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Published: December 10th 2007
6-23-07
I got up around 7:30 after a good nights rest and headed for the bus station. I got there and still had some time so I went to find breakfast. Of course no eggs to be found. I found a pastry place and got a couple pastries unsure of what they would taste like and I convinced them to sell me a liter of milk for a euro as well. They did not have small containers of milk. I didn't even think about it being warm and how I was going to get it open as it was in a cardboard box like container. I walked back to the bus station and had breakfast. Just plain donuts would have been better, but it is kind of hard to find them. The milk I tried to open with my powerful fingers, but I resorted to getting my fingernail (sounds so much better than toenail) clippers out and got the box cut so I could make the opening bigger with my powerful fingers. I had to now use the restroom as the bus trip was 3 hours and I did not know if they would stop somewhere along the way or if
there was a restroom on the bus. I couldn't find an ideal location, like a restroom, so I had to improvise. Their was an old railroad bed nearby with a bush growing up around the abandoned tracks, which served the purpose well. After that I waited awhile longer and talked to some folks from Sweden. They were on their way to Sevil as well. The bus arrived and to my dismay it appeared full. I was expecting this to be the first stop on the route for some reason, but it obviously was not. There were only a few seats available on the bus. I sat by a lady that had her bag on the seat and I ask her if I could sit there? She said sure a little disgruntled about having someone else sitting by her. There were 3 American college kids in front of me, 2 guys and a girl that had obviously partied all night. They slept for a substantial part of the trip and talked about the previous night. The guy said he couldn't remember some of the things that he had done, which I do not buy. I have never once forgotten anything I
have done while intoxicated. I think it is just a way for a person to feel better about something they should not have done and would not have done if sober. Yea alcohol is a very serious drug when used in excess just like pot is a serious drug when used in an excess. The alcoholic though scares me a lot more than the pot head.
People are always finding ways to justify doing things that they should not do. The human race has an insatiable ability to rationalize anything. I have seen it so many times in my life. They rationalize things to help justify how they obtain money or power or sex. There is always an angle to make things seem ok. We all do it.
About half way through the trip, the bus driver stopped the bus at a bus station and said we have 15 minutes. Most people got off and used the restroom or got some food. I walked away from the station looking for some cheap food, but really did not find any. I really was not hungry and was just killing time. I need to quit eating for those reasons although
I am definitely not gaining any weight. Things have been really hectic these days. When your traveling by yourself there really is no time to be lazy as you must do all the planning, all the safe guarding, etc.
We got back on the bus and the lady by me and the lady in the seat to my left were not back. They were traveling together. I am not sure why they were not sitting together. The bus driver walked through the aisle and I told him they were not back in the best hand gestures I could give as his English was not too good. He went back outside and waited. It had been over 25 minutes. They showed up and did not seem to be rushed. I pointed to my watch when the lady sat down by me and she did not seem too worried. It takes all kinds to make the world go around. I figured the bus driver would wait an additional 5 minutes, but waiting 10 minutes when you only had 15 minutes to begin with seemed a little ridiculous.
We were back on the road and the next part of the trip
seemed to go pretty quickly. We arrived at the bus station and I got off and asked a security person how to get to the train station. He indicated I should take a taxi. I said too costly and ask about a bus their and he said no bus close. I could not believe there were no buses to the bus station? I told him to give me a general direction to go and I began walking that way.
It was hot and I was getting hot and the backpack seemed to get heavier. It is funny how that works hand in hand. I went into a sunglass store and of course they did not have fit overs and I ask them for directions and they mentioned there is a tourist information place in the Plaza Nuovo. I headed in that direction and found the center with some added help but of course the tourist information center was closed. I ask another security guard for directions and he said I should take a taxi. I told him there are no buses or trams in this City? He said he did not know which bus takes you to the train
station and they are building a tram system, but it is not done yet. I saw a big church nearby and ask him if that is one of the big things to see around here and he said yep. I walked over to it and decided to go in while I was there. This is something I would not have to come back to.
The church was enormous. I think it is more amazing than Toledo's. I was glad I went in. I spent probably an hour looking over this monstrasity. What were these people thinking when they built these churches?
After spending time at this church I found a toursit information center and ask for the top five things to see. They gave me a map and circiled the big items. They also showed me where there's a bus that goes to the train station. It was hot and I was grateful that I would not have to walk. At the train station I got my ticket for the night train. It was about 3 in the afternoon and I had not eaten so I went to a bar close and got some food and had a
Foster. This place had about 20 beers on the menu but the cool thing is they were from all around the world. I have always liked Fosters and not had one for a long time so that's what I went for. The light colored beers always seem pretty much the same to me but for whatever reason foster seems a little different as well as Stag of which I am not a big fan of. Some beers I like more for tradition than flavor. Fat Tire for example I always drink when I go to the ski resorts in Denver. At the Dillon Dam Brewery there is a beer I always refer to as Sweet Georgia Brown but I know it is called something different like Georgia Brown but I always forget the exact name.
I really the enjoed the meal and could have sat in that bar all day and drank but I knew I would regret doing so on several levels. I did not spend this much time or money to come to Europe to sit around and drink beer.If I could speak the language maybe I would because then I would enjoy talking to the locals
and who knows make some new friends, but to sit there by myself all day and drink beer no. I was not going to be doing that.
I headed back to the bus staion and went back to the area I was just that. It felt good to get the backpack off which I left at the Train Station for a cost of 3 euros. I really need to do that more often. My arches at time are beginning to hurt me and I can not let that get really bad as collapsed arches are slow to heal.
Once getting back I stopped at the park and walked around it. This was an amazing park. It was weird seeing these tropical looking palm tress and all the other vegetation that looks tropical. I guess I never thought this to be a tropical climate but I guess it is. It was brutally hot this day but it didn't feel too bad in the park which was mostly shaded. In this ame park their is a semi-circular building that was huge and intersting. It had tiled pictures of various regions in Spain. There was a mote like area in front
of the building that appeared made for water but there was no water in it. There was a large fountain out front that had water but it was full of algae.
As I walked back into the park I walked into a real neat area with bridges over the water with islands with ducks swimming around etc. I liked this a lot. I then saw two familiar faces sitting on the bridge. It was the two people from Sweden that I had talked to on the bridge. They said they had been to the bullfighting musuem and showed me where it was at. They said it was very cool. That was a little too grotesque for me so I wasn't doing it but thought I would walk past the area just to see what the bullfighting stadium looked like.
From the park I walked to this temple looking place. There are lots of Arabic or Muslim looking stuff in Sevilla. It really is quite the interesting looking area as you see all these different religion and cultural momuments, temples, palaces, churches etc.
I walked from here to the gardin surrounding the palace which I decided not to
go in as I would have to jump the fence as it was closed and probably break some windows. I had hoped I could see into the garden around the palace but couldn't very clearly. On one side of the palace garden pretty close to the Cathedral I had been to earlier there is a cool touristy shopping area. It was ok, but nothing great to me. I am just not into the toursity shopping districts. I walked past the church down to the water front. I think in Ricks book he refers to this walkway as the Paseo not sure I have seen anything referencing that though.
I was getting really hot and felt like my tank was empty. Consequently I went and grabbed a slushy like drink. It was pretty good and helped a little. The reason for me besing so tired I believe is because of that Fosters I had. It was like a 24 ounce drink and really made me tired and lack energy. I remember when I use to play softball I would drink maybe a beer in between games and that seemed to give me a little energy but when I drank more
than 1 it had a negative effect. After walking the river walk area I went over to the bullfighting musuem and was also looking for a cyber café. The Cyber cafes are pretty common in Europe but they are not on every street corner I can assure you that. I never did find the cyber café nor did I find the bullfighting ring and the musuem. The area I thought where it was appeared to be just shops which maybe were on the perimeter of the bullfighting ring as most of the shops had a bullfighting theme. Bullfighting just does not seem like fair chase to me and I am not condoning it nor am I saying it is bad. It is a tradition for a lot of people and their culture so they can go ahead and do it I just will not be taking part in this culture. I heard one guy say that the bulls in Portugal even though they are not killed during the match they are killed afterwards. That is not the way I understood it, but I am not sure who is right.
I was starting to get concerned about getting to the
train station on time si hurried back to the bus stop and did have to wait awhile and then went to the train station. I had a little time to wait but my waiting time is always filled with typing so it seems to go by fast. I heard one person say they feel like they are always waiting on trains. I can see how that might be if your sitting there idle but I am not.
I sat their and began talking to a Canadian that was actually quite interesting. He was travelling for work but also works in holiday time as well. He talked about all kinds of things for about an hour. I was giving away extra cookies I had purchased and the people around me seemed to really enjoy that. I talked to one guy that lives in San Sebastian my first stop in Spain. The Canadian's train was delayed and they did not announce the platform where the train would arrive until just a few minutes before it's arrival. I thought the platform anouncements were not listed very for in advance for security reasons, but I think it is for coordination purposes.
Finally
the Canadians train came and he was off. He was one of those crazy rock climbers. It is amazing though how people who like him who seem very smart do some of the craziest things. That has always seemed so ironic to me. I guess it is aboutmind over matter and being precise with eveything you do. Being intense. I guess the challenge of all this is what drives them, but man the stakes are high.
My train came as well and I went out to my platform and got on the train. I was sleeping with an grandfather and his grandson. The grandfather was retired from the Navy and had married a Spanish lady who has passed on. He is probably in his 60's and lives in Florida. I never dreamed that would be the case as he was of Asian descent. His grandson was about 12 I guess and lived in California for a long time but now was living in Spain. They enjoyed talking and we talked a lot as I tend to enjoy talking as well. I can't imagine how much different I will be when I get back from this trip. I am going
Cool Statues Inside Cathedral
It looks like they are carrying a casket but not sure that is true.to be seeking out foreign people to talk to as I will have something to talk to them about. For worldly people I will always have something to talk about. I am not saying if you do not like to travel and do not think about world things a person is bad. To each his own. Live and let live. You have the right to live your life anyway you want to. I just will have more in common with people now that I have traveled to this extent.
I got out of our compartment and decided to watch the sunset as the sun was low in the sky at the point where it really goes down quick. I was hoping to get a picture of it through the glass of the train but didn't expect the quality to be good. I looked in the direction the train was moving and saw where the flat terrain was rising west of us and thought the sunset might be accelerated. Sure enough after about 2 more minutes of travel the sun had set as it was now below this consistent ridge of hills that rose I estimatet several thousand feet and
stayed there. I went back in my sleeping compartment and talked some more and thought about the weirdness of that sunset. I had never experienced that kind of thing before. It was really weird. After awhile the stewardess like lady came in our compartment and asked if we wanted our beds put down as they were up now and she had a key like device that you needed to use to put the beds down. We said yes and she did her job and we got ready for bed. There was another character in our car that a few piercings and tatoos with weird hair. My stereotyping of this kid said he was up to no good and did not fully trust him. The grandpa and his kid seemed very cool and I knew I had no worrys there. Ok time to get some sleep.
6-24-07
Last night was knd of a weird night. About 1 in the morning I was half awake and thought the punk kid was standing in the aisle way in our compartment. I said something to him but tried to say it softly but felt like I had very little control over how loud
my voice was. I still to this day do not know if he was actually in the aisle or not but I quite certain I said something like "What are you doing," but I suspect it was not coherent.
I had nothing stolen and everyone had a pulse in the morning so everything seemed to have gone all right but I did not have one of my best sleeping nights. I know I stayed awake for awhile due to the thought of that kidding being up moving around but I will never know if he was or not as it was like I was 1/2 a sleep the whole time.
Anyway we arrived in Barcelona and I walked around looking for a hostel and some breakfast. I found a couple hostels but they were both full as they had that big festival that I had missed. I found a Burger King but they do not serve breakfast. Man the Europeans are rough on my breafasts. One of the hostels I asked that she mentioned I should try back around noon as she didn't know if some of the kids were checking out or not. I suggested I leave
my backpack there and told her that way I will definitely be back and I will not look for any other hostels until I find out for sure they are full. She said no you better take your bag. I thought it would be a good business decision for her to keep my backpack but she did not understand the logic. I guess they must not have trouble finding people to fill their hostel. I found an internet site and went in but the people at the Sunway there said the automatic ticket machines do not workand there would be an attendant in about a half hour. It is amazing as know one seems to know when stores will open with much confidence. It is always sometime around 9 or 9:30. Us Americans are much more demanding. A guy came soon and he showed the Subway person that the machine does work and he ask me if I wanted the ticket worth 45 minutes and I said sure. I think maybe he worked at the internet shop. It was a self-service place so normally the attendant did not have to be there for the place to be open. It actually
worked pretty slick and I was happy with it.
I left there and found a tourist information place and asked them some questions of the surrounding area and they said there is another place that provides that information and they close in 2 hours. It was pretty good walk to get there so I headed that way right away even though I was getting hungry. It was really strating to warm up and I felt stressed to a level more than at anytime on this trip. I decided it is time for me to go to the country and just chill out for two days. Of course I wanted the place to be in a region where I could do some hiking. I couldn't totally relax.
After walking for another 30 minutes in the seering heat with backpack on and me feeling like I was 90 years old and not 38 I found the place. The kid that helped me was very helpful and he started piling on the information of the surrounding areas and the available hiking. All the information however he was given me however started stressing me more however and told him we need to
simplify this process. The place I wanted to go Monsterrat (sp). I heard there is good hiking there, but he was not sure of the lodging availability. I was like that is all I need to go there and find out there is no lodging or there is lodging and it was really expensive. Ok after having destressed a little I felt like I was getting stressed again. He provided other places and then called hostels and one was closed and the other was full. I finally ok do you know of any hostels close to here and he looked on the list I had gotten at the train station and after a couple attempts found on that had availability. I said ok I will just go there. For me to go into the country was going to cost me a couple days and that would probably stress me more. He finally found one close that had availability. I thanked him used there restroom as you have to use restrooms here anychance you get as you never know when your next chance might be and headed out.
On the way to the hostel I saw a McDonalds it was
Heat is On
They spray the streets with water on hot days. This was one of those days. about 2 in the afternoon now and I had not eaten any lunch so I went in. I was feeling much more calm nowand enjoyed the lunch. I headed for the hostel and it looked like the average age was about 18. I got checked in at a cost of 23€ in a room with about 12 other people. I had really thought I would meet more people at the hostels but feel I am meeting more through couchsurfing. I really need to focus my energies on couchsurfing I believe as I sleep so much better there.
The room was really hot, but I decided to lay down for awhile. There was another lady in there that I said hi to and ask her about the previous night. She said they did not get in until 9:30 this morning as they were at a all night beach party. Wow that sounded like a crazy night.
After laying down for several minutes I got up and decided to head for the beach. It was about a 25 minute walk and once there I was amazed at how big the beach was. There was several miles of beach and it
Tropical Place
Lots of cool plants are grown around town in Sevil. Extremely beautiful place. was being used. Thousands and thousands of people. Have the women were topless. I suspect they will all be going to straight to hell. I understand most of the topless women are from other countries and must be a bit of exhibitionist. Whenever you walk past some of them they try to cover up. I was told they mainly do that for Americans as they are the ones that look the most. I suspec that has a lot to do with the fact that nudity is such a big deal there. One European made the point that all the pornography comes from America which he implied is because nudity and sex are such big deals over there. A French kid who lived in America told me that kids in France laugh at Americans because on the tv they show us praying. They think us praying is a big joke because of the way we act namely going to war in Iraq, our violent society and our pornography. I think we Americans are big hypocrits, but not to the level that Europeans make us out to be. I think they are hypocrits too in some areas like water usage for example.
At least there toilets use a helluva a lot of water. The person telling me about kids his age, he is about 20, has been to America and said people in America really do pray in an effort to help matters not as a joke. These kids think our praying is a big joke based on our actions. They just see our government they do not see the average American who in my mind is a pretty good person. No one is perfect I know that. There are things that need improved about all cultures. They criticize us for not traveling but I tell them that is just our culture. I come here to see there culture which is a lot different from our culture. If they do not want to see our culture then don't come to see it but don't judge whose culture is right or wrong. Even after they criticize our culture you see our culture all over the place here. In my mind the Europeans are as much hypocrits as we are.
I decide to walk along the beach as my arches are beginning to give me a lot of trouble and walking in the
Beamish and Fosters
You see Guinness on Tap often, but Beamish one of the other thick beers from Ireland is rare. sand barefooted really seems to help. The sand provides consistent support to the bottome of the feet and helps the arches. As I walk along the beach I see a topless lady probably in her 30's holding her baby daughter who is probably 2. She hands the daughter to another topless women who I assume is in her 50's and probably is her mom. I assume the guy next to them is the younger ladys husband. This is just societal decadence. I suspect they will all go straight to hell for this and will not pass Go and will not collect $200. They can't be praying to God. Our leader in America prays to God, even though he starts wars, I am sure he will go straight to heaven. He says he is against abortions but is far killing adults who commit crimes. I think we are all hypocrits in this big old world. I am going to let God decide who goes to heaven and who goes to purgatory and who goes to hell.
I was recently debating issues with a friend that I met from Switzerland. She is far a womens right to choose and is extremely
Beers from Around the World
Look at this beer list. I knew I had found a pretty cool place. The single most imporant quality of a bar is their selection of beers. against Catholics. I told her Catholics are not all bad but sure there are some that I do not like either. She kept trying to drive home the point with me that you do not have to be Catholic to be a good person. I kept agreeing with her but told her she needs to keep in mind that just because your Catholic does not make you a bad person. She said Catholics are hypocrits as they preach all kinds of things like no sex before marriage, but do not follow the rules. I told her if you wait to have sex after being married 99% you will be better off and your life will be better but I know most people do not wait. The Catholic Church in my mind does go a little overboard with guilt. They try to make you feel guilty for sins as much as possible. Living with lots of guilt is not much fun. I told her people break rules all the time. They speed, they cheat on taxes whenever possible. Lets not damn everybody that breaks a rule. Lets hope however that they are trying to do the right thing. Lets let God
have the final say in things he is the one that knows all not just human beings. We also talked about abortion. I kept saying that as soone as the sperm and egg meet and form a zygote I consider that a human being. I said if the pregnancy is terminated after that point then you are kiiling the baby. Every time she would say a person should have the right to choose I would say something like the women should be allowed to kill the baby. I then admitted to her that the word kill is a strong word just like the word hypocrit. I told her I intentionally used the word kill knowing that it was a little over the top just like when she would call catholics hypocrits she was a little over the top with that word. I told her people use extreme words all the time to get their point across. She also said how when women hace a pregnancy the women ends up taking care of the kid so they should have the right to choose to terminate the pregnancy. I told her a man does not have the right to stop an abortion.
Toledo
In this area there were lots of mozaics of different City's in Spain. Shouldn't a man have the right to stop an abortion then if the man should be responsible for moentarily bringing up the kid. She asked me what I thought of assissted suicide. I told her in my opinion their something to be said for quality of like. I told her in the ideal state a spouse should determine if a person lives or dies if they can not decide that for theirself. If spouse is not around then it should go to the parents or next of kin. I told her assisted suicides are very difficult and should be performed with extreme caution as abuses could happen easily. I really enjoyed talking to this person as it really help me voice my opinions on somethings I was not fully clear on. It was neat that I think we both gave good reasons on our positions, my reasons of course were better 😊 , but neither one of us were mad at each other at the end of the night. That was a nice feeling.
I continued walking along the beach with my toes in the sand and my feel felt much better. I decided to lay down for awhile
on this grassy embankment for a little time in the sun. I stayed there until around 7:00 and then made my way to the Picasso musuem. I never did find it after walking in the general vicinity of where I thought it was. I then decided to walk into the adjacent park. I came across a very cool fountain where I took some pictures. I then walked to Barcelona's Arc De Triomf which is the same as Frances Arch Triumphant but I guess Spain must have triumphed fewer times than did France as this arch was a little smaller, but still quite impressive. The walkway around the arch too was not quite as impressive. It was still something I consider a must see in Barcelona. After walking around there I walked to the Arc Di Trimont metro station and headed for the Espanya metro stop which is near where the fountain show was going to be held. Once there I decided to get some picnic supplies before heading to the fountain, which consisted of beer, sardines and chips, listed in the order of increasing importance.
I was not sure of the right to have beer in this area so
Valencia Mosaic
Home of the 2007 Americas Cup Yacht Race I did my best to partially hide it as I walked past the security guards. As free as I have seen kids carrying beer around and on the streets in Europe I suspected it would not be that big of deal. I think the drinking age changes around Europe but I know in some places it is as young as 16. They are allowed to drink before they can drive. That makes a little sense to me as once it is legal it is not such a thirll. I suspect however that can lead to other issues like teen pregnancy etc. I do not think a teen ager is ready for sex and definitely not ready for a baby. Should I be lucky enough to have kids some day I plan to allow them to have a beer or glass of wine around the age of 15 or 16. I reserve the right to change my mind however.
I walked up to the fountain and the steps. Best viewing location were already full so I moved to a park bench near the fountain which was already occupied by a couple in their 60's I presume. I told them to
Religious Melting Pot
Another church. There are lots of religions in Sevil. scram as there was not room enough for all of this and my beer on this bench. No I sat by them and talked a little to them. There English was pretty much nonexitient so it was hard talking to them. They were from Northeastern Spain and were here sightseeing. It appeared they were doing the retirement thing. I asked them if it was ok to have beer here and they indicated no. It sure appeared others had brought beer here which to me meant it was all right. If they jumped off a cliff I would to. Fortunately the others did not appear to be the type to jump off a cliff is why I say I would to. I felt a little uncomfortable so I decided to drink the beer at a quick pace. I got to the fourth beer and thought do I really want to drink these fast and not enjoy the fountain show as much and finally decided to throw the last one more than half full into the trash can. The show consisted of classical music being played in sync with variations to the fountain water movements with color variations to the water. It
was pretty neat and definitely worth seeing.
I got up and decided to walk around. I walked up to the huge musuem above the steps and took a few photos a long the way. I tried to walk around to the back side of the musuem to see the Olympic stuff but did not see it. How come I wasn't seeing it. It had to be back here somewhere. Where is it? I never did see it. I walked back down to the fountain and watched if for awhile a longer. The crowds had decreased. The show would last about 15 minutes and then would stop for awhile and then restart. I had another long day and decided to head for the dorm as it was after 10. The trip back was uneventful and I headed into the sauna. Again it was very hot and I was sleeping with about 10 other people. The room was really hot but fortunately no one was snoring but a few beds were still empty. That meant expect people to funnel in throughout the night. My bed was right next to the door so I did not expect a lot of sleep. Lets
hope I was wrong.
6-25-07
Unfortunately I was right. I did not sleep that well. Maybe 4 hours not sure but it was not very restful. I got breakfast which was very busy and it appeared the average age was like 19. This was a big hostel I suspect around 300 people. I got checked out and decided I would quickely check out the Sagrada Family Church, the Olympic stadium stuff and then the Anotonio Gaudi park and then head to the train station and make my way north towards Switzerland trying to get just a short ways today and then the rest of the way to Bern, Switzerland tomorrow. You gotta have a plan.
I walked over to the Sagrada Family Church stuff, which took longer than expected. I also stopped once for sunglasses only to hear the broken record, "We do not have those type of sunglasses, but we have clip ons." The church I spretty crazy as it is like no other church I suspect in the world. You just have to see it. It is not finished either so there are construction cranes all over it which obstructs the view a little. It was
The Colors
The faded pastel colors all over Sevil are beautiful. very expensive to get in so I didn't go in. I saw one wreck where a bus knocked off the side mirror on a car. The matter was handled in a reasonable manner although it was obvious the women driving the car was visibly upset. All the tourist kept gawking at the situation which upset me a little. Why can't the people just keep moving and mind their own business. People enjoy dirtly laundry so much.
I jumped in the metro and headed to the closest subway stop to the Olympic Stadium stuff. I remember the tourist information guy saying if I stopped at the Espanya metro stop I would not have to walk up the hill to get to the Olmpic stuff. I thought it could not be that bad so I got off at another stop and decided to just walk up the hill. If nothing else I would get a little more exercise. I got off at the metro stop Parallel and began walking towards the Olympic facilities. I saw an internet shop and decided to check the price. The cost was only 1€ for an hour so I decided to stay there for an hour.
Endless Pictures
You could take lots of pictures of Sevil. I was pleasantly surprised of the beauty of this place. It was already 10:00. A little after 11 I was on my way again. The sun was really starting to bear down and the sack was getting heavy along with an increasing grade. This was a bad combination I kept telling myself to take it easy. I made it to a lookout after a grueling hike up the hill. At the top you had a nice lookout of downtown Barcelona. Just below where I stood a Gondola entered the complex. This was quite the Gondola ride as you are suspend I suspect about 500 feet above the ground below. It was pretty cool to watch. Again it was pricy to do it so I declined.
My trip continued up the hill I was the only one wearing a backpack of this size. I have gotten ask the question,"is that all you have?" I proudly say yep. One lady even sayed and you do not even stink. I have done well with my packing but it still was feeling heavy on this day. My arches were hurting some again today and I really hoped I would have time to walk in the sand again today barefooted as that does seems
to help.
I walked farther up the hill and saw where there is castle/war musuem at the top of the hill. I couldn't pass up seeing and playing on this castle/fortress so I walked around and on it. From here you have a great view of most Barcelona and I saw a huge shipyards that I never realized was so big. This was the biggest shipyard I had ever seen. I decided ok now to find this Olympic stuff. I ask a security guard and he said to follow the road around. After walking another 20 minutes I finally saw the allusive olympic stuff. It was cool and I was glad to see it. It took me a good 40 minutes to walk around and through it to get to the metro stop Espanya. This is the same one I had gotten off and on for the fountain show last night. I saw a nice ball diamond, track field and several other small fields. There were two big buildings, which I could not see inside. I assume the one was the main events area. The most noticeable or interesting thing to me, besides the big, I assume a cell
phone tower like structure, was an abandoned shot putting field. It was grown up in weeds and looked like it had not been used in years. It was evidently left behind in the past. It was probably a very beautiful thing once, but time has passed it by.
I got on the metro train and after switching trains arrived at the Vallcara stop the closest one to the Gaudi Park. There were a few other tourist looking people that were getting off here. I suspected they were going to the same place as there were not many other touristy things to do here. Sure enough everyone headed in the same direction. There were signs that indicated how to get to the Park. I looked down the rode or should I say up the road to the Park and it was up almost a sheer cliff. You have got to be kidding me. It was extremely hot in the upper 90's, with the pack on and I had just got done walking many miles. I kept telling myself just to keep putting one foot in front of the toher and before long I would be in the Park. Fortunately they
had escalators in about 4 different areas to assist the wayword tourist. Finally made it to the park and it looked more like a desert. I was a little confused. What is so special about this park? I continued on and climbed to the highest point in the park and reached an area where you can see the entire downtown of Barcelona. The Sagrada Family church stood loud and proud just below me. I snapped a few photos none of which I expected much from and got down from this high point. I worked my way down from this high point and walked towards where I heard the music. I got there down and saw some really neat, unusual and maybe a little weird stuff. The seats I recognized as those were the seats I had saw on the post cards that I had not seen yet. I was glad to see this as I was afraid I was going to leave without seeing that. I took a couple pictures and noticed how hot everyone looked around me. I thought I was doing pretty good in comparison to them and I had about 40 lbs. on my back. I was
shortly energized by this observation. I walked down from this overlook with the crazy curved seats and walked down the pathway to the gingerbread looking houses below. It takes a lot of time and great deal to thoroughly explain the scene. I suggest look at the pictures. This Antonio Gaudi was out there. I suspect there is no one out there quite like him. I walked up the steps and around the pillars which were interesting as well with respect to their placement and how they are connected to the ceiling.
After spending a few minutes there I decided it was time to head for the metro stop. There was sign indicating the metro stop Lessops. This was a different one from the one I came but from this position in the Park it may have been slightly closer and more importantly the entire walk would be down hill. I was in a down hill mood. I still had not eaten any lunch and it was about 3 in the afternoon so I decided to keep my eyes peeled for something to eat. I found a couple places but neither one seemed to be exactly what I was looking
for so I continued on. I made it to the Metro stop and took it to where I thought the train station. I questioned exactly where the train station was and on my map this was the only place I saw tracks. This had to be it. I took the metro to Bac de Roda and walked to where I saw the tracks on the map. The tracks then went underground. I thought the train station must be just a little ways in the direction of the tracks. I was not finding anything after several questions being asked the locals pointed me to the Clot Metro Station. They said the train station is underground. This didn't seem right but I continued on only to find that the trains leaving this station where only Spanish trains. Trains going to or through France were at another station which went under Barcelona to the train station near the Barcelonata metro station. The metros really stank from all the sweaty people that had been riding it on this day. Man last time I smelled anything like this was in high school in the guys locker room. At the Barcelonata stop I walked briskly to
the exit and as I came up out of there amongst the crowd of people I felt something pushing against my pockets. It was hand that did not belong to me. I slapped the hand aside. It was a pickpocket attempt. The guy backed up like it was an accident, but there is no way someone gets their hand that far into someones pocket accidentally. I always thought about pickpocketers on this trip, but really had not thought much about it in recent times. The kid actually making the attempt was probably about 20 and he walked out with a young Indian looking women who was probably about the same age. The Indian women sat on a column at the top of the steps and the pickpocketer bummed a cigarette off a guy who appeared to be in his 50's. Not sure who worked for who or who worked with who but they were obviously all together. I took a picture of them.
As I walked up out of the I walked to the train station called Estacio De France. This was the station I came in on as I recognized it. I had to take a number to
Reminds me of Paris
This arch looks like Arch De Triomphe in Paris. Everybody wanted to be like France back in the day. wait for a position in line. I had about 40 people ahead of me. I hope to hurry up and get this ticket then take a walk on the beach. It had cooled off and I suspect there were few people on the beach but I still hoped to get out there. I decided to run to the train station restaurant and grab a burger for lunch as it was now 5:00. The burger was decent and I went back to the line and did some typing. They evidently had jumped a bunch of numbers as my number was already up and someone else had taken my number. Some people were at my window with my number above them. I did not even think that they might be jumping line as I just thought I would wait for them. It was an older gentleman and younger women who appeared to be helping the older man who was wearing a suit. I wish I would have asked to see their number as they may have been cutting in front of everyone. They ended up taking at least 30 minutes as I waited at that window even though others were available. I
finally got to the window and told the guy I wanted the night train to Bern, Switzerland and told him I had a rail pass. He said the cost is 74€. I told him with the railpass and ask why so much? He said this is a real nice train with restaurant etc. I obviously didn't care about those luxuries, but there was really nothing I could do about it. I asked how much tomorrow and he said 15€. Damn that is quite the savings especially with the exchange rate. I decided to wait until tomorrow and got the ticket for tomorrow morning. I was now thinking I should have come here first thing in the morning as I could have found a hostel and left my bag there. Oh well. I walked out of the train station hoping I would find a hostel close. I had no luck and ended up near Liceo Metro stop, where I knew there were several hostels. I stopped at one hostel and the guy said he was full but knew of a pensione for same price of 20 €. He gave me directions and I stopped at a couple Hostels on the way
but could not find a good price. I finally made it to the Pensione and ask several questions pertaining to safety, but the guy did not speak good English. I had a room by myself and the doors seemed to lock and it appeared there were a couple other people staying there so I went for it. For 20€ provided I did not get killed it was worth it.
I took a shower and went out and had a Subway sandwhich which you do not see many of over here since it was right by the internet place. After the meal I used the internet for a couple hours and then headed back to the room.
There was some sort of dance place across the street from where I was staying and they were kind of loud. I had walked so much this day and had not slept the night before that there was nothing keeping me awake this night. I knew I was going to sleep hard.
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