Madrid, Spain, Europe I got to see Alicia today, so that was a nice surprise. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to see her while I was here in Spain, but she and her friend Rodrigo drove down to Madrid for the day and we met them for lunch. Vivi and I spent the morning running some errands, things she needs to take care of before she moves from Spain back to Colombia. We met Alicia…
Madrid, Spain, Europe Today was quite a relaxed day in Madrid. Vivi got up and left for work at 6:15am, and I hardly heard her at all. It was perfect because I was able to go back to sleep and not get up until 9am. That was a good rest. I finally got up, got ready and headed out to find the Cuban embassy. I knew I had to get a visa for Cuba, and I wasn’t sure how long…
Madrid, Spain, Europe I got up at 8am with the intention of going to visit these two old churches outside the city. Unfortunately, when I woke up and looked out the window, I realized that it was pouring buckets. I don’t mind if it’s not the greatest weather, but I really didn’t feel like walking around in the pouring rain before I had to get on a bus for five and a half hours. I made the executive decision that…
Oviedo, Spain, Europe I had a good night’s sleep at Laura’s place, got my stuff together this morning, and left before I ever saw anyone in the house. I left my keys behind and grabbed a bus to the city center and got my Alsa bus to Oviedo. It was just a couple of hours to get here and my hotel is only a five minute walk from the bus station, so that made it easy. I’m staying in a…
Santander, Spain, Europe Today was not a very patriotic day, but it was a really good day anyway. I had already bought today’s bus ticket when I was out yesterday, so I just had to get to the bus station for 10:30am which was no problem at all. I got my bus from Bilbao at 11am and I was in Santander by 1pm. Tonight is the first night I am staying in an Airbnb apartment, so I had a set…
Bilbao, Spain, Europe I officially had the worst night ever in a hostel last night. I had met one of the kiwi guys who was staying in my room last night before they went out and I thought he seemed like a nice guy. He even said “we’ll probably be coming in late tonight but we’ll try to keep the noise down for you.” That’s all you can really ask for. You know that when staying in a dorm you…
San Sebastian, Spain, Europe Today ended up being mostly a travel day, but it was nice anyway. I was hoping there was going to be an early bus to get from Barcelona to San Sebastian, but the earliest I could find was 10:30am. I got on that and was lucky enough to sit next to a lovely Spanish girl named Elia. She seemed more than happy to practice her english (lucky for me, because my Spanish is non-existent) and we…
Barcelona, Spain, Europe I had a really nice time being back in Edinburgh for a few days. It was good to see a bunch of friends and family while I was back (Paul, Jo, Keith, Hayley, Ross, Graham, Grum, Richie, Emma, Bec, the Preachers, and the Melville staff), and it’s a shame I didn’t have more time to get to see everyone. I guess it’ll just have to wait about nine months until I get back. I got all my…
Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Europe I had a good night’s sleep in Sali’s guest room last night, in a nice comfortable bed. Gareth had his air mattress from camping, so he said he was happy enough to sleep on that and I could have the bed. We got up around 7:30am and I got to thank Sali for letting me stay before she went off to work. Sarah, Gareth and I made up some sandwiches and headed off to the airport…
Geneva, Switzerland, Europe The guys in the dorm room last night “tried” to be really quiet and respectful, but they really weren’t good at it. They came into the room around midnight, to get ready to go out. They finally left the room at 2am, and then one of the guys came back at 6:30am. I woke up at 7am, so I was up when a few more of the guys came back in, but they were all just a…