Basket of Thoughts

Thoughts from my mind to the internet

January 29th, 2020 6:34 P.M.

Nathan Smith

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March 1, 2020

Pretty much in the clear now. Jason and Matt couldn’t even tell I was tripping other than my pupils being huge. Not the mind blowing experience I’d hoped for. I would’ve liked more visuals. I also think that when I’m in a public setting and tripping I feel obliged to fit in and don’t enjoy the trip as much. I think I will go back later to get a stronger dose and hopefully have a better, more mind blowing experience. Maybe if I’m lucky, I can get Matt to bite and we can trip out and listen to some good tunes together. I know I enjoy a trip more if I’m not in public because then I can dictate the journey myself. I don’t want to try to fit in when I trip, I want to expand out. I feel I do that best without random people around. I guess I shall see but I do plan to try a stronger trip. This trip was typical and came in waves. I had a perma-grin phase for a bit but being at the bar really dulled my experience I think. Matt was staring off into no man’s land for awhile which made me feel like he was tripping or something even though he wasn’t. Thankfully, I didn’t have any melt downs or anything but everything I felt was more of the body high. I prefer visuals so maybe they have something better designed for that. I will check either later tonight or tomorrow morning. I still have yet to smoke a joint. I could go for one right now. The guys are asleep at the moment and I’m wide awake. I’ve got a hunger growing. I think I’m ready for a nice steak tonight. Hopefully, I can convince them as well. There’s a ton of steak houses around here. It’s getting a bit later so maybe I should wake them so we don’t eat too late. I’ll give it some more time I guess. I don’t have much more to say so I will close for now.

I noticed one thing I didn’t mention in this entry or in my reflection on my last entry and that is the taste of the truffles. I’ve had mushrooms before as I have explained previously and those typically are not very great tasting. The truffles were tiny morsels and had an interesting bitter taste and they actually tasted better than mushrooms. That’s a good thing because it made it easier to chew them longer before swallowing, which was the recommended way to ingest them. Chewing each piece for as long as possible before swallowing. It was a lengthy process as I walked around the streets with Jason and Matt while I munched them down piece by piece. Toward the end of consuming them I ended up tossing several pieces in my mouth at a time because I had been eating them for about 20 minutes at that pace. Now, that I’ve gotten that detail out of the way I’ll stop the suspense now as I never did end up going back to get more. The way the rest of the night panned out along with what we had planned to do the next day just didn’t make it possible for me to think I would be able to get the experience I was looking to have so I refrained from getting more. I would have gone back to the hotel when we were in that bar but my faculties and sense of direction were not where they needed to be and I was reliant on Jason and Matt to get me back if that was going to happen. I do recall that there was a bit of commotion going on. Mind you all of it behind my back. Jason and Matt more or less were discussing the drama. There was a big bald dude that had gone across the street and taken a picture of one of the sex workers in the booth. That is highly frowned upon and it really pisses the girls off. She was giving the guy the finger and rapping on the glass of the booth furious with the guy. I glanced back behind me to see her flicking him off. The funny thing is we had spent a good chunk of time at that bar in that area and the whole time no one had given the girl any work or at least that we saw. There were a couple that talked to her but none that entered. A little while after the altercation with the big bald guy she put on her street clothes and left. Matt saw her leave the booth and pointed her out as she walked briskly down the street. I felt bad for her. She did seem to have a bad attitude though. We all have off days I suppose.

January 29th, 2020 3:43 P.M.

Nathan Smith

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February 29, 2020

We are back at the Old Sailor bar and now in full shroom mode. I can barely write, not sure how I’m doing it. Keeping very much to my own devices at the moment. Hands are clammy. I think I will stop writing for now.

Yeah, I was having serious body high at this point and I didn’t really want to be in the bar at that moment. I was by myself as Matt had gotten up to order beers for Jason and himself. Jason in the meantime went to the bathroom. The mushrooms were in full effect at this point and I had wanted to write something while I tripped and this what I had written. I remember it being difficult for me because I was nervous being in the bar. I didn’t want anyone to know I was tripping, I was worried I’d get in trouble. I had a bit of paranoia going on and when that hits it can go south. I remained strong minded though and powered through. The visuals were not as amazing as I had hoped they would be but the body high is what kicks me. My feet were sweating profusely and it felt like my feet were in puddles in my shoes. When we were sitting down I was staring out the window at the canal watching the water rise and dip. It was difficult to tell if it was really happening or if it was visuals. I know the weird designs I could see on the concrete were visuals. I knew the dance of the wood grain on the table in the bar were visuals. I couldn’t tell if it was just natural rising and lowering of the canal. That was a trip for my mind. I had moments of severe insecurity while sitting there when it was silent. There was a span of probably 5 minutes where Matt just looked out at the canal in contemplation, not saying a word. Finally, Jason brought the silence. That snapped me out of the paranoia and weird fear I had going on in my skin. My body was giving me the heebie jeebies. I didn’t like the silence between us and once we started to converse the wave lengths got better and I had a good vibe. Then we had another small bout of silence and again my body shifted on me. I remember saying in my head “This is fucking Fear and Loathing in Amsterdam” I was not feeling comfortable in that bar. I was sitting with my back to the door. There was also a stupid small statue directly behind me on my left. When tripping your peripherals are very in tune. It over-enhances some of your senses. So I kept seeing that damn statue out of the corner of my eye and it gave me the feeling of someone always being over my shoulder, violating my personal space bubble. That was making me feel uneasy. Also, the bar background conversations were all passing through my ears and into my brain like echoes of the universe. I was trying to listen to everything at the same time. It was really weird. I was able to hold it together though. Another funny thing was when were were walking around and they just started to kick in. I had a real weird thought come to me. I think Matt had gotten something sweet and it was in the touristy part of the city. He said it wasn’t as good as he thought it would be and the strangest thought came to my mind. I came up with the theory that a place that has really great quality of what they sell will succeed without having to be in the touristy parts. That being said they in turn pay less for where they rent or lease their space and therefore are a more legit and harder working business than one that set up shop in the touristy part. Does that make any sense? It made perfect sense to me at the moment that bullshit popped in my head. Matt even agreed with it. Mind you, I literally know pretty much fuck all about business so don’t knock psychedelics until you’ve tried them. The shit can open doors in your mind you didn’t know you had. I’m not saying it’s for everyone but I usually can take something away from it.

January 29th, 2020 12:24 P.M.

Nathan Smith

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February 29, 2020

T minus 2 hours until I consume the truffles I purchase. The woman recommended eating and then waiting 2 1/2 hours before consuming them. I purchased a kind called Dragon Slayer. We are currently at a bar in the red light district and are planning to go to the prostitution museum. I’m guessing by the time we are done with that then it will be time to face melt. I was told to expect good visuals and a good, happy mood with these truffles. I hope that’s what happens. We shall see, until then it’s bye for now.

I have had experiences with mushrooms in the past but it had been awhile and I wanted to be sure it would be a good trip and not a bad one. The woman also told me to not drink alcohol or do other drugs after I took the truffles. I think it’s because they sort of treat it like a pharmaceutical drug with directions like that. In the past, I’ve done shrooms and smoked and drank without hesitation while being on them. However, I decided to take the woman’s advice and was refraining from drinking. I don’t know why I did that. I guess because I was with Jason and Matt I wanted to do everything possible to prevent from them feeling like they would have to babysit me. They knew I planned to do this and were with me when I bought them at the store. If anything perhaps their speculation and their experiences on them which was bad was feeding into my thoughts. I couldn’t end up doing them and have them saying “told you so”. Jason and Matt drank and it was torture sitting there waiting as the clock ticked until I could do what I wanted to do. I was excited, I was nervous, how was this trip going to go?

January 29th, 2020 2:17 A.M.

Nathan Smith

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February 27, 2020

Amsterdam is off to a good start and I haven’t even indulged in a coffee shop or grabbed truffles yet. Beautiful city with a bunch of canals. Surprisingly, as complicated as it looks at first, I think I can navigate pretty well around here. We had a good dinner and there are so many places that look amazing it’s hard to choose where to eat. We went to several bars, one was the Watering Hole and there was a band playing. The played mostly reggae-ish music and were pretty good. We then went to a place called The Cave that was real small but they played metal in there and good rock as well. Still suffering from this cold or whatever it is but other than my ear still being plugged, I’m doing alright. We also went into a place where they were playing jazz. It’s not my favorite genre but it was nice. Tomorrow I plan to purchase some truffles and perhaps hit a coffee shop to smoke some herb. I don’t know why we haven’t tried to come here sooner. It truly thus far rivals Ireland. I should get some rest, good night.

Just to clarify, in Amsterdam a coffee shop is mostly known as a marijuana store. So if you ever visit Amsterdam keep in mind that a Cafe is where you will want to go in search for coffee not the coffee shop in case the smell didn’t already give it away before you walked into one. You’ve probably heard the tales of magic mushrooms in Amsterdam. Over the last few years they have actually changed the laws a little. Mushrooms are actually illegal now in Amsterdam, however truffles are not. Truffles are the same as mushrooms but they are legal through an absolutely ridiculous loophole. Mushrooms grow above ground so that makes them illegal but truffles are beneath the ground so they are legal. It makes no sense to me but either way that’s politics in a nutshell it seems. I also want to touch base on my lack of detail on the music of The Cave and the jazz bar we went to. At The Cave it was just music that was playing through their system not a live band. Another note, is for some reason the bartender reminded me of the UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal because he looked like him a little to me. The jazz bar had an actual jazz band playing. The reason jazz isn’t one of my favorite genres is because of how whacky it can get sometimes. It almost sounds like everyone is playing their own song so it’s very confusing for me to listen to. This band didn’t play that way thankfully so I was able to enjoy it. Oh, also the Watering Hole and The Cave were bars that were suggested by the hotel receptionist who checked us in and also circled them on a map of the city so we could find them. The hotel we stayed at was the Ambassade Hotel and it was great. Hospitality was great, the location was great, and it was a great place to stay for the next 3 nights. Another thing, I though interesting was a small quote I read in the magazine in our room. It was basically a magazine about the hotel really but the hotel was unique in the sense that there was thousands of books in their library all sealed in a plastic case because they were all signed copies of the authors that had written them. Back to the quote that stuck in my head that I read, it stated “You haven’t made it as a writer, until you’ve stayed at the Ambassade”. I guess that means I’ve made it as a writer….

January 28th, 2020 11:39 A.M.

Nathan Smith

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February 25, 2020

On the train to Amsterdam. I’m looking forward to a few days here. I think I’m starting to beat out this head cold. I picked up some decongestant pills at the pharmacy yesterday. The Hemingway Special drink I had at the cafe was good but expensive. Probably a good thing because if they were a quarter of the price, I would’ve drank the day away. It amazes me how many artists and actors and such have been drawn to Paris. I’m glad I visited it but I don’t foresee myself coming back. The best restaurant experience was last night at a place called Sacree’ Fleur. The waiter was great and had no problem speaking English and engaging with us. What I noticed is many French can speak English but choose not to even though they know you don’t speak it (French). Overall for the most part they were not too helpful. It could be the culture which is too bad because it puts a big damper on my view of the country as a whole. I wanted to not believe the stereotypes of it but unfortunately there’s a reason for them as they seem to often prove more true than not. I will say it was a pleasure when you across a friendly French person. In my experiences they just seemed too caught up in their own world. I’m hoping that Amsterdam is what I hope it will be. I guess I shall soon see. I’m not sad to say good bye to France but I am happy that I did see the things I did. If I could speak French I’m sure it could have been a different experience with it being the way it was. I’d have to give an overall grade of D to France. The country is pretty but mos of the inhabitants I cam across just didn’t do much to make us feel welcome. That is a huge reason I give it such a low grade. While I’m at it, if I think from what I experienced of Italy I give an overall of B. Granted I experienced less of Italy but what I did seemed more friendly and hospitable than France. Also, the country was beautiful of what I saw. Let’s see what Amsterdam has in store.

As I think upon it now the way I rated the countries really wasn’t as fair as it should have been. It really should have been based on each individual place I had visited. I rounded it off to what I felt was the overall grade from my experience but I don’t really break it down that way as I should have so that’s what I will do now to be more fair and descriptive. Here we go.

Rome, Italy I give a grade of C- from the small sample size. I felt the people were friendly and the hospitality was pretty good from my experience there. The Coliseum was a disappointment to me and I didn’t like dodging dog shit on the streets either which are a couple contributing factors to some points docked on the grade. The biggest thing that lowers the grade is the fucking buskers. They were pretty relentless and it was off season. It’s to be expected in a city anyways but the pushiness of the ones I experienced was what really irritated me. Scenery was nice and that helps to bolster the score but again it was mostly the buskers that gave the place a not as pleasant experience as I would’ve liked.

Cefalu’ Italy I give a grade of A-. This may be partly because the weather was sunny and nice but the time spent in Cefalu was a pleasure through and through to me. It was a nice beach view, people were friendly, and that Enotecca was a great treasure to find. That day we had 4 bottles of wine there it cost under 100 Euro. It was insanely low priced and it was good wine too! The charcuterie plate was awesome as well. The people that worked there were super nice and seemed to like us. The little nook in the back that overlooked the ocean made it easy to relax and drink that day away after our hike up to the fort of the mountain that kind of served as a back drop to the city. The only thing I can really dock points on I think is dog shit on the sidewalks. So between a C- and A- I think it equals to a rounded score of a B. However, it’s not right to give the whole country of Italy itself a general grade. I only visited two places. It’s not enough data to rate Italy as a whole. So now on we go to the places visited in France.

Marseille, France I give a grade of C. Now, Marseille is a pretty big city but the place we stayed was down in the Olde Port. I guess it’s not quite fair to judge all of Marseille when all that was experienced was the Olde Port so let’s just say this the grade for that. It was a pretty looking port filled with too many to count yachts and other boats. I like being by the ocean the seeing the castle in the distance was a nice view. Mostly because we had gotten a nice room with a balcony that gave a great view of the port and the castle in the distance. People were not overly friendly there with the exception of waitresses and such. Hospitality where we stayed was pretty good. There was again dog shit to dodge. There were also a lot of drug pushers there it seemed. Mainly trying to sell coke. That docks some points along with the dog shit. As an overall it was just an average experience and nothing that blew my hair back. Onto Aix.

Aix, France gets a grade of D. Only good hospitality we really had in Aix was the hotel. Our dinner experience was mediocre and again we were playing dodge shit. It was a neat area but the younger crowd almost seemed to make you feel invisible. When I heard about Jason and Matt’s experience about not being “Exclu-Seev” that docked a bunch of points. On to the final destination we visited France. Paris.

Paris, France I give a grade of C. I originally was thinking Paris I would give a D but I rethought it and decided it deserves a C. The dinner we had at that restaurant really was what convinced me to change it. We had gotten some great hospitality that night and it was a joy. Again, docked points on the fecal matter tip toe. Seeing the cemetery was pretty cool, Eiffel Tower was less impressive than I thought, and other than that one dinner that night hospitality was quite lack luster. I also want to point out my point on them knowing English better than they lead on. One of the restaurants we went in just to order some drinks. The waitress stated for us to slow down as her English was not good. No problem that’s understandable. Well, long story short my brother helped a woman by getting her a wine menu because she asked us how we had gotten small bottles of wine. The waitress came running up to my brother and said “Are you trying to take my job!?” Hmmmm…. you’re English isn’t good, huh? Could have fooled me.

January 27th, 2020 2:20 P.M.

Nathan Smith

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February 24, 2020

Currently sitting at Les Deux Margots, a famous cafe that was frequented by the likes of Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway. We actually ordered a drink aptly named the Hemingway Special. We saw the Eiffel tower today as as well as Jim Morrison’s grave. Unfortunately, Matt told me someone had stolen the headstone. That was disappointing to see and it angers me honestly. I wish a bad fate upon the jack off that stole it. We also saw Oscar Wilde’s gravestone as that was in the same graveyard. I’m thinking it must have been restored or something because it looked much too new but perhaps it was the type of stone it was made of that prevented it from looking aged. It’s been a rainy day and walking around has helped to clear my sinuses a bit. I think I will stop at a pharmacy when I get near another one to get some more decongestant. I’m hoping the worst of this head cold is behind me. Tomorrow we head to Amsterdam for a few days. I will end for now so I can get my journal out of the way to make room for my drink.

Pere Lachaise Cemetery is where Jim Morrison is buried along with several other notable people. As mentioned in my entry Oscar Wilde was another but also the the composer Chopin is buried in there as well. It was a massive cemetery with many really unique gravestones. It was enjoyable to not only for the experience of seeing Jim Morrison’s grave but just to see the other headstones in there that were not what I typically see. Granted I don’t spend much time just walking around cemeteries but still it was a unique experience. It was depressing not actually seeing the stone head that used to be on Morrison’s grave. I did some research and it was stolen back in 1988 and was never found. I’m glad there were a lot of other interesting graves as that made it much more worthwhile. Matt had expressed interest in the cafe we went to and when he told me Hemingway used to frequent there I thought it would be a neat experience and was sort of in the same area as the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower by the way is much smaller than I anticipated. It kinda surprised me, I clearly had Paris all wrong. The city was bigger than I expected and the Tower was smaller. I got educated through experience which I like. The cafe was definitely a bit of a tourist trap I think but it was one I didn’t mind so much. Oh, in case you were wondering we didn’t go up the Eiffel Tower one reason being that the weather was rainy and chilly and being at the top of the Eiffel Tower wasn’t worth the trade of the punishment from the weather we would’ve taken, especially myself already battling a sinus infection. There’s not much else I can think of to recap this entry so I’ll leave you with some photos.

Pics of Jim Morrison’s grave and Oscar Wilde’s
Random Pics from Pere Lachaise Cemetery
Chopin’s Grave

January 26th, 2020 9:34 P.M.

Nathan Smith

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February 23, 2020

Jason and Matt went out and I decided to stay in for the night. Ever since we arrived in France I have had my left ear plugged up and I feel all congested. It sucks because it’s run me down which is why I opted to stay behind. It’s my attempt to try to rest and fight this crap off. I may need to go to a pharmacy to see if I can get a better decongestant. The ones I took that Jason had hasn‘t really done much to help. Sucks going away to enjoy myself just to come down with something to make the experience not as enjoyable as it should be. Paris is a massive city. Much larger than I had thought. I haven’t even been able to see the Eiffel Tower from where we are staying. We walked around the neighborhood we have lodged at and there was a bunch of stairs we walked up and at the top was a basilica and also a great outlook of the city. There was someone playing some music and I didn’t notice what it was at first until the end of the song because they were singing it in French. It was Purple Rain by Prince. I recorded a little of it to listen back to. While I’m thinking of it I just want to jot down some observations about Italy and France. One thing is there must not be any ordinances on picking up dog shit. You need to be careful not to step in it. Thankfully, I haven’t yet which is good. The other thing I noticed and I’ve noticed it in Ireland as well is that the t.v. isn’t censored. I just turned the t.v. on and was able to set the audio to English and the show I had it on they were swearing and there was even some nudity. I was not offended. I don’t really like censorship to be honest. I think it is a disservice to the people. If you shelter people too much they get soft. As they get soft it’s a gradual downward spiral towards things you aren’t supposed to say because it may be offensive. To be honest, I’ll take my freedom of speech over my right to bear arms. That’s if I had to make a choice. I think if you lose the freedom of speech well you might as well prepare for Orwell‘s 1984. Well, I suppose I should stop rambling for now and try to get some rest.

We were staying at an elaborate Best Western in the neighborhood of Montmartre. I’m being facetious when I state the Best Western was elaborate. It was nothing special by any means but at least a place to rest our heads. It also had the smallest elevator I’ve ever seen. The three of us couldn’t fit into it with our backpacks so I walked up the stairs to meet up with Jason and Matt. The elevator was padded almost like it was modeled after an insane asylum. Someone claustrophobic would probably go insane so maybe they were thinking ahead. I did eventually go in the elevator when we had gone out to explore the neighborhood during the day. Even without back packs the three of us were packed like sardines in the elevator. It was crazy how small it was. I was completely unaware of how big Paris was. For some reason I thought that the Eiffel Tower was the epicenter of the city and could be seen from all over the city but I couldn’t have been more wrong. After we did our day exploring was when I had really started to feel the effects of the sinus infection I was coming down with and I wasn’t up for a late night and I wanted to try to rest to get myself feeling better. Turns out I dodged a bit of a bullet as when Jason and Matt had come back later that night they had told me about an experience they had on the subway. There was a homeless man who had boarded on to the subway with crutches and he apparently reeked so bad of shit that people were literally getting off that particular cart on the next stop. Matt had named the guy Mr. Doodycakes when they were telling me the story that night. I’m glad I missed out on that although being a fly on the wall to see it would have been entertaining I think.

January 26th, 2020 9:24 A.M. (En route to Paris)

Nathan Smith

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February 22, 2020

All is good now. What a shit show it ended up being for us to catch the hi speed train. Couldn’t buy tickets at a fucking ticket booth! The guy told us to go to a certain website to procure tickets. For some reason it wouldn’t take Jason’s card. Thankfully, it worked with Matt’s. Thus far France is a place I don’t care to visit again. We have come across some nice people but for the vast majority my original thoughts still stand. Hospitality has been a mixed bag here. Unlike Ireland where it’s always great. Due to my “scenic” route back to the hotel, Jason and Matt came back about a half hour after I had gotten back. They weren’t allowed to get into a couple places for reasons unknown. Glad I wasn’t there for that because that would’ve really pissed me off. I guess I will see what Paris has in store. I’m hoping we are able to go to Jim Morrison’s headstone. That’s the one thing I’m mostly looking forward to. To me it’s not the Eiffel Tower at all. It’ll be neat to see in person I guess but ultimately not the thing I’m interested in. I’m not interested in the Louvre either. I tend to try to stay away from most of the touristy things. Thankfully, Jason and Matt are pretty similar in that regard.

So, despite the argument my brother and I had the previous night, cooler heads prevailed and we ultimately all agreed it was best to take the hi speed train that departed at 8:30 a.m. It turned out to be a benefit when they weren’t deemed “Exclu-Seev” or in English “Exclusive”. That was what they had told me on the train when I further interrogated about the situation. They tried to go in as willing, paying patrons only to be to told that as they watched other people go in even though they were dressed similarly to them. No real rhyme or reason other than they noticed it was a younger crowd. Age discrimination apparently. They decided to head back after that incident. Who knows how late they could have stayed out had they been deemed Exclusive. It was a youthful nightlife in Aix and they planned to keep it that way it seems. It was nice for a visit but I don’t think I need to go back. They don’t want me anyways, I’m closing in on 38. I’m not Exclu-Seev.

Airplane Etiquette Opinion

Nathan Smith

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February 18, 2020

Ok, so I am diverting off of my journal entries just because I want to give my opinion on a story in the news that has been going on. The story is about a lady who had recently flown and she recorded the passenger behind her hitting her seat because she had reclined back. She is threatening to sue the passenger she had the altercation with. Perhaps you have seen the story on the news yourself. Well, here’s my opinion on it. Even though the seats are designed to recline I don’t think it’s a courteous thing to do. I’ve been the uncomfortable one from someone reclining. I actually commend the dude behind her letting her know his frustration by actually hitting the seat to let her know. The fact she wants to sue him because she, in my opinion, was really the rude one is fucking ridiculous. She’s making a story out of herself being an asshole is how I see it. She obviously knew it was bothering the passenger behind her so why the fuck would you continue to keep your seat reclined if it was making him uncomfortable? Then you record it because you want to show him as the bad guy? No, I’m not buying it. Be courteous and do the right thing, get a neck pillow and don’t be the asshole that reclines. That is all.

January 26th, 2020 12:38 A.M.

Nathan Smith

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February 18, 2020

Yet again my sense of direction fucking fails me. I ended up taking the “scenic” route back to the hotel tonight. I had a brief blowout with my brother regarding the train to Paris tomorrow. We can catch one that is at around 8:30 in the morning and takes 3 hours or be fucking bums and continue to drink so we are hung over as fuck and not make it, in turn for a 5 hour train ride around 10:30 in the morning. Oh yeah, the 8:30 one is only 35 Euro and the 5 hour one is 100 Euro. It’s a fucking no brainer. Yet he has to try to stay out. Matt played guidance counselor, as we, for the most part, told each other to fuck off as brother’s tend to do now and again. Either way it pissed me off. I’m not able to blow through all kinds of loot and am trying to budget myself. Matt mentioned I could take the early train myself and they would catch up with me later. I could do that and very well may. I’m not comfortable doing it, but fuck it. I found a way by myself in South America, I can do this. I’ll set my alarm early and if they want to follow so be it. I’d be tempted to just blow this whole thing to shit and head straight to Amsterdam. I suppose that would be a dick head move. I’ll set my alarm and go from there. Hopefully the don’t get too much more buggered up, otherwise I’ll be heading to Paris on my own. It’s not how I want things to go but it makes more sense. Hopefully the get their heads out of their asses and come with. If not, well I suppose some true colors will be shown. As I said earlier, these two are a pleasure or a chore. Right at this point it’s feeling like a chore.

This entry took place the night we stayed in Aix. Aix was a small city and relatively hip I guess you could say. There seemed to be a lot of youth there and I’m not sure if there was a college nearby or something but it seemed to be a younger crowd, or at least younger than us. All the streets looked similar and once you got deeper in the depths and going down different streets, it was easy for me to get lost without the use of google maps. I had one landmark and it was a basically a town square that had a traffic circle but there really wasn’t much traffic that seemed to be allowed to go around it. Actually, they had pillars that were in the ground and they would raise up if you tried to go through. This was only a realization we noticed because a woman had tried to drive around it it seems and the pillar came up and smashed up the front end of her car causing pretty severe damage it looked as oil was going all over the place. It was interesting to see and at the same time didn’t make sense and it would have been an easy mistake and probably for sure one we could have made had we had a car to drive around. There was no way of knowing the pillars would rise up until apparently it would be too late. Seemed like a really shitty way to find out you were going down a road you weren’t supposed to. Anyways, I have diverted a bit of what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about a couple things I experienced on my scenic route back. Now, I was unable to use google maps because I could only use it if I had wifi and I could only get that if I was at the hotel. It did me no good when I was trying to get my way back there. Needless to say what should have probably only been about a 10 or 15 minute walk back to the hotel had I gone the right way took me at least an hour to get back. To make things more difficult I had gotten so crossed up that I couldn’t find my way back to the bar I that I had stormed out of. Had it not been for the scenic route I wouldn’t have seen the two girls that were getting into a fight. Now, I’m not sure if they were really fighting or if they were just just a couple friends fucking around but one girl was grabbing the others hair and they were going at it. It was sloppy fighting and just hair pulling but I thought I heard laughter as well. It was very confusing but still entertaining to watch as I slowly meandered by. I did see a guy eventually run over to jump in to break it up. I almost wonder if it was a ploy to get attention. I don’t know I was just a passerby. Another interesting thing, was there was a guy that had walked by me and was was speaking in French to me. He was walking and swaying his arms around very emphatically. I couldn’t understand what he was trying to tell me or if he was making fun of the way I walked. When I walk I’m on a mission and I’ve been told it’s a distinct walk. I asked him ” Par les voux, Englais?” He said, “No” and continued on his way. I have still have speculation on if he really didn’t speak English as later on in our trip we came to realize that some French tend to play coy when it comes to speaking English. They know it better than they lead on it seems. I will never know what the deal was with that dude but it was something that stuck in my head on that walk back to find the hotel. Obviously, I ended up finding my way but I came out of another street further down from where I wanted to. Jason and Matt actually came in shortly after I had finished writing my entry. Now the question remains, did they want to take the 8:30 train with me or not?

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