Yesterday I started my day at home in Brooklyn where I took the L train to the A train to the Skytrain to JFK to catch a flight to London where I got held up by a lethargic woman at security and had to sprint to catch a flight to Madrid that got put in a holding pattern for forty minutes which in turn required me to sprint to a flight to Casablanca and wait in an hour long passport control line to rendezvous with Clayton to catch a train into the actual city to walk 6 kilometers to a hotel that I’d previously booked in the medina.
So we’ve actually been in Casablanca now for about seven hours. It’s my first time here, and all I’d heard before arriving is how it’s a big, ugly, dirty shithole with nothing to see and that I should get out as soon as possible. As this is also what most people say about places like Mexico City and São Paulo, I was tipped off in advance to the likelihood that I’d find it charming, which so far I do. Nevertheless, I’m full of mint tea, espresso, shwarma and french fries and I’ve slept for about an hour in the past two days. We’re planning on catching a train to Rabat tomorrow, so I’m staying in tonight. I’ll have a few days to really explore this city on the way out of the country in two weeks.
These are a few pictures that I took on the walk to the hotel and from the rooftop earlier this evening.
This entry was written by , posted on March 23, 2011 at 3:54 pm, filed under Africa, Morocco, Travel. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
(And Yelapa and DFW)
Two Mondays ago, upon arrival at LaGuardia after spending the weekend in Chicago, I checked twitter (and checked in to the airport Five Guys) to discover via @AmericanAir that a “winter storm” headed for Texas would quite possibly be shutting down DFW on Wednesday. Being that I had a connection at DFW that coming Wednesday afternoon on my way to Puerto Vallarta, and being that I’m not one to mess with Texas (though I may be one to speak poorly of it), I finished my arrival hamburger and made my way to the surprisingly empty American Airlines ticketing counter to investigate the possibility of rebooking. Rather than lose a day in Mexico, I decided we would fly out ahead of the storm, which meant I’d be back at LGA to fly down to Texas in exactly twenty four hours- essentially an overnight layover at home and a free bonus day in Mexico.
As I was technically supposed to be at work on Tuesday, I walked across Williamsburg with my luggage at 8:45 AM to open the office until a coworker would be coming in to cover the day at 10:30. After a cab to LGA, a flight to DFW, an extra large frozen yogurt and box of Dayquil with a side of Popeyes fried chicken, a flight to PVR, and a cab downtown, we found ourselves at the front desk of Hotel El Pescador a day early with no reservations. This proved to be a non-issue and shortly after dropping off our belongings we walked down the block to enjoy an eighty peso (roughy US $7.50) dinner of six tacos and two beers.
The majority of the following five days were spent wandering the city sampling delicious street food, consuming irresponsible amounts of mariscos and micheladas, exploring local markets, lounging on many beaches, and becoming regulars at a moderately seedy downtown pool hall.
We kept everything pretty local, despite talk of renting a car and driving to Guadalajara for a night. One day we did actually make it out of the city and took a water taxi to the small, no-roads village of Yelapa, where we hung out with a giant iguana and hiked to a waterfall.
On Sunday we had possibly the best American breakfast ever at Fredy’s Toucan, followed by pasta at Sbarro for lunch at PVR Airport, which was in fact the only subpar decision made the whole week. After a rushed layover at DFW complete with slow agents at customs and full body scans at recheck (no time to opt-out when you risk being stranded overnight in suburban Texas) we were on a packed flight back to New York.
Upon landing in New York, the LGA Five Guys was closed, the guy at T&A Deli sneezed all over the cheese while assembling my sandwich, and the deli across the street refused to take my debit card despite the obvious presence of a card machine and a large Visa/Master/Discover sticker in the window. I had my first full flavored beer in almost a week and went to bed craving tacos.
Downtown at night
I bought a sweet painting from this family
Best tacos in Puerto Vallarta
More good tacos- 5 for 35 pesos
The northern end of the malecón
Canned Spicy Mango Margarita from OXXO
Chicago worldwide!
Oceanside patio at Hotel El Pescador
Don’t swim at night!
Classy roof rack
Convertible Beetles
Rebuilding the pier at Playa Los Muertos
Leaving PV for the forty five minute ride to Yelapa
Dropping people off on the far side of Yelapa
Coming into town
Yelapa Beach from the main town stairs
Open invitation to the election and crowning of the Queen of Yelapa at the village casino
The trail to the town waterfall
Approaching Playa Los Muertos
Sunset at 7:00 on the malecón
Texas bound!
This entry was written by , posted on February 21, 2011 at 12:51 pm, filed under Mexico, Travel and tagged jalisco, Mexico, puerto vallarta, yelapa. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
(The Slightly Derelict Fremont Street Experience by iPhone Camera)
After a forty five minute flight from JFK to Boston, six hour layover at Logan Airport, six hour flight to Long Beach, night and day on the beach, and four hours in the backseat of a Jeep Wrangler, I found myself in a twenty two dollar per night hotel room on Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas with fifteen or so of my favorite people. I’m proud to have not set foot on the strip the entire weekend, though at one point while looking for trouble on the east side of downtown we considered walking to the Stratosphere.
Nice things have no place around deep fried oreos, crackheads, or ten dollar AYCD brunch buffets, so I decided to keep my Leica locked in the room and shoot with my iPhone all weekend.
Downtown eastside
Movie set alley
Alien invasion
Bed bugs!
The Golden Nugget pool has sharks!
Deep fried oreo coma
Mullets
Miles away from the strip
Downtown
Blunts and burner phones
Keno
Shot down
Ironic Brunch #1
Bye Vegas
Chicago Thursday. Mexico the following Wednesday. More soon.
This entry was written by , posted on January 29, 2011 at 9:39 pm, filed under Long Beach, Travel. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
(but first I’m going to Las Vegas)
Iberia’s website is/was selling unadvertised fares on American, British Airways, and Iberia and I managed to get a roundtrip flight from New York to Casablanca for under $400. I’m trying to learn as much as I can about the area, but it seems that besides Casablanca I’ll also be headed to Marrakech, Rabat, and Tangier, as well as ferrying to the south of Spain. We’re also trying to figure out the logistics of getting into Algeria, though the hassle and cost of the visa and documentation that is required to get in, coupled with the fact that the land border from Morocco is closed, might be a bit much.
I flew to Long Beach yesterday (JFK-BOS-LGB for $5 in taxes with my last old jetBlue Trueblue pass) and I’m currently waiting to jump into a car to Las Vegas. I’m fortunate enough to have a friend who was born in 1990. He turned 21 earlier this week and has booked five rooms on the old Fremont strip for the weekend.
Photos coming soon!
This entry was written by , posted on January 14, 2011 at 8:40 pm, filed under Africa, Travel. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I finally got around to some of these photos from the past year while hanging out in Logan Airport for five hours on my way from New York to Long Beach yesterday. Most were shot with my Leica, though some are iPhone photos and some are from my 35mm toy camera.
Interstate 70 Between Green River and Salina, Utah
On the road from Liberia to La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Lake Arenal, Costa Rica
Lunch at a roadside soda in La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Small Town Costa Rica north of San Jose
Mexico City
Central Mexico City
Chapultepec Park, Mexico City
Chapultepec Park, Mexico City
Bridgelife, Chicago
Pilsen from Bridgelife
Brooklyn
Riis Park, Queens
Memorial Day BBQ in Brooklyn
Maujer Roof, Brooklyn
Coney Island, Brooklyn
Atlantic City
Atlantic City
Montreal
Montreal from Mount Royal
Montreal
Portuguese Lunch in the Plateau, Montreal
Miami
Pollo Tropical Cat, Miami
Long Beach
Kogi BBQ Truck, LA
Hamburgers!
Omelette Inn!
Hole Mole!
Parking Garage in Chicago that thinks it’s the 2 Train
Grayslake, Illinois
After the Christmas Blizzard, Brooklyn.
Chinatown Fair Arcade, New York
East from the Empire State Building
I left for California yesterday with my car looking like this.
This sums up the past few months pretty well.
This entry was written by , posted on at 8:25 pm, filed under Chicago, Costa Rica, Long Beach, Miami, New York, Travel. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I found three nights + a roundtrip flight from JFK to SJO for $300 per person and went to Costa Rica on a few days notice back in September. It became a four night trip when we were forced to spend an additional night in San Jose after missing the three hour cutoff for our flight. It became a five night trip because we had a 10pm-8am layover in Miami and enjoyed a traditional Wednesday night at LIV with Sir Juan Herrera.
Tarcoles River
Crocodiles and Cows
I’d definitely recommend Vista Los Sueños
Jacó Beach
Me
Manuel Antonio
Hillside outside of Manuel Antonio
This entry was written by , posted on at 7:24 pm, filed under Costa Rica, Miami, New York, Travel. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
So I had a free flight on jetBlue and flew to Bogotá for fifteen dollars on two weeks notice. I’ve been here since Thursday night and in that time it’s rained a lot, I’ve walked a lot, and I’ve eaten many empanadas (and quite a few hamburgers). Here are some pictures.
I’m headed to El Dorado now to fly to Chicago for a few days. I’m gonna take the Transmilenio to the Calle 26 Bus instead of a cab and I’m flying on Spirit by way of Fort Lauderdale, so with luck I might make it.
This entry was written by , posted on October 6, 2010 at 8:27 am, filed under Bogotá, Travel. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
While wandering around the lower east side earlier this week, shopping around for candy cigarettes and mexican voodoo candles, I came upon a sweet little toy camera at reed space. It’s called the Black Slim Devil, and it shoots 35mm film with a fixed 22mm f/11 lens and sells for just barely more than three sandwiches at Hana Food, so naturally I bought it.
I had an old roll of Fujichrome Velvia slide film buried in my camera bag, so I figured I’d try it out. I didn’t take into account that it’s almost impossible to have slide film processed without sending it out. However, I found a sweet spot in Greenpoint that is half photo lab and half Hello Kitty dealer. The guy who runs it will do C-41 Processing for two dollars per roll and scan negatives to a CD for five more. Nonetheless, I had my slide film cross processed in C-41 chemicals and got these super contrasty photos with some really inconsistent color shifts.
These photos are from the past four days.
Williamsburg Bridge
Williamsburg Bridge while riding
Ave B
Suffolk and Delancey
Houston and Suffolk
Looking out the living room window
The release of my car from Brooklyn Navy Yard Impound
Riis Park
Tunnel under Rockaway Beach Blvd
Riis Park
Beach at Riis Park, Queens
More beach
People exit?
Headed back to Brooklyn
Rooftop view of the southside and downtown Manhattan
Northside and midtown Manhattan
Car exit
After picking up these photos from the lab in Greenpoint this afternoon, I rode my bike to Jackson Park, Queens and located what may be the best (only?) pastor tacos in New York. Good as they were, they’ve got nothing on the grilled lobster tacos I’ll be preparing on the roof on Monday.
I’ve got regular color negative film in the camera now, so more soon.
This entry was written by , posted on May 28, 2010 at 2:50 pm, filed under New York, Travel. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I’ve been in New York since Saturday evening.
I dropped Juan off at MIA last Friday afternoon and immediately headed north on I-95, stopping only for waffle fries and regular unleaded until RIchmond, VA, where I retired for a night’s rest around 5:00 AM Saturday. After leaving Richmond at 2:00, fighting DC traffic, almost running out of gas in Baltimore, and spilling cherry limeade all over the dashboard, I crossed the Verrazano Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn around 8:00 PM Saturday night. I’ve been posted up in the top floor of a loft in Williamsburg ever since (how ruthlessly absurd).
Here are some more photographs of questionable quality:
This is Slick Rick rapping at his own birthday party in South Beach. Not sure why I was there, but it was fun.
This is a liquor store on the way to Versailles- a castle that is also the best Cuban spot in Miami.
This is what I ate at Versailles.
These are our bikes at the beach.
This is what a Central Florida sunset looks like.
This is the Brooklyn side of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.
This is the Brooklyn Bridge as seen from the northbound BQE.
This is the view from the rooftop where I’m currently residing.
I saw these in a thrift store in NoHo yesterday.
Their subtle way of saying “you have a free roundtrip on jetblue, now use it to go to Bogotá or else.”
These are from a Kodak disposable that I bought in Long Beach:
This is the view from my flight from LGB-ORD earlier this month.
The transition from the San Bernardino Mountains to the Mojave Desert is sweet.
This is the approach over Chicago, complete with a u-turn over Lake Michigan.
In other news, a great lunch was enjoyed today at the Boston Market in Ridgewood, Queens. Starting tomorrow morning (Friday) I have to go to three airports in four days and I’m not even flying anywhere. Saturday, however, I will be driving upstate for the day. No idea what I’m doing next week.
Also, I promise that effective immediately there will be no more hipstamatic photos on this blog.
This entry was written by , posted on May 20, 2010 at 11:51 pm, filed under Chicago, Miami, New York, Travel. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Chicago, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Ensenada, Tokyo, Seoul, LA, Miami.
Karaoke in Hongdae
Fried Chicken Delivery in Seoul
Compton Station on the LA Metro
Seoul Tower
That way
Central Seoul?
Rooflife in Playas de Rosarito, Mexico
Fail Mirror in Colorado
This TV Dinner was good
But the actual restaurant was way better
TV Dinner Restaurant
Serious?
Strange Fruit is my favorite
Cosmos is pretty sweet too
How to spend $20 on a photobooth in Long Beach
Two trackbike boutiques in two blocks in Hongdae
Taco truck in Seoul
Moroccan sandwiches after a party in Seoul, shortly before a 5:00 am cab ride to Incheon Airport.
Five bikes on a rack for three on the way to Mexico
Look at all these Lenos. Burbank, CA.
Jerome getting political
Cause he’s got the money to be political
Long Beach airport is my favorite
How to drive from Chicago to Miami in under 20 hours
Juan’s fridge in Miami
Yesterday I bought the hipstamatic app for my phone, which is pretty amusing. These next few are from that.
Sir Juan’s Villa
Driving back into Miami from the beach
Fail raft
I’ll be in Miami until Friday, then headed to New York for a while. More soon.
This entry was written by , posted on May 10, 2010 at 7:24 pm, filed under Chicago, Long Beach, Mexico, Miami, Seoul, Travel. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
