Blogs from Spain, Europe - page 1108

The weather is still nice, but the people here are extremely rude. They don't seem to remember that tourists are good for their economy. The switch to a service industry does not seem to be going well here. I slept through most of the train ride, but Erin was up and down due to having an upset stomach. On arrival, we tried to contact Antoinette and Morris on Antoinette's mobile, but no response. So, we lost two Irish, but gained a Scotsman, as we hooked back up with David. Most of yesterday evening was spent searching for luggage, as David's suitcase broke, and Erin wanted to upgrade once again. She replaced her original bag in Amsterdam, and has now replaced that bag in Barcelona. A much cheaper solution would be to quit buying stuff! We had ... read more

Current local: San Sebastian. Spain. It´s a warm rainy day in San Sebastain. The Atlantic flows in and out of grey, aqua marine blue and turquoise green. The beaches are large and because of the intermintent thunder and lightening, realitively empty. It hasn´t seemed to stopped the amazingly tanned locals-mostly older men going for a mid afternoon swim. Yesterday, though, we were in Barcelona and it all that amazing art got under my skin. Now all i want to do is find a little village by the sea, preferably the Mediteranean, rent a room in a simple, cheap and clean hostel or pension and write, write, write. Between the Picasso Musuem and Gaudi´s everything, I haven´t felt so overwhelmed by artistic genius in a long time. Although, painting nor architechture or sculpture isn´t my forte, I ... read more

Although we had been in Europe for more than one full day by the time we reached Barcelona, it was here that I first felt that our trip had actually begun. It was Barcelona where I became focused in a way separate from the Standard Operating Procedure at home. Even Madrid seemed to be a part of the stepping stone process that was necessary to reach our stated goal, which turns out to be a feeling and state of mind as much as any geographical place. We arrived in Barcelona on the 14th and our train from Madrid was an early one, se we didn’t get much sleep but I don’t think sleep is going to be a top priority anytime this trip. Amy was still feeling ill and the up before dawn wake up and ... read more

On Saturday we flew to Madrid, the second greenest city in the world, to begin our Contiki tour. We arrived at about 4pm, checked into our hotel, and enjoyed the heat (about 30 degrees) until we met up with the group for the first time at 6pm that evening. The first part of the night involved doing administration things for the tour, but at about 8.30 we headed for our first dinner as a group. We quickly found out that a lot of the Spanish don't speak English, and are quite rude to those who don't speak Spanish! After dinner our guide led us into the city centre to a bar for our first night together. Our next stop was a seven storey nightclub, but after finding out the price of the entrance fee (20 euro's ... read more

We have finally started our pre-holiday holiday in espanyaaaa. Arrived off the plane on Friday morning after a 2.5 hour flight and not much sleep the night before due to having to get up at 4:45a.m. Arrived in Malaga airport and got the train into the city - us being the only foreigners heading in the direction of the city and not a destination along the coast frequented by drunk English sunburnt tourists. Our hotel was a clean and comfortable room, without toilet or bathroom as such, but a shower in the room itself which I thought rather funny. We spent the afternoon strolling around the city, and enjoying the sunshine. A much needed siesta later, we went and had a look at the Pablo Picasso museum (he was born in Malaga) and after, decided we ... read more