Madrid. What a cool experience. I was so excited to see Carlos again and spend a few days with him and his friends relaxing and enjoying a little peace and quiet away from the hostels. There is something to be said for not having to lock up all our belongings every time you leave the room or having a full nights sleep without someone coming in drunk at 4am, leaving for an early plane at 5:30am or that one obnoxious snorer that everyone wants to punch.
Carlos doesn't actually live in Madrid but rather about 35km outside of it in a village called Colemenar. It is a small town that really embraces the Spanish lifestyle. The one thing I could not get used to. I can appreciate that the culture is very different there than anywhere else in the EU let along North America but I found myself constantly cursing those hours during the day that everything would be closed. Yes everyone in Spain takes a siesta and no matter what it says on the store fronts posted hours, that siesta will last however long they feel like it. I think if Spaniard really wanted to go crazy all they would have to do is move to Switzerland, a place where they are so punctual you can set your watch by the train arrivals and departures.
I spent the days hanging out with Carlos and his roommates and though I felt a bit isolated because they mostly spoke very limited English, it was still a good experience not to mention a joy to see my dear friend again. One day we went to the bottom of the hills and picked wild blackberries to make jam with another day we went into Madrid and they all played tour guide, pointing out the important places. People from Madrid are very patriotic about their city and country.
Our time was unfortunately cut short as I found out that the next bus I was planning to catch was full so I had to leave a couple days earlier than I originally planned. It was sad to say goodbye but promises were made for another visit in the future.
The bus to San Sebastian was packed full, everyone excited for a place that they had heard rumors about the entire trip. There is something special, nearly magical, about this place and everyone comes away from it singing praises about what a good time they had there. I was wary because I had heard reviews like this before about places I did not end up liking but I was excited at the same time, caught up in the energy on the bus. Admittedly it was probably one of the two bus rides that I felt the worst physically on though. The bus from Barcelona nearly killed me as I had slept almost nothing the night before having spent too much time chatting with friends that had been made there and then not being able to fall asleep when I tried. Similar story for the bus leaving Madrid, up to late catching up with someone from Barcelona and then finding myself unable to fall asleep until very early in the morning and even then only for an hour or two. It is always miserable on the bus when you have not slept as it is near impossible to sleep decently when you stop every two hours for a service break.
However, as soon as we entered into San Sebastian all was forgotten. I should mention my favorite bus driver, Vlad, was the driver that day and I was also excited to be able to catch up with some stories from the road and share what experiences I had been having since I had last seen him. San Sebastian feels like a little piece of paradise. It reminded me of my days in Croatia with it's narrow streets lined with brick and stone buildings, hills surrounding the outskirts and beautiful beaches covered in sand. It is understandable immediately why people fall in love with this place and end up staying for obscene amounts of time. As soon as we got to the hostel I extended my own booking for 2 more nights and at the end of that I even added one more. Out of all the places I stayed on my trip, I was in San Sebastian the longest and if I could have I would have stayed even longer. I wanted to press the pause button on life and just hang on to those moments spent there.
The first night we were there most everyone from the bus went to a BBQ that the hostel was hosting up on the Jesus hill. The Jesus hill has a proper name but I never learned it. This hill was directly across from the swimmers beach and at the top had a giant statue of Jesus pointing his finger at the town. It is a bit strange especially at night when it is dark and lit up. However, it is Spain and Spain is very catholic so I can only assume this is a part of that. The BBQ where I tried my first Calimocho, a rather terrible sounding Spanish invention that includes red wine mixed with coke. I cannot decide if these are tasty or just ridiculous but they are definitely interesting. It was also the last night that we would have with Michelle, one of the girls that I had been traveling with for a couple weeks. As always it is sad to say goodbye to someone that has become a friend along the way. A punishment in the world of travel.
The next day myself and Kyra wandered around the shops in San Seb avoiding the torrential showers that were coming off and on all morning. I was starting to think that the rain was following me as I moved along and was worried that things would not look better in the week to come. By the afternoon though, the sunshine was starting to show it's face and things were looking up. That night the hostel was putting on a Pinchos tour and we went from one bar to the next sampling the many different types of Pintxos (pronounced Pinchos) which most people would probably associate more with the more well known Tapas. Pintxos, though similar to Tapas in the fact that it is small servings of various foods, generally meats, sandwiches, seafood ect. Pintxos is much more elaborate I found than Tapas and much more exciting. They had so many types of meats and seafoods as well as croquets, potatoes and so much more. The food was amazing and everyone had their fill after we had been to 4 different places. I don't think we could have fit any more into us if we wanted to.
Wandering around the next day with no real goal in mind we found neat shops and markets, hidden streets and buildings all over. That night I would say goodbye to Kyra as she was heading on to Paris but would gain back Daniel who had been traveling a few days behind us on the loops ever since Barcelona. Daniel (kiwi), Jordan (aussie that we also met in Barcelona), Kyra (aussie) and I all went down to the beach that night to watch the lights dance on the water and listen to the soothing sound of the waves crashing onto the shore.
There is something intoxicating about listening to the water. It is nearly magical in it's rhythmic consistency. I can still hear the waves coming in now. We spent nearly every evening at the beach just taking in all we could of this place. It was a special thing to be able to spend my last days with many in San Sebastian. We all were able to leave with the same pictures in our mind, the same memories.
It is late and my train leaves early tomorrow. My stories are nearly finished for this trip. Tomorrow I will watch the hills of Norway float by as I head on one of the final legs of my journey from Oslo to Bergen and back. In between my window gazings I will continue with San Sebastian and the massive trip from there to where I am now.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
A Massive Apology
So by now I can only assume that no one comes to my blog anymore for updates. It has been ages since I have posted and it is not for a lack of interesting things happening, it is more for a severe lack of time. I never realized that in the day there can be so few hours to do everything that you want to. It is hard to go back to tell you all that has happened in the last month but I will tell some of the highlights that I have experienced.
The last post I talked of my time in Italy, a beautiful country that left me with fabulous memories. Although the larger cities are the ones generally praised, the most enrapturing days for me were spent in Cinque Terra. Locate along the more north western coast is a set of 5 towns situated on the rock faces. These are connected via roads, rail and the wonderful 5 hour hike/walk. The feel in the towns is very relaxed, most people spend the days enjoying the beaches, soaking in the sun and relaxing.
When I was in Florence, I had met up with a few ladies that were also traveling with Busabout, the company I have been going through with off and on. As we were all traveling solo we decided to spend our days together checking out the little towns and hiking the trail. The trail between the towns is for the most part quite easy but there is one section between the last two towns that although it was not as hard at hiking to Stari Grad in Omis, still took the wind out of all of us. A massive number of stairs followed by rather narrow treacherous pathways made for a wretched combination. It did not help that as you are hiking there are little signs every 200m with emergency numbers posted on it...just in case.
We all survived and felt a glowing sense of accomplishment once we were done. This is one place I would love to return to as we only had a total of 3 nights there which was not nearly enough time.
After Cinque Terra, we made our way to Nice, France. Although it was a lovely place I have very little good to say about it as when I was there my credit cards and about 200euros were stolen from me the night before we left on the bus again. It left me with a rather poor image of this town. I imagine had these things not happened I would have something kind to say about the town but for now I still feel a bit scarred by it.
When we left Nice, I had no money, no cards. Only my busabout pass and my passport. Luckily, one of the girls that I had met in Florence helped me along and loaned me the money for accommodation in Barcelona where we were both going to be for 5 nights. I cannot imagine what would have happened had I not met these girls, they really did save me and kept me calm through everything. Traveling solo has many benefits but it also has massive drawbacks when things start going wrong. Meeting generous people that will trust you enough after knowing you for a short time is amazing.
To continue though, on the bus to Barcelona I met and started chatting with a fellow from New Zealand that had been traveling on the loops for several months already. He was spending 7 nights in Barcelona and then moving along the same route as a few of us that were left from the Florence group. With this meeting 'the family' was created. Something that has kept me from doing my blog posts, updating photos and keeping in proper contact with people at home was our wonderful little busabout family. We all ended up having a great time together as we moved through Spain, meeting up in different cities on different days. I am so grateful for the days we all spent together.
Barcelona was a beautiful little city though there were parts of it I never got to see. For the first few nights I was waiting for my new credit cards to arrive and had a bit of stress wondering if things were going to be ok. We spent a number of nights in the hostel common area, sharing dinners and stories from the road together. The days were spent either at the beach or wandering around trying to find the Gaudi buildings and artwork scattered across the city. Overall a very relaxing time with great times had by all.
After Barcelona 3 of the family moved on to Valencia for a couple of nights which would have been lovely had it not rained the one full day that we were there. Our motivation to see the city and to participate in some beach time was lost and we ended up spending too much time at our hostel or the areas around wasting the day away waiting for our bus to Madrid.
For now I must go but there is more to come. The next few days will be spent riding my trip solo and though I will be home in but 13 more days I will still finish this blog for those I will not see right away.
The last post I talked of my time in Italy, a beautiful country that left me with fabulous memories. Although the larger cities are the ones generally praised, the most enrapturing days for me were spent in Cinque Terra. Locate along the more north western coast is a set of 5 towns situated on the rock faces. These are connected via roads, rail and the wonderful 5 hour hike/walk. The feel in the towns is very relaxed, most people spend the days enjoying the beaches, soaking in the sun and relaxing.
When I was in Florence, I had met up with a few ladies that were also traveling with Busabout, the company I have been going through with off and on. As we were all traveling solo we decided to spend our days together checking out the little towns and hiking the trail. The trail between the towns is for the most part quite easy but there is one section between the last two towns that although it was not as hard at hiking to Stari Grad in Omis, still took the wind out of all of us. A massive number of stairs followed by rather narrow treacherous pathways made for a wretched combination. It did not help that as you are hiking there are little signs every 200m with emergency numbers posted on it...just in case.
We all survived and felt a glowing sense of accomplishment once we were done. This is one place I would love to return to as we only had a total of 3 nights there which was not nearly enough time.
After Cinque Terra, we made our way to Nice, France. Although it was a lovely place I have very little good to say about it as when I was there my credit cards and about 200euros were stolen from me the night before we left on the bus again. It left me with a rather poor image of this town. I imagine had these things not happened I would have something kind to say about the town but for now I still feel a bit scarred by it.
When we left Nice, I had no money, no cards. Only my busabout pass and my passport. Luckily, one of the girls that I had met in Florence helped me along and loaned me the money for accommodation in Barcelona where we were both going to be for 5 nights. I cannot imagine what would have happened had I not met these girls, they really did save me and kept me calm through everything. Traveling solo has many benefits but it also has massive drawbacks when things start going wrong. Meeting generous people that will trust you enough after knowing you for a short time is amazing.
To continue though, on the bus to Barcelona I met and started chatting with a fellow from New Zealand that had been traveling on the loops for several months already. He was spending 7 nights in Barcelona and then moving along the same route as a few of us that were left from the Florence group. With this meeting 'the family' was created. Something that has kept me from doing my blog posts, updating photos and keeping in proper contact with people at home was our wonderful little busabout family. We all ended up having a great time together as we moved through Spain, meeting up in different cities on different days. I am so grateful for the days we all spent together.
Barcelona was a beautiful little city though there were parts of it I never got to see. For the first few nights I was waiting for my new credit cards to arrive and had a bit of stress wondering if things were going to be ok. We spent a number of nights in the hostel common area, sharing dinners and stories from the road together. The days were spent either at the beach or wandering around trying to find the Gaudi buildings and artwork scattered across the city. Overall a very relaxing time with great times had by all.
After Barcelona 3 of the family moved on to Valencia for a couple of nights which would have been lovely had it not rained the one full day that we were there. Our motivation to see the city and to participate in some beach time was lost and we ended up spending too much time at our hostel or the areas around wasting the day away waiting for our bus to Madrid.
For now I must go but there is more to come. The next few days will be spent riding my trip solo and though I will be home in but 13 more days I will still finish this blog for those I will not see right away.
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