huge gothic temple that looked like something out of a comic book. It was absolutely breathtaking.

After walking around the square for a bit I stumbled upon the Galleria dell’Acaddamia where the statue of David was housed. It did take me quite awhile to find the museum. There weren’t any signs that pointed to the location from the street. I must have walked around it 3 times before I finally found the entrance in an unmarked building. Right around the corner of the entrance inside the museum was the 25 ft figure that Michelangelo had created in 1501. The most famous sculpture in history was standing there towering over me. I couldn’t help but sit down and stare at it for a good 20 mins. It was that amazing. If god had created a perfect creature it would have come in the form of Michelangelo’s David. Cameras were not allowed in the museum so I had to sneakily snap off a few photos from the iPhone.

Had a few days to wanderlust so I thought I’d head down to Rome for some sightseeing. It was either that or head over to the french countryside and work my way back to Zurich. It was raining in pretty much all of Europe so I said why knock off another modern world wonder (the Coliseum) off my list. Off to kick it with he Pope.

The train ride was long. It got stuck on the snowy tracks for a few hours so I think it took roughly 12 hours to get to Rome. ThAnk god my hotel was around the corner from the main train station. I would not want to be walking all around that place at night. Checked in and chatted awhile with one of the guys boarded there. He seemed nice but don’t really remember his name.

All I can say about Rome is damn! On a scale of grandioseness you can mark it up there as the old world Las Vegas. I mean tourist everywhere, tons of stuff to gawk at and memorabilia up the ass. I wanted to check off the sights (Coliseum, Vatican. Pantheon) and get the hell out of dodge. For a city that wasn’t built in a day that is all I wanted to spend there. As you can tell I’m not a dan of the big cities.

I got a head start at 6 am to head off over to the Vatican. Hopped on the subway and walked about for a few hour while things opened up. Hung out at St Peter’s for a bit hoping the Pope would come out in his pajamas but he was probably still asleep in his coffin at 7 am in the morning. Perused through the Vatican museum for a bit. Sistine Chapel was amazing. It’s a shame there was no photography allowed cause I would have been all over that shit. The afternoon was spent walking about the coliseum. Did I mentioned it was raining. Fuck rain. It makes me have to clean my lens after every shot. Not cool god. Anyways now i’ve walked all over goddamn Rome. It’s dusk and I’m looking for the Pantheon in a dark ass alley. For such a prominent site they sure made this one hard as fuck to find. I walk in circles for about an hour an a light clicks. iPhone maps! Why didn’t I think o this earlier. Fuck! Found it wihin 10 mins. Checked it off my list and bounced back to he hotel. Rome, you were cool but I can only take 1 day of you without getting annoyed at how many tourists you have.

So I finally made it to Switzerland, land of chocolate, cheese and clocks. I must say it is damn cold here. -15C. I can’t do the math but anything in the negative has got to be surely freezing. I had forgotten my heavy jacket back at home and luckily was able to swing by Sports Basement in SF during a layover to pick something up. Nearly missed my connecting flight by 15 mins.

Let me start by saying Switzerland in the winter is pure bliss. The people are friendly, the countryside is spectacular covered in snow. It’s total winter wonderland. Ski resorts are a skip and a hop onto a train and your at the resort of you choice. I was pretty impressed with the infrastructure that Switzerland has to enable skiiers to get to the mountain. My cousin and I took a side trip to Engelberg which was only about 60 mins from Luzern. I didn’t have my board with me but man did I wish I could have been out there. The views from the top were amazing. It makes Lake Tahoe look dinky in comparison.

Luzern is a quant little city with a central river. I probably could have walked the entire city if it weren’t so cold. Got to experience my first Gluwein which is a warm rose wine infused with spices like cinnamon. It was a treat to drink something warm when it was bone chilly outside. Cousins and I walked about the Central market but we didn’t go far because of freezing temperatures. The family even took me to Zurich to a Vietnamese Christmas party. I felt sorta out of place but hey whatever. I had a good time watching the locals celebrate. I’m gonna have to come back to Switzerland when it’s greener. I hear Interlaken is a backpackers dream.

Thought I’d hang out in London on the way back to Paris for a few days to check out what the fuss was about. I wanted to hang out with my friends Katie and Laura for a bit and have a pint or two. The flight back was much better (Air Lingus) and even managed to meet a nice girl (Emma) who helped me navigate the Tube. Watch your step lol. London was cool and all but really wasn’t digging it. I’ve been to much bigger cities that had a lot more character. It just appeared drab and monotone to me compared to Tokyo and New York. Maybe its just me. Anyways I managed to meet up with Laura, Katie and her friend Kiralee after walking up and down the river Thames. Got to see the tourist traps like the Tower Bridge and Big Ben, etc.. We went for drinks and dim sum in Covent Gardens which I really liked. Brits really can drink. One of them thought I looked like Manny Pacquiao which I thought was hilarious. Anyways it was a great night before returning to Paris to end my trip.

I had planned on making a trip over to Dublin, Ireland to visit my old friend Javson. He offered to let me stay at his place if I ever made it out there and sure enough I was on my way. I left Paris from Beauvais airport in what was the worst airport experience I’ve ever had to deal with. All I can say is I will never fly RyanAir again. There customer service is atrocious. Who cares that your ticket is $20. Got charged almost $100 because I had to check a bag in last minute. Besides that Dublin and Belfast we’re amazing. Got to experience a pint or two of Guiness at the factory where it wad made. I pArticulary liked Belfast on this trip. The stories of war between the Catholics and Protestants really touched me. All I can say is Ireland is one beautiful ass place.

Trying to get over the jet lag from the day before. Riding the train thoughout the German countryside was pretty amazing. After a good rest in Fussen I wanted to head to Luzern Switzerland to meet up with my cousin. However I missed my train in Munich to Switzerland by 5 mins. Oh well. Considering the next one left 5 hours later I decided to take the high speed to Paris. Upon arriving I bought a 2 day pass on the railway system and booked it towards the Eiffel tower to get the touristy thing over with. That day I saw the Louvre, Champs Elysee, the Notre Dame cathedral. I also go to hang out for a few days with family (great aunt & uncle) Paris does have that aura of mystique. No one seems to be in a hurry and everywhere you look people are holding hands. Truly a romantic city. Oh yeah happy 30th birthday to me!

Decided to head out to Europe on a whim. No plans, just see as much as I could within the 10 days of vacation that I had. My base arrival point in Germany was Frankfurt. Immediately upon arriving I decided to head south towards Munich and into Füssen. Munich was a 2hr train ride and Füssen another 2 hours. The countryside of Germany was amazing. Green rolling hills as far as the eye could see. Upon rolling into Füssen you could see the snow capped mountains in the background.

Neuschwanstein castle was nestled up in the hills just outside of Füssen. Resemblance to the Disney castle is uncanny. It was a nice 45 min walk from the center of town to the castle where once there you charter a bus to the top of the hill. This is the first real castle that I’ve seen and quite an amazing feat of architecture. Sure we have Hearst Castle in San Simeon but that doesn’t really count. Its more a big mansion. This had it all: the overlook, the mountainous setting, royalty residence. Oh yeah, best beer in the world. Nough said.

I didn’t think I would like Mexico City due to the reported crime and pollution but I found it rather a nice change from any of the other big cities. First off its not your typical Metropolis of skyscrapers and fashionistas. There is a qualm about it that makes it truely Mexican. The zocolo area was pretty amazing. Throngs of people scattered about the ice rink that was at the center of historic Mexico City. You could weave in and out of alleyways and get lost in cathedrals, pawn shops and sidewalk cafes.

Any visit to Mexico City wouldn’t truely be a visit without wandering out to Teotihuacan. I was amazed at the size of the ancient city. There wasn’t much plantlife nearby much like Monte Alban but the size of the compound will put you in awe. Climb the Pyramid of the Sun and you’ll feel like your atop the world looking down. Truely amazing.

I arrived in Puerto Escondido about 9 am. As again I couldn’t find a place online so my first agenda item was to find a room. The hostels were full so I had to find a cheap hotel. I met a local fisherman that helped me. The hotel wasn’t very nice but it was right on the water which was cool. The beach here is nothing like the Carribean Yucatan. The color of the water is much like home, that dark greenish color. It was warm and pleasant to stick your feet in.

I wanted to go fishing as I had heard there was marlin, mahi-mahi and other fish just off the coast. The price to go out on the water was expensive, about $100 for 3 hours. the boat was small but for 3 people it was plenty big. It was hot on the water so I basically sat underneath shade for most of the time. We didn’t any bites for the first two hours on the water. We gave up and headed back and then suddenly there was a hit. A big 30kg Mahi-Mahi. It seriously took me about 20 mins to reel the sucker in. Every time he got close to the boat it swam away out even further. My finger kept getting burned and my left arm was getting sore. Finally after the thing got tired we hooked him into the boat and I was handed my first big game. On the way back I caught a smaller 10kg mackerel. Not as cool as the Mahi Mahi. When we landed on shore I hauled my catch to one of the restaurants where they cooked it up for me for $50 pesos. It was grilled with garlic and lime. Served with rice it was a good end to the afternoon.

Today I wanted to see Monte Alban which is another Mayan ruin up in the hills of Oaxaca about 8 km away. The tour group that the hostel offered was about twice the cost if I had booked my own transportation. I decided to walk down to the tour bus site and reserve a seat on their bus. The cost was $38 pesos which was a lot less than the $200 the hostel was asking.

The site was huge. Not as big as Palenque but enough to keep you busy for a few hours. If the site were in the jungle it would have been much nicer. The place seemed dry and baron. Don’t get me wrong. It was spectacular but after visiting Machu Picchu, Palenque, Tulum and Chichen Itza this was low on the wow factor. It did allow you to walk up the steps which you couldn’t do at Chichen Itza or Palenque. After taking several pics I got tired. The clouds were overcast which dampened my mood. I just picked a spot at the top of the stairs, turned on the Ipod to some gangster rap and watched people try and climb the steps up the rain. I stayed there for a good hour and then headed back into town for lunch which was a very good mole cheese enchilada at the Mercado 20. I walked back through the Zocolo one last time and then packed up to wait for yet another overnight bus ride to Puerto Escondido.