Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Sant Joan
Yesterday was Sant Joan, which is when everyone in Barcelona celebrates the shortest night of the year by lighting off all the fireworks that are leftover from the last three weeks of the "fireworks outside Hillary's window" show. My friends and I went down to the beach and watched drunk people light their personal explosives on fire for a while and then went home. It was fun and all, but I think that going out every single night/being unemployed is getting to us, and so another excuse to go drink on the beach is getting progressively less exciting.
Radiohead
I meant to blog about this before, but right before my Balearic Islands trip, I saw Radiohead in concert at the Forum in Barcelona. Like always, I didn't take my camera, so here's a photo I stole from Deja:
The concert was one of the best I've been to, and if any of you ever have to opportunity to see Radiohead in concert, you should go. It was amazing.
The concert was one of the best I've been to, and if any of you ever have to opportunity to see Radiohead in concert, you should go. It was amazing.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Urban Camping
I just got back from a camping trip through the Balearic Islands off the East coast of Spain:
Here's basically what happened:
Day 1 - Friday, June 13, 2008
Got home from Radiohead concert at 2am, showered, finished packing, went to sleep. Woke up STARVING at 5:30am, ate some cereal, got dressed, went to the bus station.
Karli, Adam, Deja, Alex, Elyssa, Josh, Sebastian (Adam's friend) and I all made the bus to Valencia. John Karlo (who wasn't actually coming on our trip but his trip coincided with the beginning of ours) missed the bus but met up with us in Valencia. We had some boat confusion about which boat we were actually on since apparently Spain is just on strike in general right now and a lot of things aren't working out (e.g. the truck drivers are on strike so we don't have food), but we worked it out.
We wandered for a while, Valencia is way cooler than I thought it would be. We had a picnic in the park, wandered to a bunch of other parks and playgrounds (including a SLIDE PARK) and then got some coffee and killed time until our bus to Denia (where our boat left from).
(photos from Deja)
By the time we got to Denia, it was dark out and we didn't know where to find a campsite. Deja, Sebastian and I split off and slept on the beach and the rest of the group slept together somewhere else.
Day 2 - Saturday, June 14, 2008
Woke up at 5:30am on the beach.
Walked for what felt like hours to the Isomar boat, met up with the rest of the group while we were waiting. Got into Ibiza and decided to cross the island to find a camp site, but first ate Indian food and went to an internet cafe to check our e-mails and see if there is an alternate to expensive ferry monopoly as far as inter-island transport (there isn't). We crossed the island, camped on top of an abandoned one-story concrete building with a puddle of water dripping through the roof. To get onto the roof, we had to use a rusty bed spring frame as a ladder.
Once we got up there we lit some candles, ate our food, split 2 bottles of tequila and had a rapping/beat boxing session. Before we went to sleep, we all made predictions of who would wake up with the most mosquito bites, since we were sleeping next to standing water and had a pretty intense bug problem.
Day 3 - Sunday, June 15, 2008
Woke up to everyone laughing at Deja whose eyes had swollen to slits and had a lip that looked like it had undergone a cheap collagen injection from her bug bites:
Everyone else had a few bites, but I'm pretty sure she won. We walked down to the becah and spent all day sitting around. At one point, Karli, Sebastian, Adam and I rented a Zodiac boat and drove around the island.
We said bye to Josh and Elyssa and went back to the main city/club part of the island to wait for our ferry to Mallorca. We wandered around for a while, lost Alex, and then got a 6€ beer since everything on Ibiza is expensive. While we were drinking, this woman who Deja saw doing coke in the bathroom and her equally drugged boyfriend sat at the table next to us (with their dog). I then realized everyone on Ibiza is on drugs pretty much all the time.
Day 4 - Monday, June 16, 2008
Took the 1:30am ferry to Palma de Mallorca and managed to somehow get in early (at 6am) so we didn't get the best night's sleep. We went to breakfast and then wandered around while Alex slept on a bench in the train station because she wasn't feeling well. (Probably heat exhaustion from the day before.)
Then, we took a bus across the island to Alcúdia to catch another ferry and got some Tex-Mex food at a mediocre restaurant where every item on the menu has a random US city or state tacked o0no to end of its name (think Burger Oregon).
We caught our ferry (which entailed retreiving Alex from under the bridge where she had been sleeping all day and then immediately going to hell and back to find the ferry office), missed the last bus to Sant Tomás (where Marc and Ross were), caught a bus to a closer city, took a cab, and hiked in the dark for at least an hour to get to their camp site. We had a fire.
Day 5 - Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Our beach:
Woke up on the beach and decided to walk into town to get coffee and more food. We went back and went swimming/snorkeling and Ross talked me into climbing the rocks to jump off, which was a bad idea since the rocks were ridiculously sharp and hard to climb.
Then i sat on the becah all day and read. Eventually, the rest of the group made a shelter since they were all really sunburnt and wanted shade in which to drink their tequila (sombrero, scarf, and mustache included on the bottle) while I sat in the sun and read more.
We made another fire and then ate dinner and went to sleep.
Day 6 - Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Crazy blue Menorca sea:
Marc and Ross left before the rest of us got up to catch their boat back to Barcelona. Then, we woke up and hiked to Sant Tomás and got coffee until it was time to catch the bus to Mahón (where mayonnaise was invented AND where the airport is). While killing time in Mahón we went to the gin distillery and had some free samples.
Our flight was roughly 9 million years late and then the Barcelona Nit bus system kind of let us down but we got home eventually and showered and by the time I got in bed (roughly 4:30am) I literally said out loud: "Oh my God, a real bed," before falling asleep.
Here's basically what happened:
Day 1 - Friday, June 13, 2008
Got home from Radiohead concert at 2am, showered, finished packing, went to sleep. Woke up STARVING at 5:30am, ate some cereal, got dressed, went to the bus station.
Karli, Adam, Deja, Alex, Elyssa, Josh, Sebastian (Adam's friend) and I all made the bus to Valencia. John Karlo (who wasn't actually coming on our trip but his trip coincided with the beginning of ours) missed the bus but met up with us in Valencia. We had some boat confusion about which boat we were actually on since apparently Spain is just on strike in general right now and a lot of things aren't working out (e.g. the truck drivers are on strike so we don't have food), but we worked it out.
We wandered for a while, Valencia is way cooler than I thought it would be. We had a picnic in the park, wandered to a bunch of other parks and playgrounds (including a SLIDE PARK) and then got some coffee and killed time until our bus to Denia (where our boat left from).
(photos from Deja)
By the time we got to Denia, it was dark out and we didn't know where to find a campsite. Deja, Sebastian and I split off and slept on the beach and the rest of the group slept together somewhere else.
Day 2 - Saturday, June 14, 2008
Woke up at 5:30am on the beach.
Walked for what felt like hours to the Isomar boat, met up with the rest of the group while we were waiting. Got into Ibiza and decided to cross the island to find a camp site, but first ate Indian food and went to an internet cafe to check our e-mails and see if there is an alternate to expensive ferry monopoly as far as inter-island transport (there isn't). We crossed the island, camped on top of an abandoned one-story concrete building with a puddle of water dripping through the roof. To get onto the roof, we had to use a rusty bed spring frame as a ladder.
Once we got up there we lit some candles, ate our food, split 2 bottles of tequila and had a rapping/beat boxing session. Before we went to sleep, we all made predictions of who would wake up with the most mosquito bites, since we were sleeping next to standing water and had a pretty intense bug problem.
Day 3 - Sunday, June 15, 2008
Woke up to everyone laughing at Deja whose eyes had swollen to slits and had a lip that looked like it had undergone a cheap collagen injection from her bug bites:
Everyone else had a few bites, but I'm pretty sure she won. We walked down to the becah and spent all day sitting around. At one point, Karli, Sebastian, Adam and I rented a Zodiac boat and drove around the island.
We said bye to Josh and Elyssa and went back to the main city/club part of the island to wait for our ferry to Mallorca. We wandered around for a while, lost Alex, and then got a 6€ beer since everything on Ibiza is expensive. While we were drinking, this woman who Deja saw doing coke in the bathroom and her equally drugged boyfriend sat at the table next to us (with their dog). I then realized everyone on Ibiza is on drugs pretty much all the time.
Day 4 - Monday, June 16, 2008
Took the 1:30am ferry to Palma de Mallorca and managed to somehow get in early (at 6am) so we didn't get the best night's sleep. We went to breakfast and then wandered around while Alex slept on a bench in the train station because she wasn't feeling well. (Probably heat exhaustion from the day before.)
Then, we took a bus across the island to Alcúdia to catch another ferry and got some Tex-Mex food at a mediocre restaurant where every item on the menu has a random US city or state tacked o0no to end of its name (think Burger Oregon).
We caught our ferry (which entailed retreiving Alex from under the bridge where she had been sleeping all day and then immediately going to hell and back to find the ferry office), missed the last bus to Sant Tomás (where Marc and Ross were), caught a bus to a closer city, took a cab, and hiked in the dark for at least an hour to get to their camp site. We had a fire.
Day 5 - Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Our beach:
Woke up on the beach and decided to walk into town to get coffee and more food. We went back and went swimming/snorkeling and Ross talked me into climbing the rocks to jump off, which was a bad idea since the rocks were ridiculously sharp and hard to climb.
Then i sat on the becah all day and read. Eventually, the rest of the group made a shelter since they were all really sunburnt and wanted shade in which to drink their tequila (sombrero, scarf, and mustache included on the bottle) while I sat in the sun and read more.
We made another fire and then ate dinner and went to sleep.
Day 6 - Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Crazy blue Menorca sea:
Marc and Ross left before the rest of us got up to catch their boat back to Barcelona. Then, we woke up and hiked to Sant Tomás and got coffee until it was time to catch the bus to Mahón (where mayonnaise was invented AND where the airport is). While killing time in Mahón we went to the gin distillery and had some free samples.
Our flight was roughly 9 million years late and then the Barcelona Nit bus system kind of let us down but we got home eventually and showered and by the time I got in bed (roughly 4:30am) I literally said out loud: "Oh my God, a real bed," before falling asleep.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Fireworks
Apparently there is a holiday celebrated in Barcelona (Sant Joan, June 23) that involves launching a ton of fireworks. Unlike the United States, Spain doesn't seem to have "disturbing the peace" laws and launching said fireworks weeks before this holiday is completely legal. As a result, there are constant fireworks in the street these days, especially in the alley outside my window.
People in the street hand out catalogs of available fireworks and patrons can go into any firework distributor and buy whatever their heart desires (as long as they are over the age of 14). Yesterday, Marc and Ross bought some poppers and other little kid fireworks and the clerk was sure they didn't know what they were buying. She informed them that the fireworks in question were "very small."
So, not only are fireworks completely legal, but launching them at all hours of the night is completely fine, AND the clerks encourage you to buy large and noisy fireworks. I need to get away. I was raised in a household where noise-emitting toys were never allowed and I don't do well with loud noises. This is my hell.
People in the street hand out catalogs of available fireworks and patrons can go into any firework distributor and buy whatever their heart desires (as long as they are over the age of 14). Yesterday, Marc and Ross bought some poppers and other little kid fireworks and the clerk was sure they didn't know what they were buying. She informed them that the fireworks in question were "very small."
So, not only are fireworks completely legal, but launching them at all hours of the night is completely fine, AND the clerks encourage you to buy large and noisy fireworks. I need to get away. I was raised in a household where noise-emitting toys were never allowed and I don't do well with loud noises. This is my hell.
South of France
I recently visited the South of France with my childhood friend, Courtney. This is us when we were younger:
We started in Lyon, then took trains to Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, Beziers, Montpellier, Toulouse, and Carcassonne. I took a bunch of notes as things happened, but they aren't that interesting. The only important highlights are: we ate a lot of cheese, drank a lot of wine, smelled a lot of lavender and bought comical postcards we never sent.
We started in Lyon, then took trains to Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, Beziers, Montpellier, Toulouse, and Carcassonne. I took a bunch of notes as things happened, but they aren't that interesting. The only important highlights are: we ate a lot of cheese, drank a lot of wine, smelled a lot of lavender and bought comical postcards we never sent.
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