Home Tomorrow

After about six months, four countries, a bunch of cities and a ton of new friends, I'll be home tomorrow! It's bitter sweet, I loved living here in Bilbao, but I'm so excited to come home.  I couldn't be more excited to see my family and my friends.  24 hours of travel is even killing my mood, it might even be 25, who cares?

Madrid #2

My first time on a high-speed train, it brought us back to Madrid for another night.  Lacey had some distant family that has been living in Madrid and we wanted to meet up with them.  Her aunt took us to a tapas bar where we got the best food I have had on my whole European trip.  The freshest food I have had in six months, fresh tuna, delicious steak and some very good red wine.  It was also great to be with someone that acted like family, it’s a welcome feeling when traveling. We had four stops, in three amazing cities, in only 9 days.  Definitely my favorite trip in the last six months. I was able to share it with a great friend and meet many new ones. 

Seville

The same fear hit us when we got to Seville, the ugly city and this one was also dirty. Lacey and I considered cutting the stay in Seville short, but decided to stick it out.  The hostel there was the most luxurious I had stayed it in Europe, big kitchen, terrace, garden, and showers.  Once we got around to seeing the rest of the city it was actually very nice.  The old town was beautiful and had orange trees everywhere.  It was purposefully designed as a sort of maze, to confuse invading armies and apparently tourists.  We relaxed a bit more in Seville, enjoying the weather and making delicious food in the big kitchen.  About 90% of our trip was spent eating, cooking, talking about or finding food, something I hadn’t been able to enjoy for a long time because of the high costs of Euro food. 

Granada

Another five hours of bus and Lacey and I hit Granada.  I was terrified at first because the area around the Granada bus station was ugly and boring.  I immediately wished we had done a little more research. Luckily, where we stayed in the city was much nicer, and probably the most beautiful Spanish city I had been to.  Granada was what I had pictured when I imagined my trip to Spain.  Small narrow, old concrete streets and white buildings, and Moroccan style shops lining the streets.  In the distance we could see the unofficial 8^th wonder of the world, the Alhambra, sitting in lights on the top of a big hill.  Our hostel was also pretty cool, like being with family you had never met.  They cooked dinner every night, everyone was very interesting, and there was a tree house and many kinds of hang out areas. 

Madrid

Madrid wasn’t as big or as Spanish as I had hoped, but it was a lot of fun.  The hostel we stayed at was really good at organizing things to do for everyone staying there.  We dropped our stuff and ran to meet up with everyone else and run around Madrid.  What we didn’t expect was to meet so many Americans. Seems it was spring break in the European universities and they had all flocked to Spain for a good time.  We met people from all over the states and a couple people from around the world. 

Lacey Comes to Visit

It’s just different.  I’ve made a lot of friends here, people from all around the world, and a few that I really think will last for a long time.  But it just doesn’t compare to my friends from home.  Lacey got to Bilbao a day or two before my birthday and it was exactly what I needed.  Back home I’ve got the some great friends, irreplaceable, and it was great to have one of them come visit.  I was able to show her some of what I’d been up to and where I’ve been for the last six months.  Three weeks and my birthday with one of my best friends was much needed. 

New Year's Eve

After having a big holiday dinner with a Argentinean family that my friend Denn knew in Barcelona, we took off to celebrate the new year.  The fiesta we were off to was in an arena, enormous.  We could hear the music from blocks away and could see masses of people flocking to the party.  It was totally overwhelming when we finally got there, thousands of people, booming music, and flashing lights.  The biggest craziest party I have ever been to.  At the end of the weekend, I had taken two overnight buses, saw the entire city, and slept for a grand total of about 6 hours, but it was completely unforgettable. 

Friends Leaving

At the end of January I had to say goodbye to the best friends that I had made here in Spain, Stef and Denn. These two had traveled around with me and we had some great times.  A bit sad to say goodbye, but pretty cool when I think that if I hadn't made this trip, I probably never would have met them.  It's amazing when someone is only in your life for a short time, but still manages to make life beautiful. 

Sorry about the pictures...

If you want to see pictures you'll have to click on the link on the right of the page, I haven't been able to post any on here for a while.  There you will see every single picture I have taken on my trip, I think it's up to about 2,000.

Paris

The first conversation i had with my roommate in my Paris hostel started with learning that he had helped to rob a bank in Budapest and had been homeless on the streets of Paris for the last four years.  As we kept talking he was actually a cool guy, he'd been all over Europe and spoke four languages, he even threw me a couple beers.  He told me all about the city and ended up being one of the more memorable people on my travels.  I spent the next couple days wandering the city, seeing the Eiffel tower, Arc de Triumph and the Louvre.  I think the Louvre has more Egyptian artifacts and mummies then Egypt and i was able to see the Mona Lisa, which was actually kind of disappointing because it's about the size of a postage stamp.  I made some friends from Australia and Seattle and drank and dashed from a bar with terrible service.  We checked out a Jazz bar that had a piano player and a beautiful french girl singing some french jazz songs. 

London Calling

After a short plane ride and a quick trip on a bus I was in London.  The cold rainy air was a bit refreshing, like being home.  On the way to the hostel I had to flee from the advances of a strange old man, luckily I was wearing my Nikes. After getting my room I was took off to explore the city with some other travelers.  We jumped around the city to see Big Ben, Parliament, and Shakespeare's Globe Theater. After a couple beers and meeting some new people the prejudices of her majesty's subjects began to come loose.  They couldn't stop talking about how ugly my American accent was, how rude! Other than that it was an amazing trip.

When In Rome...

From Milan I took the overnight train into Rome, which was about nine hours in the sleeper car.  I was obviously a little confused when I arrived, because I walked the wrong way for about an hour, so I was able to see a lot of boring apartment buildings, haha.  After trying to buy an apple at a fruit stand, and not making much progress, the owner eventually just laughed and gave me a free apple.

After finally getting orientated and finding my way to a metro station, I walked up the steps from the underground to see the THE COLOSSEUM. It was amazing, larger than I had ever imagined and overwhelming.  After drooling for a bit and taking some pictures I bumped into a nice German girl that was seeing the Colosseum as well.  We checked out some other sites together including Nero's Palace, Foro Romano, the Arch of Constantine, the Castle of Angels, and St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. The inside of St Peter's more beautiful than any other building I have seed, a masterpiece. Later that night I met up with my new friend and some other students to go to an Erasmus party, where we danced all night to some weird Italian techno music.

The next day I met some American friends from my hostel at the Pantheon, which, again, was so much bigger than it seems on TV or in pictures, and so well preserved. We were able to get some amazing pasta at a local restaurant and see some other sites.  Unfortunately many of the sites charge admission fees, fortunately I was smart enough to sneak in the exit for free.  That night I was also able to make a wish in the Trevi Fountain and see some more of the city.

Rome is by far the most b-e-a-utiful city I have ever seen.  They have worked the ancient structures into the city so well, there is something amazing to see everywhere.  It was the perfect trip, and was always my #1 destination.  A dream come true!

Ciao Milano

Traveling on a budget takes a long time, but I finally got to Milan.  I stumbled around the city for a bit, after a cab driver offered to drive me 1.5k (about a mile) for 20 euros ($24), I told him in a very polite way, "no way, Jose." I had a bit of time to kill before meeting my host, so I found a cool bakery and attempted to talk to an Italian guy who didn't speak English or Spanish, but we managed to have somewhat of a conversation.  For the most part Italians were really cool and kind.  After wandering around a supermarket for some more food, the manager demanded to search my backpack, after finding nothing he didn't apologize but simply said "ok." haha what a jerk!

After that I met up with my host, he made me some schnitzel and some french fries and we grabbed a couple beers at a local pub.  Probably the first good beer I'd had since coming to Europe, a German beer.  The next day I met up with Meg, my Italian friend, to check out Milan.  The coolest part was the Duomo, a Gothic style Cathedral that is the 4th largest church in the world and it has been under construction for over 500 years.  It was pretty amazing. I got my first Italian pizza, some delicious Gelato and we were able to see the rest of the city that day.

The city has a lot of people trying to sell useless toys, or trying to con you into buying dinky bracelets for 20 euros.  But besides all that it was pretty cool, a very modern city.  

¿Donde estan los toros?

San Fermin isn't until July, but I had to see the famous city of Pamplona.  Unfortunately, we couldn't catch the bus until 1:00 in the afternoon, so we decided to make an overnight trip.  The bus ride to Pamplona was beautiful,  it cut through the countryside, sandwiched between mountains and cliffs.  The colors in Spain aren't as strong, and are dull compared to the strong greens and the fall colors back home in Oregon, but despite this, they were still beautiful.  The bus station in Pamplona is hidden under an old military fort that is now restored as a park, very impressive  The city was gorgeous, with fall trees and enormous walls from fortification hundreds of years ago. 


My friends and I spent the day seeing the city and tasting the food.  We planned on staying out all night, to take in as much as possible. However, when they got too tired we had to find a place to sleep.  The problem was it was already 3:00 in the morning. We walked around looking for cozy corners to sleep in and we ended up sneaking into the bus station to sleep in the stairwell.  Probably not the most comfortable sleep I've ever had, the floor was rock hard and a little chilly, but it is an experience, and even though it wasn't comfortable, it made the trip unforgettable. After a couple hours we woke up to catch the bus, and I don't think either of us were functioning fully.  I've been thinking about one thing lately, time is one thing that you can't change, fix or repair.  Experiences are so important, and it was an amazing trip.

Ameraoke!

This sold out event featured a friend who had visited from our United States, some other traveler friends, and a lot of old Spaniards.  Karaoke is one of the things I had missed about the states, something fun and goofy that guarantees a good time.  I wasn't quite on top of my game however, vocals were raspy from my lingering sickness (hopefully making a rugged handsome tone), and the lyrics were more difficult than I remembered.  But, I had the time of my life, haha.

Halloween Schmalloween...

Since I arrived I had been so excited about Halloween.  I didn't know if people here tricked or maybe treated, or dressed up, or carved pumpkins. Turns out a lot of people missed out on some fun, unfortunately I was right there with them. Come the frightful day, I was sneezing, coughing, and sweating my way through the day, and in bed.  After I finally mustered up the strength to disguise myself as a half-ass American cowboy, I moseyed off to the town to meet some friends and celebrate the day of ghosts and ghouls.  I spotted Freddy Krueger (pretty sure I was awake for this one, and not dreaming), a ghost or two, and a witch.  But for the most part people were just out to party and celebrate not having to go to work the next day.  My friends and I played some games before heading out to party.  Then the lameness set in, we ended up just hanging out, which was fun... but not Halloween fun.  I'll have to come back strong next year... maybe as Che Guevara or Bruce Lee!

Spanish Castle Magic

Here, the word for having a chest cold or being congested is constipado.  So, you could say I woke up constipado this morning.  Although that sounds similar to the word constipated, it's only a funny coincidence.  After a bit of rolling around, I forced my self to get out of bed and take advantage of the day.  Some friends and I trekked to a castle outside of Plentzia.  La Castilla de Butron was about a two hour walk/hike that followed la ria for most of the way.  Although it was described as a small castle, to me it seemed quite large and a picture perfect image of what we imagine castles to be... minus the moat.  So, we would have had no trouble breaking into this castle.  We took along my friend's dog, the first dog I have been able to spend time with since leaving home sweet home, a German Shepherd named Blitz.  I had been missing man's best friend, and Ella!

Spanish Nightlife

This weekend I had my first piece of the Spanish nightlife, and it was a blast.  I met a couple new friends to go to an Erasmus Party at a local bar.  The bars are pretty empty until about one in the morning and they stay open all night.  Besides that, they weren't very different from bars in America, but it was cool getting to meet some other travelers and college students.  We also got into the VIP section of one of the bars, free drinks and fancy chairs.  Don't worry though, I made it home safe and unharmed.  By the way, that was my first real night on the town, so no need to worry.

We Travel By Land

My first bit of travel within Spain was to San Sebastian on Saturday.  The weather was perfect and the atmosphere was a bit different than that of Bilbao.  My new American friend and I took the bus for about an hour and a half to the small beach city, and it ended up costing less than 15 euros round trip.  The Old Town section had a beautiful charm.  We stumbled into a crowd or about 100 people singing a Basque song in a beautiful harmony.  The pintxos in San Sebastian are the best I have had yet, although they were a bit more expensive.  We were able to find some magnificent buildings and spend some time on the soft sands of the beach.  There were many other travelers and we were able to find some Americans also, a good find. 

Making Camp

After some time to settle in, I was able to get down to business.  What was unexpected, was how similar Spain is to the United States.  I had envisioned a new lifestyle bursting with a totally new culture, but the adjustments that I've made weren't very big.  There are still mega-marts, shopping malls, American music, and American movies.

The food here has been delicious, but almost overwhelming so.  Bars, cafes, bakeries, and restaurants are constantly surrounding you and amazing food is always on display.  The bars here are a lot more acceptable and pleasant than most in the states, more like a cafes than bars.  They display their pintxos along the bar on platters for customers to ogle while they enjoy their tasty Spanish wine, a brilliant way to entice customers to order more food.  I assume the Spaniards drinking beer aren't enjoying it, however, Spanish cerveza isn't as tasty as the brews we have at home. The Spanish pintxo bars make for a very social atmosphere and a great way to meet new people. 

I've been able to make some friends since I have arrived, but I have also realized how the language barrier makes it very difficult at times.  So, for now I'm looking for friends who speak some English.  Now, bumping into an English speaker is like finding money in an old jacket, and it is just about impossible to ignore.  "You speak English!" has become my favorite pick-up line.

While the food is delicious, it is only my number two, favorite thing about Spain so far.   The part that keeps my jaw hanging low is the architecture.  The history and the details in Spanish architecture keeps me in aw everywhere I go.  The old cathedrals, palaces, and museums are spectacular, and I wish their full beauty could have been captured in my pictures.