The Adventures of Guapo

The Perfect end to a perfect holiday.... in Ibiza!!

2007-09-17T03:44:00.000-07:00

La Tomatina

2007-09-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

The last Wednesday in August was La Tomatina, one of Spain's messiest festivals. It's held in the town of Bunol, 40km west of Valencia, and attracts a crowd of close to 30,000 people to a town of just 9,000.
The locals covered their balconies with plastic, stores were boarded up, and the streets swelled with tourists in all manner of dress.
Just before noon 5 truckloads of ripe tomatoes were dumped into the crowd and for the next hour everyone joined in a frenzied tomato battle. The air was ripe with the smell of tomatoes and we were up to our ankles in tomato mush by the end of it.
At 1pm a rocket signaled the end of the battle and we headed down to the river to wash off the tomatoes and don fresh clothing.
It was absolutley incredible!! Words don't even come close to desribing the feeling that was in the streets. Crazy!

Valencia - Home of the Paella (apparently!) and Nasty Beach Girls

2007-09-03T09:07:00.001-07:00

Valencia is an amazing city. The mix of old and new architecture around the city is absolutely breathtaking. It would have had to have been one of the most beautiful cities that we have visited while in Spain.Valencia recently hosted the 32nd America's cup, and many parts of the city, especially the port, had been re modeled.
Susie and I had a great time. Armed with our Lonely Planet each day we would discover something new and exciting about this city. We ended up spending a whole week here d we were never short of things to do and see.
We started at the Jardines del Turia(Turia Gardens). The gardens actually used to be a river that flowed through the middle of Valencia. After record flooding in the 70's, the river was diverted and dammed, and the riverbed made into 9km stretches of gardens, cycling, jogging and walking paths, fountains and gardens.
La Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias is a massive 35,000 sq meter section of the former Turia riverbed. Most of it is the work of architect Santiago Calatrava. It comprises of the planetarium, science museum, aquarium and opera house. The opera house is covered by translucent mosaic tiles and looks a little bit like the Sydney Opera House, which by the way is the only other Opera house that has more seating capacity than this one.

We then made our way into the old town. The old city lies in a haphazard manner of jumbled backstreets in the centre of the city. Two imposing stone towers, Torres de Serranos and Torres de Quart, are all that remain of the old city walls and were once the main exits to Barcelona and the North. Look closely at the second photo of the Torres de Quart. You can see the pockmarks caused by French cannonballs during the 19th century Napoleonic invasion.

We then spent the afternoon wandering through the many backstreets of Barrio del Carmen in the old town. The Cathedral and Plaza de la Virgen were particulary beautiful. We spent a few late nights here drinking Sangria or Agua de Valencia (a local white version of Sangria) and watching the world go by.

We met a girl who was staying in our Hostal from England called Lara. She was as mad as a cut snake so Susie and I adopted her for a few days on our travels. Between the three of us there was never a dull moment.

Our first outing together was to the city beach alongside the port.Playa de la Malvarossa is a broad beach that is bordered by the promenade Paseo Maritimo.

On the afternoon that we went the European Volleyball Championship were being held. The volleyball was action aplenty, one player even got a blood eye when a ball was spiked into his face breaking his sunnies, calling for a time out. That was when the real fun began.

Nestea was a sponsor, and they had the 'Nestea Beach Girls'. They would scramble onto the court in between sets to entertain the crowd. In their tiny bikinis they would gyrate provocatively to music, looking to each other to see what the other was doing as they constantly forgot their limited dance moves. When in doubt they would revert to a sort of mambo, swinging as much butt as possible and making rubbing moves over their breasts. What made it even more hilarious was that the sports caster's English was really bad, and every time he announced the 'Nestea Beach Girls' it came out as 'Nasty Beach Girls'.We couldn't stop laughing as that was what they looked like...Nasty. Priceless! Lara and Susie got in the act and mimicked their dance moves at every opportunity they had. This continued throughout the week whenever one of us would say 'Nasty Beach Girl', the others would start gyrating dance moves and rubbing themselves suggestively.

10 km south of Valencia is La Player El Saler. Being the good tourists that we were we had to visit that beach too...

15km south of Valencia is La Albufera, a huge freshwater lagoon separated from the sea by a narrow strip of dunes and pine forests. It's a breeding ground and sanctuary for many species of birds. The views are spectacular. Local fisherman wait at the dock with their boats to run you out onto the lagoon to enjoy the sunsets.

A few days were real stinkers, 38 degrees in the shade. It was so hot that you couldn't do anything. We felt sluggish and uncomfortable and sweated constantly. Susie and I headed for cover at the Mercado Central to buy some local produce (jamon, bread, queso). Then we spent an afternoon in las Jardines del real (Royal Gardens), stuffing our faces and napping in the shade of the trees.

We were also lucky enough to see a live Flamenco show at Radio City one night. The guitar was beautiful and the singer was incredible. Not only did she have an amazing voice, but they way she played the castanets and danced was out of this world. I've seen Flamenco on TV before but to see a live show was something else.

Valencia is known as the home of the Paella. La Albufera is surrounded by rice fields. So naturally one would think that you would be able to get a good Paella in Valencia...
Nearly every place offers Paella on it's menu, and it's even included on Menu al Dia at some restaurants. Susie and I tried many times different Paellas and most were pretty poor. However the place we ate at our last night in Valencia would have had to have been the worst Paella in the world, hands down. We'd walked past this restaurant all week, and it was always full (a good sign no?). First we were told that they couldn't make the paella that we wanted and had to choose one from the pre selected menu. Susie had a seafood paella, I wanted the Valencia Paella (it's a chicken paella). I had to have Vegetarian (as apparently they had no chicken. I couldn't have the Valencia Paella in Valencia..go figure?!). I was presented with a pan of greasy rice with saffron thrown over it that had absolutely no flavour at all. Then to add insult to injury the whole debacle cost us nearly €50.
I couldn't eat it. After dinner I was still hungry obviously, so we stopped at a Kebab shop and I had a meal for €3.50. I can't believe that I ate a kebab while in Spain, but at one in the morning it as the only thing open and I was hungry.

Valencia was far better than I had ever imagined in so many ways. But as for being 'The Home Of The Paella I was sorely dissapointed. Then again, after eating my father's paella, nothing else quite shapes up.

An apple boob job and discovering my inner nudist in Alicante.

2007-08-23T03:23:00.000-07:00

We packed our packs and heading for the train station. It never ceases to amaze me how everything fit in at the start of the holiday back in June. I haven´t bought anything, I´ve actually lost and thrown clothes out on the way, but it´s always a hassle to fit in all back in again. Susie is having even more trouble than me, we had to get an extra bag just for her heels!!

We had a 5 hour train ride down the coast to Alicante. It was amazing sitting back and watching the countryside change as we headed further South. It´s extremely dry and a lot more mountainous than I first expected.

I couldn't have been hypoxic, maybe I was just tired, but to pass the time and to amuse myself I started to play around with a pair of apples that I had in my backpack. I was being quite juvenile but I had both Susie and myself (and quite a few other people around us for that matter) in stitches of laughter. I was laughing so hard that I was crying and we were drawing attention to ourselves as we couldn't´t stop. Susie decided to get in on the act and is now considering a boob job after the popularity with the apples.

Alicante is beautiful. Initially when I was planning this holiday I had about 3 or 4 days free before we were going to Valencia, so I just looked at the map to see what other cities were around. I spotted Alicante, saw that it had beaches and was sold. I never imagined it to be as beautiful as it is.

There is a main city beach, Postiguet, which is overlooked by Castillo de Santa Barbara. This is the main beach frequented by tourists. Even though Alicante is a tourist destination, it is still beautiful and hasn´t lost it´s soul to the ravages of tourism as Mallorca has.

The most famous beach in Alicante is Playa de San Juan. It is to the North of the city and has to be reached by either car or train. The beach is amazing, wide, clean and is over 9 kms long. The views of the surrounding mountains from the beach are simply spectacular. We spent our entire second day lazing on this beach working on our tans.

That afternoon we decided to take a look at the Castillo de Santa Barbara. It was a bit of a hike to reach the top but the views of the coastline and city were superb.

On our final day in Alicante, Susie wanted to visit Playa Saladar-Urbanova, which is 5 kms south of the city of Alicante. It´s an uncrowded beach that is quiet and boasts several kilometers of golden sand and has sign posted areas for nudists!!

I never knew that Susie was a nudist. After travelling with her now for nearly a month we´re like an old married couple. Now there´s literally nothing that we haven´t seen of each other.

Back to Barcelona

2007-08-23T02:38:00.000-07:00

Susie and I spent the next few days in Barcelona in the familiar surroundings of Wayne´s apartment. It was so nice to be back with friends in a comfortable setting where we felt relaxed (and there wasn´t drunk German tourist yelling outside our windows at all hours of the night).

Rather than spend the days running all over Barcelona trying to fit all the sights in, I decided to show Susie mainly Gaudi´s sights of interest. I have been to Barcelona on 3 previous occasions, but I never tire of seeing his works. I was also interested to see how much more work had been done to La Sagrada Familia.

So the first afternoon we took in some of Gaudi´s buildings in the city before heading to Park Guell to watch the sunset over Barcelona.

That night we headed out for dinner and drinks with Wayne, Pepe, Valerie and a few other of Wayne´s friends. Susie and I were tired from a day of sight seeing and things quickly got quite silly. We started putting our drinks change down Susie´s top for laughs and she would entertain us with each round....

For our last day we spent it wandering along Las Ramblas, taking in the sights and sounds of the markets.There is a fountain at the start of Las Ramblas, that as tradition has it, if you drink from it you will be sure to return to Barcelona. It´s worked twice before....

Then finally we took in La Sagrada Familia. It has been two years since i was last here in Barcelona and I could see that more work had been completed on the roof inside. However you are no longer allowed to climb the turrets as we were previously allowed. They have been closed to the public for the past 18 months. The only parts that are accessible are the main chapel and the surrounding area outside. It´s a shame that I couldn't´t show Susie the view from atop, but the Church is still breathtaking from whichever angle you are able to view it. It will not be finished until at least 2020.

Mallorca

2007-08-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

Susie and I spent our final afternoon walking around the old town in Ibiza. It's set up on the hill, overlooking Ibiza and it set behind city walls. The views from atop are amazing.

We then caught the ferry to Mallorca. The ferry was MASSIVE and the journey took nearly 3 hours on the open Mediterranean Sea. We landed in Palma De Mallorca, the capital, and took a bus to Arenal.

Arenal is the resort beach town of Palma. We were expecting a bay and maybe a few resorts, and tourists...

Susie and I got off the bus into a tourist hell hole. Everything was neon and loud. Even Ibiza seemed tranquil in comparison. We were accosted by guys out front of bars trying to get us to go in for jugs of booze and table top dancing. It was awful. Susie and I looked at each other wondering what we had done. We had planned on coming to Mallorca for a few days after Ibiza to recover from our time in Ibiza. The party seemed to be going here too, but on a pub scale - full of drunk twenty something German tourist package holiday tours.

We found our Hotel with a minimum of fuss and settled in for the night. We wouldn't make any rash decisions until the morning....

Palma de Arenal is beautiful, but it has been ravaged by tourism on a scale that I haven't seen anywhere before. I thought the beach would have to be beautiful for all the tourism that surrounds it, and in the daylight, it is truly beautiful. But the sheer volume of people around, and the trashy tourist shops selling cheap souvenirs are hard to ignore. We were expecting secluded beaches and palm trees, not neon lights and Germans.

We went for breakfast in one cafe and I asked to see the Menu in Spanish. The waiter looked stupidly at me. So I asked in English. I was presented with a menu in German, full of German Frushstuck. It was too much. After one morning in Arenal, Susie and I decided that we would spend our remaining 2 days discovering other parts of the island.

We caught the bus into the old part of town in Mallorca and went to an old cider house for dinner. The food was very traditional and the wines amazing. I had suckling pig for dinner.

Afterwards we went for a walk to a bar that had been recommended by my friends Dani and Jose, and it had also been written up in the Lonely Planet Guide as a "Must See". It's Called Abaco. It's an old Palace, that has been converted into a cocktail bar. On the street, the entrance is nothing more but a massive set of wooden doors. Once inside your senses are assaulted by flowers. The entire inside has arrangements flowing from everywhere. Classical music plays softly in the background, and the waiters are in Black Tie. The artwork on the walls is amazing. We ordered a Margarita and sat back and took in the ambiance. This was definitely more us...

The next day Susie and I were determined to find a beautiful, secluded beach somewhere. So two bus rides and 4 hours later we found ourselves in the north of Mallorca in Porta De Pallenca. It was quiet, secluded and calm.

We then caught a boat to a secluded beach called Formentor. It was surrounded by mountains and accessible by sea. Lovely. We spent the day lazing in the sun.

That afternoon we made it back to Arenal just in time for a beer and to watch the sunset. It was spectacular!!

Our last day in Mallorca we decided to see the central inland island and the and a few Western Coastal towns. We caught a train to Soller up through the middle of Mallorca. Away from the coast the island is quite mountainous, it reminded me slightly of the Pyrenees.

Once in Soller we caught a tram down to the Port de Soller. It was a lovely enclosed cove, calm and full of boats with a small beach.

We then jumped back onto the bus and headed along the coast to Deia. Michael Douglas owns a villa here and it is considered the prettiest town in Mallorca. It was blazing hot, so Susie and I found a quiet place in the shade overlooking the town. It's quite amazing as the village has been cut into the rocky mountainside around it. This is also where Susie confessed that she dragged me to Mallorca as she saw Claudia Schiffer on a beach in Mallorca in Hello magazine!! Now the truth comes out. She was probably staying at La Residencia, a 480 Euro a night Hotel located in Deia. The Lonely Planet said it's the place to go to rub shoulders with the rich and famous. We could only look over at it from our perch on the hill.

It was back on the bus again, this time inland to Valledemossa. This town must have been having a festival, as all the streets were lined with streamers and there wre people out in droves. We spent the afternoon wandering the streets getting lost in the weaving back streets. We settled finally in a square with a bottle of wine and watched the world drift by.

Then it was back to Arenal to grab the packs and then out to the airport for our flight back to Barcelona. It was with a low cost carrier, Vueling. The flight was delayed nearly 2 hours, so we didn't take off until after 2am. I fell straight asleep, but Susie said that we flew through all this turbulence and the lights were flickering and everyone was panicked. Missed it all.

Ibizaaaaaa!!!!!

2007-08-17T16:57:00.001-07:00

Barcelona and the Love Ball

2007-08-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

I decided on the last day not to do the walk to a nearby village in the morning. I had an 8.5 hour bus ride ahead of me that arvo and wanted to chill out. Besides, my feet were killing me!!

The bus ride was long and uneventful, and I arrived into Barcelona around 1am.

I went to Wayne's place for a much needed cold beer and a shower.

It was so good to see Wayne again. My first time in Barcelona was in 1998 with Wayne, since then he has moved here.

We spent the first two days just lazing around the beach, the pool by the beach and generally taking it easy.I met a lot of Wayne's friend's at the beach that day. He has a great circle of friends and they are all very close.

Wayne and I

Susie arrived the second afternoon. I went out to the airport to pick her up. When the doors from Customs swung open and we saw each other we both couldn't stop smiling. Susie is on my buddy pass and we will be travelling together for the next month to Ibiza, Mallorca, and down the Mediterranean Coast. We went to Africa, India and the USA last year together. We travel well together and she is my best friend.
Susie was buggered from her long flight from Australia so she decided to stay in that night. Wayne and I had other plans...

Love Ball is on this week in Barcelona (really? I didn't know). It's a week long festival, sorta like Sydney's Mardi Gras. It's a our warm up for the week in Ibiza.

From our afternoons spent on the beach I was expecting a lot of fun. People have been handing out flyers to clubs, talking about which party is better, which after party to go to, are you on the guest list?? Too funny!!

The Pool Party was on Wednesday night, so Wayne and I headed to the city outskirts to a convention center for the night's festivities. There we met up with Monica and a few other of Wayne's friends. We also made a few new friends that night. The locals have been nothing but friendly.

Saturday was The Love Ball. It was held in a convention centre out next to where the Pool Party was held on Wednesday night. Grace Jones was on stage when we walked in. That was a bit of a spin out, but she was crap live.

Love Ball was amazing. There were people there from all over the world. The music was heavy but it was so damn hot inside. They were giving out fans to everyone, which was pretty cool (if you waved it frantically in front of your face and body). It really gave the party a Spanish feel seeing the whole dance floor with fans, waving them time to the music. But as it was so hot, and everyone was waving them so much, it wasn't long before they ended up snapping, and soon they joined the mass of plastic bottles strewn on the dance floor.

It was a late night (or an early morning depending on how you look at it!). Once back at home, Wayne and I enjoyed terrorising little Susie.I think that morning Susie may have started to think "What have I got myself in for?" travelling with these two for the next two weeks!!!

Monday morning we rose early, packed our bags, and headed for Ibiza!!!

Los Pyrineos

2007-07-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

Day 1 - Torla

I arrived in Torla about 1pm on Wednesday 25th July. I had to catch 2 buses from Zaragoza, but this time around my trip was a lot less eventful.

The landscape changed from flat plains, to a wall of low mountains which we drove through. Around every turn, the mountains started to get bigger until we turned a final bend and there in front of the bus loomed the Pyrenees. We wound our way upwards towards Torla.

I´d read about Torla in my Lonely Planet and it seemed like a good point to base myself from. I´d found over the Internet a tour company Aragon Aventura, which does organised tours and self guided tours. I´d been on the phone and in contact via e-mail for the past week to sort it all out.

I stepped off the bus into the heat. Torla is a small village nestled at the foot of the Pyrenees, and right next to the entrance to the Ordesa National Park.

I found my hotel and checked in. It wasn´t hard, Torla is only one street really. I was greeting by a hulking mass of a woman that grumbled at me in what I think was Spanish. I explaind in Spanish about my reservation through Aragon Aventura. She mumbled somthing indecipherable and limped in the opposite direction (I never did see if she had a wooden leg!). A blading man with a dead pan expression came to the counter. I put on my most friendly smile and asked to check in. He scowled at me, and pushed a key across the counter. (I was having visions of "Hostel" by now. The old bird with the limp was probly greasing the the chainsaw in the basement).

I didn´t have to meet Dani from Aragon Aventura for my briefing until 6pm, so I spent the afternoon exploring this wonderful village. It´s so quaint and cute.

Ooops, I did it again!

I don´t know if it was the fresh mountain air, or if I was inspired by Britney but I felt I needed a change to symbolise the next stage of my holiday. After asking a few directions, I found myself down a lane way and in front of the hairdressers (yes, they even have one here!!). I walked in and asked the lady behind the counter to cut all my hair off. She looked at me like I was from another planet (my Spanish sounds like a foreigner, and I´m from Australia, I know it´s far away but it´s not another planet)

I wasn´t sure that she understood me, so I asked again. She replied, ´"Are you sure?"

"Si!"

So I took to the chair and asked for a 2 blade all over. There was an assistant and another person in the salon and they stared on in disbelief. It must have made for quite a scene. They even laughed when I asked if I could take photo´s.

After my close shave I went back to the hotel and smirked at the hotel owners expression as I walked in the door. I don´t think he knew what to make of me.

I had a meeting at 6pm with Dani from Aragon Aventura to brief me and give me my maps and trek notes. When he opened the map in front of me, with all the treks highlighted and numbered in different colours, my heart lept into my throat.

"What have I got myself into?" was the first thought in my head.

Acting calm I listened to Dani and asked questions when I didn´t quite understand. I left the briefing feeling a bit anxious but eager to begin the following morning.

I now felt and looked lke a monk about to embark on a pilgrimage (though better dressed!)

Day 2 - The Turieto Path

The first day I head off out of Torla and followed the Ara River towards the Odesa Canyon. The walk was well marked and easy to follow. I passed many waterfalls along the way. It is one of the more popular walks in the National Park and after lunchtime I began to come across more and more people.

I was glad it was an easy trek to start with. The highlight was the Cascada del Estrecho.

All the treks are really well designed with most of the uphill in the morning, and you are trekking to a peak, or a valley, where you can relax and have lunch. The afternoons are usually faster, as they are down hill. But they are trickier as you are tired, and you slide a lot when going down hill. You have to really watch where you are going or you´ll trip, or twist an ankle.

Most treks are between 7 and 9 hours in length. I know it sounds like a long time, but it´s not really. The time passes by, nothing to do but admire the spectacular peaks that soar out of the valleys and loom above you.

I was surprised by how much the terrain can change in one trek. From craggy rocks, across meadows filled with flowers, through a Green forest and into a valley. It´s truly spectacular!!

Time - 6 hours

Day 3 - The Bujarelo Valley

This day I walked along a valley cut by the River Ara to the slopes of the Vignemale massif.

I start most of my treks about 9 am in the morning, so that I´ve usually made it to the half way point by the heat of the day.

I packed more inot my day pack today as I would be staying in a refuge over night in Bujaruelo.

The initial hike up the gorge was quite steep and rocky, it was a beautiful hot day and I was feeling the heat by 10. I took off my cap and let the wind blow along my scalp. The hike wasn´t as well trodden as the first day, and at one point I had to cross a shher rockface with only the assistance of a steel cable bolted into the rock. It was a bit scarey.

I was in Bujaruelo by 1pm, as it was so early I deecided to do a second walk to Valle Otal. It was about 2 and a half hours there, and 2 back. That would have me back in Bujaruelo around 5-6pm easily.

I was blown away by how different this Valle was from Valle Ordessa. It was much greener and lush. It looked like a picture you see in a magazine or on TV, but never actually something you get to see with your own eyes. It was magical!

Valle Otal was wide. I climbed up onto a rock, had lunch, took my shirt off and sunbaked. I spent nearly 2 hours there, fascinated watching the clouds as they moved across the sky and their shadows slid down the valley walls.

The refuge was a simple affair and we had dinner in a hall. I slept in a room of about 20 bunks. I was so tired from walking and the few necessary beers afterwards that I collpased inot a deep sleep.

Height Gain - 330m

Time - 3.5 hours to Bujaruelo, 5 hours to Valle Otal and back from Bujaruelo

Day 4 - Bujaruelo to Torla via Cebollar

Breakfast was at 7.30am. Like all beakfasts I have come to discover in Hosatals and Hotels in Spain, it consists of a cup of coffee and toasted bread (how bread alone can constsitue breakfast is beyond me!). Thank god I pack Protein bars, been living on them here.

I retraced my walk back along the Ara River to the point where you ascend to Cebollar or descend to Torla. The ascent was really tough, it wasn´t well marked and was rocky. Each walk over the week was getting progressively more challenging I was to discover.

This was the first walk that I actually lost my way on for a bit. The path seemed to be getting narrower, and I was actually climbing over boulders. Shortly I was confronted by a huge rockface..dead end. I looked around for the path, there was none. everything lookked the same. Trying not to panic (it was only 2pm, heaps of sunlight left) I searched for the familiar red and white paint marks. Further back alomg the path I saw one on the other side of a stream. I jumped across and was back on track!!

I trudged on up the mountain, higher and higher until I could start to feel fresh air blowing on my face. The trees broke and I was confronted by the most amazing view down the Valley. I was the only one up here, and I didn´t see another person on this mountain fo the entire ascent, and descent (nearly 5 hours). It was incredible.

That afternoon I found an icy cold mountain stream to have a swim in after all the days trekking. Lovely.

Height Gain - Bujaruelo to Cebollar 900m ascent, Cebollar to Torla 1100m descent

Time - 8 hours

Day 5 - The Faja de Racun

I woke to the smell of of smoke. The air was thick with it. I thought there was a bushfire. I ran out into the alley to see the sky filled with smoke. After talking to a few locals, I discovered that the Ordessa Hotel had burned to the ground. It was only a few minutes up the road.

When I caught the bus from Torla to the Ordessa National Park entrance, we drove past the burnt out ruins. People stood around dazed in between fire trucks. There was nothing left of the 3 storey Hotel.

Today's walk was to climb the Circo de Carriatta, traversing the Faja De Racun and descending the Cirque de Catatuero. It's a dramatic and little frequented route.

The inital climb was tough, all uphill and steep. But the view from the base of the cliffs along the Vallet Ordessa was amazing. It was the toughest walk that I had done.

I actually got a bit of vertigo up there. It was an incredibly narrow path that had a cliff face on one side and a sheer drop into woodland below. There was a point where I thought "It's too far along now, can't turn back, gotta press on forward". Scaling around a curved cliff face really scared the hell outta me.

The walk then descended down into an amazing waterfall.

This walk would have had to have been my favourite, for the challenge it presented me and for the rewarding views.

I have really enjoyed my time alone up there. Enjoy the views, the fresh air, the excercise and time to think. I am totally relaxed with not a care in the world.

I think I could do this forever..if my feet didn't hurt so much!!

Height Gain - 500m uphill, 800 m downhill

Time - 5 hours

Day 6 - The Faja de Pelay- The Circuit of the Ordesa Canyon

This is the classic route around the Ordesa Canyon.

The guide notes said to take it nice and easy for the first two hours as it would be a steep climb up through the trees, so I set a slow, steady pace and stuck to it. It's signed as a Dangerous walk and I can easily see why. The path is rocky, steep and it's easy to dislodge stones.

I decided at least to overtake the few people in front of me, as if there were going to be any dislodged stones, they were gonna be mine.

The view from the top was magnificent. It was another beautiful day, the morning air still had a chill to it, and I could see all the way along the canyon. I looked across at the Faja de Racun and could even make out yesterday's trail. I was so high up!!

I then walked along the Canyon for the next 2 hours, descending to La Cola del Caballo (horses tail). The canyon ends in a waterfall, the only way out is to double back on your route.

Spent lunch on a rock, in the sun under the spray of the waterfall. Unreal!

The return leg was much easier, it was all flat and along the base of the Canyon instead of the walls. Even though, I was tired and it took me nearly 3 hours to get back to Ordessa.

Height Gain - 650m uphill, 650 m downhill

Time - 7 hours

My legs ached, all I could think of was a cold beer, and a shower.

The walks have been amazing. I would spend hours marveling at the views, hearing nothing but birds, or waterfalls. The weather was amazing and I didn't have one bad day.

I've discovered a newfound calm inside me while out there. To be alone with your thoughts for days on end is very refreshing. I enjoyed my time immensley and can honestly say that I am now truly relaxed, and for the first time in aong time...extrememely happy.

A bus ride with a Nun to Zaragoza and other tales

2007-07-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

It was with a heavy heart that I said goodbye to my family in San Sebastian and bordered a bus for Pamplona. I was sad to leave after getting to know them again after nearly 12 years, but excited that the next chapter of my trip was about to begin.

Walking down the bus aisle, ticket stub in hand I scanned the seats looking for my number. I saw a Nun sitting about half way down and thought to myself, "Imagine sitting next to a Nun on the bus all the way to Pamplona! What would you talk about?" So it was with some surprise that I stopped next to her, looked up and matched my seat number to the one she was sitting in. Ah..I wouldn´t have to sit near the Nun as she had the wrong seat. Wrong! After comparing tickets we discovered that her seat was the one next to mine and she´d accidentally sat in the wrong one. I meekly suggested that she stay and I´ll sit in hers. I slid in to my seat and fumbled through my bag, trying to desperately not make eye contact with here again in case she would want to start up a conversation. I grabbed the iPod from inside my backpack and quickly stuffed the buds into my ears. I sat bolt upright for the next 2 and a half hours trying not to think sinful thoughts so close to a servant of God. Funny, I´m not religious at all but Nun´s kinda scare me.

The next leg from Pamplona to Zaragoza wasn´t much better. A woman sat next to me and for the entire trip told me everything about her life, from her broken first marriage, to her miscarriage, therapy and now how she´s feeling "mostly" normal again. My constant looking out the window, yawning and feigning sleep did nothing to stop the constant onslaught in Spanish, with barely a gap to take air.

Zaragoza could not arrive soon enough. The new bus terminal they they are building for the World expo next year is amazing!! It´s so HUGE!! It was a bit daunting pulling up and grabbing my pack.

Missed my stop on the bus at Plaza Espana and had to trek a few blocks in the blazing heat. It´s so hot and sunny down here, much hotter than San Sebastian was.

Found my hotel, checked in, grabbed my day pack and hit the streets. With only half a day to explore Zaragoza I wasted no time.

First I went to Aliaferia, Spain´s fines Muslim era edifice outside Andulucia. I was amazing!! The roof detail was incredible. I spent the entire time walking around looking up.

Next I went to Plaza del Pilar, where the enormous Baroque basilica looms over the Plaza. I slipped inside and had a look around. It was cool and quiet inside after the heat and bustle of the street.

Plaza Del Pilar

Catedral del Pilar

Got a quiet dinner planned in one of the local plazas then bed early as I have to rise at 6 am to take another two buses tomorrow morning to Torla, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. I will base myself there for the next week while I do self guided walks around the mountains. I´m a bit nervous but excited at the prospect.

Santander and the Central Basque Coast

2007-07-23T04:48:00.000-07:00

For the weekend I decided to go East along the central Basque Coast to visit two friends of mine, Dani and Jose in Santander.

Jose and Dani

Santander is about 2 and a half hours from San Sebastian by bus in the State of Cantabria. It´s a fishing town that has been pretty much rebuilt since a huge fire leveled nearly all the town in 1941.

A View back towards the Bahia de Santander

Dani and Jose took me for a tour of the coast nearby for the first day and on the next we visited Santillana del Mar. This is a medieval village that has strict planning rules and has lovely preserved bulidings and cobblestone streets.

Santillana del Mar

We also visited Comillas further along the coast. It has some interesting sights such as the Capricho de Gaudi, one of Gaudi´s earlier works, and no where near as famous as his works in Barcelona.

Capricho de Gaudi

Also in Comillas is the Palaccio de Sobrellano, a summer house of the Marques de Comillas.

I´m off to the Pyrenees for 7 days of trekking solo as of tomorrow, so will post another Blog entry in about a week and a bit... that´s if I don´t slide off a Glacier!!

Bibao and the Museo Guggenheim

2007-07-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

After the late night of merry making at the Sociedad it was with a sore head and a full belly (still!) that I rose to catch the bus to Bilbao, one hour West of here.

Bibao is a larger city than San Sebastian, which is a sea side town in comparison. Bibao was an amazing contrast of old and new, with the most most incredible modern glass bulidings alongside the very old.

But the Guggenheim is the city´s showpiece and is one of the world´s most spectacular modern bulidings. The design of the buliding was inspired by the anotomy of a fish and the hull of a boat, both of which are parts of Bilbao´s economy (I did a tour of the Guggenheim..can you tell!!??). I did the tour in Spanish no less thank you very much!

I was fascinated by the design and the detail that went into the construction of the buliding. From the materials used,to the new technology that was developed for the construction, only added to my awe of the building. It is simply beautiful.

I was more intereseted in the building itself rather than the artworks contained inside, most of of which was Modern. The ´Fish Gallery¨on the ground floor is the size of a footbal pitch and at over 130 meters long, it´s Europe´s largest. (It´s always about size isn´t it?)

I spent over 4 hours walking around, and inside the building amazing at the curves and lines that Frank Gehry designed. No other building has had quite an impact on me. The Opera House is impressive, but this is incredible.

The Gastronomic delights of San Sebastian (Does my Arse look big to you?)

2007-07-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

Pinxtos

My time here in San Sebastian has been non stop eating. If I´m not eating at my Tia Chiqiu´s house, I´m at a Tapas bar (Pinxtos they´re called here) with my cousin Elena and her friends. And like Pringles, you simply cannot stop at just one!!

Javi, Oikin, Montse, myself and Elena at one of many Pinxtos bars

Life here in Spain revolves around the family, and the food. The Spanish have a wonderful way of living, something that I could all too easily get used too!! I think all the weight that I lost in London with the Subway Diet I have put back on, and then some, in the 2 weeks that I have been here. Yes I am still running and going to the gym, but I´m eating way too much for the workouts to make a difference. I´m getting fat fast!! Thankfully I have a weeks trekking in the Pyrenees ahead of me before I head to Barcelona and Ibiza, it will give me a chance to walk off all this food.

It´s not only the food but the time in which the Spanish eat. You have breakfast in the morning like we do, but lunch is about 2pm, and it´s a sit down affair with the family, and usually involves 3 plates, starting with chorizo and bread, followed by a salad, and then usually meat with pimientos. The dinner isn´t eaten until about 11pm, and again, it´s 3 plates of food!! I´m a sucker for Spainsh food, especially my Aunt´s, so I´ve been eating up big time.

But besides eating I have also been taking in the sights of this beautiful city. Unfortunately I have only had about 3 full days of sunshine, even though it is hot all the time. So for those 3 days I was out baking on the beach!!

Bahia de La Concha

San Sebastian is surrounded by low mountains, the two most famous of which surround the Bahia De La Concha.

Monte Urgull sits above the old town and is topped by a low castle and a statue of Christ, similar I guess to Rio. One afternoon I hiked up there with my cousin Elena and met Natalia, Ricardo and the kids there. The view is amazing!!

The view from Monte Urgull across to Monte Igueldo

Afterwards we took a walk through La Parte Vieja and came across "Las Gigantes", huge paper mache figures that were being carried through the streets as part of a Fisherman´s festival. Accompanying them are "Las Cabezons", who are smaller but have large heads and are carrying inflated pig´s stomach´s (seriously!) that they hit passers by with. The kids scream and run around in front of the procession. That´s what I love about this country, around every corner is something new and exciting. The Spanish have many traditions which they live by and truly enjoy life.

A "Gigante" with a "Cabezon" in front

But the view from the opposite side of the bay atop Monte Igueldo is breathtaking. To get there you have to take this very old tram (furnicular railway) that is at such an incline it makes you dizzy if you look out the side. Once there though, the views are uninterrupted for miles.

Furnicula Railway

The view atop Monte Igueldo looking across to Monte Urgull

I have also been taking in the towns east of here along the Central Basque Coast. Natalia, Ricardo, Nora, Eric and I spent a day in the car, driving along the coast. The highway weaves along the coastline through some of the most quaint fishing villages and gorgeous beaches. We stopped at Orio, Zarautz, Getaria and Zumaia.

Zarautz

Natlia, Nora, Pete and Ricardo at Zumaia

Throughout the week I have been meeting my Uncles and my extended family that I have not seen for about 12 years. Tio Jose Marie and Tia Justi had me over for Comida (lunch) one day and that was followed the next day with lunch with Tio Juan and Tia Juli. My cousins Javi and Oliana were also there. It goes without saying that both lunches were an extended affair with lots of laughter, and catching up to do after so much time. Did I mention that we also ate heaps too??

Tia chiqui, Tio Jose Marie and Tia Justi

Me with Javi, Oliana and Tio Juan

I have also been lucky enough through one of Elena´s friends, Fernando, to have been invited to a ´Sociedad´. A Sociedad is a club where men can gather to cook and drink. Some do not allow women inside at all. This Sociedad did, but in all of them, women are not allowed in the kitchen, that´s purely man´s territory. Members have keys and can go at any time of the day or night. To get in you either must be a member, or be invited. As a tourist there would have been no way that i would have been able to experience this side of Spanish life if it not for my cousin and her friends.

The entrance to La Sociedad

Inside La Sociedad

Morcilla (blood sausage)

Pimientos

We all met at a Pinxtos bar first (of course!) for a beer before the men said good bye to the women and headed off to the Sociedad to start preparations for dinner. It was a feast!! We started with morcilla (blood sausage), followed by salad. That was then followed by Pollo con Patatas (chicken and potatoes) and finished with the most amazing array of pastels. Of course you are drinking continually throughout!! It was an experience like no other. Everyone was so open, friendly, and willing to teach me the traditions that go along with being part of a Sociedad. One such tradition is that after dinner, everyone must sing a song. Of course being the ´Gringo´ I had to go first. So I downed my glass of Vino Tinto, and in front of a club of about 20 sang a rather bad rendition of ´I still call Australia Home´. It was met with thunderous applause. Obviusly they didn´t understand what I was singing and it goes without saying that they were drunk otherwise there would have been cat calls!! Each person around the table then sang a song, and later on we all joined in. I didn´t know many of the Spanish songs but it was great to watch and listen.

Fernando in the kitchen

A Gastronomic feast

I´m thinking that we should start our own Sociedad when I get back to Sydney. What do you think??

Photographical Evidence from San Fermin

2007-07-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

I have previously written a Blog entry about my experiences in San Fermin. I tried to explain what it was like in the streets, but felt that for you to truly appreciate the experience you need to see photo graphical evidence.

Hopefully these photo´s will complete the picture. You can follow the obvious decline throughout the day into a drunken stupor!!

Enjoy :)

Destination - San Sebastian

2007-07-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

I phoned Tia Chiqui in San Sebastian on the mobile while on the bus from and told her that I was on my way.

I was picked up at the bus station by Ricardo, the husband of my cousin Natalia. At first neither of us recognised each other. I paced backward and forward, we were both eyeing each other out but neither of us were sure. I don't know whether it was because I looked like death warmed up ( I hadn't showered in 2 days, my white sneakers were torn open and covered in mud and I think I stank) or whether it was simply the passing of time (I prefer the latter).

I then spent the afternoon with the family at Tia Chiqui's place after a short stop at the house of Ricardo and Natalia to meet my new second cousins Nora and Eric. They are gorgeous and I instantly made a friend in little Nora. She prattled away constantly at me in Spanish and I had trouble keeping up with her. I had to hold her hand crossing the street, sit next to her at lunch and play with her constantly. She´s an absolute gem, and makes me wonder what my little Niece Arwen will be like at her age, I can hardly wait!

Nora with Natalia

They offered me if I wanted to shower first before lunch. The thought of a hot shower was so tempting but as soon as I knew that food was on offer I passed. (Maybe that was their way of trying to tell me that I was rank?) We had a typical Spanish lunch starting with jamon cerano and cheese, followed by arroz con pollo (chicken in rice). I was starving and had to hold myself back from devouring everything within my grasp. I didn´t want to make myself sick after not eating much for the past 4 days, and I didn´t want to make a bad impression on the family. I hadn´t seen them in 12 years and didn´t want to appear like an uncouth foreigner with bad manners. I managed to fill them in on my adventures in San Fermin in between mouth fulls of food.

Tia Chiqui, Natalia, Elena, Nora and Ricardo

After lunch we went for a walk along the beaches while Tia Chiqui and Elenena pointed out attractions and points of interest. I remembered a lot from my previous visit but the city does have some new buildings since I was last here.

I have now been in San Sebastian for 4 days and was finding it a little bit difficult to get used to the pace of life here. After a non stop month of work in London, followed by 5 days of partying in San Fermin it has taken me a little while to calm down and simply relax. After a few good nights sleep in a bed and a full belly most days I´m learning to. I have also found a local gym to take out my excess energy in so I´m well pleased!!

I did have some trouble setting up a Spanish mobile phone and I apologise to those of you who I sent messages to but could not respond to. I started to think something was wrong after 2 days of not getting a reply from Australia that something was up. I know that I have been gone nearly 6 weeks now (can u believe it!) but didn´t think that I was forgotten that easily. I have since changed mobile phone companies and everything works perfectly now (the whole exercise cost over 60 euro but we won´t talk about that!)

I nearly forgot birthday on the 10th. I am now the ripe old age of 34. Thank you to everyone who remembered and sent me a text and called me. It really means a lot to me and when away from home you really appreciate those things. It made me a bit homesick as well.

I spent the night of my birthday with my Cousin Elena and her friends having a few quiet beers at a tapas Bar here in San Sebastian. It was a lot quieter to what I have done in previous years but a welcome change.

Having the time of my life. wish you were here!!!

Festival of San Fermin (The Running of the Bulls) or the Tale of the Only Gay in the Village

2007-07-10T07:14:00.000-07:00

The bus ride from Hell

The Spanish leg of my tour started on the 3rd of July with a 20 hour bus ride from London, across the channel, through France and down into Spain (yes you did read this right, it was a 20 hour bus ride!!). It was a cheap package tour that I had bought over the net with a company called PP Travel. I did this as I was unable to find accommodation in San Fermin for the Festival and I thought it would be a good experience...

The brochure said it was a luxury coach with a toilet, TV and heaps of leg room... It was a run down bus with old seats, the TV didn´t work on board and the toilet stank even before we left London. By the time we were across the Channel it was positively disgusting! Think a flight to Mumbai but full of twenty somethings, drinking non stop and you might be close.

To pass the time we had introduction games at the front of the bus on a microphone. We had to say our name, age (I was the oldest on the Tour!), where we were from, where we were going and if we were a red or green light (taken or single..Urgh!). It was so uncomfortable. I made the mistake of saying I was a green light (single). Looking back I know that I now should have said I was a red light and I would have been left alone. I was the only Gay in the Village and had to keep up this act for the next 4 days. It was at times so uncomfortable that I nearly grabbed my pack and ran for the hills.

The campsite was near a small town called Estella, about a 45 min drive from Pamplona. Our tents were set up in an area alongside caravans of local Spanish people on holidays. I dread to think what they thought of Australians after the 4 days that we were there.

As I was travelling alone I was allocated a tent that would accommodate 2 people at a squeeze, with 2 other guys. Yes, they wanted to squeeze the 3 of us in one tent. The tour brochure said that every 3 person tent would only have 2 people in each, so you would have plenty of room. It was the first of many mishaps on the tour. I was starting to get fed up with this already so I approached the information tent and asked to be moved. They eventually conceded after I pointed out what I had printed on my receipt regarding numbers per tent and gave us 2 tents for the 3 of us. So we decided amongst ourselves that we would take turns sleeping in the 3rd tent. Two of us would sleep in one, and the 3rd would sleep with the packs. I jokingly said that if u picked up a girl, to hang a t-shirt out front of the tent so that the other 2 would know that you were busy. This comment came back to haunt me later that night....

So after dropping off our packs we started drinking heavily. There were parties organised at the campsite every day, a Welcome Party, a Pool Party, A party for the sake of getting shitfaced party (I just made that up, but you get the idea). I have never seen so many people drink so much constantly. I decided that I was going to have to be seriously drunk to cope with this situation, so I became quite a Sangria drinker. I was rotten within the first 3 hours.

Drink up!!

Dead tired and not coping with the constant drinking I tried to slink away from the party at the campsite to get some sleep and saw a t-shirt blowing in the wind. I was banished to the second tent where I stayed for the next 3 days.

Home

The tour was with a group called PP Travel, which stands for Party People travel, I prefer to call it Piss Poor Travel. Everything about it was feral, from the people (think Parramatta Leagues Club on a Sat night but much, much worse), to the quality of breakfast that was provided (a food line like in the movie 'Oliver'. A scoop of cereal, and a piece of fruit. Every morning I nearly said, "Please sir, can I have some more?"). You couldn´t use the toilets of a morning until after the cleaners had been as they were either covered in vomit, shit or both! I should have taken a photo to prove it. I held the morning bog until we reached Pamplona most days and went in a public toilet, that gives you some idea of the living conditions. I was constantly tired, cold, hungry, uncomfortable and at my wits end.

The second day we went on a tour of the seaside resort town of San Sebastian. It´s a beautiful town about and hour and a half north of Pamplona on the coast.It has amazing beaches, the most famous being Bahia De La Concha. My Dad is from there, I have family there, and will be staying there for the next 3 weeks with my Tia Chiqui after the tour. I decided to spend this one day getting a mobile phone sorted out, then laze on the beach.

Bahia De La Concha

I did find a group of about 4 people on the tour that weren´t quite like the rest, even they were horrified of the condition of things at times. A couple, Bree and Ryan, a single guy Nick and his friend Leanne. We stuck together most of the time.

Me with Nick

I had also gotten quite friendly with a pair of girls that were travelling together, Renee and her best friend Regina. They were a pair of nurses and seemed like good time girls so I stuck with them for the first day or two. But things went a bit side ways one day when Renee said to me when she was really pissed, ¨What´s wrong with you? I´ve been trying to get your attention all day and you keep ignoring me!¨. Things then went from bad to worse when Nick told me that it was known to most in our group that Renee and Regina had been competing for my attention. I decided then to avoid the girls and any further sticky situations. I avoided travelling on their bus into town and if I saw them in the food line I would head in the opposite direction. I had pulled off the straight act a bit too convincingly. I was the only Gay in the Village and no one knew!

With Renee and Regina before I decided to call it quits

It was the first and last time that I will ever do anything like that again. It was an experience like no other, but it makes for a funny tale that I can laugh at now.

But once we were in Pamplona, I forgot all about PP Travel and my misadventures. Pamplona was INCREDIBLE!!

The Festival of San Fermin would have had to have been the most amazing street party that I have ever been to, or will ever go to in my life. I don´t think that any explanation I can give you, or pictures I can show you could possibly capture the feeling in the streets. It wasn't just in the streets, it was the entire city. Everyone from all walks of life from the young to the old, locals, tourists, everyone was there to have fun.

For the Festival you have to wear head to toe white, a red sash about your waist, and a red scarf around your neck. It is a piss up in standard that I have never seen in my life. The Spanish know how to put on a party. It was a party, a water fight, a sangria and champagne fight, people were throwing eggs, flour, water, everything!! By mid morning I was covered head to toe in Sangria, champagne and wine. To clean off you would stand under a balcony and scream "agua", which means water, and the locals would throw buckets over the side over you to clean you off. After the shower, you would head back into the throng of people to continue drinking. It was amazing!!

Decked out in my whites ready for the festival

I have photo's on a disposable camera which I will put onto a disc and post on this blog in a later entry. It will give you some sort of impression of what it is like. It's like nothing I think I will ever experience again.

The opening party was held mainly in the Town Square, and there were that many people that at some points I was being carried along with the crowd, my feet not even touching the ground. We gathered there because at 12 mid day, the Mayor released a rocket to signal the opening of the festival. That was the first time I began to have doubts about running with the bulls. The sheer number of people crammed into the Square was frightening! Girls were passing out and being carried out above people´s heads, glass was everywhere and the streets were slippery with alcohol. If I was going to be stuck in a crowd like that, with a 600 kilo bull bearing down on me, there would be no way that I would be able to get out of the way.

Every street, every Plaza was full of people absolutely hammered. It was hysterical! In one Square there is a Statue that when people got really hammered, they would climb and jump off. There are more injuries from this activity than the Bull Run. I found this Square and stood and watched in disbelief as person after person climbed to the top and lept into the crowd. I don´t know if they were caught or not, the cheering was too loud to hear the thud if they hit the ground. Crazy!!

The first day of the run, the 7th of the 7th I woke at 5am to catch a 6am bus into Pamplona after a 12 hour drinking binge (did I mention that I had a sleep in the park and had managed to lose my shirt?) I had a cracking hangover and thought "I can barely walk this morning, let alone run". I decided to go to the Plaza de Toro's to watch the end of the run.

Hungover but safe

So I sat there and watched as the runners entered the Plaza. You could tell when the Bulls were about to enter as the pace picked up and the sheer terror on their faces was visible, even from where I was sitting. I was also surprised by the sheer size of the bulls, they would have been the size of a Toyota echo..easily. They were HUGE! I was happy to be watching from afar. As it turned out, this was the day that the Aussie got gored. I have since learned from a few phone calls and e-mails that I had a few of you worried. I was too chicken to run!!

After the run finished in the Plaza, a few smaller Bulls were released to run about the Plaza and knock people about. This was a laugh.

Plaza de Toros

After the Running of the Bulls we went back to the Campsite. I then decided that I wanted to see Pamplona at least once not drunk, so I took the bus back into town and did a day of sightseeing. The Festival was still in full swing, it continues for 7 days straight,but it was not as frenzied as the opening day. Families were out, there were street processions, stalls selling food and bands in the street. It was much more of a Festival feel than a wild piss up like the first day.

After a day of sightseeing it was back to the camp for another night of drinking....

If you can´t beat ém, join ém

Sangria!

That night a massive hailstorm hit Estella. I made it back to the tent in time and cowered inside while it shook and trembled around me. I felt like Dorothy in the 'Wizard of Oz', waiting for the tent to lift off the ground and get carried away. The storm lasted about 45 mins and afterwards the campsite was flooded. Luckily our tent held up, others were not so lucky and were flooded or torn apart. You gotta laugh no?

What next?

The next day when I went back into Pamplona I decided to watch the run from behind a barricade. Watching the men squeeze into the plaza was scary. The police were along side and would hit anyone with a baton that tried to enter through the wrong entry point. When the run started, they also beat runners with their batons to get the crowd running..hysterical!!

People were hanging off every available space to watch the run, balconies, rooftops, on top of bins... there was not a clear vantage point for miles.

The icing on the PP Travel shit cake was when I fronted up to the information tent back at camp after the morning Bull run to see when my transfer into town would be. I was told that no one had paid for a transfer that day. I had to go back to my tent and grab my booking reference to prove that I had indeed paid. I was told that if I stuck around until 6pm (it was 10am) that they might be able to fit me on a bus to London and drop me off on the way. The other option was to catch a local bus from Estella ( a small town 3 km from the campsite). The next bus left at 11am, then 5 pm.

I had my packed stuffed within 5 mins and was on the road into town. The tour group had done this to a number of other campers, so it was a bit like the TV show, ¨The Amazing Race¨. We all had packs on our backs trying to find a secret envelope (in this case the bus station and the coveted bus ticket to San Sebastian). I made the trek with a 20 kg pack on my back in 30 mins. My legs were dead, my arms numb from the circulation being cut off by my pack, but I made it. I collapsed into the seat and breathed a sigh of relief that I would not have to spend another minute with that group.

A Pride filled weekend with Matt in London

2007-07-02T03:54:00.000-07:00

I couldn't have asked for a better last weekend in London.
My best friend Matt flew into London on Friday and we had the weekend planned together.
Friday night Matt met me at Balans after my last shift and we headed out to enjoy the London night life. We headed up to Vauxhall and enjoyed the sights and sounds that Barcode has to offer.
Even though we were both tired, Matt from flying and myself from working that night, we managed to have a good night. Maybe too good a night... nah..there's no such thing!

The next morning we woke to an overcast London, wet and miserable. It was the Pride weekend and there was an expected crowd of close to 70 thousand people expected to converge on central London. However the night before there had been two car bombs discovered in Central London, just right where we were planning on going that day, around the corner from Trafalgar Square.
The Tube system was a mess, many lines had been closed down and getting around London was looking to be a challenge.

We decided to gather our thoughts and clear our fuzzy heads with the breakfast of champions...a Bloody Mary. Hair of the dog really does work for those of you who doubt the benefits of alcohol first thing in the morning.

So after all the essential vitamins and minerals that Tomato and Vodka have to offer had taken their effect, Matt and I trudged off into the bowels of the tube system to fight our way into central London. It was at times nerve wracking down there, public announcements telling you to be aware and to keep an eye out for any suspicious behaviour and to report any unattended bags. Meanwhile you are being herded with hundreds of people up staircases and along platforms underground, and I was thinking to myself, 'There's no way you could get outta here in a hurry if you needed to'. It was a welcome relief to exit Piccadilly Circus into the gloom of an overcast London day.

London Pride was a washout out. Trafalgar Square was empty. A few stalls were set up and a stage was also erected in the middle of the square but that was it. There were a few revellers running around trying to raise spirits, but the only spirits Matt and I were interested in were the sort that came in a bottle. We decided to cut our losses, and after a photo opportunity with the local police officers, headed up to Soho Square to see if there was any life left in the day.

Soho had more of a pulse going on, but I think the combination of bad weather, the bomb scares, and the Tube closures had pretty much killed it for the Pride celebrations. Squizzy was meant to meet us but couldn't make it uptown, transport was way too difficult.

Matt and I were not going to let a few bomb scares and bad weather rain on our parade so we started at one end of Soho and progressively made it to the other, stopping at nearly every bar on the way. whenever it would rain we would duck into some warm pub, grab a chair and settle down for a few rounds. When it would clear up, we'd head back out onto the streets again.

It was a great way to spend an otherwise overcast day in London, pub crawling with ya best mate. But there was a point near the end there (I think about the 6 or 7 hour mark) that I couldn't face any more beer, and when Matt wasn't looking I was tipping my Pints out when he wasn't looking, just to keep up. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not that strong a drinker. I even had the usual Bacon Double Cheeseburger Meal to soak up some the alcohol on the way home. Nothing tastes as good as a greasy burger after a day on the turps, however the guilt's the next day over consuming something so fattening...well... (think treadmill, sit ups, no carbs, self flagellation)

My last Sunday I woke with surprisingly no hangover, ok, maybe a slight ache behind the eye balls. I spent the day with Beth and Squizzy in Wimbledon Village where we dropped in to see Lara briefly, who had to Work Wimbledon all weekend. She looked so official in her uniform.

We spent the afternoon catching up in a Pub (yes, the pub has become my favourite haunt) and met up with Uncle Vic, Dave and Heather for a final meal together. It was a fun night that involved team Bingo and quizzes ( I was crap at it) so I stuck to drinking (I'm getting good at that!!).

Uncle Vic, Dave and Squizzy

Heather and Aunt Beth

So this will be my last post from London. As I'm typing I'm trying to get the last of my washing to dry (in this weather it's a challenge) and shortly I will start packing.

Tomorrow I'm off to Pamplona for the Festival de San Fermin, otherwise known as the Running of the Bulls. I'm catching a Bus from Paddington station across the Channel, down through France, and into Spain, about 20 hours in all. Should be a good way to meet others on the tour and to enjoy the scenery on the way.

Will post again from Spain in a week or two. As I will be camping in the hills of Navarra I don't think that I will have access to a computer anytime soon.

An few unexpected surprises, Squizzy my hero and a quiet weekend (yes I do have them!)

2007-06-28T02:16:00.000-07:00

Another week here in London and the weather has turned foul. It's cold, wet and freezing. I have come down with a nasty cough and blocked nose. Not sure what could have bought this on, could be the Subway Diet I'm on, would have nothing to do with my lifestyle that's for sure!

Jenny, Neil, Jorge and I

Got a text message on Wednesday from Jenny, and Neil. They were in town on a work trip. On the same flight was my old flatmate and friend, Jorge. It was an unexpected surprise to have a visit from friends back home so soon. It was great to see them again, catch up and of course have a few beers. There's something about catching up with close friends away from home that is so special, it really makes you appreciate the time you have together. You will be happy to know that I did make the last Tube home, though I nearly did toss my cookies in the Tube on the way back (oops!)

Squizzy and I

Friday night was my chance to catch up with my cousin Victoria, as you know from my previous Blog she's affectionately known as Squizzy. We had dinner in Soho, sat and chatted for a couple of hours and caught up on things. It has been difficult to have some quality time alone with Squizzy since I have been here as we have always been on the run (or I have been on the run!). It's funny, Squizzy and I even though we are worlds apart, have had very similar things happen to us in our lives. It was nice to finally spend some time just chewing the fat and getting to know each other that little bit better.

After dinner we went to G.A.Y for a few drinks then onto the club afterwards. We left G.A.Y about 1.30 AM and were heading up Tottenham Court Road. I was tanked (no! really?) and had the urge for some grease, so I ducked off into Burger King for a Bacon Double Cheeseburger Deluxe Combo Meal (I can feel the arteries hardening just typing this). I left Squizzy on the corner chatting on her mob to Aunt Beth.
When I floated out of Burger King on a grease fuelled cloud 9 Squizzy was no where to be seen. There was a crowd of people about a block up standing around, and the Police were in attendance. As I started to walk towards the crowd, Squizzy came out of the crowd towards me. While she was waiting she had seen two guys get into a punch up. One fella had the other pinned down and was punching him repeatedly in the head, while the crowd stood around and watched. Squizzy being an officer of the law, even though she wasn't on duty, ran over into the fray and broke them up. She pulled one guy off the other and started to diffuse the situation. The Police in uniform arrived shortly after, but Squizzy had already saved the day. My cousin the hero!!

James, Beth and Josh

Come the weekend I thought it would be good to Spend some quality time with my family here in London, not to mention give my liver a well deserved break. Beth and I went for a drive down south to get the boys and take them to go and see 'Fantastic 4' , which by the way is much better than the first movie. We went out for dinner before hand and then went back to Jason and Lizzie's afterwards.

Lizzie

Jason

Sunday night after work I went for dinner with Beth, Uncle Vic, Dave, Heather and her Mum who was visitng from South Africa. It ws nice to have a good feed (the food was amazing, much better than Subway) and to catch up with everyone.

It seemed to be the week of unexpected surprises. Yesterday while I was sitting in Soho having a coffee, who should walk by but Wayne. This is my dear friend who I have known for years and who I will be staying with while I am in Barcelona. We are also going to Ibiza together with Susie and Cissi. He had just finished his flight for BA but ws unable to get across to Spain as the flights were full. We caught up quickly for a coffee and made a few plans for August. Will keep you posted on the developments.

Wayne

The Subway Fresh Diet

2007-06-25T05:35:00.000-07:00

It really works!! I have been living on the Chicken Breast Lite Lunch meal option (pictured). It's £2.99, which is dirt cheap (under $10 AUD) and it's quick and easy. And with only 5.2 grams of fat you're laughing. Consume one a day to start with, more if your budget allows it.

After 3 weeks of living on this diet I have successfully lost 3.5 kilos. You also need to be working a waitering job that has you on your feet all day, combined with a maximum of 5 hours sleep a night and you too can lose weight just as easily as I have. But don't worry, you can easily add Carbs to this diet simply by drinking beer (I have chosen this option, regularly too I might add). You can regulate your Carb intake with the number of Pints that you consume in a sitting.

Note.. Don't try what I did last week and get the whole weeks Carb intake in one Sunday afternoon sitting, and miss the last Tube home...or it's the Night Bus for you!! (Read previous Blog)

London Lite, Edna and the Tale of one pint too many and the return of the Night Bus Home (Again!)

2007-06-20T06:10:00.000-07:00

The London Lite, essential free reading that is thrust into your hands as you enter a Tube station on any given day. It's full of such useful information as what Posh Spice was wearing when she threw a ball to open a baseball match in the US, or what she wore to the Fashion Awards (not much but a corset,heels and nickers) and what an amazing push up bra she has (it's called a boob job). Oh ..it also has some news and weather squeezed in between all the pix of Posh and the occasional C list Big Brother celebrity who has made a racially inappropriate comment, been kicked out of the house and is now hated and hounded by the press and the entire nation at large. (If you really care what happens to them you can follow their sob story in Heat magazine, another quality publication).

I ensure that I get my FREE copy each day on my way to the Tube at Wimbledon. Makes the Tube bearable, and passes the time quickly.

Forgot to mention last week that I went to the Simon Webb Concert at Hammersmith Apollo with Beth, Squizzy and Lara. Simon Webb used to be in the boy band BLUE, so I was expecting more of the same, but we were all pleasantly surprised. the guy can sing and man can he dance! It was a great night. The Hammersmith Apollo as a venue is great, it's a big old theatre with crappy seats and looks a bit run down, but every seat has a great view (sounds a bit like a 747-300 doesn't it?)

Beth, Squizzy and I at the Simon Webb Concert

So when I haven't been working as I mentioned earlier in my previous post, I have been catching up with friends. I had lunch with my girlfriend Cissi in Soho the other day. I met Cissi years and years ago, when I was much younger and used to go to TRADE when I was in London and not much else. We would meet at the bottom of the stairs at Turnmills nightclub every second Sunday when I was in London. Obviously TRADE no longer exists, and when you stop clubbing as much as we used to people go by the by, but not Cissi. I have visited her in her home town of Stockholm, Sweden and she has also made the visit 'Down Under' to visit me. So it was great to see each other after so much time and catch up. Cissi will be joining me on my Ibiza stint late on in August, along with Wayne and Susie.

Cissi!

Friday after work I caught up with my younger Cousin Dave and his girlfriend, Heather. We met at Ember Bar in Farringdon for a few rounds before going to their place for dinner. Dave and Heather had already had a more than a few by the time I turned up (late as usual) and as it was a Friday arvo the place was in full swing. We proceeded to get pleasantly smashed which made the train ride to their place very interesting. I had to front up to work the next morning at 9 am and man did I feel it!

Heather and Dave

Later in the night...

So I guess you are all wondering....'Who is Edna?' Well on a Sunday afternoon, at Vauxhall Tavern there is this famous Drag act. It's based on Dame Edna. But there's no lip syncing to show tunes here boys and girls, no this is sing along , stand up comedy, live performance at it's funniest and best. I was in absolute hysterics!

Edna

Everything was in bad taste but it was so funny. She didn't pick on audience members and make fun of them, or any bitchy crap like that. It was witty satire and took digs at everything from gay marriage to Grease to current affairs. She was unreal!! She got the entire audience to sing along at one point...I even ended up singing along to Elaine Paige's 'I know Him So Well', and the scary thing was that I didn't know the words until they were coming out of my mouth (Must have been all those years Mum played it over and over on the LP player..along with Dolly Parton, ABBA and Juio Iglesius)

I went along with friends of mine who now live in London, Andrew and Marcus and friends of theirs that were visiting. I proceeded to drink pints of ale, which went down rather nicely after the Sunday shift at Balans (now that's another whole tale in itself..think a Jo Burg trip but in a restaurant and instead of 15 hours, everything happens in 3!! It was manic!)

Andrew and Marcus

So as I mentioned, I was happily downing pints of beer like the locals (man can these British lads drink!) and after a hectic day at work, and averaging not more than 5 hours sleep a night since I have been here...well I'll let a picture paint a thousand words huh?

No caption necessary!!

Another round was on offer, as as I stood there (actually swayed there) , I thought 'Yeah there's time...I'll just get the last Tube home huh?'.

I've learned the hard way that the Underground on a Sunday closes at 11.30pm. So it was back to my familiar friend, the Night Bus. I'm getting quite adept working out how to get where, usually sometime between midnight and the hours of 5am... But the ride takes anywhere from an hour, to 3 hours. Try staying awake for that!!

Did I mention that I had to start work a 9am at Balans? .... only to turn up in a state in the morning, to have Max tell me that the shifts had been changed and that I was working that night instead.

Hope you get a laugh outta that, I didn't.

First week in London

2007-06-15T03:15:00.000-07:00

My trip started off really well, with seat 26B all the Way to London Via Hong Kong (for those of you who don't fly, that's a Business Class seat!). I basically slept most of the way, only drank 3 glasses of wine and watched two movies (loved Happy Feet!). So I arrived feeling semi human rather than crap like one does after such a long haul.

Who me? Jetlagged??

As soon as I got off the planeI got myself an Oyster card for the Tube and I was off to Wimbledon to meet my Aunt Beth and get set up in my new home for the next month. I have my own room, my own set of house keys and Beth lets me come and go as I please. I'm feeling welcome and at home already.

The first night I spent at home having dinner with my Aunt and Uncle and my cousin Victoria and her girlfriend Lara. After dinner we went to Richmond park, a reserve not far from my Aunt's place where there are deer roaming around. It was quite surreal watching all these Stag just wander past the car. I was pretty jet lagged and kept falling asleep ( that is so unlike me!). I woke up once to find a deer blocking our way, so we had to wait for it to move before driving on. It was a great way to start my time here and probably the most relaxing night that I have had here to date.

Aunt Beth, Victoria (Squizzy) and Lara

The next afternoon I met with Max in Soho (he's the Manager of Balans west in Earls Court, the restaurant where I am working for the next 2 months). Here I was thinking it would be a leisurely lunch, followed by cocktails when Max informs me that training starts that night at 7pm. So I had 2 hours to get from Soho, to Wimbledon, then back to Earls Court to start work that night. It would be the start of a very busy week for me that has not seen me have a minutes rest.

Balans West Earls Court

It's great working at Balans. For once I am not a manager, so if there are any problems I simply pass them onto to Max. The staff are all great, some what young ( the average age is 25, so at 33 I feel like a fossil) and rather camp, but it's all in good fun. It's extremely busy there and you don't really get a moments rest, but it's a welcome change from my life in Sydney.

Max and a workmate Richard

So since Wednesday I have worked every night from 7pm to close, which varies on the night from between 11pm to 2 am. I have become quite good at catching the night bus home from Earls Court. I catch the 74 to Putney Bridge and then Change to the 93 to Wimbledon. Each day I spend roughly one to two hours on public transport, which doesn't bother me as I have time to read. I am tearing through my book (currently reading Stephen King's Dream catcher). The only hassle is u have to be organised and plan your day accordingly. I have to take my gym gear, my work clothes, and a change of clothes if I plan on going out afterwards.

But it hasn't all been hard work, those of you who know me know that i can always manage to fit in a good time or two and I have certainly done that :)

Went to Bar code in Vauxhall on Thurs night after work and then had a HUGE night at Club Fabric on Sunday (DTPM). It's hard though trying to get up the next day and having to face work. Working every day, even though it's shift work, is much harder than operating a flight then having a few days off.

I spent the days off over the weekend with my 2 second cousins James and Josh. They are best kids and I have loved hanging out with them. We spent the day throwing ball in the park and eating Burger King (I know I know..I spent 40 minutes on the treadmill after that day!). But I can tell you I was shagged having to spent all day with them before having to front up for a 6 hour shift at work. ( I guess I just don't have the stamina of a 7 or 13 year old for that matter)

James

I have just had the past 3 days off work and have spent them trying to catch up on e-mails (I'm sorry if I haven't mailed yet, I'm getting around to it), buying socks (I didn't pack enough) and trying to catch up on sleep..unsuccessfully I might add too!!

Post ya responses. you can also e-mail me direct as well.

Hope that you are happy and well.