First Stop Spain

Carry on and Backpack

At DFW Airport loaded up.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008 8:29 AM Madrid

Made it to Madrid safe and sound, although I can not say the same for my backpack. It is missing in action, so I am waiting to hear from Iberia on whether it made it to Madrid or not. I am crossing my fingers that it turns up, but if not I will figure something out.

Met some cool kids from Iowa at the airport, been hanging out with them all day. I am having to use the computer in the hotel, because I checked my plug adaptor, so my first thing to do tomorrow if my bag is still missing is to find one of those, and a change of cloths. An American from Seattle who lives in Spain now gave me a few tips on where to buy some cheap stuff while I was shuffling around the baggage claim.

Hope you aren’t worrying too much, I am doing great, just tired as hell. No sleep on the plane, of course, but I guess that means I will sleep well tonight.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008 12:38 PM Madrid
It still hasn’t turned up, so this afternoon while Kate and Collin, the two Americanos I meet at the airport, took a nap, I went and bought a pair of shorts, a shirt and some clean underwear (because I need more underwear). That way I will have a change of cloths for tomorrow. If it does not come by tomorrow afternoon, I am going to call the Iberia, and if that doesn’t work I will run up to the airport on the metro and raise some hell. It just stinks that almost all of my electronics are dead, so I have to use computers in cafe’s and the hostel. The hostel is great though, nice clean room with towels and toiletrees (Sp?). LOL.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 8:49 AM Madrid
Well my bag should be here this evening. It has arrived in Madrid and they are having it delivered to the hostel this afternoon/evening. I did however find a MAC store this afternoon, so I was able to buy the plug converter from them for the entire world. I am mostly excited to get my bag back so that I can again where some good deodorant so that I won’t continue to smell so rancid. It has been very hot here the today, so I have been sweating like Whitney Houston on a crack binge, and that does not make for pleasant smells when one is without deodorant, or even a clean change of cloths. On a lighter note though, it is surprising the joy that comes from losing your bag. True you are stinky and worried for a couple of days, but there is this incredible sense of joy and peace when you find out your bag has been found. Not a sensation you get when you see it lying dead on the carousel at the airport. Heck my bag got to spend a couple of days in NYC and soak up the culture.

I think there was a big hail storm here last night. I was awoken from my peaceful slumber at 1 in the morning by the sound of hail stones pelting my very large window. But I said to my self, "If these buildings have stood for centuries a little hail ain't going to do a thing."

The kids I was hanging out with yesterday have joined their tour group so I have lost their companionship in Madrid, but I think if I was able to make friends that easy on the Metro at the airport, I should be able to do it again.

Hope all is well in Texas, send everyone my love

Thursday, September 11, 2008 11:35 AM Madrid
I just got my backpack this morning. It was a momentous occasion! In fact the King of Spain showed up to celebrate with me. He is actually in town today, but to mourn the deaths of the 25 people on the flight that crashed at the airport here 2 weeks ago.

Every thing showed up safe and sound though. I was starting to get a little worried.

Did some walking today with a guy named Bill from Canada who is staying at my hostel. We went to the Prado and looked at every room there, it took a LONG time. We had lunch in the park and walked to the Royal Palace to see the king-fun days. About to take a nap so that I might get to experience a little night life here in Madrid before I leave since every other day that I have been here I have been in bed by 10 pm.

Friday, September 12, 2008 3:26 PM
Well I am in Barcelona, safe and sound, although it was quite the adventure. This is definitely one of the things that I am going to post in my blog about. "Mark's 2nd Destination: WOW the world is CONFUSING".

I got up this morning and checked out of my hostel at 10:30am. I learned that in Madrid, nothing happens very early. I got on the Metro to the train station, where I met this guy, Joel an Aussie. We started talking, he has been traveling for quite some time. (I learned from him that I am traveling in a bit of an off season for backpackers, seeing as how most of them travel during the summer months, or winter months for those from south of the equator.) But, Joel was a handy guy to have on my first outing on the train system. He spoke FLUENT Spanish and showed me everything I had to do.

Well the train that they put me on was scheduled to leave at 15h00 (3pm, I am really getting into this whole European time table, military time is far easier to understand) and arrive in Barcelona at 17h38. Well it wasn't even noon when I got the ticket, and Joel's train to Portugal wasn't going to leave until 22h00, so we decided to store our bags in lockers and walk around the city for a little while. Joel is studying in Madrid for two semesters, and is about to start his second, so he got the summer off to travel Europe, but he knows Madrid extremely well. The two of us ended up walking around Chueca and having an early lunch. (The Spanish eat lunch at 2pm, followed by an hour siesta). Joel introduced me to the Spanish cuisine, Meno del Dias, Menu of the Day. It is basically a "You pick Two" concept, but with more food. For about 10 euros you get two full entrees, a drink, dessert, and a basket of bread. Fairly cheap as good food in Madrid is concerned. (Tell dad I had croquettes de jambon, not quite a salmon croquette but right up his alley.)

After finishing lunch, Joel and I walked to El Retiro, the big park right next to the Prado, and just having a little siesta; aka. talking and getting to know about each other, as well as him giving me tips about traveling. Joel refused to let me forget how much bigger my bag was than his, he was positive that I was well over packed and would start sending things home in no time. (after today I agree!). Well somewhere in the walking, the lunch, and the park, the two of us got this strange idea that my train left at 15h38 (Departure 15h00; Arrival 17h38) so we took our sweet time getting back to Atocha, the train station, which is only a 5 minute walk from El Retiro.

Once we got to Atocha, got my bag, and started to look for my train, we realized that there was in fact no 15h38 train to Barcelona. That was when all the fun truly started. Joel, being the Aussie gentleman that he is, helped translate for me while I tried to get a new ticket. He kept remarking on how calm I was saying in his very charming Australian way "I would be f**kin' pissed if it were me." I just told him, "Hey, better I learn how to deal with a missed train now, while I have you to translate, that me alone, trying to communicate to a poor Spaniard in my panicked voice." He still thought I was crazy. But after a few information desks and 10 euros, I was booked on the 18h00 train to Barcelona. So again to kill time, we headed to El Retiro, this time with watch and boarding pass in hand so as not to get confused.

Finally though, around 18h00 I was on the train headed to Barcelona. The train system in AMAZING!!!!! I can see now why it is so popular; far more comfortable than an airplane.

Barcelona - September 12


Well I tried booking a Hostel in Barcelona this morning, but wasn't able to due to the fact that you have to book 2 days in advance on the website that I used, so I left on the train with the hopes that the hostel would have a bed for me tonight and tomorrow. This is when I have to say, Barcelona is a MUCH LARGER city than Madrid, or at least it feels that way when you are walking around with 60 lbs of luggage on your back. I got to the hostel and it seemed very nice and popular, but the woman at the desk told me that she didn't have any available beds for the evening, but she directed me to another hostel where, she assured me they would have an open bed.

On the map the girl gave me at the first hostel, it looked like the second one wasn't that far. I WAS WRONG!!! It was over a mile away. When I got to the street that it was on and realized that I was at address 16 and the hostel was at street number 151, I realized I was in for a long haul. Luckily, though, after I finally found the place, they had a bed (many beds) available. This is about the point in time where I lay down before the girl at reception and kiss her feet. I am staying at Alberg Pere Tarres Youth hostel, which, once inside, I realized is bigger than the dorms at Webster.

The great thing is that this place has Wi-Fi that works, unlike the last place I was, and it has breakfast, lunch, and dinner available. (Breakfast is free, the other two aren't.)

I think that tomorrow in celebration of a job well done, I am going to go to the beach and veg. It's a good thing as Martha Stewart would say. I hope you enjoyed my tale of perseverance.

I am planning on staying in Barcelona for 5 days, 2 at the hostel I am at now, and 3 at the one I have already reserved, both seem well populated, I just liked that the other one was a little smaller, easier to meet people. Most of the people here, so far, seem to be in large groups. And that for shy little me means, less approachable.

But I did go out for a few cervesas with a guy staying in the room with me. He is a japanese grad student. It was fun, reminded me of Hideaki from my freshman year at Webster.

Going to head to bed now, drunk and tired-the perfect combination. I will take note of the phrases mom sent, although I keep confusing the Spanish because I always pronounce things in French.

Sunday, September 14, 2008
Well today is day 2 in Barcelona, I don't count the first night as a day because that would just be silly. I have moved to my second hostel because one is never enough. I think I will like this one a lot more because it is smaller, and there are less tour groups so it should be a little easier to meet people. It is called Alberguinn, and it is right next to the train station, so easy access to the Metro. I am learning a few things about traveling as I go: A) we all really look alike, unless you are an old Spanish woman (then you look the same as every other old Spanish woman, pulling a cart around town), B) One should research how big the city is before deciding to walk all the way around it (Madrid very easy to walk, Barcelona too big to walk), C) Lines can be your friend (After walking around a city, it is sometimes nice to sit and wait in line for the establishment you are visiting in order to get off your feet for a while.) Yesterday I walked around Barcelona for about 7 hours just trying to get me feet, and admiring locals from the street. The map I had did not have a scale on it, so it looked as though walking to a lot of the places would be quite easy. On the other hand when a map has no scale, I am now going to take that as a sign of big things. I walked so much yesterday that I somehow destroyed the pedometer, its not so much that it is in pieces as it no longer counts the number of steps I take. The last time I checked it yesterday it was at 35,261. So today I decided to give it, and my feet, a break. The metro here is really efficient and gets you to all the hot spots in Barcelona, so today I bought a two day pass and went to town. I started my day at the Temple Sacrado Familia. It is the extremely famous Gaudi cathedral in Barcelona. I met a group of what I consider to be lesbians from North Carolina. They all had short hair cuts and were wearing sensible shoes, so I say lesbians. The Temple is breathtaking and because today is Sunday they were having a mass there as I walked around. While there I decided to spend the 2.50 Euros to go to the top of one of the spires which had exquisite views of all of Barcelona and reminded me of some of the castles in the UK with its tight and steep staircases. You take an elevator up, and you take the stairs down. After exploring the inside of the Temple I walked around the outside, and found a spot in a park nearby to do some sketching. There are some great bike tours in Barcelona, and my drawing spot was right next to on of the stops so I would eavesdrop on the guide’s description on Temple Scrado Familia. They expect the construction of it to be finished in 2026, but that is just a guess. It would be nice to come back when it is finished, it sounds like it is going to be HUGE!I then rode the Metro to the rambles and bought a watch since I carelessly left mine at home, but found a cheap souvenir shop in a back alley where I was able to pay the guy in Wampum... LOL! Had a light lunch, but that is the one thing I need to get better about is eating. I just don't eat enough for the amount of energy I excrete, so I think I am going to find a nice Cerveseria tonight and have a good meal. I hope Houston floats again, but honestly it needed a good bath, it was getting smelly.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

I enjoyed my last day in Barcelona with a bike tour of the city. I had seen them around before and thought it would be a fun way to see some of the city that I had missed. Well it turns out I saw everything that the tour went to, but this way I got a little more of the history I didn't get just looking at it. Plus it was a great way for me to meet some other travelers. I met four other people from Texas. One couple, middle aged cruise line travelers at port in Barcelona, the other, two girls who just graduated from A&M. (Although I didn't hold it against them.) There was another pair of girls, oddly both named Sarah, from Sydney. After the tour this evening we all met up for a little pub crawl. It was well worth the twenty euros, and if I do the other Fat Tire Bike Tours in Paris, London, and Berlin I get a free t-shirt. I will wear it with pride.

Tomorrow I head to Nice. I learned of another, better website to book hostels through, so I have a confirmed booking there, not going to have to wander around the French Riviera all night looking for a cheap bed.