Blogs from Andalusia, Spain, Europe - page 275

We had a pleasant 6 hour trip here on the train from Madrid. I say pleasant because we were the only ones in the train car for most of the journey and we didn´t have the french women to contend with this time! This city is so beautiful...I caould easily see spending a week here. We had only planned on staying overnight, but by the time we got to the hostel and checked into our incredible room we decided to stay two days and cut down our time in Barcelona. We´re both tired of big cities and this one is small enough that we can walk everywhere. We´re in the Atico the attic, it has a loft, it´s own balcony and looks out over the rooftops of this part of the city with tiny tiny winding ... read more

This time in Spain has been tremendous, scary, lonely, and frustrating. I have loved all of it, even the worst parts, a real growing experience. The best parts have been the new friends I have met here in Spain. I´m part of a community of couchsurfers all connected through couchsufing.com. I have spent time in Rota, on the Bay of Cadith with Navy guys based there, thanks Kevin and Jamie. I have recently spent a few days with an expat U.K. couple, near Nerja, who are living out there retirement in Spain, Brian and Jane. The people that I have met have provided me with a wealth of information that I would have never asked to begin with. These are the locals who are able to guide your trip to make it more economical in both ... read more

After a bus ride from Cordoba, I arrived in Algeciras to find what I had expected but not what I had hoped for. It is a port town with nothing much else to see or do. As a result, my 2 day stay consisted of a day trip to Gibraltar and some walking, emailing and telephoning in Algeciras. Gibraltar was strange. An eclectic mix of UK and Spain. The rock was large, the gondala expensive, the barbary apes way too tame seeing as I had to dislodge one off my backpack! but I did enjoy walking the length of the place and seeing the lighthouse and mosque at the eastern end.... read more

Hi All- I´m just getting into a routine so far. It has almost been my first week here in Spain. I have downloaded my photos onto kodak.com for those who are in my circle. I promise to post here soon. Finding a room for a single traveler is difficult. Either you can stay in a hostel (alburgue juvenil), which I did for one night. They were full for the rest of the time, so if you go during the summer book ahead. I then walked from pension to pension which is listed as a hostel (inexpensive hotel) and found one for the going rate, score=own bathroom, cool! I have luck with CouchSurfing.com for my other cities that I will be traveling to, but no luck in Sevilla. Pobresita! Let me give you a run down thus ... read more

"No son Españoles!! Son hijos de puta!! No son Españoles!! Son hijos de puta!!" So went the chants at Hannigan and Sons Irish Pub in Granada, moments after a Sol Campbell header gave Arsenal a 1-0 lead over Barcelona in the Champions League finals. The chant-ERS, ecstatic that their fellow countrymen´s squad had fallen behind, were saying "They´re not Spaniards!! They´re sons of b*tches!!", which momentarily reminded me of my pickpocketer in Las Ramblas last year (#$%!). The chant actually refers to the fact that Catalunya (which Barcelona is part of) is constantly looking to secede from Spain and become an independent state (although it could just as easily apply to the fact that less than half of the players on the team are actually of Spanish descent). But I dig that about them, not so ... read more