Truly I've been blessed by the hostel gods. The first hostel I stayed at in Barcelona amazed me. Right on the beach, only €21, walking distance to allthe sights, clean rooms, only 7 beds to a room with a private bath for the room, laundry (not free, but not any more expensive than laundromats around here), and free wifi. Other than they forgot to turn on the a/c so it got swelteringly hot in there, and the fact that there was a theif about (though I kept my stuff locked to keep from getting it stolen), I thought it was the nicest we'd ever find. I was leery of hostels, as I've never been in any before.
But I was, indeed, wrong! The next hostel we have come to (where we are now) is called Villa St Exbury in Nice, France.
It's a bit further from the beach, but they offer free shuttle rides to and from the tram stop, it's cheaper, have super-nice rooms, a seperate girls' dorm (which I walked into by accident--they should really put up a warning sign), a bar with €1 local beer and wine,
free breakfast (12 kinds of cereal + French breads w/ spreads) and a cheap (yet delicious) restaurant for dinner.
If things continue getting better with every hostel we stay at, pretty soon we'll be staying in a three-bedroom suite for €7 per night!
One of the things I've found most interesting about Europe--and I noticed this last time I was here too--is how much land looks like land everywhere. Every place is unique, sure, but unique in a similar manor. Any type of terrain you can find in Europe, you can find somewhere in America that is similar. What really makes the difference is the history, the culture, the people, and the buildings. Buildings here can be hundreds if not thousands of years old--with a rich history and generations of culture growth and change. America I fairly new. Aside from the Native Americans who didn't leave behind all that much that stood the test of time (and that's not a dig at the Natives--the way the preserved the land and beauty is something I appreciate). In some parts of America we consider things as far back as the 1950's to be "historic sites". Here you'll find actual stone buildings that are older than my country that have verizon and mcdonald's ads all over them.
So while the landscapes can be amazing, you'll find more untouched beauty in the states (or other places with a younger industrialized civilization). What really makes this place fascinating are the little stone cottages hanging out on grassy hills, or the castle tucked away on the coast.
I'm currently sitting on the train that is stopped at the border town of Portbou--on the Spanish side between Spain and France.
If you look closely in the blurry background of this picture you might be able to make out the station name on the sign outside the window. It says "Portbou".
The next stop, I imagine, will be just on the other side of the border at the French town of Cerbere.
Here's a beautiful view of the Mediterranian from the train:
We started this train ride in Barcelona and are now on our way to Montpellier. Hopefully we'll catch a train from there to Nice on the French Riviera. There look to be some real cheap hostels there--from €18. And it seems like one of the best places to base from when visiting the Riviera--simply take a day trip via rail to other small towns further along.
Even though there's supposedly "nothing for tourists to do" in Montpellier, I'd still like to walk around a bit. Although I enjoy museums and "touristy stuff", I like to sometimes just see a place off the tourist path. Maybe I'll see something unique, or meet someone interesting. It would probably help if I spoke a lick of French. Sadly, it probably doesn't matter anyway because I think there's only one hour for the transfer to the Nice train, so I likely won't get a chance to go-a-wanderin'.
On Saturday (may 1st) we're supposed to meet up with one of Jessica's friends in Munich, so we may not get to stay long on the Riviera. It's a good 14-16 hour train ride to Munich. We may not even be able to take it all in one trip. We may have to overnight to Italy then overnight again to Munich. We'll see. I hope Jessica enjoys meeting up with her friend--she's seemed a bit depressed lately.
Last night we fell asleep in Madrid, and this morning we awoke in Barcelona!
Barcelona has seemed to be way better than Madrid--admittedly, I didn't get to see much of Madrid. Even though we spent two days there, Jessica didn't ever want to do anything, and I was very tired and uncomfortable so I wasn't all that keen on the idea either. I'd like to go for a couple of walks through the city in Madrid and see what's all there, but I could certainly spend more time here in Barcelona. We leave tomorrow at 08:00, but we'll probably come back--we have to be in the general "Madrid" area of Europe anyway for the last two weeks of our trip (our Eurail pass runs out then), and Barcelona isn't *too* far away, so it's possible we can hang out here for most of those last two weeks. Nice beach, seemingly nice people, lots of cool stuff to see. I probably still would've rather spent more time in Italy, but Barcelona is pretty damn cool.
I think a big part of the reason we're enjoying Barcelona more than Madrid is we got a hostel. A beautiful hostel right on the beach called the Sea Point Hostel (special thanks to that guy who messaged me about it on Facebook--we took your advice and are glad we did!) For the bunk for the night it only costs us €21 each per night. And considering the night train from Madrid to Barcelona costs us €18.75 each, and a locker at the train station is €4.5 (that we share, making the individual price €2.25), the price for the night train and the locker is the same as the price of this hostel. And the hostel has a shower. So we may be better off taking day trains, or maybe a night train that's not a sleeper (just snatch what we can in a first-class chair--which is a bit cheaper) and then getting a hostel where we arrive. That way maybe we can do hostels every other night. I don't know exactly, we're going to keep trying different things. But today, the hostel, ESPECIALLY the shower, were amazing. I tell you, I think the best moment of my life up until now was when that shower hit me in the face for the first time. I've spent longer periods of time without a shower, but never with a partner who bitches at you about your smell all the time (I swear, I use tons of deodorant, take sink showers, even use those shower-wipes, but there's only so much stink I can take off without a good ol' fashioned shower), and I feel just gross because of the weather and humidity, and I feel bad for the people around me, because I know I smell. It's not like I'm camping--where I rarely get to take a shower, but I'm out in the open air, not cramped in a train cabin. Urban stink is way worse than rural stink. Believe that. But I digress...
So Barcelona was great. After we arrived at the Barcelona Sants station, we had to take another train to the Barcelona Franca station (which is where we were able to buy our tickets into France for tomorrow) and took a short (maybe 1-2km) walk to the hostel on the beach. Obviously, since we took a sleeper train, we got there early. Check-in wasn't until 13:00, but we were able to make reservations, pay for the beds, and lock our backpacks up in their baggage room--all done by 11:00. So we had two hours to kill. Jessica wanted to sit on the beach and read the Rick Steves guidebook section on Barcelona (which is quite extensive), while I had spent the 22 hours we spent at the Madrid train station yesterday doing just that, so I wanted to go do something. So we made the agreement that I would go for a walk, and she would sit and read the book. We'd meet back at 13:00 to check in, take long-dreamed-of showers, and and then go do something. So I went for a walk.
My plan was to walk down to La Rambla and do the "La Rambla Ramble" as Rick Steves suggests. For those of you that don't know, La Rambla is a main street that starts at one landmark (Mirador de Colon) and ends at another (Pl. Catalunya). Or, depending on your point of view, it starts at the later and ends at the first. Anyway, the walk is a lot like Venice beach, or a flea market, or all of Berkley combined. With a few tourist things (like a wax museum), and a few ancient things (like the Baroque Church). There were lots of street performers--particularly variations on the human statue--several in what seemed to be a local historical style (like Baroque, Gothic, etc.). Then come back.
Anyway, that was my plan. What I ended doing was walk through the Moll d' Espana, past the L'Aquarium, and onto Port Vell. Where I crossed over a newly created wooden bridge the "Rambla de Mar" which dropped me off at the bottom of La Rambla, which I then walked though quickly (didn't stop to see much that I would've liked to), ended at the fountains at the end, and thought I'd take the shorter route back--largely because it passed by the Barcelona Cathedral. I was running late, so I didn't have a chance to go in, but there was some kind of orchestra playing out front with a bunch of people in big circles dancing a weird dance. I took a short video of it that I'll try to upload.
I walked back through various side-streets whose buildings were made of stone and were easily twice the age of my country. I took pictures of the architecture too.
Also on the way back were these street performers, one of which looked like he was playing a didgeridoo.
When I got back (a half hour late--of which Jessica was understandably upset about), we checked in, took the most amazing showers of our lives (well, it was for me, anyway), Then decided to go to the Picasso Museum. We weren't originally going to go because according to the Rick Steves guide it is only free on the first Sunday of every month, but it turns out it's free after 3pm on every Sunday. So we just made it. We met a girl that's staying in our dorm with us who was very nice (and the first normal-type person we've met) and we got to talking with and ended up going with.
The Picasso Museum was amazing. As you would imagine, TONS of works by Picasso. From his early years, arranged chronologically through his life. Showed how his paintings morphed from childish drawings to portoraits and copies of famous works (two of which I had just seen the other day in the Prado), through his blue period, to his rose period, and on to cubisim. We weren't supposed to take pictures, but I managed to snap two while the attendants weren't looking.
After we left the Picaso Museum, we started heading back when we ran into the Museu Barbier-Mueller d'Art Precolombi (pre-Columbian art museum). It too was free Sunday afternoon!
After that museum, we decided we'd like to see the Barcelona Cathedral (the one I just took a breif look at as I walked by), so we walked there and took a quick peek inside. It too was free (I don't know if it always is or not). As we were leaving they were about to start mass, but I couldn't convince Jessica to stay for it.
Then we got some dinner and headed back to the Hostel where I am now! Tomorrow we head to Montpellier, and hopefully catch a connection to Paris or Nice (Hopefully Nice).
I think I made a mistake. I should've booked a hotel room for at least the first couple nights--at least so I'd have a couple days to understand the rail systems, good places to nap, and other things necessary for us to get acclimated to a more hobo syle travel. It looks like, at least here in Madrid, we could take an 9-hr, first class, over-night train ride from here to Barcelona for only €6. And that would get us into the VIP lounge here at the rail station where they offer free drinks, a place to lounge, and showers! So we're going to do that tomorrow.
Other things I've learned so far--when taking a nap in a park, don't lock your sleeping bag and jacket in the train station locker beforehand. Also, closely inspect the grass you're going to lay down on to make sure there's no dog poop that you're going to get all over your clothes.
Anyway, those things (along with that pick-pocket guy from last night) I'm going to chalk up to 'first time in Europe blunders' that aren't going to happen again. I'm still hopeful (strike that, confident) that things will get better and this trip will end up being magical!
I know, I can't believe this is the first thing I ate when I got o Europe either.
To be fair, we hadn't gotten much sleep as of late, neither of us felt that good, and all those *exotic* foods we almost got were too expensive--especially considering how we were feeling.
I skirted my first pick-pocket attempt today. Rick Steves (from the guidebooks) stresses the importance of being outgoing to enjoy your European adventure. Meeting people from other cultures and interacting with them in a non-touristy manor is a big part of his schtick. A big part of the reason I allowed myself to go against my better judgement and ask Jessica to come with me was because she's never seemed particularly shy to me. So I was bound and determined to make new friends, meet interesting people, and really enjoy this trip. Jessica did a 180 on me. She's been silent this whole trip. Whenever people talk to her, she completely ignores them. She's told me to ignore them too, and stop so much as acknowledging their presence. This is my normal state. But because of Rick, I've been trying to be more friendly. I guess I just pick the wrong people to interact with because they end up almost always being either beggars or, like this last guy, a pick-pocket.
Admittedly, this was my own fault. It was 10:30 at night, I was trying to find a ticket counter, nothing is open, the platforms are abandoned, and one guy comes up and is friendly, asking me where I'm from, where I'm going. Helps me find the gate (a gate, anyway, I didn't ever see if it was even the right one). He shakes my hand, talks about football, and starts doing some kind of jig singing something about Barcelona. It didn't occur to me what was going on until I realized his other hand was just pushing inside my pants pocket.
Now, I'm not a complete idiot. I'm wearing a money belt with most my valuables in it under my clothes. But I keep another wallet with a spare ID, my student ID, a backup debit card, and about $100 of assorted euros and dollars in it (so I don't have to undress every time I want to pay for something). In my other pocket is my iPhone--perpetually in airplane mode that I just use to take pictures, write notes, keep accounting, and write these blog posts for later posting when I have internet. Also, to keep pick-pockets from having an easy time, I have both pockets stuffed with train time tables, all different tourist maps, and other assorted directional aids. I figured that'd keep them handy, and if I'm stupid enough to let a theif's hand in my pocket, the bulk will make it more likely I can tell--and less likely he'll get anything of value.
Well, it worked. I knew instantly, and I grabbed that motherfucker's wrist. My face contorted, I was shocked and outraged, and he kept smiling, chatting like nothing happened, then tried to shake jessica's hand when I let go of him. While I had control of his wrist and other hand, I at least knew he couldn't pull a knife or anything, and I quickly considered if I should squeeze hard, shove him, hit him, throw him to the ground, yell at him, or just gently release him and walk away. Pretty quickly I realized how alone we were in that area, and he might've had a buddy or something nearby, so I thought I wouldn't do anything else stupid, so I let him go, checked to see both my wallet and iPhone were still there (they were), and got Jessica and left quickly.
The Prado museum was just amazing. They allow free entry from 6-8pm (we got in line about 20 'till), though they do make you rent a locker for €1 if you have a bag--however they give you the €1 back when you pick up your bag! At least, my locker did. I don't know if it was supposed to or not, but I was pleaently surprised.
Anyway, back to the museum--I'm nor sure if I was more amazed by the size of some of those canvases, or the size of the building that holds them. I've been to a few museums before, but I don't think I've ever seen 15th, 16th, & 17th century canvas oil paintings that were...well, larger than most walls. Some of those paintings had to be 20'x30'. Just amazing. I took this picture of one of the smaller paintings with a person in the forefront to give you an idea of perspective (I took this picture before they came over and told us to stop taking pictures.
The perspective may not be as easy to see as I'd hoped, but this painting was at least six feet tall.
And the beauty and magesty of the works. Wow. I'm not the most artistic person--or the most knowledgable about the subject, so I my not have gotten out of it what some might, but I was certainly amazed and impressed. None of my previous trips to Europe afforded me the opportunity to see any of the amazing art museums, so this trip I certainly plan to.
I'll have to pace myself, though. This museum was pretty well obvious as to the layout, but it was somewhat labrynth-like. And the sheer volume. Dozens of giant rooms over three floors. I never even got all the way through the first floor. And half the paintings didn't have enlish plaques, so I didn't stop to read them all like I would've normally. I wonder how I'm going ever get through the louvre if I can't even make it through these three floors. Admittedly, I've had maybe three hours of fitful sleep over the last two days, so I've been pretty tired to begin with. Hopefully tonight I'll get a good full night's sleep so I'll be better able to do more tomorrow.
Anyway, if you ever get to Madrid, I highly recommend the Museo de Prado. 6-8pm for free--and it's easily worth twice that!
It's unbelievable, a few hours ago we were taking off from Orlando, and now I'm finally doing the European packpacking trip I've always dreamed of!
At least I'm hoping it will be. I'll be honest, I'm a little nervous about the whole thing. In particular, the lack of places to sleep. And the limited finances worries me a tad.
But I'm here, finally! And I'm not going to let anything bring me down! Yay Europe!
Would you like to know the best thing about the Denver airport? Free wifi! I've always loved that about this airport.
That's a picture of me and my beard in Denver. I love that I can fall asleep in one city and wake up half way across the country. Hopefully it'll happen again soon--they've just started boarding for my Orlando flight.
I bought my first iPhone app today. I've always only used the free ones. I know one can easily spend a fortune on micro-purchases like those $0.99 - $4.99 apps available all over the app store. So up until now, I've gotten by with only free ones. But I've been looking at blogpress for quite some time now. I've wanted a convenient app for writing on my blogspot blog, and although there are a few free blog writer apps out there, this one seems to be the most comprehensive--supposedly the picture support is good, it can upload and link videos to your YouTube account, and it even does automatic Twitter and facebook updates. So I figured I'd splurge and pay the $2.99 for this one app. I may not be willing to spend that kind of dough on games and the like, but what with this trip to Europe and all, I thought this might be the easiest way to keep my blog updated--complete with pictures and videos.
The main bummer, though, is that I won't be able to use the cell phone part of my iPhone in Europe--I had originally hoped to be able to just swap out the sim card with a local Europe-based one--but due to technical difficulties I was forced to upgrade to stock 3.1.3 firmware before the dev team had released a jailbreak and unlock. I'm hoping they'll release one soon--preferably by Wednesday--but I guess that largely depends on when the 4.0 firmware comes out. Chances are good the 4.0 firmware won't come out until right before the new iPhone is released, and that pobably won't be for at least another month. Sad face. But I suppose I can just turn off the cell part of my iPhone and use it like an iTouch--connecting to the Internet at wifi hotspots and using those times to update my blog. It isn't clear yet if this app allows me to create blog entries and save them for later posting. I hope to hell it does.
You can expect a few test blog entries like this one as I attempt to learn this new interface. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of me at the airport:
Today marks officially the last day of my time here in Los Angeles. It's had its ups and downs (mostly ups) but I'm definitely ready to move on. Tomorrow morning at 6:25am I'll be on a plane Orlando-bound. And from there, a couple days later, I'll be on my way to Europe.
I've been planning this Europe backpacking trip for so long, I'm really excited and happy it's finally happening. I will miss some aspects of LA, though. Most particularly, my grandma. I think I've spent more time with her this trip than in the entirety of the rest of my life combined. She's been super generous, what with letting me disrupt her life for so many months and all. And it's truly been great getting to spend so much time with her.
I also loved the fact that I got to be in a movie. I can't wait until it comes out so I can try to freeze-frame it and get a screen capture of me. It was one of the most fun experiences of my life.
Living on my boat was especially fun, even though I never got a chance to take it sailing. Plus there's Disneyland, the beautiful beaches, and all the fun opportunities.
I really love my life in Maui, but Maui certainly has its drawbacks. Particularly so many fewer jobs and opportunities to do different things. It's very isolated, and mostly rural. Which suits me more, I think. Though I will miss the convenience of the big city. And just the convenience of the mainland. If I was forced to live on the mainland, in a big city, Los Angeles might very well be the place I'd choose. Great weather, nice beaches, everything you could possibly want. The biggest problems with LA are all the people, the traffic, and the lack of public transport. I would say, though, that I certainly had the right idea--if I were to move back here, I'd move into a boat again. That was the cheapest rent by far--and, only steps from the beach.
If I ever find myself sick of Hawaii with no job and nothing to do, maybe I'll come back and pursue an actual acting career. I think that would be fun. And while I may never be a star, I think I could at the very least make enough money with background acting to live comfortably off.
Anyway, all in all, I had a great time here. But I look with anticipation toward my future.
