Location: Alet les Bains, France
Status: rather excited
Can't read Japanese? Scroll down for English.
ハァ、久しぶりに日本語で書いたね。とにかくでかいニューズが来たんだ。やっとこのAlet les Bainsという小さな町を出るんだ。最近仕事を探してて、やっと見つけた。だからこれからモロッコのメクネズという町へ行くんだ。そこでまた英会話の先生になるんだけど、それは来年の夏までなんだ。それまで仕事をして、お金をためて、また来年旅を続けるつもりなんだ。できたら、7000ユーロぐらいためたいと思うね。
とにかく、これからはモロッコ・・・おいしい食べ物とか面白い建物とかきれいな自然とか優しい人など・・・
楽しみにしている。
P.S.来年の3月に俺の生徒の卒業式を見に行くために日本に戻る約束をしたね。できたら、その約束を守るつもりだから、楽しみにしててね。(^_^)v
Well, after about two months in this small town, I am finally about to move on from Alet les Bains, France. I hadn't moved on before this because I didn't have enough money to go anywhere that wasn't towards a source of income, so I have been searching for jobs. I finally found one, well, two, actually. The first I found was in Istanbul, Turkey, but I don't have enough money or time to get there. However, I just received a job offer in Meknes, Morocco, which I am happy to accept.
I will be teaching English at the American Learning Center of Meknes, and while I am there I will hopefully be able to save up money to continue my travels next year. I'm hoping to try to save around 7000 euros if I can.
I'm looking forward to moving on, even though I do like this little town very much. However, I am excited to be traveling to another continent (my 4th) and to experience another culture. I hope things will work out well there, and I'm not worried that they won't. With luck, I will continue to improve my French and learn a bit of Arabic as well.
Anyway, I need to get ready to go.
Ciao.
2006-10-04
2006-09-03
28 years...
location: Alet les Bains, France
status: a little older
I haven't written in awhile, have I? I guess I'm pretty lazy about things like this. Again, this will be a long one, so get comfortable. Also, it may get a lottle (not a typo) sappy, so if you aren't into that, feel free to stop reading.
I am still in Alet les Bains, where I have been doing HelpExchange volunteering for a little over a month now. I have been reluctant to move on because my cash flow is getting on the low side. I have been searching for jobs around Europe or northern Africa, and have a few leads, but nothing is confirmed yet. I have sent my CV to various schools and companies all over Europe that I found on ESLJobs.com and Dave's ESL Cafe, and so far I have only received replies from a few places. Right now, the most promising places are Meknes, Morocco, Istanbul, Turkey, and Milan, Italy, in that order.
Of course, I wouldn't say no to "under the table" work if I find some, but I really need something to get me through the winter. My plan, if things work out, is to work and save money through the winter in order to continue my travels next summer. We'll see what happens.
I am very grateful to my HelpX Host here in Alet les Bains. She has been very sweet, and also very kind to have let me stay this long. The work has been hard on occasion, but the hours have not been. Besides, I am not afraid of hard work. This is a very charming little town, and I am enjoying the slower pace of life here. It has been a nice break from being on the road, but I am somewhat eager to start traveling again. However, this time I really need to have a destination that will lead to a source of income or I could be in trouble. No worries, though. Something will work out.
So here I am, having finished 28 years of this life. I'm feeling a little introspective, but I also probably shouldn't write too much because people will be coming soon and I can't ignore them. Writing is a very anti-social activity isn't it. I agree with Stephen King that writing should be done with the door closed, though perhaps he meant it in a slightly different way. Today it would be rude for me to disappear behind a closed door.
I've been thinking a bit about my 28 years, especially this past one. I don't feel 28, or rather, I don't feel like what I imagined 28 would feel like. Then again, I don't feel older than 23 (nor do I look it, according to a lot of people). I suppose these are good things. A lot happened during my 28th year.
It started with me beginning my second term as a full time teacher at Myojo Gakuen High School in western Tokyo. That was the term where I really earned the respect of my students and they earned mine. Unfortunately, teaching is not the only job of a full-time teacher, and my inexperience with my other duties, along with a lack of guidance and support from the other teachers at the school, led to the decision by the school to not renew my contract. This happened at the end of that second term, just before Winter Vacation. Winter Vacation brought a snowboard trip to Hokkaido, along with a couple of other day trips. The beginning of 2006 brought me into my final term as a high school teacher and a big decision to make. My contract ended in March, so I had to decide what I would do after that. The choice was between settling down and finding another job or setting off to try to go around the world. Since you are reading this, you obviously know what decision I made, but perhaps not completely why I made it.
I was actually quite torn. We all have a fear of the unknown to some degree and the easy road is always tempting. I could have settled down, worked at building my career, and been safe and comfortable. It wouldn't have been difficult. My resume is good enough that I could have found a new teaching position in Japan rather easily, I imagine. Or, the other choice was to set out for the unknown, seize the opportunity I had to escape from the mundane, and just up and go. I was leaning towards this, but my fear was holding me back. It turned out to be my students that made my decision for me.
My mind has always been open to my students, so naturally I told them of the school's decision to let me go and the reasons behind it. I found out that the school frowned upon this, but I don't care. My students were asking me about classes I would have been teaching the following academic year, and I wasn't going to lie to them or attempt to hide the truth from them. A good teacher wouldn't do that, and I want to become a good teacher. So, one week, I took the last 10 minutes of my classes and told them what was happening and what I was thinking about doing with my life. A lot of them were shocked, a good number of them were sad, and none of them appeared happy about it, but "That's life," I told them, "You have to take what it gives you and make what you can from it."
Anyway, one day, not long before my last days at the school, two of my students sat me down to have a little talk (those two, if you are reading this, you know who you are). The conversation went something like this (translated to English):
Students: "Are you really leaving? Are you really not going to be here next year?"
Me: "Unfortunately, yes. The decision has been made and it's probably not going to change."
Students: "Well, in that case, we want you to leave Japan."
Me: "What?!?"
Students: "No, no, no. We want you to go and travel around the world, and then come back and tell us about it."
Me: "Ahh, I see..."
Of course, I couldn't say no to something like that, and it turned out to be just the push I needed to make up my mind. After that, I told my students of my decision, and started preparing to travel.
So, that is why I am here, on the other side of the world from the life I lived for the past nearly 5 years with very little idea of what the future holds. I've actually almost made it all the way around from where I started from in the US. The east coast, where I grew up, is only the North Atlantic away.
Obviously, this particular journey is the biggest thing that happened to me in my 28th year. Other things that happened seem to have stemmed from this. I met a really great girl during my last 2 months in Japan, but never told her how attracted I was to her because I figured it would be less heart-breaking to leave as friends regardless of the outcome had I said anything. I managed to teach my students a few good lessons about life as well as some English. I helped some of my students pull of a really good choral concert, in which they sang all of their songs in English. I was introduced to my new favorite bar/restaurant in Japan. I found out about CouchSurfing, which has completely changed my life. I said goodbye to a lot of people that I really care about: my brother, my friends, my students. I've started on an amazing journey, on which I've seen some amazing places and have met amazing people just about everywhere. Rather than re-typing it all, feel free to read my previous blog entries.
Anyway, I just want to send out a great big thank you to all of you who have helped me get this far, who have kept me in your thoughts, who have given me your support, who have lent me your couches, and so on. You all should know who you are. Thank you so much.
I love you all.
status: a little older
I haven't written in awhile, have I? I guess I'm pretty lazy about things like this. Again, this will be a long one, so get comfortable. Also, it may get a lottle (not a typo) sappy, so if you aren't into that, feel free to stop reading.
I am still in Alet les Bains, where I have been doing HelpExchange volunteering for a little over a month now. I have been reluctant to move on because my cash flow is getting on the low side. I have been searching for jobs around Europe or northern Africa, and have a few leads, but nothing is confirmed yet. I have sent my CV to various schools and companies all over Europe that I found on ESLJobs.com and Dave's ESL Cafe, and so far I have only received replies from a few places. Right now, the most promising places are Meknes, Morocco, Istanbul, Turkey, and Milan, Italy, in that order.
Of course, I wouldn't say no to "under the table" work if I find some, but I really need something to get me through the winter. My plan, if things work out, is to work and save money through the winter in order to continue my travels next summer. We'll see what happens.
I am very grateful to my HelpX Host here in Alet les Bains. She has been very sweet, and also very kind to have let me stay this long. The work has been hard on occasion, but the hours have not been. Besides, I am not afraid of hard work. This is a very charming little town, and I am enjoying the slower pace of life here. It has been a nice break from being on the road, but I am somewhat eager to start traveling again. However, this time I really need to have a destination that will lead to a source of income or I could be in trouble. No worries, though. Something will work out.
So here I am, having finished 28 years of this life. I'm feeling a little introspective, but I also probably shouldn't write too much because people will be coming soon and I can't ignore them. Writing is a very anti-social activity isn't it. I agree with Stephen King that writing should be done with the door closed, though perhaps he meant it in a slightly different way. Today it would be rude for me to disappear behind a closed door.
I've been thinking a bit about my 28 years, especially this past one. I don't feel 28, or rather, I don't feel like what I imagined 28 would feel like. Then again, I don't feel older than 23 (nor do I look it, according to a lot of people). I suppose these are good things. A lot happened during my 28th year.
It started with me beginning my second term as a full time teacher at Myojo Gakuen High School in western Tokyo. That was the term where I really earned the respect of my students and they earned mine. Unfortunately, teaching is not the only job of a full-time teacher, and my inexperience with my other duties, along with a lack of guidance and support from the other teachers at the school, led to the decision by the school to not renew my contract. This happened at the end of that second term, just before Winter Vacation. Winter Vacation brought a snowboard trip to Hokkaido, along with a couple of other day trips. The beginning of 2006 brought me into my final term as a high school teacher and a big decision to make. My contract ended in March, so I had to decide what I would do after that. The choice was between settling down and finding another job or setting off to try to go around the world. Since you are reading this, you obviously know what decision I made, but perhaps not completely why I made it.
I was actually quite torn. We all have a fear of the unknown to some degree and the easy road is always tempting. I could have settled down, worked at building my career, and been safe and comfortable. It wouldn't have been difficult. My resume is good enough that I could have found a new teaching position in Japan rather easily, I imagine. Or, the other choice was to set out for the unknown, seize the opportunity I had to escape from the mundane, and just up and go. I was leaning towards this, but my fear was holding me back. It turned out to be my students that made my decision for me.
My mind has always been open to my students, so naturally I told them of the school's decision to let me go and the reasons behind it. I found out that the school frowned upon this, but I don't care. My students were asking me about classes I would have been teaching the following academic year, and I wasn't going to lie to them or attempt to hide the truth from them. A good teacher wouldn't do that, and I want to become a good teacher. So, one week, I took the last 10 minutes of my classes and told them what was happening and what I was thinking about doing with my life. A lot of them were shocked, a good number of them were sad, and none of them appeared happy about it, but "That's life," I told them, "You have to take what it gives you and make what you can from it."
Anyway, one day, not long before my last days at the school, two of my students sat me down to have a little talk (those two, if you are reading this, you know who you are). The conversation went something like this (translated to English):
Students: "Are you really leaving? Are you really not going to be here next year?"
Me: "Unfortunately, yes. The decision has been made and it's probably not going to change."
Students: "Well, in that case, we want you to leave Japan."
Me: "What?!?"
Students: "No, no, no. We want you to go and travel around the world, and then come back and tell us about it."
Me: "Ahh, I see..."
Of course, I couldn't say no to something like that, and it turned out to be just the push I needed to make up my mind. After that, I told my students of my decision, and started preparing to travel.
So, that is why I am here, on the other side of the world from the life I lived for the past nearly 5 years with very little idea of what the future holds. I've actually almost made it all the way around from where I started from in the US. The east coast, where I grew up, is only the North Atlantic away.
Obviously, this particular journey is the biggest thing that happened to me in my 28th year. Other things that happened seem to have stemmed from this. I met a really great girl during my last 2 months in Japan, but never told her how attracted I was to her because I figured it would be less heart-breaking to leave as friends regardless of the outcome had I said anything. I managed to teach my students a few good lessons about life as well as some English. I helped some of my students pull of a really good choral concert, in which they sang all of their songs in English. I was introduced to my new favorite bar/restaurant in Japan. I found out about CouchSurfing, which has completely changed my life. I said goodbye to a lot of people that I really care about: my brother, my friends, my students. I've started on an amazing journey, on which I've seen some amazing places and have met amazing people just about everywhere. Rather than re-typing it all, feel free to read my previous blog entries.
Anyway, I just want to send out a great big thank you to all of you who have helped me get this far, who have kept me in your thoughts, who have given me your support, who have lent me your couches, and so on. You all should know who you are. Thank you so much.
I love you all.
2006-08-05
Back in France: Malgrad de Mar -> Alet les Bains
Location: Alet les Bains, France
Status: pretty good, but hungover at the moment
I've made it back to France and I am in some amazingly beautiful countryside on the Aude River. In my last post, I promised I would give my impressions of Spain. Also, I need to detail getting from Malgrat de Mar to here, so this will be a(nother) long one. Go get some coffee or something, and the time to visit the restroom is now. Don't worry. I won't run away, while you are gone...
Ok? Are you comfortable? Here goes...
Malgrat de Mar
I left on in Malgrat de Mar as Gerard and I were about to go out and enjoy the weekend. We ended up going to a bar/club on the beach in Malgrat (Gerard, if you read this, what was the name of the place?) and hanging out having a few beers. We met up with some friends of his, including two really cool girls from France, Amelie and Sophie, and we hung out with them pretty much all night. After the bar closed at 03:00, we emptied Gerard's fridge of beers and continued hanging out on the beach, mainly talking, until Amelie had to go to work at 07:00.
We'd all made plans to meet up again at 14:00 and go to another beach for the afternoon, so the remainder of the morning was spent trying to get some sleep and relaxing. Amelie came over after she finished working around 10:30, because she wanted to check her email on Gerard's computer, so we hung out a bit. Just before leaving, Gerard's father made paella, which I got to eat for the first time. It was delicious! We went to pick up Sophie, and another friend, Leoni, a girl from the Netherlands who turned out to be pretty cool, and we all drove up to a beach in Blanes to spend the afternoon playing in the Mediterranean and getting some sun. I must say, I am completely in love with the Mediterranean sea. It is one of the most beautiful bodies of water I have ever seen. Anyway, we hung out for a bit, but Sophie had to go back to work at 18:00, so we left. That evening, Gerard had plans to go to Barcelona for a CouchSurfing part, but I chose not to go becuase I had planned to cycle out the next day and I knew I wouldn't be able to party all night again, so Amelie invited me to come hang out with them for a relaxing bottle of wine on the beach, so that was what I ended up doing. Sophie joined us after she finished work and we hung out talking for a bit. Everyone was pretty tired, so we called it a night fairly early and I got back to Gerard's place at about 01:30 or so. Gerard got home at sometime around 06:00.
It turns out that I did NOT leave the next day. Gerard and I spent most of Sunday relaxing and talking, basically recovering from Friday and Saturday. His mother made grilled chicken for lunch. Not much happened for most of Sunday, just relaxing and talking. In the evening, Gerard and I drove up to Lloret de Mar to walk around. The beach itself was a major tourist trap area, but the cliffs on either side were really nice with trails along them and a couple of castles. Eventually, we went back, had leftover chicken for dinner, and then went for one last night walk on the beach where we hung out and talked for a bit.
The next morning, Gerard had to get up at just after 06:00 for work, and I got up at the same time and headed out. I had a really good time in Malgrat de Mar, though, and I hope to return some day.
From Malgrat de Mar to Alet les Bains
When I left Malgrat de Mar, my intention was to cycle up the coast, staying as close to the Mediterranean as possible. This proved to be very difficult, because the coast in that area is mainly cliffs and mountains. I made it as far as Tossa de Mar before turning inland to Girona. I got to Girona around 11:00 and ate breakfast/lunch there. My legs were pretty tired, and I decided to take a train and save some time, so for 3.60 euros, I took a train to Portbou, Spain, the last town on the coast before the border, where I relaxed and spent most of the hottest part of the day sitting in the shade writing in my journal. Then, I cycled up the mountain next to town and crossed the border back into France.
I continued along the coast, being absolutely floored by the amazing views of the Mediterranean I was getting as I cycled up and down mountains. Eventually, the road and terrain flattened out as I got closer to Perpignan, France. I slept outside that night about 20km south of Perpignan. While I was sleeping, the wind decided to change directions and get stronger.
The next morning, I cycled into Perpignan for breakfast, fighting a crosswind that was coming from exactly the wrong direction, i.e. exactly the direction that I would be going when I left Perpignan. I ate, and made my way out of the city to start some of the worst cycling I'd experienced. The landscape was beautiful, but I didn't get to enjoy it much because I was really struggling against the wind, which was blowing rather hard directly in my face. It was really bad. I had to work pretty hard just to go DOWN hills, so going up wasn't all that pleasant. All in all, it took me over 4 hours to go about 30km, so when I got to the small town of Maury, I made a phone call to my HelpX host in Alet les Bains to say that I didn't think I was going to be able to get there that day, even though it was so close.
However, she gave me some good advice. In the next town on the road, Saint Paul de Fenouillet, there was a "Train Touristique" that ran along the valley to the town of Axat. Chloe, my HelpX host, told me to try to catch that and then give her a call later to let her know how things turned out. I fought the wind for the 6km to Saint Paul, and found out the next train was at 17:15, so I had about 1 and a half hours to rest and eat. Then I caught the train and got to relax through some amazingly beautiful countryside: shear mountains occasionally with castles on top, vinyards, rivers... It was fantastic. Pictures will be forthcoming...eventually.
I got to Axat and tried to call Chloe, but there was no answer. It turned out that she had gone out in her car to look for me, and the moment I called was the moment when she was in the one place along the road that had no signal: a gorge on route D117 north of Axat. The wind had pretty much stopped, or was being blocked by the mountains, so I decided to give cycling a try and at least go to Quillan, about 11km up the road, before calling again. I rode through the gorge and it was some of the most incredible cycling I have ever done. The wind was kind of random, but the road was mostly downhill, following the Aude river as it twisted through the mountains. It is good that there was almost no traffic, because the road was quite narrow at times. It was so beautiful cycling through there. Sorry, but no pictures. I was in a zone and I didn't want to stop.
Anyway, since the cycling was so good, I went right through Quillan and continued all the way to Alet les Bains, arriving at about 20:00.
Alet les Bains
And here, I remain. I walked up to Chloe's door just as she was about to leave, so lucky timing there. She was on her way to a friend's for dinner, having given up on me and assuming I would arrive the next day. However, she let me take a quick shower and we both went to her friend's place for dinner. We ate, we relaxed, we drank some local wine, and we talked. Eventually we came back home and crashed.
The next day was a day of rest for me and I mostly did just that. The following day (the day before yesterday), Chloe put me to work. For those of you who have never heard of HelpExchange, that is basically the deal: you go some place and work in exchange for room and board. Chloe has various house work that needs to be done, and my first tasks were to strip the paint off a door and figure out how to get the noise from the ADSL modem off the phone lines. The second task was simple: Chloe just needed to buy low-pass filters and put them on her phones. The door is proving to be more difficult, even with paint-stripper. It was probably last painted sometime before World War II, and the paint is thick. It will take me a few days to finish.
However, this weekend is the town Festival, it will mostly be party-time before getting back to work next Wednesday. Excellent! Hence my slightly hungover status.
Anyway, my plan is to stay here for a couple of weeks doing work and trying to figure out what to do next. My money situation, though far from dire, is at the point where I really need to figure out where and how to get paid work. Before anyone starts worrying, I have enough left for about a month of traveling, assuming I continue to be disciplined about my budget, and right now, with the HelpX volunteering, I don't have to spend much at all.
Impressions of Spain
So, I traveled through Spain for nearly a month, so I guess I should say a few things about it. There is good and bad here, and I apologise in advance if I offend any Spanish people while writing this, but overall my impression is more on the negative side. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, so I will start with the positive things...
The landscapes I traveled through in Spain were beautiful! Rough, but beautiful. Most of the northern half was farmland (mostly grain fields) leading right up to small, steep mountains. Around Madrid was mountains and pastureland. And, of course, there was the incredibly beautiful Mediterranean coast from Valencia onward. Although cycling was rough at times, especially because of the heat, it was intoxicating to be in such beautiful land. Also, the people I met were very cool: Pedro, Marta, David, Javier, Mariska and her friends, and Gerard, his family, and the people in Malgrat de Mar.
Perhaps you will notice that this is a rather short list. I didn't meet many people in Spain. I'm sure a big part of it is my lack of ability to speak Spanish, and I have only myself to blame for that. However, it was also more difficult to find CouchSurfing and HospitalityClub hosts in Spain than anywhere else so far. I know I shouldn't expect hosting and of course I am incredibly grateful for everyone who has hosted me. I know full well that it is a priviledge, not a right. However, for the sake of comparison: when I crossed France, it took about a month and I was without a host twice spending a total of 2 nights outside while in France. When I crossed Spain, it also took about a month, and though I don't have an exact count of days, I slept outside for about 2/3 of the time. Mind you, I'm not complaining, just making an observation.
I talked with Gerard about this quite a bit, as well as the others, and was basically told that generally, Spanish people are not as hospitable to strangers as some other cultures, and that people generally only look out for and/or care about themselves and those close to them.
I kind of had that impression as I saw people around. For the most part, many people don't seem very approachable. Spanish guys tend to be very macho looking (as in, I get the feeling that tbey must look tough and "manly"). Girls seemed to have...some kind of attitude...I don't know how to explain it well (heh, some writer I am), but they didn't seem very approachable either. The only people who seemed like I would be able to ask for directions were elderly people. Now, mind you, this is all based on my own impressions of people's images, and I shouldn't base anything on just that, but hey...if a person doesn't look friendly, then I don't want to go near them or try to talk to them, and there were a lot of not-friendly-looking people.
One thing that really gave me a bad impression of Spain was the graffiti. Now, I tend to like well done graffiti art, and don't mind people painting blank walls and such. I've seen some incredible graffiti art on this journey, especially in Angouleme, France and in Madrid, Spain. However, most of what I saw in Spain was just someone scribbling their tag with black paint, rather than actually having a design or message. C'mon, guys, you can be more creative than that. That is just plain stupid. Not only that, but the places where you would find graffiti were appauling. I generally don't mind blank walls, bridges, etc., but statues, monuments, beautifully designed buildings, etc. are outright ridiculous. So, not only was there a lot of stupid, no-design tags, they were tagging what would have been things of beauty and of cultural importance. That just shows an incredible lack of respect for others.
Wow...reading that, I feel like I should be sitting in a rocking chair on a porch yelling at kids to "GET OFF MY LAWN!"
Also, continuing on the "lack of respect" impression, so many things in Spain seemed run down and dirty. There were a lot of abandoned, collapsing houses in the countryside, and also in the cities. A lot of streets were dirty, as well as roads in the countryside. There was so much litter along the roads. I don't know. It seemed like people just didn't want to take care of anything around them.
Finally, cycling was sometimes a nightmare. Spain was not a very cyclist-friendly country, especially for touring cyclists. Getting into and out of Madrid was a nightmare of motorways. Getting into Barcelona was similar, though it was easier to get out of. There were often places where the only option was to get on the motorway and compete with cars and trucks doing 130km/hr. Drivers seemed to enjoy honking at cyclists (whether on the motorway or the back roads). I had more people honk at me in Spain than in Japan, the UK, and France combined.
Mini-Rant: Drivers! DO NOT HONK AT CYCLISTS! Unless there is actually real danger, don't honk at us. Don't honk to be friendly and wave. Don't honk to let us know you are coming (believe me, we know. We are probably more aware of what is happening on the road than most drivers). Don't honk because you don't think we should be on the road (we have as much right as you do, and at least we are more environmentally friendly). Don't honk because you think it is funny to startle us. Just don't fucking honk unless you are warning us of something that is actually dangerous. When someone honks at me, my first thought is, "oh shit, what's wrong, am I in danger?" and then I look around and see some grinning or laughing asshat. I've had a few times where I've almost crashed because of some honking asshat. Seriously, don't do it. It isn't cool. It isn't helpful. We know you are there, so when you honk, we think there is a problem. Unless you are actually warning us, don't do it. Or, unless you are trying to kill us, in which case, of you are successful, enjoy your time in prison for manslaughter.
I apologise for the language, but it really does make me angry, and I am sick of people putting my life in danger.
Anyway, these are only small examples, but are a big part of what gave me a negative impression of Spain. Don't get me wrong though: I'm glad I went, and had some incredibly good experiences there: sleeping under the milky way, watching satellites cross the sky in the mountains north of Madrid; having beer and tapas in Palencia; hanging out with cool people in Malgrat de Mar; cycling through some incredible landscapes, the likes of which I had never seen before; The Mediterranean Sea!
Anyway, it is good to be back in France. There are things I do miss about Spain, despite the negative impression overall. It is also good to take a break from traveling and stay in one place for awhile.
I think that is enough for now. Ciao.
Status: pretty good, but hungover at the moment
I've made it back to France and I am in some amazingly beautiful countryside on the Aude River. In my last post, I promised I would give my impressions of Spain. Also, I need to detail getting from Malgrat de Mar to here, so this will be a(nother) long one. Go get some coffee or something, and the time to visit the restroom is now. Don't worry. I won't run away, while you are gone...
Ok? Are you comfortable? Here goes...
Malgrat de Mar
I left on in Malgrat de Mar as Gerard and I were about to go out and enjoy the weekend. We ended up going to a bar/club on the beach in Malgrat (Gerard, if you read this, what was the name of the place?) and hanging out having a few beers. We met up with some friends of his, including two really cool girls from France, Amelie and Sophie, and we hung out with them pretty much all night. After the bar closed at 03:00, we emptied Gerard's fridge of beers and continued hanging out on the beach, mainly talking, until Amelie had to go to work at 07:00.
We'd all made plans to meet up again at 14:00 and go to another beach for the afternoon, so the remainder of the morning was spent trying to get some sleep and relaxing. Amelie came over after she finished working around 10:30, because she wanted to check her email on Gerard's computer, so we hung out a bit. Just before leaving, Gerard's father made paella, which I got to eat for the first time. It was delicious! We went to pick up Sophie, and another friend, Leoni, a girl from the Netherlands who turned out to be pretty cool, and we all drove up to a beach in Blanes to spend the afternoon playing in the Mediterranean and getting some sun. I must say, I am completely in love with the Mediterranean sea. It is one of the most beautiful bodies of water I have ever seen. Anyway, we hung out for a bit, but Sophie had to go back to work at 18:00, so we left. That evening, Gerard had plans to go to Barcelona for a CouchSurfing part, but I chose not to go becuase I had planned to cycle out the next day and I knew I wouldn't be able to party all night again, so Amelie invited me to come hang out with them for a relaxing bottle of wine on the beach, so that was what I ended up doing. Sophie joined us after she finished work and we hung out talking for a bit. Everyone was pretty tired, so we called it a night fairly early and I got back to Gerard's place at about 01:30 or so. Gerard got home at sometime around 06:00.
It turns out that I did NOT leave the next day. Gerard and I spent most of Sunday relaxing and talking, basically recovering from Friday and Saturday. His mother made grilled chicken for lunch. Not much happened for most of Sunday, just relaxing and talking. In the evening, Gerard and I drove up to Lloret de Mar to walk around. The beach itself was a major tourist trap area, but the cliffs on either side were really nice with trails along them and a couple of castles. Eventually, we went back, had leftover chicken for dinner, and then went for one last night walk on the beach where we hung out and talked for a bit.
The next morning, Gerard had to get up at just after 06:00 for work, and I got up at the same time and headed out. I had a really good time in Malgrat de Mar, though, and I hope to return some day.
From Malgrat de Mar to Alet les Bains
When I left Malgrat de Mar, my intention was to cycle up the coast, staying as close to the Mediterranean as possible. This proved to be very difficult, because the coast in that area is mainly cliffs and mountains. I made it as far as Tossa de Mar before turning inland to Girona. I got to Girona around 11:00 and ate breakfast/lunch there. My legs were pretty tired, and I decided to take a train and save some time, so for 3.60 euros, I took a train to Portbou, Spain, the last town on the coast before the border, where I relaxed and spent most of the hottest part of the day sitting in the shade writing in my journal. Then, I cycled up the mountain next to town and crossed the border back into France.
I continued along the coast, being absolutely floored by the amazing views of the Mediterranean I was getting as I cycled up and down mountains. Eventually, the road and terrain flattened out as I got closer to Perpignan, France. I slept outside that night about 20km south of Perpignan. While I was sleeping, the wind decided to change directions and get stronger.
The next morning, I cycled into Perpignan for breakfast, fighting a crosswind that was coming from exactly the wrong direction, i.e. exactly the direction that I would be going when I left Perpignan. I ate, and made my way out of the city to start some of the worst cycling I'd experienced. The landscape was beautiful, but I didn't get to enjoy it much because I was really struggling against the wind, which was blowing rather hard directly in my face. It was really bad. I had to work pretty hard just to go DOWN hills, so going up wasn't all that pleasant. All in all, it took me over 4 hours to go about 30km, so when I got to the small town of Maury, I made a phone call to my HelpX host in Alet les Bains to say that I didn't think I was going to be able to get there that day, even though it was so close.
However, she gave me some good advice. In the next town on the road, Saint Paul de Fenouillet, there was a "Train Touristique" that ran along the valley to the town of Axat. Chloe, my HelpX host, told me to try to catch that and then give her a call later to let her know how things turned out. I fought the wind for the 6km to Saint Paul, and found out the next train was at 17:15, so I had about 1 and a half hours to rest and eat. Then I caught the train and got to relax through some amazingly beautiful countryside: shear mountains occasionally with castles on top, vinyards, rivers... It was fantastic. Pictures will be forthcoming...eventually.
I got to Axat and tried to call Chloe, but there was no answer. It turned out that she had gone out in her car to look for me, and the moment I called was the moment when she was in the one place along the road that had no signal: a gorge on route D117 north of Axat. The wind had pretty much stopped, or was being blocked by the mountains, so I decided to give cycling a try and at least go to Quillan, about 11km up the road, before calling again. I rode through the gorge and it was some of the most incredible cycling I have ever done. The wind was kind of random, but the road was mostly downhill, following the Aude river as it twisted through the mountains. It is good that there was almost no traffic, because the road was quite narrow at times. It was so beautiful cycling through there. Sorry, but no pictures. I was in a zone and I didn't want to stop.
Anyway, since the cycling was so good, I went right through Quillan and continued all the way to Alet les Bains, arriving at about 20:00.
Alet les Bains
And here, I remain. I walked up to Chloe's door just as she was about to leave, so lucky timing there. She was on her way to a friend's for dinner, having given up on me and assuming I would arrive the next day. However, she let me take a quick shower and we both went to her friend's place for dinner. We ate, we relaxed, we drank some local wine, and we talked. Eventually we came back home and crashed.
The next day was a day of rest for me and I mostly did just that. The following day (the day before yesterday), Chloe put me to work. For those of you who have never heard of HelpExchange, that is basically the deal: you go some place and work in exchange for room and board. Chloe has various house work that needs to be done, and my first tasks were to strip the paint off a door and figure out how to get the noise from the ADSL modem off the phone lines. The second task was simple: Chloe just needed to buy low-pass filters and put them on her phones. The door is proving to be more difficult, even with paint-stripper. It was probably last painted sometime before World War II, and the paint is thick. It will take me a few days to finish.
However, this weekend is the town Festival, it will mostly be party-time before getting back to work next Wednesday. Excellent! Hence my slightly hungover status.
Anyway, my plan is to stay here for a couple of weeks doing work and trying to figure out what to do next. My money situation, though far from dire, is at the point where I really need to figure out where and how to get paid work. Before anyone starts worrying, I have enough left for about a month of traveling, assuming I continue to be disciplined about my budget, and right now, with the HelpX volunteering, I don't have to spend much at all.
Impressions of Spain
So, I traveled through Spain for nearly a month, so I guess I should say a few things about it. There is good and bad here, and I apologise in advance if I offend any Spanish people while writing this, but overall my impression is more on the negative side. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, so I will start with the positive things...
The landscapes I traveled through in Spain were beautiful! Rough, but beautiful. Most of the northern half was farmland (mostly grain fields) leading right up to small, steep mountains. Around Madrid was mountains and pastureland. And, of course, there was the incredibly beautiful Mediterranean coast from Valencia onward. Although cycling was rough at times, especially because of the heat, it was intoxicating to be in such beautiful land. Also, the people I met were very cool: Pedro, Marta, David, Javier, Mariska and her friends, and Gerard, his family, and the people in Malgrat de Mar.
Perhaps you will notice that this is a rather short list. I didn't meet many people in Spain. I'm sure a big part of it is my lack of ability to speak Spanish, and I have only myself to blame for that. However, it was also more difficult to find CouchSurfing and HospitalityClub hosts in Spain than anywhere else so far. I know I shouldn't expect hosting and of course I am incredibly grateful for everyone who has hosted me. I know full well that it is a priviledge, not a right. However, for the sake of comparison: when I crossed France, it took about a month and I was without a host twice spending a total of 2 nights outside while in France. When I crossed Spain, it also took about a month, and though I don't have an exact count of days, I slept outside for about 2/3 of the time. Mind you, I'm not complaining, just making an observation.
I talked with Gerard about this quite a bit, as well as the others, and was basically told that generally, Spanish people are not as hospitable to strangers as some other cultures, and that people generally only look out for and/or care about themselves and those close to them.
I kind of had that impression as I saw people around. For the most part, many people don't seem very approachable. Spanish guys tend to be very macho looking (as in, I get the feeling that tbey must look tough and "manly"). Girls seemed to have...some kind of attitude...I don't know how to explain it well (heh, some writer I am), but they didn't seem very approachable either. The only people who seemed like I would be able to ask for directions were elderly people. Now, mind you, this is all based on my own impressions of people's images, and I shouldn't base anything on just that, but hey...if a person doesn't look friendly, then I don't want to go near them or try to talk to them, and there were a lot of not-friendly-looking people.
One thing that really gave me a bad impression of Spain was the graffiti. Now, I tend to like well done graffiti art, and don't mind people painting blank walls and such. I've seen some incredible graffiti art on this journey, especially in Angouleme, France and in Madrid, Spain. However, most of what I saw in Spain was just someone scribbling their tag with black paint, rather than actually having a design or message. C'mon, guys, you can be more creative than that. That is just plain stupid. Not only that, but the places where you would find graffiti were appauling. I generally don't mind blank walls, bridges, etc., but statues, monuments, beautifully designed buildings, etc. are outright ridiculous. So, not only was there a lot of stupid, no-design tags, they were tagging what would have been things of beauty and of cultural importance. That just shows an incredible lack of respect for others.
Wow...reading that, I feel like I should be sitting in a rocking chair on a porch yelling at kids to "GET OFF MY LAWN!"
Also, continuing on the "lack of respect" impression, so many things in Spain seemed run down and dirty. There were a lot of abandoned, collapsing houses in the countryside, and also in the cities. A lot of streets were dirty, as well as roads in the countryside. There was so much litter along the roads. I don't know. It seemed like people just didn't want to take care of anything around them.
Finally, cycling was sometimes a nightmare. Spain was not a very cyclist-friendly country, especially for touring cyclists. Getting into and out of Madrid was a nightmare of motorways. Getting into Barcelona was similar, though it was easier to get out of. There were often places where the only option was to get on the motorway and compete with cars and trucks doing 130km/hr. Drivers seemed to enjoy honking at cyclists (whether on the motorway or the back roads). I had more people honk at me in Spain than in Japan, the UK, and France combined.
Mini-Rant: Drivers! DO NOT HONK AT CYCLISTS! Unless there is actually real danger, don't honk at us. Don't honk to be friendly and wave. Don't honk to let us know you are coming (believe me, we know. We are probably more aware of what is happening on the road than most drivers). Don't honk because you don't think we should be on the road (we have as much right as you do, and at least we are more environmentally friendly). Don't honk because you think it is funny to startle us. Just don't fucking honk unless you are warning us of something that is actually dangerous. When someone honks at me, my first thought is, "oh shit, what's wrong, am I in danger?" and then I look around and see some grinning or laughing asshat. I've had a few times where I've almost crashed because of some honking asshat. Seriously, don't do it. It isn't cool. It isn't helpful. We know you are there, so when you honk, we think there is a problem. Unless you are actually warning us, don't do it. Or, unless you are trying to kill us, in which case, of you are successful, enjoy your time in prison for manslaughter.
I apologise for the language, but it really does make me angry, and I am sick of people putting my life in danger.
Anyway, these are only small examples, but are a big part of what gave me a negative impression of Spain. Don't get me wrong though: I'm glad I went, and had some incredibly good experiences there: sleeping under the milky way, watching satellites cross the sky in the mountains north of Madrid; having beer and tapas in Palencia; hanging out with cool people in Malgrat de Mar; cycling through some incredible landscapes, the likes of which I had never seen before; The Mediterranean Sea!
Anyway, it is good to be back in France. There are things I do miss about Spain, despite the negative impression overall. It is also good to take a break from traveling and stay in one place for awhile.
I think that is enough for now. Ciao.
2006-07-28
Long time no post: Vitoria -> Malgrat de Mar
Location: Malgrat de Mar, Spain
Status: finally feeling rested
Well, it has been a long time since I last posted. I am currently on my way out of Spain after nearly a month of traveling in this country. A lot has happened, so make yourself comfortable because this will be a long one. You may want to grab something to eat or drink. If you have to go to the bathroom, now is the time.
...
Ok, ready? Here we go.
From Vitoria to Palencia
I left Vitoria on 12 July, after having managed to line up my first CouchSurfing host since the site came back online in Palencia, Spain. Although Pedro was a very nice guy and the MMW concert was great, I wasn't particularly otherwise impressed with Vitoria. The city had a nice old quarter and some nice parks, but mostly it seemed like housing projects and construction. Anyway, I cycled out at about 15:00 on the 12th, which was a pretty late start. Still, I managed to go about 90 km before through some beautiful countryside stopping for the night, and I slept outside.
The next day, I headed into Burgos, which was on my way to Palencia. I had found an internet cafe in Burgos while searching on the internet at Pedro's house, and I wanted to go there to check my mail. I needed to get the phone number from my next host. However, it turned out that the internet cafe I'd found didn't open until 16:00, so I was stuck wandering the streets trying to find another one. This was actually a good thing. I found another one and it turned out to be really cheap: only 0€50 per hour! So, got the info I needed (her phone number and what time she finished work), relaxed in the air-conditioning, and then headed out to make my way to Palencia. The route I was taking was not the most direct, so I still had about 100km to go to get there. Part of my route followed the "Camino de Santiago", a famous pilgrimage route across Spain. It was a really hot day and it is mostly open country with little or no shade, so it wasn't easy riding, but it wasn't too difficult. I passed through a lot of farmland and mountains. Many of the mountains had wind farms on them, or whatever the real term is for collections of wind-mill electrical generators.
I got to Palencia at about 19:00, which was perfect timing. That was the same sime that my next host, a very nice woman named Marta, finished work. I found my way to her house and then a nearby phone to call her. She said she would be there in about 15 minutes, so I waited for her in front of her building. When she got there, we went up to her flat, which had an awesome terrace, she let me take a shower, we relaxed and talked a bit. Then she took me out for my first experience of beer and tapas in Spain, as we basically did a bar tour of Palencia. Since tapas were included with the drinks, we managed to eat enough to cover dinner while we drank. It was a cool time, and it was nice to relax and have a few drinks, Spanish style.
Unfortunately, I could only stay at Marta's place for one night because she had plans to be out of town that weekend. Still, we met for lunch the next day, and because it was really hot, she suggested that I take the train to the next place I was going, a small town called Arévalo. It was only about 8€, so I decided to do so. My train left at 17:55, so I relaxed for most of the day.
From Palencia to Madrid
Taking the train turned out to be a really good choice. It was pouring down rain most of the way between Palencia and Arévalo, where I was going to meet my next host, a cool guy named David whom I found on HospitalityClub. The train arrived in Arévalo at about 19:30, and then I rode into town to meet my host, David, and his brother, Javier. There isn't much to report on Arévalo. It was a really small town. David and his brother were really nice though, and David was an incredible keyboard player. I stayed there that night and most of the following day, but headed out a little after 17:00 because I had plans to be in Madrid the next day to meet my next CouchSurfing host and I wanted to close the distance a bit.
I managed to make it about 60km that evening, but it was a difficult ride, especially towards the end as I left the grain fields and entered the mountains north of Madrid. The grain fields gave way to rough pastureland at the foothills. It proved difficult to find a place to sleep because most of the pastures were surrounded by old stone walls near the road and there weren't many trees or other places to get out of sight without completely trespassing on someone's land. I got off the road I was following and onto some smaller country roads a bit northwest of San Rafael, and finally managed to find a place to sleep that was basically a ditch between a road and an old stone wall. Still, it was wide enough, and the embankment from the road kept me out of sight. It wasn't comfortable, but it served its purpose well enough.
The following morning was tough. The wind had done a 180 degree turn in the night and I was facing a headwind. Also, the start of the day was all uphill. I made my way into San Rafael and ate some breakfast. Then I made my long way up the mountain, walking most of the way because it was about 6km of constant, winding uphill that stopped going up at 1511 meters above sea level. I think that is the highest I have physically been so far on this journey while still having my feet on the ground. After that, it was basically rolling hills for the final 40km into Madrid, though the last 5km or so involved riding on the motorway, which is not illegal on the ones designated as "autovia" (vs. autopista) unless there is a sign saying no bicycles. Still, riding on the motorway sucks. Give me an empty 2 lane road anyday.
Madrid
When I arrived in Madrid, I called up the person who was to be my next host, a very nice, very sweet woman from Holland named Mariska. We met up near the metro station "La Latina" and she, another friend, and I had a drink. Her friend then had to go to work at a nearby Belgian beer bar, so Mariska and I went along to have another drink. Belgian beer continues to be beer heaven. I also had some dinner of fries (that's chips to you UKers) with stewed beef which was pretty good. Then Mariska and I went back to her place to drop off my stuff and let me get a shower. Then we went out to meet another friend fo some drinks and then called it a night.
Mariska was pretty busy with work while I was there, and her roommates were uncomfortable with having a stranger in the house while she wasn't home, so I was mostly left on my own to explore the city for the few days I was there. Madrid was a really nice city with lots of beautiful buildings, nice parks, cool little neighborhoods. I spent a lot of time wandering aimlessly and taking pictures. I also spent a good amount of time just relaxing in parks trying to study Spanish, which is a much more difficult language than I thought. I probably won't really pick up the language well while I am in Spain, but I will keep studying it.
Anyway, Mariska was very nice, and we had some wonderful conversations when we were able to hang out. Her roommates were also very nice, and one night I was happy to cook for them all. After staying for a few days, I decided to continue traveling on 20 July.
A HUGE Change in Plans
Going into Spain, my plan was to aim for the Mediterranean coast south of Granada. I'd found a farm there on HelpX (Help Exchange), a site where people can find places to volunteer in exchange for room and board. After favorable opening communication with a HelpX host in what seemed to be a beautiful area, I'd decided to head there, and that had played a big part in determining my route across Spain. I'd also been using CouchSurfing and HospitalityClub to try to find places to stay.
However, by Madrid, I hadn't received any replies from my recent communications the the HelpX host nor had I managed to find any places to stay in or on the way to Granada.
My first plan from Madrid was to take a train to Ciudad Real to take a break from the heat, and then continue on by bicycle. However, since I hadn't gotten any replies, I decide to ride from Madrid to Aranjuez, check my email there at an internet cafe, and then catch a train.
It wound up taking me most of the day to get out of Madrid and to Aranjuez. I had a hard time getting out of the city because on the south side, pretty much the only way out is by Motorway, and I was trying to avoid them and got lost. It was pretty much hell trying to get out, and I wound up having to go back into the city and starting from scratch before I could find a semi-decent way out that then turned into another damned motorway, which, to make things much more fun and interesting, was heavily under construction. I was trying my best to find alternatives, and wound up going probably 20km or so on a dirt road that paralleled the railroad. Actually, that turned out to be the least stressful part of the day so far, even though it was slow going.
I wound up sleeping just outside of Aranjuez that evening and went into town the next day. I was having doubts about how long I wanted to stay in Spain at this point. Overall, it isn't a very cyclist friendly country, at least not for touring cyclists. There were other things giving me doubts as well (more on this later), so I was thinking hard about what to do. I went into Aranjuez and found the station so I could check the train times. While I was there, I noticed that there was a train going to Valencia and another going towards Valencia. Going that way would significantly reduce the time spent in Spain, so I came to a decision: I would go to an internet cafe and check my email. If there were communication from either the HelpX host or CS or HC hosts in Granada, I would continue as planned. If not, I would change directions, head to Valencia, and start making my way back to France and the rest of Europe.
I wandered around town and eventually found an internet cafe. I checked my email, and there was nothing. Decision made.
I went back to the station and caught the 12:55 train to Valencia. It arrived there at about 18:00.
From Valencia to Malgrat de Mar
Obviously, with the sudden change in plans, I didn't have any places to stay in Valencia. However, I stopped at an internet cafe to try to set up places further up the coast, especially in or near Barcelona, about 350km away, for when I arrived there. I sent a few messages to potential hosts, and then headed out of town to find a place to sleep. Thus began my trek up the coast.
In Spain, between about 13:30 and 17:00, a lot of people and places take a siesta. There are very few people on the street. Many shops are closed, except cafes, pharmacies, and gas stations. Towns basically become ghost-towns. There is a very good for this: It is insanely hot. Seriously, it can be ridiculous. It is pointless for me to carry more than 1 litre of water at a time, because it gets too hot to do any good rather quickly. Going up the coast was basically ride for an hour or two and then take a cold drink break, ride for an hour or two and take a cold drink break, lather, rinse, repeat.
Still, for the most part, riding up the coast was beautiful. I finally saw the Mediterranean for the first time in my life on the afternoon of 22 July. It was absolutely gorgeous, calm, the perfect shade of aquamarine. Of course, I have seen a lot more of it since then. The morning of 23 July found me yet again on a dirt road, but this time along the coast, from right next to the sea to up on cliffs overlooking it. It was rough riding and I am probably lucky I didn't bend a rim on my bike, but it was worth it.
That pretty much sums up the coast on the way to Barcelona: hot weather, beautiful scenery, and sleeping outside.
I got to Barcelona on the 25th, but I only passed through the city without staying. I'd sent messages to several people in and near Barcelona, but only received 2 replies: one from Malgrat de Mar and one from Blanes, both neighboring towns about 65km from Barcelona. I replied and made plans to meet up with my next host in Malgrat de Mar that evening if I hadn't found a place in Barcelona. So, when I got to Barcelona, I found another internet cafe to make a last minute check, and I had a message from a girl named Angela whom I'd met in Bordeaux! She is a really cool girl and a hardcore CouchSurfer. She has been traveling to various places around the world, doing some work, and continuing on, for about 3 years now. She had moved to the area about 2 weeks before, and by pure coincidence, she sent me a message asking me when I was going to be in Barcelona because I'd told her I'd make it here eventually on my travels. I sent an immediate reply saying I was in Barcelona at that moment with no place to stay. She sent me her phone number and told me where she was: a town callad Mataró about halfway to Malgrat de Mar.
I rode up there to meet her. She couldn't give me a place to stay, which was no problem, but she fed me, which was very nice of her. It was cool to spend the afternoon together hanging out and talking. It was nice to see a familiar face. She was surprised that I hadn't been able to find any hosts in Barcelona and about my lack of success with finding hosts elsewhere in Spain, but it is the vacation season and people are busy, so I guess it was just bad luck. Anyway, after hanging out a bit, I continued up the coast to Malgrat de Mar.
I was to meet my next host, a pretty cool guy named Girard at the train station there at 20:00, and that is exactly when I arrived. His train arrived about 3 minutes later. Perfect timing!
Girard is a very nice guy; very open-minded, easy to talk to, and just an all around cool guy. Like several of my hosts so far, it was more like meeting an old friend than meeting someone for the first time. We talked in front of the station for a bit and then headed back to his house. He is living with his parents and when we got back, his father was home. He is a very nice man who can't speak English, which is fine because this is Spain, but I really can't speak Spanish well, which is not fine because this is Spain. Anyway, I got to take my first shower since Madrid. Ahhhhh...
Seriously, I think you can't really appreciate how good a shower feels until you go several days cycling in the hot sun without one. The longest I have ever had to go was 7 days, and that was on my first bicycle trip in the US in 1998. That was the most amazing shower ever, and even now when I just take showers anytime I still have that feeling of how good it was. This shower was a close second to that one.
Then, we relaxed and talked while waiting for his mother to come home. She eventually did and we all had dinner, which was very nice. Girard's parents are really very sweet and have taken good care of me.
Since arriving, I have mainly been relaxing. Girard works during the daytime, so I have been kind of just hanging out, relaxing at the beach, writing, attempting to study, etc. In the evenings, he comes home, we relax with a beer, the family has dinner, and we talk. That has been the routine.
However, now it is the weekend, so tonight Girard and I will go out for a few drinks and perhaps to hang out with some of his friends. My plan is to stay here tomorrow and then move on on Sunday.
I have found another HelpX host, this time near Limoux, France and have made all of the arrangements. I will arrive there on 1 August, and hopefully will spend 2 or 3 weeks there, assuming we get along well, doing work in exchange for room and board. It seems like a nice area, and the host seems like a really cool person, so I am looking forward to it. It will be nice to take a break from constantly being on the road.
Anyway, I think that is just about enough for now. I'll write about my impressions of Spain and my final days in Spain after I get settled near Limoux.
Status: finally feeling rested
Well, it has been a long time since I last posted. I am currently on my way out of Spain after nearly a month of traveling in this country. A lot has happened, so make yourself comfortable because this will be a long one. You may want to grab something to eat or drink. If you have to go to the bathroom, now is the time.
...
Ok, ready? Here we go.
From Vitoria to Palencia
I left Vitoria on 12 July, after having managed to line up my first CouchSurfing host since the site came back online in Palencia, Spain. Although Pedro was a very nice guy and the MMW concert was great, I wasn't particularly otherwise impressed with Vitoria. The city had a nice old quarter and some nice parks, but mostly it seemed like housing projects and construction. Anyway, I cycled out at about 15:00 on the 12th, which was a pretty late start. Still, I managed to go about 90 km before through some beautiful countryside stopping for the night, and I slept outside.
The next day, I headed into Burgos, which was on my way to Palencia. I had found an internet cafe in Burgos while searching on the internet at Pedro's house, and I wanted to go there to check my mail. I needed to get the phone number from my next host. However, it turned out that the internet cafe I'd found didn't open until 16:00, so I was stuck wandering the streets trying to find another one. This was actually a good thing. I found another one and it turned out to be really cheap: only 0€50 per hour! So, got the info I needed (her phone number and what time she finished work), relaxed in the air-conditioning, and then headed out to make my way to Palencia. The route I was taking was not the most direct, so I still had about 100km to go to get there. Part of my route followed the "Camino de Santiago", a famous pilgrimage route across Spain. It was a really hot day and it is mostly open country with little or no shade, so it wasn't easy riding, but it wasn't too difficult. I passed through a lot of farmland and mountains. Many of the mountains had wind farms on them, or whatever the real term is for collections of wind-mill electrical generators.
I got to Palencia at about 19:00, which was perfect timing. That was the same sime that my next host, a very nice woman named Marta, finished work. I found my way to her house and then a nearby phone to call her. She said she would be there in about 15 minutes, so I waited for her in front of her building. When she got there, we went up to her flat, which had an awesome terrace, she let me take a shower, we relaxed and talked a bit. Then she took me out for my first experience of beer and tapas in Spain, as we basically did a bar tour of Palencia. Since tapas were included with the drinks, we managed to eat enough to cover dinner while we drank. It was a cool time, and it was nice to relax and have a few drinks, Spanish style.
Unfortunately, I could only stay at Marta's place for one night because she had plans to be out of town that weekend. Still, we met for lunch the next day, and because it was really hot, she suggested that I take the train to the next place I was going, a small town called Arévalo. It was only about 8€, so I decided to do so. My train left at 17:55, so I relaxed for most of the day.
From Palencia to Madrid
Taking the train turned out to be a really good choice. It was pouring down rain most of the way between Palencia and Arévalo, where I was going to meet my next host, a cool guy named David whom I found on HospitalityClub. The train arrived in Arévalo at about 19:30, and then I rode into town to meet my host, David, and his brother, Javier. There isn't much to report on Arévalo. It was a really small town. David and his brother were really nice though, and David was an incredible keyboard player. I stayed there that night and most of the following day, but headed out a little after 17:00 because I had plans to be in Madrid the next day to meet my next CouchSurfing host and I wanted to close the distance a bit.
I managed to make it about 60km that evening, but it was a difficult ride, especially towards the end as I left the grain fields and entered the mountains north of Madrid. The grain fields gave way to rough pastureland at the foothills. It proved difficult to find a place to sleep because most of the pastures were surrounded by old stone walls near the road and there weren't many trees or other places to get out of sight without completely trespassing on someone's land. I got off the road I was following and onto some smaller country roads a bit northwest of San Rafael, and finally managed to find a place to sleep that was basically a ditch between a road and an old stone wall. Still, it was wide enough, and the embankment from the road kept me out of sight. It wasn't comfortable, but it served its purpose well enough.
The following morning was tough. The wind had done a 180 degree turn in the night and I was facing a headwind. Also, the start of the day was all uphill. I made my way into San Rafael and ate some breakfast. Then I made my long way up the mountain, walking most of the way because it was about 6km of constant, winding uphill that stopped going up at 1511 meters above sea level. I think that is the highest I have physically been so far on this journey while still having my feet on the ground. After that, it was basically rolling hills for the final 40km into Madrid, though the last 5km or so involved riding on the motorway, which is not illegal on the ones designated as "autovia" (vs. autopista) unless there is a sign saying no bicycles. Still, riding on the motorway sucks. Give me an empty 2 lane road anyday.
Madrid
When I arrived in Madrid, I called up the person who was to be my next host, a very nice, very sweet woman from Holland named Mariska. We met up near the metro station "La Latina" and she, another friend, and I had a drink. Her friend then had to go to work at a nearby Belgian beer bar, so Mariska and I went along to have another drink. Belgian beer continues to be beer heaven. I also had some dinner of fries (that's chips to you UKers) with stewed beef which was pretty good. Then Mariska and I went back to her place to drop off my stuff and let me get a shower. Then we went out to meet another friend fo some drinks and then called it a night.
Mariska was pretty busy with work while I was there, and her roommates were uncomfortable with having a stranger in the house while she wasn't home, so I was mostly left on my own to explore the city for the few days I was there. Madrid was a really nice city with lots of beautiful buildings, nice parks, cool little neighborhoods. I spent a lot of time wandering aimlessly and taking pictures. I also spent a good amount of time just relaxing in parks trying to study Spanish, which is a much more difficult language than I thought. I probably won't really pick up the language well while I am in Spain, but I will keep studying it.
Anyway, Mariska was very nice, and we had some wonderful conversations when we were able to hang out. Her roommates were also very nice, and one night I was happy to cook for them all. After staying for a few days, I decided to continue traveling on 20 July.
A HUGE Change in Plans
Going into Spain, my plan was to aim for the Mediterranean coast south of Granada. I'd found a farm there on HelpX (Help Exchange), a site where people can find places to volunteer in exchange for room and board. After favorable opening communication with a HelpX host in what seemed to be a beautiful area, I'd decided to head there, and that had played a big part in determining my route across Spain. I'd also been using CouchSurfing and HospitalityClub to try to find places to stay.
However, by Madrid, I hadn't received any replies from my recent communications the the HelpX host nor had I managed to find any places to stay in or on the way to Granada.
My first plan from Madrid was to take a train to Ciudad Real to take a break from the heat, and then continue on by bicycle. However, since I hadn't gotten any replies, I decide to ride from Madrid to Aranjuez, check my email there at an internet cafe, and then catch a train.
It wound up taking me most of the day to get out of Madrid and to Aranjuez. I had a hard time getting out of the city because on the south side, pretty much the only way out is by Motorway, and I was trying to avoid them and got lost. It was pretty much hell trying to get out, and I wound up having to go back into the city and starting from scratch before I could find a semi-decent way out that then turned into another damned motorway, which, to make things much more fun and interesting, was heavily under construction. I was trying my best to find alternatives, and wound up going probably 20km or so on a dirt road that paralleled the railroad. Actually, that turned out to be the least stressful part of the day so far, even though it was slow going.
I wound up sleeping just outside of Aranjuez that evening and went into town the next day. I was having doubts about how long I wanted to stay in Spain at this point. Overall, it isn't a very cyclist friendly country, at least not for touring cyclists. There were other things giving me doubts as well (more on this later), so I was thinking hard about what to do. I went into Aranjuez and found the station so I could check the train times. While I was there, I noticed that there was a train going to Valencia and another going towards Valencia. Going that way would significantly reduce the time spent in Spain, so I came to a decision: I would go to an internet cafe and check my email. If there were communication from either the HelpX host or CS or HC hosts in Granada, I would continue as planned. If not, I would change directions, head to Valencia, and start making my way back to France and the rest of Europe.
I wandered around town and eventually found an internet cafe. I checked my email, and there was nothing. Decision made.
I went back to the station and caught the 12:55 train to Valencia. It arrived there at about 18:00.
From Valencia to Malgrat de Mar
Obviously, with the sudden change in plans, I didn't have any places to stay in Valencia. However, I stopped at an internet cafe to try to set up places further up the coast, especially in or near Barcelona, about 350km away, for when I arrived there. I sent a few messages to potential hosts, and then headed out of town to find a place to sleep. Thus began my trek up the coast.
In Spain, between about 13:30 and 17:00, a lot of people and places take a siesta. There are very few people on the street. Many shops are closed, except cafes, pharmacies, and gas stations. Towns basically become ghost-towns. There is a very good for this: It is insanely hot. Seriously, it can be ridiculous. It is pointless for me to carry more than 1 litre of water at a time, because it gets too hot to do any good rather quickly. Going up the coast was basically ride for an hour or two and then take a cold drink break, ride for an hour or two and take a cold drink break, lather, rinse, repeat.
Still, for the most part, riding up the coast was beautiful. I finally saw the Mediterranean for the first time in my life on the afternoon of 22 July. It was absolutely gorgeous, calm, the perfect shade of aquamarine. Of course, I have seen a lot more of it since then. The morning of 23 July found me yet again on a dirt road, but this time along the coast, from right next to the sea to up on cliffs overlooking it. It was rough riding and I am probably lucky I didn't bend a rim on my bike, but it was worth it.
That pretty much sums up the coast on the way to Barcelona: hot weather, beautiful scenery, and sleeping outside.
I got to Barcelona on the 25th, but I only passed through the city without staying. I'd sent messages to several people in and near Barcelona, but only received 2 replies: one from Malgrat de Mar and one from Blanes, both neighboring towns about 65km from Barcelona. I replied and made plans to meet up with my next host in Malgrat de Mar that evening if I hadn't found a place in Barcelona. So, when I got to Barcelona, I found another internet cafe to make a last minute check, and I had a message from a girl named Angela whom I'd met in Bordeaux! She is a really cool girl and a hardcore CouchSurfer. She has been traveling to various places around the world, doing some work, and continuing on, for about 3 years now. She had moved to the area about 2 weeks before, and by pure coincidence, she sent me a message asking me when I was going to be in Barcelona because I'd told her I'd make it here eventually on my travels. I sent an immediate reply saying I was in Barcelona at that moment with no place to stay. She sent me her phone number and told me where she was: a town callad Mataró about halfway to Malgrat de Mar.
I rode up there to meet her. She couldn't give me a place to stay, which was no problem, but she fed me, which was very nice of her. It was cool to spend the afternoon together hanging out and talking. It was nice to see a familiar face. She was surprised that I hadn't been able to find any hosts in Barcelona and about my lack of success with finding hosts elsewhere in Spain, but it is the vacation season and people are busy, so I guess it was just bad luck. Anyway, after hanging out a bit, I continued up the coast to Malgrat de Mar.
I was to meet my next host, a pretty cool guy named Girard at the train station there at 20:00, and that is exactly when I arrived. His train arrived about 3 minutes later. Perfect timing!
Girard is a very nice guy; very open-minded, easy to talk to, and just an all around cool guy. Like several of my hosts so far, it was more like meeting an old friend than meeting someone for the first time. We talked in front of the station for a bit and then headed back to his house. He is living with his parents and when we got back, his father was home. He is a very nice man who can't speak English, which is fine because this is Spain, but I really can't speak Spanish well, which is not fine because this is Spain. Anyway, I got to take my first shower since Madrid. Ahhhhh...
Seriously, I think you can't really appreciate how good a shower feels until you go several days cycling in the hot sun without one. The longest I have ever had to go was 7 days, and that was on my first bicycle trip in the US in 1998. That was the most amazing shower ever, and even now when I just take showers anytime I still have that feeling of how good it was. This shower was a close second to that one.
Then, we relaxed and talked while waiting for his mother to come home. She eventually did and we all had dinner, which was very nice. Girard's parents are really very sweet and have taken good care of me.
Since arriving, I have mainly been relaxing. Girard works during the daytime, so I have been kind of just hanging out, relaxing at the beach, writing, attempting to study, etc. In the evenings, he comes home, we relax with a beer, the family has dinner, and we talk. That has been the routine.
However, now it is the weekend, so tonight Girard and I will go out for a few drinks and perhaps to hang out with some of his friends. My plan is to stay here tomorrow and then move on on Sunday.
I have found another HelpX host, this time near Limoux, France and have made all of the arrangements. I will arrive there on 1 August, and hopefully will spend 2 or 3 weeks there, assuming we get along well, doing work in exchange for room and board. It seems like a nice area, and the host seems like a really cool person, so I am looking forward to it. It will be nice to take a break from constantly being on the road.
Anyway, I think that is just about enough for now. I'll write about my impressions of Spain and my final days in Spain after I get settled near Limoux.
2006-07-11
Oh hell YES! MMW @ Vitoria Jazz Festival
Location: Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Status: Farking AWESOME, but with some tinnitus
This week in Vitoria is the Festival de Jazz de Vitoria-Gasteiz[en], and last night Pedro and I went to an amazing show. Yesterday was the first day of the festival. It was "Noche Electrónica" and who should be playing but none other than Medeski, Martin, and Wood! Talk about being in this town at the right time! It cost 20€ and a group called Incognito opened. Incognito was quite good, a nice mix of jazz and funk. However, MMW were simply amazing! I had heard that their concerts were quite good, and now I know from my own experience.
I love the way they experiment with sound, using various percussion instruments, lots of effects on the keyboards, and some funky bass. They were brilliant, like master chefs playing with herbs and spices to come up with new and interesting flavors of sound. Seriously, they were simply amazing, fantastic, wonderful, superb... there aren't enough adjectives.
So, basically what I am trying to say is that it was a great show. Peace.
Status: Farking AWESOME, but with some tinnitus
This week in Vitoria is the Festival de Jazz de Vitoria-Gasteiz[en], and last night Pedro and I went to an amazing show. Yesterday was the first day of the festival. It was "Noche Electrónica" and who should be playing but none other than Medeski, Martin, and Wood! Talk about being in this town at the right time! It cost 20€ and a group called Incognito opened. Incognito was quite good, a nice mix of jazz and funk. However, MMW were simply amazing! I had heard that their concerts were quite good, and now I know from my own experience.
I love the way they experiment with sound, using various percussion instruments, lots of effects on the keyboards, and some funky bass. They were brilliant, like master chefs playing with herbs and spices to come up with new and interesting flavors of sound. Seriously, they were simply amazing, fantastic, wonderful, superb... there aren't enough adjectives.
So, basically what I am trying to say is that it was a great show. Peace.
From Bordeaux, France to Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Location: Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Status: Alive and well.
I haven't really had much Internet access or time to write, so I have some catching up to do. Since Bordeaux, I have been through Ychoux, the area from Bayonne to Irun, Pamplona, and now Vitoria-Gasteiz. I hope you are comfortable, because this will be a long one. A lot has happened.
Bordeaux
I had a great time in Bordeaux and ended up staying there for about a week. All of the people I met were extremely cool and fun to hang out with. When I left off in my previous post, we were going out to party with some friends. Of course it was a good time, and all of the people I met were very cool and I became pretty good friends in a short time with several of them. A lot of them are on CouchSurfing, and during my time in Bordeaux, I ended up staying at three of their places: Philippe's place, his neighbor Julien's place, and their friend Baléze's place (which was where the party took place). The following day (Sunday), Baléze's girlfriend, Emilie, took me on a tour of the city and I took a few pictures. Bordeaux is actually very nice. However, it is even nicer at night. Baléze is also into photography, so that night he and I grabbed our cameras and went out to take some night pictures. Julien came along and we took a pretty nice walk around the city with a pause for some beers in the middle. That night, I crashed at Baléze's place.
Baléze is mainly into industrial landscapes and urban exploration, and the following day, he gave me a bit of an initiation in urban exploration photography. There was an abandoned train depot just across the river with run down warehouses, a burnt out train, and other structures. Overall, for urban exploration, it was a pretty safe place as long as you pay attention to where you are and what you are doing. Still, there were a lot of interesting photos to be taken, and I took about 125 shots. Eventually, I will weed through them and post some of the best ones. I can understand why Baléze is into industrial landscapes...it was a very interesting place. Anyway, Philippe was in the final cramming stages for his exam, so again I crashed at Baléze's place, and that evening he succeeded in getting me into Ali G, who treads a very thin line between obnoxious and funny, and treads it very well.
Anyway, I continued to hang out in Bordeaux with all of these cool people. On Wednesday, another CouchSurfer, Nicholas, joined us, and then on Thursday 4 American girls came with the intent to CouchSurf, but changed their minds and decided to get a hotel. I guess they thought we were all staying in one little room rather than being spread out over 3 apartments. Oh well, it turned out to be there loss, because that night there was a really good party at Baléze's place with even more cool people. The following day, Nicholas headed out on his way to La Rochelle. That was also the day that CouchSurfing died.
That was a bit of a shock for us all. I had already joined a site called HospitalityClub, so I had a backup, though I haven't been as successful at finding hosts on there. Still, CouchSurfing was special. It wasn't just about free accomodations, but was more about meeting and interacting with different people from different cultures all over the world (with the bonus of free accomodation). For me, like many others, it has become a way of life. It couldn't just up and die.
It didn't. With lots of community support, it is up and running again, though not yet at full functionality.
However, at the time, I only had one more CouchSurfing host lined up, and that was in Ychoux, France. After that, I didn't know anyone. I tried to find people on HospitalityClub in the areas around Bayonne, San Sebastián, Pamplona, and Vitoria-Gasteiz. The only reply I got at the time was from Vitoria.
Anyway, that evening (Friday), Philippe, Baléze, Julien, a girl whose name I cannot recall, and I went out for Indian food and relaxed. The following morning, Philippe left to fly to Austria on his way to the Ukraine, and I said my goodbyes to everyone and cycled out on my way to...
Ychoux
My next, and to date last, CouchSurfing host was a guy named Pierre who lives in Ychoux, a small town partway between Bordeaux and Bayonne. When I cycled out of Bordeaux, I took a slightly longer route and headed for the coast. I had not seen the Atlantic Ocean in many years, and I had never seen it from this side. While along the coast, I got to see an amazing sight: La Dune du Pyla (the huge white thing in the Satellite image), which is an enormous sand dune that runs along the cost for a couple of kilometers. It is about 100m high, and is simply incredible. I didn't take any decent pictures of my own, but you can get some ideas from this Google Image Search.
Anyway, I continued along the coast and arrived in Ychoux that evening. Pierre was yet another really nice guy and I stayed at his place for 3 nights. He works in farming and does both maintainence work and IT work for a farm in the area. He's also into surfing and techno music. That first night, a friend came over and we watched France beat Brazil, 1-0.
The next day (Sunday), Pierre and I went to the beach. On the way, we stopped at a sporting goods store and I picked up some new tires for my bike, as well as a new helmet and a spoke-wrench to align my rims. When we got to the beach, Pierre surfed for a bit, and I took a swim in the Atlantic, again for the first time in many years. It was pretty cold, though, since summer had only just started. I witnessed, for the first time, topless sunbathers on a French beach, including some incredibly attractive ones. Hey, I am a human male. It is required by law to notice these things. Also, I did a very good job of not staring. ;)
After the beach, we went back and had some lunch, and then headed out to the farm where Pierre works. He needed to check the irrigation equipment, and I went to give my bicycle a tune-up. The back rim was severely warped (which was causing my back tire to wear through in some spots), and some other parts needed tightening. Also, the tires were wearing out, so I replaced them. It took a little while to do everything, but now my bike is in much better running condition.
There really isn't much to do in Ychoux, so the next day I relaxed and watched a few movies while Pierre worked. We relaxed the evening away and then crashed. I still hadn't found any CouchSurfing (which was dead at the time) or HospitalityClub hosts between there and Vitoria, but I'd decided to head out the following morning. We got up pretty early, Pierre for work and me to cycle out, heading towards...
Bayonne to Irun
That was actually a very pleasant day of cycling for the most part. The terrain was quite easy and the roads I was following were mostly empty. When I got back towards the coast, there was a series of cycle paths to follow. The emptiness was very relaxing, almost intoxicating. It was a good day of riding. I made it too and through Bayonne and Biarritz, and found a decent place to camp just outside Bidart. The was the second time I had to camp so far on this trip, but it was the beginning of a stretch of 5 days of sleeping outside.
The next day, I headed into St. Jean de Luz, where I found a Tourism Office that told me where to find an internet cafe. I went to the cafe and checked my email. I hadn't gotten any replies about my requests to stay, except for another message from my host in Vitoria. He said he was out of town until Sunday, so I wouldn't be able to stay until then. However, I found out from one of the forums set up for CouchSurfing refugees that a bunch of people were planning on meeting in Pamplona for San Fermines (famous for the Running of the Bulls), so I decided to head down there and try to meet up with them and enjoy the fiesta. It was still early in the day, so I cycled out, crossing into Spain at Irun, and then headed south to cross the Pyrenees. However, at first, I took the wrong road, and stupidly had to turn back after trecking halfway up a mountain. That wasted a couple of hours, so after I got to the right road, I was not ablet o make it to Pamplona that day.
I slept outside near a small town called Almandoz. I couldn't set up my tent, but it wasn't too bad. It did rain a little, but I managed. The next day began with about 6km of uphill which I rather unashamedly walked. After that, it was basically an easy ride and I arrived in Pamplona around noon.
Pamplona
The original plan was for the CouchSurfers to gather in Parque de la Media Luna and they had said that they would have a banner saying "CouchSurfing.com" so they would be easy to find, so that is where I headed first when I arrived. However, I couldn't find a banner or anything, so I set off to find a phone to try to call the contact number I had. However, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to call a British mobile phone on a Spanish payphone and wound up losing several euros to the infernal machines before giving up. I went for another look around, and then walked around the festivities a bit.
San Fermines is crazy. It is basically a big drunk madhouse, especially in Casco Antiguo, the old quarter of the city. In that area it is mainly a bunch of drunks dressed in white with read bandanas and red sashes (the traditional garb for San Fermines) trashing the city: breaking bottles and glasses everywhere, pissing in the streets, etc. I guess it is a lot of fun if you are one of the drunks, but not so much when you are completely sober wearing a backpack and trying to maneuver a bicycle through the crowd. Anyway, I made my way to the Tourist Office and got directions and address to internet cafes in the area. I went to a nearby one to see if there were any updates about the meeting location or anything and to post that I was having difficulty finding everyone. I also bought a phone card to make using a Spanish payphone much easier.
I went out and tried to call my contact again and finally connected. He told me they were in Parque de la Media Luna, so I went back there and tried to find them. Try as I might, I couldn't. At all. Oh well. I ended up sleeping in that park with a good number of other people passed out. Some people nearby had set up a tent, so I thought that it was OK and set up mine as well, only to be awoken by the police at 03:00 and told (I think...I can't understand Spanish that well), "Take down the tent. This is not a campground!" However, I was not being arrested or anything like that, so I took down the tent, rolled out my sleeping bag, and went back to sleep.
I spent a good part of the next day in quieter parts of the city, relaxing and doing some writing in my journal. I really wish I'd had some place to put my bike and backpack securely so I could have joined in the fiesta, but oh well. Later on, I went to another internet cafe to see if there were any updates from the CouchSurfers. There weren't, but CouchSurfing.com had come back online! That was kind of a relief, and like I mentioned before, though it isn't 100% functional yet, it is back. I'd decided that I would leave Pamplona the following day (Saturday) and start heading towards Vitoria so I could arrive here on Sunday by taking it really slow and easy. So, I wandered around Pamplona a bit, took some pictures (without venturing too deep into the drunken masses with my bike, pack, and camera), and then went down to a park by the river to crash for the night. I watched the fireworks, which were beautiful, but not even close to Japanese fireworks. Then I crashed and slept basically without incident.
The next day, I took my time getting up and then headed out towards...
Vitoria-Gasteiz
The countryside between Pamplona and Vitoria is really beautiful in a rugged kind of way. The roads I followed stuck mainly to the valleys, but there were mountains all around. They weren't really high, but they were really steep with treelines giving way to cliffs. At their bases was mostly rolling farmland and pastureland.
It was only about 100km from Pamplona to Vitoria, and the road was fairly easy, so I actually had to try to not arrive on Saturday since my host would not be there. I wound up camping about 25km from town in a small bit of forest between two wheat fields. The next morning I woke up and headed into town.
My host in Vitoria-Gasteiz is a really nice guy named Pedro. He is my first host from HospitalityClub. When I arrived, he wasn't going to be back to town until about 19:00, so I spent the day relaxing and walking around. We met up at 19:00 and headed back to his place to relax, talk, and then watch the World Cup Final. I was actually rooting for France, and they lost, unfortunately. It is a shame that Zidane couldn't keep his cool and ended up getting red-carded, but that was a hell of a headbutt.
Anyway, Pedro has been working all day and I have been relaxing. He just got home, so it is time to see what the plan is for the evening.
Ciao!
Status: Alive and well.
I haven't really had much Internet access or time to write, so I have some catching up to do. Since Bordeaux, I have been through Ychoux, the area from Bayonne to Irun, Pamplona, and now Vitoria-Gasteiz. I hope you are comfortable, because this will be a long one. A lot has happened.
Bordeaux
I had a great time in Bordeaux and ended up staying there for about a week. All of the people I met were extremely cool and fun to hang out with. When I left off in my previous post, we were going out to party with some friends. Of course it was a good time, and all of the people I met were very cool and I became pretty good friends in a short time with several of them. A lot of them are on CouchSurfing, and during my time in Bordeaux, I ended up staying at three of their places: Philippe's place, his neighbor Julien's place, and their friend Baléze's place (which was where the party took place). The following day (Sunday), Baléze's girlfriend, Emilie, took me on a tour of the city and I took a few pictures. Bordeaux is actually very nice. However, it is even nicer at night. Baléze is also into photography, so that night he and I grabbed our cameras and went out to take some night pictures. Julien came along and we took a pretty nice walk around the city with a pause for some beers in the middle. That night, I crashed at Baléze's place.
Baléze is mainly into industrial landscapes and urban exploration, and the following day, he gave me a bit of an initiation in urban exploration photography. There was an abandoned train depot just across the river with run down warehouses, a burnt out train, and other structures. Overall, for urban exploration, it was a pretty safe place as long as you pay attention to where you are and what you are doing. Still, there were a lot of interesting photos to be taken, and I took about 125 shots. Eventually, I will weed through them and post some of the best ones. I can understand why Baléze is into industrial landscapes...it was a very interesting place. Anyway, Philippe was in the final cramming stages for his exam, so again I crashed at Baléze's place, and that evening he succeeded in getting me into Ali G, who treads a very thin line between obnoxious and funny, and treads it very well.
Anyway, I continued to hang out in Bordeaux with all of these cool people. On Wednesday, another CouchSurfer, Nicholas, joined us, and then on Thursday 4 American girls came with the intent to CouchSurf, but changed their minds and decided to get a hotel. I guess they thought we were all staying in one little room rather than being spread out over 3 apartments. Oh well, it turned out to be there loss, because that night there was a really good party at Baléze's place with even more cool people. The following day, Nicholas headed out on his way to La Rochelle. That was also the day that CouchSurfing died.
That was a bit of a shock for us all. I had already joined a site called HospitalityClub, so I had a backup, though I haven't been as successful at finding hosts on there. Still, CouchSurfing was special. It wasn't just about free accomodations, but was more about meeting and interacting with different people from different cultures all over the world (with the bonus of free accomodation). For me, like many others, it has become a way of life. It couldn't just up and die.
It didn't. With lots of community support, it is up and running again, though not yet at full functionality.
However, at the time, I only had one more CouchSurfing host lined up, and that was in Ychoux, France. After that, I didn't know anyone. I tried to find people on HospitalityClub in the areas around Bayonne, San Sebastián, Pamplona, and Vitoria-Gasteiz. The only reply I got at the time was from Vitoria.
Anyway, that evening (Friday), Philippe, Baléze, Julien, a girl whose name I cannot recall, and I went out for Indian food and relaxed. The following morning, Philippe left to fly to Austria on his way to the Ukraine, and I said my goodbyes to everyone and cycled out on my way to...
Ychoux
My next, and to date last, CouchSurfing host was a guy named Pierre who lives in Ychoux, a small town partway between Bordeaux and Bayonne. When I cycled out of Bordeaux, I took a slightly longer route and headed for the coast. I had not seen the Atlantic Ocean in many years, and I had never seen it from this side. While along the coast, I got to see an amazing sight: La Dune du Pyla (the huge white thing in the Satellite image), which is an enormous sand dune that runs along the cost for a couple of kilometers. It is about 100m high, and is simply incredible. I didn't take any decent pictures of my own, but you can get some ideas from this Google Image Search.
Anyway, I continued along the coast and arrived in Ychoux that evening. Pierre was yet another really nice guy and I stayed at his place for 3 nights. He works in farming and does both maintainence work and IT work for a farm in the area. He's also into surfing and techno music. That first night, a friend came over and we watched France beat Brazil, 1-0.
The next day (Sunday), Pierre and I went to the beach. On the way, we stopped at a sporting goods store and I picked up some new tires for my bike, as well as a new helmet and a spoke-wrench to align my rims. When we got to the beach, Pierre surfed for a bit, and I took a swim in the Atlantic, again for the first time in many years. It was pretty cold, though, since summer had only just started. I witnessed, for the first time, topless sunbathers on a French beach, including some incredibly attractive ones. Hey, I am a human male. It is required by law to notice these things. Also, I did a very good job of not staring. ;)
After the beach, we went back and had some lunch, and then headed out to the farm where Pierre works. He needed to check the irrigation equipment, and I went to give my bicycle a tune-up. The back rim was severely warped (which was causing my back tire to wear through in some spots), and some other parts needed tightening. Also, the tires were wearing out, so I replaced them. It took a little while to do everything, but now my bike is in much better running condition.
There really isn't much to do in Ychoux, so the next day I relaxed and watched a few movies while Pierre worked. We relaxed the evening away and then crashed. I still hadn't found any CouchSurfing (which was dead at the time) or HospitalityClub hosts between there and Vitoria, but I'd decided to head out the following morning. We got up pretty early, Pierre for work and me to cycle out, heading towards...
Bayonne to Irun
That was actually a very pleasant day of cycling for the most part. The terrain was quite easy and the roads I was following were mostly empty. When I got back towards the coast, there was a series of cycle paths to follow. The emptiness was very relaxing, almost intoxicating. It was a good day of riding. I made it too and through Bayonne and Biarritz, and found a decent place to camp just outside Bidart. The was the second time I had to camp so far on this trip, but it was the beginning of a stretch of 5 days of sleeping outside.
The next day, I headed into St. Jean de Luz, where I found a Tourism Office that told me where to find an internet cafe. I went to the cafe and checked my email. I hadn't gotten any replies about my requests to stay, except for another message from my host in Vitoria. He said he was out of town until Sunday, so I wouldn't be able to stay until then. However, I found out from one of the forums set up for CouchSurfing refugees that a bunch of people were planning on meeting in Pamplona for San Fermines (famous for the Running of the Bulls), so I decided to head down there and try to meet up with them and enjoy the fiesta. It was still early in the day, so I cycled out, crossing into Spain at Irun, and then headed south to cross the Pyrenees. However, at first, I took the wrong road, and stupidly had to turn back after trecking halfway up a mountain. That wasted a couple of hours, so after I got to the right road, I was not ablet o make it to Pamplona that day.
I slept outside near a small town called Almandoz. I couldn't set up my tent, but it wasn't too bad. It did rain a little, but I managed. The next day began with about 6km of uphill which I rather unashamedly walked. After that, it was basically an easy ride and I arrived in Pamplona around noon.
Pamplona
The original plan was for the CouchSurfers to gather in Parque de la Media Luna and they had said that they would have a banner saying "CouchSurfing.com" so they would be easy to find, so that is where I headed first when I arrived. However, I couldn't find a banner or anything, so I set off to find a phone to try to call the contact number I had. However, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to call a British mobile phone on a Spanish payphone and wound up losing several euros to the infernal machines before giving up. I went for another look around, and then walked around the festivities a bit.
San Fermines is crazy. It is basically a big drunk madhouse, especially in Casco Antiguo, the old quarter of the city. In that area it is mainly a bunch of drunks dressed in white with read bandanas and red sashes (the traditional garb for San Fermines) trashing the city: breaking bottles and glasses everywhere, pissing in the streets, etc. I guess it is a lot of fun if you are one of the drunks, but not so much when you are completely sober wearing a backpack and trying to maneuver a bicycle through the crowd. Anyway, I made my way to the Tourist Office and got directions and address to internet cafes in the area. I went to a nearby one to see if there were any updates about the meeting location or anything and to post that I was having difficulty finding everyone. I also bought a phone card to make using a Spanish payphone much easier.
I went out and tried to call my contact again and finally connected. He told me they were in Parque de la Media Luna, so I went back there and tried to find them. Try as I might, I couldn't. At all. Oh well. I ended up sleeping in that park with a good number of other people passed out. Some people nearby had set up a tent, so I thought that it was OK and set up mine as well, only to be awoken by the police at 03:00 and told (I think...I can't understand Spanish that well), "Take down the tent. This is not a campground!" However, I was not being arrested or anything like that, so I took down the tent, rolled out my sleeping bag, and went back to sleep.
I spent a good part of the next day in quieter parts of the city, relaxing and doing some writing in my journal. I really wish I'd had some place to put my bike and backpack securely so I could have joined in the fiesta, but oh well. Later on, I went to another internet cafe to see if there were any updates from the CouchSurfers. There weren't, but CouchSurfing.com had come back online! That was kind of a relief, and like I mentioned before, though it isn't 100% functional yet, it is back. I'd decided that I would leave Pamplona the following day (Saturday) and start heading towards Vitoria so I could arrive here on Sunday by taking it really slow and easy. So, I wandered around Pamplona a bit, took some pictures (without venturing too deep into the drunken masses with my bike, pack, and camera), and then went down to a park by the river to crash for the night. I watched the fireworks, which were beautiful, but not even close to Japanese fireworks. Then I crashed and slept basically without incident.
The next day, I took my time getting up and then headed out towards...
Vitoria-Gasteiz
The countryside between Pamplona and Vitoria is really beautiful in a rugged kind of way. The roads I followed stuck mainly to the valleys, but there were mountains all around. They weren't really high, but they were really steep with treelines giving way to cliffs. At their bases was mostly rolling farmland and pastureland.
It was only about 100km from Pamplona to Vitoria, and the road was fairly easy, so I actually had to try to not arrive on Saturday since my host would not be there. I wound up camping about 25km from town in a small bit of forest between two wheat fields. The next morning I woke up and headed into town.
My host in Vitoria-Gasteiz is a really nice guy named Pedro. He is my first host from HospitalityClub. When I arrived, he wasn't going to be back to town until about 19:00, so I spent the day relaxing and walking around. We met up at 19:00 and headed back to his place to relax, talk, and then watch the World Cup Final. I was actually rooting for France, and they lost, unfortunately. It is a shame that Zidane couldn't keep his cool and ended up getting red-carded, but that was a hell of a headbutt.
Anyway, Pedro has been working all day and I have been relaxing. He just got home, so it is time to see what the plan is for the evening.
Ciao!
2006-06-29
Angoulême: Res'EAU & MJC-Lous Aragon Ludothèque
I mentioned in my previous post that I would write in more detail about the work that Aude and Marie are doing in Angoulême, so here it is.
Res'EAU
Aude and Marie work in separate parts of the 12 associations of districts and suburbs of Angoulême that make up the Réseau d'Expériences Artistiques Urbaines[fr] (Urban Artistic Experience Network). This network works to create and carry out cultural projects for people who live in the more underpriviledged and/or unpleasant areas in and around Angoulême. These projects include film festivals, dance and music events, and various community centers.
Recently, Aude has been putting together a summer film festival, "Un été au ciné"[fr], that residents will be able to attend for free in various theatres around Angoulême. Here's a picture of her next to a poster advertising the event:
Films they will be showing include "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "Howl's Moving Castle", "Singing in the Rain" and more.
MJC-Lous Aragon Ludothèque
Marie works as a volunteer at the Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture Louis Aragon Ludothèque (Youth Club and Culture Center "Louis Aragon" Game Library) with a very nice woman named Alex, short for Alexandra, who runs it.
Left: Alex; Center: a little boy I was playing with. Right: Marie;
behind them is one of the hand-made games, Mt. Everest
I think this is a very cool idea. Basically, it is a game room with commercial and hand-made games and toys for the young people of the community to use. It costs small fee to access (max. 20€ per year for an entire family, with lower individual prices for individuals, if I am reading the poster correctly). This poster details the costs, hours, etc. (in French)
Also, for a small fee, maybe 1€, children can check out toys and games for up to 2 weeks and take them home to play with them. Since the toys and games cannot be easily replaced, the children know to take care of them and not break them.
The children are learning some good lessons at the Ludothèque. As I said, the toys and games cannot be easily replaced, and for some children they may be the only ones that they have to play with. These children are learning to take care of the games and toys so that they will always have them. They are learning that it isn't only for themselves, but for everyone. They are learning to take care of things for the common good. They are learning to share. Hopefully, these ideas will stay with them throughout their lives.
My very small contribution to the Ludothèque
On Wednesday, 21 June, Aude and Marie came back to Aude's place so we could have lunch together. After that, we drove out towards where they work. I had the intention of walking back from there, taking photos as I went, but it didn't work that way. When we got to the Ludothèque, Aude and Marie introduced me to Alex and we talked for a little bit. Aude had to go back to work and it turned out that Alex was having some computer problems, so I decided to see if I could help out.
Her computer, which was running Windows XP, turned out to be infested with various malware: spyware, some adware, a couple of viruses, something that had disabled the builtin firewall, and even one piece of garbage masquerading as antivirus software called WinAntiVirus. I downloaded the standard tools to clean things up: AdAware, Spybot S&D, and ClamWin (ClamAV for Windows). Then I spent the afternoon cleaning up the machine. I also downloaded Firefox and tweaked the security settings a bit to make browsing the web a bit safer.
Running all of the scans took some time, so I ended up playing with a little boy who seemed very interested to meet me. I tried teaching him to juggle a little, we played a few of the games around, and basically just had a good time. Of course, Alex and Marie helped out since my grasp of the French language is basically sub-beginner (thought it is improving little by little).
Eventually the scans all finished and the machine was clean, or at least as clean as it was going to be after running all of that software on it. The increase in speed and stability was noticable. Everything finished at just after 18:00, which was quitting time for Aude and Marie. Aude came back down to the Ludothèque. I said goodbye to Alex, who thanked me for my help, and said goodbye to the little boy, who told Marie that he was very happy to have met me, and then the three of us left.
I didn't do much there, but I'm glad I could contribute even a little bit. I think it is very important, very good work that they are doing there, and I am happy that I could contribute even a little with my computer knowledge (as limited as it is), as well as make a little boy happy.
Spread the Word
To anyone who is reading this: do any of you have these kinds of organisations in your communities? If so, please post links to them in the comments. If not, perhaps bring it up with your local governments. I think these kinds of organisations are very important and deserve as much exposure as they can get, so please, spread the word about this one, the ones in your communities, or any others that you know about.
(P.S. Audo, Marie, ou d'autres personnes de Res'EAU qui lisent ceci: si je me suis trompé dans mon explication de l'organisation ou si vous avez plus d'information à ajouter, m'envoyez un email ou écrivez dans les commentaires s'il vous plait. Merci.)
Res'EAU
Aude and Marie work in separate parts of the 12 associations of districts and suburbs of Angoulême that make up the Réseau d'Expériences Artistiques Urbaines[fr] (Urban Artistic Experience Network). This network works to create and carry out cultural projects for people who live in the more underpriviledged and/or unpleasant areas in and around Angoulême. These projects include film festivals, dance and music events, and various community centers.
Recently, Aude has been putting together a summer film festival, "Un été au ciné"[fr], that residents will be able to attend for free in various theatres around Angoulême. Here's a picture of her next to a poster advertising the event:
Films they will be showing include "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "Howl's Moving Castle", "Singing in the Rain" and more.
MJC-Lous Aragon Ludothèque
Marie works as a volunteer at the Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture Louis Aragon Ludothèque (Youth Club and Culture Center "Louis Aragon" Game Library) with a very nice woman named Alex, short for Alexandra, who runs it.
Left: Alex; Center: a little boy I was playing with. Right: Marie;
behind them is one of the hand-made games, Mt. Everest
I think this is a very cool idea. Basically, it is a game room with commercial and hand-made games and toys for the young people of the community to use. It costs small fee to access (max. 20€ per year for an entire family, with lower individual prices for individuals, if I am reading the poster correctly). This poster details the costs, hours, etc. (in French)
The children are learning some good lessons at the Ludothèque. As I said, the toys and games cannot be easily replaced, and for some children they may be the only ones that they have to play with. These children are learning to take care of the games and toys so that they will always have them. They are learning that it isn't only for themselves, but for everyone. They are learning to take care of things for the common good. They are learning to share. Hopefully, these ideas will stay with them throughout their lives.
Some photos of the Ludothèque:
Alex helping some of the children on the computers:
Alex helping some of the children on the computers:
My very small contribution to the Ludothèque
On Wednesday, 21 June, Aude and Marie came back to Aude's place so we could have lunch together. After that, we drove out towards where they work. I had the intention of walking back from there, taking photos as I went, but it didn't work that way. When we got to the Ludothèque, Aude and Marie introduced me to Alex and we talked for a little bit. Aude had to go back to work and it turned out that Alex was having some computer problems, so I decided to see if I could help out.
Her computer, which was running Windows XP, turned out to be infested with various malware: spyware, some adware, a couple of viruses, something that had disabled the builtin firewall, and even one piece of garbage masquerading as antivirus software called WinAntiVirus. I downloaded the standard tools to clean things up: AdAware, Spybot S&D, and ClamWin (ClamAV for Windows). Then I spent the afternoon cleaning up the machine. I also downloaded Firefox and tweaked the security settings a bit to make browsing the web a bit safer.
Running all of the scans took some time, so I ended up playing with a little boy who seemed very interested to meet me. I tried teaching him to juggle a little, we played a few of the games around, and basically just had a good time. Of course, Alex and Marie helped out since my grasp of the French language is basically sub-beginner (thought it is improving little by little).
Eventually the scans all finished and the machine was clean, or at least as clean as it was going to be after running all of that software on it. The increase in speed and stability was noticable. Everything finished at just after 18:00, which was quitting time for Aude and Marie. Aude came back down to the Ludothèque. I said goodbye to Alex, who thanked me for my help, and said goodbye to the little boy, who told Marie that he was very happy to have met me, and then the three of us left.
I didn't do much there, but I'm glad I could contribute even a little bit. I think it is very important, very good work that they are doing there, and I am happy that I could contribute even a little with my computer knowledge (as limited as it is), as well as make a little boy happy.
Spread the Word
To anyone who is reading this: do any of you have these kinds of organisations in your communities? If so, please post links to them in the comments. If not, perhaps bring it up with your local governments. I think these kinds of organisations are very important and deserve as much exposure as they can get, so please, spread the word about this one, the ones in your communities, or any others that you know about.
(P.S. Audo, Marie, ou d'autres personnes de Res'EAU qui lisent ceci: si je me suis trompé dans mon explication de l'organisation ou si vous avez plus d'information à ajouter, m'envoyez un email ou écrivez dans les commentaires s'il vous plait. Merci.)
2006-06-25
From Paris to Bordeaux
Location: Bordeaux, France
Status: Alive and well, arms are getting quite tan.
It has been quite awhile since I have updated and quite a bit has happened. Since Paris, I have stayed in and/or passed through Orléans, Tours, Poitiers, and Angoulême. I am now in Bordeaux.
I have a lot of catching up to do and have so little time to write, so you will have to deal with summaries.
Paris
I stayed in Paris for about 6 days at my friend Fabien's flat (Thanks, Fabien!). I went and saw most of the main sights: The Louvre (though I didn't enter), the Arc d' Triumph, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, etc. I also spent a good amount of time just wandering the streets and seeing what I could see. Paris was pretty nice city, and I enjoyed being there, but it was tiring at times. Part of that was because it is a major city, so almost everything seems so busy all of the time. However, a big part of it was the number of people begging for money in the streets. Pretty much any time someone you don't know approaches you and tries to talk to you, it is because they want money. It got to the point where I didn't even want to sit down and stop to take a break from all of my walking, because everytime I did, someone would come up and beg for money. Otherwise, Paris was beautiful, and Fabien took really good care of me.
I left Paris on 9 June, first taking the metro to just south of the city, and then cycling to...
Orléans
First of all, the ride to Orléans was quite interesting. I don't have a detailed map with me, so I got my directions from Google Maps before leaving, but it turned out that I was not allowed to cycle on the road I had planned to take, so I had to try to find my own way. This involved back roads, dirt roads, some trekking along a trail in the forest(!), and going through a few farmers' fields before finally finding my way to Etampes. After that, finding a road to Orléans was not too difficult and it was a long, hot afternoon of mostly flat road with a light crosswind.
I spent the weekend in Orléans at the home of my CouchSurfing hosts, Luis and his wife Chrystal (if you read this, is that spelled correctly?). They were really cool and extremely nice. They also had two very cute, if somewhat fat cats. They also had a spare bedroom, so I got to sleep in a bed! My hosts were busy on Saturday afternoon, so I was left on my own to explore Orléans, which turned out to be a really nice city. After seeing the place where Jean D'Arc died in Rouen, I got to see where she was born in Orléans. I spent the afternoon walking around and taking pictures, and then at 18:30 met back up with Louis and Chrystal. We then went out to meet some friends and have a barbecue. It was cool to hang out, but I really need to learn French. On Sunday, we relaxed most of the morning, and then went out to meet some more friends and play some football (soccer, for any people in the US reading this). I'm not good at all, but it was fun.
Anyway, Luis and Chrystal were great! Thank you so much! I left Orléans on Monday morning to head for...
Tours
Now, before I left for Tours, I had emailed several CouchSurfing hosts in the area, but had not received any replies, so I headed out with the intention of checking my email at an internet cafe when I arrived there, and if there were still no responses, I would continue through and find a place to camp outside of town on the way to Poitiers.
There were no replies. So, I cycled south of Tours, got a little lost, found a likely spot in a forest, and camped out for the evening. Unfortunately, I hadn't planned adequately, so by the time I had thought to buy food for dinner, the markets were all closed. My dinner was a Snickers bar and a Coke from a vending machine I found in front of a closed supermarket.
I slept as well as I could, woke up the next morning, cycled in the direction I thought I should be going, found the road I was looking for, and made my way to the next town, Azay Le Rideau, where I bought some breakfast and filled up my water bottles. Then, I made the long, hot way south to...
Poitiers
It was a long, tough ride to Poitiers. I guess I have been lazy on my travels so far, because my body was not ready for two consecutive days of cycling. I arrived in Poitiers and met up with my next host, a really cool, down to earth guy named Michel. He actually lives in the country-side a bit south of town in a really cool, large house with 4 other housemates, a puppy, and a kitten. I ended up staying there almost a week. However, there was no internet access, so I haven't been able to update.
It was a house of musicians with several guitars around, so I spent a good amount of my time relaxing and playing guitar. Everyone there and their circles of friends were all really cool and all much better musicians than I am. It was a really cool time hanging out, and I learned a couple of new songs. I arrived on Tuesday, but Michel was busy most of the time until the weekend, so I spent a lot of time hanging out with his housemates. That weekend, a few of his friends came from out of town, so we basically partied all weekend. It was a really cool time! Thank you so much, Michel!
I ended up leaving on Monday afternoon. There was a lot to take care of, and since it was a late start, one of the housemates, Damien, with whom I became pretty good friends, drove me about halfway to my next destination...
Angoulême
Damien dropped me off in Ruffec, and I cycled the remaining 60 kilometres or so to Angoulême, arriving in the evening. There I met my next CouchSurfing host, a really nice, sweet woman named Aude. I ended up staying 3 days there because I really liked Angoulême. The evening I arrived, Aude and I just hung out and talked at her flat, a really cool little place overlooking the rampart on the north side of the city and the surrounding country-side. The next day, she had to work most of the day, but came home for lunch. Then I spent part of the afternoon walking around Angoulême, before meeting up with her at about 18:30. Angoulême is a really pretty small city. Apparently, it is famous for comic artists, and there are amazing murals all around the city. I'll post pictures when I can.
That evening, Aude and I went out to a cafe to meet up with some of her friends, including a lovely girl named Marie who works for the same organisation as Aude (much more about that in a future post that I will dedicate solely to the organisation), and another girl named Aurélie. We sat and talked and enjoyed a couple of beers and then went out for dinner. While we were eating, two more friends joined us: Xavier and his girlfriend Chrystelle. They were quite funny, and we all sat around laughing and joking.
The next day was the first day of Summer. In France, they celebrate the coming of summer by having music festivals in just about every town in the country. In Angoulême, there was live music around just about every corner that evening. I had planned to spend the afternoon walking around taking pictures, but that didn't happen, and I ended up spending my time at the organisation where Aude and Marie work...again, more details in a future post. That evening, all of us got together again and went out to enjoy the music around town. There was everything from rock to jazz to techno to African drums. It was quite impressive, and it was cool to see so many people out enjoying a musical evening.
I had planned to leave the following day to come to Bordeaux, but Aude was nice enough to let me stay one more day so I could get out and around and see more of the city. So, I spent most of this past Thursday walking all around Angoulême taking pictures. Later in the afternoon, I checked to see if Aude was home (she wasn't, so I left a note), and then headed out to a cafe to relax and do some writing in my journal. Eventually, she joined me, and then Marie joined us. Then I cooked dinner for them. (^o^)v It wasn't the best cooking I have ever done, but it was alright. Then Xavier and Chrystelle joined us and we watched Japan lose to Brazil (*sob*...well, it IS Brazil...). Then, I said my goodbyes to everyone (they were all really nice, really cool people) and Aude and I headed home.
The next morning (yesterday), I woke up at about 06:15, said goodbye and thank you to Aude (and again, Thank you so much!), and cycled to...
Bordeaux
I arrived yesterday afternoon at 16:30, rode around a bit, and then met with my first CouchSurfing host here, a really nice, very artistic girl named Noelie. I could only stay at her place for one night, because she is very busy. She will be moving to India soon! Last night, she went out for a little with her boyfriend while I stayed in and rested after the long day of cycling, and then when she got back, we shared a bottle of wine and hung out and talked. This morning, we went out for breakfast, and then relaxed most of the day. She had to catch a train, so we said our goodbyes and I went to my next host, a really cool guy named Philippe.
Tonight we will go out and party with a bunch of his friends. :D
I haven't really seen much of Bordeaux yet, so I will write more about it some other time.
Ciao!
Status: Alive and well, arms are getting quite tan.
It has been quite awhile since I have updated and quite a bit has happened. Since Paris, I have stayed in and/or passed through Orléans, Tours, Poitiers, and Angoulême. I am now in Bordeaux.
I have a lot of catching up to do and have so little time to write, so you will have to deal with summaries.
Paris
I stayed in Paris for about 6 days at my friend Fabien's flat (Thanks, Fabien!). I went and saw most of the main sights: The Louvre (though I didn't enter), the Arc d' Triumph, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, etc. I also spent a good amount of time just wandering the streets and seeing what I could see. Paris was pretty nice city, and I enjoyed being there, but it was tiring at times. Part of that was because it is a major city, so almost everything seems so busy all of the time. However, a big part of it was the number of people begging for money in the streets. Pretty much any time someone you don't know approaches you and tries to talk to you, it is because they want money. It got to the point where I didn't even want to sit down and stop to take a break from all of my walking, because everytime I did, someone would come up and beg for money. Otherwise, Paris was beautiful, and Fabien took really good care of me.
I left Paris on 9 June, first taking the metro to just south of the city, and then cycling to...
Orléans
First of all, the ride to Orléans was quite interesting. I don't have a detailed map with me, so I got my directions from Google Maps before leaving, but it turned out that I was not allowed to cycle on the road I had planned to take, so I had to try to find my own way. This involved back roads, dirt roads, some trekking along a trail in the forest(!), and going through a few farmers' fields before finally finding my way to Etampes. After that, finding a road to Orléans was not too difficult and it was a long, hot afternoon of mostly flat road with a light crosswind.
I spent the weekend in Orléans at the home of my CouchSurfing hosts, Luis and his wife Chrystal (if you read this, is that spelled correctly?). They were really cool and extremely nice. They also had two very cute, if somewhat fat cats. They also had a spare bedroom, so I got to sleep in a bed! My hosts were busy on Saturday afternoon, so I was left on my own to explore Orléans, which turned out to be a really nice city. After seeing the place where Jean D'Arc died in Rouen, I got to see where she was born in Orléans. I spent the afternoon walking around and taking pictures, and then at 18:30 met back up with Louis and Chrystal. We then went out to meet some friends and have a barbecue. It was cool to hang out, but I really need to learn French. On Sunday, we relaxed most of the morning, and then went out to meet some more friends and play some football (soccer, for any people in the US reading this). I'm not good at all, but it was fun.
Anyway, Luis and Chrystal were great! Thank you so much! I left Orléans on Monday morning to head for...
Tours
Now, before I left for Tours, I had emailed several CouchSurfing hosts in the area, but had not received any replies, so I headed out with the intention of checking my email at an internet cafe when I arrived there, and if there were still no responses, I would continue through and find a place to camp outside of town on the way to Poitiers.
There were no replies. So, I cycled south of Tours, got a little lost, found a likely spot in a forest, and camped out for the evening. Unfortunately, I hadn't planned adequately, so by the time I had thought to buy food for dinner, the markets were all closed. My dinner was a Snickers bar and a Coke from a vending machine I found in front of a closed supermarket.
I slept as well as I could, woke up the next morning, cycled in the direction I thought I should be going, found the road I was looking for, and made my way to the next town, Azay Le Rideau, where I bought some breakfast and filled up my water bottles. Then, I made the long, hot way south to...
Poitiers
It was a long, tough ride to Poitiers. I guess I have been lazy on my travels so far, because my body was not ready for two consecutive days of cycling. I arrived in Poitiers and met up with my next host, a really cool, down to earth guy named Michel. He actually lives in the country-side a bit south of town in a really cool, large house with 4 other housemates, a puppy, and a kitten. I ended up staying there almost a week. However, there was no internet access, so I haven't been able to update.
It was a house of musicians with several guitars around, so I spent a good amount of my time relaxing and playing guitar. Everyone there and their circles of friends were all really cool and all much better musicians than I am. It was a really cool time hanging out, and I learned a couple of new songs. I arrived on Tuesday, but Michel was busy most of the time until the weekend, so I spent a lot of time hanging out with his housemates. That weekend, a few of his friends came from out of town, so we basically partied all weekend. It was a really cool time! Thank you so much, Michel!
I ended up leaving on Monday afternoon. There was a lot to take care of, and since it was a late start, one of the housemates, Damien, with whom I became pretty good friends, drove me about halfway to my next destination...
Angoulême
Damien dropped me off in Ruffec, and I cycled the remaining 60 kilometres or so to Angoulême, arriving in the evening. There I met my next CouchSurfing host, a really nice, sweet woman named Aude. I ended up staying 3 days there because I really liked Angoulême. The evening I arrived, Aude and I just hung out and talked at her flat, a really cool little place overlooking the rampart on the north side of the city and the surrounding country-side. The next day, she had to work most of the day, but came home for lunch. Then I spent part of the afternoon walking around Angoulême, before meeting up with her at about 18:30. Angoulême is a really pretty small city. Apparently, it is famous for comic artists, and there are amazing murals all around the city. I'll post pictures when I can.
That evening, Aude and I went out to a cafe to meet up with some of her friends, including a lovely girl named Marie who works for the same organisation as Aude (much more about that in a future post that I will dedicate solely to the organisation), and another girl named Aurélie. We sat and talked and enjoyed a couple of beers and then went out for dinner. While we were eating, two more friends joined us: Xavier and his girlfriend Chrystelle. They were quite funny, and we all sat around laughing and joking.
The next day was the first day of Summer. In France, they celebrate the coming of summer by having music festivals in just about every town in the country. In Angoulême, there was live music around just about every corner that evening. I had planned to spend the afternoon walking around taking pictures, but that didn't happen, and I ended up spending my time at the organisation where Aude and Marie work...again, more details in a future post. That evening, all of us got together again and went out to enjoy the music around town. There was everything from rock to jazz to techno to African drums. It was quite impressive, and it was cool to see so many people out enjoying a musical evening.
I had planned to leave the following day to come to Bordeaux, but Aude was nice enough to let me stay one more day so I could get out and around and see more of the city. So, I spent most of this past Thursday walking all around Angoulême taking pictures. Later in the afternoon, I checked to see if Aude was home (she wasn't, so I left a note), and then headed out to a cafe to relax and do some writing in my journal. Eventually, she joined me, and then Marie joined us. Then I cooked dinner for them. (^o^)v It wasn't the best cooking I have ever done, but it was alright. Then Xavier and Chrystelle joined us and we watched Japan lose to Brazil (*sob*...well, it IS Brazil...). Then, I said my goodbyes to everyone (they were all really nice, really cool people) and Aude and I headed home.
The next morning (yesterday), I woke up at about 06:15, said goodbye and thank you to Aude (and again, Thank you so much!), and cycled to...
Bordeaux
I arrived yesterday afternoon at 16:30, rode around a bit, and then met with my first CouchSurfing host here, a really nice, very artistic girl named Noelie. I could only stay at her place for one night, because she is very busy. She will be moving to India soon! Last night, she went out for a little with her boyfriend while I stayed in and rested after the long day of cycling, and then when she got back, we shared a bottle of wine and hung out and talked. This morning, we went out for breakfast, and then relaxed most of the day. She had to catch a train, so we said our goodbyes and I went to my next host, a really cool guy named Philippe.
Tonight we will go out and party with a bunch of his friends. :D
I haven't really seen much of Bordeaux yet, so I will write more about it some other time.
Ciao!
2006-06-07
Pictures from Rouen and Paris / ルアンとパリの写真
Location: Paris, France
Status: Alive and well.
I'll post a detailed update about what has been happening in life a little later, but for now, I thought I'd share some pictures I have taken.
後で最近の事を書くけど、とりあえず写真を見せたかったんだ。
Rouen / ルアン
Paris / パリ
Enjoy. (^_^)v
Status: Alive and well.
I'll post a detailed update about what has been happening in life a little later, but for now, I thought I'd share some pictures I have taken.
後で最近の事を書くけど、とりあえず写真を見せたかったんだ。
Rouen / ルアン
Paris / パリ
Enjoy. (^_^)v
2006-06-01
Je suis arrivé en France
Location: Rouen, France
Status: alive and healthy with a sore butt
Well, I did spend several hours in the Ferry Terminal, but I didn't get much writing done. Nothing particularly special happened while I was there. I spent a while talking to a man from New Zealand who was also traveling around Europe, though mostly by train. When the time came to take the bike up and get ready to board the ferry, I took my bicycle out and was told to line up in the front of the line. There I got to trade some friendly banter with a group of bikers heading down to tour Europe by motorcycle. Nice bunch of guys. :)
I was among the first to board the ferry, so I had pretty much free choice of reclining seats. For those of you who have no idea, it is very cheap to book a reclining seat, which you are meant to sleep in on the trip over. The ticket for me and my bicycle was 19 GBP (btw, I traveled on LD Lines). Here is some advice on choosing a seat for anyone who may travel the same way: forget choosing a window seat. The seats really aren't that comfortable to sleep on, so choose a seat in an empty area in the middle next to an aisle so you can lay out your sleeping bag and sleep on the floor. This will be more comfortable, and you will sleep better than I did.
Anyway, the ferry trip was uneventful. I stupidly didn't take advantage of the currency exchange on board to change my remaining British Pounds to Euros, so now I have a rather useless 8 GBP sitting around because I haven't seen a Bureau du Change anywhere since arriving in France (though I have been told I may find them in the Tourism offices). Still, the 8 GBP looks kind of nice next to the 900 yen I have in coins because the Currency Exchanges tend to not accept coins.
The ferry arrived at about 07:30 local time, I got off, and rode into Le Havre to try to find a bank or a Bureau de Change. I was unsuccessful. So, I started heading to Rouen, where I was to meet with my next couchsurfing host.
It is interesting to note that there was no passport control or immigration. This seems weird to me. France is a Schengen country, and according to the US Dept. of State, US citizens can spend up to 90 days in Schengen Countries without requiring a visa. I assume that the 90 days resets when entering a non-Schengen country (note: the UK is not a Schengen country). However, with no Immigration control in Le Havre, how can they know when I actually arrived in France? Well, unless they read this. ;p It just seems odd to me, but I don't really mind, unless it ends up causing me trouble down the line somewhere.
It is kind of weird being in a country where you don't speak the language. I remember feeling this way when I first arrived in Japan, nearly 5 years ago. It took me nearly 6 months to feel comfortable with speaking Japanese. Right now, my French is almost zero. I can say some things, like greetings, ordering food, and some other basics, and I can often get the gist of things that I read, but my listening comprehension is extremely low, and my conversation ability is almost non-existant. Hopefully this will change as I continue to study and try to get by here.
Anyway, I cycled from Le Havre to Rouen using a route that I found using Google Maps. I had this written down in one of my moleskines, and remembered the map fairly well, so it wasn't too hard. It's not like I could have gotten completely lost. Worst case, I could have just followed the Seine River to Rouen, though that would have been a much longer ride.
The French countryside up here is absolutely beautiful: rolling hills of mostly farmland, old buildings, small villages often centered around a beautiful church. Passing through a lot of these places, it is easy to forget that this is 2006.
The ride wasn't particularly difficult, and the weather was fairly nice, but a little chilly (around 13 degrees or so). For once, I didn't have a headwind, but mainly a crosswind. However, I am nowhere near being in shape yet, so it was still a tiring ride. Also, my butt really hurts.
I made it to Rouen at about 15:00, made my way to the station and prepared to call my friend. This turned out to not be as simple as one would think. See, the public phones here don't take coins. One must buy a phone card from places where they are sold. Great. I'm very self-conscious about my language skills, but I had to get over that and go buy a card. There was a bookstore in the Station which sold telephone cards, so after building up a bit of confidence, I bought one, and then went out to call my next host, a guy named Ludovic. He came and met me in front of the station about a half an hour later and took me back to his place.
Ludovic is yet another really nice guy. When we got to his place, we hung out and talked a bit, then he had to go out to meet someone for a few hours. While he was out, I took a shower, which I really needed, and then used the computer a bit. While he was out, Ludovic bought some wine and some t-bone steaks, which he then cooked up when he got back. We ate, got happily drunk on the wine, talked, and then went out to go to a bar for a beer or two. While on the way to the bar, he showed me around a bit: the Rouen Cathedral, which is an absolutely amazing structure (pictures will come, eventually), some other churches nearby (Rouen is full of them), some amazing, old style side streets, etc. This is a fairly beautiful city!
Anyway, that was all yesterday. Today has been spent nursing a hangover, and cleaning up a bit. No plans for this evening yet.
Cheers.
Status: alive and healthy with a sore butt
Well, I did spend several hours in the Ferry Terminal, but I didn't get much writing done. Nothing particularly special happened while I was there. I spent a while talking to a man from New Zealand who was also traveling around Europe, though mostly by train. When the time came to take the bike up and get ready to board the ferry, I took my bicycle out and was told to line up in the front of the line. There I got to trade some friendly banter with a group of bikers heading down to tour Europe by motorcycle. Nice bunch of guys. :)
I was among the first to board the ferry, so I had pretty much free choice of reclining seats. For those of you who have no idea, it is very cheap to book a reclining seat, which you are meant to sleep in on the trip over. The ticket for me and my bicycle was 19 GBP (btw, I traveled on LD Lines). Here is some advice on choosing a seat for anyone who may travel the same way: forget choosing a window seat. The seats really aren't that comfortable to sleep on, so choose a seat in an empty area in the middle next to an aisle so you can lay out your sleeping bag and sleep on the floor. This will be more comfortable, and you will sleep better than I did.
Anyway, the ferry trip was uneventful. I stupidly didn't take advantage of the currency exchange on board to change my remaining British Pounds to Euros, so now I have a rather useless 8 GBP sitting around because I haven't seen a Bureau du Change anywhere since arriving in France (though I have been told I may find them in the Tourism offices). Still, the 8 GBP looks kind of nice next to the 900 yen I have in coins because the Currency Exchanges tend to not accept coins.
The ferry arrived at about 07:30 local time, I got off, and rode into Le Havre to try to find a bank or a Bureau de Change. I was unsuccessful. So, I started heading to Rouen, where I was to meet with my next couchsurfing host.
It is interesting to note that there was no passport control or immigration. This seems weird to me. France is a Schengen country, and according to the US Dept. of State, US citizens can spend up to 90 days in Schengen Countries without requiring a visa. I assume that the 90 days resets when entering a non-Schengen country (note: the UK is not a Schengen country). However, with no Immigration control in Le Havre, how can they know when I actually arrived in France? Well, unless they read this. ;p It just seems odd to me, but I don't really mind, unless it ends up causing me trouble down the line somewhere.
It is kind of weird being in a country where you don't speak the language. I remember feeling this way when I first arrived in Japan, nearly 5 years ago. It took me nearly 6 months to feel comfortable with speaking Japanese. Right now, my French is almost zero. I can say some things, like greetings, ordering food, and some other basics, and I can often get the gist of things that I read, but my listening comprehension is extremely low, and my conversation ability is almost non-existant. Hopefully this will change as I continue to study and try to get by here.
Anyway, I cycled from Le Havre to Rouen using a route that I found using Google Maps. I had this written down in one of my moleskines, and remembered the map fairly well, so it wasn't too hard. It's not like I could have gotten completely lost. Worst case, I could have just followed the Seine River to Rouen, though that would have been a much longer ride.
The French countryside up here is absolutely beautiful: rolling hills of mostly farmland, old buildings, small villages often centered around a beautiful church. Passing through a lot of these places, it is easy to forget that this is 2006.
The ride wasn't particularly difficult, and the weather was fairly nice, but a little chilly (around 13 degrees or so). For once, I didn't have a headwind, but mainly a crosswind. However, I am nowhere near being in shape yet, so it was still a tiring ride. Also, my butt really hurts.
I made it to Rouen at about 15:00, made my way to the station and prepared to call my friend. This turned out to not be as simple as one would think. See, the public phones here don't take coins. One must buy a phone card from places where they are sold. Great. I'm very self-conscious about my language skills, but I had to get over that and go buy a card. There was a bookstore in the Station which sold telephone cards, so after building up a bit of confidence, I bought one, and then went out to call my next host, a guy named Ludovic. He came and met me in front of the station about a half an hour later and took me back to his place.
Ludovic is yet another really nice guy. When we got to his place, we hung out and talked a bit, then he had to go out to meet someone for a few hours. While he was out, I took a shower, which I really needed, and then used the computer a bit. While he was out, Ludovic bought some wine and some t-bone steaks, which he then cooked up when he got back. We ate, got happily drunk on the wine, talked, and then went out to go to a bar for a beer or two. While on the way to the bar, he showed me around a bit: the Rouen Cathedral, which is an absolutely amazing structure (pictures will come, eventually), some other churches nearby (Rouen is full of them), some amazing, old style side streets, etc. This is a fairly beautiful city!
Anyway, that was all yesterday. Today has been spent nursing a hangover, and cleaning up a bit. No plans for this evening yet.
Cheers.
2006-05-29
Last Day in the UK
Location: Woolston, Southampton, England
Status: Alive and Healthy
I have been here since Thursday, and I catch a ferry this evening from Portsmouth to Le Havre, France. It is an overnight ferry, so tomorrow morning, I will be in France on my way to Rouen.
I left off in Winchester. I wound up staying there at Ali's place until Thursday, when I cycled down here. It wasn't that far of a ride. Ali, and just about everyone else there are art students at the Winchester School of art, and it was an interesting group of people to hang out with. Around 18:00 on Tuesday, the first year students had an exhibition of their work, and there was a lot of interesting stuff, as well as some not so interesting stuff. As I mentioned before, I don't usually "get" modern art. One which caught my eye was, I thought, as brilliant idea with a very simple implementation. It was a series of Google Image Searches for the various human emotions.
After that, we all hung out at the Student Union until it closed. The next day, Ali showed me around Winchester a little bit. We also did some shopping, and I bought a tent which will hopefully take care of me on those stretches where I don't have any couches to surf. She showed me the Winchester Cathedral, Jane Austin's house, a good bit of downtown, etc. It is a very pretty old town. Then she left me to wander on my own while she did some research in the library, and we met up later for Nick's exhibition. Again, some of the pieces were rather interesting and others were kind of... well, I'm not a modern art critic...
Anyway, on Thursday, Ali had to head up to London, but I stuck around taking care of things until the afternoon and then cycled down here.
I arrived in the evening and called my next host, Nick. He wasn't home, but his roommate was, and he gave me directions and then let me in. The time here in Southampton has mostly been spent relaxing. On Thursday night, Nick, Chris (his roommate), and I went to a local pub for a few pints and hung out talking. On Friday I pretty much lounged around while Nick was working, and then I cooked my increasingly popular Garlic Parmesan Shrimp pasta. Saturday, Nick and I went into town to his university where we booked ferry tickets and then walked around a bit. The area near the university is rather beautiful with a very large park running through most of it. That evening, Nick had to work at the pub, but near the end of the night, Chris and I went down and met him and had a few pints. It was Soul & Motown Disco night...woo! Sunday was another fairly lazy day finished off by an evening at the pub.
In just a few moments, we are going to drive down to Portsmouth, where Nick will drop me off at the ferry terminal, and then I will probably spend several hours writing in my journal.
Next time I post, I'll be in France.
Cheers.
Status: Alive and Healthy
I have been here since Thursday, and I catch a ferry this evening from Portsmouth to Le Havre, France. It is an overnight ferry, so tomorrow morning, I will be in France on my way to Rouen.
I left off in Winchester. I wound up staying there at Ali's place until Thursday, when I cycled down here. It wasn't that far of a ride. Ali, and just about everyone else there are art students at the Winchester School of art, and it was an interesting group of people to hang out with. Around 18:00 on Tuesday, the first year students had an exhibition of their work, and there was a lot of interesting stuff, as well as some not so interesting stuff. As I mentioned before, I don't usually "get" modern art. One which caught my eye was, I thought, as brilliant idea with a very simple implementation. It was a series of Google Image Searches for the various human emotions.
After that, we all hung out at the Student Union until it closed. The next day, Ali showed me around Winchester a little bit. We also did some shopping, and I bought a tent which will hopefully take care of me on those stretches where I don't have any couches to surf. She showed me the Winchester Cathedral, Jane Austin's house, a good bit of downtown, etc. It is a very pretty old town. Then she left me to wander on my own while she did some research in the library, and we met up later for Nick's exhibition. Again, some of the pieces were rather interesting and others were kind of... well, I'm not a modern art critic...
Anyway, on Thursday, Ali had to head up to London, but I stuck around taking care of things until the afternoon and then cycled down here.
I arrived in the evening and called my next host, Nick. He wasn't home, but his roommate was, and he gave me directions and then let me in. The time here in Southampton has mostly been spent relaxing. On Thursday night, Nick, Chris (his roommate), and I went to a local pub for a few pints and hung out talking. On Friday I pretty much lounged around while Nick was working, and then I cooked my increasingly popular Garlic Parmesan Shrimp pasta. Saturday, Nick and I went into town to his university where we booked ferry tickets and then walked around a bit. The area near the university is rather beautiful with a very large park running through most of it. That evening, Nick had to work at the pub, but near the end of the night, Chris and I went down and met him and had a few pints. It was Soul & Motown Disco night...woo! Sunday was another fairly lazy day finished off by an evening at the pub.
In just a few moments, we are going to drive down to Portsmouth, where Nick will drop me off at the ferry terminal, and then I will probably spend several hours writing in my journal.
Next time I post, I'll be in France.
Cheers.
2006-05-23
Cycling to Winchester, etc / 自転車でウィンチェスターまでとかとか…
Location: Winchester, England
Status: Slight cold, but alive and well and enjoying life.
日本語は下の方を見てください。
So, here I am, no longer in London. Quite a bit has happened, so I will try to pick up where I left off. I got my bike. It looks like junk, but it rides well enough. It is much better than the piece of junk I did my first bike trip (back in the US in the summer of '98) on, and it is a bit lighter than the bike I did my trip around Japan (summer of '03) on. It gets the job done.
Anyway, after I took care of stuff at John's house and went on to my next host, an Australian guy named Trent in Chiswick, on the west side of London, not far north of Kingston. I cycled out there to get used to my new bike. I must say that London traffic is a bit rough. Anyway, I met up with Trent at Gunnersbury Station and we headed back to his place to drop off my stuff. Trent doesn't have a computer at home, so I was unable to keep the blog up to date while there. No worries, though, right? Anyway, after I was hoping to meet up with Arun, but hadn't had a chance to email him and set everything up (Sorry, Arun!) so when I called him it was a bit too late. So, Trent and I went to a pub and had a few pints of London's Pride and some meat pies, which were surprisingly good... And people say that British food is bad!
The next day (Saturday), we lounged around the house for awhile while waiting for Trent's friend to fly in. When he got there, we all headed out to meet up with more friends in Hammersmith and hung out at a house there for awhile drinking and talking. Now, keep in mind, this was the first time I had met any of these people (including Trent the day before), but it felt really comfortable, like hanging out with old friends or something. That is how awesome everyone was. A little later, we went out into London to a pub for a pint or two, and then to a club called "Walkabout" and nicknamed "the Shafty Walky" by everyone in the group, due the location of that particular branch on a street called Shaftsomethingsomething (my memory is a little hazy). There we hung out, drank, danced, and had a pretty decent time. So, with that I got to experience a bit of the London night life.
The following day, we met up with some other friends in the afternoon for what would have been a barbecue had it not been raining (bloody English weather!). We hung out in a flat across the way from Trent's place having a few snacks and drinks. Then we went out to a nearby pub to meet up with some more friends and had a few pints. After that, we returned and cooked up a myriad of foods, ate them, drank some more, and just chilled out. All in all, it was another really good time with really cool people. Trent is one of the friendliest, easy-to-get-along-with people I have ever met.
The following morning (Monday) began my day of hell which ended in heaven. Trent saw me off in the morning and then went to work. I then began cycling, heading for Winchester. The weather was... British. Seriously, it changes every five minutes. I was basically heading southwest from London under very overcast skys which enjoyed spewing rain on me at every worst possible moment, and then stopping any time I found a bit of shelter from it. Those of you who know me and of my cycling experiences can probably guess which direction the wind was blowing. I must have pissed of Aeolus in a past life because it was nothing but headwind all day. I had a blowout near Feltham and had to stop. It turns out the guy who sold me the bike had put the wrong sized tube in the back tire and then over-inflated it. Luckily, there was a cycle shop in Feltham, so I bought the proper tube and got back up and running pretty quickly. For those of you keeping score, that was my second flat tire ever in my history of cycling like this (the first was just outside of New Orleans on the last day of that trip).
Anyway, I continued on, going up and down hills and in and out of rain. All in all, it was a fairly miserable ride, though it occasionally had its moments: the purple flowers growing in the undergrowth of the forests, the rabbits leaping into the brush as I approached, the wide, rolling fields, the tunnels of trees that I rode through...
I just want to take this opportunity to plug the Montane Featherlite Smock. This thing is awesome. It weighs 95g, rolls up to the size of a tennis ball, and does a fantastic job of keeping the wind and most of the rain out. Seriously, if you are ever considering doing any hiking, backpacking, cycling, etc. get one! It is absolutely worth it.
I am definitely not in shape...yet. My legs were jello by the time I reached Winchester. I actually had to sit down and take about a 20 minute break about 3km outside of town because I just couldn't ride. Anyway, I get a break today, and maybe even up until Friday, so my legs can recover. The next leg of my journey will be very short, so no problem.
Anyway, that brings us to Winchester and the excellent ending to a really rough day. I got to Winchester Station and called my next host, a really sweet girl named Ali who is an art student at the university here. It turned out that she was just settling down for dinner with a bunch of friends (including another couchsurfer) at an Indian restaurant in town. She invited me to join them, and I did. Again, it was like meeting friends I have already known. Everyone was super cool and super nice. I had just eaten the second half of a doner kebab I'd bought on the side of the highway, so I had a couple of pints while everyone ate. After dinner, Ali and Eli (the other couchsurfer...very cool guy) tooke me back to her place so I could get a shower and change clothes. That shower felt GOOD! After that, we headed out to meet back up with everyone for a few more beers at the Student Union on campus. After that, we all went back to Ali's place, a flat that she is sharing with several other very cool people, and had a bonfire in the back yard. Finally, I crashed, and that brings us to today.
The other couchsurfer, Eli, had become good friends with everyone and had been here for almost 2 weeks. He left today, off to the next stop on his trip: Poland. Most everyone else is in and out. One of Ali's roommates, Nick, has an exhibition tomorrow so he is getting ready for that. I may end up helping him out later. I've spend the day writing in my Journal and now this.
Anyway, I think my plans have changed. UK weather is just not good for cycling, since it changes every 37 seconds and most of the changes are just a slightly different form of dreary. Also, the UK is really expensive, and if I want to make this trip last, I should get out of here. So, rather than cycling around the UK before heading down to the rest of Europe, I think I am going to look into ferries now and head down to France sometime within the next week or so. I've certainly enjoyed my taste of the UK and am not finished yet, but it would kind of suck to run out of money without having seen any more of Europe. Anyway, I'll post the details of my next move when they are decided.
That seems like a good place to leave off. The rest of this post is in Japanese for my friends who can't read English (Ali has a Mac, so I can finally type in Japanese). Cheers. (^_^)v
ここからは日本語。
よし！もうロンドンを出た。すごく面白かったけど、超高くてお金に気をつけなきゃいけなくて、昨日自転車で出た。今ちょっとロンドンから南西の方にあるウィンチェスターという町にいる。きれいな町だよ！ロンドンもきれいだったけど、大きい都会だからちょっとCRAZYだった。でもそこでそごくいい人に沢山出会えて、いろんな面白い建物とかも見れて、おいしいビールも飲めてとてもよかったよ！
昨日は大変だった。ロンドンからここまで自転車で来た。でもイギリスの天気は超悪くてほとんど雨と前からの風だけで最低だった。でも時々田舎がきれいだった。それで、ウィンチェスターに着いたら、またCouchSurfingで見つけた人に会ってその人の家で泊まっている。CouchSurfingって本当にすごいよ！いろんな国で泊まらせてくれる人を見つけられるんだ。今までのみんなはすごく優しくて、いい人ばかり！
とにかく、これからの予定が変わった。自転車でイギリスを回ってからヨーロッパへ行こうと思ってたけど、イギリスの天気は自転車で走る人に優しくないので、多分もすぐフェリに乗ってフランスへ行くんだ。フランス語はちょっとしかできないからがんばるよ。この旅で喋れるようになるといいね。
とにかく、今までの経験を英語で書いたからそっちの方を読んでみてください。もう時間がないからこれで終わります。
ではでは！
Status: Slight cold, but alive and well and enjoying life.
日本語は下の方を見てください。
So, here I am, no longer in London. Quite a bit has happened, so I will try to pick up where I left off. I got my bike. It looks like junk, but it rides well enough. It is much better than the piece of junk I did my first bike trip (back in the US in the summer of '98) on, and it is a bit lighter than the bike I did my trip around Japan (summer of '03) on. It gets the job done.
Anyway, after I took care of stuff at John's house and went on to my next host, an Australian guy named Trent in Chiswick, on the west side of London, not far north of Kingston. I cycled out there to get used to my new bike. I must say that London traffic is a bit rough. Anyway, I met up with Trent at Gunnersbury Station and we headed back to his place to drop off my stuff. Trent doesn't have a computer at home, so I was unable to keep the blog up to date while there. No worries, though, right? Anyway, after I was hoping to meet up with Arun, but hadn't had a chance to email him and set everything up (Sorry, Arun!) so when I called him it was a bit too late. So, Trent and I went to a pub and had a few pints of London's Pride and some meat pies, which were surprisingly good... And people say that British food is bad!
The next day (Saturday), we lounged around the house for awhile while waiting for Trent's friend to fly in. When he got there, we all headed out to meet up with more friends in Hammersmith and hung out at a house there for awhile drinking and talking. Now, keep in mind, this was the first time I had met any of these people (including Trent the day before), but it felt really comfortable, like hanging out with old friends or something. That is how awesome everyone was. A little later, we went out into London to a pub for a pint or two, and then to a club called "Walkabout" and nicknamed "the Shafty Walky" by everyone in the group, due the location of that particular branch on a street called Shaftsomethingsomething (my memory is a little hazy). There we hung out, drank, danced, and had a pretty decent time. So, with that I got to experience a bit of the London night life.
The following day, we met up with some other friends in the afternoon for what would have been a barbecue had it not been raining (bloody English weather!). We hung out in a flat across the way from Trent's place having a few snacks and drinks. Then we went out to a nearby pub to meet up with some more friends and had a few pints. After that, we returned and cooked up a myriad of foods, ate them, drank some more, and just chilled out. All in all, it was another really good time with really cool people. Trent is one of the friendliest, easy-to-get-along-with people I have ever met.
The following morning (Monday) began my day of hell which ended in heaven. Trent saw me off in the morning and then went to work. I then began cycling, heading for Winchester. The weather was... British. Seriously, it changes every five minutes. I was basically heading southwest from London under very overcast skys which enjoyed spewing rain on me at every worst possible moment, and then stopping any time I found a bit of shelter from it. Those of you who know me and of my cycling experiences can probably guess which direction the wind was blowing. I must have pissed of Aeolus in a past life because it was nothing but headwind all day. I had a blowout near Feltham and had to stop. It turns out the guy who sold me the bike had put the wrong sized tube in the back tire and then over-inflated it. Luckily, there was a cycle shop in Feltham, so I bought the proper tube and got back up and running pretty quickly. For those of you keeping score, that was my second flat tire ever in my history of cycling like this (the first was just outside of New Orleans on the last day of that trip).
Anyway, I continued on, going up and down hills and in and out of rain. All in all, it was a fairly miserable ride, though it occasionally had its moments: the purple flowers growing in the undergrowth of the forests, the rabbits leaping into the brush as I approached, the wide, rolling fields, the tunnels of trees that I rode through...
I just want to take this opportunity to plug the Montane Featherlite Smock. This thing is awesome. It weighs 95g, rolls up to the size of a tennis ball, and does a fantastic job of keeping the wind and most of the rain out. Seriously, if you are ever considering doing any hiking, backpacking, cycling, etc. get one! It is absolutely worth it.
I am definitely not in shape...yet. My legs were jello by the time I reached Winchester. I actually had to sit down and take about a 20 minute break about 3km outside of town because I just couldn't ride. Anyway, I get a break today, and maybe even up until Friday, so my legs can recover. The next leg of my journey will be very short, so no problem.
Anyway, that brings us to Winchester and the excellent ending to a really rough day. I got to Winchester Station and called my next host, a really sweet girl named Ali who is an art student at the university here. It turned out that she was just settling down for dinner with a bunch of friends (including another couchsurfer) at an Indian restaurant in town. She invited me to join them, and I did. Again, it was like meeting friends I have already known. Everyone was super cool and super nice. I had just eaten the second half of a doner kebab I'd bought on the side of the highway, so I had a couple of pints while everyone ate. After dinner, Ali and Eli (the other couchsurfer...very cool guy) tooke me back to her place so I could get a shower and change clothes. That shower felt GOOD! After that, we headed out to meet back up with everyone for a few more beers at the Student Union on campus. After that, we all went back to Ali's place, a flat that she is sharing with several other very cool people, and had a bonfire in the back yard. Finally, I crashed, and that brings us to today.
The other couchsurfer, Eli, had become good friends with everyone and had been here for almost 2 weeks. He left today, off to the next stop on his trip: Poland. Most everyone else is in and out. One of Ali's roommates, Nick, has an exhibition tomorrow so he is getting ready for that. I may end up helping him out later. I've spend the day writing in my Journal and now this.
Anyway, I think my plans have changed. UK weather is just not good for cycling, since it changes every 37 seconds and most of the changes are just a slightly different form of dreary. Also, the UK is really expensive, and if I want to make this trip last, I should get out of here. So, rather than cycling around the UK before heading down to the rest of Europe, I think I am going to look into ferries now and head down to France sometime within the next week or so. I've certainly enjoyed my taste of the UK and am not finished yet, but it would kind of suck to run out of money without having seen any more of Europe. Anyway, I'll post the details of my next move when they are decided.
That seems like a good place to leave off. The rest of this post is in Japanese for my friends who can't read English (Ali has a Mac, so I can finally type in Japanese). Cheers. (^_^)v
ここからは日本語。
よし！もうロンドンを出た。すごく面白かったけど、超高くてお金に気をつけなきゃいけなくて、昨日自転車で出た。今ちょっとロンドンから南西の方にあるウィンチェスターという町にいる。きれいな町だよ！ロンドンもきれいだったけど、大きい都会だからちょっとCRAZYだった。でもそこでそごくいい人に沢山出会えて、いろんな面白い建物とかも見れて、おいしいビールも飲めてとてもよかったよ！
昨日は大変だった。ロンドンからここまで自転車で来た。でもイギリスの天気は超悪くてほとんど雨と前からの風だけで最低だった。でも時々田舎がきれいだった。それで、ウィンチェスターに着いたら、またCouchSurfingで見つけた人に会ってその人の家で泊まっている。CouchSurfingって本当にすごいよ！いろんな国で泊まらせてくれる人を見つけられるんだ。今までのみんなはすごく優しくて、いい人ばかり！
とにかく、これからの予定が変わった。自転車でイギリスを回ってからヨーロッパへ行こうと思ってたけど、イギリスの天気は自転車で走る人に優しくないので、多分もすぐフェリに乗ってフランスへ行くんだ。フランス語はちょっとしかできないからがんばるよ。この旅で喋れるようになるといいね。
とにかく、今までの経験を英語で書いたからそっちの方を読んでみてください。もう時間がないからこれで終わります。
ではでは！
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