I woke up pretty early this morning feeling pretty refreshed and not really jet lagged at all (we will see if I´m saying the same thing later tonight). The hostel offers free breakfast every morning, so I ate something while talking to some people I had met the night before. After showering and everything, I took off for the train station so that I could reserve a seat for my train to Sevilla on Saturday. Good thing I can understand and speak some Spanish because the two people that I got at the information desk and later at the ticket window both spoke only basic English. I got my Eurail pass validated and I reserved a seat on the train for 10 euro. Some people get mad that you pay for the eurail pass and then you have to pay these small fees in addition. It´s really not that big of a deal because if I did not have the pass, I´d have to pay the price of the ticket plus the seat reservation anyways. The rumor around the hostel is that the French railways employees went on strike (I´ve read that this happens every once and a while in many of the European countries). Since I´m not traveling to France for another week, I think things will be sorted out by then, but I´ll have to keep my plans open. This is one of the good reasons why you should plan as you go and reserve hostels only a couple days in advance because you never know when things like this can happen.
After the train station, I took the metro to La Sagrada Familia. Right as you exit the metro station, you turn around and see the towering cathedral. I almost wanted to ask someone ¨¿donde esta la sagrada familia?¨ just to see how they´d react. But I didn´t. The entrance price to go inside the cathedral was ridiculous. It cost €8 just to go on an unguided tour. To take an elevator up to the top, it takes €2, but I skipped that part. I did go inside and it was kind of cool because you actually got to see all of the workers going around and doing stuff. The best part about paying the fee was seeing the museum below the cathedral where they had a lot of Gaudi´s sketches and models that he made of la Sagrada Familia.
After La Sagrada Familia, I wandered around a bit and went to another one of Gaudi´s buildings La Padrera. I didn´t want to pay to go inside, but I got some cool photos from the outside. I took the metro back to the hostel and now I´m just relaxing since I´m exhausted. I wanted to walk to another Gaudi attraction, but it was far and I was so sore from walking around. I will probably go to the beach tomorrow, but I need to find someplace to buy a really cheap towel that I can just ditch over here. After that, I leave early Saturday morning on a high speed train to Sevilla. I heard about a cool hostel in Madrid too that I am going to try to book as my last Spanish destination. I´m hoping the computers at the hostel in Sevilla will allow me to upload some photos. If not, I´ll just go to an internet cafe to get some of these online.
Posted by offhegoes03 on 06-12-2008 at 12:06 pm
Posted in Spain with 12 Comments
Just a quick update to let everyone know that I arrived safely. All of the planes were on time and I touched down in Barcelona around 8:30 this morning (2 am Eastern time). I took the shuttle to one of the main plazas and proceeded to get lost for about 20 minutes or so until I found the hostel. I couldn´t check in until 12, so I did some exploring and got some cool pictures. I will try to upload those later on. The hostel is pretty cool. the guy ended up putting me in a 2 person room rather than the 8 person dorm that I signed up for and he gave it to me for the same price. The only downside to this hostel is that they do not have a kitchen where you can cook your own food. I´m going to sign off now though because I think some people are waiting to use the computer.
Posted by offhegoes03 on 06-11-2008 at 10:06 am
Posted in Spain with 12 Comments
So I thought of the title for this post and then it made me think of that totally awesome song. Then I asked myself, “Am I just imagining it or was that song by a band named Europe?” So I googled it and sure enough, Final Countdown was by Europe. Anyways, enjoy this totally awesome video while reading through the rest of my post.
So I tried packing everything up today to see how it fit. Things fit pretty well, but I might have to figure out some things that I can ditch. Here is the list I am working with right now. It includes the clothes I will be wearing to the airport.
First Aid (Bandaids, neosporin, tylenol, rolaids, imodium)
Camera + usb cable + 2 gig memory card
IPod Shuffle + usb cable to charge at internet cafes
Rick Steves French, Italian, and German Phrase book (Thanks Lizz!)
Book for trains
Journal + Pen
Sharpie (labeling food in kitchens)
Mini flashlight
Travel quick dry towel
Laundry stuff (line to hang, sink stopper, tide to go pen, etc)
Day pack
Sunglasses
That’s about all I can see right now that I can think of. I’ll update if I forgot something. Let me know if you think I’m missing something important. I’ll be carrying my backpack on the plane, so no swiss army knife even though it might prove useful. I’m leaving on Tuesday. I can’t believe how close it is!
I woke up early this morning to finish packing up my car and cleaning my apartment in Charlotte. I got on the road around 11 and had a smooth drive home, bypassing DC traffic by taking 77 to 81 instead of taking 85 to 95. While the route I took probably adds an hour or so to the drive, it also saved me from dealing with sitting still in the heat and wasting gas.
I’m now relaxing in the dining room and I will probably head off to read for a little bit. Tomorrow I will pack my bag to see how everything fits and see what I can cut and what I need to keep. After doing this type of backpacking trip with Sean 2 years ago, I know that it definitely is not wise to pack too heavily. I will bring minimal clothes and I will be washing them as I go along. A lot of the clothes that I bought are quick drying and will dry overnight if I hang them up. I can’t wait until I get to fly out for this trip, and I still am having trouble believing that I will be leaving in 4 days. I promise the posts will be more interesting once I’m in Europe!
Well, my trip is a little more than a week away and the excitement has begun to pick up even more. Not only do I leave for Europe in 9 days, but I’m done my first (and last) year of teaching and I’m slowly but surely getting things in my apartment ready for the temporary move back home in Maryland. I’m pretty sure I have almost everything I need for my trip, although I’m sure I’ll think of some small things that I need to get when I’m waiting around my empty apartment. I had a bit of a scare today when I double checked some of my travel insurance stuff. I accidentally clicked on the insurance policy my mom got for my flight home a couple weeks back, and I started getting nervous when I saw that the policy only covered cancellation/interruption of airfare. It took me a good 10-15 minutes of searching the web for travel insurance policies until I checked my e-mail account again and clicked on the right e-mail with my policy information. It was such a relief knowing that I did not have to shell out $90 for another insurance policy covering emergency medical/dental. These days are going to pass extremely slowly considering I don’t move out of my apartment until Friday, and all I have to do to occupy my time is read and go to some doctor appointments. I guess I could always go to the library and research my trip more, but I think I’m pretty set. I only have the first 6 days booked, and I’m trying my hardest to resist booking a bunch of places ahead of time. I really want to be impulsive this time around. I may try to couchsurf in Paris and then just book a place in Munich a couple days ahead of time. I do have nights booked ahead in Switzerland at the mountain hostel in Gimmelwald, but that was something I absolutely do not want to miss. So as long as I arrive in Gimmelwald by June 27th, I’m good. The more I think about this trip, the more excited I get and the more I cannot wait to carry everything I will need for the next month on my back.
Hey everyone, I decided to make this blog to chronicle my travels through Europe this summer. I’m sure I’ve talked a lot about this trip, and if you feel like it, you can check in and see what I’m up to during my trip. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some pictures from the road as well. My flight leaves on June 10th, and I will arrive in Barcelona, Spain at about 8 am on June 11th. I will be in Europe until July 9th, so I will have about a month to explore Spain, France, Germany, and Switzerland. Feel free to post comments.
So the abdomen pain that I posted about has not increased at all, so I think it is just a sore muscle. I will be getting a physical again before I go to Europe, so if it is still bothering me, I will get it checked out again. With the school year winding down (I only teach another half day and then it’s just grading exams, proctoring, and some check out procedures until May 30th) and the pain subsiding, I am starting to get excited about my trip again.
My parents sent me some money for my 23rd birthday and that will cover the jacket I bought and probably some shoes that I want to get. My brother got me a gift card to target, so I will most likely use that to get a smaller toiletries bag (the one I have right now is huge and impractical). I don’t think I have to buy anything else now that I think about it. I might just need to get some first aid stuff and batteries for my camera, but I’m pretty set. I went to Barnes and Noble yesterday and picked up The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway. I figure it’s pretty appropriate for reading when I’m traveling considering I’m going to Spain and France (although I’ll be going from Spain to France rather than the other way around like in the book). I’m thinking about bringing another book with me, but I don’t want anything that will take up too much space. I’ll probably just leave them at hostels after I finish them for other people to read.
I’ve also been getting my apartment ready to move. I passed on some of my furniture to my brother and I’m selling some more on craigslist. I hate moving so much just because it’s such a pain. I’m going to have to clean up around my apartment to make sure I don’t get stupid avoidable charges, especially since I didn’t have to put down a security deposit for my place.
I’ve been slacking with learning German and French. I know how to say a handful of phrases, but things have been busy. Hopefully I’m getting a better handle on how to pronounce some of the consonants and vowels, so I will most likely just print out some phrases that I might need and study them on trains. Luckily I’m going to Spain first and I at least know that language better than the other two.
Well, that was a lot of random stuff, but with 3 weeks left until the trip, I’m starting to get excited again. I’ve been looking at a lot of Gaudi architecture and I’m getting really psyched for Barcelona!
I started feeling a pain in my lower abdomen on Sunday, and my first thought was appendicitis or hernia. Both would suck since they could potentially screw up my summer plans. I went to the doctor yesterday and they said it didn’t feel like a hernia or appendicitis. Plus the pain is only there when I’m walking or moving and it has not intensified at all. The blood work came back today and my white blood cell count is normal, so I probably do not have any sort of infection. I gotta keep an eye on this, but hopefully it is just a sore muscle and I’ll be good to go!
I went to the REI store today to look at gear. I already have a great backpack, money belt, etc. I’ve been asking for a lot of stuff for my birthday, so that should cut down on some of the costs. I know a lot of people say you should go with the stuff you are used to wearing every day, but a lot of that stuff will not dry quickly at all. So I’ve been buying some stuff, but I’m counting on using them a lot anyways.
I picked up a rain jacket today, but technically it’s a gift from my parents to me; however they said it would probably be easier for me to just buy it from the store and they would pay me back. Plus my birthday is in a little more than a week anyways. I ended up going with the Mountain Hardwear cohesion jacket. I was also looking at the Marmot Precip, but I couldn’t find one in my size. I had a rain jacket already, but it was really crappy and it wasn’t waterproof at all. I figure I’ll get a lot of use out of this one anyways, and it will keep me dry. I picked up some other things that I didn’t necessarily need, but they will save me a ton of space when packing. I picked up 2 pairs of travel underwear and 2 pairs of travel socks. I have a friend who swears by these so that you can wash one while wearing the other. Pictured in the next picture are a lot of the clothes I have gotten together. In the picture I have a pair of jeans and a pair of khakis (one I will wear, one will be in the pack), a polo shirt, a tshirt (I’ll pack more, but I’ll probably take 3 total), the underwear and socks, a bandana,
the lock I will be using, and a long sleeve Patagonia wicking shirt. I’m asking for a small toiletries bag, a day pack, and some other small things that I’ll need that I don’t want to buy. I’ll pack a small first aid kit (thanks dutchmonkey) with bandaids, neosporin, aspirin, tums, and some other stuff, but I can buy that stuff abroad for the most part as well. Granted, I have about 31-32 days before my trip, but it’s just exciting to get everything together and see what it all looks like. As I get more of the stuff I need, I will do a test pack and see if I need to lose anything, but I think I’m already packing light enough as it is (besides the jeans, but I regretted not having them last time). The main thing I really need to do is get a good pair of shoes that are comfortable but could also look kind of dressy. Does anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking about a pair of black Adidas, but I need to make sure they have enough arch support or room to put in an insert.
I can’t believe how close I am to this trip, and yet it still feels like I’m not going. I just can’t wait until that moment when I realize I’m in another country and this time I’ll have only myself to rely on. It’s a great feeling and I already know that even if things don’t go well (things are bound to go wrong), I will never forget this trip.
In addition to this big trip that I’m taking, I’m moving since I’ll be heading to grad school in Nashville in the fall. This is exciting, but it’s also one big thing (besides the end of work) that stands in the way of my trip. Luckily, my brother and his roommates are moving into a house for their final year of college, so they will be taking some of my furniture off of my hands. My parents are actually coming down this weekend to help move some of this stuff and they will be coming down another weekend towards the end of May to move even more stuff. This helps out tremendously, and I am looking forward to spending part of the weekend with them, including a mother’s day dinner.
One of the things I want to do when I move into my new apartment in Nashville (still need to find one) is cut down on the amount of “stuff” I have. I feel like I have a bunch of useless stuff that I never use. I’m donating a bunch of clothes to goodwill just because I never wear them. I wonder if other travelers feel like living a minimalist lifestyle. When you travel and all you have are the clothes on your back and the backpack slung over your shoulders, it’s a great feeling. But then again, I do love coming home to some comforts and I don’t think I should deprive myself of things that I enjoy. I gotta have some stuff to keep me occupied when I’m waiting for my next big trip! So I will probably keep my TV. And my Wii. And I will probably need a new mac soon (I’ll wait til the student discount kicks in though). I like the minimalist lifestyle when on the road. I don’t need 5 star hotels and fancy restaurant meals. I will actually probably eat out less when I travel solo in June/July than when I went to Ireland with my brother. I also like buying stuff too much (including stuff for my trip), so I doubt I will ever completely rid myself of my material possessions.
A little less than 5 weeks until my trip. I’m getting some phrases memorized in German and French. Need to brush up on Spanish and learn some Catalan. I will also print out some cheat sheets that I can study on trains!
the lock I will be using, and a long sleeve Patagonia wicking shirt. I’m asking for a small toiletries bag, a day pack, and some other small things that I’ll need that I don’t want to buy. I’ll pack a small first aid kit (thanks dutchmonkey) with bandaids, neosporin, aspirin, tums, and some other stuff, but I can buy that stuff abroad for the most part as well. Granted, I have about 31-32 days before my trip, but it’s just exciting to get everything together and see what it all looks like. As I get more of the stuff I need, I will do a test pack and see if I need to lose anything, but I think I’m already packing light enough as it is (besides the jeans, but I regretted not having them last time). The main thing I really need to do is get a good pair of shoes that are comfortable but could also look kind of dressy. Does anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking about a pair of black Adidas, but I need to make sure they have enough arch support or room to put in an insert.