Mon, Aug 1, 2005 (Day 62)
8am on Saturday, July 30th we were out the door of our Edinburgh hostel and hiking our way to the royal mile to meet our Haggis tour bus. Fraser and Ewan were our guides – excellent fellas – the latter’s enthusiasm, candidness and storytelling making all the difference between a decent tour and a fantastic one. Right from the start I could tell this was going to be an entertaining experience.
We left Edinburgh around 9 and departed for the north, crossing the massive bridge over the firth of fourth. The first stop was a wee village where a folklore legend “the wolf” – a terrible man as the story goes – had his remains stored in a beautiful little church. We were advised not to touch the coffin, for that would bring a curse upon the tour… oOoOoOooo.
From here, it was further north to Cullodin, site of the battlefield of the last Jackobite (anti-English) rebellion – very crazy. Stopped in a small town for lunch… Steve and I had our first taste of a “nip” of 12-year-old single malt Scottish Whiskey (Scotch) – not bad, tho I can see how it’s an acquired taste.
Kept on north through the city of Inverness on our way to the world famous Loch Ness. Steve and I even took off our shoes and waded out into the freezing water to see if we could coax Nessie into a photo-opt. No dice. Hey, at least I can say I was in Loch Ness.
Damn it’s cold and rocky! We continued on down the Loch to arguably one of the most famous castles in Scotland: Urquart Castle. A very cool castle filled with all sorts of crazy awesome history. We ended our day with a demonstration on the old highland way of life, including all their tools and crazy weapons, at a small history shop not far from our hostel in Fort Augustus. Took it easy that night watching movies with a couple aussie chicks from the tour.
Up at 7am on Sunday the 31st and onwards to the road to Skye! Absolutely beautiful drive to the Isle of Skye, an island off the northwestern coast of Scotland renowned for its scenery and heritage. Stopped @ “The Old Man of Moor” (a tall thin boulder perched at the edge of a cliff – representing a man who was frozen in stone there centuries ago, as the legend goes). Steve and I had a drink from an “enchanted” mountain stream, and then raced down the grassy hill back to the bus. Northcott and I raced down, naturally he kicked my ass, but I took solace in the fact that he completely bit it and wiped out with a massive summersault-like spin near the bottom of the hill… though that just made him a fan favorite on the tour bus. Saw some amazing sights… had a nice little hike up the side of the hill to the Moor (Steve and I got a pic of us doing a pose like the Samurai statues at Laura’s house with our walking sticks on the edge of the hill). After the hike we continued to the Isle of Skye – so amazing. We stopped at a brook which had a legend that if you dunk your head into it, you will become beautiful. Naturally, everyone on the bus had to go for a dunk. We headed up through Portree, and then back to “Kylackin” (the town just over the bridge to Skye), for an evening of booze, fun, and mixing with the locals. Interesting times for sure.
Up early on Monday (August 1st), and said our farewells to Skye. From here, we headed southward to Glen Coe and Eilean Doan Castle – absolutely spectacular stuff. I don’t think any description of Glen Coe can really do it justice. We stopped for lunch there, and it is arguably the coolest naturally formed place I’ve even been… just an amazingly steep cut valley in the highlands of Scotland. Unbelievable. But damn those Midges (little flies).
From there, it was down through Sterling – saw the castle and the William Wallace monument, and then on down to Bannockburn, site of the great victory of Robert the Bruce (I refer you to the movie Braveheart for the somewhat inaccurate but nonetheless entertaining background). From here, it was on home to Edinburgh where this crazy adventure began, albeit with a few extra friends in our ranks. Pierre, (our Minnesota teacher pal, and all-around nice guy and old man), joined us for trip down to the internet café to take care of some business. And what I mean by that is: Northcott went on the internet to talk to Ginny, while I stood in the street waving my wet towel around like a crazy homeless person in an attempt to get it dry. When backpacking (or hitchhiking), there’s nothing more important than a towel, and there’s nothing worse than a wet towel.
After that was taken care of, we 3 headed on up to the bus station b/c there were lockers there. Our bus to Prestwick (which is where our flight to Ireland departs from), wasn’t due to depart until 3:30am, so the boy and I figured we’d lock up the bags, hit the town for the evening, and then head on down to the station around 2:30am to collect the bags and be on our way. This turned out to be a near-catastrophic move… but more on that a little later.
At the bus station we met up with a few more merry travelers from our tour group: Patience (from the US), and “the ‘Peggers” (Lee and Krista) from Winnipeg. All 6 of us were here in Edinburgh for at least a few more hours together, so we decided to make an evening out of it. We headed on down to Princess Park and watched a drunken vagrant whom we named “Kris Kringle” annoy and scare random people. From there we headed down by the castle where apparently there was some sort of Scottish line dancing event taking place – so naturally we took in a bit of that. By this time, our time was starting to run out, so we said our goodbyes to the crew, and Steve and I headed on back down to the Grassmarket for some booze.
We decided to hit up a pub called “The Last Drop”, a reference to the gallows that used to be located just outside the door. Stepped inside, ordered a beer, and wouldn’t you know it, we ran into more fellow tour-mates! So we drank with them (Americans) for the rest of the night and had a laugh.
So… at 2am the boy and I figure we should mosey on back up to the station to pick up our bags and be on our way. We head on down to the main door. Interesting. There’s no lights on. We try the door. Locked. The bus station was CLOSED! We run around to the back of the building to the secondary door, hoping it would be open. No dice. We’re boned. Our flight to Dublin leaves in a few hours, and our bags are in lockers which are locked in a bus station. Then, all of a sudden, I see cleaners in the station. Thank god! So I start banging like a madman on the door. The cleaners see me… but they don’t come help. They appear to run away! AHHHH!!! Out of sheer frustration, I keep banging and banging at what I now realize is a partially busted door (mind you, I didn’t do the busting. Someone had obviously attempted to kick in the safety glass at some point earlier in the night). Then I see two security guards coming my way on the inside. I yell to them to let us in, but naturally they tell me the building is closed. We explain the bus/flight situation to them, and I show them the locker key. Thankfully, the guard finally agrees to go in and get the bags and pass them through the fence to us!! HOLY FACK THAT WAS CLOSE! How could we be so stupid to not check if the bus station closed? I have no idea… but thank go those guards were there!
As they say, all’s well that ends well… and that it did. A STELLAR couple of days in thee Scottish Highlands. Awesome tour – we definitely could never have done all that on our own.
QOTD: “Now listen here young man” - Old Man Pierre, 29 years old
“These mountains are damn sexy” – Ewan, the tourguide, sounding a lot like fat bastard
“Fancy a SNOG?” – Ewan again. Snog is Soct-talk for makeout
“There are 3 rules on this bus. No sleepin. No fartin’. And No Snoggin!” – Ewan
“Population: Tire!” – Amy from Mississippi at random, and Northcott and I were very impressed.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Friday, July 29, 2005
Eurotrip '05: Edinburgh
Fri, July 29, 2005 (Day 59)
Yo… once again, very behind… but that’s ok man, cause I love god (sorry, pearl jam plug... haven't had music in a long time, so I have to resort to singing to myself). I’ve been loving the Scottish Highlands! But first, where we left off – the road to Edinburgh, Scotland.
Arrived in Edinburgh around lunchtime Friday (29th). Headed down to the Highlander’s Hostel on Leith Walk in the pissing rain – absolutely freezing! Naturally, we couldn’t check in until later in the afternoon, so we drop the bags, grab the umbrellas, and head for Princess Street and the shopping centers. Grabbed a map at the tourist office, and headed to the food court for a coffee and a kfc snacker. Warmed up, dried off a little and got our bearings on the city. Headed up Calton Hill (?), a big hill in the middle of the city with a bunch of old buildings and Greek-looking ruins – a great view of this beautiful city - particularly the royal mile and Edinburgh Castle. Eventually we were able to check into the hostel. Then we hit the grocery store from some provisions, dropped them off, and hit the town once again. Fortunately it was raining less at this point.
I should note at this juncture that it has essentially been raining since we arrived here in Scotland. Normally that wouldn’t be a huge deal (I mean c’mon, we go to school in St. John’s for god’s sake). However, over the last 9 weeks, we’ve only seen rain twice! And both of those times were very brief. Hell… we just came from a part of Spain where it hasn’t rained in 7 months!! So yeah… being here is a bit of a weather shock. It sucks when you get spoiled by good weather…. you’re cold and wet all the time.
So, we trudged back up that hill with the view to get some choice photos of the city, and then navigated down around the large hills to the start of the royal mile (the road leading to the castle). We had a stroll up through there, and eventually arrived at the top of the hill at the castle. However, admission was 9.80pounds (almost $25) and it was pretty late in the day, so we decided it just wasn’t worth it (I’ve already been there as well).
From the castle we headed south down to the “grassmarket” area, which is like this cool low-lying area directly beneath the castle hill. It brought back a lot of fond memories of my visit to Edinburgh 3 years ago, as we spent a lot of time in this part of town (the bar area). Northcott and I even went into the very same pub that my friends and I hit up back in 2002 – “the Bull” – and had Kronenburg & nachos just like the last time. I think a tradition has been born… I now have to do this every time I’m in Edinburgh.
We left the pub feeling great, but wanting to feel greater :) . We picked up some booze on the walk home, had a few at the hostel in the common room, and then hit up a club up the road… good times. It kinda sucks that we only get to spend one day here in Edinburgh because it’s such a great city … but c’est la vie! Priorities first… we've got limited time here, and the highlands are priority one! Edinburgh really is a great place though. I could live here some day...
Yo… once again, very behind… but that’s ok man, cause I love god (sorry, pearl jam plug... haven't had music in a long time, so I have to resort to singing to myself). I’ve been loving the Scottish Highlands! But first, where we left off – the road to Edinburgh, Scotland.
Arrived in Edinburgh around lunchtime Friday (29th). Headed down to the Highlander’s Hostel on Leith Walk in the pissing rain – absolutely freezing! Naturally, we couldn’t check in until later in the afternoon, so we drop the bags, grab the umbrellas, and head for Princess Street and the shopping centers. Grabbed a map at the tourist office, and headed to the food court for a coffee and a kfc snacker. Warmed up, dried off a little and got our bearings on the city. Headed up Calton Hill (?), a big hill in the middle of the city with a bunch of old buildings and Greek-looking ruins – a great view of this beautiful city - particularly the royal mile and Edinburgh Castle. Eventually we were able to check into the hostel. Then we hit the grocery store from some provisions, dropped them off, and hit the town once again. Fortunately it was raining less at this point.
I should note at this juncture that it has essentially been raining since we arrived here in Scotland. Normally that wouldn’t be a huge deal (I mean c’mon, we go to school in St. John’s for god’s sake). However, over the last 9 weeks, we’ve only seen rain twice! And both of those times were very brief. Hell… we just came from a part of Spain where it hasn’t rained in 7 months!! So yeah… being here is a bit of a weather shock. It sucks when you get spoiled by good weather…. you’re cold and wet all the time.
So, we trudged back up that hill with the view to get some choice photos of the city, and then navigated down around the large hills to the start of the royal mile (the road leading to the castle). We had a stroll up through there, and eventually arrived at the top of the hill at the castle. However, admission was 9.80pounds (almost $25) and it was pretty late in the day, so we decided it just wasn’t worth it (I’ve already been there as well).
From the castle we headed south down to the “grassmarket” area, which is like this cool low-lying area directly beneath the castle hill. It brought back a lot of fond memories of my visit to Edinburgh 3 years ago, as we spent a lot of time in this part of town (the bar area). Northcott and I even went into the very same pub that my friends and I hit up back in 2002 – “the Bull” – and had Kronenburg & nachos just like the last time. I think a tradition has been born… I now have to do this every time I’m in Edinburgh.
We left the pub feeling great, but wanting to feel greater :) . We picked up some booze on the walk home, had a few at the hostel in the common room, and then hit up a club up the road… good times. It kinda sucks that we only get to spend one day here in Edinburgh because it’s such a great city … but c’est la vie! Priorities first… we've got limited time here, and the highlands are priority one! Edinburgh really is a great place though. I could live here some day...
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Eurotrip '05: Glascow
Thurs, July 28, 2005 (Day 58)
G'day from Glascow, Scotland! Actually, Northcott and I just pulled out of Glascow's main bus station, and we're on the megabus to Edinburgh as we speak.
We arrived in the city of Glascow around 9:30am on Wednesday the 27th. Now, before I get into that, I think I should enlighten the reader on a couple of important facts I've learned during my travels.
Number 1: When you fly with Ryanair, it is incredibly cheap. For instance, I think our flight from London Stanstead to "Glascow" was something like 1 pound ($2.50CAD) or something ludicrously cheap like that. Now, you have to add on taxes and fees and crap... so it ends up being something like 20-30 pounds or so, but this is still a pretty friggin amazing deal, consdiering that back home I have a hard time getting to Halifax from St. John's for under $150. HOWEVER, there is a catch that most travellers may not be aware of. Ryanair is able to operate at such a low fee because they service mainly secondary airports. What that means is, if a city has 2 airports... one close by and one an hour away, Ryanair will use the far away one because it's cheaper for them. So, while it is cheaper to fly, you have the added expense and inconvenience of travelling to and from these out-of-the-way airports.
Number 2. If you're travelling north, pack a sweater, even in the summer. We left Barcelona, and it was 33 degrees celcius at 10pm. We arrived in "Glascow", and it was 8. This might not seem like a big deal.. but you will not believe how fast the body gets used to temperatures. We stepped off the plane, and I looked at Steve and said... "What in god's name have we done??". Now, this may not have been such a big deal, but unfortunately for us, we left all our warm gear with Krista in London at the start of the trip, because we figured we'd only be hitting places that were warm. D'oh!
Ok... so that rant is out of the way. You may be wondering why I have "Glascow" in quotation marks like that. Well, that's because once we arrived in "Glascow" on our ryanair flight, we realized that we weren't really in Glascow at all. We were in a place called Prestwick, over an hour away by bus to the city (hence rant #1). So, at 7am on very little sleep and freezing cold (rant #2), we had to try to figure out a way into town. With a bit of luck and some last minute paniced hiway crossing, we made our bus.
So, as I said, we arrive in town at 9:30 and head to the Eurohostel, where we are told that we could not check in until 3pm!! Now, on any other day, that would be fine... but given our situation, it seemed like a huge kick in the junk. Nonetheless, we figured we might as well make the most of our time, so we dropped our bags, picked up a map and began to get our bearings on the city. At lunch we hit up the 4pound buffet at Pizza Hut. Lets just say, we weren't quite as bad as we were in Barcelona... tho we did pig out all the same. All you can eat food and it was warm! Why leave?
We kept on exploring the city and whatnot... seems like a pretty cool spot. I picked up a small travel chess board, and Steve and I wandered on back to the hostel to wait in the bar and play chess until our room was ready. I went down for a much needed nap at 4pm - and I never woke up until 7 the next morning!! I absolutely crashed man. 15hours of sleep? That's ridiculous. I felt kinda bad, cause I left Steve to wander the streets of Glascow on his own that night... but ah well.. I guess I needed to re-set my sleep clock or something.
Up early on the Thursday the 28th (as I just said), and hit up the free breakfast at the hostel. Then we hit the town to figure out the best way to spend our time here in Scotland (which will be the next 6 days). As our Scottish friend Tony had advised way back in Athens (which already seems like a million years ago), some of the best parts of Scotland in his opinion, are the highlands. So, we started to weigh our options. We could attempt to travel through the highlands ourselves somehow... either by train, or bus, or by hiring a car. But the truth was, we knew nothing about the area, and would probably waste our precious few days here on the wrong things. Thus, it was decided that we should spring for a guided tour of the area. That way, we know we'll see all the cool things to see, and we won't have to worry about accomodations or how we'll tavel about. We settled on a 3-day, 85pound "Haggis" tour departing from and returning to Edinburgh (since we were heading there next). It looked to be the most economical option for all the things we wanted to see (Isle of Skye, Glen Coe, Loch Ness, etc), and also, it was a 18-35 year-olds tour... so there are no geezers allowed. Sounded right up our alley. That day in Glascow we also got all our busses and hostels straigtened out for the next little while. We're bussing now in the UK as apposed to trains, because the stupid UK rail system has not signed on to allow Eurail users, and as such, our railpasses are no good here... so bussing is cheaper. Megabus all the way.
Got some groceries (Yay! Turkey ham! Haven't had that since I worked here 3 years ago!), and then headed up to the aply named Cathedral Street to view the Glascow Cathedral and the St. Mondo Museum of Religious Life and Art, which included Scotland's only public Zen Garden! Nice! Too bad it was raining or I would have totally gotten the rake on the go and then had a meditation session or something. Luckily for us we had our umbrellas (which Kriata loaned us back in London but have not been used until now)... it was pretty wet most of the day. We've been cursing Spain because it spoiled us so much. We're always hungry and cold now.. and we really shouldn't be! We're Canadians for god's sake!
Up at 8am today (Friday, the 29th) to catch our megabus over to Edinburgh. Glascow was a very cool little spot! Great people... nice vibe. I think it's a Scottish thing, as I remember Edinburgh was much like this when I visited years ago.
QOTD:
At a construction site near the Glascow river...
Scottish Man: "You sound American."
Me: "You sound English."
Scottish Man: "Bloody Hell??"
G'day from Glascow, Scotland! Actually, Northcott and I just pulled out of Glascow's main bus station, and we're on the megabus to Edinburgh as we speak.
We arrived in the city of Glascow around 9:30am on Wednesday the 27th. Now, before I get into that, I think I should enlighten the reader on a couple of important facts I've learned during my travels.
Number 1: When you fly with Ryanair, it is incredibly cheap. For instance, I think our flight from London Stanstead to "Glascow" was something like 1 pound ($2.50CAD) or something ludicrously cheap like that. Now, you have to add on taxes and fees and crap... so it ends up being something like 20-30 pounds or so, but this is still a pretty friggin amazing deal, consdiering that back home I have a hard time getting to Halifax from St. John's for under $150. HOWEVER, there is a catch that most travellers may not be aware of. Ryanair is able to operate at such a low fee because they service mainly secondary airports. What that means is, if a city has 2 airports... one close by and one an hour away, Ryanair will use the far away one because it's cheaper for them. So, while it is cheaper to fly, you have the added expense and inconvenience of travelling to and from these out-of-the-way airports.
Number 2. If you're travelling north, pack a sweater, even in the summer. We left Barcelona, and it was 33 degrees celcius at 10pm. We arrived in "Glascow", and it was 8. This might not seem like a big deal.. but you will not believe how fast the body gets used to temperatures. We stepped off the plane, and I looked at Steve and said... "What in god's name have we done??". Now, this may not have been such a big deal, but unfortunately for us, we left all our warm gear with Krista in London at the start of the trip, because we figured we'd only be hitting places that were warm. D'oh!
Ok... so that rant is out of the way. You may be wondering why I have "Glascow" in quotation marks like that. Well, that's because once we arrived in "Glascow" on our ryanair flight, we realized that we weren't really in Glascow at all. We were in a place called Prestwick, over an hour away by bus to the city (hence rant #1). So, at 7am on very little sleep and freezing cold (rant #2), we had to try to figure out a way into town. With a bit of luck and some last minute paniced hiway crossing, we made our bus.
So, as I said, we arrive in town at 9:30 and head to the Eurohostel, where we are told that we could not check in until 3pm!! Now, on any other day, that would be fine... but given our situation, it seemed like a huge kick in the junk. Nonetheless, we figured we might as well make the most of our time, so we dropped our bags, picked up a map and began to get our bearings on the city. At lunch we hit up the 4pound buffet at Pizza Hut. Lets just say, we weren't quite as bad as we were in Barcelona... tho we did pig out all the same. All you can eat food and it was warm! Why leave?
We kept on exploring the city and whatnot... seems like a pretty cool spot. I picked up a small travel chess board, and Steve and I wandered on back to the hostel to wait in the bar and play chess until our room was ready. I went down for a much needed nap at 4pm - and I never woke up until 7 the next morning!! I absolutely crashed man. 15hours of sleep? That's ridiculous. I felt kinda bad, cause I left Steve to wander the streets of Glascow on his own that night... but ah well.. I guess I needed to re-set my sleep clock or something.
Up early on the Thursday the 28th (as I just said), and hit up the free breakfast at the hostel. Then we hit the town to figure out the best way to spend our time here in Scotland (which will be the next 6 days). As our Scottish friend Tony had advised way back in Athens (which already seems like a million years ago), some of the best parts of Scotland in his opinion, are the highlands. So, we started to weigh our options. We could attempt to travel through the highlands ourselves somehow... either by train, or bus, or by hiring a car. But the truth was, we knew nothing about the area, and would probably waste our precious few days here on the wrong things. Thus, it was decided that we should spring for a guided tour of the area. That way, we know we'll see all the cool things to see, and we won't have to worry about accomodations or how we'll tavel about. We settled on a 3-day, 85pound "Haggis" tour departing from and returning to Edinburgh (since we were heading there next). It looked to be the most economical option for all the things we wanted to see (Isle of Skye, Glen Coe, Loch Ness, etc), and also, it was a 18-35 year-olds tour... so there are no geezers allowed. Sounded right up our alley. That day in Glascow we also got all our busses and hostels straigtened out for the next little while. We're bussing now in the UK as apposed to trains, because the stupid UK rail system has not signed on to allow Eurail users, and as such, our railpasses are no good here... so bussing is cheaper. Megabus all the way.
Got some groceries (Yay! Turkey ham! Haven't had that since I worked here 3 years ago!), and then headed up to the aply named Cathedral Street to view the Glascow Cathedral and the St. Mondo Museum of Religious Life and Art, which included Scotland's only public Zen Garden! Nice! Too bad it was raining or I would have totally gotten the rake on the go and then had a meditation session or something. Luckily for us we had our umbrellas (which Kriata loaned us back in London but have not been used until now)... it was pretty wet most of the day. We've been cursing Spain because it spoiled us so much. We're always hungry and cold now.. and we really shouldn't be! We're Canadians for god's sake!
Up at 8am today (Friday, the 29th) to catch our megabus over to Edinburgh. Glascow was a very cool little spot! Great people... nice vibe. I think it's a Scottish thing, as I remember Edinburgh was much like this when I visited years ago.
QOTD:
At a construction site near the Glascow river...
Scottish Man: "You sound American."
Me: "You sound English."
Scottish Man: "Bloody Hell??"
Monday, July 25, 2005
Eurotrip '05: Alicante
Mon, July 25, 2005 (Day 55)
Hola from Alicante, Spain! Well... somewhere between Alicante and the nearby town of Elche (where Laura's family lives). Laura has been hooking us up. Bigtime.
Before I go on, there's probably a number of confused readers out there who are wondering just where all these european friends keep coming from. Here's the backstory in a nutshell...
A few years ago, Ginny was getting tired with school and was looking for a change of pace. She, with the support of her family, decided to take some time off and go to Ireland to work in a hotel. She worked there for a year and met of ton of international people (like herself) who had travelled to Ireland for the experience, or in many cases, to improve their english. She became very close with a number of them, and they always said that if she was ever back in this part of the world, they would try to meet up.
Fast forward 4 years and here we are backpacking through europe, and Ginny and her friends are making good on their word. Thus, that's where Vera, Arantxa, Aitur, Laura, Marta, Audi, and a whole slew of others came from. These are the people who are taking us from our whirlwind backpacking adventure and really giving us a taste of life in their country. Awesome!
Ok... so... Laura, from Alicante, is another one of Ginny's very close friends. As I said... she is hooking us up. Turns out, she's now a manager at the Holiday Inn, and is giving us a huge discount on an amazing room! 10euro a night each in a hotel with free breakfast! And that's just the beginning...
We arrive Friday evening (22nd), Laura picks the 4 of us up at the train station, brings us to the hotel, we drop our bags in our gorgeous room, and head out to her parents house in the countryside. Now, this is not so much as house, as it is a Villa... I'm talking tennis court, backyard pool... the works! Her parents already have dinner ready for us... a delicious tuna caseraole (it was awesome, and I don't even like tuna!). We chilled out at the villa and then headed on back to the hotel to crash.
We crash until 11am on Saturday the 23rd (I told ya, we're a lazy bunch... especially when we're getting treated like royalty). We get up, and mosey on downstairs to the free buffet - fresh croissants baby! Then Laura informs us that there's an open market out in Elche, so we burn on out there and check that out - very cool. Then we go for a stroll through Elche and visit one of the cathedrals with an amazing view of the Palm Grove Park from the top! I've never seen so many palm trees in my life. Then we all pile into Laura's car and head back out to her folks place for lunch: Spanish Omlets (w/ potato and onion) and chicken strips - absolutely awesome - I'm so stuffed! We hung at the house for a while to let the feast settle.
A few hours later we were jetting out to Laura's sister's house for a BBQ supper! Can you say spoiled?? I think all the weight we lost on this trip is coming quickly back! Had an amazing feast, and once again, were stuffed beyond comprehension. A great night! Love her sister's samouri figures!
The next day (Sun, 24th) the kids hit the beach, and I slept in till 1pm! (lol). Headed on back to Laura's for a Papaya lunch - chicken, peppers and rice - absolutely delicious (do you see a theme here? All we do is loaf and eat. Now THIS is a vacation! Incredible!) Fortunately for our stomachs, this was the only meal of the day (and it more than met the quota). Rested up after that, for you see, Laura had a big evening planned.
She walked up to us and said, "Ok... I can get all of us free admission to the theme park Terra Mitica (think Spanish Disneyland), but only on one condition. If anyone asks, you are all wealthy clients of the hotel." LOL! Steve and I got to pose as "Swiss Bankers". Awesome hey? We kept walking around yelling "Combien de Fracs!?" Once again, Laura hooked us up!!!! Ginny was a German manager, and Krista was a Spanish accountant! Hahaha. Anyway, the rouse worked, and we got in for free!
Once inside, we started hitting all the craziest rides. The Novedad... a 90degree spinning ring thing - fucked! Magnus Colossus - a huge wooden coaster - awesome! Flight of the Pheneix - a 10 story freefall - crazy. Tizona - a 100km/h 360degree looping coaster in 35seconds - NUTS. Plus a whole bunch more. ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVEABLE! So awesome... I love you Laura!
Spent most of the next day (Monday the 25th) taking it easy... the boy and I went out for a stroll around Alicante to take in some of the sights. Nice.
It looks like this is where Steve and I part ways with Ginny, Krista and Laura. Ginny has elected to spend the remainder of the trip in Spain with Krista Garland, and in London with Krista Coates for a few days before we head back across the pond. So we said our temporary goodbyes.. which again (like when we lost Kay and Ricketts) was pretty strange.
Up early on the 26th (Tuesday) for our train ride up the mediterranean coast to Girona (just north of Barcelona), to catch our 22:15 Ryanair flight to London Stanstead airport. The way it worked out, it was far less expensive if we flew late in the evening on the 26th to London, and then departed early in the morning on the 27th for Scotland. The only downside: looks like we're sleeping on the cold hard concrete floor in the airport! Anyway... I got a few hours sleep out of it, so it wasn't a totally loss! Frig, I'm cold! I miss Spain already!
QOTD: "DRUGS!!!!!" - at the London Customs desk, our response to "What is your business in the UK?" [This is an imagine-if-we-said-that quote.... not an actual quote]
Hola from Alicante, Spain! Well... somewhere between Alicante and the nearby town of Elche (where Laura's family lives). Laura has been hooking us up. Bigtime.
Before I go on, there's probably a number of confused readers out there who are wondering just where all these european friends keep coming from. Here's the backstory in a nutshell...
A few years ago, Ginny was getting tired with school and was looking for a change of pace. She, with the support of her family, decided to take some time off and go to Ireland to work in a hotel. She worked there for a year and met of ton of international people (like herself) who had travelled to Ireland for the experience, or in many cases, to improve their english. She became very close with a number of them, and they always said that if she was ever back in this part of the world, they would try to meet up.
Fast forward 4 years and here we are backpacking through europe, and Ginny and her friends are making good on their word. Thus, that's where Vera, Arantxa, Aitur, Laura, Marta, Audi, and a whole slew of others came from. These are the people who are taking us from our whirlwind backpacking adventure and really giving us a taste of life in their country. Awesome!
Ok... so... Laura, from Alicante, is another one of Ginny's very close friends. As I said... she is hooking us up. Turns out, she's now a manager at the Holiday Inn, and is giving us a huge discount on an amazing room! 10euro a night each in a hotel with free breakfast! And that's just the beginning...
We arrive Friday evening (22nd), Laura picks the 4 of us up at the train station, brings us to the hotel, we drop our bags in our gorgeous room, and head out to her parents house in the countryside. Now, this is not so much as house, as it is a Villa... I'm talking tennis court, backyard pool... the works! Her parents already have dinner ready for us... a delicious tuna caseraole (it was awesome, and I don't even like tuna!). We chilled out at the villa and then headed on back to the hotel to crash.
We crash until 11am on Saturday the 23rd (I told ya, we're a lazy bunch... especially when we're getting treated like royalty). We get up, and mosey on downstairs to the free buffet - fresh croissants baby! Then Laura informs us that there's an open market out in Elche, so we burn on out there and check that out - very cool. Then we go for a stroll through Elche and visit one of the cathedrals with an amazing view of the Palm Grove Park from the top! I've never seen so many palm trees in my life. Then we all pile into Laura's car and head back out to her folks place for lunch: Spanish Omlets (w/ potato and onion) and chicken strips - absolutely awesome - I'm so stuffed! We hung at the house for a while to let the feast settle.
A few hours later we were jetting out to Laura's sister's house for a BBQ supper! Can you say spoiled?? I think all the weight we lost on this trip is coming quickly back! Had an amazing feast, and once again, were stuffed beyond comprehension. A great night! Love her sister's samouri figures!
The next day (Sun, 24th) the kids hit the beach, and I slept in till 1pm! (lol). Headed on back to Laura's for a Papaya lunch - chicken, peppers and rice - absolutely delicious (do you see a theme here? All we do is loaf and eat. Now THIS is a vacation! Incredible!) Fortunately for our stomachs, this was the only meal of the day (and it more than met the quota). Rested up after that, for you see, Laura had a big evening planned.
She walked up to us and said, "Ok... I can get all of us free admission to the theme park Terra Mitica (think Spanish Disneyland), but only on one condition. If anyone asks, you are all wealthy clients of the hotel." LOL! Steve and I got to pose as "Swiss Bankers". Awesome hey? We kept walking around yelling "Combien de Fracs!?" Once again, Laura hooked us up!!!! Ginny was a German manager, and Krista was a Spanish accountant! Hahaha. Anyway, the rouse worked, and we got in for free!
Once inside, we started hitting all the craziest rides. The Novedad... a 90degree spinning ring thing - fucked! Magnus Colossus - a huge wooden coaster - awesome! Flight of the Pheneix - a 10 story freefall - crazy. Tizona - a 100km/h 360degree looping coaster in 35seconds - NUTS. Plus a whole bunch more. ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVEABLE! So awesome... I love you Laura!
Spent most of the next day (Monday the 25th) taking it easy... the boy and I went out for a stroll around Alicante to take in some of the sights. Nice.
It looks like this is where Steve and I part ways with Ginny, Krista and Laura. Ginny has elected to spend the remainder of the trip in Spain with Krista Garland, and in London with Krista Coates for a few days before we head back across the pond. So we said our temporary goodbyes.. which again (like when we lost Kay and Ricketts) was pretty strange.
Up early on the 26th (Tuesday) for our train ride up the mediterranean coast to Girona (just north of Barcelona), to catch our 22:15 Ryanair flight to London Stanstead airport. The way it worked out, it was far less expensive if we flew late in the evening on the 26th to London, and then departed early in the morning on the 27th for Scotland. The only downside: looks like we're sleeping on the cold hard concrete floor in the airport! Anyway... I got a few hours sleep out of it, so it wasn't a totally loss! Frig, I'm cold! I miss Spain already!
QOTD: "DRUGS!!!!!" - at the London Customs desk, our response to "What is your business in the UK?" [This is an imagine-if-we-said-that quote.... not an actual quote]
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Eurotrip '05: Grenada
Fri, July 22, 2005 (Day 52)
Ok, so I've been a little slack on the whole journal writing thing. Let's just say that this fact is indicitive of the spectacular time had in Grenada, Spain.
Arrived late Tuesday (19th) at our rather unique hostel, the Rambutan. Before I go on, I think I should say a few words about this place and how we arrived on it...
So we're in Valladolid and we're looking for a place to stay in Grenada. We run a search, and we get 3 hits. The first is dirt cheap, looks pretty low end, but is probably fine. The second hit is a fair bit more pricey, but has all the luxuries of any high quality hostel. Then we get to the description of the 3rd hostel. We read the first line..
"controversial guesthouse in granada."
We're all like... what the hell?? We read on..
"the place to find flamenco guitar and dance lessons, mexican food in drag, tapa crawl, a bike that needs to be fixed.."
So we had a cheap hostel, a nice hostel, and a weird hostel to choose from. We looked at each other, paused, and unanimously said... WEIRD!!
So the Rambutan hostel it was! We arrived after a lenghty up-hill walk using the very bizzare yet geographically precise directions provided. Had a few beers and got to know our fellow hostel mates and staff. I could tell from the start this was going to be an interesting time. My initial impression of the place would be: Hippy Love Nest meets Quaint Spanish Country Hostel... very interesting. My only beef was the lack of A/C, and today was in the low FORTIES Celcius! Yikes! Even at night it doesn't go below 30.
Slept till 11am the next day (Wed, the 20th), grabbed some lunch at a pub in town and headed on down to the train station to meet with Krista. She had luckily gotten her bags in Valladolid, but unluckily gotten on the wrong train to follow us and ended up heading NORTH instead. Eventually she got straightened out, overnighted with Yolaunda in Madrid, and was on her way. She arrived, and we attempted to book our subsequent train for Friday to Alicante (located on the Eastern Mediterainian coast, where Ginny's friend Laura lives). Unfortunately, we were flat out denied, and told everything was sold out. (I refer you back to my Barcelona entry for notes on the Spanish train system). We were told we could only go as far as Alcazar (due south of Madrid). Shite!
Disgruntled, we headed up to the grocery store to stock up on food and water for the next few days. During the walk, I noticed one of those digital thermometer displays over a drug store. It was reading 44 Degrees Celcius. It occured to me that this was the hottest temperature I've ever experienced. And let me tell you, it was frickin hot. We got our grub, and due to the immense heat, decided to splurge a little and take a cab back to the hostel.
Once home, we called Laura to ask her for advice on how to get to Alicante given our present situation. Bussing appeared to be out, as there were no decent routes between the two cities. We hoofed it back down to the train station once again to see if we could possibly finagale a closer destination. That way, Laura could possibly meet us there and drive us the rest of the way to Alicante. We approched the window, and asked the very same man whom we delt with earlier in the afternoon if there were any tickets going to any place near Alicante. He laughed at us and told us there were seats available on the direct train to Alicante!!! WTF??? OK!!!? I have no idea what happend there, but hey, I just smiled and took the tickets.
That put us in better spirits, so we decided to get on the booze. We headed home, had some dinner, and headed out to hit the town for beers and tapas. In case you don't know what tapas are (as I didn't), in Spain (particularly the south) when you order a drink at a bar, it is customary to get a small appetizer with it for free. What we didn't know is that in Grenada, "small" is not exactly accurate. We basically got to choose a small dish (hamburger, chips, calamari, chicken, fish, potatoes) with each and every 1.40euro beer we purchased!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! Free food with every drink! Eventually, you get so full, you don't even eat the tapas any more! We definitely didn't need to eat dinner beforehand! All I could think about the whole time is how much my buddy Bri (with the bottomless stomach) would be in heaven in this place.
We ate and drank to our fill.... funny incidents involving weird foriegn guys hitting on the girls and spilt drinks on the bar floor enused. When it was all said and done, we hiked back up the summit home.
The next day (21st) was Alhambra Day. For those who may not know (as I didn't), the Alhambra is a huge 13th-15th century Islamic fort perched atop a huge hill in the middle of Grenada. This place was a large factor is us deciding to head down to southern Spain, so of course, we had to visit!
I must say... the architechture was absolutely amazing (as everyone said it would be). As well, the gardens inside the fortress were unbelieveable. On top of it all, you can't beat the view of Genada! Nuts! We even managed to pick out the Rambutan on the hillside adjacent to the temple as well! We spent a full day there wandering through the endless rooms and gardens, and I fell like we barely scratched the surface... but a full afternoon in the forty degree sun was enough for this muchacho.
Headed on home out of that and spent a nice relaxing evening at the hostel laughing at John (a particularly "unique" hostel employee) and listening to Keith the odd Brit and Elizabeth the Torontonian babble on about whatever was on their minds at the moment. I eventually went on to bed, but apparently I missed some hot accordian action in the wee hours. Ah well!
Up at 06:30 the next day (Friday the 22nd) to catch our 07:55 train to Alicante.
Goodtimes in Grenada, as long as you can handle the heat!
QOTD: "She was beautiful.... only on the inside" - John the crazy hippy hostel worker
"Ahhh... that's special" - Elizabeth re: anything
"Do you want a kitten?" - 'Angel', another hostel worker, offering us one of the kittens that the 'hostel-cat' gave birth to during our visit.
"Do we want Cheap, Normal or Weird?" - Us
"My shirt stinks. I found it in the bin, and I haven't washed it" - John
"Have you seen my shirt?" - John
"We should shower together, to save water" - John, to Krista, moments after saying how much water there was in Grenada.
Guy #1: "I've got money."
Guy #2: "He's got money. And I'm crazy." - The pick-up lines used by the guys trying to hit on the girls in the tapas bar. Steve and I watched and laughed from the other side of the bar.
Ok, so I've been a little slack on the whole journal writing thing. Let's just say that this fact is indicitive of the spectacular time had in Grenada, Spain.
Arrived late Tuesday (19th) at our rather unique hostel, the Rambutan. Before I go on, I think I should say a few words about this place and how we arrived on it...
So we're in Valladolid and we're looking for a place to stay in Grenada. We run a search, and we get 3 hits. The first is dirt cheap, looks pretty low end, but is probably fine. The second hit is a fair bit more pricey, but has all the luxuries of any high quality hostel. Then we get to the description of the 3rd hostel. We read the first line..
"controversial guesthouse in granada."
We're all like... what the hell?? We read on..
"the place to find flamenco guitar and dance lessons, mexican food in drag, tapa crawl, a bike that needs to be fixed.."
So we had a cheap hostel, a nice hostel, and a weird hostel to choose from. We looked at each other, paused, and unanimously said... WEIRD!!
So the Rambutan hostel it was! We arrived after a lenghty up-hill walk using the very bizzare yet geographically precise directions provided. Had a few beers and got to know our fellow hostel mates and staff. I could tell from the start this was going to be an interesting time. My initial impression of the place would be: Hippy Love Nest meets Quaint Spanish Country Hostel... very interesting. My only beef was the lack of A/C, and today was in the low FORTIES Celcius! Yikes! Even at night it doesn't go below 30.
Slept till 11am the next day (Wed, the 20th), grabbed some lunch at a pub in town and headed on down to the train station to meet with Krista. She had luckily gotten her bags in Valladolid, but unluckily gotten on the wrong train to follow us and ended up heading NORTH instead. Eventually she got straightened out, overnighted with Yolaunda in Madrid, and was on her way. She arrived, and we attempted to book our subsequent train for Friday to Alicante (located on the Eastern Mediterainian coast, where Ginny's friend Laura lives). Unfortunately, we were flat out denied, and told everything was sold out. (I refer you back to my Barcelona entry for notes on the Spanish train system). We were told we could only go as far as Alcazar (due south of Madrid). Shite!
Disgruntled, we headed up to the grocery store to stock up on food and water for the next few days. During the walk, I noticed one of those digital thermometer displays over a drug store. It was reading 44 Degrees Celcius. It occured to me that this was the hottest temperature I've ever experienced. And let me tell you, it was frickin hot. We got our grub, and due to the immense heat, decided to splurge a little and take a cab back to the hostel.
Once home, we called Laura to ask her for advice on how to get to Alicante given our present situation. Bussing appeared to be out, as there were no decent routes between the two cities. We hoofed it back down to the train station once again to see if we could possibly finagale a closer destination. That way, Laura could possibly meet us there and drive us the rest of the way to Alicante. We approched the window, and asked the very same man whom we delt with earlier in the afternoon if there were any tickets going to any place near Alicante. He laughed at us and told us there were seats available on the direct train to Alicante!!! WTF??? OK!!!? I have no idea what happend there, but hey, I just smiled and took the tickets.
That put us in better spirits, so we decided to get on the booze. We headed home, had some dinner, and headed out to hit the town for beers and tapas. In case you don't know what tapas are (as I didn't), in Spain (particularly the south) when you order a drink at a bar, it is customary to get a small appetizer with it for free. What we didn't know is that in Grenada, "small" is not exactly accurate. We basically got to choose a small dish (hamburger, chips, calamari, chicken, fish, potatoes) with each and every 1.40euro beer we purchased!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! Free food with every drink! Eventually, you get so full, you don't even eat the tapas any more! We definitely didn't need to eat dinner beforehand! All I could think about the whole time is how much my buddy Bri (with the bottomless stomach) would be in heaven in this place.
We ate and drank to our fill.... funny incidents involving weird foriegn guys hitting on the girls and spilt drinks on the bar floor enused. When it was all said and done, we hiked back up the summit home.
The next day (21st) was Alhambra Day. For those who may not know (as I didn't), the Alhambra is a huge 13th-15th century Islamic fort perched atop a huge hill in the middle of Grenada. This place was a large factor is us deciding to head down to southern Spain, so of course, we had to visit!
I must say... the architechture was absolutely amazing (as everyone said it would be). As well, the gardens inside the fortress were unbelieveable. On top of it all, you can't beat the view of Genada! Nuts! We even managed to pick out the Rambutan on the hillside adjacent to the temple as well! We spent a full day there wandering through the endless rooms and gardens, and I fell like we barely scratched the surface... but a full afternoon in the forty degree sun was enough for this muchacho.
Headed on home out of that and spent a nice relaxing evening at the hostel laughing at John (a particularly "unique" hostel employee) and listening to Keith the odd Brit and Elizabeth the Torontonian babble on about whatever was on their minds at the moment. I eventually went on to bed, but apparently I missed some hot accordian action in the wee hours. Ah well!
Up at 06:30 the next day (Friday the 22nd) to catch our 07:55 train to Alicante.
Goodtimes in Grenada, as long as you can handle the heat!
QOTD: "She was beautiful.... only on the inside" - John the crazy hippy hostel worker
"Ahhh... that's special" - Elizabeth re: anything
"Do you want a kitten?" - 'Angel', another hostel worker, offering us one of the kittens that the 'hostel-cat' gave birth to during our visit.
"Do we want Cheap, Normal or Weird?" - Us
"My shirt stinks. I found it in the bin, and I haven't washed it" - John
"Have you seen my shirt?" - John
"We should shower together, to save water" - John, to Krista, moments after saying how much water there was in Grenada.
Guy #1: "I've got money."
Guy #2: "He's got money. And I'm crazy." - The pick-up lines used by the guys trying to hit on the girls in the tapas bar. Steve and I watched and laughed from the other side of the bar.
Monday, July 18, 2005
Eurotrip '05: Valladolid
Tues, July 19, 2005 (Day 49)
Hola from Madrid, Spain! Well... sort of. Currently on a 3 hour stop over in Madrid central station while heading from Valladolid (Bia-doh-leeth) to Grenada. Valladolid was absolutely fantastic! Here's the scoop...
We arrived at 9am on Saturday (16th), found our way to a local tourist info place, searched out a few hostels, and finally settled into our room at the Astrogal Hostel by noon. We were pretty beat from our overnight excursion across the country, so we got some grub, had a bite and crashed for the afternoon. Got some (awesomely cheap) Mahou beers at the store nearby and had a few cold ones (cold water in the sink style), then headed to a small eatery for some calamari for dinner. Afterwards it was time for a surprise drop in on Aranxta and Aitur's reception (Ginny hadn't actually told them we'd arrived yet). We had a great night attempting to drunkenly communicate with all the Spaniards. Fun! Ginny's old friend Nacho (that's actually his name) was friggin hilarious, tho I think Northcott offended him a little when he tried to drunkenly convince him that Spanish was basically the same as French. Hahaha...
The next day (Sunday the 17th) we headed on down to Arantxa's aprartment shortly after lunch. Met up with our friend Krista Garland from home (Ginny's old roomate and good friend. She's here in Spain for the wedding a little vacation, so I think she'll be travelling around with us for the next little while! Good stuff!) Spent the day walking around Vallodolid with the newlyweds and a bunch of friends from the reception... a very cool way to get to know a place. We stopped into a small pub for a bite to eat (tho I was still full from the full Baguette I ate for lunch. Baguettes! They're everywhere! And at 50 cents for a huge meal... how can you afford not to buy one?). Anyway, then we headed to a coffehouse and we all had iced coffee (cafe conyero) - refreshing on a hot spanish summer day, that's for sure. From there we headed on back to the newlyweds place to get ready for the evening. Ginny's and Arantxa's friends Marta and Fran had asked us to visit their house out in the countryside for a BBQ supper. We definitely weren't gonna turn that down! So, we all piled into Arantxa's and Yolaunda's cars, headed to the convenience store where Audi, Steve and I got some beers, and then sped off towards Alba where Marta and Fran's house was. They had purchased the house for real cheap because it was super old and needed a LOT of work. I must say, what they've got done so far is amazing... but there's still lots to be done! Beautiful spot, nonetheless. Man, I was just loving being in a car again and blazing down the highway! Fuckin A! Yolaunda even had some Spanish Cypres Hill!! LOL!
From Marta's, we all piled into the cars once more and headed out to the countryside for a Spanish BBQ. Lamb (another first for me), pork and all sorts of grilled veggies over an open fire pit - absolutely unbelieveable! That evening was another clear highlight of this entire trip! What a time! Headed on back to Alba for another beer at a small local pub with the crew before saying our buenos noches. Marta even made me order the booze to practice my Spanish! Goodtimes.
The next day (Monday the 18th) Ginny and Krista wanted to shop, so the boy and I decided to go get our train tickets booked for the next destination: Grenada (chosen on the good advice of our new friends). 2 arguous hours later we had it all sorted out, and we were getting hungry, so we decided to take a little bit a jaunt across the river to find a McD's to quell our hangover hunger with. On the way home we picked up some more beer (San Miguel) and ice (it should be noted that in Spain, the ice costs more than the beer!!! Go figure!). The boy and I had ourselves a little siesta and then our nice cold beer (which you really appreciate after 7 weeks of not having a fridge on hand). The 4 of us decided to take a little stroll around the city at 10pm.. ironically enough, we managed to bump into none other than Arantxa and Aitur in an internet cafe (small world eh?). Said our final goodbyes and gave them our thanks. Without them, we would have never got to experince all the cool things we did, or meet all the awesome people we met. They're in the air to Norway for their honeymoney as we speak. I wish them the best of luck. Then the four of us felt like an evening bite, so we headed on down to the southside of town and hit up the Milano restaurant - delish.
This morning (19th) we were up early and getting ready to head to Grenada in southern Spain. Unfortunately for Krista, when she arrived in Madrid a few days ago, he backpack did not... so she's been on the line with the airline trying to get that sorted out. The problem is the fact that we want to keep moving on, but she has to stay in Valladolid until her bag arrives. However, she's expecting it sometime today, so hopefully she'll get it and we can meet her at our hostel in Grenada tonight. From here, it looks like it's going to be ~3 nights in Grenada, and then on to Alicante for another ~3 nights or so. Alicante is where yet another of Ginny's friends lives whom we're going to visit and stay with! Handy having the little wood sprite around, eh? From there, the boy and I (at least) are heading north to Scotland and Ireland to finish out our trip.
Holy fack time is going way too fast!! Amazing times in Valladolid!!
QOTD: "From what I recall, Nacho and I got along quite well last time" - Ginny, attempting to be provocative (and failing).
"BONITA!! (makes fish-head expression)" - Me, regarding the fact that in spanish, Tuna=Pretty.
"Pepe and PePito" - Male and Female body parts in Spanish
"You have an old woman in your ass" - Audi, to Ginny
"Uno Big Big Mac Por Favor" - Northcott at McD's
Hola from Madrid, Spain! Well... sort of. Currently on a 3 hour stop over in Madrid central station while heading from Valladolid (Bia-doh-leeth) to Grenada. Valladolid was absolutely fantastic! Here's the scoop...
We arrived at 9am on Saturday (16th), found our way to a local tourist info place, searched out a few hostels, and finally settled into our room at the Astrogal Hostel by noon. We were pretty beat from our overnight excursion across the country, so we got some grub, had a bite and crashed for the afternoon. Got some (awesomely cheap) Mahou beers at the store nearby and had a few cold ones (cold water in the sink style), then headed to a small eatery for some calamari for dinner. Afterwards it was time for a surprise drop in on Aranxta and Aitur's reception (Ginny hadn't actually told them we'd arrived yet). We had a great night attempting to drunkenly communicate with all the Spaniards. Fun! Ginny's old friend Nacho (that's actually his name) was friggin hilarious, tho I think Northcott offended him a little when he tried to drunkenly convince him that Spanish was basically the same as French. Hahaha...
The next day (Sunday the 17th) we headed on down to Arantxa's aprartment shortly after lunch. Met up with our friend Krista Garland from home (Ginny's old roomate and good friend. She's here in Spain for the wedding a little vacation, so I think she'll be travelling around with us for the next little while! Good stuff!) Spent the day walking around Vallodolid with the newlyweds and a bunch of friends from the reception... a very cool way to get to know a place. We stopped into a small pub for a bite to eat (tho I was still full from the full Baguette I ate for lunch. Baguettes! They're everywhere! And at 50 cents for a huge meal... how can you afford not to buy one?). Anyway, then we headed to a coffehouse and we all had iced coffee (cafe conyero) - refreshing on a hot spanish summer day, that's for sure. From there we headed on back to the newlyweds place to get ready for the evening. Ginny's and Arantxa's friends Marta and Fran had asked us to visit their house out in the countryside for a BBQ supper. We definitely weren't gonna turn that down! So, we all piled into Arantxa's and Yolaunda's cars, headed to the convenience store where Audi, Steve and I got some beers, and then sped off towards Alba where Marta and Fran's house was. They had purchased the house for real cheap because it was super old and needed a LOT of work. I must say, what they've got done so far is amazing... but there's still lots to be done! Beautiful spot, nonetheless. Man, I was just loving being in a car again and blazing down the highway! Fuckin A! Yolaunda even had some Spanish Cypres Hill!! LOL!
From Marta's, we all piled into the cars once more and headed out to the countryside for a Spanish BBQ. Lamb (another first for me), pork and all sorts of grilled veggies over an open fire pit - absolutely unbelieveable! That evening was another clear highlight of this entire trip! What a time! Headed on back to Alba for another beer at a small local pub with the crew before saying our buenos noches. Marta even made me order the booze to practice my Spanish! Goodtimes.
The next day (Monday the 18th) Ginny and Krista wanted to shop, so the boy and I decided to go get our train tickets booked for the next destination: Grenada (chosen on the good advice of our new friends). 2 arguous hours later we had it all sorted out, and we were getting hungry, so we decided to take a little bit a jaunt across the river to find a McD's to quell our hangover hunger with. On the way home we picked up some more beer (San Miguel) and ice (it should be noted that in Spain, the ice costs more than the beer!!! Go figure!). The boy and I had ourselves a little siesta and then our nice cold beer (which you really appreciate after 7 weeks of not having a fridge on hand). The 4 of us decided to take a little stroll around the city at 10pm.. ironically enough, we managed to bump into none other than Arantxa and Aitur in an internet cafe (small world eh?). Said our final goodbyes and gave them our thanks. Without them, we would have never got to experince all the cool things we did, or meet all the awesome people we met. They're in the air to Norway for their honeymoney as we speak. I wish them the best of luck. Then the four of us felt like an evening bite, so we headed on down to the southside of town and hit up the Milano restaurant - delish.
This morning (19th) we were up early and getting ready to head to Grenada in southern Spain. Unfortunately for Krista, when she arrived in Madrid a few days ago, he backpack did not... so she's been on the line with the airline trying to get that sorted out. The problem is the fact that we want to keep moving on, but she has to stay in Valladolid until her bag arrives. However, she's expecting it sometime today, so hopefully she'll get it and we can meet her at our hostel in Grenada tonight. From here, it looks like it's going to be ~3 nights in Grenada, and then on to Alicante for another ~3 nights or so. Alicante is where yet another of Ginny's friends lives whom we're going to visit and stay with! Handy having the little wood sprite around, eh? From there, the boy and I (at least) are heading north to Scotland and Ireland to finish out our trip.
Holy fack time is going way too fast!! Amazing times in Valladolid!!
QOTD: "From what I recall, Nacho and I got along quite well last time" - Ginny, attempting to be provocative (and failing).
"BONITA!! (makes fish-head expression)
"Pepe and PePito" - Male and Female body parts in Spanish
"You have an old woman in your ass" - Audi, to Ginny
"Uno Big Big Mac Por Favor" - Northcott at McD's
Friday, July 15, 2005
Eurotrip '05: Barcelona
Fri, July 15, 2005 (Day 45)
Whirlwind-esk times in Barcelona, Spain! Ok... here's the situation: Ginny's friends Arantxa and Aitur are getting married in the town of Valladolid in central/northern Spain on the 16th. Thus, it was our hope that we could arrive in Barcelona on the 14th, Ginny could take off to Vallodolid on the 15th to make the wedding, and Steve and I would follow suit on the 16th to make the wedding reception in the evening. As we quickly learned... when you want to travel in Spain during the busy summer, you'd better book well in advance....
So.. we arrived in Barcelona late in the evening on the 14th. We immediately tried to make a booking for the trians we wanted to Valladolid. No dice. Apparently all trains were booked for the next 3 or 4 days, or something ridiculous like that. Shit. It was late, and we were tired, so we figured we'd call it a night and try our luck again tomorrow. Eventually the 4 of us found our way to the IN OUT Hostel. Checked in and pretty much zonked - it was a lonnnng ride from Nice. Felt kinda bad because we realized that in light of the train difficulties we'd really only be spending one night in Barcelona, and thus Cass followed us all the way to Spain just to turn around and head on back to Prague.... but I guess it was her choice. I can't help it if I'm irresistable ;) .
This morning (the 15th) we said our goodbyes and went our separtate ways. Things were looking pretty distressing for a while there when Ginny started to realize that there was a good chance she might not make this wedding. Luckily for her (and us), Steve was able to use some quick thinking and action to get us booked on a bus.. looks like we may make this wedding yet. The bus wasn't until later, so we got a day pass for the metro and jetted around the city. Headed to the Rumblas (?) and walked down through the main area of Barcelona.
We started to get a little hungry, so I pointed out that there were a number of these buffet places located on the free map of the city I picked up. Thinking it was a great idea, the 3 of us hit up the closest one. Big Mistake. That was 8 hours ago, and I'm still so stuffed I can barely move. Turns out putting a bunch of hungry, thrifty backpackers in an all-you-can-eat scenario is not a good idea. We ate for 2 hours straight.. it was sick. I just about vomitted, I was that full (gross hey?). Afterwards, it was all we could do to roll up the road and find a park (Parc de la Ciutadella) where we flaked out on the benches for TWO HOURS next to the zoo because we couldn't move. Once we re-gained mobility, we walked down to the beach - pretty nice. From there we hit Sagrada Familia - a very cool and unique cathedral. Headed back to the station to collect our bags from the lockers we stored them in. I called Dad to wish him a happy BDay. Now we're in Barcelona Nord awaiting our 22:30 overnight bus to Valladolid. I know I vowed no more overnight busses... but you gotta do what you gotta do. At least we'll make the wedding now!
Whirlwind-esk times in Barcelona, Spain! Ok... here's the situation: Ginny's friends Arantxa and Aitur are getting married in the town of Valladolid in central/northern Spain on the 16th. Thus, it was our hope that we could arrive in Barcelona on the 14th, Ginny could take off to Vallodolid on the 15th to make the wedding, and Steve and I would follow suit on the 16th to make the wedding reception in the evening. As we quickly learned... when you want to travel in Spain during the busy summer, you'd better book well in advance....
So.. we arrived in Barcelona late in the evening on the 14th. We immediately tried to make a booking for the trians we wanted to Valladolid. No dice. Apparently all trains were booked for the next 3 or 4 days, or something ridiculous like that. Shit. It was late, and we were tired, so we figured we'd call it a night and try our luck again tomorrow. Eventually the 4 of us found our way to the IN OUT Hostel. Checked in and pretty much zonked - it was a lonnnng ride from Nice. Felt kinda bad because we realized that in light of the train difficulties we'd really only be spending one night in Barcelona, and thus Cass followed us all the way to Spain just to turn around and head on back to Prague.... but I guess it was her choice. I can't help it if I'm irresistable ;) .
This morning (the 15th) we said our goodbyes and went our separtate ways. Things were looking pretty distressing for a while there when Ginny started to realize that there was a good chance she might not make this wedding. Luckily for her (and us), Steve was able to use some quick thinking and action to get us booked on a bus.. looks like we may make this wedding yet. The bus wasn't until later, so we got a day pass for the metro and jetted around the city. Headed to the Rumblas (?) and walked down through the main area of Barcelona.
We started to get a little hungry, so I pointed out that there were a number of these buffet places located on the free map of the city I picked up. Thinking it was a great idea, the 3 of us hit up the closest one. Big Mistake. That was 8 hours ago, and I'm still so stuffed I can barely move. Turns out putting a bunch of hungry, thrifty backpackers in an all-you-can-eat scenario is not a good idea. We ate for 2 hours straight.. it was sick. I just about vomitted, I was that full (gross hey?). Afterwards, it was all we could do to roll up the road and find a park (Parc de la Ciutadella) where we flaked out on the benches for TWO HOURS next to the zoo because we couldn't move. Once we re-gained mobility, we walked down to the beach - pretty nice. From there we hit Sagrada Familia - a very cool and unique cathedral. Headed back to the station to collect our bags from the lockers we stored them in. I called Dad to wish him a happy BDay. Now we're in Barcelona Nord awaiting our 22:30 overnight bus to Valladolid. I know I vowed no more overnight busses... but you gotta do what you gotta do. At least we'll make the wedding now!
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Eurotrip '05: Nice & Monaco
Thurs, July 13, 2005 (Day 43)
Happy Bastille Day!! Vive la Revolution!! Here I am, on the platform in Nice, France getting ready to depart for Barcelona, Spain. Here's the breakdown..
Arrived in Nice around 8pm on the 12th after a fairly lenghty travel day and a little bit of back-tracking from the Alps. Arrived at our hostel (Villa St. Exupery) and just chilled at the bar... 1 euro beers... can't go wrong there. Got chatting to the staff, and they turned us on to a self-guided bus day tour we could do in the morning to get to see the area. Sounded like a plan.
Up early on the 13th for the first stop of the day: the small village of EZE just east of Nice. That was a pretty cool spot. Kinda like Venice meets Greece. From there, we grabbed some lunch (I know where we can get some baguettes!!) and headed onward to Monte Carlo in the principality of Monaco. That place was also very cool - these Monaco folk sure do love their flag! I don't think I've seen so many in one place in my life. From there, Jen and Steve decided to head to the beach, and Cass and I headed back to Nice for the afternoon. I then went on a solo expedition through Nice - the old town and the beach. Very cool spot.... tho the rock beach didn't look all that comfortable. Luckily for me, it was only about 24 degrees that day, so walking around was a pleasure. My poor feet are still partially reeling from that hike in Gryon tho! Headed on back to the hostel where some Kiwi friends hooked me up with some pizza that is presently not agreeing with me, and had a chat with some lads from Newcastle. A bunch more 1 euro beers, and off to bed. Up again at 7am.. Northcott and I have decided that we're going to end our trip in the British Isles. Namely, Scotland and Ireland... so we had to book our flights. Awesome stuff! Now that that is taken care of, all we have is an 11 hour train ride to Barcelona to look forward to. Yahoo Spain!
Happy Bastille Day!! Vive la Revolution!! Here I am, on the platform in Nice, France getting ready to depart for Barcelona, Spain. Here's the breakdown..
Arrived in Nice around 8pm on the 12th after a fairly lenghty travel day and a little bit of back-tracking from the Alps. Arrived at our hostel (Villa St. Exupery) and just chilled at the bar... 1 euro beers... can't go wrong there. Got chatting to the staff, and they turned us on to a self-guided bus day tour we could do in the morning to get to see the area. Sounded like a plan.
Up early on the 13th for the first stop of the day: the small village of EZE just east of Nice. That was a pretty cool spot. Kinda like Venice meets Greece. From there, we grabbed some lunch (I know where we can get some baguettes!!) and headed onward to Monte Carlo in the principality of Monaco. That place was also very cool - these Monaco folk sure do love their flag! I don't think I've seen so many in one place in my life. From there, Jen and Steve decided to head to the beach, and Cass and I headed back to Nice for the afternoon. I then went on a solo expedition through Nice - the old town and the beach. Very cool spot.... tho the rock beach didn't look all that comfortable. Luckily for me, it was only about 24 degrees that day, so walking around was a pleasure. My poor feet are still partially reeling from that hike in Gryon tho! Headed on back to the hostel where some Kiwi friends hooked me up with some pizza that is presently not agreeing with me, and had a chat with some lads from Newcastle. A bunch more 1 euro beers, and off to bed. Up again at 7am.. Northcott and I have decided that we're going to end our trip in the British Isles. Namely, Scotland and Ireland... so we had to book our flights. Awesome stuff! Now that that is taken care of, all we have is an 11 hour train ride to Barcelona to look forward to. Yahoo Spain!
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Eurotrip '05: Switzerland
Tues, July 11, 2005 (Day 41)
Yo. On the train to southern France, coming from what was easily another contender for favorite place visited on this trip: Gryon in the Alps of Switzerland! UNBELIEVEABLE!!! Here's the story...
Yo. On the train to southern France, coming from what was easily another contender for favorite place visited on this trip: Gryon in the Alps of Switzerland! UNBELIEVEABLE!!! Here's the story...
Arrived on Sunday (July 10th) from an overnight pit-stop in Milan, Italy on a forged Eurail Day (we got from Greece to the Alps on one travel day... pretty sweet). We arrived in Gryon around mid-morning. The view from our hostel was like something straight off a postcard (see below). Got settled at the hostel and decided to avail of our "free" travel day by taking a day trip out to the nearby city of Montreux for a few hours in the afternoon. That was a pretty cool spot.. right on lake Geneva. Picked myself up an actual "Swiss" Swiss Army Knife... not too shabby. Figure I needed at least one actual souvenir for myself on this trip... plus... we needed the corkscrew :) . Left Montreux and headed on back to Gryon and the Chalet Martin backpackers hostel for a delicious pasta supper and some cards. I can't believe I actually stayed in a "Swiss Chalet". How cool is that? And the place was friggin amazing. Just like being at an old friend's cabin... awesome times. We decided to go on a mountain hike in the morning, so we hit the sack early to rest up.
Got up at 9am on the 11th, and Cassy and I headed into the nearby town of Villars for some groceries. Got back around noon and fed the troops. Then, Jen, Steve and I embarked on what I would later refer to as "the best and worst experience of my life". Hands down, it was the craziest hike I'll probably ever do in my life. The first 2 hours hiking through the forest to Solalex wasn't too bad. Then, things started getting out of hand. 2 hours uphill to les Chaux (at the base of “cross hill”), a brief rest, and then 1 hour traveling 300m straight up to the peak of the mountain and the wooden cross perched upon it. Unreal. The pictures will speak for themselves. I've never seen anything like that in my life. We were literally above the clouds, and had scaled nearly a vertical kilometer over the last 5 hours. Nuts! I just about died! 2 more hours hike down the mountain and back home again. In all, 7 hours in the Alps... what a trip!
By the time we got home, needless to say we were pretty tired... but a bit of BBQ Supper, a camp fire, a few beers and discovering the hostel's old guitar soon changed all that for me. Man, what a night it was.... stayed out till the wee hours playing guitar by the fire under the stars - man, it felt so good... it felt like home. It was a great night. Didn't get any sleep tho ;)
This morning (12th) we got up early to head on our way again. We've decided that our next stop will be Nice, France. Before we said our goodbyes to the hostel, we went out and lounged on the deck in the sun for a while and I played some more guitar... man I really miss my guitar. It's so beautiful here, but unfortunately, we've gotta keep movin on! The alps are amazing!!!!!
QOTD: "Guten Tag? Good bread." - Crazy German guy's response to "Guten Tag".
"Will you pee in a cup so I can drink it?" - Again, creepy German Guy to a female patron he barely knew. Inappropriate but funny.
"Ahhh.... Modifé!!!" - Conductor guy on the Alp Cograil, calling us on our forged rail pass, but laughing at us and letting us go.
The view from our hostel. Gryon, Switzerland
Bunch a crazies
Lake Geneva
Ginny on the banks of Lake Geneva. Montreux, Switzerland
A Swiss Swiss Army Knife
The view from our hostel
Real Swiss Chalets
Monsieur Northcott et les Alps
Approx. 2 hours into our hike, taken from within the valley at Solalex
The view from the base of "cross hill". Our hostel is on the far side of the hill in the middle of the picture
Looking up "cross hill". If you look close, you can see the cross at the top, 300m straight up.
On the way to the top. Check out those mountains!
Reid-o, "wishing for death"
Ginny at the top
Northcott at the top
Nortcott decides to run to the next peak (he is the white spot in the centre of the shot)
Reid leaves his mark
Northcott reaches the next peak (the little dot on the top)
Looking back down over Gryon from the top
The hill we climbed (the green one on the left), as seen from back home
Our Alps hike: Started at the hostel and headed along the base of the mountian on the right. Headed to Solalex in the centre of the valley. Cut up the side of "Cross Hill" on the left and worked our way to the summit. From here we heaed down through the hills on the left and home again. 7 hours in total and over 900 vertical meters from Solalex to the cross!
Back at the hostel - now that was a hike!
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Eurotrip '05: Corfu 2
Sat, July 9, 2005 (Day 39)
Well, let me start by saying that I am in fact BONED. No camera turned up at the hostels. FACK!! To make things even better, I found out today that I was victim to a scam in Rome when the ATM ate my card. In a vain effort to get my card back, I punched in my pin, which I should not have done. Anyway, some sheisty mofo now has over $1000 belonged to me!! Brutal eh? Anyway, I should get it back, says the bank... so we'll see. Anyway Fuck Me. That was a shitty string of luck there. Out $1000 and a $400 camera. Eeek. It's a good thing I got that loan before I left :) .
Anyway, Left Santorini and headed back to Athens and then back to the Palace (once again) on a much more pleasant but still frequently interrupted overnight bus (July 7th). Got lucky with a 3-bed A/C ensuite B Class room at the palace - that was pretty sweet. Crashed for a while... then we headed up to the main office for a minute, and noticed a crowd of people glued to the Tv. London had been hit. Our hearts dropped. Instanstly we ran to the email to try and get in touch with Ricketts and Kay who were supposed to be in London at the time. Thankfully, they had already emailed us and were ok, safe in their hostel. However, the devistation of the bus bombing occured just down the street on the very road they were staying on, and the nearest tube station that they would be using that day also was bombed. Unbelieveable. Luckily, they head decided to sleep in and get on the go later that day.. a decision that possibly saved their lives. Unreal.
Once we knew that everyone we knew in London was safe, we booked a few hostels for the imminent road ahead and just mellowed on the beach and tried to let the gravity of the situation sink in.
Checked out of the Palace for the final time on the 8th (Friday). Went down to the beach again to tan up, then headed to the lounge for a movie. Had our free catered supper one last time (where we actually sat with people from the Coldplay concert by chance), and headed on down to the port to catch our ferry back to Italy. Met up with a girl from San Francisco named Cassandra (Cassy) on the boat. She was pretty cool... she even sprung for a room for us to crash in on the ferry. It turns out that she was travelling on her own and was heading up North to Prague, so we invited her to travel along with us for the next little while on her way.
Booted it up to the train station in Bari this morning (9th), but the northbound ES was full. So now we're booked on a 9 hour IC to Milan (Milano), bound for the Swiss Alps! (the unanimously decided next destination on our impromptu tour). I'm excited. I wanted to see Switzerland. From the beaches of Greece to the mountains of the Swiss Alps in one day. Not bad eh?
Well, let me start by saying that I am in fact BONED. No camera turned up at the hostels. FACK!! To make things even better, I found out today that I was victim to a scam in Rome when the ATM ate my card. In a vain effort to get my card back, I punched in my pin, which I should not have done. Anyway, some sheisty mofo now has over $1000 belonged to me!! Brutal eh? Anyway, I should get it back, says the bank... so we'll see. Anyway Fuck Me. That was a shitty string of luck there. Out $1000 and a $400 camera. Eeek. It's a good thing I got that loan before I left :) .
Anyway, Left Santorini and headed back to Athens and then back to the Palace (once again) on a much more pleasant but still frequently interrupted overnight bus (July 7th). Got lucky with a 3-bed A/C ensuite B Class room at the palace - that was pretty sweet. Crashed for a while... then we headed up to the main office for a minute, and noticed a crowd of people glued to the Tv. London had been hit. Our hearts dropped. Instanstly we ran to the email to try and get in touch with Ricketts and Kay who were supposed to be in London at the time. Thankfully, they had already emailed us and were ok, safe in their hostel. However, the devistation of the bus bombing occured just down the street on the very road they were staying on, and the nearest tube station that they would be using that day also was bombed. Unbelieveable. Luckily, they head decided to sleep in and get on the go later that day.. a decision that possibly saved their lives. Unreal.
Once we knew that everyone we knew in London was safe, we booked a few hostels for the imminent road ahead and just mellowed on the beach and tried to let the gravity of the situation sink in.
Checked out of the Palace for the final time on the 8th (Friday). Went down to the beach again to tan up, then headed to the lounge for a movie. Had our free catered supper one last time (where we actually sat with people from the Coldplay concert by chance), and headed on down to the port to catch our ferry back to Italy. Met up with a girl from San Francisco named Cassandra (Cassy) on the boat. She was pretty cool... she even sprung for a room for us to crash in on the ferry. It turns out that she was travelling on her own and was heading up North to Prague, so we invited her to travel along with us for the next little while on her way.
Booted it up to the train station in Bari this morning (9th), but the northbound ES was full. So now we're booked on a 9 hour IC to Milan (Milano), bound for the Swiss Alps! (the unanimously decided next destination on our impromptu tour). I'm excited. I wanted to see Switzerland. From the beaches of Greece to the mountains of the Swiss Alps in one day. Not bad eh?
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Eurotrip '05: Santorini
Wed, July 6, 2005 (Day 36)
On the Blue Star Ferry back to Athens from what could easily, if not definitely be the lead contender for the most beautiful place I've ever been in my life - SANTORINI. It's the Greek Island a few hundred kilometers due south east of Athens. It's the backwards "C" shaped one. But, before I get into that... fuck me, I think my Camera is gone! Went to grab it for a few choice snaps of the Isles from the ferry, and I realized I didn't have it! I hope to god it's at Aphrodite or the Pink Palace. Otherwise, I'm boned unless Ricketts has it.
Anyway, we arrived in Santorini Monday (4th) evening. Unbelievable. The large "C" was like something out of a movie - the tiny white houses all clumped together on the top of the massive cliffs... from the sea it looks like coconut sprinkles on a huge chocolate donut-half. Nuts. We arrived at our hotel (which was very awesome), got some grub, and hit the market area. Truly spectacular views looking down over the houses as they perch precariously on the cliffs edge with nothing but a 200 foot vertical drop between them and the sea.
Got up in the morning on the 5th to explore the island, but got somewhat thwarted by the incredibly unorthodox bussing system in place, so we just decided we'd stay in Fira (the town). Went up to Ia for the famous sunset - again - absolutely spectacular. This place is so beautiful. Truthfully, even pictures barely do it justice. Speaking of which, stay tuned for pictures as well. I've just got to figure out how I'm going to incorporate them into this blog. After the sun went down and all the actors posing as crazy people began their routine (ask me about it sometime), we bussed it on back home, got a few bottles of Santorini wine and had ourselves a little picture reviewing session in the hostel room. That was cool. Santorini can be a little touristy at times but is nonetheless unbelievably beautiful.
QOTD: "I got a picture of Donkey Love" - Ginny, regarding a donkey poster (continuing the donkey joke from France)
Arriving in Santorini on the ferry
The view from above our hostel in Fira - looking at the volcanic island.
The Eurotrip 3
Precariously perched houses
Beautiful architecture
Reid & Santorini
The bluest sky I've ever seen
No. Really. The bluest sky ever.
Church bells
Blue roof
Ia, the community on the northern tip of Santorini
Buildings in Ia
Ring my bell
Ia
Reidia
Ginny artsy shot 1
Blue roofs
The northern tip of Ia
Ginny artsy shot 2
The windmill
Ia at dusk
Ia at dusk
The Greek flag refused to co-operate
Ginny, reflecting
Ia at dusk (the stone ruins on the right is where we watched the sunset with all the actors pretending to be crazy people)
Looking back towards Ia from the stone fort
Coconut sprinkles on the giant chocolate 'C'
(Looking back at Fira from Ia)
Sunset in Santorini
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