Leaving Cascais

Char and I are both very sad to be leaving Portugal tonight. This is really a special place and I know that I will be coming back again some day. The people in Portugal are infinitely nicer than the people in Southern Spain that we met, who considered us a burder that they had to bare. But Cascais (pronounced Cash-Caish) is really a little Paradise on Earth. I´ve decide that I will forgoe trying to learn Spanish and instead will work on my Portugese so that when I return I will be able to converse a little with the great people of Portugal. People like Juão and Rudrigô, who drove me in to see the Barriô Alto and got me pissed in the oldest district of Lisbon, and of course, people like Debra and Antoniô, who put us up and entertained us with excellent food and wine. I will never in my life forget the Portugese sense of hospitality.

Tonight we take the night train to Madid and then catch a connector to Barcelona where we will try to find lodging on a busy Friday night. And then the trick becomes trying to get to Slovenia as soon as possible, where our allowances will be stretched further then they would in Spain, France or expensive Italy.

Pool Vs. Ocean

"But the beach is all sand and salt and wind and sand in my face" I said.

"No, the beach is beautiful and wonderful and the whole reason we´re here" she said.

"Alright" I said. "But it doesn´t make any sense, why would the hotel build such a nice swimming pool for us if the ocean was all you´re saying it is? I mean, don´t get me wrong the ocean IS beautiful, and the view is fantastic. But surely they´ve cleverly anticipated that in some months the ocean will be too cold for even the bravest tourists, and that on some days, even in the hot months, the wind will be too strong for a good beach session. That´s probably why they built such high walls around the swimming pool, to keep the wind out, and the rif-raff" I said.

She looked at me with a face. So we went to the beach.

But the beach was windy and sandy and salty. And the water was cold enough to scare a man´s testicles away. So we went to the pool. And it was good. And they served drinks at the pool. And we saw that this was good. And the wind: there was none.

Involuntary Philanthropy

I forgot to mention that yesterday Char and I visited the great city of Madrid. We had an eight-hour stop-off in Spain´s capitol city while we awaited the night train to Lisbon. So, we took a ride on the metro to La Plaza de Castilla and then walked a couple of blocks ´til we found a fancy little yuppy joint that served a la cart dishes with wine.

While we dined, a scruffy old man came up to peddle some cheap imitation Rolexes, and seing as how I needed a watch and wanted to help him out, I decided to haggle. We agreed on 20 Euros (which is way too much anyway - about 30 dollars Canadian) because, well, because I had 20 Euros to spare and he didn´t. He didn´t look like a drug addict or anything, he just looked like a skinny old Spanish guy with a cigarette in his mouth. Guess what though? The watch doesn´t work. It is completely useless. But I´ve moved on. It was a good day for him and that has to be worth something.

My only other complaint about Madrid is that it only has about 6 public washrooms. Five million people, six public washrooms, and I think I used everyone of them (the greasy food having really caught up to me in the last few days).

Chau

Getting Trashy on the Train, Euro-style

This morning we leave our comfortable little flat here in Granada on a five-hour train ride to Madrid were we will have about eight hours to catch some of the sights and maybe even check out a bullfight. Then we're taking an overnight train to Lisbon, Portugal and shaking up with Char's aunt and uncle. It will be the last of her vast family that we will be visiting here in Europe.

We're only hanging out in Lisbon for a day or two and then we're going to make the long train journey all the way to Slovenia, stopping at intervals along the way.

El Alhambra

Up early this morning to get a good place in line to see the world-famous Alhambra. But despite leaving the apartment at quarter passed seven, we still managed to show up just in time to get the last place in the lineup. The Alhambra has stood for nearly 900 years and is the pride of the people of Granada. Everyday nearly 6,000 people visit the Alhambra - the red castle - which is basically on the backup roster of the Seven Wonders of the World. So, if Ankor Wat ever crumbles or if the Sphinx uses up all of its lives, then the Alhambra may be in the contest for the position. Except that when we got to the front of the line, they told us that they would only be letting in 50 more people... ever; I guess they're buildind a Wal Mart.

So what's the Alhambra like? It's a giant walled city on top of a hill. It's red-ish, and it has a lot of archeological excavation things happening in and around it. We did it cheap-skate style so we didn't have a guide or one of those fancy hedsets that provide you with interesting information, so for all intents and purposes, it was just a bunch of old buildings surrounded by even older walls. I was sure that there had to have been something that happened there over the course of the last millenium so we tried to eavesdrop on some of the guided tours but they didn't take kindly to that tactic, until we found a nice bunch of German tourists and their guide who didn't seem to care that we were following them (content that we weren't really getting the full value of the tour). I was able to decipher some history from the Germman guide's comments though: Konigen this und soldat that, und arbeiten dis und Muslim dat, etc.

Then you go into the Palacio Nazariea, which has amazing detail in the interior decor. Inside the palace chambers you can really see the confluence of Arabic and Spanish influences. If you ever go, however, you should pay for the tour because, well, I'm sure things have happened in there too. All in all, we spent 5 whole hours at the Alhambra and in the end I had to ask a group of American tourists when the place was constructed and how many people a day visit the place (two points of info I would have been at a serious loss without).

As far as castles go: one of the best. But, eighth Wonder of the World? Ich wisse nicht!

Gunners Vs. Barcelona

It was all fireworks and ambulances last night here in Granada after the Barcelona team defeated Arsrenal 2-1 in what I am told is supposed to be the last important soccer - er, football - game before the opening of the World Cup in Munich on June 9. Of course, I have been told that since we got to Europe.

Riding into down town last night on the bus, some little shit Spanish kid wearing a Barcelona jersey wipped a chocolate milk carton at me throgh the window of the bus and it hit me in the face. I guess he thought I was an Arsenal fan. Funny thing: until a few weeks ago, I thought Arsenal was a Spanish team! I wasn't too pissed off, however, because the kid had a bad mullet haircut and an ugly girlfirend, and all the flying chocalate milk cartons in Spain won't change that. Ass.

When I got to the Irish bar (which usually is dominated by Irish, American, English and English-speaking Dutch people,) it was packed with screaming Barcelona fans. I found the only British people in the bar and bought them all a round of pints. To be honest, I felt kind of bad for them, but mostly I felt a kind of comraderie with them on account of the whole chocolate milk experience. I was converted into an Arsenal fan last night.

40 Degrees!

Let me just say this: when your packing your bags for Spain, you'd be well advised to leave your sweat shirts at home. Actually, cloths are kind of frivolous baggage all together. It's bloody hotter that Haites right now and all we can do is hang out in the apartement and take cold showers every now and then.

We went to the Spanish baths today (swim suits mandatory) and had a very relaxing afternoon. Only 22 Euros for an hour of bathing and tea and a twenty minute massage; it was money well spent, except that we didn't have to pay for it cause it all gets billed to the University that Brian is consulting for. What a scam!

The University of Granada, incidentally, is the biggest in Spain. Its faculty buildings are scattered all over the city. Brian and Shawna's apartement is right opposite the Departimento Infomatico, which is an interesting building with an 'art nuveau' design but that has these huge cylindrical towers that sort of make it look like a castle. I'm looking at it right now. For those who are less impressed by buildings on their own, the Sierra Nevada mountains are situated behind the building, complementing the vista quite nicely. To be sure, the Sierra Nevada moutains are impressive in their own right too.

Yesterday we went climbing with Blob and his very very Spanish friend 'Jimmy'. I don't think Jimmy's name is really Jimmy, but that's what Brian calls him and it's really funny when he says "Y-ay, will you take picture of Brian and Y-immy?" I did one climb right away to get it over with and I swore the whole way up and the whole way down. Char did a bunch of climbs and she is quite an athlete at it. Brian and Y-immy climbed and climbed and sweated the day away. I sat in the shade drinking beer and reading my book. Suckers. It's called 'The Drifters' by James A. Michener. It's about young people going to Spain. How about that?

Ya. So that's that. Hot hot hot.

Just Another Travel Blog

Yessir, I'm converting this blog into a travel digest!

You'll find politics of the Canadian sort here no longer. I might gap a bit about interesting political developments I see here in Europe, but it's unlikely, cause we've already left the Tony Blair show, and I can't really speak the languages. So, it'll pretty much be: "..and then we saw an old man on a donkey, and then some little kids came and spanked the donkey, and then an old lady came and yeld at the little kids, and then the little kids spanked the old lady...", etc. Yep, it's going to be quite an adventure for the next couple of weeks. So sit back, relax and vicariously enjoy the sights and wonders of Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, und Deutchland!

When I return to the beautiful ol' C-A-N-A-D-A, I shall return to my regular old business of neglecting my shitty blog all together, only to occasionally reapear with some un-insightful comment about the state of affairs in my home and native land.

Chau.

Michi