Barcelona is...
... vast pedestrian areas in the middle of streets 50 meters wide ... and streets barely wide enough to walk down.
... enormous buildings ... and tiny shops.
... Gaudi and Picasso and Gothic and modern high-rises.
... surrounded by mountains ... and the Mediterranean.
... filled with people from Germany, Japan, Turkey, India, Italy, France, and Great Britain.
... short man-shorts and Moslem attire.
... tapas, doner, patisseries, Italian restaurants, Starbucks, Burger King, and heladerias.
... quiet mornings in the park, and the Catalunya Plaza filled to the gills... skateboarders in front of the museum of contemporary art and a man singing opera next to the cathedral... a man playing guitar in Parc Guell.
... signs in 4 different languages.
... trying to figure out Catalan.
... friendly people, and a few less-friendly.
... blue skies, blue water, a sandy beach, a goofy clown, a loud German father.
... walking on the other side of the street to get some shade... or lucking out and getting some sea breeze.
... amazing specialty shops (like the two-story bookstore that only sells travel books)
... bike-sharing and road sharing, bike lanes and pedestrian lanes and turn lanes, huge rotaries, and many one-way streets.
... giving up the hope of seeing everything that you want to.
... smiling at strangers when you almost walk right into each other.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink...
There have been a couple of instances during my cycling on this trip thus far where some item has been seemingly close at hand... but impossible to obtain.
One of the obvious examples is grocery stores. In most towns and cities, even relatively large ones like Granada, supermarkets of all sizes are closed on Sundays (as are most other kinds of shops). This can be very frustrating, as you might imagine...
The first example I ran into while cycling was at a Lidl. Lidl is one of the largest supermarket chains in Europe - I believe it's a German company - and they specialize in low-cost food. I was happy to see one when I arrived in Guadix. However, the packages of food available there were all unsuitable for biking. For example, instead of being able to buy a package of cookies, I would have had to buy a package of three packages of cookies (picture something the size of a large cereal box). Again, a bit frustrating.
But the best example so far was my experience in Ayna, a town nestled on a cliff in a canyon. Of course, at the bottom of the canyon is a river, so it didn't occur to me that the lack of water in the bathroom might not just be a problem with my room... It actually started out as a trickle, enough to wash my hands and face, but soon dwindled down to nothing.
But when I arrived at the front desk of the hotel (which, I must say, at 30€ was much cheaper than I expected, given that my room had a balcony that faced a 1000' cliff), saying 'Tengo un problema', the man already knew what I meant. From what I could put together ('obra', 'el pueblo', 'todo'), the whole town was without water at the moment, and would be for another 45 minutes or so... for reasons unclear except that it had something to do with construction work that was going on.
But alas, after returning from my hour-plus saunter around town, which included stopping at a local tienda and guzzling a coke (as well as checking out an amazing mirador carved from a cliff that was hundreds of years old), there still wasn't any water coming out of the faucet.
Eventually, after I returned to my room after dinner in the dining room at 10 p.m., I finally had my chance for a shower!
The next morning the water was still fine, so I headed off for some breakfast without any concerns, but when I returned to my room, the water flow was tapering off. Knowing what would soon follow, I hurriedly filled my water bottles, and - success! - just barely managed to top them off before the water was finished again.
One of the obvious examples is grocery stores. In most towns and cities, even relatively large ones like Granada, supermarkets of all sizes are closed on Sundays (as are most other kinds of shops). This can be very frustrating, as you might imagine...
The first example I ran into while cycling was at a Lidl. Lidl is one of the largest supermarket chains in Europe - I believe it's a German company - and they specialize in low-cost food. I was happy to see one when I arrived in Guadix. However, the packages of food available there were all unsuitable for biking. For example, instead of being able to buy a package of cookies, I would have had to buy a package of three packages of cookies (picture something the size of a large cereal box). Again, a bit frustrating.
But the best example so far was my experience in Ayna, a town nestled on a cliff in a canyon. Of course, at the bottom of the canyon is a river, so it didn't occur to me that the lack of water in the bathroom might not just be a problem with my room... It actually started out as a trickle, enough to wash my hands and face, but soon dwindled down to nothing.
But when I arrived at the front desk of the hotel (which, I must say, at 30€ was much cheaper than I expected, given that my room had a balcony that faced a 1000' cliff), saying 'Tengo un problema', the man already knew what I meant. From what I could put together ('obra', 'el pueblo', 'todo'), the whole town was without water at the moment, and would be for another 45 minutes or so... for reasons unclear except that it had something to do with construction work that was going on.
But alas, after returning from my hour-plus saunter around town, which included stopping at a local tienda and guzzling a coke (as well as checking out an amazing mirador carved from a cliff that was hundreds of years old), there still wasn't any water coming out of the faucet.
Eventually, after I returned to my room after dinner in the dining room at 10 p.m., I finally had my chance for a shower!
The next morning the water was still fine, so I headed off for some breakfast without any concerns, but when I returned to my room, the water flow was tapering off. Knowing what would soon follow, I hurriedly filled my water bottles, and - success! - just barely managed to top them off before the water was finished again.
The Streets of Granada
How much can you tell about a city based on its streets? I'm not entirely sure what all of this means, but feel free to interpret for yourself:
Dogs - plentiful, usually small or medium-sized.
Dog poop - common. It appears that some people do pick up after their dogs, but not when they don't feel like it.
Bikes - not too common in the neighborhood where I stayed, commuter, racer, or otherwise. If you head towards the local sierra (mountain range), the Sierra Nevada, you'll see plenty of spandex-clad men. (And two spandex-clad women, other than myself).
Mopeds - all over the place. There were some very large motorcycle/moped parking areas.
Candy - lots of it. Candy stores are common, and even more common is finding a bulk candy section in a small store. The candy is usually of the gummi variety (chocolate, not so much). I'm going to chalk this one up to climate.
Pastelerias/panerias - (bakeries) - Yes, many.
Tapas? - Of course. In certain neighborhoods, there are lots and lots.
Geladerias? - Yes, especially near where tourists congregate. Ice cream bars are also commonly available in every small shop that has any kind of food. I'd chalk this one up to climate as well.
Running - not too common. If I headed to the canal, I would usually see some joggers, especially earlier in the morning, but the per capita number of miles run per year has to be pretty low. I found the streets to be a bit dusty, which seemed to make the sidewalks a bit slicker than I'm used to (it never rained during my two weeks in Granada). The temperatures were so much warmer than I'm used to that running was always a bit less pleasant than I'm used to.
Jaywalking - pretty common. Some people always waited for the little green man, but a lot of people (of all ages) would simply cross the street when it appeared safe to do so.
Jaybiking - all the time. It appears that cyclists aren't expected to obey any kind of traffic lights, which makes cycling in the city more fun and exciting!
Shoe stores - many, but not to the extent that I remember in, say, Mexico.
Dogs - plentiful, usually small or medium-sized.
Dog poop - common. It appears that some people do pick up after their dogs, but not when they don't feel like it.
Bikes - not too common in the neighborhood where I stayed, commuter, racer, or otherwise. If you head towards the local sierra (mountain range), the Sierra Nevada, you'll see plenty of spandex-clad men. (And two spandex-clad women, other than myself).
Mopeds - all over the place. There were some very large motorcycle/moped parking areas.
Candy - lots of it. Candy stores are common, and even more common is finding a bulk candy section in a small store. The candy is usually of the gummi variety (chocolate, not so much). I'm going to chalk this one up to climate.
Pastelerias/panerias - (bakeries) - Yes, many.
Tapas? - Of course. In certain neighborhoods, there are lots and lots.
Geladerias? - Yes, especially near where tourists congregate. Ice cream bars are also commonly available in every small shop that has any kind of food. I'd chalk this one up to climate as well.
Running - not too common. If I headed to the canal, I would usually see some joggers, especially earlier in the morning, but the per capita number of miles run per year has to be pretty low. I found the streets to be a bit dusty, which seemed to make the sidewalks a bit slicker than I'm used to (it never rained during my two weeks in Granada). The temperatures were so much warmer than I'm used to that running was always a bit less pleasant than I'm used to.
Jaywalking - pretty common. Some people always waited for the little green man, but a lot of people (of all ages) would simply cross the street when it appeared safe to do so.
Jaybiking - all the time. It appears that cyclists aren't expected to obey any kind of traffic lights, which makes cycling in the city more fun and exciting!
Shoe stores - many, but not to the extent that I remember in, say, Mexico.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Valencia, then resting the legs en route to Tarragona
After a long day of riding yesterday, I arrived in gorgeous Valencia... while I rode around looking for a place to stay, I kept running into more and more amazing buildings (well, not literally, but you get the idea... sunset is a great time to arrive in a city).
I had tenatively planned on Tuesday to take a bus up north today, and I did ride up here to Tarragona today. I was curious to check out the Roman ruins in this city and also wanted to give my legs a rest, so a (n air conditioned) bus ride was just the ticket.
I'm about to get kicked off this computer (and my eyes are starting to close involuntarily), so that's all for now, but all in all, things here are great! I've seen just a few drops of rain in the last 3 weeks!
I had tenatively planned on Tuesday to take a bus up north today, and I did ride up here to Tarragona today. I was curious to check out the Roman ruins in this city and also wanted to give my legs a rest, so a (n air conditioned) bus ride was just the ticket.
I'm about to get kicked off this computer (and my eyes are starting to close involuntarily), so that's all for now, but all in all, things here are great! I've seen just a few drops of rain in the last 3 weeks!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
On day 4 of biking through Spain and doing great!
Just a quick post to say that all is well here in Spain, despite the concerns I had before heading off on my own onto the back roads of Spain... without a good guide book for this area, without reservations or listing of places to stay. In fact, things are better than I had imagined possible!
The scenery has been amazing; each day I've been over several mountain passes (not like the Pyrenees, but demanding nonetheless), seen castle ruins and amazing cliffs (and even stayed in accommodations near some of them the last two nights), and met some friendly people along the way. Two days ago I met a retired Belgian man who had biked down here from Belgium... and is going to bike back after he reaches the southernmost point in Spain. So far Ayna has been the most scenic place I've stayed and the best deal on accommodations was in Tranco, where I was the only person staying in a beautiful pension.
Today's terrain, here in la Mancha, is far less mountainous and has a good number of farms and windmills... Don Quixote's territory! Along one of these country roads I ran into 3 cyclists (well, actually, then passed me from behind). We rode the last 30 km into Albacete together and right now I'm in the apartment of one of them - Mateo - catching up on internet stuff and getting ready for lunch! Good times!
Friday, May 22, 2009
About the bike
Some notes about the bike and some changes about my setup for this cycling trip versus what I did in New Zealand.
1. Total equipment: less. Since the ratio of campgrounds to hotels/hostels in Europe seems to be much lower than in New Zealand, I opted to leave the camping gear (sleeping bag, tent, sleeping pad) at home. Or rather, some of it is in Freiburg, in case I need any for any trips in the Alps (i.e. when I'm not cycling).
2. Gearing: easier. From what I've read about the mountain roads in Europe (especially the alps), they have some very very very very very long climbs. Since I'm carrying my own gear, it seems like it only makes sense to change my gearing so that I would have a chance of making it up these climbs. I had already installed a triple chain ring (that is, there are 3 different gears in the front) for New Zealand, and for this trip I installed a new rear derailleur so that I could use some bigger gears in the back (which makes it easier to go uphill). The biggest gear in the back now has 32 teeth. I believe that the smallest in the front is 28. This means that now, in my easiest gear, one turn of the pedals turns the wheels less than one full revolution!
3. Baggage: different. Yesterday I bought a bag for my handlebars. It seems to restrict my hands a little bit when on the tops of the handlebars, but maybe not too badly. I've never tried this before, but it seems that the roads here in Europe are far more complicated than anything I've tried to navigate by bike before. Thus, I want to have a map as accessible as possible at all times. My experience with maps is that if they're not easy to reach, you won't reach for them. The same goes for cameras, incidentally, so I intend to keep one of those in the handlebar bag as well. I'll also keep my GPS and maybe a snack or two in the handlebar bag.
I've only brought one pannier with me. I actually used this setup (i.e. one pannier, no camping gear) for most of my Land's End to John O'Groats trip in the UK in 2004, so I think it will work fine. Additionally, I have a small backpack (think Camelback, even though it's a different brand), which is large enough to carry about a liter of water and some snacks for short hikes or walking around town. It's worked pretty well for my time here in Granada and the outings I've done from Granada. I plan to either bungie-cord this to the top of my rear rack or carry it on my back while I ride.
4. Tires: bigger. I'm really not sure that this was necessary. but riding on a 32 cc tire, instead of the 23's that I normally use for riding unladen, makes me feel a little more stable and safer. Also, when riding on dirt roads (which I did a bit of around Frieburg) it's a little better. For most of my bike trips I've used 23 cc tires and been fine, but I ended up with a 32 in New Zealand when the guy at the bike shop in Nelson recommended it (after my existing tire gave up the ghost), and decided to match that one with a new tire before heading off for Europe.
I'm still riding the same bike that I picked up for cyclocross racing back in '03, the Fuji Cross. It's travelled with me for bike tours in Vermont, Colorado, the UK, and New Zealand, and I did some riding on it in South Africa as well. So I guess you could say that it's well-travelled! Most of it has been replaced over the years: the parts you'd expect, like handlebar tape, brake pads, tires, cassettes (rear gears), and chain, as well as chain rings, derailleurs, pedals (yup, they wear out too), and wheels. I haven't replaced the shifters yet, but I think they're the next thing to go. I'm wondering how much longer the frame itself will last... I'll keep my fingers crossed for now!
1. Total equipment: less. Since the ratio of campgrounds to hotels/hostels in Europe seems to be much lower than in New Zealand, I opted to leave the camping gear (sleeping bag, tent, sleeping pad) at home. Or rather, some of it is in Freiburg, in case I need any for any trips in the Alps (i.e. when I'm not cycling).
2. Gearing: easier. From what I've read about the mountain roads in Europe (especially the alps), they have some very very very very very long climbs. Since I'm carrying my own gear, it seems like it only makes sense to change my gearing so that I would have a chance of making it up these climbs. I had already installed a triple chain ring (that is, there are 3 different gears in the front) for New Zealand, and for this trip I installed a new rear derailleur so that I could use some bigger gears in the back (which makes it easier to go uphill). The biggest gear in the back now has 32 teeth. I believe that the smallest in the front is 28. This means that now, in my easiest gear, one turn of the pedals turns the wheels less than one full revolution!
3. Baggage: different. Yesterday I bought a bag for my handlebars. It seems to restrict my hands a little bit when on the tops of the handlebars, but maybe not too badly. I've never tried this before, but it seems that the roads here in Europe are far more complicated than anything I've tried to navigate by bike before. Thus, I want to have a map as accessible as possible at all times. My experience with maps is that if they're not easy to reach, you won't reach for them. The same goes for cameras, incidentally, so I intend to keep one of those in the handlebar bag as well. I'll also keep my GPS and maybe a snack or two in the handlebar bag.
I've only brought one pannier with me. I actually used this setup (i.e. one pannier, no camping gear) for most of my Land's End to John O'Groats trip in the UK in 2004, so I think it will work fine. Additionally, I have a small backpack (think Camelback, even though it's a different brand), which is large enough to carry about a liter of water and some snacks for short hikes or walking around town. It's worked pretty well for my time here in Granada and the outings I've done from Granada. I plan to either bungie-cord this to the top of my rear rack or carry it on my back while I ride.
4. Tires: bigger. I'm really not sure that this was necessary. but riding on a 32 cc tire, instead of the 23's that I normally use for riding unladen, makes me feel a little more stable and safer. Also, when riding on dirt roads (which I did a bit of around Frieburg) it's a little better. For most of my bike trips I've used 23 cc tires and been fine, but I ended up with a 32 in New Zealand when the guy at the bike shop in Nelson recommended it (after my existing tire gave up the ghost), and decided to match that one with a new tire before heading off for Europe.
I'm still riding the same bike that I picked up for cyclocross racing back in '03, the Fuji Cross. It's travelled with me for bike tours in Vermont, Colorado, the UK, and New Zealand, and I did some riding on it in South Africa as well. So I guess you could say that it's well-travelled! Most of it has been replaced over the years: the parts you'd expect, like handlebar tape, brake pads, tires, cassettes (rear gears), and chain, as well as chain rings, derailleurs, pedals (yup, they wear out too), and wheels. I haven't replaced the shifters yet, but I think they're the next thing to go. I'm wondering how much longer the frame itself will last... I'll keep my fingers crossed for now!
The last week in Granada
A quick summary of what I've been up to:
Saturday - trip to Alpujarras (40€, guided, lunch not included)
Sunday - bus trip to Salobreña with Jenny (11€ round trip)
Monday - Trip to The Cathedral
Tuesday - Capilla Real (3.5€), Bike to Guejar Sierra
Wednesday - Monastery de Cartuja
Thursday - Arabian baths and massage (woohoo!), last day of class, buying some last-minute bike things, walk around Albacin at sunset, tea in an Arabian tea-house
Friday - Bus to Guejar Sierra for some hiking, packing, burning DVD of pictures
Saturday - trip to Alpujarras (40€, guided, lunch not included)
Sunday - bus trip to Salobreña with Jenny (11€ round trip)
Monday - Trip to The Cathedral
Tuesday - Capilla Real (3.5€), Bike to Guejar Sierra
Wednesday - Monastery de Cartuja
Thursday - Arabian baths and massage (woohoo!), last day of class, buying some last-minute bike things, walk around Albacin at sunset, tea in an Arabian tea-house
Friday - Bus to Guejar Sierra for some hiking, packing, burning DVD of pictures
Getting ready to leave Granada
Yesterday I finished up my last day of Spanish classes in Granada and tomorrow I'm off to try my luck on the roads of Spain with my trusty companion the bike. Will it be hard to find reasonable places to stay? Places to eat? Will the weather cooperate? Will my bike? Will the hills kill me? The heat? How far will I be able to ride each day? Will I meet any interesting people along the way? Will my Spanish improve or fade away during the rest of my time in Spain? Will I be homesick? (Well, I am a bit already...)
These and other questions are only possible to answer after a couple of days on the road. I do know that the weather forecast looks good and that my experience with cycling in Spain has been fine so far. The only dog that has chased me was a tiny terrier, which only made me laugh (although I was a little concerned that I would run him over). I am definitely curious to see what the outlying towns are like. I'm planning on avoiding any cities of significant size until Albacete, at least... though my plans are always subject to change. In a week or two I hope to be in the Pyrenees, even if that means taking a bus part of the way to get up there in reasonable time. And then I'll be able to pop over the border and explore France!
I don't expect to have much internet access in the next week or two, so don't expect many, if any posts, between now and then!
These and other questions are only possible to answer after a couple of days on the road. I do know that the weather forecast looks good and that my experience with cycling in Spain has been fine so far. The only dog that has chased me was a tiny terrier, which only made me laugh (although I was a little concerned that I would run him over). I am definitely curious to see what the outlying towns are like. I'm planning on avoiding any cities of significant size until Albacete, at least... though my plans are always subject to change. In a week or two I hope to be in the Pyrenees, even if that means taking a bus part of the way to get up there in reasonable time. And then I'll be able to pop over the border and explore France!
I don't expect to have much internet access in the next week or two, so don't expect many, if any posts, between now and then!
Monday, May 18, 2009
El fin de samana en España
Con nuestra fin de samana sin clase, mi alemana amiga Jenny y yo vamos en dos viajes: una a la alpujarra con un grupa de la escuela y una a la playa!
Es mi primera vez a la Mediterraneó Mar. Es bonita! Muchas gente van a la playa en el fin de semana. Hace muchas calor en Granada, pero a la playa esta viento y es bien.
Las Alpujarras son pueblos en las Sierra Nevada. Las personas en las alpujarras hacer jamon y otros especiales suchas, pero hoy turismo es la mas grande parte de la economía. El queso de cabra y jamon me gusta muchas!
Hasta luego!
Es mi primera vez a la Mediterraneó Mar. Es bonita! Muchas gente van a la playa en el fin de semana. Hace muchas calor en Granada, pero a la playa esta viento y es bien.
Las Alpujarras son pueblos en las Sierra Nevada. Las personas en las alpujarras hacer jamon y otros especiales suchas, pero hoy turismo es la mas grande parte de la economía. El queso de cabra y jamon me gusta muchas!
Hasta luego!
Friday, May 15, 2009
The Tower of Babel: Where the EU falls a little short
Congratulations to the European Union for uniting so many countries and making so many things so much easier. One currency does make things a good deal easier. And it sure saves a lot of time when you don't have to go through any kind of border crossing ordeal when going from one country to another. But honestly, there is still a ways to go.
Let's start with the computer keyboard. Just when you start getting used to the fact that the Y is where the Z should be while in Germany, you fly to Spain, where those letters are back to where they should be. Of course, it's anyone's guess as to where the semicolon, hyphen, apostrophe, @ sign, and quotation marks will end up. Of course, if you haven't figured out what the "Alt Gr" key does, you might as well stay home, because you won't be able to type an e-mail address without it.
Then you might be lucky enough to find a computer at an internet cafe that has the handy little language bar that lets you choose which kind of keyboard mapping you want to use. Of course, by then, your fingers will be trained to use the keyboard layout of your current country (rather than your home country), so you're in a broken state once again.
Frustrating as issues with keyboards may be, the phone problem is guaranteed to be more expensive. Let's just say that I'd recommend doing some homework before buying a phone... and trusting cellphone salespeople only as far as you can throw them, regardless of how nice they are.
After the loss of my iPhone at the Brisbane airport, I picked up a cheap one at Bartells in Seattle for $18. The bad news was that it wouldn't work internationally, which I didn't realize until a couple of days before I left for Europe.
It was then that I bought cellphone #2, for $40, at the AT&T store in Seattle. I was told (and the box said) that the phone would work internationally. Additionally, AT&T will give you an unlock code for your cellphone if you tell them that you're travelling internationally. (At least, they would do this for me with my plan; your mileage may vary). Note to self: it will take them 3-5 business days to e-mail you this code. Apparently the wizards who cook up these codes can't be rushed.
But alas, upon touching down in Frankfurt, the cellphone claimed to have "no service" once turned on. A call to AT&T (on a land line) confirmed that my phone would work in some countries, but not in Europe, as it did not support the frequencies commonly used in Europe. Which baffles me, because my understanding is that there are two groups of frequencies (900/1800 vs 850/1900). So an "international" phone should support both, no?
I found a shop in Freiburg that advertised "lock-frei handys" for 19 € and decided to check them out. Since this shop also happened to house the internet cafe that I had been frequenting for a few days and I liked the (Turkish) proprietor, I took his word when he said that the phone I was buying for 35€ (yes, that's the 3rd phone I was buying in a month's time) would indeed be able to handle a different SIM card when I reached Spain.
But of course that wasn't the case. The phone did work in both Germany and Spain, but there were some issues in Spain... it was taking text messages days to get to recipients and sometimes calls simply wouldn't go through. And there wasn't any way I could figure out to "recharge" the SIM card with more money.
So yesterday I went in search of phone #4. It turns out that Orange, one of the cellphone carriers in Spain in our neighborhood, doesn't sell "libre" phones, but I did find a (questionable-looking) shop in the neighborhood of our escuela that sold one for 49€. And it turns out that the friendly internet cafe next door to the school sells SIM cards with favorable rates to the U.S. (around 15 cents per minute). And so far, the SIM card and phone are getting along very well.
Every time I was faced with the proposition of buying Yet Another Phone, I tried to reason that I didn't really need one (civilization survived for centuries without them) to avoid the purchase, but it seems that they're so pervasive in our society that it's hard to survive without one now. And besides, when travelling alone on a bike in a foreign country, it just seems like a good idea, should anything go wrong or a hotel need to be called...
So, anyway, back to the point about standardization... if Europe could have phone service that worked across borders, that would have saved me the purchase of Yet Another Phone.
And of course, the biggest request of all for the EU would be a standard language. It's unfortunate that mankind built that tower of Babel and ticked off God enough that he forced people to speak different languages scattered around the world. Because I guess if we all spoke the same language, we could accomplish some pretty amazing things (both in the discipline of tower-building and elsewhere). And I would be able to figure out how the heck to climb Mulhaçen.
But in the meantime I suppose I'll content myself with being a student of Spanish in Granada!
Let's start with the computer keyboard. Just when you start getting used to the fact that the Y is where the Z should be while in Germany, you fly to Spain, where those letters are back to where they should be. Of course, it's anyone's guess as to where the semicolon, hyphen, apostrophe, @ sign, and quotation marks will end up. Of course, if you haven't figured out what the "Alt Gr" key does, you might as well stay home, because you won't be able to type an e-mail address without it.
Then you might be lucky enough to find a computer at an internet cafe that has the handy little language bar that lets you choose which kind of keyboard mapping you want to use. Of course, by then, your fingers will be trained to use the keyboard layout of your current country (rather than your home country), so you're in a broken state once again.
Frustrating as issues with keyboards may be, the phone problem is guaranteed to be more expensive. Let's just say that I'd recommend doing some homework before buying a phone... and trusting cellphone salespeople only as far as you can throw them, regardless of how nice they are.
After the loss of my iPhone at the Brisbane airport, I picked up a cheap one at Bartells in Seattle for $18. The bad news was that it wouldn't work internationally, which I didn't realize until a couple of days before I left for Europe.
It was then that I bought cellphone #2, for $40, at the AT&T store in Seattle. I was told (and the box said) that the phone would work internationally. Additionally, AT&T will give you an unlock code for your cellphone if you tell them that you're travelling internationally. (At least, they would do this for me with my plan; your mileage may vary). Note to self: it will take them 3-5 business days to e-mail you this code. Apparently the wizards who cook up these codes can't be rushed.
But alas, upon touching down in Frankfurt, the cellphone claimed to have "no service" once turned on. A call to AT&T (on a land line) confirmed that my phone would work in some countries, but not in Europe, as it did not support the frequencies commonly used in Europe. Which baffles me, because my understanding is that there are two groups of frequencies (900/1800 vs 850/1900). So an "international" phone should support both, no?
I found a shop in Freiburg that advertised "lock-frei handys" for 19 € and decided to check them out. Since this shop also happened to house the internet cafe that I had been frequenting for a few days and I liked the (Turkish) proprietor, I took his word when he said that the phone I was buying for 35€ (yes, that's the 3rd phone I was buying in a month's time) would indeed be able to handle a different SIM card when I reached Spain.
But of course that wasn't the case. The phone did work in both Germany and Spain, but there were some issues in Spain... it was taking text messages days to get to recipients and sometimes calls simply wouldn't go through. And there wasn't any way I could figure out to "recharge" the SIM card with more money.
So yesterday I went in search of phone #4. It turns out that Orange, one of the cellphone carriers in Spain in our neighborhood, doesn't sell "libre" phones, but I did find a (questionable-looking) shop in the neighborhood of our escuela that sold one for 49€. And it turns out that the friendly internet cafe next door to the school sells SIM cards with favorable rates to the U.S. (around 15 cents per minute). And so far, the SIM card and phone are getting along very well.
Every time I was faced with the proposition of buying Yet Another Phone, I tried to reason that I didn't really need one (civilization survived for centuries without them) to avoid the purchase, but it seems that they're so pervasive in our society that it's hard to survive without one now. And besides, when travelling alone on a bike in a foreign country, it just seems like a good idea, should anything go wrong or a hotel need to be called...
So, anyway, back to the point about standardization... if Europe could have phone service that worked across borders, that would have saved me the purchase of Yet Another Phone.
And of course, the biggest request of all for the EU would be a standard language. It's unfortunate that mankind built that tower of Babel and ticked off God enough that he forced people to speak different languages scattered around the world. Because I guess if we all spoke the same language, we could accomplish some pretty amazing things (both in the discipline of tower-building and elsewhere). And I would be able to figure out how the heck to climb Mulhaçen.
But in the meantime I suppose I'll content myself with being a student of Spanish in Granada!
Mythbusters
It's funny, the things that people will tell you. Do they tell you these things because they actually think they're true or because they just want to make you feel better?
For example, Thing Number 1 that people told me before my trip to Europe, especially when I expressed concern that I didn't know any Spanish, French, or Italian, despite planning on travelling through Spain, France, and Italy: "Everyone in Europe knows English."
Really? Everyone? That's funny, because I couldn't even manage to explain to the woman behind the counter at a pastry shop in Malaga (in a very touristy area) that I wanted to get something to take away (note to fellow travelers, the magic words are "para llevar"). Tell that to my "host mother", who doesn't speak a word of English.
Myth number 2 (Propagated by Polly Evans in her book It's Not About the Tapas): Everyone in Spain is crazy about cycling. To be fair, I did see a good number of spandexed men heading out of town on Tuesday when I rode towards the Sierra Nevada. Did I mention that they were very tan and fit-looking? But cycling around Granada seems to occupy the same status as it does in Seattle: it's a popular recreation for the relatively small percentage of the population who can afford light bikes and afford to consider suffering on a bike to be "recreation". There percentage of bicycle commuters here appears to be even lower than in Seattle (where it's around 1 or 2%). Walking, driving, and moped'ing are the methods of choice... and I haven't seen any coverage of the Giro d'Italia in the news here, despite ample opportunity to see such coverage (my "host mother" has the TV on most of the time when she's home, beginning when she wakes up at 9 a.m. and ending when she goes to bed at midnight).
Myth number 3: Things run late in Spain. My bus from Malaga to Granada left exactly on time. (Take that, Greyhound.) Our class starts on time every day. Shops open and close at the appropriate times. So if you do travel to Spain, don't forget your watch!
For example, Thing Number 1 that people told me before my trip to Europe, especially when I expressed concern that I didn't know any Spanish, French, or Italian, despite planning on travelling through Spain, France, and Italy: "Everyone in Europe knows English."
Really? Everyone? That's funny, because I couldn't even manage to explain to the woman behind the counter at a pastry shop in Malaga (in a very touristy area) that I wanted to get something to take away (note to fellow travelers, the magic words are "para llevar"). Tell that to my "host mother", who doesn't speak a word of English.
Myth number 2 (Propagated by Polly Evans in her book It's Not About the Tapas): Everyone in Spain is crazy about cycling. To be fair, I did see a good number of spandexed men heading out of town on Tuesday when I rode towards the Sierra Nevada. Did I mention that they were very tan and fit-looking? But cycling around Granada seems to occupy the same status as it does in Seattle: it's a popular recreation for the relatively small percentage of the population who can afford light bikes and afford to consider suffering on a bike to be "recreation". There percentage of bicycle commuters here appears to be even lower than in Seattle (where it's around 1 or 2%). Walking, driving, and moped'ing are the methods of choice... and I haven't seen any coverage of the Giro d'Italia in the news here, despite ample opportunity to see such coverage (my "host mother" has the TV on most of the time when she's home, beginning when she wakes up at 9 a.m. and ending when she goes to bed at midnight).
Myth number 3: Things run late in Spain. My bus from Malaga to Granada left exactly on time. (Take that, Greyhound.) Our class starts on time every day. Shops open and close at the appropriate times. So if you do travel to Spain, don't forget your watch!
Susan's first week as a Spanish student
I was one of those people who took German in high school. The logic I had used to choose a language was undeniably sound: I chose the class that was supposedly harder. The valedictorian of the class ahead of us had taken German, so it was clearly the best choice.
Never mind that 34 million people in the United States speak Spanish. There are probably at least 34 who speak German. Clearly, German was the way to go.
But I digress...
Let's just say that after travelling two Mexico for two vacations and Ecuador for another, it became clear that Spanish might be a useful tool for me. So when planning what I might do on this European adventure, studying Spanish and getting some sun in Granada (which happens to be next to the Sierra Nevada, which contain the tallest mountain in Spain - Mulhaçen - at over 11,000') seemed to be a good idea.
It wasn't hard to find a private Spanish school in Granada online for people like myself. It seems that studying in Granada is very popular for Americans and Germans, and this part of town is littered with small private schools.
Ours (Projecta España) is pretty small, but probably of average size: there are 4 or 5 classrooms and maybe a dozen instructors who teach at various times during the day. Our 2-person class meets for 3 hours per day, which pass surprisingly quickly. In college I could barely survive a one hour and 50-minute class. Apparently having such individual instruction helps keep one awake.
A few days before my arrival in Granada I was told that I would be living with a woman named Elis in her apartment. (I had requested a 'homestay'.) En route to Granada I had envisioned exactly what Elis would be like. A grandmotherly woman with a bit of grey in her hair, she'd help me find the perfect place to store my bike (who doesn't like bikes?) and invite me to go grocery shopping with her. She would try to tell me stories about her husband who had passed away, in simple phrases, trying to help the unfortunately foreigner understand. And of course she'd have a cat. Or two.
Instead, Elis is a middle-aged cat-less nurse who does happen to be a grandmother. I've no idea what happened to Mr. Elis. And Elis was not excited about the bike. I showed her where I parked it temporarily (under the stairs, locked to the railing), and she indicated that we would consult with the janitor about where it could be stored mañana. Five days later, it's still under the stairs.
As Elis doesn't know any English, I'm rather glad that Danja, the German student who's also living in this apartment, is around to help translate. Danja is ihere with a friend of hers from Germany (who happens to be from New Zealand), and as a result, we don't hang out together to0 much. I've mostly been hanging out with my German classmate at la escuela, Jenny. (Yes, I told you that Germans love Granada).
Class is from 12-3, "dinner" (prepared by Elis) is from 3-4, and each afternoon has been different: on Monday Jenny and I headed up to Sacromonte, Tuesday and Thursday I went on long-ish bike rides (3-4 hours long, towards the Sierra Nevada), Wednesday was dedicated to la Alhambra, and today (Friday) Jenny and I spent some time with her roommates and visited The Cathedral and walked around Albaicin a bit.
I've paid for "half board" here, which includes breakfast and the midday meal. As far as food goes, breakfast every day has been corn flakes (which I usually supplement with a pastry or other snack, since corn flakes don't fill me up enough to last me until 3 p.m.). And though my father will probably think it heresy to say so, corn flakes get old after the 3rd day in a row. The lunch/dinner served every day has been a bowl rice or potatoes with vegetables and some fish on top. I'm hoping that the consistency in the afternoon meal has been due in part to Danja's long list of allergies, which include milk, meat, and bread... Danja will be leaving after this weekend, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that next week things will get more interesting. On the other hand, I see a weekly diet designed for my hostess posted on the refrigerator, which makes me suspect that she is either diabetic or on a special diet for some other reason. Long story short, the food has been OK so far, but when I had a doner kebab today, it seemed exceptionally tasty compared to what I've been eating at home.
The running here hasn't been too spectactular. I did find a running route along the canal that heads away from the city a bit, but even that gets a bit old. One of the problems is that it's been nearly impossible for me to get to bed and wake up early, which means that there is always car traffic and foot traffic, which makes it frustrating to run in an urban environment. Ah, to be running in Seattle again...
On Tuesday I found the road up to the Sierra Nevada and rode up to about 5000' (Grenada is at about 2200'). Thursday I continued up the same route, this time reaching 6800'. The views were phenomenal, especially as I headed back to Grenada under the setting sun. I even spotted a solo chamois and a group of 4 along the route.
Last night we got to see some flamenco, which was pretty amazing. I intend to write more about this later, but for now I will say that I've never seen such phenomenal clapping, snapping, and footwork.
Tomorrow we don't have class (it's Saturday), so it's off to Alpujarra, a the villages known for their natural beauty and unique culinary delights. Woohoo!
Meanwhile, the Spanish studies are going all right. Instead of drawing a complete blank when trying to get something I need, I can sometimes string together three or four words together. It's amazing how exciting it is to be able to say "I want"!
I'm hoping that my progress will continue as quickly next week, for then I'll be heading off through the countryside, attempting to live off my knowledge of Spanish for a couple of weeks!
Never mind that 34 million people in the United States speak Spanish. There are probably at least 34 who speak German. Clearly, German was the way to go.
But I digress...
Let's just say that after travelling two Mexico for two vacations and Ecuador for another, it became clear that Spanish might be a useful tool for me. So when planning what I might do on this European adventure, studying Spanish and getting some sun in Granada (which happens to be next to the Sierra Nevada, which contain the tallest mountain in Spain - Mulhaçen - at over 11,000') seemed to be a good idea.
It wasn't hard to find a private Spanish school in Granada online for people like myself. It seems that studying in Granada is very popular for Americans and Germans, and this part of town is littered with small private schools.
Ours (Projecta España) is pretty small, but probably of average size: there are 4 or 5 classrooms and maybe a dozen instructors who teach at various times during the day. Our 2-person class meets for 3 hours per day, which pass surprisingly quickly. In college I could barely survive a one hour and 50-minute class. Apparently having such individual instruction helps keep one awake.
A few days before my arrival in Granada I was told that I would be living with a woman named Elis in her apartment. (I had requested a 'homestay'.) En route to Granada I had envisioned exactly what Elis would be like. A grandmotherly woman with a bit of grey in her hair, she'd help me find the perfect place to store my bike (who doesn't like bikes?) and invite me to go grocery shopping with her. She would try to tell me stories about her husband who had passed away, in simple phrases, trying to help the unfortunately foreigner understand. And of course she'd have a cat. Or two.
Instead, Elis is a middle-aged cat-less nurse who does happen to be a grandmother. I've no idea what happened to Mr. Elis. And Elis was not excited about the bike. I showed her where I parked it temporarily (under the stairs, locked to the railing), and she indicated that we would consult with the janitor about where it could be stored mañana. Five days later, it's still under the stairs.
As Elis doesn't know any English, I'm rather glad that Danja, the German student who's also living in this apartment, is around to help translate. Danja is ihere with a friend of hers from Germany (who happens to be from New Zealand), and as a result, we don't hang out together to0 much. I've mostly been hanging out with my German classmate at la escuela, Jenny. (Yes, I told you that Germans love Granada).
Class is from 12-3, "dinner" (prepared by Elis) is from 3-4, and each afternoon has been different: on Monday Jenny and I headed up to Sacromonte, Tuesday and Thursday I went on long-ish bike rides (3-4 hours long, towards the Sierra Nevada), Wednesday was dedicated to la Alhambra, and today (Friday) Jenny and I spent some time with her roommates and visited The Cathedral and walked around Albaicin a bit.
I've paid for "half board" here, which includes breakfast and the midday meal. As far as food goes, breakfast every day has been corn flakes (which I usually supplement with a pastry or other snack, since corn flakes don't fill me up enough to last me until 3 p.m.). And though my father will probably think it heresy to say so, corn flakes get old after the 3rd day in a row. The lunch/dinner served every day has been a bowl rice or potatoes with vegetables and some fish on top. I'm hoping that the consistency in the afternoon meal has been due in part to Danja's long list of allergies, which include milk, meat, and bread... Danja will be leaving after this weekend, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that next week things will get more interesting. On the other hand, I see a weekly diet designed for my hostess posted on the refrigerator, which makes me suspect that she is either diabetic or on a special diet for some other reason. Long story short, the food has been OK so far, but when I had a doner kebab today, it seemed exceptionally tasty compared to what I've been eating at home.
The running here hasn't been too spectactular. I did find a running route along the canal that heads away from the city a bit, but even that gets a bit old. One of the problems is that it's been nearly impossible for me to get to bed and wake up early, which means that there is always car traffic and foot traffic, which makes it frustrating to run in an urban environment. Ah, to be running in Seattle again...
On Tuesday I found the road up to the Sierra Nevada and rode up to about 5000' (Grenada is at about 2200'). Thursday I continued up the same route, this time reaching 6800'. The views were phenomenal, especially as I headed back to Grenada under the setting sun. I even spotted a solo chamois and a group of 4 along the route.
Last night we got to see some flamenco, which was pretty amazing. I intend to write more about this later, but for now I will say that I've never seen such phenomenal clapping, snapping, and footwork.
Tomorrow we don't have class (it's Saturday), so it's off to Alpujarra, a the villages known for their natural beauty and unique culinary delights. Woohoo!
Meanwhile, the Spanish studies are going all right. Instead of drawing a complete blank when trying to get something I need, I can sometimes string together three or four words together. It's amazing how exciting it is to be able to say "I want"!
I'm hoping that my progress will continue as quickly next week, for then I'll be heading off through the countryside, attempting to live off my knowledge of Spanish for a couple of weeks!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
'Are you the chocolate girl?' or, Susan hits the language barrier
Of all the things I read about Spain before arriving here, one of the things that got my attention was the concept of drinking a thick cup of hot chocolate with a churro to dunk in it.
After visiting Alhambra today (more on that in a future post, to be sure), my classmate Jenny and I decided to stop by a convenient 'churreria', which seemed like a perfect place to sample this local delicacy.
You'd think that requesting the treat that this establishment was named after would be straightforward enough. But alas, when I asked if they had 'chocolate y churro', the man asked if I wanted coffee with chocolate... or juice... and then he indicated that we should wait at a table and he would find someone who spoke more English.
A moment later he returned to ask me if I was the one asking about the chocolate. His actual words, were, however, 'Are you the chocolate girl?'
After replying in the affirmative, I was escorted to speak with the woman behind the counter who pointed at their chocolate treats available: pudding and cake. Well, no, that wasn't what we had in mind, thank you very much, so we headed down the way to try our luck at another establishment.
The next place we tried advertised 'churros y chocolate' very clearly on the sign above their door, but after our previous experience I was a bit skeptical of our chances of success when I didn't see any mention of said churros or chocolate on the menu in the window.
But our luck had changed, for this man seemed to know exactly what we wanted, so we ordered 'para dos'.
After a couple of minutes, our pudding-like hot chocolate arrived (indeed, there was no point in attempting to drink it; spoons were the only option for consumption). And after a few minutes (when I had started to think that the churros had fallen victim to translation) the plate of hot-out-of-the-oil churros, piled high, arrived at our table. ¡Dios mio! I had expected one for each of us, but they had served us a full meal of churros!
Fortunately, Jenny had been saying she was hungry, and as I always have room in my gullet for tasty local treats, we devoured them all.
A successful leap over the language barrier after smacking into it on the first try... Score one for Susan!
After visiting Alhambra today (more on that in a future post, to be sure), my classmate Jenny and I decided to stop by a convenient 'churreria', which seemed like a perfect place to sample this local delicacy.
You'd think that requesting the treat that this establishment was named after would be straightforward enough. But alas, when I asked if they had 'chocolate y churro', the man asked if I wanted coffee with chocolate... or juice... and then he indicated that we should wait at a table and he would find someone who spoke more English.
A moment later he returned to ask me if I was the one asking about the chocolate. His actual words, were, however, 'Are you the chocolate girl?'
After replying in the affirmative, I was escorted to speak with the woman behind the counter who pointed at their chocolate treats available: pudding and cake. Well, no, that wasn't what we had in mind, thank you very much, so we headed down the way to try our luck at another establishment.
The next place we tried advertised 'churros y chocolate' very clearly on the sign above their door, but after our previous experience I was a bit skeptical of our chances of success when I didn't see any mention of said churros or chocolate on the menu in the window.
But our luck had changed, for this man seemed to know exactly what we wanted, so we ordered 'para dos'.
After a couple of minutes, our pudding-like hot chocolate arrived (indeed, there was no point in attempting to drink it; spoons were the only option for consumption). And after a few minutes (when I had started to think that the churros had fallen victim to translation) the plate of hot-out-of-the-oil churros, piled high, arrived at our table. ¡Dios mio! I had expected one for each of us, but they had served us a full meal of churros!
Fortunately, Jenny had been saying she was hungry, and as I always have room in my gullet for tasty local treats, we devoured them all.
A successful leap over the language barrier after smacking into it on the first try... Score one for Susan!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The Spanish schedule: the jury is out
I like the idea of breaking up a work day into two chunks with a good meal and maybe a little nap in the middle. (Spanish shops typically close between 2 and 5 p.m. and are open from 5-9 p.m.) But if you can't go to bed until midnight (no one here seems to; you even see little kids out and about after 10 p.m.), how are you supposed to wake up for an early run? Theoretically that mid-day break is a good time for a run, except that the break coincides with the hottest time of the day (by design, of course). And since exercising after dark is an activity I reserve for cities I know well, I'm not sure when it would fit into a normal workday.
Fortunately for me, I'm just a student here. And though the program I'm in is advertised as 'language immersion', which might conjure up images of a dozen hours of classes per day, things are a bit more laid back than that (this is Spain, after all). Thus, we have three hours of classes from noon until 3 p.m. The three hours is actually rather intense: we have a class of two, which means there's no sleeping, daydreaming, or slacking off involved!
That leaves a couple of hours in the morning available for running (woohoo!), even if it is a bit warm by 9 or 10 a.m. when I get out the door. And this morning I even discovered a decent running route that heads out of the city along a river. The best part is that the return is all a slight downhill! I'm hoping to have a bit more time to explore tomorrow morning; with any luck I'll manage to fall asleep a bit earlier tonight (before 1:30 a.m., that is).
So, all in all, this schedule is pretty ideal for me right now, but I'm not sure how I'd cope if I were working in Spain: would I manage to find a place to live quiet enough that I could get to sleep before 11? If so, this might be a pretty sweet place to live! But then, there are a few other factors to consider... which I'll have to save for next time!
Buenas noches!
Fortunately for me, I'm just a student here. And though the program I'm in is advertised as 'language immersion', which might conjure up images of a dozen hours of classes per day, things are a bit more laid back than that (this is Spain, after all). Thus, we have three hours of classes from noon until 3 p.m. The three hours is actually rather intense: we have a class of two, which means there's no sleeping, daydreaming, or slacking off involved!
That leaves a couple of hours in the morning available for running (woohoo!), even if it is a bit warm by 9 or 10 a.m. when I get out the door. And this morning I even discovered a decent running route that heads out of the city along a river. The best part is that the return is all a slight downhill! I'm hoping to have a bit more time to explore tomorrow morning; with any luck I'll manage to fall asleep a bit earlier tonight (before 1:30 a.m., that is).
So, all in all, this schedule is pretty ideal for me right now, but I'm not sure how I'd cope if I were working in Spain: would I manage to find a place to live quiet enough that I could get to sleep before 11? If so, this might be a pretty sweet place to live! But then, there are a few other factors to consider... which I'll have to save for next time!
Buenas noches!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Espana: Where´d my hostel go?
I flew from Basel, Switzerland to Malaga, Spain last night (bringing the number of countries I´ve visited on this trip to five: Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Spain). Although in retrospect taking a bus to the hostel I had booked probably would have worked out... eventually... I opted for the easy route (taxi), which cost about $25.
The only problem was that once we arrived at the address of the Piscis Backpackers hostel (33 Cuarteles), it wasn´t there! There was indeed a ¨Piscis Edificio¨ at that address, but no hostel. In fact, even though I walked and biked around the neighborhood in my time in Malaga (which, admittedly, was a mere 18 hours), I never did see a hint of it.
Anyhow, there wasn´t any need to panic, since I saw a hotel not far down the street. Since its price was a bit high (50 Euros), I asked if there was a hostel nearby, and the man at reception pointed me in the direction of Pension Olympic, where the price was right (20 Euros for a 2-bed room, which gave me room to assemble my bike!).
I lingered in my room just long enough to drop my bags there and then headed out to explore the town. Despite lacking a decent map (thank you, Mr. Frommer!), I managed to find the old town area, where beautiful old cathedrals seemed to pop up around every corner. Which isn´t an exaggeration; because the city is so dense in that area, with very narrow streets, you literally don´t see these gorgeous cathedrals until you´re right in front of them.
I eventually returned to my pension around dark and was in bed by 10 p.m. The strangest thing is that I slept for a solid 12 hours! Which must mean that I´ve contracted the swine flu; I haven´t slept that long since I was last sick.
Unfortunately, that meant that I didn´t get to explore Malaga much this morning at all; I had hoped for a good run around the city but had to settle for a short ride (30 minutes) around the neighborhood. The good news is that I did happen upon the annual Malaga cultural festival and got to see some traditional dancing during my brief journey.
The bus to Granada left exactly on time (I thought things in Spain were supposed to run late?), where my host Elis Gea was going to be waiting for me at 4 p.m. There was some misunderstanding regarding the bus schedule (the 1 p.m. bus doesn´t run on Sundays), but fortunately the 1:45 bus arrived earlier than it was supposed to.
Once off the bus (with bike in hand; I had just laid it on its side in the luggage compartment in the bottom of the bus), I eventually made my way to her apartment. Let´s just say that Spain doesn´t take street signage as seriously as they do cramming as many buildings as possible in every square kilometer. Elis doesn´t speak any English, so it´s going to be a fun 2 weeks for sure! She explained that there is another student staying in the apartment, so I´m looking forward to meeting her. Based on the German shampoo and lotion in the bathroom, she´s either German or Swiss, so it should be fun to practice some German while I´m here, too!
After unpacking my clothes and other essentials, I was off for a walk around town. I made my way up to Alhambra, where I'll have to return to explore fully another time. All I can say is that the quantity of beautiful buildings here is astounding! Which isn't to say that it's all gorgeous, but I am glad that I lugged the SLR along.
And I certainly didn't expect the mountains here to be snow-covered at the top now! Especially considering how hot it was today (around 80 deg. F), even at 6 and 7 p.m. I need to figure out how to get up there, which would involve some hiking-boot rental, since I´ve left my boots, ice axe, etc., back in Freiburg.
Well, enough blathering on from me for now. I'm going to try to get in a run before dark!
The only problem was that once we arrived at the address of the Piscis Backpackers hostel (33 Cuarteles), it wasn´t there! There was indeed a ¨Piscis Edificio¨ at that address, but no hostel. In fact, even though I walked and biked around the neighborhood in my time in Malaga (which, admittedly, was a mere 18 hours), I never did see a hint of it.
Anyhow, there wasn´t any need to panic, since I saw a hotel not far down the street. Since its price was a bit high (50 Euros), I asked if there was a hostel nearby, and the man at reception pointed me in the direction of Pension Olympic, where the price was right (20 Euros for a 2-bed room, which gave me room to assemble my bike!).
I lingered in my room just long enough to drop my bags there and then headed out to explore the town. Despite lacking a decent map (thank you, Mr. Frommer!), I managed to find the old town area, where beautiful old cathedrals seemed to pop up around every corner. Which isn´t an exaggeration; because the city is so dense in that area, with very narrow streets, you literally don´t see these gorgeous cathedrals until you´re right in front of them.
I eventually returned to my pension around dark and was in bed by 10 p.m. The strangest thing is that I slept for a solid 12 hours! Which must mean that I´ve contracted the swine flu; I haven´t slept that long since I was last sick.
Unfortunately, that meant that I didn´t get to explore Malaga much this morning at all; I had hoped for a good run around the city but had to settle for a short ride (30 minutes) around the neighborhood. The good news is that I did happen upon the annual Malaga cultural festival and got to see some traditional dancing during my brief journey.
The bus to Granada left exactly on time (I thought things in Spain were supposed to run late?), where my host Elis Gea was going to be waiting for me at 4 p.m. There was some misunderstanding regarding the bus schedule (the 1 p.m. bus doesn´t run on Sundays), but fortunately the 1:45 bus arrived earlier than it was supposed to.
Once off the bus (with bike in hand; I had just laid it on its side in the luggage compartment in the bottom of the bus), I eventually made my way to her apartment. Let´s just say that Spain doesn´t take street signage as seriously as they do cramming as many buildings as possible in every square kilometer. Elis doesn´t speak any English, so it´s going to be a fun 2 weeks for sure! She explained that there is another student staying in the apartment, so I´m looking forward to meeting her. Based on the German shampoo and lotion in the bathroom, she´s either German or Swiss, so it should be fun to practice some German while I´m here, too!
After unpacking my clothes and other essentials, I was off for a walk around town. I made my way up to Alhambra, where I'll have to return to explore fully another time. All I can say is that the quantity of beautiful buildings here is astounding! Which isn't to say that it's all gorgeous, but I am glad that I lugged the SLR along.
And I certainly didn't expect the mountains here to be snow-covered at the top now! Especially considering how hot it was today (around 80 deg. F), even at 6 and 7 p.m. I need to figure out how to get up there, which would involve some hiking-boot rental, since I´ve left my boots, ice axe, etc., back in Freiburg.
Well, enough blathering on from me for now. I'm going to try to get in a run before dark!
Friday, May 8, 2009
Activity update: What the heck has Susan been up to?
I've been asking myself the same question: what the heck have I been doing the last few days?
Here's a summary:
Tuesday:
Let's see... I guess some of this warrants some explanation.
Here's a summary:
Tuesday:
- Arrive Freiburg, walk around the city a bit after meeting up with Susanne
Wednesday:
- Sleep! until almost 2 p.m.!
- Run
- Explore internet cafe and grocery store
- Assemble bike
- Go for short bike ride
- Cook dinner
Thursday
Bike ride through black forest (including black forest cake) under sunny skies with some hills of significance and one BIG hill- Lunch and nap
- Bike with Uta to the Schoenberg and have dinner with her family at her parents' house (where she lives)
- Sleep! (I was really dragging this morning, which makes me wonder if there's something wrong with me. I really seem to be getting a slow start to this trip!)
- Buy a phone that actually works in Europe
- E-mail and print out maps of Malaga and Granada at internet cafe
- Bike to France and back (about 70 km roundtrip). I managed to avoid the worst of the thunderstorms!
- Dinner with Susanne (my host) and her colleagues at the restaurant in the Seepark. We had Spargelpfankuchen!
- Blog & photo catchup
Let's see... I guess some of this warrants some explanation.
Firstly, I'm staying here in Freiburg in the apartment of Ralph & Susanne. Ralph is my roommate back in Seattle; I met him through a mutual friend (Lia). Ralph grew up in Germany and has lived in several other countries: the USA (a few times), Canada, Spain, Australia... anyway, he and Susanne have a place here and Susanne is working here at the local Stryker offices while Ralph is finishing up his PhD at the University of Washington. When I talked about going to Europe for some time, Ralph strongly recommended spending some time in Freiburg. I decided that if someone who had lived so many different places liked Freiburg so much, it couldn't be bad!
Freiburg was also an appealing place to spend some time because my Washington Alpine Club friend Uta lives here. After spending 5 years at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute in Seattle, Uta decided to return to her hometown of Freiburg to live with her parents and enjoy life for a while. She and I are hoping to do some climbing and/or mountaineering in the swiss Alps towards the end of my trip, when conditions are more favorable. We're also hoping to meet up with our WAC friend Robert (who lives in Zurich) and even possibly the former WAC'ers Joanna and Krystian from Krakow.
Uta's family has a cute little old farmhouse and a newer house that they built on the property, which is also home to a barn, complete with goat and chickens. The chicks were really quite cute, and Uta's family was fun, friendly, and kind enough to use lots of English!
Yesterday I headed out on a bike ride through the black forest, on a route suggested by Ralph. I'm not sure if I rode the route in the correct direction or not, but it had a very steep hill (about 15% grade, sustained). The downhill was pretty spectacular on the other side! I also stopped at Cafe Decker in Staufen along the way on Ralph's recommendation; he says it's the best black forest cake in the world! I personally thought it tasted a bit too much like brandy, but that's apparently how they make it over here!
The day before I left for Europe, I visited the AT&T store to buy a phone that would work in Europe. Of course, I had no way of testing the phone, and assumed that the woman in the store knew what she was talking about... but alas, when I turned on my phone after touching down here... no signal. So today I bought a new phone which will hopefully suffice throughout my stay in Europe. For better or worse, I have a new phone number to go along with it...
I had never been to France before, and seeing as how Freiburg is so close to the border, I had to make an attempt to get over there by bike. Despite a relatively late start in the afternoon, I did manage to find my way over to the Rhein (and more imporantly, a bridge over it), and went as far as Neuf Brisach before turning around. I know now that the word on the street is that the area around Colmar, France (another 15 km further down the road) is very pretty, but perhaps because I only got as far as Neuf Brisach, my impressions were simply: "not nearly as cute as Freiburg!" The villages I rode through seemed, well, empty. It looked like there was less money being spent on maintenance and house painting in France than in Germany. It was a bit strange to notice such a difference just after crossing the river... The funny thing is, Neuf Brisach looks quite impressive in the aerial photo!
And about the Spargelpfankuchen - Uta had explained to me yesterday as we biked past some fields that the asparagus is in season now. And sure enough, once you knew how to spot it (plastic sheets on the ground to cover the asparagus and keep it from turning green - they like it white here), asparagus fields are everywhere! And spargel is advertised at most of the restaurants. Indeed, the restaurant we were at tonight had several spargel specialties, including the asparagus pancake! It was actually asparagus wrapped in a pancake, with a nice cream sauce on the side to pour over it, and rather tasty! (But wow - that asparagus is tough to cut!) I'm still not sure why they like their asparagus white over here...Germany: First impressions (the second time around)
The first, and only other time I've been in Germany, was back in 2000, during my first trip overseas. During that trip I took the train to several German cities (Cologne, Munich, Berlin, Dresden, and a few others in between). On that trip I was pretty focussed on seeing what Lonely Planet (OK, it was Let's Go) back in the day, and perhaps didn't have much time to just sit and observe. Regardless, here are some things I've noticed about Germany, or more specifically, the Freiburg area: 
This place is ridiculously cute.
This place is ridiculously cute.I know that this isn't true of all areas in Germany, but this city and the towns around it have endless cute houses and buildings. The churches and town halls are all ornately decorated. And yes, things are pretty darned clean, too.
Prices are pretty normal, except for the Nutella.
The Nutella here is CHEAP! We're talking the equivalent of about $1.60 per 400 g glass jar. How the people here stay reasonably slim is beyond me. I've easily eaten a full jar in the last 72 hours. I haven't been shopping too much, but the other prices I saw in the grocery store seemed pretty similar to the U.S., and the rates at the internet cafe down the street were actually better than in New Zealand (land of the weak NZ dollar). Here it's about $2.60 per hour for internet access.
The bikes, they are everywhere.
Maybe it's because there are bike paths and bike lanes along almost every road I've seen. Maybe it's because gas is so expensive (about $4/gallon). Maybe it's because the town is so dense that nothing is more than a 10-minute bike ride away. Maybe it's because the biking in the black forest is fun and scenic. Whatever the reason, there are bikes everywhere and there are hundreds of bikes parked at the train station on any given day. This in the land of the autobahn!
Making trouble all over the world: Whereby Susan makes the long journey to her temporary hoome in Freiburg
Brilliant Canadian bathroom-stall advertising:
Let me start by saying that nothing really went terribly wrong on my way to Freiburg. It was just one of those days... that goes on... and on... and getting in trouble with the "authorities" made it seem even longer!
Here's the quick rundown of the day:
Let's rewind back to July of 2001, when Susan was attempting to cross the Canadian border from Glacier National Park (in Montana) towards Calgary.
It must have been a Friday, that day when Barb and Diana at the border patrol play that game. You know, the one where they have some fun with an American, make them suffer a little. Americans are so uppity, forgetting that Canada is a real country, after all, and it never hurts to remind them where Canada lies (on top of the United States, if you look at that map, buddy!).
"Where are you going?"
Let me start by saying that nothing really went terribly wrong on my way to Freiburg. It was just one of those days... that goes on... and on... and getting in trouble with the "authorities" made it seem even longer!
Here's the quick rundown of the day:
- 5:30 a.m. - wake up
- 7 a.m. - leave home for SeaTac airport (traffic was lighter than expected; I was there by 7:30)
- 10 a.m. - take off for Calgary
- Noonish - arrive Calgary
- 6 p.m. - depart Calgary for Frankfurt
- 11 a.m. (Europe time) - arrive Frankfurt
- 2 p.m. - arrive Freiburg. Wait in park for Susanne (my roommate Ralph's partner).
- 5:30 p.m. - Meet up with Susanne.
so, all-in-all, it was about 26 hours door-to-door. And I didn't really sleep much on the plane... which might explain why, 3 days later, I'm still feeling a bit lethargic.
In those 26 hours I got into trouble a few times (I'm innocent, I swear!), which, well, didn't help the day go by any faster.
Incident #1: Canadian immigrations
Oh, Canadians. So proud of your vigilance, always setting a watch for thee. Watching out for invading Americans who might commit acts of terror, or worse, take advantage of your health care system.Let's rewind back to July of 2001, when Susan was attempting to cross the Canadian border from Glacier National Park (in Montana) towards Calgary.
It must have been a Friday, that day when Barb and Diana at the border patrol play that game. You know, the one where they have some fun with an American, make them suffer a little. Americans are so uppity, forgetting that Canada is a real country, after all, and it never hurts to remind them where Canada lies (on top of the United States, if you look at that map, buddy!).
And I was the one who won the game of tourist roulette and was instructed to pull over and "go up to the office" for no apparent reason after showing my ID at the gate.
After waiting for nearly an hour in the office for my turn to be interrogated ("Barb, do you think we might be getting carried away? We've already got a line up here.") I got to play the "ask the American whatever the heck you want" game."Where are you going?"
"Calgary"
"How long are you staying there?"
"About a week."
"Where are you staying?"
"At my friend's place
"Where did you meet him?"
"In Germany"
"Is he your boyfriend?" (Seriously? Was all I could think...)
"No"
"How much money do you have with you?"
"Well, I'm not carrying much cash, because I'm about to cross the border into Canada (duh...), where they use Canadian dollars. I was going to stop at an ATM..."
"Well, how much money do you have in your bank account? You know you have to have enough money to cover your stay in Canada while you're here. And if you have to go to the hospital, our health care system won't cover you."
(Susan looking nervously around the room at the other people who are waiting to be interrogated) "Um, well, more than a thousand dollars" (I think the actual value was closer to ten thousand dollars at the time, but I was somewhat wary of being mugged by one of these characters.)
"Can you prove that? Do you have an ATM receipt from the last 24 hours or other proof of funds?"
"No... I've been hiking for the last 48 hours..."
"Well, you'll have to go to the nearest ATM and get a receipt."
"Oh. Where is that?" (Thinking it would be across the street)
"18 miles south of here."
Let's just say that it took me longer than expected to get to Calgary that evening.
So... returning back to May of 2009, with Susan arriving in Calgary for a bit of a layover. Let's just say that I've been to Canada several times since the 2001 incident (Vancouver, Whistler, Victoria, etc.), and had assumed that Canada had decided to let bygones be bygones. So when the passport-stamping woman at immigrations told me to go over to the immigrations line behind her (er? I thought I was at immigrations), I was a bit baffled.
After a bit of waiting in the more-secure-and-serious-looking "back room", I was asked if I had ever been refused entry to Canada. Thinking that the 2001 incident didn't count because I was allowed in, albeit an hour or two after my first attempt, I replied in the negative.
The best part is that that woman (Barb, Diane, or whatever her name was), must have written down everything I said during my interrogation.
"What about in 2001 when you tried to enter at Carway?" (Was that the name of the town? How was I supposed to remember that?) "It says here that you were trying to visit someone you had met in Germany." It couldn't possibly be a coincidence that I was flying to Germany via Calgary. Clearly I was trying to mule drugs to Germany with the help of my old henchman. Or worse, take advantage of Canada's generous health care system again.
Fortunately it wasn't a Thursday, when the Calgary airport immigrations officers make as many people run to the nearest ATM to prove that they have sufficient funds to cover their stay. So I was allowed to continue on, to wander the airport for 6 hours and ponder: "Why do they make people who simply have a layover here go through immigrations and customs?."
In trouble for a second time: "Das ist nicht handgepaeck!"
You're right, Mr. S-Bahn (Strassenbahn, or streetcar, in German cities) conductor. My bike, in its cardboard box, isn't really hand-luggage, especially if by hand-luggage you mean something that I would carry onto an airplane and store in an overhead bin.
But that double-wide stroller for two that that woman brought on wasn't really hand-luggage either, now was it?
But then again, you did look a little foolish going off (in German, of course) on the American visitor for several minutes before realizing that she didn't understand most of what you said, didn't you?
I feel like we're pretty much even now, you and I. But don't think that I won't try to get my bike box on the S-Bahn again tomorrow just to even things out a little more.
Getting in trouble #3: Don't feed the birds (or eat the bread we just gave you!)
Let's face it: with good, crusty rolls, crumbs drop. And some of them get on your clothes, especially when you're on hour 24 of your journey to Freiburg. But whatever you do, don't let those crumbs fall on the ground, lest you be lectured on the horrors of what happens when you feed the birds ("then they learn to bother people for more bread").
To be fair, it sounds like this nice young man was telling me off because someone else had instructed him to. And he was very polite about it. But seriously, people! Crumbs happen!
NOTE: In the last 72 hours here in Freiburg, I haven't gotten in trouble once... Even though I accidentally rang someone's doorbell instead of hitting the apartment building's hallway light switch (they're right next to each other and look exactly the same; whose idea was that?!). I ran off before anyone could answer the door!
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