6/6 – Saw an unbelievable cathedral by Gaudi. Wierd organic spiraling columns 100 meters high. Climbed almost to the top of them and walked across small bridges at over 70 meters high. My fear of heights kicked in strong for that experience. Went over and checked out the Olympics area. Saw a Spanish village and looked at the small 60,000 seat Olympic stadium. Went out that night, but could find no night life. Ended up playing some pool and drinking beers. Found out a Barcelona prostitute costs 50,000 pesetas plus 10,000 pesetas for the room. Thanks, but no thanks.
6/7- We went to a modern art museum and had lunch in a park. I went out to Gaudi’s park by myself. Strange, surreal footbridges and some great fairy tale houses. Earlier, Eric almost had his pack stolen in the park. Some guy snuck up behind him and had his hand on the bags before Eric heard him and chased him away. Took the night train to Madrid. Met Veronica from Argentina who is getting her masters degree in Barcelona in architecture. She is riding to Madrid to meet her father, who she hasn’t seen in a year, and who is staying in Spain for about a month. It was a great conversation to practice my Spanish.
6/8 – Couldn’t get into the hostel so stayed in a pension with an American named Erin. Went to a soccer match with a Brit named Hui. Madrid beat Barcelona 1-0, even though Barcelona had already clinched the league title. Stood up the whole game, there were no seats where we are at. Great experience.
6/9 – Checked into the hostel for $5 per night. Went to the Prado Museum which supposedly has over 5,000 painting. The ones I saw were dark, dreary and very religious. The botanical gardens were very nice with plants form all over the world. Good place for a nap. Went to the bullfights that night. They killed six bulls in all. First a group of matadors would tease the bull, then a guy on a padded, blindfolded horse would spear the bull, then three matadors would each run up and stick two small spears into the bull and finally the main guy would kill the bull with a sword after dancing with the bull for a while. The most exciting part came when a bull knocked one of the guys off the horse, then went after the horse. It knocked the horse over and went into it very hard. I thought the horse was dead, but it got up again afterwards. Good padding I guess.
6/10 – Went to Toledo for the day by myself. Beautiful medieval city with small, winding streets which were fun to get lost in. It was up on a hill with water on three sides. Very strategic – it was settled by the Romans, sacked by the Visigoths, taken over by the Muslims and finally conquered by the Spanish. Some of the buildings and bridges dated back to before the 10th century. There was even some scattered ruins from a Roman circus which seemed very old.
6/11 – A thoroughly shithole type of day. At lunch near a plaza a man asked me for a cigarette and I said “no hablo Espanol.” A minute later a second man asked me the same question and I gave the same reply. I was busy looking at the map and trying to find a post office to mail the $35 of saffron I had just bought for Sue. When I went up to leave a few minutes later my backpack was gone. I think the first man took it when the second man asked me for a light. I lost my camera and the saffron. It gave me an incredibly empty feeling. I just wandered around for a while trying to sort things out. I finally went to an El Corte Ingles store and bought a $15 Swiss army knife, A $15 backpack and a $60 camera. I wasn’t going to let those assholes ruin my trip.
6/12 – Tried to go to Segovia, but missed the most convenient bus and just hung around the large university in Madrid reading Time Magazine and the Harvard Business Review in the campus library. I just wanted to be alone. Took the night train to Lisbon with Fabian and Anita, an Australian couple I met in the $5 per night hostel in Madrid. Ended up spending a fitful night in the train with 2 Finns, a Brazilian, a Portuguese, and Swiss and Fabian. At least the Finns broke out some vodka when we arrived that morning.
6/13 – Arrived in Lisbon. Ended up walking with 10 people to a pension in Lisbon’s tourist district. Slept a few hours and went for a walk on my own. Had a great dinner for around $8 with Fabian and Anita. Met a drunk Portuguese man who ended up taking us to his house for his homemade wine. We got by with him between my Spanish and Fabian’s Italian. Ended up listening to his wife scream at him from around the corner of the apartment. He was a dockworker on some sort of disability from some type of epileptic attacks. A very unusual experience.
6/14 – Took a walk around the city, ate lunch in a park, saw the movie Highlander 2, which was lousy and had a great sardine dinner for around $9. It was very strange walking out of a theater in another country. Also got a haircut for about $4 at a very meticulous barbershop.
6/15 – Walked around the city. Went up the Moorish Castle. Beautiful views of the city. Was originally a Roman fortress and there were some old brick structures that could have been Roman. Walked along the dock areas then we took a cable car to Bemen area. Saw a couple of monuments and the abbey, which was closed. Saw people kicking around an American football and saw a very sloppy softball game. Very strange. Had a nice chicken dinner near the castle area then saw an outdoor rock concert. The first band had a good female vocalist and had a nice new wave rhythmic sound. The second band was more popular, but kind of stupid, with a jerky male lead singer and two girl vocalists in black. It was a kind of lousy B-52s meets Talking Heads sound. Also, lost some pictures when I accidently opened the new camera.
6/16 – Went to Calais, which had a nice beach. Laid out in the sun and went swimming in the very cold water. Had a late lunch with included a bowl of sea snails. Good taste, but it got old after a while. Fabian and Anita went to bed early and I saw the movie Guilty by Association.
6/17 – Went to Sintra. The old Moorish castle there was built in the 8th or 9th century and covered 2 mountain tops. It was a wonderful experience walking along its walls overlooking the landscape below. We walked through a thick lush forest to get to the castle. It was a green beautiful, fairy tale area and I wish I could have spent more time there. Took the night train to Lagos. Met a Brit, Richard, and two Czechs who were sharing wine in the train station. The train wasn’t crowded, but not comfortable. Richard ended up sleeping on the luggage rack. Around 2am the train stopped, we all boarded buses for 1 hour, then another train to Lagos. I have no idea why.
6/18 – At Lagos Anita and Fabian went to look for a campground, while Richard and I decided to go to Sagres. We stayed at a youth hostel/fortress which Prince Henry the Navigator used to train sailors and navigators. Very sparse and strict place. Spent all day roasting on the beach, then had a wonderful dinner with a couple of Canadians and another Brit, who had quit his job as an account executive with a trading firm to write and drive a taxi. We got pretty drunk, missed the hostel’s curfew and had to sneak into windows to get in when we got back.
6/19 – Went to Lagos. Found a nice place and slept for a couple of hours. I went for a walk and bought a pair of sandals for around $20. I hope they last. Went out and had a lousy calamari dinner. I ended up spending over an hour helping a drunk Swedish girl find her place after her boyfriend walked out on her. I didn’t get back to town until after 3am and I had the key. Richard had met an English girl, couldn’t get into the room and ended up taking the girl to the beach. Fun and bizarre night.
6/20 – Spent the day on the beach with 2 Swedish girls we met in Sagres. Went for a paddle boat ride in the ocean. Very tiring. Had sangria at a beachside bar which was very good. Went to a couple of bars and played pool with the two girls. Kind of a slow night.
6/21 – Went to visit Fabian and Anita but a transportation strike cancelled the bus to their campground so we just hung out on the beach again. Had a great swordfish dinner at the Ritinya Restaurant. Met the girl Richard was with on Wed night so I hung out with some Canadians. At 2am we met an Aussie on the square who had gotten in late from the train strike and didn’t have a room so I snuck him into an empty room in our place and told him to pay the landlady in the morning. Richard took the girl to the beach again.
6/22 – Woke up when the landlady discovered the Aussie. They talked and the last words I heard were his “I guess I’m in the street then.” Her and her husband argued for about an hour after that. She was still very nice to us so we think she thought the Aussie snuck in. Went to visit Anita and Fabian, but we missed the bus and didn’t want to wait so we hung out at the same fucking beach again. At least I had a book this time. I had a fantastic seafood Paella dinner at Ratinya. Met two girls from Chicago at a bar. We just talked with them for a couple of hours and walked home.
6/23 – Went to the beach looking for volleyball, sun and sea again. No softball game and very little volleyball. Got my train schedule for Seville. Had another great seafood dinner at another restaurant. Just before finishing my last beer at Shots we met a couple of Canadians going to Morocco. Decided to go with them. The joys of being independent and having a flexible schedule.
6/24 – Hung out on the beach all day. Met 2 Swedish girls that night. Richard did his basic beach romance with one, I gave up on the other.
6/25 – Caught 7:55am train to Ayamonte with Craig, Mark and Steve from Canada, Darryl from Australia and Bjorn from Sweden. Took the ferry across to Spain, sat in a square and had lunch, caught the bus to Huelva and took atrain to Seville; arrived at 9:30pm. Met a man in the station with rooms, followed him for fucking forever through Seville and finally checked into an ant and lizard infested room. Decided to move mattresses out on balcony and had great sleep under cool night air.
6/26 – Left mattresses on balcony. Caught 7:50 train to Algicerca. Arrived at 1:30, found nice, cheap place, got organized, then took bus to Gibraltar. The Canadians took a bus tour and the rest of us walked around. Very pretty rock with nice British town.
6/27 – Morocco – Met an official guide in ferry station. He showed us around Tangiers. Saw a marketplace with sheep’s heads, dead fish, etc. Went through dirty, old, winding streets. The previous Sunday whole country slaughtered sheep and the streets were literally awash in blood. No running water – people got water from outside fountains. TV antennas and no plumbing. Strange place. We saw blind men who had blinded themselves after seeing Mecca, to make sure that was their last site ever. They ended up being beggers when they got back. Not many people followed us around, he said it was still too early in the day. Went to a rug shop with guide; didn’t buy anything and the guide was frustrated. He showed us a restaurant but we thought it was too expensive and we left. Paid the guide and walked around on our own. Found a taxi to Asilah and we all piled in. As soon as we got off someone approached us to go to the Hotel Asilah. We said we would after we ate. Found a cheap restaurant and ordered food. As we were waiting we met a Moroccan man and an Australian woman. We all became friends and he offered to show us around. He found an expensive place in a house. One room for all of us. We were all suckered into Abdul’s pitch to “experience real Moroccan life.” He took us to a trading house. We met one of the people and then talked. Our guard was completely down. Then they took us one by one to show us their wares. I went with Mohammed and checked out sandals – which I liked and couldn’t fit into. Then he showed me a robe, which I started wearing around, then blankets. I liked one that was small so they went to a house down the street to get a larger version. We went to the room upstairs, had some tea and started bidding. He started at $378. I countered at $75, he countered at $218 and I countered at $100. He accepted. I was bummed. Now I had spent the money on a blanket and the robe and I realized I had paid too much. Oh well. I went outside and found out that Darryl had gone off to get stoned with some of them. Bjorn had a gun pulled on him. It was an old gun and his response was “Oh, we have guns like that in Sweden”, and was kicked out. Mark was harassed by a doped out salesman and he felt physically threated. Craig had a fairly normal negotiation and Steve ended up with 5 guys in the room make sure he would buy. I kept hearing him being hassled while I was negotiating. Craig spent $100 on a rug, sandals and something else. Steve spent $250 on a bunch of things. We all went back to our place. They wanted to leave immediately. We ended up leaving the next morning. And on the way to the market to find some food we saw two people carrying a body in a sheet; it looked like the feet of a white woman. It didn’t help our mood any. I actually wanted to stay and go more south and Darryl was initially into it, but no one else was. Oh well.
6/28 – Left Morocco. Went back to our place in Algiceras. Went to Gibraltar and had dinner at Pizza Hut and had to run to catch the 10pm bus. Went to a mall in Algiceras where a lot of young Spanish people were cruising around and dancing. The girls were very young and very pretty.
6/29 – Had a bitch of a time trying to mail the stuff I bought. Cost $17 and a lot of time. Had to get on the train to Seville with very little food. Ended up in Seville by myself in the early evening. Walked around to find a place and finally got a single for about $16. Felt very tired and went to bed around 11:30.
6/30 – Woke around 7am to find the hostel. After 40 minute walk found out the hostel was closed. Went to the train station to book train to Madrid or Barcelona, but it was also closed for renovations. Ended up finding a place for $15 after walking for about 3 hours with my pack on. Went to a cathedral, huge and very gothic; it’s the 4th largest in the world. Then had to run back to my place with my first case of European diarrhea. One Pepto Bismal tablet did the trick. Met an American names Bob and we hung out together most of the day. Felt very sluggish and went to bed early.
7/1 – Woke up at 6:30am to catch train to Cordoba with Bob. Beautiful city with a wonderful mosque with 850 pillars inside. Took two centuries to build. City was the Roman capital for Iberian peninsula and we saw some old Roman baths in town. Was very hot out. Went to bed early again to try and shake this lethargy and fatigue.
7/2 – Went to Alcazar. Beautiful Muslim mosque, Spanish building and tremendous gardens. Bought more traveler checks. Unable to get Eurail Pass. Took night train to Barcelona.
7/3 – Arrived in Barcelona around noon. Couldn’t get into the hostel but met 3 Australian girls, one Swedish girl and one East German girl and we all ended up staying in some stark rooms above a gas station. Called the American Consulate about 4th of July and met an American girl who joined us that night. We all walked around the Rambles and had a good time. I ended up in the room with the East German girl. Her dad worked for the Communist government and they missed the old way. Fascinating conversation.
7/4 – Made it into the hostel. Met Veronica from Argentina for lunch. During the day saw the Picasso Museum and took a nap near a girl singing and playing guitar and a guy playing the flute. An angelic nap. Went out that night with Mandy from Australia and some American girls and we went to a park, drank a lot of wine and celebrated the 4th. They locked the park up for the night while we were inside and we all had to jump the fence being drunk in the dark. We all survived.
7/5 – Wrestled with my second small case of diarrhea. Took it easy most of the day. Met 3 Irish girls from Galway who I may visit in August. Caught the night train to Pamplona for running of the bulls.
7/6 – Night train was wild. Full of Spanish hippies on acid. The girls couldn’t use the bathroom because the Spaniard were doing lines of coke and wouldn’t let them in. People all over the aisles and stuffed in compartments; smoking hash, singing, clapping and dancing. We closed the door, but the noise and the strong air conditioning made sleeping very difficult. Arrived at 6am. Walked from the train to the city up on the hill. Met 2 other Australians from Barcelona and Sophia from Sweden. The night before the Basques rioted and the police were shooting tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd. They were terrified, it was complete chaos. They were running and hiding most of the night. We met some other people and went into town to eat and see the noon opening of the weeklong party. At noon some cannons went off and thousands of screaming people started shooting champagne everywhere. Complete chaos. We went to Mussel Square, had tubs of beer and sangria and watching people jump from a 15-20 foot fountain into other people’s arms. One guy jumped naked and many others flashed their wares. I heard later that 2-3 people died doing this. Also heard that some Australian girls were jumping topless later on. We went back the park and ate and slept for most of the late afternoon. Went out to bars and drank and danced in the square and just hung out. Got separated from everyone and ended up hanging out with Troj from South Africa. The streets were packed all night and into the morning with shitloads of drunk people. The park was full of people passed out. We stayed up all night and hung out in the morning waiting for the running of the bulls to start.
7/7 – Tried to find a place on the fence line to watch the running, but someone told us the stadium was better. We scalped tickets for $8. The band played for about an hour and we kept nodding off to sleep. Then people started running into the exit from the street and the bulls came in with them. Most of the bulls got herded to the exit by some experienced bull fighters in the stadium, but some nailed a few people. Everyone that got hit seemed to get up, but Troj saw someone go off on a stretcher. Then some peopled formed a big group and they let a bull out which ran over them as they sat there. The let a second one out and people watching the first one got nailed by this one. Their horns were covered by leather and they just knocked and trampled people they hit. They then let a big slow steer out to corral the two bulls. They did this whole routine two more times. Afterwards we met a guy from Florida who was in his fourth year of running. He won’t run on weekends; too many tourists. The Spaniards would get pissed because the tourists would start in the middle and clog things up. He’s seen someone get gored right through the eye. One time he and 15 people were caught in a doorway. The bull charged and at the last second someone hit the bull on the horns and it got distracted and everyone was able to flee. Another time he got chased by a bull and he jumped to the top of the fence and the bull ran under him. Someone told us about an Australian last year who jumped to the top of the fence only to get beaten down by the police and landed on the bull. He got gored and died. Fucking crazy place! Saw some graphic pictures of people getting gored and trampled. We went back to the park, saw the others and slept for a while. I got up, walked to the train station, bought my ticket, went back the public pool to shower and caught the 4pm train to Paris. I ran into some of the group in Hendaya at the French-Spanish border. They were all going to Nice.
