Madrid - the Other

Madrid (Spain)

27 SEP - 01 OCT

When the short stories of Jorge Luis Borges clash with the songs of  Shihad , yes seriously, you get 'the Other'

I was sitting in the Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun), which is considered to be the centre of Madrid, rather late one evening, actually I think it was the night before that I was meant to fly out to Buenos Aires when somehow  I tracked down a quote in the recesses of my mind regarding the city that had now become somewhat of a favourite, it went something like this, '...[I]f you could distill the city to its essence, it would be this: Madrid is a rebellious ex-convent schoolgirl who grew up, got sophisticated but never forgot how to have a good time'. There was certainly nothing that I'd experienced in either the last few days or my week here three months earlier that would be able to refute the accuracy of that sentiment.

 The Puerta del Sol - Madrid - Spain

 On the Gran Via - Madrid - Spain

Sitting on one of the benches at a rather later hour but perhaps not so late for Spaniards as they commonly head out for dinner at a time approaching 11pm, I noticed someone sidle up to the bench, his back turned to me, living in his own head space. It was fleetingly irritating. Sometimes even in such a public space that has an enormous amount of human traffic  and enough space for everyone to be satisfied you want to be able to occupy an area on your own, to be in your own thoughts and ideas without being distracted by the oddities and quirks of a complete stranger. It's curious as to how trivial things can all of a sudden both demand and be given 100% of your concentration for no apparent reason. This man sitting now not 10 metres away from me at this very point in time had my complete attention. Looking at the way he was hunched over on the edge of the bench, elbows dug into his thighs, arms meeting at an apex where is fingers were interlaced supporting his head, brought out in me a type of visceral, deep-rooted reaction. It was only at that point that I had the rather unsettling feeling of déjà vu. Now there are several explanations for déjà vu ranging from the eyes recording information slightly faster than that which the brain can process it, to the subconscious mind processing information faster than the conscious mind does to that of the simple onset of fatigue. But how was it therefore that this  random guy was wearing a shirt that had 'Kyoto' emblazoned across his back with the number 11, an item of clothing that I swore was identical to one that I had in my bag back at the hostel!?

 

 Madrid - Spain

The Gran Via - Madrid - Spain

Sitting there for an inordinate period of time I rode on that familiar acute wave of anxiety that you generally get just prior to doing something that's uncharacteristic for yourself. I turned to face the guy, in complete anticipation of him turning around, and then said the following, 'Hey, Marrakech is an odd place, you'll learn to love it the farther removed you are'. This guy spun around in an instant and immediately tried to analyse my face in the muted light of the square. It was only at that very moment, when our eyes met that it came to me that this was not an occurrence of déjà vu, this was the exact conversation that I'd had just over two years ago, in the very same spot, only that  on that occasion I had been on the receiving end...and  strangely enough, I'd also been the despatcher. How was two years on I'd forgotten this very moment?


Both dumbfounded and bewildered he never the less decided to answer my statement by saying simply, 'I actually do like the place!'. Somehow his response came out a little defensive, almost like he was offended.

I laughed and responded in kind, 'No, you don't but you will, just give it time, oh and by the way when you get the Paris remember to buy yourself a torch, you'll need it almost immediately'. Then just after I said that I laughed internally as I knew very well that I wouldn't, and in fact that I didn't.

'You know I've only got just over 24hrs in Madrid, it feels like I'm going to be missing out on such an amazing place. How long have you been here? Actually, what are you doing here?' he quizzed.

 Plaza Mayor - Madrid

 Plaza Mayor - Madrid

'This is my second time in Madrid within the last three months. In total I've spent close to 10 days here in that amount of time. Just travelling around I guess, seeing the sights'. At that moment my internal dialogue went gangbusters and I questioned myself as to why the hell it was that I was being so coy, with myself of all people? Other than the fact that I had two years of in depth knowledge on myself in this conversation and already knew how the hell it was that I got to this position what was the exact purpose of not being forthright in this conversation?

'Seriously? I've got under a day here and you're not going to tell me about the place or how it is that you or rather (I) got  to being here?' he responded.

I thought about his questions for a moment as my mind drifted off. I remembered the taxi ride in from the bus station through the city to the top of Calle la Montera just a few nights ago. I recalled that the architecture of the city immediately made an impression on me, as it had done on previous occasions. Distinctly Spanish, classical, intricate and aesthetically appealing. It didn't take me long at all to get absorbed into its cool air of sophistication that somehow was totally unpretentious. Nor did it take me too long to figure out that bar scene in Madrid is  kind of synonymous with its food scene and the more you allow yourself to search through the treasure trove of establishments, the more you'll come to be fascinated by the myriad of food options and opportunities that you'll have presented.
.

In the days that Dina and I spent here prior to making our way down to South America we both commented on just how much of an appealing place Madrid was. Not only due to its food and culture but also because of the great nature of the people, who themselves were quite aesthetically pleasing if I may say, by quite a fair margin actually. Out of any place that I'd travelled to prior to that point in time the lovely ladies of Madrid had it in spades, class, elegance and beauty that put all other pretenders to the throne to shame.

I also had the good fortune of having an art buff accompany me around Madrid which made visits to such places as the Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza and Reina Sofia museums just that much more informative and inspiring. I spent some time in the Prado museum admiring the black paintings of Goya, marvelling at the intricacies and imagination that must of existed behind a Bosch painting entitled the 'Garden of Earthly Delights' and figuring out that Peter Paul Rubens was not actually the name of some crappy sixties band. In the Reina Sofia museum I even resolved my differences with Picasso when Dina gave me a little bit of a build up and brief history lesson regarding his epic painting entitled Guernica. I had no position to argue after the unveiling, the piece is epic, as masterpieces are usually prone to being. I was also lucky enough to encounter the works of a Valencian painter, Joaquin Sorolla as I was dragged off to an offbeat gallery a little way out of the city centre. No complaints however, the quite often bright, sun-drench beach scenes and landscapes struck a chord with me and I was sold on his brilliance in an instant.

 Picassos' Guernica - Museo de arte Reina Sofia - Madrid

 Maro con Naranjas - J.Sorolla - Sorolla museo - Madrid

 Ninas en al mar - J.Sorolla - Sorolla museo - Madrid

 Sorolla museo - Madrid

Nor was I too displeased when the visit to the Sorolla museo turned into a search for picnic food which in turn ended up being a baguette, combination of soft cheeses, some fine chocolates and a bottle of red wine that we managed to hijack from a restaurant in Parque del Buen Retiro on a sunny Wednesday afternoon. In fact, as the afternoon just sailed on by I was kind of amused as to how such randomness turned into something so amazingly cool. Sometimes planning things can be the death of enjoyment because what you end up deducting is the very aspect of surprise and chance that you searched for to begin with.

 

Alfonso XII monument - Retiro Park - Madrid

Alfonso XII monument - Retiro Park - Madrid

I thought of all those things as I sat there in front of myself. I even contemplated telling myself that I actually considered Madrid as being close to one of the best cities that I had ever been to but then of course, I thought, I'd also be losing out on that irreplaceable feeling of surprise. In that moment I stood up and said to the misfit sitting down, 'No, I think I'm going to let you find out about this place all on your own'.

Without questioning me he just called out when I was a few steps away, 'So, where are you heading off to now?'.
.

'Off to get a drink and then back to the hostel, I have a flight to catch to Buenos Aires tomorrow'

By which he responded, 'Oh, you're kidding me!? I finally get to go to South America!!?'

I just smiled back at him as I turned around and walked away, calling back over my shoulder one final time I yelled out, 'Yeah, you do!'. I know for certain that my final response also put a smile on his face....funny how I knew that.

  The post that follows on from this is - Buenos Aires - The Quickening

San Sebastian - Debt Recovery

This is a continuation of my Year full of Saturdays under the guise Reflections in a stream of consciousness which allows for me to 'catch up' and write on those places that unfortunately escaped my time and effort whilst I was away. The next write up actually steals a bit of a post that I had already part written but not completed.

San Sebastian (Spain)
25 SEP - 26 SEP 2010

The hours of credit that you obtain by trading off your reveller self against your early morning 'seize the day' self are quite often located in those sedate and sobering early afternoon moments when you kind of dare yourself to challenge the notion that time is the only thing that keeps everything from happening at once. You ask yourself whether it's possible that on this day, the afternoon actually commenced before its usual cycle of morning hours. You feel the rays off the sun hitting your face on its downward arc and contemplate time dilation, wondering how exactly the gravitational pull towards the bar actually slowed down your brain function and it's ability to realise that your eventual need for debt recovery in terms of sleep would manifest itself in a day that would eventually be misplaced on the calendar, gone from your mental recollection for all time! Ahh, San Sebastian, you have the ability to treat the Julian calendar with such contempt!

Finding the will to clear out from the apartment somewhere around mid afternoon, we made our way to one of the main squares within Parte Vieja, an area located under the enduring gaze of Monte Urgull and the 12m height statue of Jesus Christ which sits atop the monte. Kind of standing guard as keeper and protector of the Donostiarris, the statue has a an odd type of look that reminded me of those t-shirts that have 'Jesus is my homeboy' emblazoned on the front, although the San Sebastian version just looks as though it's giving the town a 'Who's da man' shout out. Considering that the statue has been around since 1950 I'm a little dismayed that someone hasn't come out with a shirt that says 'Jesus, kicking it with the San B crew for the last 60 yrs'. Regardless, under the watchful gaze of our bro we settled for a few cleansing ales which in turn had me internally recalling a more than familiar saying donated by my wonderful mother, 'You can only take out a needle with a needle' - whilst you sit and digest that one for a second just ask yourself something, what the hell does that really mean!? For years I've tried to decipher it and drew complete blanks, and in much the same manner we as a group were drawing blanks on the locals that were haphazardly performing indiscriminate acts of social etiquette bastardisation. Watching a father hold his son above the metal grate of a gutter in the middle of the square, the trousers of the little whipper snapper around his ankles as his rear end was 'masterfully' angled towards the welcoming breaches of the San Sebastian sewers just brought to me the standard question of, 'certainly this bar had a bathroom inside, doesn't it?'

When you have to go...you go public!

San Sebastian - Spain

View of Monte Urgull and monumento al Sagrado Corazon

As the sun moved west from our immediate vicinity and chased it's own piece of the Atlantic, we settled in for a few hours of watching Basque Jai Lai ( or is it pelota?) before Jay and I decided to head out into the welcoming arms of Parte Vieja for additional 'Dutch courage', because God knew that's exactly what we required. Dina on the other hand decided to stay at home and I'm sure decided to partake in some XXX skyping, but that's neither here nor there within the context of this particular story.

With tapas, cerveza's and senoritas thrown into the mix, Jay and I managed to make our way back to the Bee-Bop for round two in our Donastiarri fantasy land. Not a bad idea on most nights I'm sure but on this evening, the one prior to a massive U2 concert which was going to take place about 5kms down the road, you could kind of figure out who the guest of honour on the play list was going to be. Is there anyway therefore that you thought that I'd be off the dance floor whilst Bono and the boys were being blasted into the porous stone slabs that were keeping the roof on the joint? Just to let you know,he only dancing shoes that I dare hire these days are dependant on if I'm going to be getting my salsa moves on or if U2 are being spun on the discs, and by some sense of divine intervention it happened to be the latter. I think my U2 inspired idiocy also got quite a bit of attention as Jay and I somehow got roped into a Spanish crew that were visiting from Bilbao and the night once again was flung into orbit on an alcohol inspired Spanglish frenzy of natural chemistry. Great fun by the way! Great times and many Spanish lessons were had during the course of those hours.

With Jay at the Bee-Bop - San Sebastian - Spain

Love this shot  - @ the Bee-Bop - San Sebastian - Spain

....which therefore leads to our last day and last evening, the final act of our San Sebastian production. In a somewhat offhanded, kind of flippant manner we decided on our penultimate morning to make our way to the top of Mount Urgull in order to obtain 'the' view of the town. I'm not sure why this happens to me, I often recall undertaking moderately challenging feats when I should be at home in bed recovering from a hang over! Please see,  climbing Mt.Kosciuszko, New Year's Day 2000 for a respectable reference. Needless to say, the walk was inspiring, my sensei Dina convinced me that I would obtain 'best seats' at the U2 concert that evening if I 'believed' in my very own destiny and Jay...well, he gave the 'big man' that owned the Mont his very own 'peace out and peace down' shout out. I mean, I don't even know what that actually means but I'm happy that Jay got a little satisfaction out of it.

San Sebastian - Spain

Coastline from Mont Urgull - San Sebastian - Spain

San Sebastian harbour

San Sebastian from Monte Urgull

 

Now the rest of the San Sebastian story, the part that I remember, takes place post the U2 concert at the Anoeta, which you can check out here - http://hdbc2.blogspot.com/2010/09/u2-anoeta-stadium-san-sebastian-spain.html.

Monumento al Sagrado Corazon - Monte Urgull - San Sebastian

'No, you 'da man'

 

As you can imagine, post U2 I was a little pumped and more than in need of a little company to assist in my  Bono comedown. I ran most of the distance back from the Anoeta stadium to our sweet digs on Avenida Zurriola to find the apartment empty! Those little fockers had flown the coop before I had even had the chance of providing them a blow by blow encounter with His Eminence, how dare they!? My only form of retribution was to play the Joshua Tree at a volume that tread the fine line of insanity and wait for my fellow party people to make it back home...and so I waited...as 'Where the Streets Have No Name' played out, followed by ' I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For', then 'With or Without You, 'then 'Bullet the Blue Sky'...I started to realise that these bastards were probably knee deep in sangria and weren't making their way home anytime soon. My neighbourhood walks also proved fruitless and I only ran into post U2 affected drunken Donastiarri's or post U2 affected drunken Irish - (how the hell was it that so many Irish had actually made it down to San Sebastian in any case?). Hours literally went by and somewhere close to 3:30am I dropped of in a Vertigo induced haze, my U2 high would just need to be relived on another day...and then.....and then it happened. Dina and Jay stumbled through the door at sometime close to 4am, on a scale of 1-10 Jay was probably clocking in at a respectable 8.5 in terms of being off his face and Dina was probably at a 7. Jay, not knowing exactly what country he was in at that point decided to crash out whilst D felt the overwhelming urge to 'make food', you know that urge where you just need to damn make something, not matter what it is...you do the maths on that one. Now, as the story goes, just try and follow this, nearly six university degrees between us, IQ's that allow us to tie our shoelaces in the dark....and then comes this, an inability to figure out how to boil four eggs on this modern stove top. It took us, without a word of a lie, nearly two hours to work out the technicalities of this damn blight on society! Somehow Dina managed to put together a breakfast of eggs, toast, excessive pepper and excessive dried herbs in somewhere close to 120 minutes! Thankfully Gordan Ramsay was nowhere to be seen. Sleep soon came to us all after that little sojourn.

At 8am IT happened! The alarm on my mobile went off on this God awful Monday morning. It could only mean one thing, that I now had the job of trying to wake the other two from their self induced coma's in order to get them 1) Out of the apartment before 9am and 2) To get them wherever the hell it was that they needed to be at that point. For D that meant jumping on a bus with me at 9:30am in order to get back to Madrid and for Jay it meant being sober enough to jump a plane to 'somewhere' where he would be able to catch a connecting flight which would take him on to Thailand. So I started with Dina, already knowing at this point in the game that it would take me 7-8 goes just to get her to acknowledge that it was morning. My first few attempts I thought were quite ingenious in their simplicity, I just turned on and left the light in her until such time that she got out of bed and turned it off, where in turn I would react I and would switch it back off again. Jay on the other hand was  much more of a struggle. When you have a 35 yr old man, fully clothed, stand up and then fall over the edge of their bed cracking their head against the wall, you kind of figure out rather quickly that you're going to be in for a torrid time. Somehow however my persistence with Jay paid off and he was able to accompany me to the lounge room in what could only be regarded as a sweet piece of serendipity as the apartment owner also deduced it was now his prime time to check on the apartment and to obtain his keys. The conversation that ensued between Jay and this elderly, refined Basque man was the stuff of legends. I sat back and enjoyed the discourse between this drunken boy from Oz and this Spanish gentleman almost to the point where I had tears in my eyes when Jay, with all the dignity and sincerity that he could compose at that stage of proceedings actually put it to this man that he should 'come to the Sunshine Coast, pop in and say hello'  ...now if you could imagine the absolute randomness of the situation and the dynamic of the conversation, all you could really do was laugh at that request and suggestion...'Yeah my man, if you ever turn up to Oz and remember little 'ole Jay, just pop in and say hello'...the concept was just hilarious. Well, if you had of been in my mind for those few minutes it would have been a riot.

Several coffee's later and with a moderately disturbed Basque gentleman left in our wake, Dina and I made it to the bus station where we left a still unsteady Jay to find his way to the local airport.....ahhh San Sebastian, not only do you treat the Julian calendar with contempt but man, you were a hell of a lot of fun!

My next 10 squared - an encore

If you missed my last post regarding my next 100 then you can check the first 40 out here - [10 squared - the first 40].

If you couldn't be bothered with that and/or you don't like being told what to do then you can just hang out with me here whilst I cover off the final 60 of my next 100. As per my initial post (see, you should really go back to the start) this is 'kind of' a bucket travel list for me that I'd like to cover off 'Before 30', **ahem**....or perhaps whenever I get the chance. 

So here we go, the final 60

The top 10 - 'Of course you're a sporting nut!'

1. The football world cup final - Rio de Janiero (Brazil)

This is a 'no brainer'! The only issue in completing this mission is trying to secure tickets. I went on a major mission prior to the last world cup trying to secure tickets to Australian matches in South Africa at a nil result. I think the only realistic way that you can do it is to jump on a tour that has a certain amount of tickets allotted. Either way, my South African fail turned into a Spanish odyssey as I managed to somehow pick the winner of the world cup WAY in advance and sorted out my trip around a glorious Spanish run to their first trophy - fluke or skill? You be the judge. Anyway, a world cup in Brazil? What more are you going to ever need in life, huh?

[Greatest moment in Australian sport - EVER!]  - I was at this game! Go to 6:35 on the  vid - this is exactly what the World Cup means to soccer nuts. Still sends shivers down my spine.

[Greatest moment in the Elisher household - AUSTRALIA 2 - Serbia 1 !!!]   Nice result! NICE!

In Barcelona on the night of their 2010 World Cup victory - they needed a hand to celebrate!

2.  The Olympic Games - Summer or Winter

Most of us know what a hometown Olympics feels like. Having the Olympics in Sydney in 2000 was a phenomenal experience, not something that can be replicated but hey, why not help some other place have a great time also!

[Remember this?]

[Last man standing] - This epitomises what it means to be an Australian at the Winter Olympics!

3. Cricket world cup final - Melbourne (Australia)

As we're hosting the next cricket World Cup I assume that Melbourne will take on hosting rights for the final. Either way, I think I'm going to have to make it down there to check it out.

[1999 World Cup semi-final]   Now who heard the 'Don't run, don't run call!!!?' LOL - Poor South Africa, lolol.

4. The tour de France - all over (France)

So JJ and I arrive in Paris on the final day of the tour de France. We're actually walking through Paris about 1000-1500 mtrs from where the stage was taking place...that's as close as I've been (I was kind of cut JJ, just a little)...ANYWAY, would love to check a few stages through the Alps. Fantastic atmosphere, nut bag supporters and a few glasses of Bordeaux might just be the right remedy for watching a bit of cycling!

[Tour de France] 

5. Boca Juniors v. River Plate - Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Other than giving me just another reason to go back to Buenos Aires this epic intra-city rivalry is a classic. Take into account football madness in country whose number 1 religion is, well football and then add a dose of the 'poor barrio bad boys of Boco v the glamour side of River' and you get yourself one hell of an event.

[La Boca]

6. El clasico - Real Madrid v. Barcelona -Madrid/Barcelona (Spain)

Always an epic contest filled with history, passion and a large dose of skill. Another must see!

[El clasico] 

7. X Games - Summer/Winter - (USA)

The X Games is always mind blowing and it says something that the Olympics decided to introduce sports such as snowboarding and boarder/skier cross into its bag of tricks after the X games started taking off. People literally do go hard or go home here. The feets of skill and near stupidity is something that you need to respect because behind those moments are hours, days, months and years of torture and pain.

[Oh yes, he just did that!]  - Pastrana pulls the double

[Wow, hardcore slam] - Jake Brown takes a wicked slam

[Shaun White - X Games legend]  This isn't from the X-Games but this guy is wicked!

8.  Stanley Cup final series - (Canada)/(USA)

How would you not want to check out  team getting presented with the biggest cup of all time. Go the Rangers!

[Rangers 1994]

9. Camel races - (Qatar)

Ok, for something a little out of  left field why not spend a day out at the camel races!

[I love my camel] 

10. I need to place two events in at equal 10th because I really couldn't leave them out of the list!

The Iditarod - Alaska (USA)

It's got to be one of the toughest and most gruelling events, mentally and physically...and then there's the humans that guide the dogs also.

[The Iditarod] 

The Monaco GP - (Monaco)

Fast cars, glamour and an iconic track. It might just have to be done.

[Monaco] 

The top 10 -  'Dude, you're going out of business destinations'

These are dedicated to all those places that you need to see if and when you have a chance prior to the climate working its magic and putting them out of business or politics/war/religion placing a rubber stamp of 'Do not enter' on their post code.

1. Mt. Kilimanjaro - (Tanzania)

So the mountain will probably always be there but the snows of the peak are disappearing at a rates of knots. Unless we're all holding out for a bit of an ice age it might be best to get there whilst snowboarding is still possible!

[Kiliman JAAARROOO!]

2. The Maldives - somewhere in the Indian Ocean

So I've been to the Maldives already but I went there during a really disappointing time in my life, so I'd kind of like to return and make the most of them whilst  not having to wear gum boots constantly.

[A nation going down] 

3. Trinidad - (Cuba)

Colonial architecture, ambiance, Cuban cigars, some serious rum and you've got a place that you need to check out in a country that's well on my top 10 on the 'next to see list'. Lets just hope that it dodges a few hurricanes for a while.

[Trinidad]
.

4. Ice hotel - Jukkasjärvi (Sweden)

This is a bit of a cheat, I mean it does technically go 'out of business' during the Winter but then again it re-emerges the next Winter. Although I just checked out their site and the smarties have decided to set the ice hotel up for Summer. Whatever, it still makes the list!

[Ice Ice baby - lol] 

5. Hindu Kush - Afghanistan

A mountain range in the north of Afghanistan with spectacular scenery but bruised and battered from a hell of a lot of bombing. Tough to get in, tough to stay there and take your chances as they present themselves.

[Hindu Kush] 

6. Mogadishu - (Somalia)

No government since 1991, violence for the last 20 years, no safe place for a Westerner to be heading to right!? Watch out for me on Banged Up Abroad if I EVER decide to take this on. Either that or I'll hang out with Robert Pelton Young and see if he can get me through.

[Welcome to Somalia]

7. Timbuktu - (Mali)

The place in the middle of nowhere in a country that strangely has some odd attractions. As the video says, wrapped in myth and legend, check it out before it crumbles into the desert.

[Timbuktu]

8. North Pole - (Earth)
So get there before you lose a hell of a lot of fresh water to a little bit of salt.
[Is that ice in your drink?] 


9. Mecca - (Saudi Arabia)
Good luck trying to get in here if you're a Westerner and non-Muslim. I mean I think it would be an epic achievement to make it in here for the Hajj, but how the hell am I going to achieve that? Where there's a will though....there's a way.

[Mecca]

10. Lake Chad - Chad/Cameroon/Nigeria/Niger
As a kid I was always fascinated by this huge lake on the edge of the Saharan desert. How the hell did all that water get there? Now over the last 40 years the lake has decreased in size by 94%! It's on the way out and therefore it probably needs to be checked out.
[Lake Chad]


The top 10 -  'Get your food on!'

1. San Sebastian - (Spain)
My favourite destination full stop. Fantastic vibe, great scenery, great bar scene and then you can walk into 1000 different places and go nuts with tapas! This is the best place to eat and drink yourself stupid, and if you dare, take on some of the three Michelin star rated restaurants such as Arzak. Can you believe that I actually had a reservation at Arzak before Jay and Dina decided to crash my San Sebastian stay and make it infinitely cooler - yeah - worth it!
 [San Sebastian] 

 

You see Jay, it was totally worth it!

2. Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Meat and red wine, meat and red wine, meat, meat and meat, then for a change have an empanada filled with cheese, and meat! This is the meat capital of the universe! What can a poor carnivore such as myself do when they enter a town like this? You can only wish that you make it through to the other side, and then when you get there, turn around and head back. You know, BA just moves to its own sexy beat and once it sweeps you off your feet, well there's no much more that you can do but just give in to its charms.

[The big BA] 

Centro Buenos Aires - how can you walk past this? Really!?

3. El Bulli - near Roses, Catalonia (Spain)

This place only operates for six months of the year, has a window of a week where you can put in an 'application' to get a seat and then if you're drawn out of a lottery, you score. 

[El Bulli]

4. Barcelona/Madrid - (Spain)

Does my top 10 have a distinctly Spanish feel? It just works for me, what can I do? Food, wine and everything else just works in harmony to make this country awesome. Get to Barcelona or Madrid and go nuts with your food, it really won't be a challenge.

 Central markets in Barcelona - how can you go wrong!!?

Sangria time in Madrid!

5. Paris - (France)
Cheese, wine, bread, croissants, brioche and that's just the warm up. An extraordinary range and style of cuisine that should really put this first on anyone elses list - I am Spain biased however, what can I do. Never the less, I did have the BEST meal of my life in Paris at a place called Chez Robert & Louise + if you're up for a decent happy hour then Paris will rock it out for you continuously from 4:30pm to 11:00pm. That's a happy city!
[Someone's home video of Chez Robert &Louise]  - You'll get an understanding of the vibe.

The magicians of Chez Robert & Louise - Paris



6. Marrakech - (Morocco)
Marrakech is in your face, sights, smells, sound and then there's the endless array of food. Aside from the fantastic tagines in every restaurant the absolute highlight of Marrakech is strolling through the food stalls in D'jemma el-Fna and getting suckered in by everything on offer. One night JJ and I stopped in and had ourselves a little bits of sheep's head, cooked in some type of broth and served with a side of bread. It was fantastic. Morocco rocks their food kasbah style!
[D'jemma el-Fna]

7. Istanbul - (Turkey)
Just like in Marrakech, here it's best to get your food on the street. Meat is king here and thankfully I'm a carnivore so I assume that's going to be a match made in heaven. Aside from the food, take yourself a couple of Turkish coffees just for the hell of it and you'll remain awake for days!
[Istanbul food - with a dead boring host]

8. Mumbai - (India)
Well, I've only ever tried Indian food in Sydney and from what I know and have tasted I think that food on the street here might just be the place for me to get stuck into the real thing. It's inevitable that one of the meals might just take me down for a week or two but that's the type of risk that you need to cope with for having some wicked street food.
[Mumbai eat streets]

9. Hanoi - (Vietnam)
I loved the food in Vietnam and once again when you're out on the street it's available in abundance, it's fresh and you can't help but be enticed by everything that's on offer. I remember one night when Frichot and I plonked ourselves down on a street corner and took a lucky dip assortment of goodies from what was on display. It tasted great, was cheap and our seats were virtually in the middle of the road! ....and finally in addition, the Vietnamese serve the best coffee in the world, bar none! Seriously, it is the greatest!

Hanoi street fare

Jetson hoping that his French blood will help him with taking down Vietnamese frog legs!

10. Oaxaca - (Mexico)
Unfortunately Jet and I didn't have the time nor the funds to get down this far in Mexico on our last visit. Aside from being a terrific little city this place knows its food and is well known for being able to mix up its indigenous food heritage with more than a sprinkle of Spanish influence (Again with the Spanish thing!).
[Head tacos]

You know, there are a few that didn't make the top 10 then I would have love to have added to the list such as Singapore, Bangkok (Thailand), Beirut (Lebanon), Athens (Greece), Rome/Florence (Italy) and the hometown favourite, Belgrade (Serbia). So much food, so little time!

The top 10 - 'Dude, where's my car...and hey, what the hell happened last night!?'
.

1. Vang Vieng - (Laos)

I spent a week in Vang Vieng one Tuesday evening, seriously, you can read about it [Here] and you can read about my follow up day, of what I remember anyway [Here]. This is somewhere where disappearing really is a state of mind. First of all there's the 'tubing', a 3-4hr easy cruise down the Nam Song river that should quite pleasurable considering the majestic scenery, however, be aware...bamboo bars await at every corner, behind every bamboo shoot, behind every rock and they sell alcohol and all other things mind altering in the cosmic dark matter sense. It is an awesome place however and somewhere I need to get back to.

[Vang Vieng]

A typical Vang Vieng bar menu - 'Happy and funny for you!'

2. Rio de Janiero - (Brazil)

Geez, it was tough placing Rio second on this list. I mean it's an awesome place all year round but for NYE or carnivale the ante gets upped, BIG TIME. It will hopefully be host to me for NYE 2011/12. I'll see what I remember of that night in the days following.

[Rio NYE]

[On the beach]

3. Amsterdam - (Netherlands)

I don't think there would be any objection to Amsterdam ending up as number three. It's the chill capital of the world isn't it?
[Yup - they killed it]

4. Las Vegas - (USA)

You know the saying, 'what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas' - the reason for that is because when 'it's on, it's on' and this place will go at 100% 24*7. It will leave you in it's wake if you try and outplay it and all you can really do is accept the fact that in a title bout with LV you'll be walking out second. Do it in the honourable way and make sure that your head is held high!

[Vegas baby....VEGAS!]

5. Cali - (Colombia)

Cali is the salsa capital of the world. What better place can there be to rip out my salsa skills and try and mix it with the professionals. Getting your salsa on is easy and a hell of a lot of fun, then of course there's also the fact that you're in Colombia, 'nuff said.

[Salsa time]

6. Koh Phangan - (Thailand)

The full moon party here will take you down, literally, it will lay you flat on the sand and that's where you'll stay.

[It's a full moon]

7. Ios - (Greece)

100 or more clubs set in the centre of a little port town that's just hanging out on its own in the Mediterranean? It's a recipe for memory loss.

[Ios]
.

8. St Patrick's Day - Dublin - (Ireland)

You know that the Irish drink as hard or harder than Australians. What the hell are you going to do on THEIR day!? Where will you end up? What will be the outcome. God help you! St.Patrick help you!

[Smashed]

9. La Paz - (Bolivia)

La Paz is a fantastic place, great people, dramatic scenery - then there's the altitude and then there's the fact that everything is so damn cheap. They tell you mind your alcohol intake and whatever other intake you may have because at altitude it'll take you down in a hurry!

10. Montego Bay - (Jamaica)

Beach shacks and calypso rhythms, getting your drink on as the sun dips out over the Caribbean - how can you beat 'good vibe central' for a place where you may just want to forget a few days.

The next 10 - Cities on my hit list

So if things work out then these are the next 10 cities that I'd want to check off, in this order.

1. Rio de Janiero - (Brazil)

.... just because...just because

[Rio 'n Marley]

[A list of my mania]

2. Havana - (Cuba)

The times are a changing and I'd love to catch the city of Castro and Guevara in its final throws before the world comes walking in.

[Reflections of Havana]  Love this song!

'Detrás de todos los gobiernos,
De las fronteras y la religión
Hay una foto de familia
Hay una foto de los dos'
.

3. Seville - (Spain)

Another Spanish city, another reason to experience everything good about this country and the area of Andalusia.

[Seville]

4. Cartagena - (Colombia)

The Lonely Planet tells me that this is a fairy-tale city of romance, legends and sheer beauty...cobble stone streets, enormous balconies shrouded in bougainvillea, open air cafes, horse drawn carriages...it all sounds damn fine to me!

[Cartagena]

5. Lhasa - (Tibet)
It's primarily to check out the Potala Palace and the beautiful landscape around the city but I'm sure that this Lost City has a few of its own surprises just waiting.

[Lhasa]

6. Cusco - (Peru)
Cusco use to be the capital of the Inca empire and many believe that the city was planned as an effigy in the shape of a puma (those damn puma's, I seriously have PTSD). It's also the town that you transit through of you're going to take on the Inca trail or make a b-line straight for Machu Piccu

[Bourdain in Cusco]

7. Sana'a & Shibam - (Yemen)
OK, so I'm cheating by having two at number 7 but so what, it's my list and I can do what I please. Yemen is kind of like Finland for me, not sure why I want to go there but know that I will. The major draw card is Shibam, the 'old school skyscraper' city built of mud brick, absolutely unique in an architectural sense, there's about 500 tower buildings that get up to around eleven storeys in height.

[Shibam]

As for Sana'a, it's one of the oldest continuously inhabited places on earth, filled with unique architecture, an ancient culture and is apparently the 'new crucible' for global terrorism. All the old time players that you have come to love and appreciate through your good friend al-Qaeda apparently make their base here. It's gotta mean that it's worth a visit then hey!?
[Sana'a]

8. Istanbul - (Turkey)
Straddling two continents, not really identifying with either, serving as capital for 101 different empires, having a myriad of influences, being both culturally and aesthetically spectacular - that gives it enough leverage to me some type of a draw card.
[Istanbul]
.

9. Sorrento - (Italy)
A gorgeous town on the Amalfi coast, I could just imagine myself renting out a place on the majestic cliffs overlooking the Tyrrhenian sea, sitting back with a couple of bottles of red, maybe getting into a bit of cooking, reading, sunset gazing....nice....

[Sorrento]

10. New York -  (USA)

[Apple Centre]  '...now I'm down at Tribeca right next to the Niro but I'll be hood for EVA!' - yeah man, WORD!  Or whatever it was that Jay-Z was trying to get from that.

The next 10 - Countries on my hit list

Now I suppose if I did this accurately then my next 10 countries should in fact allow for me to cover of my next 10 cities, but I'm not working it like that. In any case, here's to my next 10 if luck and good fortune let me get that far.

1. Brazil

2. Cuba

3. Colombia

4. Peru

5. Jordan

6. Turkey

7. Nepal

8. Yemen

9. Oman

10. Mali

...and that completes the list of my next 100 places, events, things of general stupidity and utter madness that I'd like to conquer. No time frame for it but as they fall I'll check them off and more than likely write about them.

Now it's onto finishing my Reflections in a stream of consciousness.