Yo Adriatic, it's rocky

I hopped the night train from Rome to Bari in a three person couchette. The sleep on a night train is always hit and miss, if the ride is more than 8 hours you have a reasonable chance at a full night's sleep but when you get one that is 6 hours it just makes you tired. So I walked out of Bari Centrale at 7:30ish and waited for a McDonald's to open so I could sit and rest a little. After three hours I had had enough and walked down to the port to find out about ferries to Corfu, Dubrovnik or to Montenegro. The Corfu ferries start during the high season, Montenegro runs on alternating days so I pinned everything on the Dubrovnik ferry which runs regularly...unfortunately for the company.

I believe there were no more than 12 people on board. I skipped getting a room in favor of sleeping on the deck but I met a few Canadians and Americans so we just stayed back drinking and bsing most of the night inside.

We arrived in Dubrovnik around 8a where I was swamped by older people wanting to rent me their rooms (the cheapest way to stay in Dubrovnik). From the port I headed off to the bus station to catch a ride to Budva, Montenegro. It has a lot of what Dubrovnik offers such as beautiful waters and beaches, a picturesque old town and the like but with two main causal advantages: fewer tourists and lower prices.

The drive in is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. It is like Scandinavian scenery, Iberian weather, Mediterranean architecture and Chinese prices. What's not to love? I ended up staying at the Hippo Hostel, Montenegro's only hostel and planned on staying put for 2-3 days. Turns out I liked it so much I decided that I am not moving until the 8th. We barbecue nightly with finds from the local butcher. Really high quality premarinated steak kebabs, chicken wrapped with bacon, baked potatoes, and local veggies all for 6-8 euros...roughly the cost of a McDs value meal in Rome.

It is also a real convenient place to depart from if you want to visit Croatia, Bosnia, and other cities in Montenegro such as Kotor which I may end up doing tomorrow. All I have to do is get myself to Split on the 9th so with the next 4 days...who knows? My next entry will probably be when I return home, see you all in about a week.

--Joey

Via Libre

I found this place downstairs (literally) from my apartment (47 Gran Via). I have stopped heading to the Plaza Mayor to do my internet-ing. There you pay 1 Euro per hour for a connection on slightly older computers (still a deal, especially given the location). In the past I would spend about two hours there, get a drink and blow between 3-4 euros. In Via Libre, I get a Ca~a of beer for 1,50 then it comes with a tapa (I usually choose Bacalao--the fried and salty fish goes great with a creamy Estrella Galicia), and for an extra 50 cents I get a potato salad. So for 2 euros I can stay all day long and get some food. Most days I spend around 5 euros and get another beer and tapa or two.

Only downside is I wreak of smoke especially after "rush hour" since Gran Via is on a lot of people's way home.

--Joey

GAMBA-tte: Selfmade Sugoi Sushi in Salamanca

Life in Salamanca has been pretty good since Semana Santa. We started the week with Sushi night (the month of cooking has made us a bit cocky) and it turned out really well. About 10 of us took turns maki-ng our own rolls which ranged from Philly/California/Shrimp-with-stuff rolls (likely to the very polite chagrin of our resident Nihonjin, Ayako), Avocado and Tamago Nigiri. For dessert we finished with an ersatz Bananas Foster made from Apple Schnapps and Coca Cola. You had to have tried it it isn't as bad as it sounds ;)

School started to wear on me last week so I decided to take a hiatus for a week/possibly two and visit some of the daytrips the region offers. Also, I think reading the newspaper and watching an few hours of Spanish TV daily is equally beneficial at this point in my learning. I may go back for the last week of April.

Lagos reunion tour

Our crew from the Rising Cock came to visit us this past Friday and we spent a couple of days touring around. It has been under 3 weeks since we saw them last but felt like the better part of several months. Saturday we lounged around the Plaza Mayor with bags of McDs and BK. We are really taking advantage of the local atmosphere if not always the cuisine. Sunday, we sent Texas Joe off to Madrid where he is flying to Paris, Today we are sending off Luke and Ben who are headed to Logroño, Wiebke to Lagos via Lisbon. Good times guys!

Cuídate: Techo Mojado

Apparently we developed a bit of a leak in the gym/garage below our flat. This was first noticed when we filled up our tub to do the laundry (yeah we are classy like that--the washer doesn't drain quickly enough) but apparently even quick showers are doing it. We told him we would use the spare bathroom in the interim. Yesterday he buzzed our apartment exasperatedly and told us that "I thought you weren't going to shower!". We had been using the other one so the problem is bigger than just one bathroom. Truthfully, I am not even sure we can help it. The pipes may be shared for every "D" apartment in the complex. So that is on the to-fix list for our dueña Carmen. In the interim we have been showering with the tub plugged and bailing the water out manually.

Loonies de Agua

Salamanca (and the rest of Castilla Leon) celebrated Lunes de Agua, the historical end of Easter and thus the return of prostitues to the region from their banishment during Semana Santa, by sitting outside and relaxing at Parque Aldehuela. You got to love Spanish holidays.

Fonzie had an easier time with the word wrong than I do with the word Itinerary

In unrelated news, I am thinking of canning my return to the states on June 10th in favor of the world's longest train ride to China from Warsaw via Moscow and Ulaanbataar. This may end up as a bonafide RTW after all. The reason is that I am starting to doubt whether the Japanese stay is going to happen. I am not tired of traveling but I am starting to get the 2 month homesick pang a bit. Much less than last time around, but still there which means after another month in Salamanca and 6 weeks on the road I think will have another month or two in me before I find traveling to be more of a burden than the enjoyable experience it should be. All that said I have to do some more research because Transsiberian railroaders require visas, embassy invitations and a bunch of other bureaucratic hassles. At the same time the demand for the direct tickets is substantial so I may head to Eastern Russia and then to Ulaanbataar and then to Beijing. Or maybe I do the sane thing and just come home and fly roundtrip to Hong Kong...nahhh ;)

The travel whatifs

Today Em and I were saying that every photo on this blog is due to Andalucia day. Sounds funny right? Had Andalucia day never happened, we would have stayed in Sevilla in our own apartment or with the school. That being the case, we would not have hung out at Samay (and the Rising Cock) and met Ben, Luke and Joe. We would not be in Salamanca now, if at all.

--Joey

(Photos to come within the next day or so right now I am having some technical problems)

Faro and away

Our second trip to Sevilla was 7 days of soaking up the town. Yup lucky number 7. We missed the bus to Lagos on Monday for the sake of 50 euro cents off a chicken sandwich meal at the BK Lounge.

Bonus night in Sevilla was kind of meh. Something I sort of knew but didn't have drilled home until recently. Your hostel experience is part the hostel itself and more so the people you meet around the common room. The place was dead come Monday. All of the great people we met were either in Lagos, Malaga, or Granada. All the music, communal cooking and joking around was replaced by silence.

The next morning I woke up arond 7a and checked my mail. The rest of the guys had made it to Lagos and were telling us the bus left at 7:30 not 8:30. I double checked the bus schedule and saw that 7:30 was the departure time from Lagos to Sevilla. With that reassuring tidbit, we took our time getting to the station. 10 minutes before we were scheduled to leave, we learned our friends were right and the website was wrong. At tourist information the typical Spanish mentality of customer service as an after thought prevailed again. The lady said she can get us on a bus to Ayamonte. Great, then how to we get to Lagos from there? Yo no se. What? She told us to ask someone at the station when we get there. You have to be kidding me. Okay fine. We get to Ayamonte and there is no station just a closed kiosk on the side of the road.

We talked to a cab driver who said that for 14 Euros he could get us to Portugal. To a town that has a train to Lagos. It was better than the alternative of waiting 8 hours in Spain so we went for it. Plus, he gave us a crash course in Portugese on the way there.

Two and a half hours via a stop in Faro and we were in Lagos.

When in doubt, follow the bleeding guy

With tourist season in a lull, the owners of pensions, hostels, and homes are hawking their accomodations. Nao obrigado, we have our accomodation...at the...Rising Cock hostel. It is rooster themed. It may also be a double entendre ;)

One of the guys pushing his house told us he would walk us there...he also had a bleeding lip. Not in the little blood crusts sense from a shaving mishap, but like a juicy, bright red bleeding corner. Not sure if he realized this or not but when you are trying to convince someone to stay in your house, the fewer open wounds the better. Anyway, the hostel was literally 10 minutes from the train station and 5 from the beaches.

Lagos is a Portuguese beachtown that reminds me a bit of Amity. It gets heavily touristed during the summer but it is a different kind of tourism than you see on the costa del sol. Right now, the shops along the sun beaten streets are catching their breath in anticipation of the endless lazy summer days to follow.

Our hostel, the Rising Cock, is an interesting place. It is essentially study abroad kids on break, the usual cadre of young Aussies, Kiwis, Brits, Canadians and Americans relaxing and longtermers that have no idea how to find an appropriate encore. Anyone with any flexibility at all in their schedule overstays. In part due to its common room (with a huge couch sectional) and also due to the lack of sites to see (you come here for the beach and the beach only) makes it the best social hostel I have ever been to. After a night of hitting up the local bars the hostel mom Maria, makes you lemon tea and a mountain of crepes to cure your hangover. Quite an easy life to become accustomed to.

Cliff Cravin'

The beaches are beautiful here. Coarse yellow brown sand, blue green waters, and rock formations reminscent of American west loom invitingly. Em and I being beach and water snobs are finding the testicle destroying 17 degree water horrificly hypothermic and nearly unswimmable but when you get out it feels like jumping into a hot shower on a cold morning. Good times.

To relaxing days, long nights and suggestive accomodation. Cheers :)

--Joey

(long post warning, (slightly graphic (but blurred) photo warning as well) the Reader's Digest version is below this post)

Tirar los galletitas

Em and I got up early on Saturday to catch the 9a bus to Seville. We had a change of plans. Saturday was supposed to be a Gibraltar tour day but the weather was bad, therefore dropping a few folks from the roster. Meanwhile, Em and I wanted to check out apartments in Sevilla which is notoriously difficult in the month of Semana Santa.

The buses in Andalucia have very comfortable seats and large windows. They usually are also a little more convenient than trains. For example, a bus to Sevilla is about 3'30, a bus to Malaga is 1'+ 2'30 train ride + your waiting time.

Running late as usual we cut our breakfast and hailed a cab to the bus station. With 3 minutes or so to spare Em said she was having that empty stomach nausea you get when you exercise before breakfast. So I held the bus while she ran to get some M&Ms and water.

The road to Sevilla passes through Ronda. A-397 is one of the most dizzying rides you can imagine. A turn every few seconds; 60 minutes of uphill slalom. Em with her propensity towards motion-sickness was a sad pup within minutes of taking off. She seemed like she would be okay but she got worse and worse and within sight of Ronda it became just too much. Her stomach heaved and with no bag or anything to catch it, I put my hands under her mouth. I was hoping that maybe just that little bit would be enough until she got off the bus. You would think that I had never vomited before based on that line of thinking. It continued...and continued.

Covering the floor, the tips of her hair, her jeans, my jeans and with a little even hitting the woman sitting in front of us. The woman, who wanted to make her ride more comfortable leaned back her seat creating a space for my sister's hurlorama to sneak through. Bet she doesn't do that again! Lo siento is just way too short make up for regurgitated snacks.

We finally arrived at the bus station in Ronda with a slightly chocolaty-peanuty aroma in the air. It could have been much worse. I eventually just emptied my hands on the floor and wiped them on Em's jeans. We had a change of plans. Today would be a tour of Ronda but not before washing our clothes a bit.

Help me Ronda, Help me get it out of my hair

Colgate Total makes a surprisingly good ersatz shampoo. Em changed her clothes, I just rinsed mine down in the men's restroom. Some people asked me if I felt like a giant in Japan. Not at all...but I did in Ronda. I waited in line for the men's room and I think I was the only person over 5'3 there. The women next to me were all clawing for 5' even. I came back to the cafe where the conductor tells me that they always carry bags on curvy roads. Good to know.

Hemingway said that Ronda is a perfect place to spend an afternoon. I agree. Ronda is most famous for it's "Puente Nuevo" (also called Puente San Miguel--nuevo, or new, is such a relative term in Europe, it was built in 1793) a 300ft tall mammoth bridge that spans a picturesque canyon. While that is the draw, the city is nice enough unto itself. The narrow roads of old town, the green fields in the distance, give the place an other worldly feel. If Caserta, was for Naboo's royalty this was the home of its commoners.

GORGE-ous

Considering how famous the bridge is in the town (at least half the visitors come here JUST for that) it is surprisingly hard to locate on the tourist map. If you don't know the name, you would assume it is just another bridge. The tell tail sign in any town, of any tourist destination, is the density of postcard racks. As we reached bridge, the town opened up and we had an incredible view. How they built something like this 200+ years ago just astounds me. We soaked in the atmosphere with a supermercado lunch (bread, meat, cheese, chips, fanta, water) on a trail that was to take us to the bottom of the canyon.

In the back there is another bridge, less famous, and less impressive by comparison but still quite nice and a welcome reprieve from the hoards of tourists understandably distracted by the Puente Nuevo. Ronda is a town that rewards walkers. The view of the bridge from the lookout points is very close and dizzyingly vertical. From the long path (unfortunately, suitable only young people) you get the best angle on the bridge and its surprise waterfall. Ronda is a required stop on any tour of Andalucia.
Down below we met up with some American students taking a weekend break from their studies in Sevilla. We sketched the area, and continued looking (in vain) for a way to get under the bridge. The path that seemed most promising led us through an abandoned electrical generating facility. It has probably been in this state for several years because the vines had taken it over.

It was getting late so we got our mosy on to the bus station to head back on a much straighter path to Sevilla.

At Giralda...large

We arrived around 9:30 and I found myself surprisingly aware of where I was within the city, considering I have never arrived by bus. Outside the bus station was a very modern slick looking metro line (one that was underconstruction while I was in Sevilla last time).

We hopped a cab to the out of the way hostel I stayed at last time, figuring it was bound to have empty beds at this hour. Nope. Apparently a rowing team and a bicycling team had taken the place over leaving us further a way from the other hostels. Em and I began the long walk back to the center of town. We walked through the Plaza Nueva, the University and of course got to see the Cathedral with its iconic belltower the Giralda glowing against a clear black sky. It never fails to impress.

One of the rules to keep in mind in Andalucia is that hostels are not always cheapter than 1-2 star hotels when you aren't traveling solo. We checked a few centrally located pensions and were running in the 40-60 euro range. When we arrived in Plaza Nueva, we found a few backpackers and ran up to them to see if they were heading to a hostel .Yup! Okay great, so we headed off to Hostal Suijzo Nuevo. Em and I were far too tired to do much of anything that night so we just collapsed and slept through the night (surprisingly tough to do in a hostel).

The next morning was a rainy, dreary, mess of a day. We stopped off at McD's which was the only thing open on a Sunday morning at 11a. Trying to find apartments to rent in one day is pretty ambitious. Sunday was going to be a get to know Sevilla day to see if Em wanted to stay here or continue in Marbella.

We did a tour of the cathedral (still among the most impressive I have seen). Sundays are no longer free as they were when I was here last but the 2 euro student price (7 euro adult price) is very much worthwhile. Trying to capture the jawdropping beauty of the place with photos is impossible, which to me is a sign that God wants us to travel ;)

We did the obligatory climb up the Giralda to get a view of the streets of Barrio Santa Cruz below. From there we headed to the Plaza de Espa~a, home of the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, Naboo, Lawrence of Arabia and the first page of Dan Brown's Digital Fortress. Sunset in the plaza is pretty spectacular. The top of the plaza glows iridescent orange as does the back of the front wall. It lasts only a few minutes and then for a nocturnal encore, the fountain's, towers, and square light up. Sevilla es de cine, literally.

We got ourselves to the 2nd train station in Sevilla (the place I got off the first time) and were about to buy our ticket to Malaga when we had a realization. There may not be a bus back to Marbella at 10p. We'd be stuck in Malaga. So a 3 day weekend it was. Insert arm twisting here.

Back to the center of town and back to the Barrio Santa Cruz. Our first pension attempt was 40 euros down the back of an alley with a rude owner/manager who was supremely insulted when we tested the shower for hot water before agreeing to stay. He told me "If you want to know if we have hot water you just need to ask me if there is hot water" not being quite the fan of this guy's attitude I asked Em if she wanted to continue looking to which she said (in English) "Absolutely, I don't trust this guy at all" yup I agree. So one of two things, either there was no hot water (possible), or there was and this guy has no customer service savvy at all (very possible).

Two streets later we found Pension de Santa Maria de la Blanca. A very simple accommodation, in a traditional Andalusian house 40 euros for ensuite bathroom and twin beds. Deal. Walking the narrow streets can be fun with the assortment of bars, cafe's, heladerias and the like.

The next day we focused on contacting people looking to rent furnished apartments. 1 bedrooms are from 650 and 2 bedrooms appear to be from 750 to 850 depending on distance to the city center. As always, a bit of negotiating is usually a good idea. We also had as a priority finding the Enforex school. Not knowing the area, I decided to follow instructions from Google Maps from the cathedral. When we took a 2 mile loop around the city we found the school...literally meters from where we stayed at the pension. Lucky is the person who has the free time to walk for two hours in Sevilla.

We rode back to Marbella via a train to Malaga and a subsequent direct bus to Marbella. The train station was under a fair amount of construction the last time I was there. It is almost unrecognizable and it would rival Kyoto for me for the train station to get stuck in. Great weekend in Spain.


Ciao!



--Joey