Eire (Ireland)

Safe and sound in Dublin after a long day on the road (well, the road and the air, I suppose). Will be spending the next 3 days here, and then another long day of travel which will return me to the states. Oddly enough, I arrived in Britain on the 26th of Jan (though I left the states on the 25th), so exactly 6 months to the day I will fly from here. Didn't plan it that way, but I realised it a week or two ago. So, I guess that's about all. My next post will probably be from somewhere in the states, though I will try to get back on and check my messages before then.

Homeward bound

Well, things here are winding down. In a week, I will be stateside once again.

 

The three and a half  weeks in Spain and Portugal were amazing, and I met loads of cool people along the way. I spent a few days in Lisbon; then headed to Lagos where I stayed for four days lounging about on the beach, then rented cars with some people and road tripped it from there to Pamplona (16 hr drive - each way- from the most southwestern part of Portugal to one of the most northeastern parts of Spain) for the Running of the Bulls, then back to Lagos for a couple of days; also rented some mopeds for a day and drove out to Sagres (once thought to be the end of the world); next I headed over to Cadiz for four days more lounging on the beach and sleeping on rooftops in hammocks; then on to Granada for a few days where I stayed on top of a mountain (in the Sierra Nevadas) across from the Alhambra (an old Moorish palace, which sits on top of one of the other mountains); and then back here to Swansea.

 

The trip with my seastar was great as well. A few days in Paris, a week in Wales, and a few days in London. All in all the last 6 weeks have been quite mah-vah-lous. I'll be leaving for Ireland day after tomorrow, and then, after a few days there, I will be flying to Chicago. Four flights in under a week... look at my frequent flyer miles soar, hah. Traveled for 17 hours straight yesterday... a hike down the mountain, a taxi, a bus, the metro, a plane, another bus, a train, another train, and a taxi later I had gone from the top of a mountain in Granada to Madrid to Bristol to Cardiff to Swansea. Not too bad I suppose.

Back to the UK

The day before yesterday, I spent 17 hrs traveling...

I climbed down the mountain I was staying on in Granada, caught a taxi to the bus station (because I had inadvertently missed the only train that would have gotten me to Madrid on time for my flight), barely made the bus, rode the bus for 5 hours to Madrid, took the metro to the airport, flight was delayed for a bit, flew to Bristol, caught a bus to the train station there, caught the train to Cardiff, the train from Cardiff to Swansea was very delayed, but finally caught a train to Swansea and a cab to my flatmates' new house. Left my hostel at 9 am and arrived at my mates' house at 2 am. So, yea... lots of traveling and that's the smooth, undramatic and thus short story of events.

Tomorrow, I'll be catching a train back to Bristol to fly to Dublin . The second of my 4 flights this week. So, tonight it's all about saying goodbye to all the Swansea kiddos... and laundry, that too. (The last time I did laundry was before I left to go to Spain, haha... well, I did wash some stuff in the sink about a week ago). But yea, only 4 days left to go on this side of the pond. My trip is quickly winding to a close. Really do wish that I could put some photos up, but I think that that'll be impossible until I get back. So, this will be one of my last posts from over here. Hope to see lots of you really soon!

Cadiz & Granada

I'm in Granada now. I left Cadiz this morning, after spending 5 days lying on the beach and 5 nights sleeping in a hammock... it's a rough life.

 

The place I'm staying here in Granada is up on a mntn. (The Sierra Nevada mountains run through Granada). On the mntn right across from me is the Alhambra... very famous Moorish palace. I'll be going there tomorrow. You can see the whole city from up here too. Buuuut,  the walk to get here was craaaazy. After 20 or 30 min of walking with my bag on my back (and 12 hrs on trains or waiting on trains) I got to the hill. It was as steep and long a climb as the hill up to Sacre Couer in Paris (which if you've never been there or seen photos, is reeeeeeally steep)... and then there was another set of about 50 stairs after that to get to the hostel!!!!

 

I thought I might pass out before I made it to the top. haha... no food, lack of sleep, and 100 degree weather plus a 40 lb (or more) backpack can make you feel a bit light headed. But, the view is worth the climb. I ate dinner on the terrace looking out over the city with a magnificent close up view of the Alhambra. But now I know why they give you a glass of water when you check in. hahah.

 

I fly out of Madrid back to Swansea Wednesday, so my adventures in Spain and Portugal are almost over. [the trip: Swansea to Bristol to Madrid to Lisbon to Lagos and Sagres to Pamplona to Lagos to Cadiz (via Sevilla) to Granada (via Sevilla) to Madrid to Bristol to Swansea]. There will be more photos up sometime in the very near future. More later.

Still on the road

Still in Lagos, but tomorrow morning I am planning on leaving to go to Cadiz, the oldest city in Europe, on the coast in southwestern Spain. It will take a bit of back tracking due to the way the rail lines are laid out, but I should be there day after tomorrow in the afternoon.

Lagos has been amazing, as was the road trip to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls. I really hate to leave, but you have to keep moving on... I suppose. This place does seem like a home away from home already though, especially because of all the great people I have met.

I am still working on getting the pictures up. Maybe it will happen in Cadiz... hopefully...

Pamplona

In Pamplona. Doing well after the opening ceremonies yesterday and the running of the bulls this morning. We woke up at 5 am to get down there. We have a 12 hr, 800k drive ahead of us later tonight... from the northeast of Spain to the most southwestern point in Portugal. Now that´s a road trip!

Road trip to the Running of the Bulls

I am still here in Lagos at the moment, but shortly 12 of us are leaving for a road trip to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls. We decided to go over breakfast, rented cars, and now we're off. Gotta love spontaneous travel. Yesterday, we rented scooters and drove about an hour away to Sagres, the western most point in Europe once thought to be the end of the world. It was an excellent day. The views were amazing, and we had a picnic on one of the cliffs.  After we got back last night, the hostel had a BBQ for the fourth of July even though lots of the kids staying there are Aussies or Kiwis but it was fun anyways. There's much more to tell and loads of pictures but I am short on time. Must go join the caravan for the trip.

I will post again as soon as I can. Until then, I will be enjoying the craziness.

Lagos

I left Lisboa this morning and am in Lagos now. It's nice and hot and sunny... I'm still having to get used to that after the weather in Wales. Tonight, Portugal plays England in the World Cup, so there should be lots of craziness here. And, Brazil plays France later in the evening, which should be a good match, too. If Brazil and Portugal end up playing each other this country will be insane... so I kind if hope that happens. hah. There's not much else to tell right now. Unfortunately, I still don't have any new pictures up, but hopefully I will soon.

Back on the road

After a crazy 2 weeks on the go with Melody, I was back in Swansea for two days to clean out my room before leaving again. Paris, Swansea, Mumbles, Cardiff, Chepstow, Tintern, Hay-on-Wye, and London were all great. Unfortunately, I still don't have time to write about them. Hopefully, I will be able to put the pictures up soon.

  

 

  

Yesterday, I flew to Madrid to start the last leg of my trip. I took a night train from Madrid to Lisboa (Lisbon) in Portugal. I got here around 8 this morning and will be meeting up with a friend of mine soon... she's in class at the moment so I'm just chilling at the train station right now.

  

 

  

I'll be in and around Spain and Portugal for the next 3 weeks, but I'm still not sure where all I'm going. After that, I'll be back in Swansea for a few days to say goodbye to all the Britons. Then I'll be off to Dublin for a few days before coming home

  

Hope you are all enjoying your summer! I'll be back in the states in less than a month now! Miss you all!

  

Paris happenings: by Melody

This update is brought to you by my seastar. A message that she wrote about her first overseas adventures aka what we did in Paris:

I'm emailing from WALES, and I just got back from PARIS!!!!

This is crazy!
 

I'm just going to type a list of what all we did in Paris because it is too much to tell about in an email.  We hardly slept from the time I met Heather in London til the time we got to her house the night before last.

met Heather in London and took Eurostar train to Paris
  

drank much espresso and ate many chocolate croissants
  

visited Notre Dame Cathedral - saw the gargoyles and crown of thorns and all those stained glass windows - beautiful  

bought a used C.S. Lewis novel at Shakespeare and Co. Bookstore

ate crepes on the Seine River

drank more espresso at Cafe de Flore

visited St. Sulpice Cathedral - yup, the one from the Da Vinci Code

rested in Jardin de Luxenburg

ate dinner in the Montparnesse neighborhood

visited the Louvre - saw a bunch of cool stuff including the winged victory statue, Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and the Italian sculpture room <- SOOO beautiful

got rained on in the Jardin de Tuileries (sculpture garden in front of Louvre)

visited Arc de Triomphe - refused to take the tour because I was exhausted at this point

walked all the way down the Ave des Champs Elysees

rode an elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower

visited the Montmartre neighborhood

saw lots of really old parks, buildings, and cathedrals

switched to cappuccinos

visited this old Celtic church

heard some nuns sing in French in the Secre Coeur

walked down Clichy Blvd (thought about Henry Miller)

saw Moulin Rouge

back to the Eurostar station and then to Heather's house where we went to sleep until 1:00 in the afternoon the next day.

Yesterday we took it easy, went to the beach, visited Heather's school, and a little town next to Swansea called Mumbles. Having a great time! 

Paree... Paris, that is

I'm in Paris. Running out of time on the computer. Met up with Melody (my seastar) today in London and after a long day of travel, we're here. I'll write something more interesting later. But yea, I'm done with school, it's summer, it's finally really hot here, and I'm traveling until the 26th of July when I return to Americaaaa.

I'm coming to a country near you!

Just writing to let you all know when I will be headed back to the U S of A: I fly into Chicago to meet up with my brother on the 26th of July. I'll be back in Memphis a few days after that. If anyone not from M-town feels like dropping in, feel free... just give me a heads up if you think you can come. I will be back in the Burg around the middle of August, most likely. 

My seastar flies into London this Monday, and we're immediately heading to Paris. Then, we're coming back here to Wales for about a week before hitting up London for a few days prior to her flight home. After that, I will be in Portugal and southwest Spain, or at least that's the plan at this point. I'm flying out of Dublin, so I will be bumming around there for a few days before I hop a plane back over the pond to return to all of you. Don't worry though, I will keep you updated along the way with inane emails and installments of photos.

My brilliant luck

You know those times when you have soooooo many essays to write that you know you can't finish them all on time? And, you tend to think to yourself... "Could I have any more work to do???" Then, as a joke you exclaim to someone... "Wouldn't it be funny if I actually had FOUR papers due tomorrow instead of three but happened to completely forget about one?" Without realizing an ominous soundtrack has started to play, you go about your day never quite comprehending how you should have knocked on wood to prevent what is about to happen in ... 3...2...1.

 

You open your folder and almost jokingly shoot a quick glance at the essay assignments on the second page of your syllabus. Stop me here if you know where I'm going with this... All of a sudden you have that sick feeling creeping up the back of your throat as you realize that 5 May 2006 is no other date than TOMORROW. How, you ask yourself, did your syllabus change the day your paper was due all of a sudden?? Blasphemy! You could have SWORN that it was due 12 May, as in NEXT Friday. But, nooooo, no luck for you because the education gods hate you.

Oh, my brilliant luck...

 

So, the question you should be asking yourself now is... "Heather, why are you writing this when there is so much work to be done???" Well, my friend, that is a valid question. But, it's like asking why a condemned man would eat his last meal. Does he really need a full stomach to be put to death? Will he be hungry in the afterlife if he does not eat? I think not. So, when you are confronted with utter demise, it seems that the only logical thing to do is to distract your over imaginative mind from your future fate by indulging in whatever simple pleasures you can find.

 

Ok, I'll admit that analogy was a bit of a stretch, but you get my point. I had to stop by to distract myself from the "dead man walking" shouts that are echoing off the walls so that I could relay my last words: FOR THE LOVE OF SLICED BREAD!

Don't worry your pretty little heads too much. I'm quite clever. I'm sure I'll think of something. They'll never take me alive. I will laugh in the face of my executioners... 

 

Or, I will grovel at their feet and beg them to take my papers late because I am but their humble student slave who has but a feeble mind and therefore cannot keep up with so many due dates.

You know, whatever.

Catch 22

Well, it's that day again, the day of my birth. It's the 22nd time that it's been this day. Unfortunately for me, I have 6 hours of lecture followed by a night filled with essay writing, an essay that is not coming along so well, I might add. 

However, I'm supposed to be going to a bonfire party on the beach... a party for me. So, the Catch 22? Party like it's my birthday and forget writing the paper or write the paper and pass the class [the paper is 50% of my grade so I really might not pass the class if I don't finish it].

I think we all know what I'm more than likely going to do. Can you guess the likely outcome of this story??

Home sweet home

I'm baaaaaaaaaack, in beautiful Swansea that is. My home away from home. I traveled for 36 consecutive hours and made it safely home last night around 1030. I had to go from Florence to Zurich to Paris to London to Swansea. So, for those of you who made yourself a nice wall map of my travels the other day, that's how the journey ends. I have now come full circle, or fill squiggly shape as I didn't really travel in a circle per se.

  

 

  

Now, I have the daunting task of adjusting back to University life after so many days on the road. My first essay is due Friday, the day after my birthday, lucky me. I did make it to lecture and seminars today. So far so good, we'll see if I can pull the papers off though. Well, I guess there's nothing too exciting to say now. No fabulous stories of grand adventures in far off lands... well except that I'm technically still in a far off land. I'll be putting the rest of the pictures up soon. Until then, I will let your inboxes have a rest.

  

Firenze (AKA, Florence)

I'm now in Firenze, which is pretty much the last stop on my race through the best Mediterranean cities (and a few others thrown in for good measure... I guess it's good to leave the sandy beaches and see the historical sites for a while). If you want to make a large wall map homage to my journey, you could buy yourself a nice map of Europe and then draw in the crazy route I took. You know you want to... consider it a souveneir from me, hah. Unfortunately, it might be the only souveneir you receive (aside from my lovely photo installations) as I am not what you would call wealthy at this point or even what you would call moderately able to afford 3 meals a day for that matter. Do know that I always see things and tell the people I am with... Man, I wish I could buy that for (insert your name here if I see something I know you would like).


So, I know you're saying to yourself, I think I'd like to buy myself that wall map. And so for you, here is my gift... You'd want to start your line in the lovely city of Swansea (that'd be in Wales, no not wHales... it's a place in Britain... but don't tell them that); then you'd want to continue your line through Cardiff and on to Bristol (this is the route I took the train to get to my plane); now you're going to want to draw that line to Barcelona; and then south to Valencia; keep it going south to Alicante; then you're going to draw the line more inland towards Madrid; then back to the coast to San Sebastian; then that line will loop back to Barcelona; and then it'll race off to Nice by first stopping in Montpellier; afterwards it will move on to Venice with a layover at the dot on the map known as Milan; afterwards it will head through the Adriatic Sea and into the Ionian Sea to the Greek Island of Corfu; then you'll loop it back up to Venice and immediately off to Rome; then finally you'll bring it to Florence; to finish the line that completes the Holy Grail, I mean completes the full circle you'll have to wait eagerly for my last few updates.


Today, I went to see the Duomo and the Gates of Paradise that adorn the Florentine Baptistery doors, and then I went to Galleria dell Accademia where David stands at an astonishing height... seriously he's huge.


Well, my frequent updates that I know you all so love to read (hah) will be coming to an end soon. Thanks to all you guys who read them and special thanks if you responded  thus giving me something to read when I paid (up to) 8 euro an hour (Venice is sooooo expensive) to get on the computer. There was always something to look forward to reading, which made 6 weeks of being virtually homeless not seem that way at all. When I get back, I'll make sure and respond to any of the messages I haven't had a chance to respond to yet... sometimes I only can get on for about 15 min and so I run out of time reading emails and trying to send out a post to say where I'm currently located. But never fear, I read every word of every email!

Roma

After a looooong day and a half of traveling, I am now in Roma... Rome for those of you not from Italy ;) I rode the ferry from Corfu to Venezia (Venice) for 24hrs, followed immediately by a 7 hr train ride from Venezia to Roma. Needless to say, I am a very tired girl right now.

  

 

  

Tomorrow will be the 5th week since I've been gone from Swansea, which sadly means I have just under a week left to travel around Europa free from the burden of school. That's probably a good thing, though, since my bank account most likely wouldn't hold up much longer. hah. It will actually be quite nice to have a bed to sleep in again that I can call my own. And, it'll be nice to have some clean clothes that I haven't worn in awhile. By this time, I've worn every piece of clothing I have with me about a bajillion times, as you can all probably tell from the pictures.

 

  

I will hopefully be going to Vatican City tomorrow to see the Sistine Chapel and various other sightseeing worthy things. Tonight, I'm going to get to try to make it over to the Colosseum before getting some much needed rest. Other than that, the plan is to be here until the morning of the 21st when I will head to Florence for a few days before going back. Annnnd then, it'll be time for papers, but more importantly, it will be my birthday. I always luck out with the papers being due on my birthday, but I'm sure I'll find a few minutes to celebrate. (I've had a 6 week pre-celebration already, hah).

Greece

So, Greece, where to start? It really is quite amazing here. The place I am staying is nestled in the side of one of the mountains and has a great view of the sea and the other mountains. The price of the room comes, not only with free breakfast, but also with a 3 course dinner and lots of other cool stuff like pool tables, a basketball court, etc. And, it's right near the beach which doesn't hurt. Last night, in true Greek fashion, there was a toga party. Needless to say, I slept in today.

Yesterday, however, I spent 7 hrs riding a 4 wheeler around the island... 4 wheelers are street legal here. They take group trips up the mountains and around the town. The roads up the mountains aren't paved and there's not a railing or anything stopping you from going over the side of the huge cliff. The width of the road is just about the size of a 4 wheeler. At one point, I hit a big rock and the steering kinda stopped working; it didn't help that my front brakes were bad. I had quite the religious experience almost falling off the side of the mountain, hah. No joke, I almost went off it. But, I did get to see a lot of cool things. You could see the mountains in Albania from the top of one of the mountains we stopped on. I have lots of pictures of the whole excursion, but unfortunately this computer doesn't have a USB port that I can use. 

I'll be leaving here tomorrow morning and taking the ferry back to Venice. After that, it's off to either Florence or Rome. Pictures from Nice, Venice, the ferry ride, and Corfu will hopefully be up sometime next week!

Going to Greece

I'm currently onboard a posh ferry on my way to Corfu , Greece . I've never been on a cruise ship before, but I must say this ship is quite nice. And, thanks to my lovely eurail pass, this journey is completely free. Since it takes 24 hours to get there, that also means that I have a free night of accomodation (however it is only a reclinig chair... the actual rooms with beds cost money).

I will be in Corfu tomorrow at 2pm. Plans are to stay there until the 17th. Then, I'll be stopping through  Venice again (because that's the route of the ferry) on my way to Florence to meet my flatmate. After Florence , I'll head to Rome and then to Paris to head back to Swansea via London.

Sadly, my extremely long vacation is almost over. Soon, I will be back at school writing lots of papers. How very sad. I will try to forget about that for now. Right now all that's in my future is Greece.

Venice

In Venice now. Staying on the Grand Canal. Going to Corfu tomorrow or the next day hopefully. More later cause the internet here is expensive... actually everything here is expensive.

Nice is nice

Bonjour!

I am currently in Nice, on the infamous French Riviera. This keyboard is a French one, so just ignore all the mistakes I am sure to type... its more difficult than you think, especially when you only have 10 min to type and most of the letters are rubbed off the keyboard, guess its a good thing I once lived in France and had to use these keyboards everyday. Anyways, on to the point of my story.

I was in Barcelona for 2 days but did little more than sleep this time around. I managed to get sick just before leaving San Sebastian , but I think I am pretty much well by now. Today I took a train from Barcelona to Nice via Montpellier (one of the train stations I once spent a freezing cold night in... looks about the same). The ride was quite nice indeed... 10 hour train ride accross the Mediterranean coast. I wanted to take pictures. You really wouldn't believe it unless you saw it, but I refrained from photos... for once. (Oh speaking of photos, I did get some good ones of a palm sunday service inside one of Barcelona's famous churches... they had real palms and everything).

So, I am staying here in Nice tonight and most likely tomorrow night too. Then, I'll be taking a train from here to Venice via Milan . Hopefully once in Venice , I will take a ferry to Corfu . We'll see how it all works out.

Hope you all are doing well! I miss you all!

Au revoir!

The lead up to Easter

I don´t have much time left on here as I have used it all to upload photos. The 2 new albums are Madrid and San Sebastian... there´s one labeled Museo del Prado, but it doesn´t have photos yet cause my batteries died. They´ll be up in the future, as well as a few more from Alicante that I never got to put up.

I´m most likely leaving here (San Sebastian) tomorrow and heading back to Barcelona for a day. Then, I´m planning on taking a sleeper train from Barcelona to Milan to start the Italy leg of the trip. It´s been an amazing month in Espana, but I guess it´s time to move on.

This next week it´s going to be a challenge to find a place to stay, especially an affordable one. The week leading up to Easter (known as Semana Santa here in Espana)

is a huge event in Europa. I will probably be in Florence for Easter and in Corfu for Good Friday. Most places will be rolling out the red carpet for the holy week, so I will hopefully have some good photos to email out. It really doesn´t matter where I am though because every country near me is extremely Roman Catholic (or Greek Orthodox in the case of Greece), so there's sure to be a spectacle to see around every corner... I may be sleeping on the corner, so I´m sure to see them all.... hahah... don´t worry Mom, I´m only kidding, I´ll find a place to stay.

More later, as always I hope you enjoy the photos!

San Sebastian

I´m in San Sebastian now, which is on the coast in northern Spain. Still haven´t had a chance to put any photos up from Madrid, but they´ll be up in the very near future hopefully. I rode the train for most of the day yesterday, and I´ve been at the beach most of the day today. So, there´s nothing too exciting to tell. I went to a lot of cathedrals and parks while I was in Madrid and a couple of museums too, including the Prado (which is huge and ended up taking up most of the day). Well, I guess that´s it for now.

Madrid

I´m in Madrid now. I made the voyage here from Alicante this morning. I´m sitting in the hostel right now. It´s really nice... free internet and breakfast! Staying near the city center in an old historic building, but it´s surprisingly cheap. I´m sure there will be loads of photos to come soon. Right now, I want a shower and a nap.

Alicante

I´m in Alicante now. It´s further down the coastline of Spain. Got here at 9 this morning and found a hostel. It´s right by the beach and has a nice view from the rooftop terrace. It´s actually an old house that´s renovated and been turned into a hostel. The people that run it live here too, which is kinda cool. It´s hot and sunny, and there are lots of people out on the beach, unlike the other places I´ve been where it´s still relatively cool out. So, I´m about to go lay out on the beach for awhile. I´m traveling with an Aussie that I met at my hostel in Valencia, so I´m not here alone technically. I´ll probably be here for a few days before either heading further south or going to Madrid.

Valencia, Espana

I´m in Valencia now, which is a 3 and a half hour train ride down the Mediterranean from Barcelona. The train ride was quite... picturesque. Just checked into my hostel a few minutes ago. I think I might go get some orange juice, since I´m in Valencia and all... they´re famous for oranges if you haven´t gotten that by now. 

The Fallas Festival just finished here last week. I made sure to wait so that I would be able to find a place to stay. Not sure exactly what all there is to do here, aside from the beach, but I´ll email photos of the stuff I discover as soon as I have time. It would be much more fun if Charlotte and Hank were still here to wander about with me. Hope you guys made it home ok! 

Well, I guess that´s all for now. More to come soon. I will probably be here for 2 or 3 days before most likely heading to Madrid.

¡Hola from Barcelona!

Well, sometimes you travel half way across the world to be exactly where you´ve always been. I´m in Barcelona right now, made it safe and am in a hostel (the same one I´ve stayed in the last 2 times I´ve been here). There´s a song about Memphis playing right now (can´t put my finger on which one it is) that is what I mean about leaving and somehow still being where you were all along. Funny stuff.

  

  

I´m eagerly awaiting Charlotte and Hank getting here. Less than 24 hours left! But before I can FINALLY get some sleep, I must secure us a room for tomorrow. I´ve been awake since Tues. at 10am and it is currently Wed. at 330pm... almost to 30hrs and still wide awake. Too many coffees. I have already figured out the logistics of meeting them at the airport at 8am. Looks like it´ll be another early morning for me. At least this hostel comes with dinner and

breakfast included so I don´t starve to death. Not that I would... I had Subway this morning (don´t worry Mom).   

  

Hmm let´s see what else? I´ve been on a taxi, a train, a plane, a bus, and a metro today... not to mention all that walking that I did lugging that 30 or 40 pound bag.  Somehow I managed to navigate my way here all by myself. Aren´t you guys so proud? What a day. With no sleep.

  

  

Oh, so this made me smile. I was on the bus from the airport to the city center, and I was aimlessly staring out the window. There was a guy dressed all in black with a black apron down to his ankles. He could have easily just walked out of 206, except for one thing. He was running down the ramblas at full speed, dashing past famous Spanish plazas and historic Spanish architecture, ducking around palm trees, and avoiding running into throngs of people grouped around street performers, artists, merchants selling flowers and

chocolates and papers and crafts, all the while holding tight to 5 freshly baked baguettes that he had just purchased for his beloved restaurant (ok, maybe not beloved... and maybe that was more than one thing). That´s when I thought to myself... ahhhh Espana, I´ve come back to you again... and it´s like I never left.   

  

Bon voyage

Well, in a couple of hours, I'll be leaving Swansea for a little over 5 weeks. A taxi will be picking me up at the lovely hour of 530am, so that I can get to the train station for my 6am train. Then it's off to Bristol for a flight to Barcelona. I must be at the airport and completely checked in by 10am. 

I'll be in Barcelona for a week (meeting Charlotte & Hank). After that, my plans are not really set in stone. I'm most likely going to a couple of other places in Spain; on to Italy via France; then to Greece via a ferry; then back to Italy to meet up with one of my flatmates; then to Switzerland; accross to France; and finally, after an exhausting voyage, riding the chunnel from Paris to London and taking a train from London to Swansea. Hopefully everything will work out. This much is certain, I'm going to Barcelona. I'm spending 4 weeks after that somewhere in Europe riding trains and such. 

So, I guess that's all for now. I really have to finish packing... it's 330am... bet you would have never guessed that I still have to pack with only 2 hours left. hah. Some things never change. Wish me luck! I'll try to send out some updates on how the journey is progressing.

2 days till departure to Wales

Well, I'm down to having a mere 2 days left in the states. Which, if you know me well at all, means that I still haven't started packing or anything that might appear to resemble the beginning of packing, such as doing laundry or unloading my car from the trip home to Memphis... yea yea I know, Tuesday night I will be cursing myself and promising that the next time I move overseas this won't happen... however, I recall doing that before France and here I am again staring at bags and boxes, wondering what's in them, deciding it's too mind boggling to deal with just yet, looking over at my empty suitcase, and then deciding maybe tomorrow it'll all seem easier. haha.

Leaving on a jet plane

Only 2 more weeks until I leave for Wales! That's a mere14 days, which is only 336 hrs, which is only 20,160 minutes... yea, the impending departure has driven me a bit insane. The point is, it's not that long till I bid the states farewell, and I've spent a fair amount of time procrastinating doing the things which I am supposed to be doing in order to be ready to go... c'est la vie... I may go mad before it's all over, but one way or the other I'm leaving the 25th!