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Published: October 15th 2007
Brendon and I
laughing it up 150 m away from where we were supposed to beIn my recent travelblog about Korea I mentioned that sometimes love takes you to some pretty cool places. Well, it has been my experience in the last few weeks that friendship also takes you to some great spots. After having spent the summer travelling and living out of a backpack for 3 months, I was pretty relieved but a bit lonely to be back in my cute little apartment in the remote regions of Spain. However, first my friend Jasper came to visit (as detailed in my previous entry) and then the following week, Brendon the Aussie, arrived.
A little background on Brendon. I actually met him while Gabs and I were travelling around Croatia. He was staying in the room next to ours at the dodgiest hostel ever (It looked like it was part mental institution and part The Shining...creepy). Anyway, Brendon had been travelling on his own for a while and once he discovered that Gabs and I spoke English promptly invited us out for lunch. We spent a great afternoon that ended when Gabs and I had to hop a ferry to Pula to catch our planes home.
Several months later, I received an email from
Making Cheese
At the cheese factory Brendon who had made his way to Barcelona and was looking for a little R&R. Well, in my mind, nowhere is better for relaxing and doing nothing (as there is almost nothing to do here) than Moia. Brendon arrived at 3 o'clock on Weds afternoon and by 3:30 I had him talking to my class of teenagers and answering their questions about Aussie life. It was a really great experience for them as they had never heard an Australian accent before nor did they know much about Australia. Brendon told them about boxing kangaroos, crocodiles and the Great Barrier Reef. He also told them about the little things that you don't see as a tourist. My kids loved it and Brendon became somewhat of a local celebrity.
For some reason, having Brendon here really catalyzed my little village into action. They began inviting us to see what Moia has to offer a tourist and a resident. We went for dinners and tried some traditional foods (I am now addicted to a form of baby bean they have here). Brendon toured the local cheese factory and the museum. And even had his picture taken for the Barcelona History Museum. Apparently
Museum
My students that took Brendon for a tour of the museum (which they gave to him in ENGLISH!!!) yay they only needed a picture of an Aussie...a Canadian was not so interesting. Humph...
Not to be beaten by my fellow villagers, I decided to take (a somewhat hungover) Brendon to my favorite place to visit in Moia. As I had only been there once before (and it is quite hard to find) I was a bit worried about our locating it. And about 1.5 hours into the hike, I think Brendon was getting a bit concerned too. However, with the help of some fellow hikers and one frantic "where the f*** is it?" phone call to my boss we soon stumbled across the spot. "La Tosca" is a house that was built into some rocks under a waterfall. It is now abandoned but remains one of the most peaceful and scenic places that I have ever been to. I don't know it's history but it is built near an old hermitage and I'm sure it has a pretty good story that I will be harassing my students about today.
We shared a little snack of apples, orange juice and wine (a picnic fit for a king lol) and listened to the sounds of the water rushing by.
Bones
Bones found in the local caves, they are thousands of years old. Perhaps it's not the bright lights and pounding techno music of a big city but I definitely think it is worth the walk.
And now, as Brendon prepares to continue with his journey, he leaves behind some great new friends and leaves me feeling a bit more part of my adopted community. As I said, a pretty cool spot to be.
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