sunnuntai 23. lokakuuta 2011
sunnuntai 2. lokakuuta 2011
Park Güell
23.7 Barcelona
Woke up and for the first time on my trip I actually felt lonely. It’s because of this stupid hostel which had the worst social atmosphere ever (thanks to the 15-16-year-old Catalanian camp). Everytime i’m here, I feel lonely but when every I’m out, enjoying the city, i’m fine and I love to wander by myself. But I realized that I should take advantage of this time. It’s a really good opportunity to sort my head out.
So I grabbed my stuff, packed all the necessities I might need (iPod, book, camera, sarong, water bottle etc) and headed to see Gaudi’s Park Güell. I was super stoked to see it but couldn't believe my eyes that there was an escalator for all the lazy az tourists to use to get to the top of the park. Oh come on. I decided to walk up the hill, since I HAVE LEGS, and enjoyed the little exercise at the same time.
The view on top of the mountain was stunning. You see the whole city. It was amazing and I stayed there quite a while taking heaps of photos. The city colors where so bright and you could see everything from Sagrada Família to the funny egg shaped building that they also have in London (forgot its name! googled: Gherkin building)
Park Güell was wonderful but the it was a bit confuising since you had a lot of ”intersections” and I always wondered that whether I’d see what the other road had to offer without going back. The lack of signs (this road takes you here and that road takes you there) was bothering me :D
The park was huuuuuge too. It was 17 hectares and thus there was no way you could possibly see the whole park !
Love backpacking by myself and letting people, who are totally handicapped with cameras, take a picture of yourself which is like one of the only three of you from your whole trip !
I’m not even gonna go into my rant about the tourist hell that Park Güell was (talk about the photo op of the mossaic lizard) since everyone probably already knows how I feel about tourists... But yeah, I got sick of the crowd and decided to leave. I also felt like I should put more sun screen on so I went to buy some.
I had originally thought of going to a market but since I was pretty broke anyways I decided to fuck it and go to the beach. And hey, whatta hell, as I was walking to the Barcelonetta beach, I bumped into the only person I knew from Barcelona (if raki+jenni+aino aren’t counted) – JUSTIN ! Justin’s the Canadian ”who the fuck is steve angello” –shirt guy from my fist night in Barca. I asked him whether we were still on to go surf and he told me he had heard about this place ”San Sebastian ” that we should check out. Supposedly ”45 min away from Barca” (oh justin, you were so wrong: more like 6 hours by train to the other side of Spain, I later on found out :D).
So I went to the beach, read my book, bought yet another banana and some water and had 5 cents left of my day budget. Went to the surf shop and looked at the prices... missed my surf board 8( I had a hard time deciding where I’d go tomorrow since my hostel was only booked till tomorrow morning. I was thinking of going to San Sebastian cause I was itching for a surf. Then I saw something out of the ordinary: a woman and a guy carrying surf boards on the broad walk. So i walked up to them and thank god these Spannish people knew English cause I had no idea how I’d have a convo about surfing in Spannish.
”SICK waves, eh?” (Barcelona = no surf and besides the sea was dead flat)
”Hahaha yeah”
”What are you doign here anyways with your surfboards? You can’t surf here, can you?”
”Nah, we are just practising here, paddling.”
”Oh ok. Hey have you guys heard of San Sebastian?”
”Yeah, we are actually from there ! But the weather was shit over there so we came here to just practice our paddling.”
Anyways these people told me aobut San Seb and I decided to head there tomorrow. Tried to message Justin but his phone was still dead. Left him a facebook message telling him I was leaving tomo but if he wanted to catch up, he’d be welcomed to join me. I booked my hostel in San Seb – this time I actually booked only the second cheapest one because I liked the hostel’s comments more (”Great hostel but it’s pretty populated with Aussies”)... :D:D Yeah what ever.
Woke up and for the first time on my trip I actually felt lonely. It’s because of this stupid hostel which had the worst social atmosphere ever (thanks to the 15-16-year-old Catalanian camp). Everytime i’m here, I feel lonely but when every I’m out, enjoying the city, i’m fine and I love to wander by myself. But I realized that I should take advantage of this time. It’s a really good opportunity to sort my head out.
So I grabbed my stuff, packed all the necessities I might need (iPod, book, camera, sarong, water bottle etc) and headed to see Gaudi’s Park Güell. I was super stoked to see it but couldn't believe my eyes that there was an escalator for all the lazy az tourists to use to get to the top of the park. Oh come on. I decided to walk up the hill, since I HAVE LEGS, and enjoyed the little exercise at the same time.
The view on top of the mountain was stunning. You see the whole city. It was amazing and I stayed there quite a while taking heaps of photos. The city colors where so bright and you could see everything from Sagrada Família to the funny egg shaped building that they also have in London (forgot its name! googled: Gherkin building)
Park Güell was wonderful but the it was a bit confuising since you had a lot of ”intersections” and I always wondered that whether I’d see what the other road had to offer without going back. The lack of signs (this road takes you here and that road takes you there) was bothering me :D
The park was huuuuuge too. It was 17 hectares and thus there was no way you could possibly see the whole park !
Love backpacking by myself and letting people, who are totally handicapped with cameras, take a picture of yourself which is like one of the only three of you from your whole trip !
I’m not even gonna go into my rant about the tourist hell that Park Güell was (talk about the photo op of the mossaic lizard) since everyone probably already knows how I feel about tourists... But yeah, I got sick of the crowd and decided to leave. I also felt like I should put more sun screen on so I went to buy some.
I had originally thought of going to a market but since I was pretty broke anyways I decided to fuck it and go to the beach. And hey, whatta hell, as I was walking to the Barcelonetta beach, I bumped into the only person I knew from Barcelona (if raki+jenni+aino aren’t counted) – JUSTIN ! Justin’s the Canadian ”who the fuck is steve angello” –shirt guy from my fist night in Barca. I asked him whether we were still on to go surf and he told me he had heard about this place ”San Sebastian ” that we should check out. Supposedly ”45 min away from Barca” (oh justin, you were so wrong: more like 6 hours by train to the other side of Spain, I later on found out :D).
So I went to the beach, read my book, bought yet another banana and some water and had 5 cents left of my day budget. Went to the surf shop and looked at the prices... missed my surf board 8( I had a hard time deciding where I’d go tomorrow since my hostel was only booked till tomorrow morning. I was thinking of going to San Sebastian cause I was itching for a surf. Then I saw something out of the ordinary: a woman and a guy carrying surf boards on the broad walk. So i walked up to them and thank god these Spannish people knew English cause I had no idea how I’d have a convo about surfing in Spannish.
”SICK waves, eh?” (Barcelona = no surf and besides the sea was dead flat)
”Hahaha yeah”
”What are you doign here anyways with your surfboards? You can’t surf here, can you?”
”Nah, we are just practising here, paddling.”
”Oh ok. Hey have you guys heard of San Sebastian?”
”Yeah, we are actually from there ! But the weather was shit over there so we came here to just practice our paddling.”
Anyways these people told me aobut San Seb and I decided to head there tomorrow. Tried to message Justin but his phone was still dead. Left him a facebook message telling him I was leaving tomo but if he wanted to catch up, he’d be welcomed to join me. I booked my hostel in San Seb – this time I actually booked only the second cheapest one because I liked the hostel’s comments more (”Great hostel but it’s pretty populated with Aussies”)... :D:D Yeah what ever.
lauantai 1. lokakuuta 2011
Barcelona sightseeing
22.7 barcelona
Had breakkie at the balcony and skyped with Tom. I packed my stuff up and check out but left my bags at the reception to wonder around the city. Grabbed a map and decided to go see all the Gaudi stuff!
I saw:
Sagrada Família - which probably will never be ready. I did a walking tour later on this day, and our tour guide told us something about not having to pay any taxes if the church is in renovation and not completed or some stuff like that.
I chose not to go inside because of the MASSIVE queue (and the mass of tourists was also doing my head in).
I didn't mind though. Seeing Sagrada Família from the outside was impressive enough with its Gothic style and immense details.
I'm pretty sure Gaudi was a fan of tripping....
Like I mean, who puts FRUITS on their church...
Something ridiculous I saw on my trip to the supermarket to buy some lunch (bananas, of course). This is actually from the supermarket.... Whatta hell :D
Casa Milá
I would've liked to enter the building but I was too cheap to pay for the entrance fee (11 euros are you joking?! I have to eat too you know.. and pay for my hostel + train tickets) + again, massive queue.
I did how ever go to the lobby and it was soo pretty and colorful!
Another building by Gaudi, Casa Battló
I wonder where Gaudi got his inspiration from.
Even the coke machine was designed with a Mosaic layout
Plaza Cataluña, if I remember correctly
After my own little walk around the city I headed to the Columbus Monument, where this free walking tour's meeting point was. Our tour guide was this nice Aussie chick who had interesting facts about the city. The monument is located at the lower end of La Rambla, where Christopher Columbus supposedly returned after his first American voyage. They wanted to build the monument of Christopher Columbus facing west with his arm stretched, pointing towards America. But since they were in a hurry to get the statue done, they failed at life, and C.C is actually pointing towards East.
Our tour guide also told us that Barcelona's most famous and expensive street, La Rambla was actually built on a sewage. "And nothing has changed - La Rambla is still full of shit". AGREE. So that's why we skipped that torturous street.
Our guide also told us something pretty interesting: There is this one plaza was famous for its drug scene. So instead of calling the plaza by its actual name (which I can't remember),the locals call it "Trippy Plaza"...
...The government wanted to solve the problem though and built a kids' play park in the middle of the plaza, because apparently junkie's have a moral dilemma about doing the their drugs next to kids. So, the plan worked. The amount of drug abuse decreased and therefore the gov is applying this method to other problem areas as well.
This is actually a sketch Picasso made on a napkin at a bar - and here it is, on the side of a building!
Palau Güell by Gaudi
After the tour I went to my hostel to get my bags and took a train to my new, cheaper hostel, which was a 10 minute train out of Barcelona's center.
The closest shops were supposedly 10 minutes away, according to the receptionist. ”Can’t be” I though to myself. Although our hostel ws located in the middle of nowhere on top of a hill, there where other hills around with a lot of houses, so I figured the peple here must eat too.Hungry and unwilling to pay another 3 euros for a train ride to get to a shop in the center, I left with my iPod and decided to find my way to a supermarket I predicted to exist somewhere. Luckily I saw some people, since there wasn’t really anyonje around, and asked direction to a supermarket with my poor Spannish. After 25 minutes of trecking up a hill I finally found it ! It was on top of the mountain and I could see the whole valley (?) from up there. I did my shopping, bought a bottle of wine and decided to treck up the next evening with my camera in order to take some photos.
When I was returnign to my hostel I saw a freaking wild boar ! I might’ve screamed 8D Came back, told in victory about my discovery (even the receptionist didn’t know a supermarket existed in a ’walking’ distance) and TRIED to eat the most disguisting pizza of my whol life. Didn’t happen. Was a bit hungry but luckily I had bought chocolate cookies....
It was a bit weird because my hostel had this stupid camp thing, I assume. So basically, 15-16-year-old kids runnign around, banging doors and screaming for no reason. Annoying az. PLUS everyone was Spannish and they were talking in either Spanish or catalan, so our hostel didn’t really have such a social atmosphere. Luckily there were three people from the States so I hung out with the a bit :)
Had breakkie at the balcony and skyped with Tom. I packed my stuff up and check out but left my bags at the reception to wonder around the city. Grabbed a map and decided to go see all the Gaudi stuff!
I saw:
Sagrada Família - which probably will never be ready. I did a walking tour later on this day, and our tour guide told us something about not having to pay any taxes if the church is in renovation and not completed or some stuff like that.
I chose not to go inside because of the MASSIVE queue (and the mass of tourists was also doing my head in).
I didn't mind though. Seeing Sagrada Família from the outside was impressive enough with its Gothic style and immense details.
I'm pretty sure Gaudi was a fan of tripping....
Like I mean, who puts FRUITS on their church...
Something ridiculous I saw on my trip to the supermarket to buy some lunch (bananas, of course). This is actually from the supermarket.... Whatta hell :D
Casa Milá
I would've liked to enter the building but I was too cheap to pay for the entrance fee (11 euros are you joking?! I have to eat too you know.. and pay for my hostel + train tickets) + again, massive queue.
I did how ever go to the lobby and it was soo pretty and colorful!
Another building by Gaudi, Casa Battló
I wonder where Gaudi got his inspiration from.
Even the coke machine was designed with a Mosaic layout
Plaza Cataluña, if I remember correctly
After my own little walk around the city I headed to the Columbus Monument, where this free walking tour's meeting point was. Our tour guide was this nice Aussie chick who had interesting facts about the city. The monument is located at the lower end of La Rambla, where Christopher Columbus supposedly returned after his first American voyage. They wanted to build the monument of Christopher Columbus facing west with his arm stretched, pointing towards America. But since they were in a hurry to get the statue done, they failed at life, and C.C is actually pointing towards East.
Our tour guide also told us that Barcelona's most famous and expensive street, La Rambla was actually built on a sewage. "And nothing has changed - La Rambla is still full of shit". AGREE. So that's why we skipped that torturous street.
Our guide also told us something pretty interesting: There is this one plaza was famous for its drug scene. So instead of calling the plaza by its actual name (which I can't remember),the locals call it "Trippy Plaza"...
...The government wanted to solve the problem though and built a kids' play park in the middle of the plaza, because apparently junkie's have a moral dilemma about doing the their drugs next to kids. So, the plan worked. The amount of drug abuse decreased and therefore the gov is applying this method to other problem areas as well.
This is actually a sketch Picasso made on a napkin at a bar - and here it is, on the side of a building!
Palau Güell by Gaudi
After the tour I went to my hostel to get my bags and took a train to my new, cheaper hostel, which was a 10 minute train out of Barcelona's center.
The closest shops were supposedly 10 minutes away, according to the receptionist. ”Can’t be” I though to myself. Although our hostel ws located in the middle of nowhere on top of a hill, there where other hills around with a lot of houses, so I figured the peple here must eat too.Hungry and unwilling to pay another 3 euros for a train ride to get to a shop in the center, I left with my iPod and decided to find my way to a supermarket I predicted to exist somewhere. Luckily I saw some people, since there wasn’t really anyonje around, and asked direction to a supermarket with my poor Spannish. After 25 minutes of trecking up a hill I finally found it ! It was on top of the mountain and I could see the whole valley (?) from up there. I did my shopping, bought a bottle of wine and decided to treck up the next evening with my camera in order to take some photos.
When I was returnign to my hostel I saw a freaking wild boar ! I might’ve screamed 8D Came back, told in victory about my discovery (even the receptionist didn’t know a supermarket existed in a ’walking’ distance) and TRIED to eat the most disguisting pizza of my whol life. Didn’t happen. Was a bit hungry but luckily I had bought chocolate cookies....
It was a bit weird because my hostel had this stupid camp thing, I assume. So basically, 15-16-year-old kids runnign around, banging doors and screaming for no reason. Annoying az. PLUS everyone was Spannish and they were talking in either Spanish or catalan, so our hostel didn’t really have such a social atmosphere. Luckily there were three people from the States so I hung out with the a bit :)
perjantai 30. syyskuuta 2011
Not Another Tom !
21.7 Barcelona
Jenni n Max
So I wake up in Aino+Raki+Jenni’s appartment after partying till 6 am. Still drunk
and half asleep, I think I am sleeping next to Tom (in my mind I guess I’m still in England), and hug him from behind and start kissing ”Tom’s” back. Then I realize – wait a minute... I’m sleeping next to Aino... hahahah wtf. When she woke up I told her about my little misunderstanding.. failure :’D
Because I had decided to use at least 5€ or preferably 10€ less of my day budget from now on, so that I wouldn’t have to save so much for x-mas, I only had 10 euros left (excluding the hostel money). I had to be a little creative and resort my not-so-creative-pretty-standard-breakfast/lunch aka three bananas for 80 cents. Felt like backapcking again (after eating all those fancy dinners at Tom’s uncle’s place)... such a welcomed feeling ! I’ve been spending too much money anyways on shit I don’t need.
So me, Raki and Aino went to the beach (Jenni stayed behind with Max, the girls' Spannish mate) and Raki had a slightly embarrassing moment which will fortunately for her not be discussed in this blog.. ! :D It was my first time in five months to be at the beach – the last time was in Morocco and trust me, the beaches are nothing near pleasant. The beaches are heartbreakingly full of small chips of plastic and rubbish everywhere. It was truly overwhelming to surf on those beaches. I wish people would understand to take better care of our planet. The plastic bits reminded me of the picture I saw in the Sydney Aquarium demonstrating how a plastic wrapper is the most dangerous thing in the world - if thrown into the ground instead of a bin - since it will result in killing a lot of marine animals with its domino effect.
Anyways, back to the Barcelonetta Beach: it was nothing special, reminded me kind of the beach in St. Kilda, Melbourne. People who have been there know what I’m talking about. It’s a shit beach. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it but there’s heaps of better beaches compared to it. But anyhoo, I was just glad to be back on a beach again <3 I’m pretty chocked cause when I went out for a swim, I managed to loose my anklet aka ”jinklet” form Berlin.. :( My only souvenier from there (except Tom’s shirt hahahhaa).
I continued reading the book Tom had given me: The Marching Powder by Rusty Young. I can’t remember if I’ve written about this book, but it’s about Tom McFadden, a cocaine smuggler, who got arrested and locked up in the infamous San Pedro prison in Bolivia. What is special about this prison is that everything and i mean EVERYTHING costs there. The inmates have to pay for everything from food to a prison cell. The Prison is divided in five or was it six sections and all the wealthy business men and politicians live in the best sections with their wives and kids. These cells include a kitchen, their own bathroom, a tv, and other possessions the inmate would like to have. Where as ,the worst sections are so dangerous that they’re should not be entered at night. Since everything costs money, the inmates need a source of income, and believe it or not, they continue doing inside what they do best: make cocaine. Apparently the best cocaine in the world comes out of San Pedro prison.
Anyways, it is a f*cking good book, went straight to my top reads straight away. I recommend it to everyone. And the best thing is, it is a TRUE STORY.
After the beach i sussed out on google maps where my hostel was and although Jenni was trying to convince me to take a 4 euro taxi there, I figured that hey, if I am backpacking, I should start behaving like one and hold onto my pennies :D So I walked to my hostel and loved the feeling of having to ask directions in my poor Spannish and not being quite sure how I’d reach my hostel. See, it is my basic strategy: I NEVER can be bothered to really look at the directions that thoroughly. I’ll just write the street name down and see what direction I have to go in to get the sense of going the right way. Then i’ll just start walking staright and every once in a while ask for directions. So I have literally NO IDEA what so ever, how to get to my hostel/station/any place ever at all. I just like to throw myself to the mercy of the locals! Best thing eva. As I was walking to my hostel I realized it was the first time I had been alone for quite some time now ! Before that I had been hanging with the girls, with Dan and Mia, I also visited Edwina, stayed with Tom for 5 days, and before that 4 days with Melanie in Amsterdam (although I did do a day trip alone to Utrecht) + other people before this. So it felt really nice to be alone :)
When I got to my room I started talking to this guy in my room and after a while I asked him where he was from ”Australia” ”oh sweet, and what’s your name?” ”Tom” ”NOOOOOO!!!!!”. I remember just thinking ”fucking hell, not again :D”. It was a bit hilarious to see the expression on his face.. he was like ”umm... what’s the matter... :s” ”ohijustseemtohavethistingwithtomsfromaustralia, never mind :D”. Luckily he was leaving the next morning so I didn’t have to worry about falling in love with him HAH ! :D
I also did my first share of grocery shopping in a long time... once again, I welcomed the feeling of backpacking ! I was super stoked when I was at Carrefour since I noticed that God’s gift to humanity aka a bottle of wine was only 1,49€ / bottle... oh yes. The thought of a nice meal (ravioli and almost ready salad...) with a glass of red wine seemed very tempting so I bought a bottle for myself to enjoy. But when returning home, I discovered that I had no knowledge nor skills of how to pull out the cork. So I asked this 40-year-old guy to help me open it and he did , as well as share some pretty relevant things about opening the bottle: ”it might help if you take the wrapper off ;)”. Oh hi, I have blonde hair.
I was pleased that I managed to spend only 10 euros that day (+hostel) but I was tying to figure out whether I should go to the beach and drink some wine with Jenni, Aino and Raki and some Californian guys or just stay home and read my book + update my blog + get a good nights rest and wake up early tomo to go on the walking tour. Called the girls but they were too tired to leave their flat so I went out with Darcy, this Aussie kid from my room. We went to his mate’s hostel which was so much nigger than ours. It was pretty lively and the bar was packed and full of lets-get-the-backpackers-drunk-games. We played flipcup and loved how everyone was chanting my fav games starting theme song :D Left home half past one when the others were going to a bar. I figured I didn’t want to go sit in a cocktail lounge (wtf who goes there?) reeking of beer (thanks for the bartender’s stupid let’s-pour-beer-straight-from-the-jugs-into-girls-mouths = immediate fail). Came home and checked my hostel reservation online and talked to this handsome ICELANDIC (!!! siiiick, how rare!) guy. His name was Ari... Just like Finnish !
Jenni n Max
So I wake up in Aino+Raki+Jenni’s appartment after partying till 6 am. Still drunk
and half asleep, I think I am sleeping next to Tom (in my mind I guess I’m still in England), and hug him from behind and start kissing ”Tom’s” back. Then I realize – wait a minute... I’m sleeping next to Aino... hahahah wtf. When she woke up I told her about my little misunderstanding.. failure :’D
Because I had decided to use at least 5€ or preferably 10€ less of my day budget from now on, so that I wouldn’t have to save so much for x-mas, I only had 10 euros left (excluding the hostel money). I had to be a little creative and resort my not-so-creative-pretty-standard-breakfast/lunch aka three bananas for 80 cents. Felt like backapcking again (after eating all those fancy dinners at Tom’s uncle’s place)... such a welcomed feeling ! I’ve been spending too much money anyways on shit I don’t need.
So me, Raki and Aino went to the beach (Jenni stayed behind with Max, the girls' Spannish mate) and Raki had a slightly embarrassing moment which will fortunately for her not be discussed in this blog.. ! :D It was my first time in five months to be at the beach – the last time was in Morocco and trust me, the beaches are nothing near pleasant. The beaches are heartbreakingly full of small chips of plastic and rubbish everywhere. It was truly overwhelming to surf on those beaches. I wish people would understand to take better care of our planet. The plastic bits reminded me of the picture I saw in the Sydney Aquarium demonstrating how a plastic wrapper is the most dangerous thing in the world - if thrown into the ground instead of a bin - since it will result in killing a lot of marine animals with its domino effect.
Anyways, back to the Barcelonetta Beach: it was nothing special, reminded me kind of the beach in St. Kilda, Melbourne. People who have been there know what I’m talking about. It’s a shit beach. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it but there’s heaps of better beaches compared to it. But anyhoo, I was just glad to be back on a beach again <3 I’m pretty chocked cause when I went out for a swim, I managed to loose my anklet aka ”jinklet” form Berlin.. :( My only souvenier from there (except Tom’s shirt hahahhaa).
I continued reading the book Tom had given me: The Marching Powder by Rusty Young. I can’t remember if I’ve written about this book, but it’s about Tom McFadden, a cocaine smuggler, who got arrested and locked up in the infamous San Pedro prison in Bolivia. What is special about this prison is that everything and i mean EVERYTHING costs there. The inmates have to pay for everything from food to a prison cell. The Prison is divided in five or was it six sections and all the wealthy business men and politicians live in the best sections with their wives and kids. These cells include a kitchen, their own bathroom, a tv, and other possessions the inmate would like to have. Where as ,the worst sections are so dangerous that they’re should not be entered at night. Since everything costs money, the inmates need a source of income, and believe it or not, they continue doing inside what they do best: make cocaine. Apparently the best cocaine in the world comes out of San Pedro prison.
Anyways, it is a f*cking good book, went straight to my top reads straight away. I recommend it to everyone. And the best thing is, it is a TRUE STORY.
After the beach i sussed out on google maps where my hostel was and although Jenni was trying to convince me to take a 4 euro taxi there, I figured that hey, if I am backpacking, I should start behaving like one and hold onto my pennies :D So I walked to my hostel and loved the feeling of having to ask directions in my poor Spannish and not being quite sure how I’d reach my hostel. See, it is my basic strategy: I NEVER can be bothered to really look at the directions that thoroughly. I’ll just write the street name down and see what direction I have to go in to get the sense of going the right way. Then i’ll just start walking staright and every once in a while ask for directions. So I have literally NO IDEA what so ever, how to get to my hostel/station/any place ever at all. I just like to throw myself to the mercy of the locals! Best thing eva. As I was walking to my hostel I realized it was the first time I had been alone for quite some time now ! Before that I had been hanging with the girls, with Dan and Mia, I also visited Edwina, stayed with Tom for 5 days, and before that 4 days with Melanie in Amsterdam (although I did do a day trip alone to Utrecht) + other people before this. So it felt really nice to be alone :)
When I got to my room I started talking to this guy in my room and after a while I asked him where he was from ”Australia” ”oh sweet, and what’s your name?” ”Tom” ”NOOOOOO!!!!!”. I remember just thinking ”fucking hell, not again :D”. It was a bit hilarious to see the expression on his face.. he was like ”umm... what’s the matter... :s” ”ohijustseemtohavethistingwithtomsfromaustralia, never mind :D”. Luckily he was leaving the next morning so I didn’t have to worry about falling in love with him HAH ! :D
I also did my first share of grocery shopping in a long time... once again, I welcomed the feeling of backpacking ! I was super stoked when I was at Carrefour since I noticed that God’s gift to humanity aka a bottle of wine was only 1,49€ / bottle... oh yes. The thought of a nice meal (ravioli and almost ready salad...) with a glass of red wine seemed very tempting so I bought a bottle for myself to enjoy. But when returning home, I discovered that I had no knowledge nor skills of how to pull out the cork. So I asked this 40-year-old guy to help me open it and he did , as well as share some pretty relevant things about opening the bottle: ”it might help if you take the wrapper off ;)”. Oh hi, I have blonde hair.
I was pleased that I managed to spend only 10 euros that day (+hostel) but I was tying to figure out whether I should go to the beach and drink some wine with Jenni, Aino and Raki and some Californian guys or just stay home and read my book + update my blog + get a good nights rest and wake up early tomo to go on the walking tour. Called the girls but they were too tired to leave their flat so I went out with Darcy, this Aussie kid from my room. We went to his mate’s hostel which was so much nigger than ours. It was pretty lively and the bar was packed and full of lets-get-the-backpackers-drunk-games. We played flipcup and loved how everyone was chanting my fav games starting theme song :D Left home half past one when the others were going to a bar. I figured I didn’t want to go sit in a cocktail lounge (wtf who goes there?) reeking of beer (thanks for the bartender’s stupid let’s-pour-beer-straight-from-the-jugs-into-girls-mouths = immediate fail). Came home and checked my hostel reservation online and talked to this handsome ICELANDIC (!!! siiiick, how rare!) guy. His name was Ari... Just like Finnish !
maanantai 19. syyskuuta 2011
Barcelona Tourist Hell - Killing Spree Mood
20.7 First day in Barcelona
After getting ready we walked to the train station of Salou with Mia and her boyfriend, Dan. Things didn't go as smoothly as planned, since Mia's card got stuck into the ticket vending machine. I was pretty proud of myself that I managed to explain the situation to the counter lady with my basic Spannish (only had to look up ATM = cajero automático). She didn't look suprised at all and calmly proceeded into opening the machine for us and getting Mia's Visa Electron out with the tickets she had purchased. I guess we weren't the only ones who's card had got sucked into that evil machine.
When we arrived to Barcelona, the first thing I wanted to do is go to Maccas for their free Wifi so I could book a hostel and transfer some money in my bank account. Mia and Dan left to eat and gve me Dan's mobile so I could call them when I was ready. Never have I EVER seen a McDonald's so packed. They also had these cool self use machines that you could use to speed up the process. All you had to do is tap on the items you wanted to buy on the touch screen and insert your debit/credit card in. Pretty sweet. I figured I didn't have to buy anything since the Maccas was too packed for anyone to notice whether you were an actual customer. And damn did it take long to look for an hostel... Everything was booked, or only partially available or expensive az... Took me an hour but finally I managed to suss that shit out with the exception of having to call Jenni, one of our mates who was staying and renting a flat in Barcelona for a couple of weeks with Aino and Raki. I called them to ask whether it was ok if I would crash at their place for tonight, since all the (cheap/near-by) hostels were booked. I figured I should really start booking hostels in before hand but didn't like the sound of that.. Planning too much ahead just makes the trip loose all its sense of adventure!
When I finally met Mia and Dan after that long hour I was in a bad mood. I was fucking starving since I hadn't eaten any brekkie and my bags were heavy az. Jenni had said that they weren't home atm so I couldn't go chuck my bags at their place. I wanted to go find a place where I could leave my bags but sheepishly just followed Mia and Dan. What made matters worse and got me even more in a killing-spree-kinda-mood was Barcelona's most famous, busiest and expensive street - the fucking La Rambla and all its thousands of tourists. Total tourist hell. From that moment on I came to hate the esplanade and did everything to avoid it. I know I was probably not the most fun person to hang around with the mentality I had that morning and I apologized to Mia and Dan if I was acting like a bitch. I was just really hungry and my bags were killing me. Dan was a babe and volunteered to carry my other bag (the smaller, lighter one yet which is the one that kills your shoulders) which made my morning a lot better :)
We wanted to go for a drink somewhere to celebrate us being in Barcelona and so we wondered away from La Rambla to the smaller streets. Somehow we found ourselves in a sex shop and I completely forgot my hunger and the pain my shoulders were in because we were just having too much of a laugh about the items that store had to offer. When we eventually sat down to a bar Dan bought us a drink each and we just enjoyed ourselves. We decided to make our own tapas picnic at some bar and so we went to buy a bottle of white and a bottle of red along with some olives, chorizo and what not. We found this grass area in the harbor and made a nice picnic. Since I was carrying all my shit around, I had sarong for us to sit on and my speakers ! That moment was truely just enjoying life and I began to forgot how much of in a bad mood I had been in :)
We called Aino and she promised we could come and chuck my shit at their place. Their flat was only a minute walk away from the Barceloneta beach and so it wouldn't take her long to come and let us in. After leaving my bags in the girl's apartment, we left to meet Raki and Jenni at the beach and get something to eat. Some how during that one minute walk we managed to loose Mia and Dan (assumingly they didn't see us turn on the corner) so it was just us four sitting at the beach bar. It was really nice to see the girls :) We got overpriced sandwiches and went to the grocerie store to by some booze. I was happy with my under two euro red wine:D While we were in La Rambla, I saw this guy with a white tank top and a self written ”Who the fuck is Steve Angello” on it. I started talking with the guy and he told me he was going to Steve Angello’s gig. I would’ve loved to go too but I was a bit poor so 10 euros seemed too much for me :D The guys name ws Justin and he was a Canadian dj. He was supposed to play in Ibiza but his gear broke down so his manager told him to go to Barcelona. Somehow we came into talking about skate boarding and we agreed to go surfing together (he had never surfed before!) so we swapped facebooks.
At first we went to this cool small bar that had the best 3 euro pizza I’ve ever tasted. I wish I would've written the address down but I guess I can just get it off of Jenni or one of the girls. Afterward we went to Cityhall which was nothing special, ugly guys and the music was blah. When everyone came back to the girls’ apartment there was this nonsense drama with everyone vs. mia and dan and it was just plain silly... Probably the best idea just to go to sleep at 6 AM.
Pictures property of:
Mia O'Shea 1st & 4th picture
Jenni Tuviala Last Picture
After getting ready we walked to the train station of Salou with Mia and her boyfriend, Dan. Things didn't go as smoothly as planned, since Mia's card got stuck into the ticket vending machine. I was pretty proud of myself that I managed to explain the situation to the counter lady with my basic Spannish (only had to look up ATM = cajero automático). She didn't look suprised at all and calmly proceeded into opening the machine for us and getting Mia's Visa Electron out with the tickets she had purchased. I guess we weren't the only ones who's card had got sucked into that evil machine.
When we arrived to Barcelona, the first thing I wanted to do is go to Maccas for their free Wifi so I could book a hostel and transfer some money in my bank account. Mia and Dan left to eat and gve me Dan's mobile so I could call them when I was ready. Never have I EVER seen a McDonald's so packed. They also had these cool self use machines that you could use to speed up the process. All you had to do is tap on the items you wanted to buy on the touch screen and insert your debit/credit card in. Pretty sweet. I figured I didn't have to buy anything since the Maccas was too packed for anyone to notice whether you were an actual customer. And damn did it take long to look for an hostel... Everything was booked, or only partially available or expensive az... Took me an hour but finally I managed to suss that shit out with the exception of having to call Jenni, one of our mates who was staying and renting a flat in Barcelona for a couple of weeks with Aino and Raki. I called them to ask whether it was ok if I would crash at their place for tonight, since all the (cheap/near-by) hostels were booked. I figured I should really start booking hostels in before hand but didn't like the sound of that.. Planning too much ahead just makes the trip loose all its sense of adventure!
When I finally met Mia and Dan after that long hour I was in a bad mood. I was fucking starving since I hadn't eaten any brekkie and my bags were heavy az. Jenni had said that they weren't home atm so I couldn't go chuck my bags at their place. I wanted to go find a place where I could leave my bags but sheepishly just followed Mia and Dan. What made matters worse and got me even more in a killing-spree-kinda-mood was Barcelona's most famous, busiest and expensive street - the fucking La Rambla and all its thousands of tourists. Total tourist hell. From that moment on I came to hate the esplanade and did everything to avoid it. I know I was probably not the most fun person to hang around with the mentality I had that morning and I apologized to Mia and Dan if I was acting like a bitch. I was just really hungry and my bags were killing me. Dan was a babe and volunteered to carry my other bag (the smaller, lighter one yet which is the one that kills your shoulders) which made my morning a lot better :)
We wanted to go for a drink somewhere to celebrate us being in Barcelona and so we wondered away from La Rambla to the smaller streets. Somehow we found ourselves in a sex shop and I completely forgot my hunger and the pain my shoulders were in because we were just having too much of a laugh about the items that store had to offer. When we eventually sat down to a bar Dan bought us a drink each and we just enjoyed ourselves. We decided to make our own tapas picnic at some bar and so we went to buy a bottle of white and a bottle of red along with some olives, chorizo and what not. We found this grass area in the harbor and made a nice picnic. Since I was carrying all my shit around, I had sarong for us to sit on and my speakers ! That moment was truely just enjoying life and I began to forgot how much of in a bad mood I had been in :)
We called Aino and she promised we could come and chuck my shit at their place. Their flat was only a minute walk away from the Barceloneta beach and so it wouldn't take her long to come and let us in. After leaving my bags in the girl's apartment, we left to meet Raki and Jenni at the beach and get something to eat. Some how during that one minute walk we managed to loose Mia and Dan (assumingly they didn't see us turn on the corner) so it was just us four sitting at the beach bar. It was really nice to see the girls :) We got overpriced sandwiches and went to the grocerie store to by some booze. I was happy with my under two euro red wine:D While we were in La Rambla, I saw this guy with a white tank top and a self written ”Who the fuck is Steve Angello” on it. I started talking with the guy and he told me he was going to Steve Angello’s gig. I would’ve loved to go too but I was a bit poor so 10 euros seemed too much for me :D The guys name ws Justin and he was a Canadian dj. He was supposed to play in Ibiza but his gear broke down so his manager told him to go to Barcelona. Somehow we came into talking about skate boarding and we agreed to go surfing together (he had never surfed before!) so we swapped facebooks.
At first we went to this cool small bar that had the best 3 euro pizza I’ve ever tasted. I wish I would've written the address down but I guess I can just get it off of Jenni or one of the girls. Afterward we went to Cityhall which was nothing special, ugly guys and the music was blah. When everyone came back to the girls’ apartment there was this nonsense drama with everyone vs. mia and dan and it was just plain silly... Probably the best idea just to go to sleep at 6 AM.
Pictures property of:
Mia O'Shea 1st & 4th picture
Jenni Tuviala Last Picture
sunnuntai 28. elokuuta 2011
Live Through This
Hey guys. I'm terribly sorry for not posting in a while. I'm far behind in updates, but not to worry. I "took notes" of every day of my trip so it's pretty easy to recall what happened on each day. I just hope i'll be able to capture the same feeling and atmosphere !
I've been pretty busy with work - you know, saving up for my next trip... the uge! - also spent almost a week on working at & enjoying the Flow Festival which also came with the workers' after party ! Not to mention the school's orientation days that made me realize that the actual start of school is lurking just around the corner. So, haven't really had time to write my blog (although I want to!).
Talking about school. I'm super stoked and keen to start my studies though the it only occured to me today (well actually yesterday since it's already 1:33 AM. But I haven't gone to bed yet so... anyhoo) that tomorrow (=today) is the LAST day of my year off.... Whaaat really ?? How did 17 months pass by so quickly ? It's pretty weird and a bit radical perhaps to say that the past year (well my year off actually) has been the BEST yet the WORST time of my life.
It's a cliché to say "I wouldn't change a thing" but that's not the only reason why i'm not saying it. Some things you just can't change no matter how you could go back in time and want to change them. But now that I've lived through it, I guess I've gotten accustomed to the shit I had to go through. For better and for worse, I guess.
But if I could. I would do it all again.
Never ever have I had a more better idea than taking a year off and doing exactly what I've been dreaming of doing. So, do it, go take a year off and go crazy and go travel! Explore ! Meet people ! Be a backpacker ! Live a little!
And finally, miss you Australia, but we'll meet again. Of that i'm sure.
Ps. I promise to post when I get my keyboard fixed on my laptop (note to self: don't eat when you are using the computer!!!)
I've been pretty busy with work - you know, saving up for my next trip... the uge! - also spent almost a week on working at & enjoying the Flow Festival which also came with the workers' after party ! Not to mention the school's orientation days that made me realize that the actual start of school is lurking just around the corner. So, haven't really had time to write my blog (although I want to!).
Talking about school. I'm super stoked and keen to start my studies though the it only occured to me today (well actually yesterday since it's already 1:33 AM. But I haven't gone to bed yet so... anyhoo) that tomorrow (=today) is the LAST day of my year off.... Whaaat really ?? How did 17 months pass by so quickly ? It's pretty weird and a bit radical perhaps to say that the past year (well my year off actually) has been the BEST yet the WORST time of my life.
It's a cliché to say "I wouldn't change a thing" but that's not the only reason why i'm not saying it. Some things you just can't change no matter how you could go back in time and want to change them. But now that I've lived through it, I guess I've gotten accustomed to the shit I had to go through. For better and for worse, I guess.
But if I could. I would do it all again.
Never ever have I had a more better idea than taking a year off and doing exactly what I've been dreaming of doing. So, do it, go take a year off and go crazy and go travel! Explore ! Meet people ! Be a backpacker ! Live a little!
And finally, miss you Australia, but we'll meet again. Of that i'm sure.
Ps. I promise to post when I get my keyboard fixed on my laptop (note to self: don't eat when you are using the computer!!!)
torstai 4. elokuuta 2011
Sleep Deprivation
4.8 At Barcelona Airport 8:30 AM
I was almost left outside of the terminal at 00:30 because I lacked any papers of my flight what so ever.
Security guard infront of the gates of terminal 2:
"Su tarjeta de embarque por favor."
"...............No tengo."
"No tarjeta, no pasar."
"Pero.. no tengo."
"No puede pasar. Abiertan en las seis."
At this point I thought that I was in deep shit. I was trying to recall whether it had been ever necessary print out any forms (disregarding Ryanair's flights) or was a passport just fine to be able to check in. I began to panic that I would not get home. Or that I would have to wait outside the terminal for 5,5 hours..........
"Estás sola?"
"Sí.."
"Ok, pasa"
"MUCHOS GRACIAS."
I think the security guard realized I wouldn't be well off on my own with all my luggage and no where to go to (except terminal 1), waiting outside in the dark for the clock to struck six.
There was no way I was going to risk missing my flight (again) so sleeping was not an option. So I purchased 24 h wifi with 10 euros and pretty much made a camp in one corner. I sat in that very same place for 7 hours... Holy fuck. Thank god my friends have insomnia and Hector was on facebook to keep me company. Later on I saw Jared online and we skyped for half an hour!!! Man do I miss him so incredibly much. He is one of my all time favourite people I met in Australia and I still keep in contact with him. It was so good to see his face and hear his voice and I wished I could've just jumped through the screen to Darwin and hang out with him and hug him ! Jared's the best. We reminisced about good times... That very first night Melanie introduced me and Laura to Ian and Jared and we met crazy Wolf man. On that same night me and Jared got peed on by Melanie (!!! EPIC!!!)... We also thought about Magnetic Island and Airlie along other stuff. Damn. If only Jared would be going to Indonesia in December instead of September.
After skyping with Jared and reading one message on fb that wasn't reall the most pleasant one, I started feeling a bit anxious about going back. I am pretty sure it's the sleep deprivation that's talking, but I just really started doubting my purpose in my life back home. It felt a bit like in January, when I was returning home from my four month trip - returning to nothing (no school, no job etc). I tried to remind myself that it was just an illusion because I have everything going on for me back home - I'll be working non stop in August, i'll be volunteer working at this festival and getting free tickets to it, i'm gonna start going to the gym again and school is about to start in late August. But somehow just knowing, that I would go back to Finland with the mentality of saving up again so I could get away go traveling again felt a bit depressing. It feels crazy to have this strong urge of wanting to get away...
Don't I really have anything in Finland that would make a difference to keep me from wanting to leave home again ?
That's the issue I've been resteling with on this trip. Am I really happy in Finland? Do I really wanna live there? Meeting Finnish people abroad is always such a dull reminder of how things are back home - everyone is just so "jäinen". No one can keep up a conversation (unless they are drunk) and although I would be the one that is trying to spark up the convo, the other participate just lacks the skills to maintain it. And talk about Finnish men. Oh God. Don't even get me started. When I came home from Morocco I had decided to stay back in Finland to study, because I had a lot of shit going on and I knew I wouldn't have been able to cope on my own in a foreing country without my safety net. But now that I feel like i'm over those dark times, I feel like there's really no reason why I should stay home, in Finland.
The only reason why I would consider living and studying in Finland is that uni is free and I can make a lot more money -so I can go traveling again- in my country compared to most of the countries. Unless we are talking about Australia with a minimum wage of $18.5 per hour. Jared actually just told me that he gets $20 an hour but with tips $30.. He said he worked yesterday for 5,5 hours and made _150_ dollars. But yeah. The uni isn't free in Australia... It's pretty much the opposite, at least the ones I looked at some two years ago.
Yeah. I don't really know... I've been planning I should at least do an exchange year after this one. That would give me one year in Finland, second one in exchange and the third one in one of the partner universities abroad (in Madrid I hope!). The final year, the fourth one, has a work practice term of five months, and it is recommended to do abroad - which I would totally do of course. So I would only be in Finalnd for some 1,5 years or so. Unless they wouldn't recognise my studies on my exchange year. I think I wanna go visit CIMO - the place where they took us in high school. Maybe they would be able to sort my life out a bit for myself.
But I must say. When I was surfing in Portugal, I just felt so happy. "This is what I wanna do in my spare time", I thought to myself for the tenth time. And surfing is not something you can do in Finland (unless you are totally passionate, crazy and ridiculous).
We'll see.
Ps. I've just been so happy during these past five weeks that I don't want it to go away.
I was almost left outside of the terminal at 00:30 because I lacked any papers of my flight what so ever.
Security guard infront of the gates of terminal 2:
"Su tarjeta de embarque por favor."
"...............No tengo."
"No tarjeta, no pasar."
"Pero.. no tengo."
"No puede pasar. Abiertan en las seis."
At this point I thought that I was in deep shit. I was trying to recall whether it had been ever necessary print out any forms (disregarding Ryanair's flights) or was a passport just fine to be able to check in. I began to panic that I would not get home. Or that I would have to wait outside the terminal for 5,5 hours..........
"Estás sola?"
"Sí.."
"Ok, pasa"
"MUCHOS GRACIAS."
I think the security guard realized I wouldn't be well off on my own with all my luggage and no where to go to (except terminal 1), waiting outside in the dark for the clock to struck six.
There was no way I was going to risk missing my flight (again) so sleeping was not an option. So I purchased 24 h wifi with 10 euros and pretty much made a camp in one corner. I sat in that very same place for 7 hours... Holy fuck. Thank god my friends have insomnia and Hector was on facebook to keep me company. Later on I saw Jared online and we skyped for half an hour!!! Man do I miss him so incredibly much. He is one of my all time favourite people I met in Australia and I still keep in contact with him. It was so good to see his face and hear his voice and I wished I could've just jumped through the screen to Darwin and hang out with him and hug him ! Jared's the best. We reminisced about good times... That very first night Melanie introduced me and Laura to Ian and Jared and we met crazy Wolf man. On that same night me and Jared got peed on by Melanie (!!! EPIC!!!)... We also thought about Magnetic Island and Airlie along other stuff. Damn. If only Jared would be going to Indonesia in December instead of September.
After skyping with Jared and reading one message on fb that wasn't reall the most pleasant one, I started feeling a bit anxious about going back. I am pretty sure it's the sleep deprivation that's talking, but I just really started doubting my purpose in my life back home. It felt a bit like in January, when I was returning home from my four month trip - returning to nothing (no school, no job etc). I tried to remind myself that it was just an illusion because I have everything going on for me back home - I'll be working non stop in August, i'll be volunteer working at this festival and getting free tickets to it, i'm gonna start going to the gym again and school is about to start in late August. But somehow just knowing, that I would go back to Finland with the mentality of saving up again so I could get away go traveling again felt a bit depressing. It feels crazy to have this strong urge of wanting to get away...
Don't I really have anything in Finland that would make a difference to keep me from wanting to leave home again ?
That's the issue I've been resteling with on this trip. Am I really happy in Finland? Do I really wanna live there? Meeting Finnish people abroad is always such a dull reminder of how things are back home - everyone is just so "jäinen". No one can keep up a conversation (unless they are drunk) and although I would be the one that is trying to spark up the convo, the other participate just lacks the skills to maintain it. And talk about Finnish men. Oh God. Don't even get me started. When I came home from Morocco I had decided to stay back in Finland to study, because I had a lot of shit going on and I knew I wouldn't have been able to cope on my own in a foreing country without my safety net. But now that I feel like i'm over those dark times, I feel like there's really no reason why I should stay home, in Finland.
The only reason why I would consider living and studying in Finland is that uni is free and I can make a lot more money -so I can go traveling again- in my country compared to most of the countries. Unless we are talking about Australia with a minimum wage of $18.5 per hour. Jared actually just told me that he gets $20 an hour but with tips $30.. He said he worked yesterday for 5,5 hours and made _150_ dollars. But yeah. The uni isn't free in Australia... It's pretty much the opposite, at least the ones I looked at some two years ago.
Yeah. I don't really know... I've been planning I should at least do an exchange year after this one. That would give me one year in Finland, second one in exchange and the third one in one of the partner universities abroad (in Madrid I hope!). The final year, the fourth one, has a work practice term of five months, and it is recommended to do abroad - which I would totally do of course. So I would only be in Finalnd for some 1,5 years or so. Unless they wouldn't recognise my studies on my exchange year. I think I wanna go visit CIMO - the place where they took us in high school. Maybe they would be able to sort my life out a bit for myself.
But I must say. When I was surfing in Portugal, I just felt so happy. "This is what I wanna do in my spare time", I thought to myself for the tenth time. And surfing is not something you can do in Finland (unless you are totally passionate, crazy and ridiculous).
We'll see.
Ps. I've just been so happy during these past five weeks that I don't want it to go away.
A Backpacker Will Always Find A Way
19.7 Arriving in Salou, Spain
Arriving in Salou, Spain was just like I had expected - a bit of an adventure but nothing a backpacker couldn't get through. I didn't have a map, a clue where Salou was or how to get there from Reus’ airport nor any idea whether anyone (Mia or her family that is) would be home. But a backpacker will always find a way.
So I got off the plane and hurried to the bus as all the other people were hopping on cabs. I was so proud that I managed to sort out instructions how to get to Mia's address by asking the bus driver with my basic Spanish I hadn't used since my senior year in high school. When I hopped off the bus and found the street Mia was supposedly living on with her family, I started laughing with failure. Just as I had suspected - the apartment buildings were huge and consist of many many flats so there was no way you could go knocking on each door trying to find the right door. I had of course been given only the address and the buildings number, but no info what so ever on which apartment it would be :D
I also realized that there would be no way of getting in the actual yard since all the buildings were surrounded by gates that you needed a key to. I decided to ignore the problem and just call George (cause Mia's phone didn't work) when I would find the right building. Just then I saw a man sitting in a car, and just as I wondered wtf he was doing there alone sitting in the dark in the middle in a car- a girl's head came up from his lap. Oh how awkward, road head, i'm outta here! :D Walk passed the car and tried not to laugh.
I was lucky though, as soon as I arrived infront of the right apartment building, some people that were staying there were about to enter the gates and they let me inside too ! Karma was feeling a bit generous as turned out that the couple knew exactly whom I was looking for since they were neighbours from across the O'Shea family's door ! Just as I had thought, no one was home. So I finally called George who was in Barcelona but he was such a babe that he called Mia's mom, Nina, to let her know I was infront of their door. I sat there, in the hallway, on my backpack flicking the lights on every minute or two just so I could keep on reading the book Tom gave me (The Marching Powder by Rusty Young). I only waited like 5-10 minutes but I was so happy to see Greg and Nina come up the stairs and ran to hug them. They fed me as I waited for Mia and Dan. I was so excited to see Mia but the poor thing was sick so we decided to go to bed straight away and catch up tomorrow.
Arriving in Salou, Spain was just like I had expected - a bit of an adventure but nothing a backpacker couldn't get through. I didn't have a map, a clue where Salou was or how to get there from Reus’ airport nor any idea whether anyone (Mia or her family that is) would be home. But a backpacker will always find a way.
So I got off the plane and hurried to the bus as all the other people were hopping on cabs. I was so proud that I managed to sort out instructions how to get to Mia's address by asking the bus driver with my basic Spanish I hadn't used since my senior year in high school. When I hopped off the bus and found the street Mia was supposedly living on with her family, I started laughing with failure. Just as I had suspected - the apartment buildings were huge and consist of many many flats so there was no way you could go knocking on each door trying to find the right door. I had of course been given only the address and the buildings number, but no info what so ever on which apartment it would be :D
I also realized that there would be no way of getting in the actual yard since all the buildings were surrounded by gates that you needed a key to. I decided to ignore the problem and just call George (cause Mia's phone didn't work) when I would find the right building. Just then I saw a man sitting in a car, and just as I wondered wtf he was doing there alone sitting in the dark in the middle in a car- a girl's head came up from his lap. Oh how awkward, road head, i'm outta here! :D Walk passed the car and tried not to laugh.
I was lucky though, as soon as I arrived infront of the right apartment building, some people that were staying there were about to enter the gates and they let me inside too ! Karma was feeling a bit generous as turned out that the couple knew exactly whom I was looking for since they were neighbours from across the O'Shea family's door ! Just as I had thought, no one was home. So I finally called George who was in Barcelona but he was such a babe that he called Mia's mom, Nina, to let her know I was infront of their door. I sat there, in the hallway, on my backpack flicking the lights on every minute or two just so I could keep on reading the book Tom gave me (The Marching Powder by Rusty Young). I only waited like 5-10 minutes but I was so happy to see Greg and Nina come up the stairs and ran to hug them. They fed me as I waited for Mia and Dan. I was so excited to see Mia but the poor thing was sick so we decided to go to bed straight away and catch up tomorrow.
On the plane to Reus, Spain
19.7 On the plane to Reus, Spain
Destiny. It's a pretty interesting thing. We realized last night with Edwina, that if I hadn't met Tom, I wouldn't have been in Nottingham to meet my dear Aussie girl, because I was just so against the idea of wasting my interrail time in England. It's crazy to realize how many combinations of coincidences can affect a matter. The three Belgians are a big key in the story. Basically, these things had to happen in order for me to get to Nottingham: If Tom hadn't left on monday, I wouldn't have had a day to kill before my flight, so I wouldn't have gone to see Edwina. I wouldn't even had come to England, If I hadn't met Tom. I wouldn't have met Tom, if I hadn't stayed at the same hostel as him. I wouldn't have gone to the hostel we stayed in, If I hadn't met the three Belgian guys, who asked me to come there. And I wouldn't have met the Belgians on the train, If they had taken the right train (they were really supposed to go to Copenhagen but unfortunately - or should I say luckily - they got on the wrong train to Poznan). I wouldn't also be in Poznan if I hadn't been there to see Natalia, whom I met in Australia, and Barbara, whom I met in Mexico. So yeah. Chain of events. Butterfly effect. I don't think we would've gotten along so easily with Tom if I hadn't gone to Oz. Because I went backpacking there, we had something in common, we clicked, liked spending time with each other, and he asked me to come to London.
I'm currently on the plane to Reus, Barcelona. Honestly, I'm pretty happy getting away form England. I just hate it how much they patronise and monitor everything. I mean, they have cameras everywhere, monitoring everything. "To prevent crime." England really has an atmosphere like in that book 1984.. Also the fact that they have all these fucking signs and announcements guiding you with everything, is doing my head in. "Mind the gap", "Please wait for your bag to move before place another one here", "Watch out for pickpockets", "Look left and right before crossing" and so forth. It really gives this feeling of the English government treating the citizens like a bunch of dumb twats that have to be guided with everything. Like a herd of blind sheep.
I might've had a bit of a wtf am I supposed to do -moment at the airport when I tried calling Mia. Her Finnish phone was turned off. Fuuuuuck. She gave me like no instructions at all how to get to their Villa in Salou. The only thing she said that there is a bus from the airport and get of at plaza Europa... err. So I just had to pay a horrible £5 on my credit card to use the Internet so I could check my facebook for Mike's/George's numbers. See, Mia's family (Mike=her big bro, my ex-classmate) and our mate George are in Salou too. Thankfully George had been a doll and had posted me the address of the place they were staying at :) Got Mike's number from a mutual friend and called him on my Finnish phone... gaaah wonder how much that will cost me :S So. It'll be interesting to see, if I do find this place :D I just know, that because this stupid flight was 20 minutes late, i'm gonna arrive at the airport at 23:20 and checking out and getting my bags will probs take another 30 minutes... So fuck, I really hope Mia and her boyfriend Dan or her parents will be home when I rock up at 1 AM. Somehow I doubt it.. Guess i'll just get some grub and sit on the steps with my backpack waiting for these two drunksters to come home.
PS. Edwina took me to Primark today so I could buy PJ shorts... and I went completely spastic.. £1 for undies ?!? fuck yes. Love that store.
PPS. WTF WE ARE LANDING ??? I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE ANOTHER 2 HOURS. L-O-L, ok, so, seems like i'll be in Spain already at ten ! wheeeee :):):):) STOKED MONSTER.
Destiny. It's a pretty interesting thing. We realized last night with Edwina, that if I hadn't met Tom, I wouldn't have been in Nottingham to meet my dear Aussie girl, because I was just so against the idea of wasting my interrail time in England. It's crazy to realize how many combinations of coincidences can affect a matter. The three Belgians are a big key in the story. Basically, these things had to happen in order for me to get to Nottingham: If Tom hadn't left on monday, I wouldn't have had a day to kill before my flight, so I wouldn't have gone to see Edwina. I wouldn't even had come to England, If I hadn't met Tom. I wouldn't have met Tom, if I hadn't stayed at the same hostel as him. I wouldn't have gone to the hostel we stayed in, If I hadn't met the three Belgian guys, who asked me to come there. And I wouldn't have met the Belgians on the train, If they had taken the right train (they were really supposed to go to Copenhagen but unfortunately - or should I say luckily - they got on the wrong train to Poznan). I wouldn't also be in Poznan if I hadn't been there to see Natalia, whom I met in Australia, and Barbara, whom I met in Mexico. So yeah. Chain of events. Butterfly effect. I don't think we would've gotten along so easily with Tom if I hadn't gone to Oz. Because I went backpacking there, we had something in common, we clicked, liked spending time with each other, and he asked me to come to London.
I'm currently on the plane to Reus, Barcelona. Honestly, I'm pretty happy getting away form England. I just hate it how much they patronise and monitor everything. I mean, they have cameras everywhere, monitoring everything. "To prevent crime." England really has an atmosphere like in that book 1984.. Also the fact that they have all these fucking signs and announcements guiding you with everything, is doing my head in. "Mind the gap", "Please wait for your bag to move before place another one here", "Watch out for pickpockets", "Look left and right before crossing" and so forth. It really gives this feeling of the English government treating the citizens like a bunch of dumb twats that have to be guided with everything. Like a herd of blind sheep.
I might've had a bit of a wtf am I supposed to do -moment at the airport when I tried calling Mia. Her Finnish phone was turned off. Fuuuuuck. She gave me like no instructions at all how to get to their Villa in Salou. The only thing she said that there is a bus from the airport and get of at plaza Europa... err. So I just had to pay a horrible £5 on my credit card to use the Internet so I could check my facebook for Mike's/George's numbers. See, Mia's family (Mike=her big bro, my ex-classmate) and our mate George are in Salou too. Thankfully George had been a doll and had posted me the address of the place they were staying at :) Got Mike's number from a mutual friend and called him on my Finnish phone... gaaah wonder how much that will cost me :S So. It'll be interesting to see, if I do find this place :D I just know, that because this stupid flight was 20 minutes late, i'm gonna arrive at the airport at 23:20 and checking out and getting my bags will probs take another 30 minutes... So fuck, I really hope Mia and her boyfriend Dan or her parents will be home when I rock up at 1 AM. Somehow I doubt it.. Guess i'll just get some grub and sit on the steps with my backpack waiting for these two drunksters to come home.
PS. Edwina took me to Primark today so I could buy PJ shorts... and I went completely spastic.. £1 for undies ?!? fuck yes. Love that store.
PPS. WTF WE ARE LANDING ??? I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE ANOTHER 2 HOURS. L-O-L, ok, so, seems like i'll be in Spain already at ten ! wheeeee :):):):) STOKED MONSTER.
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