MONTREAL, CANADA

If a Parisian lady and a dirty Canadian hipster had a baby, it would be Montreal. 

Heaven, in the form of baked goods. 

We spent a weekend there in September, bicycling around each day fueled by poutine and almond croissants.

More soon.  

SHOTS FROM THE BACK OF THE SCOOTER

Renting a scooter is hands down, the best way to see Bali. We've taken ours on highways, dirt roads, city streets and up mountains. It's bananas maneuvering it in busy areas, as other bikers weave every which way like swarms of bees through traffic, including up onto sidewalks. Luckily, Scott had his motorbike license back in New Zealand so he has the quick instincts needed to drive it so I can just direct him via Google Maps and hold on for dear life. I've also been taking photos as we cruise around, so below are a few I took from the back of the bike if you'd like to see...

Side of the road chicken satay. 

Side of the road sticker stand. 

FACTS + COLORS OF BALI

1. When Indonesia's founding fathers declared independence from Dutch colonists in 1945, the official declaration stated: "We, the people of Indonesia, hereby declare the independence of Indonesia. Matters relating to transfer of power etc. will be executed carefully as soon as possible." That was it. That was the entire thing. (For comparison, the USA's was a bit more long winded.) 

2. I'm currently reading the book "Indonesia etc.: Exploring the Improbable Nation" that explains how Indonesia's been working on that "etc" part ever since. Just roving around Bali, it's obvious that Indonesia is still figuring things out. It's an incredibly diverse country with all of the islands, ethnic groups and languages but those different groups are actually living at different points in human history, all at the same time. Some parts of the country (urbanites in big city Java) are hyper modern. Other folks in mountainous rural areas, exists in much the same way their ancestors did. As the author, Elizabeth Pisoni explains, "Often, the more-or-less ancient and relatively modern co-exist in the same space; farmers get to their rice-field on a motorbike, villagers film a ritual sacrifice on their mobile phones". 

3. Given that ancient and modern Indonesia co-exist, the government has the daunting task of sorting out which Indonesia they should make laws for. For example, on the island of Sumba (a world away from Bali), traditionally people used machetes to slaughter animals, slice open coconuts and sharpen pencils. But occasionally, they would use those machetes to commit terrible human massacres. In an attempt to reduce the latter from happening, machetes were banned from use in town or at traditional ceremonies. Most of the people of Sumba found other tools to do the job of the household machetes (like pencil sharpeners). This makes sense, because, as Pisoni explains "modern life erodes even the legitimate uses that still make machetes indispensable in rural Sumba". The parallel between this and America's issues with gun control is pretty obvious. Sure, guns were a major part of the national culture in the US when we hunted wild animals and fought tribes. But now, we go to Stop and Shop and argue in courts of law (or on Twitter). In many ways, the Americans who assert their Second Amendment rights are equivalent to the people in Sumba who cling to their freedom to use a machete. For context, these are the same people who, when arranging marriages, kill a dog chosen by the brides family, and then have a priest from each side "read the dog's heart to see if the pair are well suited."

4. In Bali, people only name their children (male or female) one of 4 names: Wayan (first born), Made (second born), Nyoman (third born) and Ketut (fourth born). If there's a 5th, they just start over again with Wayan.  Before we knew this fun fact, we asked a mechanic if he "knew a guy named Wayan" when we were trying to find the fellow who rented us our motorbike. We got laughed at. 

LOS ANGELES

U-turning in San Diego, we headed back north to Los Angeles for what was the best part of the trip.

We wandered around Venice Beach admiring: the skateboarders who seem to have the laws of physics working differently for them, giant hulks of humans at Muscle Beach and a flamboyant 3 PM roller skating dance party that make you wonder why that isn't more common of a thing. In an effort to not look like someone living out of a van while living out of a van, I shampooed and conditioned at the beach showers meant to only wash off sand and applied mascara in the rear view mirror. One day, we rented bikes and rode from Venice Beach to Manhattan Beach, making our 3rd trip to Sloopy's (what a website!) and one night, we walked the Santa Monica Pier. Scott schemed ways to climb up to the Hollywood sign but had to settle for the view from the Griffith Observatory. But we learned a bit about space while up there which led us to creatively curse at each other "yeah, well, I hope you get hit by a moon rock" whenever we fought. We ate a retro diner in Los Feliz, gawked at the mansions in Beverly Hills, cruised Rodeo Drive and drank bad flat whites and good cappuccinos in Silver Lake. 

People hate LA but I can't say I mind it at all. 

JESS IN NEW ZEALAND, PART 1: AKL + PIHA

Partly because she didn't fully understand where New Zealand is located, but mostly because she's a fantastic friend... Jessica came all the way over from Boston to visit, for just one week! 

Jess on the bus. She hates public transportation, so this was notable. 

Brunch at the Piha Cafe

Jessica is my former roommate, eternal birthday partner and has been my best friend since we were 13 years old. She's the vital kind of friend who despite time or distance, whenever I see her we're right back into giggling like we did in 7th grade English class. It was wonderful to get to do that with her all over the North Island of New Zealand. 

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

Full disclosure: I kind of hated Auckland when I first arrived. Downtown Auckland seemed like a gray hodge podge of bad architecture. The hostels were rough. Nothing was charming and everything was expensive. I still haven't done the liters to gallons calculation for the price of gas to provide a helpful comparison, but know that a burrito costs $16 and that's just obscene.

After a week in rainy Auckland, I caught a ferry to the island of Waiheke which proved to be a little slice of Hawaiian-y heaven, then escaped to lovely Te Puna with my friend Amanda. Soon after that, I was off on the road trip with Sandy all over New Zealand. Returning from that, I knew I loved New Zealand but still wasn't entirely sure about the city of Auckland. 

Aotearoa = Maori word for "New Zealand". Literally meaning, "land of the long white cloud" because of the shape of the 2 islands. Bit of a mixed message from this graffiti... 

During the road trip, I lined up interviews at an Auckland production company for a contract Content Director gig. Turns out LinkedIn is actually useful and from posting that I was looking for production work in NZ, I found myself on a Skype interview at the beach while still living out of a van. Long story short, I later got the job and decided to stick around Auckland for at least a few months... 

...and I'm happy I did, because while my fondness for Auckland has been more of a slow burn than love at first sight -- it's truly won me over. I still maintain that despite it's killer sunglass deals, downtown Queen Street is a place where dreams go to die...but the further you go out from the the center of the city, the lovelier Auckland is. 

Silo Park

Good One Cafe in Ponsonby

Shaky Isles cafe in Britomart

Part of the reason Auckland lacks a certain feel is because it's a very young city. While the U.S.A. is like a teenager compared to the history of some European countries, New Zealand is even younger. It didn't become a British colony until 1840 and most of it's culture is derived from it's Maori roots and early British settlers and now (more and more with immigration) from India and Asia. NZ is a bit like a tween, still growing and figuring out it's cultural identity. They're actually voting on changing the flag at the moment too. 

The ever expanding city of Auckland may not have a super distinct culture quite yet but MY favorite part is the cafe culture. Massive chain cafes aren't as common, so each cafe is thoughtfully designed, has delicious espresso and creative, fresh menus. My favorites include:

Good One: looks like Wes Anderson did the interior decorating.

William Souter Espresso: Best Muesli in Auckland (and I've become a bit of a Muesli aficionado/addict). Muesli = sort of healthier granola. Many long and lingering Saturday brunches have been had here. 

Shaky Isles: cute cartoons on the wall and REAL good pastries and cappuccinos. 

Food trucks are also alive and well in Auckland, especially at Silo Park on Friday nights where they project outdoor movies. 

175th Anniversary of Auckland was this year. And the celebrations haven't stopped since January. 

Cute shops and boutiques line K-Road and Ponsonby Road. 

Auckland Art Gallery.

It was only a matter of time before I found the pretty neighborhoods, summer weather kicked in and I made enough money to afford the burritos. Auckland's also proved to be wonderful because while it's a concrete jungle of a city, 30-60 minutes outside of it you'll find rugged beaches, waterfalls, volcanoes, tropical islands and rural green countryside. Waiheke, Rangitoto (a volcanic island) and Devonport (a historic village by the sea) are must-visits which I keep going back to. 

Kite surfers in Devonport.

Rangitoto (volcanic island) off in the distance.

Waiheke, where apparently Wu Tang represent. 

Vineyards in Waiheke. 

Kiwi's tend to use the phase "she'll be right mate" as slang to explain "whatever is wrong shall right itself with time" and Auckland has done just that for me in the past 5 months of living here. This big city in a small corner of the world has been quite a pleasure to reside in. 

ROAD TO MOUNT COOK

The drive to Mount Cook was just unreal. 

Despite the overtly branded photos, Spaceships did not pay for any of this. I should note that Sandy and I are available for sponsored road trips, flights, cruises, tandem bike rides, etc. 

UNREAL.  

BERLIN, GERMANY

Ever since I landed in London, everyone and their grandmother has been telling me that I need to visit Berlin. As I have no set itinerary, after my month-long stint in Naples was over I decided to see what all the fuss was about and booked a flight. Luckily enough, my 5 day trip fell on the 25th anniversary of Fall of the Wall and the city was full of events for the celebration. I'm happy to report that everyone was right, Berlin truly is, seriously, awesome. 

I stayed at the JetPak Alternative Hostel in Kreuzberg which was the perfect location for just about everything. The hostel was beautifully designed, clean and safe despite having mixed reviews citing "aggressive drug dealers on the corner".  That turned out to be a bunch of Nigerian guys asking "you ok?" and offering "African cigarettes" that, when met with a response of "no thanks!" would simply say "ok bye" and leave you alone. Which if you ask me, is actually a polite group of immigrant entrepreneurs committed to customer service and convenience.

All weekend, the city was buzzing with events to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. An obvious symbol for the Iron Curtain that divided Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War, the Berlin Wall existed from 1961 to 1989. 104 miles long, the Wall (along with guards and barbed wire) was used to prevent people from escaping the Eastern Communist half of Berlin. Today, one of the sections that remains is called the "The East Side Gallery" and is covered with ever-evolving murals and street art. 

For the 25th Anniversary, 8000 illuminated balloons lined the entire path of the wall and were released into the night sky during the big concert. 

The big celebration event was at Brandenburg Gate and consisted of: food stands of delicious curry wurst and Glühwein, impressive projection mapping, live music including Peter Gabriel, a weak fireworks show (the Lincoln July 4th fireworks show would've put it to shame), and speeches from various politicians and public figures that seemed very emotional but I had no idea what they were saying. Plus a lot of German techno music. I can't say I'm fully behind techno yet but after enough Glühwein I'll bop around to just about anything. It was a great night. 

PROCIDA

Procida is a dreamy little island off the coast of Naples. 

Procida is lovely for just walking around and swooning over the sun drenched, pastel crayon colored buildings all day. I took an outrageous amount of photos so keep clicking the photo below for a few more. 

FUN FACTS:  Procida was formed by the eruption of 4 volcanos, during Roman rule, it was a famous resort for patrician class AND it was a location for the filming of The Talented Mr. Ripley. 

Trying to get back to the port to catch my ferry, I waited 30 minutes for a bus that never arrived and then a tiny little Italian man who spoke no English (there was a lot of gesturing and me saying "autobus?" "dove?" and "non lo so?") offered me a ride on his scooter. I took him up on his offer and it was simultaneously terrifying and so, SO exciting and fun. Every time Giovanni veered from the path to the port, I became sure that this was it, I was going to die on a beautiful island at the hands of a chubby Italian man half my height and twice my width but of course, he would then stop and say "bella photo! bella photo!" and it became clear that he was just stopping at a scenic point so I could take a photograph of his lovely little island. He dropped me off safely at the port and left me wanting to only travel via scooter from here on out. 

MORE AROUND NAPLES

Naples has a decaying kind of beauty to it and it's current look seems to reveal the eruptions, earthquakes, bombings, rebellions and conquests it's endured. 

Nowadays, Naples has an energy to it that's reminiscent of when you first step off the train at Penn Station in Manhattan. It's (loud) buzz is made up of the whirring engines of scooters, little cars honking and Neapolitans yelling in (what I've learned to actually be is) the most affectionate way possible.

Watching Italians interact with each other on the street (eyes wide, voices raised, hands flying) I keep expecting fist fights to break out but every time it ends with double cheek kisses and it's clear that they were just discussing their favorite type of bufala mozzarella or something. 

The other day I was sitting outside a cafe giggling at this book (Amazon Prime is just as awesome while abroad) when the whole city actually ROARED when a goal was scored in a Naples vs. Rome. I wasn't sitting within a block of a television but I swear the ground vibrated with cheers from miles around. These people truly express themselves.  

This kind of energy also makes for lively nights out, specifically in Piazza Bellini where everyone congregates just about every night of the week. There's a few cute bars surrounding it but everyone mostly buys 2 Euro beers and takes over the square with live music and loud conversation. With crowds blocking the street I'm floored that it's never broken up by the police because it's absolutely packed. It looks a protest or a riot or like Southie on St. Patrick's Day but it's just another night Napoli. 

NAPLES, ITALY

Naples is (gratifying) chaos. 

Naples has all the elements of a city I would normally hate: crowded, dirty, filled with bad graffiti and loud people... but for some reason, it's completely thrilling and charming. And thank god, because I'm here for a whole month (2.5 weeks-in at the moment... a bit behind on blog posts!). 

I haven't properly captured the insanity of Naples through photos yet but trust me when I say it's there. The thousands of scooters carrying whole families (babies and dogs included) and loud Italians yelling and gesticulating from cars, windows and shops are a couple of cinematic stereotypes proved to be very true. 

I'm reading An Italian in Italy right now which explains that "...in Italy rules are not obeyed as they are elsewhere. We think it's an insult to our intelligence to comply with a regulation. Obedience is boring. We want to think about it. We want to decide whether a particular law applies to our specific case. In that place, at that time". I admire the sentiment but this Italian attitude towards traffic laws ensures that I feel like I've cheated death every time I've successfully crossed the street. 

Vesuvius, looming in the background. 

Despite being the perfect package for a tourist spot (warm weather, rich history, on the coast, amazing food-- the pizza is here is OUT OF CONTROL), Naples has failed to take advantage of the tourist industry. This means (outside of the hostel) I rarely see another non-Italian and it's made the last few weeks here feel really authentic.

My 2 years of Italian at BC has proved completely useless (not that I retained much at the time) as Neapolitan Italian is a whole other vernacular away from standard Italian. The few phrases that I do know must be said with an accent that feels like I'm mocking Mario and/or Luigi in order for anyone to understand what I'm saying, so usually I get by with a lot of smiling and nodding. Although doing that, I did agree to a dinner date with a butcher when I thought he was just talking about the pancetta I ordered. So now I have to find a new neighborhood butcher. 

It's been a genuine Italian adventure so far.

More soon. Expect a lot of photos of pizza. 

NICE, FRANCE

Nice, France deserves it's name. 

Within an hour of arriving I was on the beach, swimming in the French Riviera and very, very pleased. Nice is super clean, warm and colorful. It has tight, winding alley-ways around the Vielle Ville (Old Town) and a vast turquoise ocean that seems to curve over the horizon. It's really quite nice.