San Sebastian is easily the coolest place in the world. I don't need to go anywhere else to realise this. It's such an awesome little beach town, with the best tapas bars, the best little boutique shops, the nicest people, the best weather (until today when it's freezing and overcast), so much history and personality and is, architecturally, just astounding. For example, for dinner the other night, we were lazy and went to the plaza and bought some kebabs. We realised that this little mainstream kebab store is older than our entire country. What a mind-fuck.
I've bought some cool shit here. Some scarves, a long sleeved shirt with feathers on it, a rad dress and this cool green shirt from Portugal. I'd love to go visit Portugal one day, it sounds amazing. Anyway,so I've been moved into a room full of smelly boys for the last couple of days here, from my last entry actually. We've all had a few big nights in a row, as in the entire first level of the hostel, and it's catching up with me a little. Slept in until noon today, before heading out and annihilating some wicked chicken paella. That's one thing I'm going to miss the most, is teh food here. My stomach isn't too fond of it - but I eat it anyway because it tastes just so awesome.
So I am catching a bus tonight at midnight, about an hour's walk from the hostel, to go straight to Madrid airport. It's about an 8 hour trip. I could have left today and stayed a night in madrid to make it easier on my body, but I honestly have like...Madrid phobia. I can't spend another minute in that place.
San Sebastian however? I could easily live here. I've really gotten into this, get up around 10, grab some coffee and breakfast, head out and explore hardcore, then come back around 3 or 4 and siesta that shit up until about 7, then play drinking games until like 9, go out and grab some tapas and get your drink on. It just feels so right for the body. It's 3:30itis, and the Spanish embrace its existanceand allocate time to get over it. They're brilliant, and this siesta thing is so so so so so so under-appreciated.
I'm officially bringing the concept back to Australia with me, start a national movement to introduce it.
Maybe bring the idea of paella back with me too.
Anyway, having a blaast! I head off to the airport tonight, then I'm off to meet up with mum in London!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
chilling with jesus
After a pretty emotional farewell in Barcelona, I hopped on a train to San Sebastian! I arrived about midnight last night and headed over to the hostel I had booked on the internet a few days before. I rock up - and sheś not there. So I start to freak a little. Whenb she eventualluy gets there, she tells me she has no record of my reservation, and that all of San Sebastian will be full because of the U2 concert that night. Cuemassive freakout. I had a confirmation email and everything, but she jhust didn have any beds. Lucky forme, Pablo, the nice backpacker hostel owner downstairs overheard the conversation and sold me the very last bed in all of San Sebvastian. This place is so much cooler. Full of backpackers my age, roughly, and so much fun. Itś a really pretty place too, and cheaper!
Today I had a bit of a sunbake, a ham omelette sandwich thing that theyŕe big on over here. Carbs, carbs, carbs carbs. Anyway, after that I wandered around óld town´. Itś awesome. I could seriously live here. The only problem is that, now that I`m in bBasque country, the second language is now Basque or Spanish instead of English. But after spending so much time with Ivan, my spanish is pretty decent. Anyway, so it took about 5 hours all up doing some good old fashioned bush bashing around the massive jesus statue. It was awesome, and so creepy. I found all these old English monuments for the soldiers that died in combat, anbd someone had cut all their heads off¿ very strange. but awesome. I no longer have thighs, just pure muscle. I felt kind of like Bear Grylls because I was the only one around, and I was swinging from trees, climbing the old monuments, chasing cats etc. it was such a cool day. After, I was super peckish and bought some fruit from the local markets. An apple, some mulberries, strawberries and a peach. Yum.
Tonight I`m going out with some of the girls in my dorm for some tapas and drinks probably. Then tomorrow I need to buy my train ticket back to madrid (ugh) and then I leave late on the 29th for madrid, to sleep, then on a plane to London! I am really going to miss Spain. Especially good old San Seb.
Just wanted to touch base and let yyou guys know I am having an absolute blast!
Today I had a bit of a sunbake, a ham omelette sandwich thing that theyŕe big on over here. Carbs, carbs, carbs carbs. Anyway, after that I wandered around óld town´. Itś awesome. I could seriously live here. The only problem is that, now that I`m in bBasque country, the second language is now Basque or Spanish instead of English. But after spending so much time with Ivan, my spanish is pretty decent. Anyway, so it took about 5 hours all up doing some good old fashioned bush bashing around the massive jesus statue. It was awesome, and so creepy. I found all these old English monuments for the soldiers that died in combat, anbd someone had cut all their heads off¿ very strange. but awesome. I no longer have thighs, just pure muscle. I felt kind of like Bear Grylls because I was the only one around, and I was swinging from trees, climbing the old monuments, chasing cats etc. it was such a cool day. After, I was super peckish and bought some fruit from the local markets. An apple, some mulberries, strawberries and a peach. Yum.
Tonight I`m going out with some of the girls in my dorm for some tapas and drinks probably. Then tomorrow I need to buy my train ticket back to madrid (ugh) and then I leave late on the 29th for madrid, to sleep, then on a plane to London! I am really going to miss Spain. Especially good old San Seb.
Just wanted to touch base and let yyou guys know I am having an absolute blast!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
school boy error
sorry for not writing a blog in a while, there just hasn't really been anything note-worthy to write about. I'm in Barcelona at the moment, in a very tiny room sharing a bathroom with teh rest of the hostel, which comprises mostly of businessmen up to God know's what and a few younger German backpackers that don't speak English or Spanish. The owner is a lovely, lovely woman that speaks pretty good English. It's dark all the time, so it's kind of messign with my sleep habits a bit, but all in all it's pretty okay. Accomodation in Barcelona is outrageously expensive, as all the backpackers are booked out for whatever reason. I spent most of yesterday plodding around in the pissing rain looking for cheaper accomodation, but couldn't find anything. I guess I'm paying for that rain adventure now because I don't think I've ever felt so sick in my life. As mentioned before, the food here just doesn't sit well with my stomach. But now I have this weird earache, throatache thing to deal with too. Epic. I went out earlier this morning and bought some multi-vitamins though, so hopefully that will knock whatever this is on the head.
After my last blog, I met up with some backpackers when I was at the market. Tet and Valkolvov. I couldn't pronounce his name, so I just called him V. He seemed to think that was hilarious. Anyway, Tet was a Cambridge Scholar, originally from Japan, and he was enjoying some time off to visit soem friends in Madrid. We had a pretty cool day together, and then went out that night to grab some awesome tapas. 5 euro for a beer ( or whatever drink you want really ) and you get a free plate of tapas. The place was booming, but it was pretty awesome. Then we met up later with some Dutch backpackers from Amsterdam. Not going to lie, they were so good-looking, I was rendered speechless. But none of them were even remotely interested in anyone but Spanish girls. Lame. But all in all, it was a pretty awesome day.
I left Madrid, however, in a bit of a hurry, because things got pretty messy my last day and night there and I decided not to push my luck. So I hopped on a train to Barcelona and found the hostel I'm currently staying at. After I settled in, I decided to go out and grab some dinner and watch the football. Only my all time favourite team vs another of the top teams, athletico madrid. So I found a nice little local bar/restaurant and found it filled quite nicely with locals doing the same thing. It was great, I had some cheap calamari and watched FC Barcelona triumph. Pique even scored! I literally jumped up and cheered. Luckily I wasn't the only one. It was an amazing game, despite Messi getting totally annihilated. He's out for 2 games, at least.
Yesterday I went to Camp Nou, home of FC Barcelona. I was literally trembling with excitement. There were posters of Pique, Puyol, Bojan etc. everywhere. It was incredible. I just about died. But then I started to notice something. The prices. 70 euro just to see the museum. 70 euros?! That's like...$130. I couldn't justify that. So I had to give the museum a miss, and I headed over to the store to buy the one thing I wanted from Spain - a Pique football jersey. So I wandered around, not really looking at prices until I finally found it - the jersey, with that magical number 3 on the back. I put it on and it fit pretty well. I was sold. I anxiously reached for the price tag....
And my jaw dropped.
195 euro.
Roughly?
$380.
I was devastated. I couldn't spend that much on a jersey. So instead, I wandered around again - feelig very disheartened and disillusioned by the whole thing. I picked up some cheap socks, and marveled at teh random shit they were selling. FC barcelona batteries? FC Barcelona beach kits? Even some FC Barcelona g-strings. I settled on a poster of Pique, some socks and then I suddenly had an idea. The football shorts were only 30 euro or so, and it only cost 15 euro to have a number put on them. So I was sold. I bought a pair for myself, with a little 3 for Pique. It's no jersey, but they're super comfortable and it didn't cost me $380.
I've been not feeling too good for a while now, but I'm hoping it's on it's way out, whatever it is. You guys might remember Eban from my blog when I was last in Barcelona. Lol. His name is not eban, that's just how you pronounce it. It's actually Ivan. We had a good laugh about that. He's been great, coming over to the hostel after work and bringing me food and stuff because he knows I'm sick and don't have friends in Barcelona. So we just chill out in the hostel, talk to eachother using Google Translate and eat Chinese, or kebabs etc. it's a lot of fun actually. He's a chef by trade, and works 7 days a week during the day. I'm starting to understand the Spanish work day. They start much earlier than us, at 6am, and work until 3-4, then go home and sleep until about 8 then go out and grab dinner, then go home again and sleep until about 1, then get up and go out and party until about 4, have a nap then go to work. Insane, aye?
Anyway, so he's a chef by trade, but his passion is in music. Also, he has 7 brothers. How insane is that? 7. Wow. We're going to attempt to hang out tonight outside of the hsotel and see how our communication skills go. I predict epic fail, but hilarious all the same.
Ahahaha.
Also.
So I may have got Grenada mixed up geographically with Gibralter? So that whole 'going south' thing isn't going to happen. Money-wise, it's jsut not practical unfortunately. It was 150 euros on a train from Madrid to barcelona, which is expensive enough already. And to get down south it's like, 10 trains etc. and then I have to get all the way back to Madrid for my flight out by the 1st. So Barcelona's going to be my home for the next few days.
Um. If someone wants to send me some Vegemite? That would be so awesome. I've been craving it like crazy over here to maybe settle my stomach. If you send me a message, I'll send you the address to send it to. Thanks!
Now I'm going to try and have a nap to get this fever down.
After my last blog, I met up with some backpackers when I was at the market. Tet and Valkolvov. I couldn't pronounce his name, so I just called him V. He seemed to think that was hilarious. Anyway, Tet was a Cambridge Scholar, originally from Japan, and he was enjoying some time off to visit soem friends in Madrid. We had a pretty cool day together, and then went out that night to grab some awesome tapas. 5 euro for a beer ( or whatever drink you want really ) and you get a free plate of tapas. The place was booming, but it was pretty awesome. Then we met up later with some Dutch backpackers from Amsterdam. Not going to lie, they were so good-looking, I was rendered speechless. But none of them were even remotely interested in anyone but Spanish girls. Lame. But all in all, it was a pretty awesome day.
I left Madrid, however, in a bit of a hurry, because things got pretty messy my last day and night there and I decided not to push my luck. So I hopped on a train to Barcelona and found the hostel I'm currently staying at. After I settled in, I decided to go out and grab some dinner and watch the football. Only my all time favourite team vs another of the top teams, athletico madrid. So I found a nice little local bar/restaurant and found it filled quite nicely with locals doing the same thing. It was great, I had some cheap calamari and watched FC Barcelona triumph. Pique even scored! I literally jumped up and cheered. Luckily I wasn't the only one. It was an amazing game, despite Messi getting totally annihilated. He's out for 2 games, at least.
Yesterday I went to Camp Nou, home of FC Barcelona. I was literally trembling with excitement. There were posters of Pique, Puyol, Bojan etc. everywhere. It was incredible. I just about died. But then I started to notice something. The prices. 70 euro just to see the museum. 70 euros?! That's like...$130. I couldn't justify that. So I had to give the museum a miss, and I headed over to the store to buy the one thing I wanted from Spain - a Pique football jersey. So I wandered around, not really looking at prices until I finally found it - the jersey, with that magical number 3 on the back. I put it on and it fit pretty well. I was sold. I anxiously reached for the price tag....
And my jaw dropped.
195 euro.
Roughly?
$380.
I was devastated. I couldn't spend that much on a jersey. So instead, I wandered around again - feelig very disheartened and disillusioned by the whole thing. I picked up some cheap socks, and marveled at teh random shit they were selling. FC barcelona batteries? FC Barcelona beach kits? Even some FC Barcelona g-strings. I settled on a poster of Pique, some socks and then I suddenly had an idea. The football shorts were only 30 euro or so, and it only cost 15 euro to have a number put on them. So I was sold. I bought a pair for myself, with a little 3 for Pique. It's no jersey, but they're super comfortable and it didn't cost me $380.
I've been not feeling too good for a while now, but I'm hoping it's on it's way out, whatever it is. You guys might remember Eban from my blog when I was last in Barcelona. Lol. His name is not eban, that's just how you pronounce it. It's actually Ivan. We had a good laugh about that. He's been great, coming over to the hostel after work and bringing me food and stuff because he knows I'm sick and don't have friends in Barcelona. So we just chill out in the hostel, talk to eachother using Google Translate and eat Chinese, or kebabs etc. it's a lot of fun actually. He's a chef by trade, and works 7 days a week during the day. I'm starting to understand the Spanish work day. They start much earlier than us, at 6am, and work until 3-4, then go home and sleep until about 8 then go out and grab dinner, then go home again and sleep until about 1, then get up and go out and party until about 4, have a nap then go to work. Insane, aye?
Anyway, so he's a chef by trade, but his passion is in music. Also, he has 7 brothers. How insane is that? 7. Wow. We're going to attempt to hang out tonight outside of the hsotel and see how our communication skills go. I predict epic fail, but hilarious all the same.
Ahahaha.
Also.
So I may have got Grenada mixed up geographically with Gibralter? So that whole 'going south' thing isn't going to happen. Money-wise, it's jsut not practical unfortunately. It was 150 euros on a train from Madrid to barcelona, which is expensive enough already. And to get down south it's like, 10 trains etc. and then I have to get all the way back to Madrid for my flight out by the 1st. So Barcelona's going to be my home for the next few days.
Um. If someone wants to send me some Vegemite? That would be so awesome. I've been craving it like crazy over here to maybe settle my stomach. If you send me a message, I'll send you the address to send it to. Thanks!
Now I'm going to try and have a nap to get this fever down.
Friday, September 17, 2010
madrid!
Well! I finally made it to Spain. There were times on this trip that I admit I doubted myself a little, and my ability to get myself here unscathed. But I made it. After 2 cancelled flights and one that was obnoxiously late, I arrived in Madrid about 1am this morning. Easyjet are lucky they hired ridiculously good looking flight attendants, Juan and Miguel, and they pacified my rage at the stupid little things that turn into huge dramas when you´ve spent most of the day fucking around with flights.
But I arrived safely, had a hilarious taxi driver who´s english was really funny. He kept asking for my number, and I was so confused until he told me his number was Esteban - he meant name. He was pretty animated and he got me to my hotel for a little under 20 euros, which is a complete miracle. Not only that, but he helped me lug my luggage up 2 flights of stairs and wouldn´t accept a tip when I offered it. As usual, Spain astounds me with the hospitality of their people. Not only that, but the hostel I´m staying at got up especially to let me in. How nice is that¿! Yes. Funny upside down spanish question mark because this keyboard is whack, like the one in Rome.
So, this hostel has some amazing personality. It´s one street away from the booming centre of the town, Puerto De Sol and for 6 euro a night, I didn´t understand how they kept the place running. After being handed some clean white sheets and a pillow case I made my way up in the see-through, rickety elevator to the 1st floor. I ran into some cool English girls on the stairs, Jade and Elaine, and we realised we were all staying in the same room. Not really knowing what to expect, we headed quietly in, as it was 2am in Madrid by now - and I think we were all a litle shocked.
In the tiny little dorm room, there are 4 sets of bunk beds pushed close together and the room was definitely over 40 degrees. Awkwardly shoving our suitcases into holes in the wall, we managed to find some beds that were unoccupied. I chose the top bunk near the window and tore it open, desperate for some unstale air - and was instantly berated by some crazy angry Spanish chick with a bad case of the flu. Despite her protests, and loud coughing and sneezing - I waited until she fell asleep again and I opened the window. Luckily for us, there was a great breeze - but also a massive storm coming. Didn´t get much sleep, due to excitement of being in Spain, the incredible thunder an dlightning and the heavy, laboured breathing of my sick room mate.
Jade, Elaine and I got up about 8 and headed down to breakfast. This is where things start to get a little strange. No towels, no shower curtains, no blankets (just sheets) and 4 condom machines - 2 on each level. They have super cheap vending machines which is an absolute god0send though. 45 euro cents for a can of coke - does it honestly get any better than that¿ Anyway, breakfast. So we head downstairs to the bowels of the place and enjoyed a free bread roll or two and some nice lipton green tea (also a huge bonus). This is when we realise that, as the entirety of the hostel is gathered, we are by far the youngest, and only non0spanish residents. I´t´s comprised mostly of families rendered homeless, runaway teens and a lot fo awkward and miserable middle0aged men going through divorce.
I tell you what, this place has some serious personality. I love how it can remain so charming while at the same time reminding me simultaneously of camp and prison.
Anyway, I spent the whole day with these English girls. They were so so so so so so nice, and fun and yeah - awesome. We went to the art gallery, and trekked all around Madrid to find them a "cheap but nice tapas place with ambience and vegan options". Not surprisingly, it took us about 5 hours to find something to their liking - but fuck, was it worth it. Best gespacho of my life, some free appetisers, organic coke (which honestly had the distinct taste and smell of urine), some kick-ass green tea and these organic chocolate nut things. Jade and Elaine spent most of the day telling me all about where they had just come from. They had spent the past week in southern Spain working in an eco-village in the middle of nowhere.
It´s about 45 minutes inland, into the desert, and it´s an oasis of sorts. They showed me pictures and explained just how amazing it was. Natural pools are around the place that you can swim in, they grow their own food, and run all off eco-friendly electricity. For 10 euros a night you can stay, and just work for 5-6 hours a day on a community project ( for the next 6 months it´s helping to build a local school and building a massive garden for the hospital ) and the rest of the time is free for you to do what you want. Honestly¿ I´m looking into it first thing tomorrow, it sounds like an amazing experience.
Unfortunately, the girls left for Paris this afternoon, so I´m the only english'speaking resident in the hostel and it´s honestly getting a tiny bit lonely. I had a nana nap this afternoon for a few hours ( seriously getting into this siesta thing. Australia needs to adopt it ASAP ) and then decided to get up and go out for dinner. I asked downstairs, and he pointed me in the direction of a nice place, but upon arrival it wa ssimilar to an upscale McDonalds. So, I did a bit fo searching around and managed to fnd a really cool, quirky little bar with tapas.
I looked at the menu, sitting by myself in the corner like some strange film noir wannabe, and thought I would be a little adventurous. My Spanish teacher told me I have to try Spanish seafood along the coast. And perhaps it´s because óf this strange tummy bug I´ve picked up, or the fact I´ve been running on about 10 hours sleep for 2 days, but for some reason I thought I was in Barcelona, coastal, so seafood was the way to go. Only after I ordered it and had eaten half of it did I realise, HOLA, I´m in Madrid. It´s about a 6 hour train ride to any sort of coast. Great, great help with teh tummy bug - but it put me in tears I was laughing so hard at myself.
Schoolboy geographical error.
So far everyone outside of the hostel has been great. The Spanish are such an awesome race of people, I love all of them. Tomorrow I´m heading off to the local pub to watch the football match between Athletico Madrid and FC Barcelona, because unfotunately the tickets have been sold out for quite some time. But I figure the atmosphere will still be amazing. Then, on Sunday I´m off to the markets, and then on a train to Barcelona once more!
From there, depending on Eban and Marco´s enthusiasm on seeing me or not, I will head on over to Valencia, San Sebastian, Grenada, (hopefully that little eco-village), and then down to Gibraltar maybe.
Hah.
I hav eto share this. So, the dryness in Europe at the moment has been death for my hair and it´s been dry and frizzy for ages and I ran out of shampoo and conditioner about a week ago. So my hair has been all gross ever since, and then, at this organic place today - I bought Jesus in a bottle for my hair. Seriously, it´s a miracle. It´s like silk, I don´t think I have ever been more excited to wash my hair before. It smells like magic. I know it´s very trivial, but I nearly cried I was so happy. Frizzy, dry and dirty hair is just no fun to deal with. But now¿ It´s like a herbal essences add or sometthing.
And on that note, I´m going to head off. It´s 11pm and the internet cafe is getting a little too full of old men watching porn.
But I arrived safely, had a hilarious taxi driver who´s english was really funny. He kept asking for my number, and I was so confused until he told me his number was Esteban - he meant name. He was pretty animated and he got me to my hotel for a little under 20 euros, which is a complete miracle. Not only that, but he helped me lug my luggage up 2 flights of stairs and wouldn´t accept a tip when I offered it. As usual, Spain astounds me with the hospitality of their people. Not only that, but the hostel I´m staying at got up especially to let me in. How nice is that¿! Yes. Funny upside down spanish question mark because this keyboard is whack, like the one in Rome.
So, this hostel has some amazing personality. It´s one street away from the booming centre of the town, Puerto De Sol and for 6 euro a night, I didn´t understand how they kept the place running. After being handed some clean white sheets and a pillow case I made my way up in the see-through, rickety elevator to the 1st floor. I ran into some cool English girls on the stairs, Jade and Elaine, and we realised we were all staying in the same room. Not really knowing what to expect, we headed quietly in, as it was 2am in Madrid by now - and I think we were all a litle shocked.
In the tiny little dorm room, there are 4 sets of bunk beds pushed close together and the room was definitely over 40 degrees. Awkwardly shoving our suitcases into holes in the wall, we managed to find some beds that were unoccupied. I chose the top bunk near the window and tore it open, desperate for some unstale air - and was instantly berated by some crazy angry Spanish chick with a bad case of the flu. Despite her protests, and loud coughing and sneezing - I waited until she fell asleep again and I opened the window. Luckily for us, there was a great breeze - but also a massive storm coming. Didn´t get much sleep, due to excitement of being in Spain, the incredible thunder an dlightning and the heavy, laboured breathing of my sick room mate.
Jade, Elaine and I got up about 8 and headed down to breakfast. This is where things start to get a little strange. No towels, no shower curtains, no blankets (just sheets) and 4 condom machines - 2 on each level. They have super cheap vending machines which is an absolute god0send though. 45 euro cents for a can of coke - does it honestly get any better than that¿ Anyway, breakfast. So we head downstairs to the bowels of the place and enjoyed a free bread roll or two and some nice lipton green tea (also a huge bonus). This is when we realise that, as the entirety of the hostel is gathered, we are by far the youngest, and only non0spanish residents. I´t´s comprised mostly of families rendered homeless, runaway teens and a lot fo awkward and miserable middle0aged men going through divorce.
I tell you what, this place has some serious personality. I love how it can remain so charming while at the same time reminding me simultaneously of camp and prison.
Anyway, I spent the whole day with these English girls. They were so so so so so so nice, and fun and yeah - awesome. We went to the art gallery, and trekked all around Madrid to find them a "cheap but nice tapas place with ambience and vegan options". Not surprisingly, it took us about 5 hours to find something to their liking - but fuck, was it worth it. Best gespacho of my life, some free appetisers, organic coke (which honestly had the distinct taste and smell of urine), some kick-ass green tea and these organic chocolate nut things. Jade and Elaine spent most of the day telling me all about where they had just come from. They had spent the past week in southern Spain working in an eco-village in the middle of nowhere.
It´s about 45 minutes inland, into the desert, and it´s an oasis of sorts. They showed me pictures and explained just how amazing it was. Natural pools are around the place that you can swim in, they grow their own food, and run all off eco-friendly electricity. For 10 euros a night you can stay, and just work for 5-6 hours a day on a community project ( for the next 6 months it´s helping to build a local school and building a massive garden for the hospital ) and the rest of the time is free for you to do what you want. Honestly¿ I´m looking into it first thing tomorrow, it sounds like an amazing experience.
Unfortunately, the girls left for Paris this afternoon, so I´m the only english'speaking resident in the hostel and it´s honestly getting a tiny bit lonely. I had a nana nap this afternoon for a few hours ( seriously getting into this siesta thing. Australia needs to adopt it ASAP ) and then decided to get up and go out for dinner. I asked downstairs, and he pointed me in the direction of a nice place, but upon arrival it wa ssimilar to an upscale McDonalds. So, I did a bit fo searching around and managed to fnd a really cool, quirky little bar with tapas.
I looked at the menu, sitting by myself in the corner like some strange film noir wannabe, and thought I would be a little adventurous. My Spanish teacher told me I have to try Spanish seafood along the coast. And perhaps it´s because óf this strange tummy bug I´ve picked up, or the fact I´ve been running on about 10 hours sleep for 2 days, but for some reason I thought I was in Barcelona, coastal, so seafood was the way to go. Only after I ordered it and had eaten half of it did I realise, HOLA, I´m in Madrid. It´s about a 6 hour train ride to any sort of coast. Great, great help with teh tummy bug - but it put me in tears I was laughing so hard at myself.
Schoolboy geographical error.
So far everyone outside of the hostel has been great. The Spanish are such an awesome race of people, I love all of them. Tomorrow I´m heading off to the local pub to watch the football match between Athletico Madrid and FC Barcelona, because unfotunately the tickets have been sold out for quite some time. But I figure the atmosphere will still be amazing. Then, on Sunday I´m off to the markets, and then on a train to Barcelona once more!
From there, depending on Eban and Marco´s enthusiasm on seeing me or not, I will head on over to Valencia, San Sebastian, Grenada, (hopefully that little eco-village), and then down to Gibraltar maybe.
Hah.
I hav eto share this. So, the dryness in Europe at the moment has been death for my hair and it´s been dry and frizzy for ages and I ran out of shampoo and conditioner about a week ago. So my hair has been all gross ever since, and then, at this organic place today - I bought Jesus in a bottle for my hair. Seriously, it´s a miracle. It´s like silk, I don´t think I have ever been more excited to wash my hair before. It smells like magic. I know it´s very trivial, but I nearly cried I was so happy. Frizzy, dry and dirty hair is just no fun to deal with. But now¿ It´s like a herbal essences add or sometthing.
And on that note, I´m going to head off. It´s 11pm and the internet cafe is getting a little too full of old men watching porn.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
just a little detour
So I literally couldn't spend another second in Rome. The people were awful, the hotel was awful, the heat was unbearable and I was miles and miles away from civilisation and the city - so I decided to cut my losses and hop on a plane. After not being able to contact anyone for 2 days because this hotel Beethoven is just a complete hell-hole, I managed to get in contact with mum and hopped on a plane to Amsterdam to meet her here. I was going to go to Madrid a few days early, but realised I had no accomodation booked etc. and I missed mum, so we both decided it would be best if I just came and hung out with her for a few days.
Because the flee, bed bug and some other creature bites got infected etc. I had an injection at the doctor's at teh airport in Rome and feel ten thousand times better. Amsterdam is cold and rainy, but beautiful! And the people here are so nice and more than helpful. I might go back to Rome one day and do what I wanted to, but for now, I'm very happy with my decision to leave. I was really starting to get sick, but after a good night's sleep and a proper meal - I feel 100%. Just need to fiddle around with flights and then I'm all set for SPAIIIIIIIIIN on Thursday.
Can you feel the excitement'?
I get goosebumps just thinking about it.
Because the flee, bed bug and some other creature bites got infected etc. I had an injection at the doctor's at teh airport in Rome and feel ten thousand times better. Amsterdam is cold and rainy, but beautiful! And the people here are so nice and more than helpful. I might go back to Rome one day and do what I wanted to, but for now, I'm very happy with my decision to leave. I was really starting to get sick, but after a good night's sleep and a proper meal - I feel 100%. Just need to fiddle around with flights and then I'm all set for SPAIIIIIIIIIN on Thursday.
Can you feel the excitement'?
I get goosebumps just thinking about it.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
just a quick drop in
so the place Im staying at is ridiculous. I am literally sleeping in an ex janitors closet and its two train trips and then a bus ride into rome. my phone ran out of battery and ive lost the charger and there is nothing open on a sunday but at this weird stop that have sold out of my chargers. this hotel also has no internet. so dont expect to hear from me at all for a few days until about the 17th of september when i get out of this absolute hell hole and get to spain.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
mountains come in all different shapes and sizes
It's a beautiful little place, albeit the weather being quite cold. In the sun it's nice, but the wind is freezing. I went with some of the girls as they spent an obscene amount of money on gifts, and bought a pretty awesome blue swiss army knife for myself. We had lunch (mine was feral hah) and enjoyed the hospitality of the people here. It's really a beautiful little place.
We visited the Lion Monument, and I apologise if I go on a bit about this. But for me it was an extremely moving experience. At the peak of the French Revolution, when the Revolutionists were storming the gates at the Place De La Concorde in Paris, King Louis XV ordered for over 200 Swiss Guards to lay down their arms. He promised they wouldn't be harmed, when in reality he was just sacrificing them all to the mob. The guards, knowing they were about to be slaughtered, still followed orders and every single one of them was killed. There was one guard that didn't show up for duty that day, and he was the only one that survived. Plagued with guilt, he decided to have a monument made in their honor. Mark Twain has called it the most moving piece of stone in existance. I whole-heartedly agree. The Lion Monument is carved out of a large rock face in the town of Luzern and at its feet, their lays a little pond and it is surrounded by a dark, and quiet park.
It was my idea, by the way. I know you're all shocked. I hope you're sitting down for this one - we climbed to the summit. This mountain is obnoxiously huge, not even kidding. I'm pretty sure I can see Germany from the top. It took us a good hour to get to the top, but it was worth it - seriously. The view was just...indescribable. Now comes the interesting part.
On the way down, we got a little lost and it took us about twice the time. But while we got lost, we found some awesome stuff on the way. I was proud that I got off the beaten track and did a bit of exploring and just used my sense of direction to find our way back. It was so much fun and I was so glad that I could physically do it.
So yeah! I climbed a mountain today. How many people can say they've done that? I was so proud, and it was such a blast. I'm just chilling in my room for a bit before dinner and I feel amazing. Freezing. But amazing. I think I am going to pop off for a bit and have a nice hot shower as a reward. Tomorrow we leave at 6am to get to Florence and Pisa, then Rome tomorrow - and then I'm on my own! It kind of hit me last night, and I'm starting to get hte butterflies in my stomach. But I feel definitely more and more confident in my own abilities with every day.
I got lost in complete wilderness tonight, when it was about to piss rain and I've never been here before and I only had 2 other people that wre just as lost as I was - and I didn't lose my head. The other girls were getting really panicky, but I just kept my head on straight and managed to get us back safe and sound. So I feel so so confident that I can do this lone part of the trip on my own efficiently.
I'm missing you all like crazy and I can't wait to come home and see you all and tell you about my trip, show photos etc. and just generally see you guys. I'm having the time of my life, but still missing you guys. Thanks so nuch for reading this and stuff, it means a lot (:
Love you guys!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
the frogs love a good protest
Apparently they've just recently renovated the old gypsy caves by the beach, and you can stay in them really cheap. Could I possibly stay in a cooler place? I don't think so. So super stoked for that. But anyway, left Barcelona on an amazing note having dinner with some of the girls on the tour and literally nearly peeing my pants laughing over stupid shit. We had some yummy yummy tapas for dinner and then had some gelato before heading back to the hotel and having some drinks to farewell the people that hopped off at Barca. I said goodbye to my two favourite girls on the tour which was sad, but we're on facebook and stuff, and one of them is meeting up with me again in Rome, so that should be cool.
So we left Barca and headed to the French Riviera - and the weather took a pretty awful turn. Cloudy, cold and moggy. We stopped off at a perfumery which was pretty damn interesting, and I did a tiny bit of shopping, which was cool. Did you know it takes 4 tonnes of orange blossoms to make one litre of essential oils? How insane is that? After an incredible dinner in Nice, I turned into an old lady and went to bed at about 9pm. I hadn't slept the past two nights at all, so it finally caught up with me and I had a killer sleep - until about 6am when I heard screaming from outside the hotel.
That night we headed off to Monaco, and the Monte Carlo Casino. The drive was great, and the buildings were really spectacular. I didn't actually go into the casino, because I thought 40 euro entry fee (roughly $70) was steep to say the least, especially when I don't gamble hah. Dan told me it was just one big room anyway, and you can't take photos inside. So instead, I had dinner with two of the nice girls on the tour. A really great ( and cheap! ) 3 course meal and some yum coffee before we headed back to the hotel for a 6am leaving time to get to Switzerland today.
Well. The weather is really awful! I want my European summer back. The drive was about 12 hours today, and the Italian truck stops are seriously complete chaos. It's like a mosh pit hah. And the system is weird? You have to pay at one register, then she gives you a ticket, then you take it to the next register and she gets out what you want, and then you have to take that food to another register and they cook it? Surely this could all be done by one person! Or at least on one station, not 3 stops for a toasted sandwich thing. Another quirky cultural thing? You have to pay for toilets over here. None of this free business. You've gotta pay for the priviledge to empty your bladder. It's usually around 2 euro? Roughly $3. Lucky for me, I'm kind of a camel. So I'm saving quite a bit of money just holding it in.
So we arrived in Switzerland, and despite the shitty weather, it's still really beautiful. There's a bit of blue sky dotted here and there right now, so I'm hoping it will clear up tomorrow when we head down to Lucerne. We got a cable car up the mountain to our hotel and so far? It's...very dodgy to say the least. One receptionist girl that was sleeping when we got here today at 7pm. I get to my room, it's freezing, the lights all flicker and we apparently have no hot water in the entire place. The thermostat says it's -2 degrees outside.
We're having fondu for dinner tonight, so I'm hoping that will salvage this place a little for me. Tomorrow we're heading down to Lucerne to look at some swiss army knives, and have lunch and shit and I'm taking off away from the rest of the tour to go on a little hike on my own. On the cable car I spotted a pretty awesome beginner's track and there was all deer and shit, so that seems right up my alley at the moment. Been stuffing my face with snacks for these 12+ hour drives, so I need to get my legs moving! We have a nine hour walking tour in Rome in a few days, so I need to be pretty in shape for that.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
el guapa
It's so humid here, I tell you what. But we had a really great dinner last night provided by the hotel too. Turns out I am a huuuuge fan of gespacha. There is nothing better at the end of a boiling hot day than a huge bowl of cold tomato, cucumber, olive oil etc. soup. It's amazing. But this is where shit really starts to get good. My 6 lessons of Spanish paid off sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much. A few people have literally confused me for a local ( which goes great in taxis, they don't try to rip me off! ).
So last night I paid about 7 euros to see a flamenco show. It was only 15 minutes, and they looked constipated the entire time - but all in all it was a pretty cool way to pass half an hour. And in Barca? You need to find stuff to do to pass the time while waiting for the nightlife to spring into action. None of the nightclubs are even open before 2am. I ended up at this awesome place called the Porta De Olympia, which is the main nightclubbing spot in Barca. I tell you what, amazing nightlife over here. But we got there about 2am, this really nice guy Near from Perth and this great girl Becca from California.
The clubs here are very different to back home. Every nightclub has a group of strippers that just kind of, prance around on the bar. I nearly got a severed thumb from a stray 20 inch stiletto. Wouldn't that have been an embarrassing injury? I don't think it's intentional, but the clubs are super segregated too. There was one, Tamancas that was full of Asians, the next bar was an Australian Bar full of Americans and eventually I found a Roman themed one called Olympus that seemed packed with locals.
What a night.
First it was 2euro tequila shots, then free tequila shots because I met some guys that had a bar card so I got it for free ( ; Met a local and spent most of the night with him, Eban, and he did not speak one word of english. Not hello, goodbye, sorry, thank you etc. Not one word. So my Spanish has improved so much after jumping into the deep end and it was great! The funniest thing ever though, I was trying to compliment him. And the word for handsome in Spanish is El Guapo. But for some reason, I kept saying El Guapa. El Guapa is like, the feminine version - like pretty or beautiful. And he kept replying with El Guapo, so I thought he was complimenting me. SUPER LAUGHING when we eventually figured it out. Not kidding, I nearly fell over I was laughing so hard. However, didn't get back until 7am, and then had to get up so I could get some breakfast so I am running on no sleep at the moment.
Not really in a rush to go out and do stuff today, my feet really, really, really need a rest - especially because we're going to Niece tomorrow and they don't have sandy beaches, they have pebbly beaches. So I'm giving my feet and my body a break after last night and have just been re-filling my belly and chilling out by the pool in the gorgeous sun. Feeling so incredibly chilled and content. I don't want to leave! heheh.
Tonight we're all going as a group to find some cool tapas bar. That's the great thing about this tour really, there are littel groups sure, but as a whole, we try to do stuff all together as much as possible. There are some incredibly amazingly nice people on this tour - seriously.
Really in a great mood today, despite being incredibly hungover. Money-wise I'm doing really well, which is cool. I've only bought myself one thing for 20 euros! And it's really awesome and by far worth so much more, so I'm proud. I'm saving Camp Nou for when I come back, because the football tickets for Madrid and FC Barca are sold out already from members. Kind of upset, but I figure it's just not meant to be this time.
After all, Pique will be in Barca for a long time to come!
And on that note, I have some Spanish soap operas to watch in my air-conditioned hotel room while stuffing my face with bolognaise flavoured Lays. Life is fucking great.
Friday, September 3, 2010
checking in
hey guys, not a big blog tonight. seven euro for half an hour of internet, ten euro for a can of coke - I'm not too happy. I'm in a very foul mood tonight, despite the free dinner being great. Just kind of hot and bothered and tired from no sleep last night, and today was anotther day of a good 9 hours on the bus. We visited Carcassonne today and did a wine tasting in Bordeaux. It was great, and I bought an awesome little necklace for myself. The sun here is just incredible.
But as I said before, just not in the best mood tonight and I'm about to head off to bed. Awkward? I have to share the bed with some random woman on the tour - and in the room, it's two single beds pushed together and they're bolted to the floor so we can't even move them. So unfortunately I predict yet another sleepless night, and tomorrow is a big booze up in Barcelona - so I hope I can last the distance on just a few hours sleep. Who am I kidding? It's Barcelona, I'll be fine!
I'm a little homesick too, missing everyone like crazy and with the time difference it's nearly impossible to call at a reasonable hour. But I'm just being a pansy, once I get a good night's sleep tonight - I'll be right as rain tomorrow. After all IT'S SPAIN. ASKJDHASKGDFJGSDGSDKGDF.
And Andorra for like a few hours hah. but SPAIN.
WOO
I promise there will be a super awesome blog entry the day after tomorrow way cooler than this one hah.
But as I said before, just not in the best mood tonight and I'm about to head off to bed. Awkward? I have to share the bed with some random woman on the tour - and in the room, it's two single beds pushed together and they're bolted to the floor so we can't even move them. So unfortunately I predict yet another sleepless night, and tomorrow is a big booze up in Barcelona - so I hope I can last the distance on just a few hours sleep. Who am I kidding? It's Barcelona, I'll be fine!
I'm a little homesick too, missing everyone like crazy and with the time difference it's nearly impossible to call at a reasonable hour. But I'm just being a pansy, once I get a good night's sleep tonight - I'll be right as rain tomorrow. After all IT'S SPAIN. ASKJDHASKGDFJGSDGSDKGDF.
And Andorra for like a few hours hah. but SPAIN.
WOO
I promise there will be a super awesome blog entry the day after tomorrow way cooler than this one hah.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
photos!
Going to use this advantage in this poky little hostel in Bordeaux to upload some photos while I have the chance. This internet shits on Paris!
For Ben and Renee - being 'that guy' in Paris
Chateau Chambord
I'm a loser that takes myspace photos because I don't want my camera stolen
take 2!
I'll update hte blog with useful shit later - right now I have to run off to a wine tour!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
frespanglish?
so today was pretty amazing. I woke up magically 30 seconds before my alarm went off - talk about an incredible internal clock. I'm so switched on to Paris time already hah. So sorry for no pictures, this internet is about as useless as they come. But anyway! I woke up at like 6am this morning, got my shit totally together and I was out the door at 7am before more than 3/4 of my tour had even awoken. I made 3 maps that I didn't even use because my sense of direction here is just that fantastic (especially when everything I wanted to see was along the river Seine (; ).
I started off the day with a metro trip to Notre Dame. The tour guides were less than helpful, but that's cool - I like to do shit on my own anyway. So it was pretty majestic inside, it has a definite presence in the church area. It's hard to explain the grandeur, similar to that of the Opera, which I'll get into later. But it's definitely a pretty fucking magical place. Those large stained glass things just blew my mind. I then got in line to go see the belltower - how could I miss it?! As many of you know, I'm an avid reader of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, so I was super stoked to see if I could find the inscriotion that the entire book was based on. Unfortunately, 387 tiny steps later, I find out that that part of the church wasn't restored. Devs. But I met a pretty cool American family in line, from Masechusetts. Had an adorable, although kind of precocious, eleven year old girl called Ellie. She was bundles of fun.
The view was incredible, needless to say and I could not have asked for a more perfect day weatherwise. Not a cloud in the sky and a beautiful breeze.
After Notre Dame, (which took 3 hours longer than expected because of a slow old lady at the front of the group holding everyone up) I had to skip the Lourve. To be honest? I wasn't going to wait 3 hours to see a portrait sized photo. The Lourve never really interested me anyway. But! Now here it gets awesome. Some freaky Frenchman in a leather jacket with wild hair was making a bomb threat? So he got crash tackled by security guards like a metre in front of me before he squirmed free and ran off. They knew him as Jacques, so I'm assuming it's a regular thing for him? I thought it was pretty hilarious.
Making my way through the streets like a regular Parisian, I found my way to, by far the thing i was most excited about - Opera Garnier, Place De La Opera, Opera. It's the old opera house, essentially. The inspiration, it is believed, for hte Phantom of the Opera. Once again, tour guides were tres shit. But that, once again, worked out well because I found all these amazing little rooms. Not kidding, every time I moved my eyes I was rendered breatheless. The amount of gold, and just...magnificence of the place. It's unlike anything I have ever seen before in my life. Think, kind of like older parts of the city - but upkept and smothered in gold and marble and inscriptioons etc. I got some amaaaaazing photos. The souvenier shop was tres shit too. But that's cool, I did what I could. And my photos are souveniers enough!
Apparently I cant' spell souveniers. But I don't care (;
All right. Now for the juicy shit. After the Opera, I was paranoid I would be late for the bike tour so I grabbed a croissant on the run and made my way to the Eiffel Tower. A fucking walk, I tell you. I have massive blisters by this stage, that give me random cushioning when I walk. You know, painful cushions. I brisked through the Madeline Church and the Rue De La Concorde (kill me if that's spelt wrong) and crossed the Alexandre III's church. Fuck. So much gold. It literally puts the sun to shame - especially aruond midday when I was there. I was just about blinded.
Now, the bike tour met up at 3pm under the tower, but I got there at 2 because im just that organised. This is where things get good, I promise. So I'm sitting there, minding my own business and writing in my journal - when suddenly I hear someone speaking French a little too close for my liking. So I turn around and BAM RIFLE IN MY FACE. Yup. French Militants protecting the tower. The dick hadn't seen me, gotten too close and was talking into his radio while looking up at the tower. Thanks guys. Appreciate it.
And as soon as the militant disappears, I suddenly get bombarded with an over zealous gypsy wanting to sell me a scarf with the Eiffel Tower on it. As usual, no matter what he says, I just say non non non. He called me lady gaga, and 'hakuna matata' about 10 times and I was getting the shits. So I stamped my foot and said NON. There was two French guys sitting near me, just chilling in the sun that I didn't really pay much attention too. That is - until this fucking gypsy started trying to touch me, trying to wrap the scarf around my neck etc. This is kind of graphic, if you have a weak stomach, don't read the next sentence. In an act of strange divine intervention, I leapt to my feet and shoved him off - with an almighty popping and squelching erupting from my right heel. By now? The blisters were the size of Euros ( see what I did there? ) and that extra bit of pressure caused one of them to just like...explode. It was epic - it neded to be in slow-motion with some theme music too. But it got all over the fucker's ankle - the pop-squelch-blister had quite a range of pus. One of the boys came up and started cursing at him in French and eventually he just pissed off. The two boys? Gilam and Jonathon. Easily the coolest people I have ever met in my life. They're 19 and are moving to Moscow tomorrow for 9 months. How fucking cool is that?
I hung out with them later by the River Steine and downed some rad Tequila sunrises while waving at locals on boats and discussing coconuts in our broken frespanglish. Frespanglish because they come from down south, near Spain - and my French is just insulting. Apparently shaking hands is a laughable greeting in Paris. A kiss on each cheek with lips nearly touching seems to be the way to go. Gotta say I was a tiny bit weirded out. But anyway, we had a wicked time before departing - but Jonathon and I are still talking. He's hilarious.
I got back to my hotel room tonight feeling a little sick. I had a good breakfast, and a croissant for lunch but haven't had time for dinner and I have a bit of sunstroke I think. Which is all good because my tan is looking fresh. But I'm starving and it's late. So I think I'll sleep this hunger off and deal with it efficiently in the morning. Those blisters? Pretty fucking rank right now. They're huuuuge.
Gargantuan even.
To be honest? Kind of devastated I'll probably never seen Jon again. Easily one of the most awesome guys I've ever met, and he's abandoning Paris for some freezing vodka-drenched wasteland. Silly,silly boy.
No clue what's on tomorrow, and way too comfortable right now to get out of bed and go check. I'll just make sure to be up early.
Also. What the fuck. My frespanglish is making my english worse, I swear. I'm trying to talk to Gilam and Jon in simplified English, and now, after spending most of the night with them, I can't seem to form proper sentences. WIN.
Fuck, before I forget - parlez vous francais is the best song ever. And I must share the coconut story with you. I promise it is awesome. Jon was explaining to me how him and Gilam had been spending the day. From what I could understand of our frespanglish, they went into a fruit shop, saw a coconut and bought it. They then preceeded, shirtless, down to the Seine to enjoy the juice inside. But - a dilemma! They couldn't open the fucking thing. So they asked aruond, and managed to find a swiss army knife and they went to drink - only to find there was no juice inside. So they then cut the cocnut into pieces and threw it at people instead. I dont know why? But I nearly died laughing at it and the rest of the night was spent joking about coconuts.
I think I'm rambling now - so I'll stop and head off to bed. Night!
I started off the day with a metro trip to Notre Dame. The tour guides were less than helpful, but that's cool - I like to do shit on my own anyway. So it was pretty majestic inside, it has a definite presence in the church area. It's hard to explain the grandeur, similar to that of the Opera, which I'll get into later. But it's definitely a pretty fucking magical place. Those large stained glass things just blew my mind. I then got in line to go see the belltower - how could I miss it?! As many of you know, I'm an avid reader of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, so I was super stoked to see if I could find the inscriotion that the entire book was based on. Unfortunately, 387 tiny steps later, I find out that that part of the church wasn't restored. Devs. But I met a pretty cool American family in line, from Masechusetts. Had an adorable, although kind of precocious, eleven year old girl called Ellie. She was bundles of fun.
The view was incredible, needless to say and I could not have asked for a more perfect day weatherwise. Not a cloud in the sky and a beautiful breeze.
After Notre Dame, (which took 3 hours longer than expected because of a slow old lady at the front of the group holding everyone up) I had to skip the Lourve. To be honest? I wasn't going to wait 3 hours to see a portrait sized photo. The Lourve never really interested me anyway. But! Now here it gets awesome. Some freaky Frenchman in a leather jacket with wild hair was making a bomb threat? So he got crash tackled by security guards like a metre in front of me before he squirmed free and ran off. They knew him as Jacques, so I'm assuming it's a regular thing for him? I thought it was pretty hilarious.
Making my way through the streets like a regular Parisian, I found my way to, by far the thing i was most excited about - Opera Garnier, Place De La Opera, Opera. It's the old opera house, essentially. The inspiration, it is believed, for hte Phantom of the Opera. Once again, tour guides were tres shit. But that, once again, worked out well because I found all these amazing little rooms. Not kidding, every time I moved my eyes I was rendered breatheless. The amount of gold, and just...magnificence of the place. It's unlike anything I have ever seen before in my life. Think, kind of like older parts of the city - but upkept and smothered in gold and marble and inscriptioons etc. I got some amaaaaazing photos. The souvenier shop was tres shit too. But that's cool, I did what I could. And my photos are souveniers enough!
Apparently I cant' spell souveniers. But I don't care (;
All right. Now for the juicy shit. After the Opera, I was paranoid I would be late for the bike tour so I grabbed a croissant on the run and made my way to the Eiffel Tower. A fucking walk, I tell you. I have massive blisters by this stage, that give me random cushioning when I walk. You know, painful cushions. I brisked through the Madeline Church and the Rue De La Concorde (kill me if that's spelt wrong) and crossed the Alexandre III's church. Fuck. So much gold. It literally puts the sun to shame - especially aruond midday when I was there. I was just about blinded.
Now, the bike tour met up at 3pm under the tower, but I got there at 2 because im just that organised. This is where things get good, I promise. So I'm sitting there, minding my own business and writing in my journal - when suddenly I hear someone speaking French a little too close for my liking. So I turn around and BAM RIFLE IN MY FACE. Yup. French Militants protecting the tower. The dick hadn't seen me, gotten too close and was talking into his radio while looking up at the tower. Thanks guys. Appreciate it.
And as soon as the militant disappears, I suddenly get bombarded with an over zealous gypsy wanting to sell me a scarf with the Eiffel Tower on it. As usual, no matter what he says, I just say non non non. He called me lady gaga, and 'hakuna matata' about 10 times and I was getting the shits. So I stamped my foot and said NON. There was two French guys sitting near me, just chilling in the sun that I didn't really pay much attention too. That is - until this fucking gypsy started trying to touch me, trying to wrap the scarf around my neck etc. This is kind of graphic, if you have a weak stomach, don't read the next sentence. In an act of strange divine intervention, I leapt to my feet and shoved him off - with an almighty popping and squelching erupting from my right heel. By now? The blisters were the size of Euros ( see what I did there? ) and that extra bit of pressure caused one of them to just like...explode. It was epic - it neded to be in slow-motion with some theme music too. But it got all over the fucker's ankle - the pop-squelch-blister had quite a range of pus. One of the boys came up and started cursing at him in French and eventually he just pissed off. The two boys? Gilam and Jonathon. Easily the coolest people I have ever met in my life. They're 19 and are moving to Moscow tomorrow for 9 months. How fucking cool is that?
I hung out with them later by the River Steine and downed some rad Tequila sunrises while waving at locals on boats and discussing coconuts in our broken frespanglish. Frespanglish because they come from down south, near Spain - and my French is just insulting. Apparently shaking hands is a laughable greeting in Paris. A kiss on each cheek with lips nearly touching seems to be the way to go. Gotta say I was a tiny bit weirded out. But anyway, we had a wicked time before departing - but Jonathon and I are still talking. He's hilarious.
I got back to my hotel room tonight feeling a little sick. I had a good breakfast, and a croissant for lunch but haven't had time for dinner and I have a bit of sunstroke I think. Which is all good because my tan is looking fresh. But I'm starving and it's late. So I think I'll sleep this hunger off and deal with it efficiently in the morning. Those blisters? Pretty fucking rank right now. They're huuuuge.
Gargantuan even.
To be honest? Kind of devastated I'll probably never seen Jon again. Easily one of the most awesome guys I've ever met, and he's abandoning Paris for some freezing vodka-drenched wasteland. Silly,silly boy.
No clue what's on tomorrow, and way too comfortable right now to get out of bed and go check. I'll just make sure to be up early.
Also. What the fuck. My frespanglish is making my english worse, I swear. I'm trying to talk to Gilam and Jon in simplified English, and now, after spending most of the night with them, I can't seem to form proper sentences. WIN.
Fuck, before I forget - parlez vous francais is the best song ever. And I must share the coconut story with you. I promise it is awesome. Jon was explaining to me how him and Gilam had been spending the day. From what I could understand of our frespanglish, they went into a fruit shop, saw a coconut and bought it. They then preceeded, shirtless, down to the Seine to enjoy the juice inside. But - a dilemma! They couldn't open the fucking thing. So they asked aruond, and managed to find a swiss army knife and they went to drink - only to find there was no juice inside. So they then cut the cocnut into pieces and threw it at people instead. I dont know why? But I nearly died laughing at it and the rest of the night was spent joking about coconuts.
I think I'm rambling now - so I'll stop and head off to bed. Night!
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