Paris part 1

Ah Paris. Really, what can you say? I actually avoided Paris on my last trip because I just didn’t think I’d find it that interesting (and I was afraid they’d be mean to me cos I don’t speak French). Well I officially stand corrected.

After a very relaxing night on the sleeper train from Barcelona, I arrived bright and early, checked into my hostel and headed straight out to join the always excellent free tour. Got a Scottish guide named Billy (good combo) who took us by (or at least within sight of all the major attractions and kept us amused with obscure histories, movie trivia and waving at passing river cruises. Afterwards, raced back to the hostel to change into something less…slept in on a train-ish and then joined a different guide, Adam, for an evening tour of Monmarte.

Started at the Moulin Rouge and then worked out way through the back streets past fascinating spots I would never have known about solo (such as the apartment where Van Gogh lived with his brother, and a bust of a French pop star whose boobs you rub for good luck) up to the magnificent view of the city from Sacre Coeur. Ducked into the church as well which, on top of being an oddly harmonious blend of at least 3 major architectural styles, has one of the most beautiful interiors I’ve seen. Meandered back down the hill past Picasso’s workshop, and finished with a complimentery plastic cup of wine at the Café de 2 Windmills (from the movie Amelie).

Set out next morning for another tour led by Adam, this time to Versailles. About 3 minutes after arriving I had decided that Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette and everyone who came in between were the very definition of more money than sense because that place, while beautiful, is just ridiculous. The tour was only of the gardens and in about 4 hours we saw maybe an 8^th of them. There are 55 fountains, which can’t all run at the same time, and only get turned on at all for an hour and a half on weekends because of the insane amounts of water they use. We got a lot of history of the whacky royals who lived there, and after the regular tour finished, Adam took me and a few others around the grounds of the Grand and Petite Trianon which was sort of the private domain of Marie Antoinette, including the miniature village she had built for herself to herd around a flock of oink, perfumed sheep. Just nutty. You really begin to understand the motivation behind the revolutionaries pretty quickly. But despite the crazy, the whole place is honestly just gorgeous. The gardens themselves took the whole day so I can only imagine what the interior of the chateau must be like!

Headed back into the city with the last few girls from the tour group and grabbed a delicious, cheap meal of falafel and chips from the unfortunately nicknamed ‘bacteria alley’. After a relaxing sit down at the hostel, headed back out after dark to the Eiffel Tower which, despite having seen it all over the city from various vantage points, was still damn impressive up close. Got there a few minutes before the hour too so got to enjoy the couple minutes that is sparkles, but decided not to climb it as, even  at midnight the lines were mental and, as Billy had pointed out, people get really disappointed when they get to the top and find themselves with a view of Paris that doesn’t actually include the Eiffel Tower :P

Linares and Valencia

(Cast of characters for the non Candeleda folks: Giselle, Stephanie and Max – Amazing Anglos

Sergio, Miguel Angel, Monica, Sandra, Mamen, Noelia, Maria Jose and Delfa – Super Spaniards)

With the bulk of the farewells completed an expedition was launched by myself, Giselle, Stephanie, Max and Delfa to find the car rental place and get back on the road. We believed this would be a simple task having been informed that the El Corte ingles next to where the bus had dropped us had one. So we headed into the department store, and between startling perfume sample girls and nearly knocking out customers with my backpack we eventually found the rental desk 10 minutes later. Then, while Giselle and Delfa sorted out the logistics, Max, Stephanie and myself relaxed. Turns out that while we could arrange the car rental there we still had to take a train to Chamartin to pick it up, which we did, disembarking from the train to find every rental agency but the one we wanted in the area. So, while me, Max and Stephanie relaxed, Giselle and Delfa (our heroes!!) went to find the car…for nearly an hour :s.

Finally on the road in style (ahem, in an Audi no less and with the brave Giselle at the wheel as neither Stephanie or myself had any faith in our ability to drive on the right hand side of the road) we dropped Delpha and Max off (more goodbyes, L) eventually convinced the GPS lady we didn’t actually want to drive around industrial estates all night and were on our way to Linares with a stunning sunset and the most amazing full moon as a backdrop. Stopped along the way for dinner and knife shopping (I have no idea why but every petrol station and roadside restaurant we stopped in the whole trip had a display case of knives). Just after midnight we made it into town, checked into our beautiful hotel and fell immediately to sleep.

In the morning we slept in as long as we wanted to, quite the luxury after a week at PI. Found a spot for breakfast and then started exploring the town. For us this mostly consisted of wandering down the main street to the statue of a miner, past a bunch of slightly confusing Chinese restaurants, getting distracted by the Flamenco dresses in el Corte Ingles (where we ran into Mamen), looking at one of the churches, then spotting the older part of town and strolling down the Linares equivalent of Rundle mall for a bit of shopping, then finding a bar for a couple of drinks. Unfortunately when we got back to the hotel we discovered that while all this was going on, Sergio, Monica and Sandra had been waiting to take us out to lunch and sightseeing. Eep! Luckily they had only just given up on us and were at a bar down the street with Maria Jose and so we were able to join them for a lovely afternoon.

Enjoyed some drinks and tapas and were joined, then took a tour of the old part of town we hadn’t been able to find, down narrow cobblestone streets and past beautiful ornate buildings. With the Feria going on, there were many women walking about in just stunning flamenco dresses that we ooohed and aaahed over all afternoon. Stopped for coffee and icecream, visited a rock and roll bar (where we met Miguel Angel) the bullring and then headed to the Feria (to find Noelia). Imagine the rides from the Adelaide show, but with about 30 tents all with different themed music and dancing, and strawberry mojitos :D

Had a bit of a drink and a dance, then headed back to the hotel to briefly visit the pool, rest up and get all pretty for a big night. Monica picked us up at 9 and we went to a bar where we each got a litre of beer and 5 huge, delicious tapas for under 6 euro each! Sergio and his girlfriend joined us, and after a very fun meal, we headed back to the centre of town to meet Sandra and stake out a good spot for the half hour fireworks show at midnight over the fair. After that we grabbed some drinks, found a good spot in the park for a drink, more laughs and a bit of a boogie (well I was dancing to myself anyway). Finally, we had to say goodbye again L Walked back to the hotel via the street markets and fell gratefully to sleep.

Checked out of the hotel nice and early after the previous night’s festivities as we had a long way to travel. My new plan was to drive to Valencia with the girls, then take a train to Barcelona with enough time to switch stations and go overnight to Paris. So we checked out, jumped in the car, engaged in further arguments with the GPS lady who seemed to be determined to send us the wrong way down one way streets, and out onto the highway. Stopped along the way for breakfast and passed by Cuenca along the way (I’m not explaining that reference to anyone but trust me, its funny :P).

Made it to Valencia with plenty of time to drop off the car, print out my ticket and say goodbye to Giselle, then do a little exploring and have a last lunch with Stephanie. Looks like such a cool town, I definitely have to revisit when I have more than an hour and a half to spare! Finally, back to the train station and back to travelling solo. Spent a thrilling hour in Barcelona which consisted mostly of crossing the city to find the other train station, then boarded my train to Paris with many plans for my next return trip to Spain, not least of which includes actually learning Spanish at some point in the interim!

Candeleda

Another fabulous week at Pueblo ingles, many more amazing new friends and a lot of laughs. This time the venue was at Candeleda, a little closer to Madrid but still very isolated and in a beautiful hotel with mountain views that seemed to have been painted onto the horizon. Was lucky enough to be sharing a room with the amazing Giselle for the week, even if we almost never had the energy to communicate while we were in there :P

Spent the days walking, talking, eating, laughing, talking some more, swimming, napping, more talking and eating and then more laughing. Too much delicious food as always and it was a joy watching everyone, Spaniard and Anglo grow through the week.

The day after the party night we took our excursion to Candeleda and the Bee Museum. Now I, like many of you I’m sure, had doubts about a museum dedicated to bees being as interesting as the MC claimed but it was genuinely fascinating edge of your seat stuff. The curator spoke no English but even being translated by a few of the students he was a wonderful presenter (if mildly crazy. I for one would not let a bee sting me and then film the stinger as the venom went into his hand for 10 minutes for example) and it was really, really interesting to learn about their societies (girls are in charge, so nyah). Plus there was a gift shop, and I do love a gift shop :P. After that we had some time in the village which was mostly spent taking photos of the goat statue and retiring to the nearest pub for beer and tapas but it seems like a lovely little area…an did I mention the beautiful, beautiful mountains.

Somewhere during the party on the last night (or number 2 party if you will, where a few of us Anglos gave a demonstration moshpit and I got whip lash from headbanging without limbering up) I found myself reshuffling train and hostel bookings for the following few days. I was supposed to have a night and a day in Madrid, overnight train to Barcelona, day in Barcelona, overnight train to Paris…and then I heard about the Fiera (town party) in Linares where several of our Spaniards were from and, well it didn’t take much to twist my arm to tag along :P

Before that however were the emotional goodbyes, the fun bus ride back to Madrid and many more goodbyes on the sidewalk as I once again found myself wondering how I could become so close to so many diverse people in the space of one week, and how on earth I would survive the next few days without being brought free food and wine by handsome Spanish men J

Camino de Santiago

After one of my less eventful train rides, my Camino adventure got off to a flying start (literally) when I suddenly realised we were at my station (cos an announcement would be too much to ask for). Clambered over my apparently unconscious seatmate (he would have had some surprise wake the hell up bruises when he finally returned to consciousness), grabbed my bags and, seeing as the train had just stated rolling away from the platform I did the only sensible thing, and jumped. Can't say as the security guard on the platform was quite as impressed with my feat of daring as I was, but then my Spanish is so bad he could have been offering me a job as a stunt double for some famous Spanish movies star, guess we'll never know :-)
Anyway set off to see what Ponferrada had to offer, which at 5 am is not a lot. But there was a castle and I was right in time for the pilgrims to be starting out for the day so I could, all creepy like, trace their steps back until I eventually found an Albergue (pilgrim hostel) and a helpful pilgrim who spoke enough english to make sense of my pathetic Spanish and mime routine to help me get a credencial (a passport for the camino to prove you really were crazy enough to walk as far as you say you did). And then I walked. For 12 hours and over 33km I walked through towns and villages, up and down hills, through woods and vineyards and into the occasional church. So that was day one. Made it to my first night's stop, snagged a bed in the Albergue and despite having lost all feeling in my feet several kms earlier (probably for the best) I was feeling pretty happy with how well I'd adjusted to hiking all day with a full pack, something I've not done in years.
And then I woke up feeling like a particularly aggressive croquet team had decided to use me as target practice during the night.
The next 7 days continued about the same, though gradually getting shorter (in duration if not distance). Set out about an hour before sunrise each morning, which was the only time you had to worry about getting lost as the yellow arrows marking the way were sometimes tricky to see in the dark. Usually got 8-12 km done before finding a trackside cafe for coffee and toast with the other early starters. Averaged about 20-30km per day, trying to find somewhere to sleep by mid afternoon. Gradually my muscles adjusted, my pack grew lighter as worn out clothes were discarded or little things were left behind while re-packing in the dark. Got blisters on my blisters and found muscles I'd long since forgotten ever existed. Occasionally would find someone moving at the same pace to walk with for a bit, but mostly enjoyed the solitude, exchanging 'hola's and 'buen camino's with other travellers along the way.
In the last few days, with the trail growing more crowded, and now fairly certain I would make it to Santiago with plenty of time to spare, my afternoons (once a bed had been secured for the night) were free to explore the area, sample the local cuisine, mingle with my fellow peregrinos or simply sleep. Enjoyed a few communal dinners and plenty of laughs, even if I didn't know what was being said most of the time.
It was an amazing experience, and the stunning scenery, sense of community and challenge of it more than made up for the aches, blisters and bruises along the way. Would love to come back and do the whole thing someday!
Arrived at the beautiful cathedral in Santiago today just in time for the noon pilgrim mass (didn't stay long as being neither Catholic our able to speak Spanish I was fairly lost), and with plenty of time to look around this place I'd walked so far to see, pick up my compostela (certificate of completion) and now comes the wait for the train back to Madrid and a (comparatively) relaxing week at Pueblo Inglés.

New york, helsinki and madrid...in 3 days

After a last day spent relaxing and exploring the shops and cafes in San Mateo, went through the already familiar ritual of restuffing the bags, said goodbye to Joyce, Doug and Hathaway, and settled in at the airport to wait for my flight.
Flew all the way back across the country and arrived bright and early in new york. With a 10 hour layover, headed into the city for a last day of exploring. Strolled around Times Square and Rockefeller Centre, then on a whim returned to the library (cos what else would a jetlagged nerd do to stay awake in new york). Found a surprisingly fascinating exhibition on the evolution if the new york lunch hour, and then joined the free tour of the library so got to see all the beautiful rooms and hear all about it's history which was really cool. Ducked down to the childrens library because they actually have the original animals that Winnie the Pooh and his friends were based on kept there. Indulged in a little more aimlessly wandering and then back to the airport.
Next stop was Helsinki for another 10 hour stopover so headed to the city to check out Finland. Got dropped at the train station with absolutely no idea what to do or where I was so just started following tram lines on the theory that they might lead somewhere interesting and hey presto, found myself in the historic downtown district. Lots of fancy shops, cobblestone streets (not so good for someone who hasn't slept in 2 days), parks, a waterfront market, cathedrals and lots of pretty boats in the harbour just begging to be hijacked :-) Seems like a really chilled out town. Spent a few hours exploring until exhaustion got the better of me and I returned very gracefully (I had an attack of my public transport induced narcolepsy on the bus...also on the subway in new york, so classy) to the airport.
The last flight got me finally to madrid where I eventually tracked down my hostel with just enough energy left to make my bed and fall into a mini coma.
Struggled awake 10 minutes before the end of breakfast, stored my bags and with my usual disdain for maps or any kind if a plan roamed the streets looking for something familiar. Of course, after so many visits pretty much everything in madrid looks kind of familiar but as always I eventually turned the right corner and found myself on Gran Via which just happened to be where I wanted to be. Had a bit of a stressful morning running around getting some cash flow issues sorted (long story but all worked out fine) which earned me a big slice of cheese cake and a coffee.
Taking an overnight train tonight to Ponferrada to start the Camino.

San Francisco part 2

Day 3

After a morning spent watching Hathaway be adorable at the park, eventually motivated myself to jump back on the train to the city where, just for a change, I thought I’d go for a walk. Strolled around the hoity toity stores in Union square, and through the financial district and checked out the markets near the ferry building, then headed over to Oakland to catch up with some Istanbul friends for the night. Had a great night (and some awesome Chinese food) with Taylor, Matt, Chris and their friends. Lots of chatting and beer and raspberry mead which was a little obscure.

Day 4

Very gratefully borrowed a couch for the night and raced off early in the morning to meet Joyce at the ferry building. Made our way over to beautiful Angel Island where we joined a Segway tour. Spent a while learning to drive before setting off, and once I’d convinced myself that I wasn’t about to go plummeting of a cliff at any given moment, it was heaps of fun! Spent an hour hooning around and hearing about the history of the island. Also got some great views of the famous San Francisco fogs over the city and the bridge once we got to higher ground. Also, I had the Final Countdown playing in my head the whole time I was riding around which really added to the atmosphere for me anyway. In conclusion, they may be a ridiculous mode of transport but I want a Segway, just for the cool factor.

Hiked back to the immigration station for a bit off extra history before heading back to the mainland. Grabbed some lunch at pier 39 after Joyce headed home, then decided since it had been almost an hour since I climbed a hill, I’d walk to Coit tower for some more spectacular views over the city. Wandered through Little Italy and eventually stumbled on the Jack Kerouac Beat Museum. Its surrounded by topless bars, and I couldn’t be bothered paying $8 to go into the museum itself, but the gift shop was cool…well they had a car covered in authentic American road dust, lots of books and a selection of antique playboys anyway. Finished in Chinatown again, and then back for a delicious dinner and more adorableness from Hathaway.   

Day 5

Off to an early start, took the train back into town and hiked over to Fisherman’s wharf. Boarded a ferry that looked as if it had recently been attacked by a golf club wielding sea lion and headed for Sausalito. Having once again been misled by a transit website (shakes fist angrily), I believed that shuttles to Muir Woods ran every 20 minutes. They don’t. They have 4 per day from the busy tourist filled town and ferry port. The car park under a freeway a couple miles down the road gets the shuttle every 20 minutes. Makes much more sense that way clearly. Anyhoo, when the bus did arrive an hour later I was in the lucky half of those waiting that actually made it on board, phew.

After a twisty and scenic drive, arrived at Muir Woods which was definitely worth all the hassle. After walking among the very, very tall redwoods and being just amazed by them, I suddenly thought to myself “hey, you know what I haven’t done for a while? Walk up a hill. I better get on that”. And so I did. Hiked up for beautiful views over the area (you were supposed to be able to see the ocean but apparently it was closed due to fire restrictions…the trail was closed, not the ocean). Spent more time walking among the trees and continually overtaking and then being overtaken by the same delightful German family (slow walkers, grrr!) before rejoining the queue for the shuttle back to Sausalito (just barely avoiding being stranded in the wait and hour and a half for the next bus line again).

Back through the fog for one last (slightly rushed) stroll through the city to the Caltrain station. Going to miss walking around this city…even with all the hills.

 

San francisco part 1

Day 1

So after a great-“I’m not sleeping on a train or in a paddock”-night’s sleep, o after a great  a train or in a paddock'got back on a train or two and made my way back into the city. Strolled along the waterfront from the ferry building to the Alcatraz landing…where I learnt that I really should have done some pre planning for this trip as there were no available tickets to the Rock until the end of August. Oops :P

So wandered down to super touristy pier 39 and jumped on an Escape from the Rock cruise so I figured that was about as close as I would get. After getting slightly creeped out by the English girl behind me who was playing some sort of morbid game with her family where they had to pick a door to walk through, all of which ended in a horrible death of some description (I’m pretty sure the family considered leaving her behind on the pier by the time we boarded), posed for the obligatory green screen photo and headed out.

Cruised out under the Golden Gate bridge, took a lap of Alcatraz, up under the Bay Bridge and back past the sea lions to the pier. Got a pretty good audio commentary and plenty of history along the way so that kind of made up for it. Stopped off for a bowl of clam chowder in a sourdough bowl, then wandered around the pier and down to Fisherman’s Wharf where I found the Museum Mechanique, a huge collection of old coin operated arcade games (and few naughty peepshows).

Hike up to Lombard to see the windy road (must suck to live on that street but very pretty all the same). Then up to Ghiradelli square (free chocolate samples, woohoo!) and watched the cable car turn around. Climbed some more hills and strolled through Chinatown and back to the train.

Day 2

After a super cute start to the day at Hathaway’s music class, we all piled in the car and headed to the Presido where we found a helpful security guard to direct us to the Yoda statue which is actually a fountain in front of the ILM building and the lobby was full of lightsabers, figurines and life-sized Boba Fett and Darth Vader. Nerd paradise!

Then since we were so close we headed up to Golden Gate Bridge and walked across. Great views and a very cool experience J Stopped for a giant pizza, and then with a certain someone very much in need of a nap (and it not being me for a change) I got dropped off at huge Golden Gate park for a few hours of exploring the parks. Found the Aids memorial which is actually a huge grove of trees, a creek and inscribed boulders. Very beautiful and tranquil. Found a series of trails off the beaten path and got some good Camino training done, but still only got less than half way through the park.

Hiked up to Alamo Square for spectacular views over the city and the Painted Ladies (they’re houses, not hookers by the way :P). Down past the fancy arts district and then back up through Little Saigon (apparently) and Chinatown again before heading back to the train once again.