Ok this blog is ridiculous. It doesn't play well with my tablet. After the Spanish Steps I just wanderered around and ended up at the fontana di trevi. Everything looks prettier at night. Story goes that if you turn around and toss a coin into the fountain while making a wish, it'll come true... Eh like all fountains??? I sat there for a while trying to take some cool pics and all I could notice were couples making wishes and throwing coins into the fountain. Let me guess. "I wish we will be together forever and  ever." When I got sick enough of the romance, I started back to the hostel. This was about 12am and the streets were still bustling like crazy. Hey Lauraine I walked by that place with the rich bag. They changed the display to this:

It's a bank now. This was by the Triton fountain right?
Got back to the hostel and finished my first day of Rome.

Next morning (Monday) I realize there are 2 girls I haven't talked to yet, so I initiate. Turns out they from Argentina and are Korean! I found this so weird. Have you ever heard of asians who have Spanish as their first language??? Luckily they spoke good English too. Theycwere planning to go to the Vatican so I tag along for try number 2. No luck. We walkcaround St. Peter's Basilica, they take a few silly photos, then we walked over to Castel Sant Angelo.

They tell me theywant to go to the Colloseum next and hey look! I have my ticket from the day before from going to the Roman forum! We hop on a packed bus and have no idea how to pay, so we just stood there til we got to our stop. (p.s. don't mind all the spelling mistakes and missed spacing. I'm typing on like a typewriter.... I can't go back to fix it...)
When we got to the Colloseum (Colossuem? Collosseum?) we got to skip the huge line. Hell ya! Walked around the place for a good hr and a half before our hunger caught up to us.

Because this website doesn't work properly I'm gonna have to continue with another post. So, St. Peter's basilica. Yea so I walked around, reminiscing about the last time I was here with my family. walking to all the places we walked to, sitting at all the places we sat. Very sad and lonely moment. Too sad so I decided to go somewhere else. Off to the Palatino.
12 euros later I found myself in another place with memories.

If Lauraine is reading this, remember this creepy hole? Well they turned it into some display for gardens in Roman times. Not so scary anymore. Walked around for 2 hrs and still didn't walk through the whole thing. Got a few pics that are probably the same pics as last time I was here, but now I look 7 years older! Well... maybe like a year older...

I had to eat something or else I was going to faint, so I had lunch in front of the Colloseum, sat around for an hr then headed back to the hostel for a nap.
Went back out at 9 for a little walk and ended up at these places!

Looks like I will be back again someday mom. I tried to sit where we sat last time for our pic but there were wayy too many people.

I had an awesome trip from Barcelona to Rome! This morning I woke up at 7 with my things already packed and ready to go. It took me until 7:30 before I walked out the door to the train station that goes to thr airport. So afterwaiting about 15 minutes the train finally comes. Great I am almost there. NOT. The train took about 20 minutes to finally get to thr airport but the journey isn't over! There is a bus that has to take you to the terminal. Ok great 8:15 now and this bus is making all these circles around the airport to finally get to the terminal. 8:25. I frantically look around to see where I can drop off my bag. 8:35. Found the lineup but the guy at the counter was super slow. 8:45. 8:55. Btw did I mention my flight was at 9:25? You see, the receptionist last night at the hostel said 7:30 is plenty of time. I guess she never went to the airport by metro. 9:05 when I got to the counter with my heart beating like a drum and I had the courage to ask, "will I make it?" "No the gate is closed." "What should I do then???" "You can try to make it but I don't think you will. You don't have time to check that bag. Take it with you."
So I ran like crazy with a 40 lbs bag on my back to security. I quickly get by with my boarding pass in hand begging the security to let me cut the line. It worked. 9:20. I run to my gate which was quite far from security to find the two clerks at the gate were still there. I run, panting while asking if the plane left yet. They make a call, says it's too late to check my bag but I can still get on! They hurry me through the gate and I made it in at 9:25 exactly. Jammed the bag into the overhead compartment while 2 flight attendants repeatedly said next time you have to check that bag. I go to my seat and fall asleep almost immediately. Little did I realize, I just brought a lighter, a knife, lots of liquids, and a nail clipper on board. I guess being late gives you priviledges.

An hr and a half later I'm in Rome. I was totally spoiled at my first hostel. My first thought was "crap, I fell into an underground prostitution recruitment scheme". Everyone here is a girl! Some with piercings and tattoos and not the hot kind either.

I went to the Vatican Museum to find that it is CLOSED on sundays... so I went to St. Peters basilica instead.

Today I went to the old city with Adi to find a pastry shop that made CHOCOLATE HAMBURGERS!! I needed to find these hamburgers so I followed her. Many times she wanted to give up and just sit at the nearest cafe for breakfast but I wasn't giving up that easy. Chocolate hamburgers for gods sake!

Here is a picture of us on our journey. I was sweating like a pig, parched, and tired. When we finally got there I wasn't in the mood for chocolate, I just wanted water! Looking back now I wish I got one. But when I looked around I was distracted by strawberry croissants.

So this is a map of Barcelona. It is decievingly larger than it looks. After the journey to the hamburger we walked back to the hostel. Hours later Adi went home to Paris and I decided that I didn't grt enough Gaudi yet so I went to the Casa Batllo.

There was apparently a rich guy who was like "I'm gonna show off how rich I am by making everyone else feel like crap on my street" so he commissioned Gaudi to design his home. It's supposed to resemble St. George, the patron saint of the city, killing a dragon while all the balconies were skulls of the dragons victims. Pretty cool but it cost me 18 euros!!!! And tbh this wasn´t the best attraction. It was just very curvy and organic. One thing I´ve learned while in Barcelona is that tourists are jackasses... mostly. Mostly rude and loud and almost never follow instructions.

Overall these are my thoughts of Barcelona:
Everyday I almost get run over by scooters (on the sidewalks it says something in Catalan to which I can only guess says one in three people die from car accidents in Barcelona).
I want a scooter.
There are probably as many English speaking people here as Chinese speaking people.
I´m never eating another Spanish omelet.
People are generally nice... just not other tourists.
The city is kind of a mix of Paris and Venice. There are the big open boulevards like Paris and then when you get to the old city they are all narrow streets.
The crosswalks are very annoying. You always have to walk around the building to get to the crosswalks... I´ll explain if you ask me when I´m back.
Almost all cars are dented here.

The only thing that I really feel sad about is that I know my family would really enjoy this place with me. There are so many of those little stores with weird little stuff that I know my mom would just love. Lauraine would love the old city because there is a street full of brand name clothing and high end merchandise. My dad would love the view of the sea at the beach. Jessie would love Gaudi I think... since you like all those colourful stuff... also I think Britto is Spanish no?

Anyway. Last night in Barcelona and I´m taking it easy at the hostel writing this up. Off to Rome tomorrow morning yayyyyy!

As some of you may know, I went to the beach yesterday afternoon. Holy crap. I am not ashamed to say I have never seen so many topless girls live in my whole life. I just sat down and minded my own business, reading a little and noting down the amount of money I used when suddenly, MORE topless girls set up camp around me. Needless to say I was inclined to stay, YES, family members I am a boy don't looked so shocked. I also needed to get rid of a wicked shirt tan from the day before so it was win win right? What resulted was burnt shoulders and legs but totally worth it. Sorry guys, no pics... so it didn't happen right? Ha no. When you guys come to Barcelona, go to the beach, then come tell me it didn't happen.

Not much else happened. I needed to slow down my spendings! So I chilled at the hostel til night time.

Then I went to do one of my favourite things, take night pictures! After a long walk from thr hostel I got back to the Sagrada Familia. Took almost 50 pictures with different settings until I finally realized I only had a sandwich the whole day. I went to a street nearby that served food in the middle of the street with an awesome view of the cathedral. Got a coke and a Spanish omelet (awful btw) and 2 croquettes. The waiter was an ass and took his sweet time with my order. Gave me dirty looks and such too I think. I sat down at 10:30... didn't eat until 11:00! That is a long time for someone eating alone! It wasn't even cheap! 9.95 euros and crappy food. I didn't want to leave any tip because he deserved none at all. But I had a 10 euro bill and to get my 5 cents back would have cost me another lifetime of waiting. BEFORE YOU GET ALL OFFENDED AND GO LIKE "Jeff you bitch you gave the guy 5 cents as tip for a 10 euro meal??? Go to hell", it is apparently not customary for people to leave tip at all. I bet that guy was so happy with his tip and wondering what great service derserved that. Asshole. But look on the bright side. The whole day I only spent 20 euros. Yay! Less than allotted budget!

I walked back at 12am, realizing it was quite sketch. But so far I have developed a prototype approach to being robbed. Always look angry, sneeze everywhere (wasn't really by choice), walk faster than everyone else, and most importantly, look more sketch than them! I'll patent this approach if I come home without any complications.

Yesterday I followed my new Australian friend, Andrew, to Figueres to go see the Salvador Dali museum. A girl who just got to the hostel the night before joined us that morning. Just made a new Isreali friend! 2.5 hours later on a train we finally made it. I am spending way too much money now. Each museum I have been to so far has cost me around 15 euros already. O well I will probably never come back to Figueres anyway. All I can say about the museum is that if you are ever in Barcelona and you have an interest for surrealism, you MUST go to the Dali museum.

O I forgot I went to Casa Mila the day before too. Woops. When you are on your own, it is so much easier to fit everything into your schedule. You can walk at your own pace, skip things that don't interest you, and stay as long as you want wherever you want. In my case, I am going through museums at an incredible pace. Not because I'm just walking through without "absorbing" the content. I just walk fast and know what I want to see.

Anyway, apparently George Lucas was influenced by Gaudi's 'monsters' on the roof terrace. I can believe that. People here believe that so much that they sell Star Wars books here. They are like the Storm troopers in case you don't know what I'm talking about.
I went to eat with the girl, her name is Adi (stress on the 'di'), and she told me all about how in Isreal she learned English through 'Friends' on tv. And she learned it quite well since she is more fluent than all fobs in Vancouver. Ya that's right, you guys fail. Hard. Then we started talking aout How I Met Your Mother. Is this girl for real? I'm starting to feel right at home now.

We spent that evening at the Magic Fountain near Placa D'Espanya. It was like a fireworks show except with water. The show was accompanied with Oasis, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Backstreet Boys, One Republic, and so on... I felt like I went to Disneyland or something. American influence runs deep in Barcelona. It was kind of a flop so the three of us decided that we wouldn´t want to let the night go to waste, so we went in search of alcohol. Half an hour of trying to get a little wet, we found a bar, had one drink, and decided to bring the party back to the hostel before the metro closes at 1am. We went to a supermarket to get Spanish Champagne, Caves (pronounced Cava), and went back to the hostel. Long story short, didn´t sleep til 4am and had an intellectual drunk chat with the receptionist about the European crisis. I´m smart when I´m drunk!

BTW if you guys want postcards please let me know. Email me or get Whatsapp and msg me your address. jmak711@gmail.com. I´ve already sent out two. Jessie and mom today I mailed you a postcard and we will see how long it takes to get to you. Also, I don´t think I´ll be able to do that video thing. Way too sketch and retarded for me to walk around showing off my tablet. Also it takes my tablet a few hours to upload my vids and I just don´t know when I can sit and wait for it like that.

Two days ago I went to another Gaudi creation, the park guell (with two dots above the 'u'). I must say that travelling on my own is really starting to feel like I'm playing Final Fantasy. This park was like mountain trails and every now and then there is a random weird looking building or courtyard. There were also a lot of people playing music around the park so there was constant background music.

There in the park was probably one of the WORST  violin players I've ever heard playing "Stand by Me". Well if he's performing in public then maybe I don't play as bad as I thought.

When I was finished with my trip to the park, I was ready to go back to the hostel to take a good nap. I got back and the guy at the front desk asked me if I wanted to go to see a "Flamenco". Having no idea what it was I went with the "why not" attitude and followed him and 5 other people from the hostel. Here is where I really started to have fun. In one outing I met 2 Americans, 2 Frenchies, 4 Britons, a Mexican, and an Australian. No other Canadians. O, btw a Flamenco is the Spanish dance with the emotional dancing and singing and stomping.
Later we drank together and I had to pack it in for the night. End of May 30.