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Published: November 14th 2006
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Me in action
Like riding a bike... but much, much harder Me and Andrew the American guy, after having put his girlfriend on a plane back home, jumped on a plane ourselves and flew from Rome to Madrid. The original plan was for me and Shatters to go to the south of Spain to Tarifa for a week of windsurfing but at the very last minute he decided to cut Tarifa and just head straight to Morocco with the Tom and Steve. Lucky Andrew was coming and I had someone to go with, otherwise I would've been very sour at him.
Anyway, we arrived in Madrid at night and, after checking into the hostel, headed out for a few drinks. It turned out we were right next to Sol, the big party area, but we walked in the opposite direction accidentally and all we found was the street famous for being infested with prostitutes.
The following morning, after this unsuccessful attempt at a night out in Madrid, we got the train down to Malaga, then a bus to Algeciras and another bus to Tarifa, right on the Straight of Gibraltar and with a good view of Africa only 14km away. The town of Tarifa is small and quite nice, right on the
Hmmm, tasty squid
Served whole, beak and all beach and with an interesting old section of town. We took it easy the first night, checking out the place but mostly mentally preparing for a solid days windsurfing the next day. Our plan, however, did not come to fruition. After realising that the windsurfing beaches were a good 15 drive from town (our first setback), we managed to hitch-hike there after presenting many unnoticed and ignored thumbs. When we arrived, we were informed that the last few days the wind was onshore (ie no good) and that there was nothing we could do til it changed. We spent the day hanging around the beach at a restaurant and bugging the local windurfing pros for information and asking if we could go out yet. This was repeated the second day, so we decided to walk up to another beach at a different angle hoping the wind wasn't onshore. The conditions were acceptable but a little dangerous and I was informed that I could go if I wanted but Andrew, as a beginner, could not. I managed to get a little over an hours windsurfing down before my poor unfit body told me enough was enough and I couldn't manage anymore.
Andrew sat on the beach quietly fuming.
When we returned the next day, the wind had died completely and there was again nothing to do. We spent the whole day lying on the beach and I managed to get nicely sunburnt. These days were alright and easy going, but when you travel for a day to a far away town expecting to windsurf all week, only getting in an hour the whole time can be quite frustrating.
Lucky for us, Tarifa offers many nice restaurants and bars and we spent each night eating well and pub hopping. The week was not what we expected but we still managed to have a good time.
Something I've learned from travelling is that I've really taken Perth for granted. When someone says that the local beach is good, its almost never as good as Perth ones. Also, Tarifa was supposed to be one of the best windsurfing destinations in the world, but it has absolutely nothing on the west coast of Australia. I would much rather go right next to UWA.
As Andrew had to make his flight back to the states, we left Tarifa and he continued home while I made my
way slowly north towards Madrid where I would catch up with friends from the states. I spent a night in Malaga where I met a crazy Chilean guy and a hot Finnish girl. Together, we took in a free concert in town, a free walking tour of the city and checked out a Moorish castle and the Picasso museum (Picasso was born in Malaga).
The next day I departed for Madrid where I was met at the station by Katie. I met her at Brian's wedding (the guy I lived with in San Diego). I was a groomsman and she was a bridesmaid and we walked down the isle together. She and her boyfriend Jose let me crash on their couch while I was in Madrid for a week or so. As well as these two, I also knew a girl from my university in San Diego, Emily, with whom I spent much of my time. Being on exchange there, she had a lot friends in the same position as herself which I met and hung out with.
I had a really great time in Madrid, highlights including;
Going to a bull fight. There are 6 bulls and 3 matadors,
Valderaqueros
This beach in Tarifa is a mecha for windsurfers and kite-surfers. No way near as good as Perth though. and the bull always gets killed. Katie actually started to cry coz of the barbarity of the whole thing. Glad I went but probably not something I'd do on a regular basis.
Taking a tour of the Real Madrid stadium (Santiago Bernebeu Stadium) and getting to see the pitch, change rooms and trophy room.
Drinking at nights in Sol, an excellent place to party and is absolutely swamped with people on the weekends. Excellent clubs, bars, restauarants, ciderias (cider houses) and shops.
The Spanish food and drinks; bocadillos de jamon (cured ham sandwiches), calimochos (wine and coke), sangria, tapas, tortillas, churros and chocolate, and so many that I have no idea what the names were but delicious all the same.
The sights of Madrid, including Plaza de Espana, Banco de Espana, the Royal Palace, flea markets, a very impressive post office, Retiro Park, Prado Museum, and many more.
A night out in Chueca (the gay district) and then to Pasha (a big club, there are others in Ibiza & London) with Emily and all her exchange friends.
I really had a good time in Spain but in general things did not go as expected. I ended up leaving a week
Broken down
We were hitch-hiking home after going for a windsurf and the car ran out of fuel. We were stuck by the side of the road for a few hours with some crazy Moroccan blokes. early as well to meet the boys in London so didn't manage to make it over to Barcelona. I did, however, manage to get in a 3 day trip across to Portugal which I'll blog in the next entry. Adios amigos.
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norminator
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gags
good to see you aren't letting the authorities tell you when you can and can't give the thumbs up. keep on sticking it to the man