CURRENT MISSION

Learn Russian and German!

ABOUT ME

I am a mutt and an odd mix of nationalities. I was born outside of Madrid, Spain, in a small town of 7,000 people, the son of an Italian father and an Irish-German mother. I thought I was destined to a calm, peaceful small town Spanish life of eating tapas and having siestas, but this was rudely interrupted when at the age of 8 my parents took me to the big city of Paris, where I lived for 2 years, before eventually ending up in London (via Taiwan, of course).

I went to the university of Birmingham, where I studied Russian language and jazz saxophone, and, after spending some time in St Petersburg and having finished my Russian language and jazz saxophone degree, I took the next logical decision and became a tour guide in Berlin.

I have shown literally thousands of people (last I estimated it's somewhere around 5,000 at least) around Berlin so I know what it's like to be a tourist, a traveller, and someone experiencing the world.

I love Berlin and wouldn't want to live anywhere else for the time being. It's incredibly international, relaxed, and full of things like abandoned factories covered in street art - the only thing that poses a struggle is the German language (it's coming along, but it's gonna take a while still). But who knows, knowing me I might end up in your city, crash on your couch and decide I want to move there next! Who knows where the road may take us?

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Hosting people (although it's been a couple years since I last did so and I can't host at the moment), hosting CS parties, surfing, going for a beer, language exchange. It's the best way to meet friendly locals whenever you're in an unfamiliar town.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've surfed:

- July 9-11 2009 - Chantal Duffels in Rotterdam
- July 11-13 2009 - Larry Greweldinger in Rotterdam
- July 13-16 2009 - Ramon Stoppelenburg in Amsterdam
- Oct 30-Nov 3 2009 - Marina Sobyanina in Moscow
- Nov 3-6 2009 - Danilla Egorov in Nizhny Novgorod
- Dec 2-3 2009 - Marina Sobyanina in Moscow (again)
- Jun 21-23 2010 - Laura Hämäläinen in Helsinki
- March 5-9 2012 - Jon-Paul Grosser in Los Angeles

I've hosted:

In St Petersburg, Russia (March-June 2010)

- March 18-20 - Ruslan Nabiev + 1 friend
- Apr 6-8 - Sunny Abbi
- Apr 7-10 - Kathrin999 and Ricarda Pust
- Apr 15-17 - Margarita Kachesova and Peter LoBlue
- May 3-9 - Ksenya Pelmenya, Tani TrashAgent + 2 friends
- May 20-23 - Anna Kronawetter and Ramona Lackner
- Jun 13-16 - Lucas de Vilmorin

Interests

Music, languages, literature, travelling, good films

• arts
• literature
• street art
• beer
• partying
• movies
• traveling
• music
• jazz
• cycling
• surfing
• languages
• tourism
• language exchange

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Clockwork Orange, Dr Strangelove, The Big Lebowski, Pan's Labyrinth, The Lives of Others, Goodbye Lenin, In Bruges, L'auberge espagnole, Torrente, Team America, Spinal Tap

Books: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Joseph Heller, Bulgakov, John Cheever, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Julio Cortazar, Boris Vian, Aldous Huxley, Raymond Carver, Murakami, Jonathan Safran Foer, Hunter S. Thompson

Music: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Pat Metheny, Frank Zappa, Gogol Bordello, Curtis Mayfield, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, The Beatles, Radiohead, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Joni Mitchell, Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto, Sonny Rollins, The Mars Volta, Piazzolla, Stravinsky, Mahler, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Biking the Golden Gate Bridge on a clear, sunny day. Incredible!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, China, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Philippines, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Germany, Russian Federation, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom

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