THE UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE ON THE ROAD ...

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Hostel life is interesting to say the least. The cost factor is the most important one, because it allows me to do this trip. The other factors are a mixed bag. For instance, at the moment we have 4 really nice young Scottish blokes in our room. It´s kind of hard to get used to sharing a room with blokes one doesn´t know - though they are well mannered and nice. It´s just that I´m constantly falling over their things when I´m creeping around at 6am in the dark , trying not to wake them because they had a very late night/early morning. And how hard is it to keep one´s things under the bed or in a corner? I guess it´s a 'bloke´thing.
And turning on the hot water tap in the shower when it´s 6 degrees outside, to find the water is the same temperature inside! (Someone forgot to turn on the water heater the night before). Another piece of info to add to my increasing hoard - never undress and step into a shower, without first having tested the water, especially in winter!
I am continually having interesting conversations with people (mostly younger than me), sharing their experiences and knowledge, because of course they are mostly old hands at this travelling lifestyle and I am a complete beginner. So if I am a good student, there will be more ups than downs for me on the road ahead.

I finally ventured back into the subteranian regions yesterday and worked out how to use the BCN subway - at least on one route anyway. Thank goodness for my Spanish because even with it, I always need to ask at least 3 different people progressively along the way before I find where I have to be.

Example: to get to the main station which processes and books tickets for the Eurail pass, I needed to go to Sants Estacion. I then had to work out which rail network I need to use (there are three underground networks, each with their own colour-coded routes.) When I finally got to the right station, I couldn´t find the Information office. So I headed up to the surface, asking people along the way & no luck. Once up top, I couldn´t see any signs and nobody seemed to know where it was. Then I asked a policeman and he told me - in Spanish and at 50mph!
That got me 1 street away from Sants Estaction. Still couldn´t see it. So asked another policeman and he pointed me in the direction of a large bus station with no signage visible. Opposite this bus station, another person told me that the central train station was inside. And there it was - and it also is called Sants Estacion. Also, I bet that there is a direct underground route from the one station to the other, if one can only find it!
The rest was easy, I just had to ask two more people where to get my Eurail ticket validated and make a booking for Valencia. Mind you, it all had to be done in Spanish, because they speak very little English, even in Government Departments. Lord knows how those who don´t have any Spanish manage.
So although I have made my booking (another $23.50 for the booking fee on top of the AU$484 for the Eurail pass), I will only know if it will all work in practice when I leave here this morning! But with the Frankfurt airport affair in mind, I am going to get to the station an hour early, just in case!
More about my Barcelona photos and my Peru Inca Trek booking (the ´downs´in the main heading above), when I reach the hostel in Valencia.

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