Some zar-bi airport behavior

zar-bi = bizarre (French for strange) in verland (a type of French slang).

People really have nothing to do at the airport but wait, and well, that's quite boring. So they go shopping, and well, that's apparently not boring. But what do they especially love to shop for at the duty free? Well alcohol. Have you ever smelt the person sitting next to you on the airplane? Well chances are that s/he smells fucking great. You see people don't just shop for alcoholic beverages at duty free shops, they also shop for alcoholic fragrances, aka perfume. For some strange reason, they feel the need to test these scents on themselves in large quantities. Maybe they misread the label on the tester bottle: it reads tester or demo, NOT sample. Ok, so I may be guilty of sampling some perfume, but I emphasize the word some, as in with reason. So here's a thought: maybe it's not the g-forces at take-off, the turbulence, the altitude nor the cramped seats that make some people feel nauseous on airplanes--maybe it's the high percentage of alcoholic fragrance (perfume) that has this effect.

Here I am smellin like roses in the airplane. The guy next to me (not in the photo) smelt like an enchanted forest and the women in front like the Pacific coastline on a hot but not too hot Sunday in the month of June. How can I tell, well I've become an airport-duty-free-shop-fragrance expert, that's how.

Budapest... I like!

Back in Vienna, from the land of supercharged escalators. Budapest is such an awesome city! The club scene is way cool with many underground bars to choose from. I was lucky enough to discover 3 last night, all of them outdoors. This was because I was hanging out with some friends of friends in Pest. Knowing someone from a city is always the best way to take it in.


Before WW2, Budapest was a very important European city. This is the first city to construct a metro system. Today, it's a bustling place and hopefully it will regain the ranks as an important international city.


This morning I kinda visited the world's 2nd largest synagogue. Why kinda, well because outrageously, one has to buy a ticket to actually enter the synagogue that sits 3 000 people. But, it's very beautiful and I visited the gardens (I only had 15 minutes before I had to catch my train).

Speaking of trains, smoking is actually allowed! And surprisingly, it's not in France!


I was in Bratislava earlier this week (on Wednesday and Thursday). I was alone however. I took a "high-speed luxury catamaran" along the the most annoying lady ever; thank god for ipods! But in between songs: "Oh, you must go there, it's so nice. I'm telling you, if you want mountains, I know this cute place. Why don't I wear shoes? My doctor said no more shoes. It's very nice, until about half an inch of snow..." Ugh, shut up!


Anyway, back to Bratislava. It's a great place that Slovakia has dubbed the "little big city". In fact, it's true. It's not a big place, but it has everything a big city has to offer, only it's cozier.

Above the McDonald's and next to the casino...

... The Museum of Communism. Yes, that's right, a slap in the face for communism.



I was sitting in the park along the Vltava River in the shade with a delightful breeze rushing through my hair. I hear rustle in those dear shade-giving branches above. No time to look up, an explosion on my left side calls to my attention. It's a bird, it's a plane... no, it's brid shit! A direct hit to my left sholder.



The oldest still-standing synagogue in Europe is in the Prague: the Old-New Synagogue, dating back to 1280 (older ones exist but are no longer erect). Unfortunately, the Jewish community in Prague today has almost completely vanished. What remains are 5 synagogues and a cemetary.


Here's what your first task as our new intern is: row this boat up and down the Vltava!


Man, I wish I had a stash as cool as this one!

von Wien nach Praha

from Vienna to Prague

The bus ride from Vienna to Prague was possibly the Guiness Book of World Records' most bumpiest ride; Czech roads might even compete with Quebec's... ok, maybe not quite.

Presently sitting in the Sokovska youth hostel, I am surrounded by voices speaking in a foreign language; I am in Prague. I was only honked at 3 times today for jay-walking (by the way, something that no locals do in Vienna, but here it's ok, I just think that they like to honk at tourists!). Czech women are absolutely beautiful (Austrian, not so much); too bad I can't speak the language. There is something to be said about being able to drink beer anywhere anytime. Plus, it's not those sisi 250 ml beers like back in France but a real man's size half-a-liter. It makes any stroll that much more enjoyable.

Vienna is a quaint city. I was lucky enough to be able to rent a bike and ride about the city. Last night though, my friend and I went to see the city hall; beatiful, all light up, great. Try to walk back. They call this neighbohood the "ring", and for a good reason. After 30 minutes of walking (in a seamingly straight line), we wind up back in front of the city hall! That same night (after finally escaping the ring) we check out the permanent fair/amusement park: half a dozen bumber car rides and another half a dozen go-cart tracks! Wowawiwa.



This same saturday evenning, I went to the Volksoper (the people's opera) most underdressed. This was my first opera! The title: La cage aux folles. In French right? Wrong. In German. After an hour and a half of watching men dressed as women prance around and speak/sing in German, I decided that I had had my money's worth (the whole 1,50 euro to get in!).

Johann Strauss statue; too hard to get a photo without some random japanese tourist in it.

Welcome to the Hex Pistols

Bienvenue sur hexpistols.blogspot.com

Qui sont les Hex Pistols? Tout simplement la liste BDE (Bureau des étudiants) à HEC le plus ouf quoi!

Formerly known as Hexotic, the Hex Pistols were born out of the synergy of creative energy of horny first-year HEC students. Aside from the awesome name, they organised bumper cars for us! What you may ask could be better than bumper cars? Well nothing. That's right, bumper cars is the most fun. Ok, so one guy got a cuncussion and many suffered from bruised knees (it seems that these cars are made for kids whereas adults take it to a whole other level). But still I maintain, bumper cars iz da shiznit.






Basically the next best thing after bumper cars is 4-wheel bikes!






Next on the roster is Delixir, aka Dolce Lista. They won the elections; I suspect that they used their high government official connections to George W to borow some tactics from the 2000 presidential elections (they turned our beloved capus into the state of Florida).





But, despite this trickery, Delixir oraginsed an awesome sumo wrestling match...








To summarize: last week we partied every night (bar open), went to class drunk, ate to our hearts' delight, ordered massages, got free haircuts, dozed ourselves with Very Irrésistible eau de toilette, stuffed our faces with Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream, danced salsa, saw a naked guy dance on the table at dinner, read l'Optimum fashion magazine, got a nice collection of condoms...