Catching up...

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It has been awhile since I have written, so long now that I am actually writing from the comfort of my bed!

Barcelona was a whirlwind really, a place where I decided to mostly sit back and watch life happen. On my very last day there I decided to walk to Parc Guell to see the Gauid stuff, the park was only about a 20 minute walk downhill from my hostel. The grounds were really beautiful and there was a large variety of work done by Gaudi. I went into the museum there, I felt as though I had to see atleast one. Most of my time in the park was spent at the serpent bench, the worlds longest park bench, all done in mosaic tiles by Gaudi and it overlooks Barcelona. Vendors open cloths on the park bench and seel their handicrafts there, some are handmade by the vendor and some are brought from China. One girl in particular had some at that really caught my eye, she made leather bracelets that she cut, pieced and painted. Some were made to replicate the famous tiles that Gaudi had used in his work. I found a bracelet that really called out to me and I sat there looking through everything for a long time, we started up in conversation about everything. Rossy is a Bulgarian born girl that has lived in Israel, Portugal and Spain. She speaks many languages and she is very interesting. I loved getting to talk with her. She told me about how it work selling merchandise up there, when the police come you have to close up shop. The Pakistani vendors hire someone to be on watch, the are given a signal and quickly they have gathered their things and have fled, the other vendors watch for the Pakistani's to make their move and they know it is time to go also. Rossy packed up her things in a hurry and I helped throw them in her bag, she invited me to a coffee, I joined her for the conversation. The best part of that time with Rossy is when she led me into the trees on a hillside and showed me where she had found old tiles that she believes are from the original Gaudi times. The tiles stick out of the dirt amongst rocks and leaves, she started to dig and I help to uncover pieces of beautiful tiles. I brought home about 6 pieces. Rossy gave me a breacelet she had made as a gift, it is one that has a butterfly on it. She joined me to the bus station while she waited for her boyfriend and like any movie that is made to show Europe, she hopped on the back of the motorbike with her actor boyfriend Javier, gave 2 kisses, put on her helmet and yelled Ciao as they zoomed back up the hill. Those couple of hours with Rossy made my whole Barcelona experience magical. Without her it would have been another city. www.rossymina.com (Rossy looks like J LO a little)

When I left Rossy I ended up taking a bus I had not yet been on and fot to the beach. Their were boobs galore along the shore. I washed my tiles and sat in the sand thinking how awesome those past couple hours had been. I went up to a restaurant right on the strand and asked for a vegetarian paella. It was very very expensive, but it was great to eat the yummy food and watch the waves. It really added to my Barcelona. I got back up to the hostel with the thought that I needed to leave at 8 to get my 10 pm train. At 7:30 I thought I might as well just go, I grabbed my ticket for another look and nearly threw up when I realized my train left at 8pm. I grabbed my luggage and ran down the hills like a bat out of hell, searching for my metro stop. I had to change metros in the midst and get to the train station, go to information to find my platform... I was running and the sweat was literally pouring down. At the entrance to my platform was a security scanner and it was like getting on a plane. The lady had to ask the conducotr permission for me to get on, boarding ends two minutes before departure, I was one minute before. I was the last one on the train for an overnight trip to the border of Portugal.

I slept quite well that night, I forced myself too. I felt disgusting when I arrived and I knew I had an 8 hour layover before my train to Porto from the border. I walked around in search of another way, when I enquired in a travel agenc office about if there were busses and the safety of hitchhiking, a girl inside said if I was still there when she got off that she would drive me over the border to make it easier to get a train. At 1:30 I went back to Sonia and she took me to Valenca, she had looked up the train times and saw that the train would leave near 3pm (however once over the border I had to change my watch back one hour). I got into Porto and waited a couple of hours for Carlos to pick me up. It was such a relief to be there.

Carlos and I met on the chat on couchsurfing before I left LA, it was great to go meet another friend. That night we walked to the Eiffel bridge and I took some shots of the end of the sunset over the river. The city is beautiful, Carlos lives in Gaia, on the other side of the river. He made me a homemade Italian pasta and sauce and I took a shower which was much needed. The daily routine was quite consistent in Porto (Gaia). Carlos would go to work early in the morning while I slept then come home and go back to sleep. I would get up between 11 and 12 and he would drop me off in the city center near 1:30, where I would walk around and discover its glories and then wait for him to pick me up after work. For dinner, 3 nights in a row, we went to his grandmothers house, she was a lovely woman and did not speak English. One of the nights after work Carlos walked me around the city giving me the historical info and then we went downt to the river where I learned more about the city wall, the cellars and the boats that transported the barrells of Port wine. On friday I took a bus from the center to the beach, although the weather was not ideal for going in the water, I walked around the beach in search of seashells. The beach was rather secluded and beautiful. I wish I had more time there, but I did get some good shells and I found 2 euro (covered the cost of the busride there). On Saturday afternoon Carlos' mother made a lovely lunch and we all ate together before my departure. She was very lovely and welcoming also. I felt like I had been with extended family my whole time in Porto. I miss them. I got on board my train to Lisbon.

Lisbon was another city with hills and steps like Porto and Barcelona, perhaps Lisbon was worse or atleast where my hostel ended up being it was. I checked in to the Lisbon Poets hostel, it was great there (clean, organized, great staff, comfy beds, free net, kitchens etc...) I was located near the Barrio Alto (Bar area) so I cleaned up and went for a walk. On my way back I had stopped to let a guy pass me, but he started up conversation when he found that I spoke English. He asked to me o join him to a bar, so I did. We went to a bar that played Salsa music and he tried to teach me how to dance. I was over the night scene already and ended the night early, he asked to meet again on Sunday to go to the beach (what I said I wanted to do). ON Sunday Lorenzo met me on the steps, we went to the market and got some lunch stuff and then got on the train to Estoril. The weather was rather perfect for the beach, the water had lots of kelp (not much for seashells) and it occasionally washed up a dead jellyfish that I made Lorenzo scoop up. We stayed at the beach for about 7 hours and then went to my hostel to get my laundry he said I could wash it at his house. While my clothes washed he made me dinner, he works as a chef in a hotel in Lisbon, and we chatted with his neighbor that came over. The next day Lorenzo met me and we went to the market, he made me lunch and we talked and looked at pictures and he told me about his life. He was born in Angola, raised in Portugal and studied 3 years in Utah then moved to Norway to become a chef and is now back in Portugal. He is a very interesting guy. The next day again Lorenzo came by, this time we just sat on the steps for an hour so he could say goodbye. It was sad to leave him, he was sad to lose his new friend, it was the first time someone cried when I was leaving. I went for a walk around the shopping streets and then to the train station to get a dress I had seen there the da that I arrived. I got 2 of them and spent the last of my money. At 7pm I met with my host for my last night at a metro stop, Joao and I went to the market and then to his house. I made us dinner while he watched futbol and I showered to get ready for bed. I had my own room and it was a nice peaceful way to spend my last night of my trip. The following morning he drove me to the airport and I got on my first plane homebound.

I will not bore you the travel details but let me say that 23 hours after I got the Lisbon airport, I arrived at LAX and was greeted by my mom and Chris that were holding a sign near the limo people. It was a great welcome home. I have now had 3 nights of sleep here at home and have caught up with some friends and have taken care of some stuff. It is now time to face reality and back on my feet. I am still not motivated to wake up from my dream, but I will have to soon.

Thank you all for reading my adventures and coming along for the ride with me. Your support and love was so great to receive along the way. I had an amazing time in Europe and made wonderful friends along the way. I never felt in danger or scared, only a couple times I was lost or maybe things did not go well (like the ATM card or cell phone) but oveall I knew all along things would be ok. I was treated so well by everyone I met along the way, the friends and hosts I had through couchsurfing were extraordinary and I felt like a spoiled Princess for the majority of my travels. This trip would not have been possible if it were not for those people and I can only hope that someday my new friends will make it to LA to stay with me.

Lots of love!!!!
Erin

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