Friday morning rain

The hurricane may have passed, but rain has been threatening every day since Wednesday. The clouds finally broke today and we awoke to heavy and consistent downpour.

Couchsurfing Potluck Dinner

Bernard (Bernie) responded to my Couchsurfing request to show me his city by inviting me to a Wednesday dinner at his place. Coming with the expectation of a few friends around a table, I should have known better growing up in a Mexican family where one person invites a friend, which snowballs into the dinner turning into a little party.

Sunday Wanderings with Tour Guide Karla

Karla contacted me through Couchsurfing, having posted a notice to all those in Guadalajara interested in showing me their favorite parts of the city. We met at Parque Revolucion near my hostel because she said she spends almost every Sunday there. I knew that Juarez had been shut down to car traffic for the day, but I didn't expect to see so many activities as I rounded the corner.

Saturday Night Clubbing

Most towns have a hip area where the kids come out to play, in Guadalajara, this is Chapultepec Avienda. The evening started with the ladies of my class meeting up for a dinner around 7. We walked from the hostel where two of us are staying to the land of restaurants and clubs.

Hurricane Patricia

Traveling can take you on some wonderful adventures. And sometimes nature can meet you on those adventures and give you a spin.
I got to class yesterday around 9am with other students going on about this tropical storm that had just been upgraded to the worst hurricane that had ever been recorded. Knowing we were protected by a couple hundred miles and some mountain ranges, I wasn't too concerned about us. The danger to the coastal regions was quite real, however, and I'm glad that the best case scenario of the hurricane making landfall away from the major population centers and quickly losing intensity happened.
One of my classmates tells me the worst of the wind passed by us around 1am, furniture banging around the rooftop patio of our hostel woke her up. Having experienced a few Seattle windstorms, though, I slept right through and didn't realize anything had been out of place, the staff having set everything to right before I left my room.

I took some videos of my school shutting down in preparation for the event- flooding was a danger here, so it was important that students and teachers were able to get home. Unfortunately, when I uploaded the videos, the sound wasn't working, so I'm going to have to figure out what the problem was if I want to share some moving pictures.

Walking around this morning, I did notice a sign in the park near my hostel still knocked over, so Guadaljara wasn't entirely unaffected.

Weekly Guadalajara Couchsurfing Meetup

The Guadalajaran Couchsurfing community is quite an active bunch. There are language groups that meet weekly (one for each I speak), lots of posts about road trips to Tequila or Puerto Vallarta or other destinations close by, and a weekly meet-up to just hang out at a bar in El Centro.

Transit in L.A.

I've touched on public transportation in a few of my other posts, but I wanted to write one that features all of the different modes available because transit is not something you think about when you think about getting around L.A. True, it can be more of a hassle using buses and the limited Metro system, but the truth is there are more rail lines available to take here than there are in my home city of Seattle, which I've heard called the "Europe of America" more than once.

Public transportation can be very much like the chicken and the egg- it needs a lot of funding to become a useful system, but no one wants to pay for it because they don't use it, because it's not a useful system. Hope springs eternal for we transit nerds, though, so I believe that one day, I won't be laughed at or looked at incredulously when I talk about navigating L.A. without a car.

East of L.A.

The greater Los Angeles area is made up of many small cities with their own downtowns and cultural centers. I happen to have family living in one of the towns east of L.A. and spent Friday night and Saturday morning hanging out here.

Hiking to the Hollywood Sign

The great outdoors. Even in L.A., there's plenty of opportunities to get away from the urban environment, right in the city.

Located in the same park as the Griffiths Observatory, there are a few paths to get to the Hollywood sign, I chose a 6.5 mile hike that starts at Canyon Drive that just happens to be right next to the Bronson Caves, also known as the Batcave from the 60's Batman. Quite a treat.

Vacation Day at Santa Monica Beach

It was a slightly overcast and windy day to head to the beach, but that made the trip all the nicer, avoiding the feeling of being fried by the sun.

Griffiths Observatory in Los Angeles

The City of Angels.
It's a place I've visited a few times in the past due to growing up for a time in Central California, but in all those visits, walking was not an activity I really engaged in. Friends and family with cars always shuttled me around when coming to visit. For good reason, as Los Angeles might be the most car-centric city in the world. Cars are the dominant force on the road, and everyone knows this, so you really must be aware at all times of traffic signals and the potential for cars to make a right turn into your walking path.
It's a bit unnerving.
All that being said, West Hollywood is actually a nice place to walk around. My friend happens to have an apartment near a lot of neat tourist destinations, all of which I shunned in favor of hiking up to the Griffith Observatory about an hour and a half away from her.

Art Around Seattle

A brief respite in my city of origin, the graffiti scene in Seattle isn't as rambunctious as it is in Berlin, but there are some interesting pieces you can find if you keep your eyes open as you wander the streets.

Copenhagen Couchsurfing Host's Tour

I was so fortunate to be hosted by a wonderful couple living near the center of Copenhagen. My timing couldn't have been better, as they were packing up to move to a new location the coming weekend. The morning of my arrival, I was greeted with coffee (brought from the husband's, Thomas, favorite roastery in Southern California) and fresh backed bread. After an overnight bus ride from Berlin, these touches of hospitality were greatly appreciated. The wife, Karina, was full of wonderful ideas that took me to some tourist spots and some spots off the beaten path. She had grabbed a map of the city and we spent about half an hour marking interesting spots to visit. Being a world traveler herself, it was great talking about the differences in culture you see when flying around the world and the things that makes your home feel comfortable to you.

Gaming in Copenhagen

Let's hear it for nerdy spaces around the world. While on my Danish Design tour featured in my last post, I rode past Bastard Cafe in the Center on Rådhusstræde and I couldn't help stopping in for a coffee and cookie.

Located in the foyer of Copenhagen cultural center, Huset KBH, they are dedicated to offering a gathering place for all Copenhageners to relax with friends.

Crafty Copenhagen

Choosing a tour can be difficult when you're looking to see the city outside of the normal tourist destinations. Due to my short stay in the city, I was looking for a tour that would give me a good overview of the city outside of the famous Center.

Wandering Copenhagen

For only being in the city two days, I feel I got a good taste of the people and culture. Copenhagen is a capitol city, but it feels much calmer and quieter than Berlin. The biking culture blew me away and it was hard returning the bike I rented for a day since it was so nice to be able to ride around without the fear I'm used to in the States.
I'd love to return one day and get to explore some of the neighborhoods I rushed through with my limited time.

Miscellaneous Berlin

Sometimes pictures just don't fit in a themed post, but that's no reason not to share the interesting sites encountered in Berlin.

Getting Around: Berlin

I get around, around Berlin by way of the super handy public transportation system. For a modest 79.50 euro a month, unlimited transit options can, too, be yours. Ticket prices vary depending on the zones you are traveling in- A, B, C. An A/B ticket is the most common, as it covers the entire center of the city, zone C taking up only the outskirts. If you're flying into/out of  Schönefeld or want to visit Potsdam, you're gonna want a C ticket.

Book Stores

I didn't intend my trip to Berlin to be so permeated with literary adventures, but being a lover of words, it's not all that surprising that I would find myself surrounded by the many, many opportunities to engage with the written word.