My last day in Ibiza was pretty uneventful. I woke up just early to get my free breakfast and slowly got ready to go to the beach (with lots of sunblock) and return my moped. I stopped by the beach downtown for maybe an hour but it wasn't very nice so I made my way back to the hostel and ran into Hayat (the girl from Morrocco) at the internet cafe en route. We were going to meet up again after work so I took off for the small beach near my hotel and chilled in the room for awhile after that. We did meet up and walked around the town a bit eating ice cream and drinking champagne coolies. OK, so no coolies. I had to get up quite early for the ferry in the morning so I didn't go out but I thought I'd had my share of that in Ibiza anyway.
I managed to make it to the bus and ferry with no problems, and spent the day lumbering across the Meditteranean. I got into Barcelona around dinner time and walked to my hostel the long way. Which is to say, taking a left instead of a right and not realizing for about a kilometre. Then, the hostel was NOT on the main street of Las Ramblas, but was actually accessible through a wrought iron gate labelled, thankfully, 42. The hostel does look out over Las Ramblas and is a pretty sweet location if I may say so. Also, the people were super friendly and lots of fun, and while I wasn't up for going out, I did get treated to some Sangrilla and cheap beer, and proceeded to have a really close game of chess with a state champion; As in we each had three pieces left, though he ultimately won by an idiotic mistake.
The next day, I subbed to Park Güell, a park I missed the first time around, designed by Gaudi. It was worth the steep hike to see it, although there were a few working escalators in the middle of the street that helped immensely. As did the water and nectarine that served as my breakfast.
From there, I hiked down to Sagrada Familla, also designed by Gaudi, which, though I'd seen before, was worth a second look. Such inspired lunacy. On the way I'd gotten hungry again, but since it's not a walk done by tourists, supermarkets were scarce to say the least. The one I found was another fruit stand, but as I was leaving the guy stopped me and I told him I was too hungry for just fruit. We talked for a little while and all of a sudden he walked to the fridge, pulled out a Fanta, grabbed some cherries, and gave them to me as I left, as a gift because I was a visitor. Very nice.
Anyway, I walked down past a bull fighting stadium, the Arc of Triumph in Barcelona, and to the old town near the beach. Then I walked along the beach back towards the hostel and to the hostel for a little rest. It was a long walk and nobody could believe it for some reason, I didn't think it was THAT long. Anyway, I went to the train station and reserved a spot on the 8:45 to Montpellier and came back to the hostel and showered.
I went out with some Australians and Americans and a girl from Canada, and we went to a couple bars but they were too full. We ran into some 18 year old girls on the street that kept the younger (but not that young) Aussies entertained and seemed to know a cool club, so we followed them until it became clear we weren't going to be finding anything. Me and three others had finally had enough and split off from the group (they were invited to follow and wanted to but were much too drunk). In the end, we sat in Plaza Real drinking our six pack and sitting in a circle on the ground. Good night!
Just a quick note to say the last week or so has been nuts and no time or ability to get to the net for protracted times. Yesterday I left Barcelona for Montpellier (with some regrets since I had so much fun there but that's a long story for another time) mid afternoon. Arrived at 9:00. Spent the next morning exploring the city, took the 3:14 to Avignon and, due to some train strikes in France, spent an extra hour there before coming to Nice where I am tonight. Tomorrow to Cannes, maybe with a couple from NYC and then who knows. Would type more but this keyboard is impossible. Layout is
AZERTYUIOP QSDFGHJKLM WXCVBN
and then theer's the weird symbols and sticky space bar and hoz you have to use SHIFT to make nu,bers or a period.
So I rented myself a moped today. The first place I stopped wouldn't rent me one because I made the mistake of telling him I'd not been on one. The second place gave me a quick primer though and I was off. I've got to say, ripping through the mountainous curvy roads on my little moped was lots of fun.
I took off looking for a nice beach after that. I ran across a nice one right off the bat, but the next one I went to was just awesome. It was on a limestone shelf so there were multiple levels, but the bottom was nice sand still an the water was clean and sparkling.
I stayed there for a couple hours, going swimming (water's still cold!), reading a bit, and listening to music on the beach. Ahhhh... I also have to tell you that Spain has better beaches than anywhere else in certain fashions. Take that however you want.
Anyway, I eventually had to glue my eyes back in because my arm looked like it was getting red. And it was. I bought some sunblock since I also noticed that it appeared the majority of my burn had come from the bike and I still wanted to explore more of the island. So equipped, I set off again and covered all sorts of ground. I found a little town tucked in a cove on the cliff and got some nice shots of it and had myself a good old time.
Getting back to the hotel I noted I was red in a very weird pattern, it looked like mostly where my backpack was. Anyway, I ate dinner and came here to use the net and meet a Morroccan girl I met last night (I sat with her, the owner of the bar we were at, and the owner of this cafe). And that's when someone pointed out to me that I was red. And I looked again. The white parts are now red, so I'm not sure what'll happen to the red parts. But it's not as bad as it sounds, really, I'm sure I'll be fine.
Anyway, going out again tonight, probably not as late (I'm a little tired) and one more full day here before I go. Talk to you soon!
Yesterday I left Madrid for Ibiza. I'd forgotten to bring a travel alarm clock, which had been one of the things stressing me out the night prior. I had to be at the station by 8:30 AM at the latest and I had been up the night before until about 7 AM. I just set my head and also prayed for a wake up, as well as setting my iPod to play at 7:30 AM and hoping that one of my earphones would stay in overnight. It turns out that I woke up at 6:30 AM and so had nothing to fear. In fact, I'd even had time to shower, except that I'd painfully packed everything the night before and didn't dare risk upsetting the delicate balance now.
So I took the 9:00 train from Madrid to Valencia. I was speeding along the Spanish countryside in a somewhat futuristic looking bullet train, alternatively reading Bradbury's excellent Martian Chronicles and looking out at the very red soil and the resulting (to me) alien landscape of green shrubs, red soil, and reddish-gray mountains. There was one scene in particular out the window where a lone mountain stood in the middle of the plains with little orchards surrounding it and I really regret not takin a picture. Anyway, I quickly pulled out my music notebook and scrawled this. I've been writing a lot lately. Anyway, I kinda like it, hope you do too:
A Place Like Home Familiar red soil beneath his feet The first traveller stands regarding A sky of blue, so pretty too But reminding him of his parting
Stumbling through the ancient land Decoding ancient runes Discovering truths, ages unused A smile in spite of its weight
Thinking on what he must do To give to Mars its rebirth Red carbon skies, the old life dies And salt water falls to the Earth.
Change it all the way we like It's fine if it's not ours Out with the new, in with the old And make the Earth like Mars
So anyway, back on topic here, I finally got into Valencia, and grabbed a city bus to the bus station. The ferry company provided a free bus down to Denia from Valencia, and it's good they do, because they really rip you off on the ferry rides. So another bus, another hour and a half, en route we passed a little town that did the Hollywood thing and spelled its name in white block letters on a hill, and a few scenic and probably Moorish castles. I've been giving the camera a little rest lately and just taking it all in, as you'll no doubt notice if/when I get my pictures uploaded.
Then, from Denia, onto the ferry for Ibiza. Another 3 hours. I had finished The Martian Chronicles on the train and started Dan Brown's Digital Fortress on the bus and polished off a good chunk of it by the time we finally got into Ibiza. I'd rather have sat outside and watched the see go by, but that wasn't allowed and the weather was lousy for anything except travelling anyway. I did sit by a window, but it's not the same, so I just read. I did end up finishing the book by the end of the night, incidentally, an interesting novel though thoroughly predictable and I did spot a few mistakes, like the head of a major chip manufacturer thinking he's make a mint producing "VSLI" chips or Greg Hale saying at the end of a certain chapter that "Who will guard the guards" was Tokanama's favourite saying, which cast suspicion on him as a potential murderer since he should not have known Tokanama died, but in the end he was innocent (of that) and that little subtlety was never explained.
Anyway, I got into Ibiza city and then had to catch another bus (after a long hike to the bus station) to San Antonio, the city where I'm staying. THEN I walked around looking for the place and everyone I asked for directions was saying something different. It was actually pretty funny in spite of the 60 pound pack on my back but I eventually had enough and took a cab who DID seem to know where it was (I'd asked two cabbies prior who were among the culprits sending me walking in various directions). Having walked arounds and seen some of the places, I was pretty sure that my €30 had booked me a dive, but I was pleasantly surprised by my hotel. Clean, nice, pool, tennis, ping pong, and a dinner buffet that I probably was more impressed by than I would've been had I not eaten something I really liked in over a week. Which, in my first bit of good luck that day, I JUST managed to catch.
Anyway, I have my own clean room AND bathroom, which is nice, and get this - the maids come in and clean up after me in case I made a mess every morning. What a world! :) I didn't have enough energy to go out last night so I basically laid in my room (there was an awful keyboard duet downstairs so I didn't sit in the lounge) and finished my book. Which was nice. I came here to relax AND to have fun.
Today I just walked around (the weather was cool and it even rained, which figures, since I had hot sun the whole trip prior) and I may rent a moped to find some of the nice beaches or explore the island tomorrow, we'll see. It'll probably depend on the weather a bit. Tonight I'll probably go out to a club on the sea about 10 minutes walk away.
I awoke after a surprisingly restful sleep (albeit short) as the train pulled into Madrid. There's something to be said about waking up in a new city, even if the first thing on the agenda is hunting a place to stay. The metro here is great if a little pricey, but I suppose it's worth it because you are NEVER far from a metro station in this city. Ever. It's a combination of good coverage and by virtue of the way the lines are set up, still getting around pretty quickly.
I actually found myself a decent place to stay within about 10 places for €22 a night. For what it was, expensive, but still within budget so I took it. Plus, truth be told, it had a great location just off the Opera station on Calle dos Arenal, which runs between Plaza Oriente and the main square, Sol. Also very handy for a nice walk home at 6:30 AM when leaving the clubs. Or so I'm told. There was a shared bath on the opposite side of the building it felt like, and although all the keys were gone from the drop box, I'm pretty sure I saw maybe two people in the place that weren't receptionists.
I spent the day wandering and, looking at a map later and roughly retracing my route, I estimate that I covered about 18 kms of the city. Which would explain the socks, I figure. I didn't get inside any of the mueseums because they were lined up, but the streets are like another kind of museum here and I didn't mind just walking. This rivals Edinburgh in beauty I think, and is very clean relative to what I was expecting from my stay in Barcelona a few years back, not to mention my stay in Lisbon. Which I loved, don't get me wrong. All I'm saying was I'm quite happy I decided to come here.
I walked much of the day and grabbed some tapas and sangria around 6 as is the local tradition here. Dinner is never before sunset, it seems. I sat and watched a group of young people chatting amongst themselves at another table which is entertaining for awhile but gets old (not to mention I couldn't even eavesdrop effectively because it was all Spanish). I headed out and had some time to kill before supper, so I went to the cinema to see Star Wars (again, I know). I got there late and grabbed my popcorn and coke, which I was quite looking forward to as it was real popcorn and not the sweet crap they have elsewhere. I got into the theatre and sat down as the battle of Coruscant was raging, sitting down, and then as I turned my attention to the screen, realized in horror that the movie was DUBBED!! That's right, you heard me. Dubbed. In Spanish. The horror! I thought about staying and watching anyway, but I don't know the movie well enough to fill in the dialogue on my own yet, and so I got up pretty quickly. It was a bit of a struggle to get my money back in spite of the language barrier, though they were quite understandnig and nice about it.
So I went back to the hotel and rested my feet for a bit and then went out. I walked through about 5 clubs and 15 bars, having an occasional beer here and there, especially where they seemed to be brewing. Spanish beer is not as exotic as I thought it might be, and could esaily have been an English ale or something. Anyway, I found a place where there were a few people my age and found a nice wide window sill where I could sit and watch inside and out of the bar sipping my beer. A couple Spanish girls sat on the patio right outside the window and I moved the table a bit closer under the window, to which I craftily implied they had done so to be closer to me and they could just ask me to sit with them instead of slowly sneaking the table towards me. Anyway, they were quite nice and I did sit wiht them until the bar closed at around 2 AM and then we went to the club which was pretty packed. Which is the way I like it for dancing since it hides me pretty nicely!
We left around 6:30 AM which was strange because the sky was light leaving the dark club with the lasers etc, and we walked home in the crowded streets of other clubbers and people walking to work. Very surreal.
The next day I washed my laundry and met a couple guys from the US that I might meet in Barcelona and a couple girls from Winnipeg (seems to be a lot of 'Peggers travelling this year) who were travelling in the opposite direction of me (i.e. towards Portugal from Barcelona). So I now have fresh albeit somewhat wrinkled clothes once again. Which is almost too bad, I was starting to fit in!
Then, I decided I'd better check on the ferry after having heard that they get booked up. Sure enough, they were. By the time this happened, it was getting to be 6:00 on a Sunday, so I was in panic mode. I'd already booked my train and now I wasn't even going to be able to get a ticket until June 2?! Well, I rushed around, internet, telephones, etc. Everything that could go wrong went wrong this evening. Phones ate all but the last of my change. Then I lost my last change in another phone accidentally calling the fax number (which I had written down instead of the phone number at the internet cafe) of the other major ferry line. And then I ran back there and got the real phone number and then went back to the hotel for my wallet, at which point reception decided it was time for me to pay for my hotel NOW since she wasn't going to be there tomorrow morning, then to the bank for money, back the the hotel, and then to a store for change only to call the real phone number and find they'd closed hteir offices 10 minutes before. Other internet places I'd trekked a long way to closed. Travel agents shut their doors just as I ran up. The ferry had said I could get a ferry from Barcelona, however, so I went all the way to the train station to see if I could get my ticket moved to Barcelona instead of Valencia. Of course, the answer was no. Booked. I did manage to get my ticket to Valencia moved to first thing in the morning so I could have a better chance of catching some other ferry from a city called Denia further south. Then the electronics store was closed as I went to buy a travel alarm clock, though I did succeed in getting a book.
Anyway, that's only a small sample of all the little things. In the book store I calmed a bit and decided I'd find a way and not to let these little things get to me. I'd find a ticket. Then I went back to another internet place and went to the other ferry line. The problem I had with these guys was it was always Spanish despite having a button claiming that you could view the site in English. But I got a worker there to translate and managed to get a much more pricey ticket to Ibiza and a free bus. By now it was late and I was wiped out anyway, plus I had to wake up early, so I went back to the hotel, packed and prepared, and finished All Tomorrow's Parties (a really eery William Gibson novel) before drifting off.
