Claire and Taylor's European Odyssey

Oh my god, I am mighty not impressed right now because I just wrote like 20 paragraphs about Ronda and Barcelona, managed to highlight the whole thing and deleted it! And I can't undo it. I am so not impressed, so here is a slightly condensed version.

So, when we were in Granada we tried to book our Barcelona accommodation (the next stop) only to discover that high season had hit, and there was nothing available! Gar. Up until this point we had had no trouble with hostel bookings or train reservations or long line ups for things, but almost overnight that all changed. Hostels were full, trains were full, line ups got longer....and it actually sort of changed our travelling from that point on. We had to book everything way in advance, which sort of takes the spontaneous travelling aspect out of things, and we found ourselves with much less flexibility, but overall it had worked out quite well.

So, because we couldn't go straight to Barcelona, we decided to go to Ronda for two nights, and then go to Barcelona. So we hopped on a train to Ronda and went through some absolutely gorgeous countryside....it kind of looked like a cross between Arizona and California...hot and dry! In Ronda we caught a cab out to this cute little campground. You can't beat the price of camping, it is almost like a two for one deal compared to hostels. So we set up camp, then had dinner at the on-site restaurant. The food was ok, but the service was a little lacking.

The next day, we walked into Ronda (about 3km) and took some photos of the gorge and the famous bridge over it (which is super high!) That is the main thing that Ronda is famous for, well, that and bullfighting, but we were there at the wrong time of year for that. We did try to go into the bullring to have a look though, but they wanted €6/person, so we said f*#% that!

The weather was not the greatest, so we decided to pass the rest of the day in an internet cafe. That is when the mad picture uploading party happened. A long time ago, yes, I know....The price was the best we've seen yet though, at €1.40/hr. We then had some stellar pizza and walked back to the campsite. It is amazing in Spain how even small towns are so lively at night. You see people in the morning, then the place it dead for siesta time, then everyone goes out at night. It is pretty cool. We saw this one pub that had a beer tap at every table with a digital display. You pay the bartender X amount of money, and then drink it dry. It was a pretty cool system. Taylor wants one.

The next day we packed up camp and walked into town with our packs. We had to spend the day in town with our bags because our train didn't leave until 530pm. So we did some internetting, did some window shopping, and had pizza twice. Finally we caught the train back to Granada, and then took the overnight train to Barcelona. I know, you would think that we would learn from our last overnight train experience not to do it again, but unfortunately it was our only option. On the upside it wasn't the six seater cabin train type this time, and it would have been fine if the two seats opposite us were vacant, but they weren't. In fact there wasn't a vacant seat on the whole train; there wasn't even enough room for everyone's luggage! It was packed and HOT! We had less than a foot of leg room, but somehow we did manage to sleep a bit.

We arrived in Barcelona at 930 the next morning. We took the metro to our hotel and dumped our bags, then had some breakfast and went for a stroll down the Rambalas. The Rambalas is a very famous and touristy area in Barcelona and is basically a shopping street lined with stores, street vendors, street performers, and con artists. You can buy anything from leather to live chickens, but you must keep your hands in your pockets or someone else will! We did and we were fine.

It was a rather muggy day, so after our stroll we were ready to shower. We checked in at the hotel (which we couldn’t do at 930 when we arrived), then cleaned up and headed out on a Gaudi mission. One of our guidebooks had a map that showed the location of his various buildings that are strewn throughout the city which made them look very close together. They are definitely not. We did a lot of walking. We saw Casa Batllo, one sweet building in a row of creative buildings (for those that don't know Gaudi is a very artistic 20th century architect who lived and worked mostly in Barcelona). Only pictures can do it justice.

Next we walked to La Casa Mila, where we paid to go inside, since we got a half price student deal. It was also amazing, but the rooftop was the most spectacular. It was covered in plaster statues and arches and had fabulous views of the city.

Next we walked to Sagrada Familia, which was definitely a long mission on foot. It was totally worth it though. Sagrada Familia is perhaps Gaudi's most famous work, although it is yet unfinished. Again we paid to go inside, though we are not sure why. The inside was a maze of scaffolding and the lifts were not working so we couldn't go up in the towers. It was a breathtakingly beautiful building though.

Next we mad the long mission home, which was largely uneventful since it was a Sunday evening. We did however see a naked gay (male) couple strutting their stuff down the main street. One had tattooed underwear and some very interesting piercings....only in Barcelona! We also saw a protest in full swing, complete with a chopper flying overhead for a good hour. Ok, so maybe the walk wasn't so uneventful after all. And that was Barcelona. We were too exhausted to taste the nightlife, though we did manage to drink a bottle of very strong wine at the hotel! You gotta love how cheap wine is here. About 4 dollars CAN will get you an excellent bottle of wine. Mmmm.

So leaving Portugal....we were up early and took the first boat back to the mainland, then a taxi to the bus station (not repeating that walk again with the packs!) in the hopes of catching the ten o'clock bus to Seville, then another one to Granada....BUT upon arriving at the bus depot at 845 we discovered that the bus to Seville was full...end of story. So how the hell do we get out of Portugal? WELL, the overly helpful lady at the counter (sigh) told us that we could take a city bus to the Portugese border, take a boat across the river to Spain and after that she had no idea. Begin adventure number 3,000,001....we took the city bus, then the little boat across the river with the other immigrants, and man were we glad to be back in Spain...the people were SO helpful! We walked a few km to the bus station, where we found that scedules mean nothing...this is a second world country, a local guy reminded us! Our only option, apparently, was to take the next bus that headed east, getting us an hour further down the road to Huelva (yet still a mighty long way from Granada). Upon arriving we discovered that we had just missed a bus to Seville, so missioned to the train station to attempt train travel...the next train to Seville was at 630pm (it was about 2pm at this point), but we couldn't get to Granada. We had to make it to Granada cuz we had to pay for the night either way!
SO, back to the bus station we went, with our lead weights on our backs, and caught the next bus to Seville. Two hours later, arrival in Seville. From there we thought we were on the home stretch and went to get a bus to Granada only to discover that busses to Granada leave from the other bus station...on the other side of town. Fabulous.
We took a city bus this time, arrived and had to wait two and half hours for the next bus to Granada at 8pm. Hello home stretch. The bus took three hours, then we had to take a city bus to the hostel, and arrived about midnight. Let's just say if all had gone according to plan, we would have arrived in the early afternoon, and saved a lot of money. We slept WELL.

After such a long day, we were happy to wake up in a cute little apartment with sunbeams flooding in through the open blinds. Sigh. Unfortunately we had to change rooms our second night, but the place was still awesome. You can't go wrong with a name like Funky Hostel. Rooftop patio, free breakfast, sunset views, free internet...

Our first day we spent walking around the Alhambra, an ancient muslim fortress. In 35 degree weather, we did an audio tour of the whole place, which took us about 4 hours, including plenty of water stops, and pauses to pet the kittens in the gardens...It was a beautiful place...a day very well spent.

View of Granada from the palace:

Now we are banking on you reading our previous blogs...now remember Claire and Steph from Montreal that we met in San Sebastien....??? No, didn't think so. Anyways, we ran into them again at our hostel in Granada and they were staying in the same room as us along with Claire's twin brother, Louis, who was visiting for a week. They invited us to join them on a tour of the Sierra Nevada mountains the next day for €10 each. Sweet deal, we couldn't pass that up!
So the next day, the three of them, the two of us, and another couple from Montreal (Steph 2 and JP) all headed off with Pepe (our Spanish host for the day) in his trusty van up into the mountains. The roads were super windy, and most of us were feeling pretty ill by the end, but the views were FABULOUS!!! We arrived in a small mountain village about 2 hours later, had a little stroll and a bite to eat, then headed back to Granada for our bathing suits. He then took us to these Roman Baths situated on the edge of a seemingly random desert lake. The views were stunning and we had a great time. The whole trip took about 10 hours. Thanks Pepe.

We had a great time in Granada, it was one of our favourite places thus far. Next stop Ronda. Will update again soon. Thanks for your comments!

Spain!!! Yay. A place that Claire has always wanted to go, and I think has fallen in love with...should Taylor worry....??
We left Biarritz on a Sunday - bad mistake! Busses do not run on Sundays so our plan to take a coach to San Sebastian for €5 (1 1/2 hours), we had to take a city bus, then a train, then another train and the whole thing ended up taking 5 hours and costing us three times as much! Lesson learned, from now on we will not attempt to travel on Sundays!

But then we arrived in San Sebastian...OMG, I think we found paradise!!! It is a relatively decently sized town that is situation between several mountains and has two long white (like chalk) sandy beaches with turquoise blue water...sigh....One of the beaches (the big one where we spent most of our time) was practically in the town centre and was a five minute walk from our pension (guesthouse) in the old town. The old town is awesome. It is a maze of narrow streets packed with bars and small shops and there are no cars (except for deliveries). Tapas are everywhere, though they are what San Sebastian is known for, so are a little pricy, but the booze are dirt cheap

The first night we got there we walked to the pension with a few Montreal girls we met on the train (Claire and Steff - who you will hear about again later...) and got settled in our little pension. We had a room to ourselves with a private bathroom, fridge, kettle, toaster, free laundry and awesome hospitality for €36 per night, quite the steal, trust me. We were very pleased with it. Plus the location was perfect. We stayed for five nights....

Here was the routine: each morning one of us would walk round the block to the bakery and get fresh (usually warm) croissants for breakfast, and we would enjoy tea and croissants in bed - sheer luxury! Then we´d do something for the morning - shopping or hiking or trip planning or internetting. We would buy baguettes, cheese and meat, all fresh from the bakery and deli, then make sandwiches, put our suits on and head to the beach where we would bake in the sun for a few hours. We swam in the warm (Taylor´s first) ocean water and tanned and munched our baguettes and daydreamed....and it was the perfect temperature. 27C from 11am til 8pm, then ¨cooling¨to 20C at night. Heaven. Next we would go back to the pension and shower and buy more baguettes, cheese, etc plus txakoli (local fizzy wine) and the occasional candies...then head back to the beach to watch the sunset around 930. We would have a picnic and do some more daydreaming - including plans of owning a house here with Sherri and Anders :0 We smoked our celebratory graduation cigars one night. Everynight there was a different sunset and they were all absolutely gorgeous! There would be a few couples with blankets down the beach, but essentially at night we had the place to ourselves....Ok so now do you get the idea why this place is paradise, ok then take a look at the pics.....

We spent five nights and five days in San Sebastian, then sadly left on the night train to Lisbon, Portugal....and that was a whole new adventure.....