Nevertheless, here are some photos from around the city.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Montpellier, France
Montpellier was a nice but pretty average city as far as coolness goes, but it was a very different experience from other cities because we used couchsurfing for the first time. Couchsurfing is a site where you can connect with people from different countries who are looking to host travellers from around the world and stay with them. We ended up staying with a guy there who was really cool - he took us to bars with his friends, helped us around the city, jammed with me on guitar, and even gave us a key to his apartment. I liked the experience a lot people I got to see a bit more of the local culture than I usually do when just doing touristy type stuff, and it also saved a lot of hotel and hostel costs. Its pretty amazing the amount of trust that people can have after only knowing someone for a day.
Nevertheless, here are some photos from around the city.
Nevertheless, here are some photos from around the city.
Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona so far has been my favorite city that I've been to in Europe (and I'm writing this while in Florence, so I've seen a bit at this point). It has everything - great nightlife, beautiful beaches, huge parks, good sports teams, and tons of stuff to do. I could definitely see my self spending a few weeks there if I had time, or even living there for a little bit.
Our first night in Barcelona was a bit stressful though. As many of you probably know, I'm not really one to plan ahead, so most of this trip (at least in Europe, not as much in S. America) I usually just show in up in a city, take the subway into the center and walk around until I find a place to stay. This time, however, that plan failed pretty badly. Our train go in around 9pm, so by the time we got organized and made it into the city it was nearing 10pm. It just so happened that the weekend we got there coincided with a french holiday, so there were THOUSANDS of french people there. We tried going to literally 15 hostels and hotels (huge ones too, with 200+ beds) that were all completely sold out because of the french holiday. We finally found one around midnight with exactly two beds left (but only for one night) and took it so that we could just find something in the morning. Eventually everything worked out, but it would have sucked to have to sleep out in the streets for a night.
Here are a few pictures from around the city:
We saw a Flamenco show, which was a bit pricy but pretty cool.
The weekend we got there, Barcelona was playing there final game of the season, which if they won would mean that they would take first place and win the Spanish League. They prevailed, which made for some crazy parties and celebrations that night. Unfortunately I had hurt my back (sciatica) and was on some medications which didn't allow me to drink alcohol, but it was still really fun. There was music and dancing and firecrackers everywhere, and the whole city was completely alive.
Bo also managed to snag two movies with her phone's camera.
I highly recommend Barcelona if you have the chance.
Our first night in Barcelona was a bit stressful though. As many of you probably know, I'm not really one to plan ahead, so most of this trip (at least in Europe, not as much in S. America) I usually just show in up in a city, take the subway into the center and walk around until I find a place to stay. This time, however, that plan failed pretty badly. Our train go in around 9pm, so by the time we got organized and made it into the city it was nearing 10pm. It just so happened that the weekend we got there coincided with a french holiday, so there were THOUSANDS of french people there. We tried going to literally 15 hostels and hotels (huge ones too, with 200+ beds) that were all completely sold out because of the french holiday. We finally found one around midnight with exactly two beds left (but only for one night) and took it so that we could just find something in the morning. Eventually everything worked out, but it would have sucked to have to sleep out in the streets for a night.
Here are a few pictures from around the city:
We saw a Flamenco show, which was a bit pricy but pretty cool.
The weekend we got there, Barcelona was playing there final game of the season, which if they won would mean that they would take first place and win the Spanish League. They prevailed, which made for some crazy parties and celebrations that night. Unfortunately I had hurt my back (sciatica) and was on some medications which didn't allow me to drink alcohol, but it was still really fun. There was music and dancing and firecrackers everywhere, and the whole city was completely alive.
Bo also managed to snag two movies with her phone's camera.
I highly recommend Barcelona if you have the chance.
Granada, Spain
Our third stop in Spain was in Granada, a smaller city best known for the Alhambra. I really liked the city, but we only stayed there for two nights because outside of seeing the Alhambra there didn't seem to be a whole lot that was particularly special about it.
One cool thing about that city was that with any drink that you ordered in any restaurant or bar in the city, you received a free tapa (essentially a small appetizer). This was usually something like sausage, cheese on bread, chips, etc, but they were all really good, and drinks were only about 2-3 Euro so it was relatively cheap.
The city itself was very artsy, with stone roads, colorful buildings, musicians playing, and lots of plazas. It was very laid back and relaxing.
Here is a view of the Alhambra from point San Nicolas, a church at the top of the Arabic district.
Inside the Alhambra is quite impressive, with palaces, huge gardens, outdoor theatres, etc. It was pretty amazing.
All in all, a pretty cool city.
One cool thing about that city was that with any drink that you ordered in any restaurant or bar in the city, you received a free tapa (essentially a small appetizer). This was usually something like sausage, cheese on bread, chips, etc, but they were all really good, and drinks were only about 2-3 Euro so it was relatively cheap.
The city itself was very artsy, with stone roads, colorful buildings, musicians playing, and lots of plazas. It was very laid back and relaxing.
Here is a view of the Alhambra from point San Nicolas, a church at the top of the Arabic district.
Inside the Alhambra is quite impressive, with palaces, huge gardens, outdoor theatres, etc. It was pretty amazing.
All in all, a pretty cool city.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Cadiz, Spain
After getting back from Spain, we spent two days in Cadiz visiting Chelsey. The city is a really small, laid-back beach town. It was nice just doing nothing and relaxing for a change. We went out to a bar one night and had tea with Chelsey's host mom one afternoon, but other than that just walked around the city and chilled on the beach.
Tanger, Morocco
From Madrid, Bo and I met up with our friend Chelsey and her friend Gio who are studying in Cadiz. We took a bus down to Tarifa and then caught the ferry to Morocco for the weekend.
We got in late Friday night and just found our hostel, ate at a local restaurant, and then took it easy and went to bed. Bo and I had been traveling for about 12 hours already that day and by the time we were ready to explore it had gotten dark, and we didn't think it was a good idea to wander around not knowing anything about the neighbourhood we were in.
Even though Morocco is only a 45 minute ferry ride from Spain, it is completely different culturally. Here is the initial view from the ferry:
Overall, Tanger felt relatively safe (although I didn't spend much time there), but the the language barrier made it a bit difficult and times, and there were a lot of big cultural differences. For example, it seems like women had very little respect and almost no rights there. Sometimes when asking for directions, the people would only talk to me and not the girls I was traveling with. I don't think it would be easy to travel there as a girl, but I know people that have done it. Also, alcohol is completely illegal (although apparently not too hard to get). This meant that there is basically no night life or bars anywhere in the country.
Our "hostel" was basically just a converted out apartment that we could stay in. However, it was really nice and had a very authentic Moroccan feel to it, so that made it fun.
The building also had a rooftop terrace, which had a great view of the surrounding city:
We ended up calling a guide that we met right after getting off the ferry, and he agreed to give us a walking tour of the city for about five Euro apiece. We got to see lots of markets and sights around the city, and it was overall a pretty good tour.
Tanger was the first country after the American Revolutionary War to recognize the US as a sovereign nation (they did just before the French, who aided the US in the war, but Tanger was controlled by the french at the time so this is largely the reason), so the oldest US embassy in the world is located in the French district of the city.
Here are a few more pictures from the city:
The Caves of Hercules:
And of course, we couldn't resist riding on camels...
We got in late Friday night and just found our hostel, ate at a local restaurant, and then took it easy and went to bed. Bo and I had been traveling for about 12 hours already that day and by the time we were ready to explore it had gotten dark, and we didn't think it was a good idea to wander around not knowing anything about the neighbourhood we were in.
Even though Morocco is only a 45 minute ferry ride from Spain, it is completely different culturally. Here is the initial view from the ferry:
Overall, Tanger felt relatively safe (although I didn't spend much time there), but the the language barrier made it a bit difficult and times, and there were a lot of big cultural differences. For example, it seems like women had very little respect and almost no rights there. Sometimes when asking for directions, the people would only talk to me and not the girls I was traveling with. I don't think it would be easy to travel there as a girl, but I know people that have done it. Also, alcohol is completely illegal (although apparently not too hard to get). This meant that there is basically no night life or bars anywhere in the country.
Our "hostel" was basically just a converted out apartment that we could stay in. However, it was really nice and had a very authentic Moroccan feel to it, so that made it fun.
The building also had a rooftop terrace, which had a great view of the surrounding city:
We ended up calling a guide that we met right after getting off the ferry, and he agreed to give us a walking tour of the city for about five Euro apiece. We got to see lots of markets and sights around the city, and it was overall a pretty good tour.
Tanger was the first country after the American Revolutionary War to recognize the US as a sovereign nation (they did just before the French, who aided the US in the war, but Tanger was controlled by the french at the time so this is largely the reason), so the oldest US embassy in the world is located in the French district of the city.
Here are a few more pictures from the city:
The Caves of Hercules:
And of course, we couldn't resist riding on camels...
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