Melbourne Loft

I’ve never actually travelled on Air New Zealand but I might just give them a try after learning some new things about them today.  I always receive emails advertising air fare specials.  And today I saw a mail advertising Air New Zealand’s latest round the world special.   And I found that Air NZ actually do flying their air craft right around the world!   I don’t know of any airline that does that.   Usually they share the trip with other airlines.   How cool would it be to go right around the world with the one airline!   I’ve yet to confirm that this is actually true with Air NZ.   But some New Zealanders I asked today confirmed it.
I also noticed on the Air NZ that they have a big Gay and Lesbian section.   Of course I had to go into it to see why on earth would a big commercial airline have a gay section?   There are a lot of interesting facts contained here about New Zealand and their acceptance of gays and lesbians.   Check it out HERE.
Also, did you know that the airline is actually owned by the employees?   How cool is that!    I’ve also heard that they are a pretty nice airline to fly with.

Okay…  it’s been a while since I updated and now that I’m home it’s time to catch up.    So where was I?  That’s right….  Barcelona!
Barcelona is a really special place.   This is a really cool city!  The people here are really laid back and not afraid to show their emotions.  I thouht no one cried at the airport anymore…  but I saw loads of people in tears saying goodbye to their loved ones…  and they were all guys!
We flew from Berlin to Barcelona on my favourite LCC airline Air Berlin.  I’ve been continuing collecting the model planes that they sell on board and I was really happy to pick up an Air Berlin plane.   Their service is really good!   I would even consider trying out their long haul service from Asia sometime.
In Barcelona I had rented an apartment.  That way Frank and I could cook our own food.   We had fun checking out the local supermarket and buying all sorts of stuff to cook.   The apartment itself was quite large and turned out to be a little spooky.   Of course neither of us admitted this until we left.   Below is a photo of the apartment’s huge living room with the swinging chair in the middle.

I loved hanging out in Barcelona.   Particularly walking down La Rambla with all the freaky stores selling all kinds of animals as pets and all the street performers.   We later paid way too much money for a couple of watered down Sangria’s.  But the tappas in Barcelona was REALLY good.  We had no idea where to go for good food so we invited a local guy to come out for dinner with us.   He took us to a place near the harbour and the food was amazing!   Barcelona the city has a water shortage and a water quality problem.  So we had to drink bottled water here.   It’s terrible when a major city does not have a clean water supply.


A couple of things that caught my eye in Barcelona were the ancient ATM machines and the rental bikes all over town.   The bikes are a great idea and we saw loads of people riding them.   These bike stations are all over Barcelona.  You pay an annual fee which entitles you to take a bike out for 30 minutes at a time and drop it off at any of the stations found absolutely every where!   I was amazed at how many people were using them.  This must have to be one of the most successful bike sharing schemes I have ever seen.    Not only does it get traffic off the roads but it is keeping the locals fit too.    NOTE:   The cyclists in Barcelona are not as territorial and aggressive as those in Berlin where I was almost bowled over several times.

I’m surprised I allowed my card to go into that old machine!

This was my 3rd trip to Berlin.   I like Berlin a lot.  But this time I was looking forward to showing it to one of my friends.  Berlin has so much going on!   While we were there a large athletics games event was happening.  So there were a lot of tourists in town.   It was quite warm too, so we got to do some sunbaking out in the Tiergarden.
This was also my first time to try riding the subway around Berlin.   And it really is so easy!  We travelled far into the east side and spent a day looking around over there.   I was really surprised at how westernised it is there.   Even Fitness First has a gym there!   I don’t think we went far enough east.   We didn’t have enough days there to do everything we wanted to do.   But I’m sure there will be another trip to Berlin.  And can you believe I met some girls from Geelong (Melbourne) at the Berlin guesthouse!
I should also mention that the food is pretty good in Berlin.   It’s quite easy to eat expensively here but if you look around you can find good food at a reasonable price.   The little hut in the square in front of Ka De We sells beautiful pizza!   Or pay a bit more and head to the top floor of Ka De We for some very delicious meals and treats.
And for drinking at night I recommend the Prinzeknecht bar in Schoneberg (near our guesthouse).   The crowd is friendly, it’s always busy and there are strange things going on in the basement (which I think happens in every Berlin bar).   Here’s a few shots of Franky and I hanging out in Berlin.

Oh man we squeezed a lot in to our short visit to New York.   We werer on the go the whole time.   The highlights were spending dusk at Times Square as all the ligts came on and our visit to MOMA and Macy’s.   I really like hanging out in Chelsea with Frank and Jim too.  New York is a funny place were you could be running around in all the chaos or slipping down some street into a bar or cafe and chilling out with some friends.   I will have to make a gallery for all the photos because there are way too many to post here.
It was very hot and humid while we were in New York so we spent a lot of time running in and out of airconditioning and sunbaking on the roof of the guesthouse.   I really liked walking through Central Park and the looks on the joggers faces as Frank puffed away on his cigarettes.   Cigarette smoking is seen as offencesive by many New Yorkers.   And then we spent a few hours looking through MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) a must for all visitors.   Of course we also got in some shopping at Century 21 down by the World Trade Centre and Macy’s on 34th Street.   Of course I bought too much and had to send a box of clothes home.
Now I miss New York and I wonder when I might be able to get back there again.

After the 11 hour ride from Buenos Aires to JKF we were finally heading in to Manhattan.   The first day was a bit crazy as we arrived at 6am and could not check in to the guesthouse until 2pm that day.   So we dropped our bags and headed over to my mate Jim’s place to get some brekky and head out on a little tour.  Down in the lower west side we got a tour of the Jane Hotel getting a makeover, walked along the docks to get a better view of Manhattan and strolled along an overhead railroad which was recently turned into a park.  It’s so a trendy little area down there now.
It’s also really hot here in New York.   So I’ve been getting a tan on the rooftop of the guesthouse.  Summer has definitely arrived on this trip!

While we were in Buenos Aires we made some time to fit in some shooting there.  We were meeting some amazing looking guys so why not get them to model?   These are just some of the guys we met in Argentina.  I’ll post the whole sets in the Private Room.

Our last days in Argentina and also the last day of winter on this trip as we fly 11 hours north to New York.  We had such a lovely time in Buenos Aires.   We met lots of interesting people, got to shoot some pretty good looking guys, did a tonne of shopping and ate a lot of food.   I really like Buenos Aires and want to come back again sometime.   Though I must learn some more Spanish so I can communicate more.   There is not a lot of English speaking people here.
On our last day we had the most amazing pizzas for lunch on Parana Street in the Recoleta.    Our walking tour guide didn’t show up so we grabbed a map and took ourselves on a tour.  Along the way we made up stories of what had happened at various places.   Frank liked seeing the Recoleta cemetery and even found an Italian guide to show us some of the amazing architecture there.
Mostly I liked the guys there.   Even though I could not speak Spanish I had fun meeting the guys and getting a feel for what life is like in Argentina.  Oh…  and I really liked the pimped out buses running around Argentina too!

We are having such a beautiful stay here in Buenos Aires.   We are not as busy as we had expected to be.  After having some severe jet lag we decided to take it easy for the first days.  After all, we are travelling for 6 weeks.   Today we headed out for a late brekky at the El Callao cafe next door to our apartment block.  And then we jumped in a cab to head over to the glam Alto Palermo shopping mall.   They had some really cool stuff there.
But it was in the afternoon when we returned to the Recoleta area that we found a great little arcade on Santa Fe called “Bond Street”.   This is where a lot of arty types operate tiny stores showing off their own designed t-shirts, trainers and all sorts of accessories alongside a tonne of tattoo stores.   Frank bought a few things while I tried to peer around corners at people getting amazing tattoos inked into their skin.
Dinner was a takeaway from the La Farola restaurant where huge serves of heavy food is always on offer.   We bought 2 pasta dishes.  The pasta is hand made fresh and the sauce was so delicious!   It was enough to feed a family for just 55 pesos (about 11 dollars).
Apart from the great food the thing that will keep me coming back to Argentina is a the beautiful people.   They are so friendly and accommodating…   especially for someone who does not speak Spanish.   Tomorrow we are going on a walking tour around Buenos Aires.

Day 3 of the trip started out with a breakfast at the El Callao the first one seeing that yesterday it didnt open, apparently because it was children’s day. That’s right, Children’s day, sounds like we have been ripped off!
Anyways breakfast isn’t a big thing here. Cup of tea and a couple of little croissants are the go. Eating here is a little weird with dinner being so late in the night. We felt a little more awake today, which was good hopefully the jet lag will wear off real soon.
The pics show the room we are staying in. it’s pretty kewl although the kitchen really doesnt have all the facilities to cook anything substantial it still is good to be able to make a cup of tea when you want it, if you know Phillip then you will know he loves his tea.
After breakfast we headed over to the Zara store. We still dont have Zara over in Australia, who knows why, but it is such a great store! The clothes are really good quality. I brought a nice hoodie, and Phillip was very restrained and brought nothing. I’m actually surprised at how restrained he has been. I dont think it will last long.
After more walking around we came back and had a rest. We went out for lunch and had a huge meal which was really nice. Then at night we headed over to Palermo where we had a look around and then met up with a couple of people Phillip knew. Tomorrow is more shopping I think. Hopefully we will feel much better!

Day 2 in Buenos Aires and I think the jet lag has cauht up with us.   We woke up very early and went walking looking or a place that sells breakfast.   We were both amazed at the lack of places open to eat early on a Sunday morning.   We eventually found a McDonalds open and had a small brekky before heading back to the hotel.   I fell asleep again.
Sunday in Buenos Aires is all about checking out the San Telmo markets and the people dancing the tango in that area.   We saw some really cool stuff.   We walked for ages before we ended up in the Galleries Pacifico shopping centre right on the Florida mall.   Frank bought a great new coat there.   The clothes here are so cheap!
Then it was time to head back to the hotel again.  It is so easy jumping from one side of the city to the other.   Cab fares are something like 3 to 5 dollars each.
Tonight we headed over to the supermarket to get some supplies for the week.
Oh man I hope I sleep some nomal hours tonight.