USA & Canada trip 2005 photoblog

Home at last

2005-11-07T08:32:00.000-05:00

Wow, that was a long trip :) Got home two days ago (or was it yesterday? *confused* :-D) and slept for 17 hours. Was pretty dizzy from the jetlag for some time, but feels like it is over now.

Although it is really cold here and I have to wear a big winter jacket, it is really nice to be back home. Colors on the trees are beautiful here (see photos below taken out of my window) and I have enjoyed going back to good, solid danish food like dark bread and milk to recover my body back to a normal, healthy state again.

It has been an amazing trip with tons of experiences and new friends. First of all, the people who have been so kind to let me stay at their places, cannot thank them enough:

- Mike and Rebecca in Kingston
- Rich and family in Niagara Falls
- Adam in New York
- Niko in Pembroke Pines

I highly appreciate your hospitality, you are the ones who made this trip possible!

I was trying to make a list of everybody I have met on this trip but realized that it would be huge and thereby have the chance of forgetting someone. So instead, I want to say thanks much to everyone I have met along the way, all really nice people who have been kind to me and let me experience their everyday life. Come by my place any day and I will return the favor :-)

A special thanks does go out to Luis and Matt for arranging the camp despite a hurricane just leveled the area a few days before and my very good friends Adam and Christian in New York.

Tonight I will be headed to my gym, looking forward to see all my friends there again.

If any of you all wanna get in touch with me and missed my email, it is graugart@gmail.com.

Well, I guess that's it for this blog. I have really enjoyed making it, and I might continue with another one some time as it is good for practicing my photography :) I think I will end it by quoting the danish writer Hans Christian Andersen:

"At rejse er at leve"

(to travel is to live)

On my way home

2005-11-04T18:00:00.000-05:00

Sitting in Newark Airport waiting for my flight to Amsterdam. A short trip of about 8 hours :-( From there I fly to Copenhagen, but that is only around one hour. Hope to get some sleep during the flight, but it is always difficult for me.

Will post again some time when I am home.

Last few days in the sun

2005-11-03T18:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Luis (owner of the gym) hooked me up with a guy called Nik, with whom I am staying with for the last few days here. We went out last night, but the magic KGB powder did it's job perfectly and had us both up fresh for some nice training at 10:30.

After training we wanted to go to the beach since this is my last day with nice weather for a looong time. Unfortunately it was very overcast and also there was no parking sports by the beach due to a boat show going on.

Me and Nik after training this morning.

The gym we trained in.

Parking by the beach was up to $40!!

Downtown Fort Lauderdale

2005-11-03T18:25:00.000-05:00

I backed out of the Orlando trip when I found out that it was a FIVE hours drive each way. Don't wanna spend 10 hours in a bus on my last days here. Went with the guys to downtown Fort Lauderdale where the bus was before I found out about the length of the trip, so after they left I had a nice walk around the town checking it out and enjoying the weather and beauty.

Boooring day

2005-11-01T18:25:00.000-05:00

It has been cloudy and rainy today so we have been really bored. Went to the mall and walked around for some hours. My Visa card doesn't work anymore for some reason. Should be plenty of money on it so I must call the bank tomorrow morning and hear what is up.

Tomorrow we are going to Orlando. The guys I am staying with in the hotel are flying home from there and I am going with them just for a day, should be fun. When I get back here I will stay for a day with a guy from the gym before I fly home friday.

Cool old car in a surf shop today.

Karl and Arnir sharing the hotel bed.

NO ELECTRICITY!

2005-10-31T12:46:00.000-05:00

Have spend 4 days in a hostel with no electricity and no hot water, which sucked. I have now moved to a hotel with electricity and internet, complete luxury :)

Weather has been awesome though, really enjoying the sun here before I am going home to cold and dark Denmark. Just sad how everything is completely trashed after the hurricane. Signs and trees are down and it's just one big mess.

Training has been really good, been working out 6-8 hours a day friday through sunday. Got my BJJ purple belt yesterday.

A tree fell on the road where my hostel is.

Traffic light.

Insanely long lines at the gas stations.

Burger King sign about 500 metres away from the restaurant.

I was not planning to enter anyway.

Always open, easy with no roof!

One way.

A tree fell by Burger King.

Kavanagh's Matrix Jitsu

The camp crew.

Matt choking out Christian.

Power Ranger attacking John.

"Everything is pretty fucked up down here"

2005-10-27T10:39:00.000-04:00

On my way to Florida. Just talked to my swedish friends at the hostel down there, who said that there is still no power after the hurricane, but weather should be good so at least I can chill by the pool :)

I will probably be offline until the power comes back, so no blog updates for the next couple of days or so.

Last night in the city

2005-10-27T01:31:00.000-04:00

It will be a sad goodbye with this place when I am leaving tomorrow at noon. This city is so fascinating, yet so scary. So beautiful, yet so dirty. So fantastic, yet so sad. It has everything, from the best of the best to the worst of the worst. There is no way you can not be amazed by this manmade wonder.

Tonight I walked the Brooklyn Bridge at midnight, then going to a spot I found on Google Earth (=super geek) with an amazing view of the skyline. I got a few shots of the skyline and the bridges before it got too cold and I took a cab home.

Thanks to Adam and Christian for letting me experience New York City again.

Lower Manhattan skyline with the Statue of Liberty to the left.

The Brooklyn Bridge.

100% chance of rain

2005-10-26T00:20:00.000-04:00

Weather forecast for today said there was a 100% chance of rain all day. 100%? I mean, not even 99%? It did rain about 99% though, so they could have spared me that depression.

Have not been doing much because of the weather. It has been super cold as well. Bought myself an iPod Nano because I was so sad over the weather.

One of the things I wanted to take some photos of here was the Chrysler building. Have been looking at it since I came, wondering how to get the right angle. This night when I was sitting at home I decided to take a walk down Lexington Avenue towards the building and see what I could capture. Following are some of the shots I got.

Decided not to put my usual comments on this time, as I think the photos speak well for themselves, describing the mood of the city this rainy night.

Winter is coming!

2005-10-24T22:28:00.000-04:00

It's starting to get a lot colder here and this evening it has been raining a lot as well.

Yesterday I was at the NAGA turnament all day. I'm not a good competitor, lost one by tactic (wrestler took me down once then did nothing the rest of the "fight") and one by fatigue (tapout due to dehydration wtf?!). Who cares, I had a great day with all of the guys from the gym.

Today I walked a little out on Brooklyn Bridge then decided to come back when I had some warmer clothes on and it would be dark so I could really enjoy the skyline. It is an amazing piece of history. Build in 1875 with so many men dying from decompression sickness. Wanted to go there and shoot some photos tonight but it is raining a lot so I will stay indoors and hope to be able to do it tomorrow instead.

Was training in the gym today, really good workout. Rolled with almost everybody and had a great time. I must conclude, that I fight 100 times better in the gym than in competitions. Which doesn't matter at all ofcourse, as I train for the sake of training, not to win anything.

Ryan doing good in the competition.

The Brooklyn Bridge.

Rain...

2005-10-22T23:57:00.000-04:00

It has been raining a lot today, so didn't really do anything but eat. Took some photos last night which I never got to post, so here goes.

Times Square facing south.

Times Square facing north.

Empire State Building. Absolutely amazing at night. Wanna go up there before I leave.

Battery Park

2005-10-21T16:10:00.000-04:00

Took the subway down to Battery Park just to check it out today. Wanted to try my new lenses. Weather sucks, it's all cloudy so that makes it a little more difficult to get good colors on the photos. My paparazzi 300 mm lens was awesome, makes it easier to shoot pictures of people when you can stand 20 meters away from them and therefore don't have to ask them first :)

Had lunch just around the corner.

You can just see the Statue of Liberty in the background.

Danish flag on a Korean War statue (the red and white one).

Yesterdays sushi chef catching todays buffet?

Poor guy, I guess he was very tired from riding the subway all day :)

Had to try...

2005-10-20T23:26:00.000-04:00

Couldn't resist going outside to try my new wide angle lens on the tripod. Took a single shot of Park Avenue. Think I am gonna get some really good ones with this lens.

Park Avenue and 31st street.

Camera lenses powershopping

2005-10-20T22:17:00.000-04:00

I finally found a camera store that was open! So I got myself a few lenses, one 70-300 mm (paparazzi style) and one wide angle 20-35 mm. Spend a total of around $600, which I think is a little much actually but I might sell them again when I get home as they are much more expensive there.

Met up with Anders from my gym in Denmark and we went to an all you can eat sushi buffet for lunch. It was only $10 and it was great. No stomach problems (yet).

It got a little late so I didn't make it to class in time. I decided just to watch and shoot some photos instead, Christian could need some new good ones for his website anyway :)

Hanging out on Union Square with Anders.

Christian teaching the clinch in his gym.

Adam's tatoo (they are so yesterday, now he wants a black eye instead).

Christian in clinch action.

Adam (who I am staying with) and Christian (who runs the gym).

MMA sparring.

Fifth avenue

2005-10-20T22:02:00.000-04:00

Had a nice walk down fifth avenue this morning. It's getting a little colder here now. Got a good shot of the amazing Empire State Building.

The Empire State Building.

Nice weather

2005-10-19T16:32:00.000-04:00

Been really nice weather here today. Difficult to enjoy though, as there is so much shadow due to the tall buildings.

Dog Fu gang fight in the park.

I almost twisted my back taking this one.

In desperate search for camera gear

2005-10-19T01:07:00.000-04:00

I have been trying all day to find a place to buy a wide angle lens and a tripod for my camera with no success. I did buy a battery though, and cheap as well.

Found this one store, B&H, which supposively should be the biggest and best in the world. It's a good 10 minutes walk from here. Only small problem is, that is is CLOSED the exact same days that I am here in the city, what's up with that?? :( Same goes for the second largest.

Had a great training with 3 of the guys from the gym today by the way.

This guy is awesome. See him everyday with his headphones on selling Winnie the Pooh soapbubble machines around 30th street :)

Very good, if you weren't closed! :(

Amazing architecture.

Love the name of this restaurant.

First training in Christian's gym

2005-10-18T01:40:00.000-04:00

Had a great workout in Christian's gym today. Trained for about 3 hours, great rolls with some good guys. Last year when I was here, there were about 4-5 people in the class but today it was packed, there was probably around 20-25 people, so the gym has really grown the last year. Which is understandable because it has a great vibe (as with any gym within SBG I have ever visited) and Christian is a great coach.

My knees are really not feeling good though. I don't know what is happening to them, since it is now both of them are hurting. Whenever they touch the mat it kind of stings just below the kneecap. Hope they will be alright for the turnament next sunday and the camp in Florida :(

Also walked around town a little bit today. Tried to find a store around 10th avenue and 35th street that should sell cheap equipment for my camera but couldn't find it. Had a nice walk around though. Weather has been great, clear sky and full moon this night.

Protecting the city against terrorism.

Walked to Times Square. Cooler at night, will be back.

Adam flashing his kimuraskills in the gym.

Christian making big money on martial arts!

A photographers paradise

2005-10-16T21:06:00.000-04:00

This place is a photographers paradise, there are so many things going on, I'm gonna shoot a thousand photos here :) I need to find myself a wide angle lens here, everything is so high I can almost only shoot vertical photos. And I need a new battery and a tripod.

I walked around Manhattan for some hours today and shot some pictures. Was low on battery so didn't get as many as I wanted. Wanna see if I can rent a bike somewhere and drive around to get some good shots, would be much easier than on foot.

It is impossible to not be fascinated by this amazing city. It really has it all, from the best of the best to the worst of the worst.

Multicultural love in the park.

The band Otis performing in Washington Square Park.

The music was pretty good actually, bought their cd as thanks for the photos.

Reflections in some of those buildings are just awesome.

Ground Zero.

The New Jersey skyline. Amazing sunset followed but was out of battery :(

Arrived in Manhattan

2005-10-15T19:52:00.000-04:00

Just got in here a few hours ago. Flight was great, watched some of the first Superman movie in the plane, it is stil awesome.

Found out there is someone who has an open wireless internet connection nearby so that means free internet here in the appartment :-)

Will take some photos tomorrow and post here.

On my way to Manhattan

2005-10-15T12:03:00.000-04:00

Waiting in Buffalo Airport, NY for the plane to JFK airport. Have no idea about how to get to Manhattan from there but guess it can't be that difficult.

Isn't wireless internet just the best invention ever? :-D

Flying with JetBlue, should arrive at 2pm.

Birthday and the postcard business

2005-10-14T22:52:00.000-04:00

Last night here in Niagara Falls. Rich's son turned 3 today so the Spiderman party was on.

Went up the Skylon tower to try and get a long exposure photo of the falls with the lights on at night, but the mist was really big today so visibility was very low. Guess I'll just have to come back some other time to get that moneyshot.

Birthday party :)

The Skylon Tower

I need to get into the postcard business! (click for full resolution pic)

The hood

2005-10-14T17:12:00.000-04:00

Weather was a little better today so I took the bike and drove a little around the neighbourhood looking at all the funny little details here. There are a lot of old worn down houses which always are cool to shoot. I find it very exciting although I hate to stop up and walk into peoples private areas to take photos - but hey I'm leaving for NYC tomorrow so gotta do it if I want those shots right :-)

Shot 20 pics of this awesome old car while three neighbours was staring at me :)

What would you use a shed like this with a window in it for?

Take a day off your stressful job and relax at Malibu Pools

Have a seat!

Don't know why, but I really like this photo. Will name it "Anonymous Cat".

Flamegloves in action

2005-10-13T20:34:00.000-04:00

Had a good training in Rich's gym tonight. Did some clinch and rolled a bit with two of the guys. One of them are going to Europe next summer so I told him to come by and check out Denmark and my gym.

Got to use my flamegloves a little today, although only on the heavybag. They still have their sparring virginity.

Along with my pink mouthpiece, those gloves makes me look soooo bad.

Shooting birds at the falls

2005-10-13T14:58:00.000-04:00

...with my camera that is.

Went for a bike ride around the area today as well. Weather is a little better but still very cloudy. I really would like to take some photos of the mist by the Horseshoe Fall on a day with a clear blue skye instead of this boring gray as today. Checked the weather forecast, doesn't look like it's gonna get better the last few days I'm here.

The rare "Orange fallbird"

The mystery mist

First training at Rich's gym

2005-10-13T00:45:00.000-04:00

Had a nice training in Rich's gym tonight. Did some clinch and ground work. My knee hurt a bit but it wasn't too bad. Hope it will be alright for the NAGA turnament the 23rd.

Mission for tomorrow:
- Get some pictures of me training so you can see this is not ONLY a sightseeing tour.
- Borrow a tripod and do some long exposure shots of the illuminated falls at night.

They are building an octagon in Rich's gym - very cool!

Biking around Niagara Falls

2005-10-12T15:01:00.000-04:00

First day in Niagara Falls. Borrowed Richs bike and took a trip around the area for a few hours to check it out. The falls are amazing. They are so huge it's unbelievable. Having a bike was awesome as I really got to see a lot that I wouldn't normally by foot.

Rich's house

Offroad!

The American Falls (the "small" one)

A boat by the Horseshoe Falls

Hungry Frankenstein

Beneath the Rainbow Bridge (I think it is called)

Kingston -> Niagara Falls

2005-10-11T22:47:00.000-04:00

Today I took the train from Kingston to Niagara Falls. It was a total of about 5 hours but I am kind of getting used to the long distances now so it wasn't too bad.

I had a 2 hour stopover in Toronto, so I thought I would leave my bags in the station and go for some sightseeing. Went up the CN tower, completely forgot that it was there so it was really cool I had the chance to experience that even though I never really planned it. Awesome view from there!

Arrived at Rich's place around 7:30 PM. As with all SBG people I meet around the world, Rich is a cool guy. He picked me up at the airport and took me to his house where I am now sitting and enjoying his wireless internet connection on my laptop. Can't wait to get up tomorrow and go for a ride around the city and area on his bike, it looks awesome from what I could see from the car.

Waiting at Kingston station before the 7 hour trip

Cool reflection in downtown Toronto

The CN tower which I suddently found out was there

The view of downtown Toronto from the tower

Yes, those are my feet :)

Visiting smalltown Ontario aka Gossipville

2005-10-10T16:22:00.000-04:00

Have been trying to post this all day but the sattelite internet connection here is not working when it is bad weather.

Spend the weekend with Rebecca's parents in Deep River which is a "short" 3½ hour drive north of Kingston (in 3½ hours you can drive across the entire country of Denmark). Anyways it was a wonderful weekend where we had a very nice thanksgiving diner and went for a hike to High Falls. It was beautiful and we were lucky with the weather that day as it was warm when we got to the water. Deep River is a small town where apparently everyone knows everyone (and what they are doing. And who they are with. And when. And why. And where). Very interesting to experience that. Thanks to Rebecca's parents for the hospitality.

I am teaching Mike to use his SLR camera, so we have been shooting photos all weekend. Some of the photos below are shot by him, so gotta give him some credit :) I have currently awarded him a 3 stripe white lens in photography and Photoshop, he is a fast learner.

Tomorrow I am heading on to Niagra Falls to stay with Rich. I am taking a train to Toronto and will have a 2½ hour stop there, so I will have time for a walk around to check out the city and shoot some pictures there.

On my way to the small towns of the Canadian countryside

...where they ride strange (but cool!) bikes.

Rebecca's parents by their house in Deep River.

They spend a year in Denmark back in 1964 and still had an old H. C. Andersen book.

It was quite cold when we left for the hike in the morning.

Beautiful scene by High Falls

Rebecca and Tyson

We went all the way to the bottom of the fall and took silly eighties style karate poster photos.

The lake at the bottom of the fall.

Mike the apprentice photographer.

Hai!

Trivia: Can you see the ninja following me?

Tyson trying to decide wether or not to jump in the (cold) water.

The only wildlife I saw in Canada. The whole moose and bear thing is a scam I believe.

First day of rain

2005-10-07T14:41:00.000-04:00

First day of bad weather here in Kingston. Has been raining a lot, which I guess is expectable in october anyways, so doesn't bother me at all.

The UFC is on tonight, looking forward to it.

My new flame gloves are waiting to be used for the first time.

Mike and Rebecca's cat MIGHT look cute but all it really want is a bite of my throat.

Halloween is coming up, I better find myself a costume.

Mike is trying to decide wether he should buy one $199 blender or ten $19 blenders.

Power!

2005-10-06T23:11:00.000-04:00

I have been out of power for my laptop (and other devices) for some time, since I have been looking for a converter for my european plugs. Found one and is now back on full battery again.

The travel was pretty easy but VERY long. About 23 hours from door to door. Jetlag has been minimal so that is good.

Arrived at Mike and Rebecca's place here in Kingston around 22 in the evening (4am danish time). Have been training a few times in the gym. Training was good despite I bumped my knee on the mat so it is now bruised and a little swollen - sucks :( Taught my new special move "The Flying Ass Pass" in the BJJ class yesterday.

Will shoot some more photos and post them here along the way.

Is was perfect weather for flying the entire trip.

Had three hours of waiting in Amsterdam so went for a walk in this beautiful city

Mike and Rebecca's gym. The Karate sign is cool.

Getting up EARLY

2005-10-04T01:46:00.000-04:00

Sitting in Copenhagen airport on a cold and foggy morning. Was up at 6am, damn that was early :)

Charging my laptop and surfing the web while waiting to board the flight to Amsterdam. People are staring strangely at me when I pull up all my electronic devices from my bag, but hey gotta get a photo for the blog :)

Foggy morning in Copenhagen Airport

Gym reopening event and the KGB experiment

2005-10-02T18:40:00.000-04:00

Saturday we had a reopening event in my gym since it has been renovated and we now have it full time. It was a very nice day with some good demos from our different instructors, nice food and cool people. Also we got our all new table soccer which was an instant hit. Made a small BJJ demo myself, which I think went pretty well.

In the evening we went bowling. I got this "KGB" powder of the internet which promised to cure hangover. I am always very hard hit by hangover, so I made this little experiment of trying to get as drunk as possible and then see if the powder work. When I woke up this morning I was really surprised as I felt AMAZINGLY fresh. No hangover what so ever. That KGB stuff is awesome, I am definately gonna bring some for my trip.

Kenneth doing a demo for our upcoming Kettlebell class

Kalle doing a Capoeira demo

Our new table soccer was a hit

Mission getting as drunk as possible

Kalle wanted to join the mission it seemed

Photos from the gym

2005-10-02T06:41:00.000-04:00

Shot some photos in my gym the other day for our website. The Kickboxing and especially the Capoeira classes are really growing at the moment, it's so cool and they have a great vibe.

Busy!

2005-09-29T04:57:00.000-04:00

Those green leafs in my backyard won't be there when I get back.
It is getting darker and colder here every day now. 5 days are left until I leave and suddently I realise how many things I still have left to do before I go. Made a three page todo list the other day, don't know if I will finish all of it.

We are having a housewarming event in my gym saturday to celebrate our reopening after the 4 month renovation work. A lot of time has gone preparing that. Gonna post some pics of the gym when we've got the new inventory set up.

Skyline at home

2005-09-25T17:14:00.000-04:00

9 days left.

Was sitting by the local Metro station today with my camera and shot this picture. Often times, I think I forget to look up and enjoy the skyline here. There are so many little details I just never notice because I'm used to it. I think the picture I took captured a few of those.

Small view of the skyline at Amagerbro, Copenhagen

A small turnament before I leave

2005-09-24T14:02:00.000-04:00

Fought in Copenhagen Open Submission Wrestling today. Didn't win anything, was really unlucky getting some of the best guys in my first fights. Did win one though (pic) and met one of my own team mates in the quarter finals of the open weight division, so we had an awesome fight with lots of pimp-moves :-)

After the turnament we spend a few hours enjoying probably on of the last summerdays in our beautiful city of Copenhagen. It's gonna be freezing here when I get back from my trip, so I really enjoyed it. Had a few beers in the park and by the Nyhavn harbour area. Gonna miss it but then I'm having something to look forward to the entire winter.

Leafs are loosing their color in Kings Garden, Copenhagen - bad sign.

11 days to go...

2005-09-23T07:25:00.000-04:00

Looking at my calendar today. Suddently I realise that there is only 11 days untill I am leaving Denmark for a month. I am really looking forward to the trip, which I will try to document as much as possible in this blog.

A brief preview of my trip plan so far:

Oct. 4: Leaving Denmark. Flying through Amsterdam and Newark.
Oct. 5: Arriving at Mike Sweeneys place in Kingston, Ontario.
Oct. 11: Going to Niagra falls to visit Rich Beaupit.
Oct. 15: Flying to New York City to stay with my friend Adam Blake.
Oct. 23: Fighting in NAGA for SBGi NYC.
Oct. 24: Going to Fort Lauderdale, FL. Don't know where to stay yet :)
Oct. 28: Attending a 3-day SBG training camp.
Nov. 5: Going home.

I am bringing my laptop and my digital camera so I can update this blog as often as I can get internet access. I have been looking for free hotspots in NYC and there seems to be a bunch, so that should be easy.