spain travel journal, second installment.

22 de Agosto, 2009. Sabado.

Estoy asentado aqui, en la Pradera de Ordesa, desayunando de un pobladilo de chocolate, despues de una naranja. Arrived in Torla yesterday, it's a beautiful little town, all cobblestoned streets and bricks and flowers. Went straight to the Parque Nacional for some trekking. It was gorgeous. I did a shorter trek, the book said it would take 5-6h minus 1 hour, I completed it in about 3.5h. Plants, little flowers, grasshoppers, birds, deer. The towering limestone walls. The youngish deer who turned towards me and cocked his head to one side as if inquiring, am I friend or foe? The herd, the humphing noise of a deer snorting, clearing his nose. The limestone wall ablaze with the sunset's orange, reflecting enough to light up the path, against a backdrop of still-clear blue sky, with pure white clouds racing across in the high winds above. Today I'll do a trek of 7 hours, so the book says it should be. I love it here. Somehow the curls and rolls of Spaniards' Spanish fit perfectly with the stone walls and churches in these little villages.

23 de Agosto, 2009. Domingo.

The stone wall against my shoulder and the stone bench under me is a blessed cool in midday. Here I am sitting in shadow in the small plaza de constitución in Torla, waiting for my bus to Sabiñanigo. The breeze that comes up to the street Calle Tatás makes this the perfect cool spot to sit in summer, and watch the tourists go by. There is nothing like a good heart that makes a person stand out from the crowd and shine like a blazing beacon for a million miles around. I fall towards it like a stone to the sun.

Today, met Juan Carlos of Mexico in the artesania shop Luna Maya. His wife is from here, so he spends half the year here, and half there. Or maybe 1-3 and the rest traveling. Super friendly smiley guy. He runs places to stay in Southern Mexico. Kids shouting ¨Hola! Como te llamas?¨in a peekaboo fashion at me from the railings of the visitors' centre above me after I had breakfast there. It is away from people, a little, and has a great view of the mountains and Torla's church. Yesterday's trekking, wow. Walk forever up and up and up and up as if climbing on to heaven on the Sendero de los Calzadores (Hunter's Path). Then the amazingly beautiful Faja de Pelay. The other Faja (Racón?) the day before was gorgeous too. I love the fajas. Impresionante. Then finally, after an eternity, the Cola de Caballo waterfall. So tired by then. I desperately wanted chocolate but didn't have any with me. Then continue along the Valle de Ordesa, along some beautiful waterfalls that fall into beautiful blue-green pools and rivers. My feet hurt so much I thought they might fall off. A wonderful guy with hippie dreadlocks and Catalá speaking friends lent me his palo :) and another wonderful guy asked after my bandaged foot :) Beautifully kindhearted and helpful people. Muy buena honda. :) The sun has moved and is now on me. Me voy para mi monchila grande y a la parada de autobus.

26 de Agosto, 2009. Miercoles.

I like having time to wait, if I have a notebook to write in, or a book I want to read (in this case the travel guide). Better than rushing places. I like taking my time, doing things in a relaxed, no-deadline fashion. Am now in the Termibus of Bilbao, waiting for my 9:15pm bus to Santander. Left my delicious Camembert cheese in the hostel. and I HAVE to stop eating ice cream! I've had 5 in the space of 3 (?) days. Goodness. Thank goodness I'm going hiking in the Picos de Europa!

I managed to reach San Sebastián in the same day, Sunday night. Wandered around the Parte Vieja looking for internet (to call Javier, but he never picked up) and a hostel, and hostel guy from Beti Anaiak picked us up (met Cesia on the streets and she preferred wandering around with me than alone). At first it seemed reall dubious but we stayed for the good value-to-price ratio and because we were tired, as it was the 2nd place we'd looked at. The first was San Fermin Hostel and it was offering 23 euro, this one promised 20 euro with free bfast and internet and coffee and washer and dryer. It was dirty and there was absolutely no place to hang my clothes, but there were hot showers and a large room just for Cesia and me.

Talked with the other inhabitants - Italian trio (cute nice girl with 2 boys) - in Spanish, and Californians from LA, and a guy from Ubekhistan. He made a delicious omelette with bacon and mushroom for breakfast, and a cup of coffee for each of us. It was delicious :D
The Californians were going to Valencia for the tomato festival. I hear they are headed to Malaga after that, and staying for 2 weeks, so I might meet them there. Walked around with Cesia in the day. Met Javier, but he was a bit too clingy and insistent so Cesia helped by making the ecuse of shopping so we could get rid of him. We shopped a bit, or well, Cesia did and I accompanied her (I'm supposed to be anti-consumerist, but it's so hard here with the lovely unordinary and fashionable things that fit skinny people!) At least I resisted buying the super expensive red coat (71 euro) and the sweater from Blanco (~20 euro). Did buy a Buff though (9.45euro compared to 30++ SGD) since it's a Spanish brand and cheaper here. Might get more in Barcelona since I like them so much. Went to Monte Urgull and climbed up, and walked a little along the walkway but didn't reach the beach. Talked a lot with Cesia though, don't think we stopped much. And we had Pintxos at 3 bars at night, one of them being the recommended Aletena (?), and it was indeed superb. And we happened to just stumble in at the bar right when the kitchen opened. Had 2 gelatos from the Boulevard Gelateria - once in the afternoon and once for dessert. Sherali, the Uzbekh, is now doing his Bachelor's in Germany (Frankfurt), and taught himself how to bodyboard and then to surf at the Playa Gros. You meet lots of people (Europeans and non-Europeans Eurotripping in the hostels in the bigger cities). Woke up later, showered, and left for Bilbao on Tuesday. Didn't feel like doing anything cos I was tired. Met smiley Australian of Malaysian descent, and Paul the German. He's now in Santander and I'll go find him when I arrive. Or rather, he's gonna pick me up at the station. Today I bought my Buff at El Corte Ingles, went to the Guggenheim and spent 4.5h there (7.50 euro for students with audio guide), and then went to teh Casco Viejo to wander around. And had TWO! ice creams even though I swore after Monday that I'm not having ice cream for another week. Hrmm.

29 de Agosto, 2009. Sabado.

I might stay here for another night. It's 12:30am now, midnight of Saturday going on Sunday. Think I might buy some pcards if I see some nice ones.. to send home and for Iso. I AM growing up. Now I do like having my own private room in a budget hotel (hostal) where I an hang my laundry and used clothes up, and handwash all my laundry as I travel. I read El País today on the bus from Oviedo to A Coruña. It was a cool bus, though not to the level of those amazing cama buses yet. It had free snacks, water, newspapers. There were some pieces I wanted to do 剪报 on, to improve my Spanish vocab and because I liked them. Saw 2 grammar books (amongst others) that I contemplated buying at a row of cool stalls along one of the main drags/promenades of La Coruña. I'd been moving really fast for the last 2 weeks, because of momentum, because places to stay are expensive, and because I feel a little pressure to get to the South quickly. We passed some really gorgeous beaches and buffs on the bus today. Wish I didn't have a time limit, so I can dawdle and wander slowly from one to the next. I could easily spend months here. Talking with the locals, spending 2 or 3 days in each nook and cranny. I want to read, and write, and take my time. I want to sleep enough, so I eat well. I want to try the pulpo a la gallego, and jamon bellota, and queso manchega. Eating out is expensive. So expensive. The next time i do so it'll be at a recommended restaurant. Cafe con leche here has been great. I shall try churro con chocolate.

30 de Agosto, 2009. Domingo.

Today has been a really slow day. I look for churros con chocolate and end up having menu del dia at some random bar-restaurant for 9 euro. Pulpo a la gallego, churrasco, y refresco, at Cafe Paris. And postre. Flan. Want to learn how to make flan. Delicious super sweet yumminess. Had a choice of tarta de Santiago, flan, yogurt or cafe. Hoho. Great value, I say. Tomorrow I go to Pontevedra to meet Sergio Veloso, hope he turns out to be alright!
Tentative plan is: León - Burgos - Salamanca - Ávila - Segovia - Madrid - Cuenca - Toledo - Cáceres - Trujillo - Seville.
But may go to Vigo with Sergio, and Porto as well. We'll see!
Now for the rest of Santiago.

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Large masses of people annoy me.

1 de Septiembre, 2009. Martes. 2:34pm.

Another forced wait. But I'm getting better at just accepting it, quickly changing plans, and enjoying the time given. Stone benches in the summer are such a delicious cool. Something to be said for all the stone and construction (well, Roman ruins and such) in Europe. It must've been quite something to live in those days. And there are so many places to just sit down in Europe, convenient places to eat your own food (important for a budget traveler), or chat with friends or while some time away watching people go by.

When I'm traveling I prefer places of nature, beautiful landscapes, small niches with few people, so I can take my time taking it all in. To live though, I prefer being in a big city, with more things to do and see, more people, different kinds of people.

Pontevedra is a really small town. It's nice to watch the residents go about their daily lives, walking the dog, chatting with friends. It was nice staying with Sergio and meeting his Argentinian friends.

To really feel or understand a city (big) you must live in it for a while.
I'm sitting here nibbling on dried fruits and nuts, and there are actually other tourists here! Unbelievable. Sergio says it's popular with Madrileños.
Sergio and I went to the beach yesterday, and he explained to me that Rias are not Rios and are salty - it's the sea coming in, he says, not freshwater flowing out. And walked me all about the Casco Viejo, and we visited all the plazas and places of interest. Then we bought stuff at the supermarket, and he cooked dinner. It was delicious, arroz con chipiróns, but it was similar to paella negra (with the black squid ink). It turned purple because of that. He put garlic, onions, pimientos rojos, with the squid, then later added white wine and salt, and he boiled water with a cube of seasoning and added rice with this water to it to cook. Also he added some oregano and white pepper. And he showed me to take out the spine thing of the chipiróns, which are little squid. I liked it. Then we watched An Interview with a Vampire subtitled in Spanish. Until the 72mins were up on the streaming site. He also played the guitar for a while, some songs from Calamaro, and some rock, and some other stuff. And sang.
Tried the torta de Santiago in Santiago de Compostela.
Bought it in a pasteleria/panadera run by an Asian lady. There are foreign tourists too, what a surprise! Omg I see a tour group! Ingleses. O Americanos.

I'm like this [here I draw a wavering compass] when deciding where to go and it swings here and there and finally settles on to one like a magnetic compass settling on North.
Cars here drive over the curb onto the sidewalk like it's nothing.

7 de Septiembre, 2009. Lunes. 3+am.

I LOVE MADRID!!!!!!!!!

Que wena gente!!!!!

Super friendly and nice and awesomely funny. <3 <3 <3!!!!
Isabel, Itziar, Jose Luis, Claudio, Yolanda, Mar, Carlos, French guy, ...
Today I met Vicki too, and there's the German girl who was with the French guy.. He reminds me so much of Matias! And Santiago the DJ who's going to Buenos Aires.

13 de Septiembre, 2009. Domingo.

It's been quite a while since I've written. Am now sitting in La Campana (again), the best confiteria in Sevilla, having my 2nd cafe con leche of the day because I'm sleepy as hell. Am just going to spend a relaxing while here, writing. With my cafe con leche. I am having savarina, which is biscocho soaked in rum, with nata (cream) on top and sprinkles of chocolate rice.

I LOVED tango in Madrid. It's such a joy to dance with good and different dancers. Listening to Otros Aires on my MP3 player.
Went to Cordoba after Madrid. The Mezquita was indeed impressive, and the whitewashed houses and winding undulating cobblestoned streets were really pretty. Tortilla de patatas at Bar Santas, also salmorejo. Rabo de toro which was So. Good. at the cafe with Alberto and Javier. Hammam baths and massage and aromatherapy. 25euro. Rabo de toro, berenjenas con miel, at Casa Pepe de la Juderia.

Sevilla. The bunch of Sevillanos we met, with one Cordobez and 1 Colombiana. Chet getting wasted on the porrito. Matteo of the hostel being super nice and changing my room.

The Catedral y Giralda, and the Alcázar. The catedral was impressive, but wow the minute details of the architecture in the Alcázar.. the tapestries, the super extensive fresh'smelling gardens. The only thing I'd like about living in a palace/castle would be gardens like those.

The Spanish are such a good-looking people. Cute boys, and cute girls.
We went to a really good live flamenco bar, La Carboneria, but I think I still prefer argentine tango to flamenco (music, and dance). Of course, I don't know flamenco very well, so it's possible that with more knowledge it'll grow on me. I'd like to learn also capoeira and listen to more bossa nova.

The guitarists though, were ALUCINANTE even to me (who doesn't really know how to play the guitar). That is definitely something I want to pick up.

Super friendly and helpful people. Talking with Dany yesterday. He described how his Jap culture-obsessed friend who went to Japan for 3 months, convinced that he belongs in the Jap culture more than Spanish, found out that it's so different than he thought, and was writing, please, let me come back!

I see lots of people with children (little ones), but hardly any pregnant women! (Just an observation).

I think I could live in Madrid or Barcelona. Am very torn between Argentina and Spain. Tonight am going to see a bullfight!

Looking forward to seeing Jacinto and Ugur in Barcelona, and dancing with Claudio again, in Madrid. Claudio of Bariloche! Only my age and already making a living in Spain.

17 de Septiembre, 2009. Jueves.

I am so tired, but I'm having such a good time in Spain. Only the magnificent coffee saves me. This morning I went to the Alhambra. The weather was really bad; it was freezing. Luckily I brought my red Chile jacket with me as it's been bad weather for the past few days.

I think I've decided on the 28/9 from Barcelona (airticket), yet there's still many places I want to see and explore. Sierra Nevada, Almeria, San Jose and Cabo de Gata, Valencia, las Islas Baleares, before finally Barcelona again.

Wow I'm really tired, even the coffee didn't help. I'm going to buy those pants, going back to the hostel to take a nap before heading out to the Mirador and Sacromonte.

18 de Septiembre, 2009. Viernes.

No flights out of Spain! ARGH. I suppose then it's good that I'm going to Valencia; maybe there I can find something with a travel agency or something.

Sometimes I need a friend so much, I have this tendency to want to offload to someone or lean on them, but I should learn not to even flounder asi. To really learn the meaning of tranquilo! I don't know whether to bother Itziar. Jacinto's not responding, but he's got his own things to think about, to prepare. And I relied and bothered Takashi so much I feel bad. They are such good people! I wish I could be like them.

19 de Septiembre, 2009. Sabado.

I miss Takashi. I wish I could sit him down here with me and talk with him for hours and hours. There are these people, sometimes, who touch me and inspire an immense curiosity on my part about them, their lives, their thoughts and opinions and point of view. They're often extremely nice people with tranquil spirits that seem to take everything that life throws at them without blinking an eye.
They touch me, I don't consciously know why, and I want to do everything for them, like how they put themselves out for others.

I'm sitting here outside of a gelateria outside the Mercado Central of Valencia, after finishing my horchata. Guess I should go walk a bit around Valencia, then back to the hostel to find a ferry or flight to the islands. and also my flight from BCN to SFO and to reply Janis and maybe write to Takashi.

I should do the same when I get to California. Get a travel guide, and go explore the nooks and crannies of California and the US. I would love to live in Spain, I really think. I don't know. When I first arrived, not really, perhaps not the north. But maybe the South. Granada? But my opinion is very influenced by the presence of Takashi and his family. Without them, my positive impression of Granada as a place to live would be less rosy, I think. Madrid is very possible, with the very international mix of people and tango friends, BCN, I need another impression of.

I'm going to walk a little, because I'm falling asleep here.

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I am having dinner at Cerveseria Maryans. I got the Menu, which has, for 10.99euro,
patatas bravas,
calamar romana,
and ensalada valenciana for starters,
and a choice but i'm getting aella valenciana (chicken and rabbit) for seconds,
fruits for dessert,
and red or white wine or sangria

Ensalada Valenciana-
cebolla,
lechuga,
a leaf that is green and purple
tomate
atun
oliva
zanahorria

dress with 0-4 of
red wine vinegar
olive oil
salt
pepper

I'm going to learn guitar, and on weekends I'm going busking!

To draw well I must practise. Practise and practise and practise and practise and practise. The only thing is that your practices of drawings and paintings are permanent, or at least more so than practices of music, which are gone once it's over. I suppose you could throw your drawings away, but you know what I mean - that the media causes them to be of a more permanent nature. And what makes visual art "good"?

Tonight I'll talk to the Brazilian guy (Jonathan?) and look for flights and try to decide if I'm going to the Balearic islands or not.

Maybe I'll just go back to Madrid after all.

"Here and now, always."
How true that is. To savour the present fully, because everything changes, everything passes, everything is temporal.
That's just the nature of our life on Earth.

What makes the Colombians (or others like them) so wise? So tranquil, accepting, so open, and loving? So at peace?

I want to go there to find out.

I want to meet all kinds of good people on Earth, their eyes so open, corners crinkled with the hint of a smile, and their hearts whole and welcoming. To hear laughter of friends everywhere, invitations and challenges and repartees. Dances and acts of kindness. Patience and love and teaching and beauty.

Things are lovelier by night in Spain. People are awake, and out, they are with their friends (as opposed to at work), and the beautiful historical and artistic monuments are lit up beautifully. Here you have light, and water, running all day and all night.

Things I collect on my journey: friends and ideas and smiles.

Voy a andar un poquito :) (wrote iso a pcard)

20 de Septiembre, 2009. Domingo.

Smiley helpful people :) I love them.

Spanish people are so good with children.
Had a pastel de chocolate y cafe con leche at Bocatta (the chain) today for 1.65euro. Not fantastic quality, but great value for money.

21 de Septiembre, 2009. Lunes.

It is coming near to the end of my journey in Spain. I still have a lot to learn. TO be able to just *be*.

Am eating at Bocatta again. It's cheap.
Croissant + cafe = 1.50euro
Bocadillo de bacon y queso = 2.50euro

(When life is hard) you gotta have a sense of humor.
Wicker chairs are super comfy.
I'm going to the beach!

24 de Septiembre, 2009. Jueves.

STUCK ON MADRID :) <3 Tango.

The friendships, the connections, the tension between people. Following, el abrazo, Spanish good looks and the melodious sounds of el accento Argentino.

Maybe I'll go live in Argentina. Didn't like BsAs so much as a city though. But perhaps if I stayed longer and made friends. Am having bfast now at Maestro Chumero. My favorite coffee drink here is still cafe con leche. Tried the bombom too, and cappuchino, but still the cafe con leche is best. The capuchinno is kinda too normal, and the bombom is very sweet.

25 de Septiembre, 2009. Viernes.

And so it's over, my love affair with Spain?
Leaving me full and empty at the same time.
I want to write to my dear Brazilian friend.

So I got what I wanted, but it was so different than in my fantasies. but now I know. He is actually extremely mature.

27 de Septiembre, 2009. Domingo.

So I'm leaving. I want to stay a little longer, to get to know the tango dancers here, to have a few more dances, to make a couple more friends. Always, just a little longer.
But it's good I'm leaving from Barcelona; it seems like a fitting end, I feel ready. It being such a metropolitan and constantly pulsating city, with people passing through all the time, entering and leaving.

Now I'm seated at Biguelow's. The French sandwich place, eating a bocadillo of jamon serrano. Malisimo. Staring straight at la Sagrada Familia. It is something!

28 de Septiembre, 2009. Lunes.

On the plane to New York.

Seriously considering moving to BsAs or Bariloche for a while to learn tango, and of course Spanish.

Madrid by dawn, by night, in the late afternoon, at its peak in the evening (9-10pm), after party hours. Sexy, breezy Barcelona with its wapísima inhabitants, them out jogging, walking, having a good time. Good-natured responses to lost-tourist questions, tapas & cafe con leche, bocadillos de jamon iberico, the breathtaking Pyrenees. Spain's sexy cities and its gorgeous people, fun and funny, I'll miss the good times.