Spain... i came, i saw

[callinectes]

came over iberia at daybreak.
half of the mountains were lit up with a salmon errieness.
i took it as a good omen.
they gave way to rolling hills and scrub, then too a patch work of
of multi shades of brown. It looked like a bad 70´s homemade leather jacket,
except with out the fringe. Landed in madrid adn were hurded through glass walkways to the passport control pens. one big people aquarium.

So now i am at the hostal. Free computers, but the worst keyboard in the world.
the space bar keeps sticking (not to mention the s,k,r,g,and o) and i keep hitting the ç key. ¿ç?

So things i have learned about spain in my fisrt twenty fours hours.

1. They speak mexican, who knew?

2. they like themselves some slot machines.

3. one can get lost quickly. often several times for one destination.

4. Street signs! for the love of god and money, street signs.

5. The cops cars got to go. You dont not get much respect being pulled over by a cop in a glorified geo metro. It also doesnt help there named after crappy vodka.

6. On a similar not a bunch of guys on scooters does not gang make. They desvere to be pulled over by the sissywagons.

7. People dress young for their age. The lady with sal and pepper hair with a chelsea was a hard sell. Maybe if you 19 and from chelsea, but....
Similary, the 45 year old black metal dude ( though prob. wasn´t spanish). i dont care how many churches you burn down your music still sounds like a crappy iron maiden cover band. if want to rock some maiden, i´ll rock some maiden. aces high, jerks.

8. i still hate cigerettes.

9. i miss spellcheck.


huge line behind me.

tomorrow the prado then barca.
see you on the other side.

later days.

[pinion]

Originally posted by callinectes@Sep 8 2005, 10:55 AM
1. They speak mexican, who knew?

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I would have thought Spanish....never Mexican....

[TheJake]

A joke pinion, a joke. A funny one at that!

I enjoyed the read man! Very clever. Post some pics in the gallery!

[travelguy]

"1. They speak mexican, who knew?"

LOL

I was in madrid for just one day, there were so many hot ladies there.
Dont forget to take some pictures Callinectes

[Rozza]

Originally posted by TheJake@Sep 8 2005, 07:07 PM
A joke pinion, a joke. A funny one at that!

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Irony jake, Irony. some good irony at that!



Sounds like your having a good time Callinectes, Keep up with possibly the funniest updates in a while

[omisan]

Estoy muy celoso...

Next time you're using the computer, try to change the keyboard layout to US - if you can touch type, you're all set!

[pinion]

Originally posted by TheJake@Sep 8 2005, 12:07 PM
A joke pinion, a joke. A funny one at that!

[snapback]76262[/snapback]

Thank you, thank you I'll be here all week.


I was just giving you a hard time, callinectes. Can't wait to see pictures!!

[callinectes]

walking, walking, so much walking.

still in marid. Went to the prado this morning. Had enough of Carlos iV´s smug face so i left. However, worth mentioning was the painting of a statue of mary shooting breast milk (holy milk?) into a saint´s mouth. I tried to find the post card version to no avail. It would have been worth the 90 cents.

It is rather difficult to get something to eat without some type of dried pork product in it. there are stores called museums of ham. they sell ham. by the kilo.

being a biologist by training, i have keep note of the local flora and fauna, most of which has been house sparrows and pigeons. hhmmm. not so different or interesting there there. HOwever, i was surprised to find that mullet (Mugil sp.) and camel are also native to spain. Quite common while strolling through madrid park.

see though white pants are also "in" here. maybe globalization is good for something.

cheap wine is a good thing.

the american girls behind me are getting rather loud.
time to exit stage left.

tomorrow barca. i hear they dont speak mexican over there. some type of francified gibberish. a type of quebec que or something. i´ll be sure to point that out to the locals

later days...

[bluepea]

tomorrow barca. i hear they dont speak mexican over there. some type of francified gibberish.

Yeah, it's English.

Sounds like you're having a blast. I love Spain. I cannot wait to go back in the future.

[callinectes]

last night in madrd:
went out drinking alone, came back and went to bed for the early rise.
I was just about nodding off, when this rucus starts in the room. I figure its the bunkmates being loud, they get louder, then it seems the´re going through my things. i turn over and there´s four staff members staring at me. They say some girl´s ipod got stolen. I was like¨"oh, that´s bad...." more staring. "wait, you think i did it?" "yes." My reply was "why would i fly 10 hours to steal some girls ipod?"
"we are calling the police. we have camera every where and the thief was wearing, chorts" (as he is holding up my crumpled shorts) "chorts?" "Yes, chorts."

They go through all my stuff and needless to say they didnt find the ipod in question. a nice sleep delay. Some guy just walked in their room with people in it, snagged the ipod and ran off... I locked my stuff after that.

Apparently, you really should get these train reservations things. hhhmm.. Roll into the station (8 ish) and miss the early train. The next train to barc is not until 4. So i take 11 am one to valencia and transfer. I sat in the 1st class couch by accident and got the royal treatment. hot towel, champange, lunch, whiskey, etc..
so i guess it all worked out in the end. i dont think they were to pleased with me.

if your european you´re generally considered half gay by default. The lispy castilian spanish doesn´t help. gra thee as.

[space virgin]

if your european you´re generally considered half gay by default. The lispy castilian spanish doesn´t help. gra thee as.

Heh. I'm actually rather fond of that irritating little lisp, it makes me homesick for Spain. In some places they don't even put the 's' at the end of "gracias"-- I got really used to saying "grathia." So sweet and silly.

[callinectes]

today was a good day.
got up early and went to the gothic quarter, toured the cathedral, went to the Quadrat dÓr, and the Sagrada familia. It something to be seen, and one day may be finished. I found 20 euro outside, no one claimed it , i did try. So i went down to the beach and got a fancy lunch at a cafe overlooking the topless beach.
nice. simply beautiful.

Europe, greatest invention?
the printing press, ikea?
no, my friends, the topless beach.
simply one of humankind´s greatest achievments.
it´s worth even the hairy dudes in speedos.
if the "facts of life" taught us anything, and i think they did, it´s
that you got to take the good, take the bad, you take them both and there you have, the facts of life.

i find that when one doesnt know a language, say spanish for example, subsituting another forgein language, say german and italian, into the conversation doesn´t help.

i dont want to beat the fashion thing like a dead horse. (though in france they may want to eat it) but i saw an allover print "helloween" shirt. sweet. not even sure if you can find that in the states. they sure like them some metal, 80´s metal. Testament, exodus, iron maiden, motly crue 2005 tour shirt. rock on.

tomorrow valenica.

[kingcrazylegs]

sounds like you're having a great time - post pics

[callinectes]

still about to leave barcelona.

it´s crowded, silly crowded. new york crowded, except the people smell worse.
Packed with trashy german girls, loud austrailan boys, and me. Lots and lots of english speaking. All the menues are in english and i can now rattle off several "irish pubs" within walking distance of the hostel.

However, it´s good to know that if this career thing i am working on doesn´t pan out i could stand on the streets of barcelona in a homemade pig costume and make a living. There are already too many human statues. I wonder if they rumble tom robbins style after everyone´s left.

alright, i gone for real.
keep it down for the crown.
later days...
(probably just one.)

[worldwidemike]

Keep up the irreverent reports, calli! Yeah, Spain's great...but as you said, no matter where you go, you take the good with the bad. Traveling is like life, in that regard...

Good luck in Valencia! May the smelly, German girls at least be good looking...!

worldwidemike

[beergal]

stand on the streets of barcelona in a homemade pig costume and make a living

the famous ham is that the Serrano Ham? Its extremely expensive but meant to be the best ham in the world. The pigs are black and are fed entirely on acorns!

[agriadam]

stinky hostel and a space bar that sticks....um let me guess you stayed at the Cat´s hostel in madrid???

#1 hostel my ass..... I will give a full review when I return to the states.

ps if you were at the cats hostel than we were their the same time.


street signs ore on the sides of tthe buildings...it´s kinda of become second nature to look for them there now

[LiveFreeorDie]

The pigs are black and are fed entirely on acorns!

Riggghhhttttt..........I might Believe that. Didn't you see 'Hannibal'??

I like pork as much as the next guy, but let's not kid ourselves on what those little beasties likely consumed prior to being consumed.

[bookofkels]

great rports, hope your having fun, and i mean other kinds of fun not just the type where you laugh at the locals

[callinectes]

yes, indeed. i was at the cats hostal (last thurs & fri). It was the nicest looking place - fountain, moorish woodwork, etc - i have stayed at. The hot, or even warm, water was few and far between, but overall it wasn't to bad. Most certainly in comparison to the place i stayed in barcelona. that particular one wasn't too "ideal."

ah, the smell of urban spain, sweat, stale wine and dog crap. They are not one to clean up after their dogs. Walking through the plazas at night is like walking through a mine field. And in valencia, they just let their dogs wander the city. Out in front of my hostal last night i saw about 8 dogs romp through the fountain.
Good thing i didnt dip my feet... oh, they also like to vent their sewers back into the street. 12th century civil enginering just isn't what it used to be.

I saw the holy grain today. they have it in a church in Valencia. I dont know what dan brown is talking about, but its been here for centuries. He should have done some better research before writing his book. I'll have my people get in touch with tom hanks. Once he hears of this i am sure he'll want no part of the upcoming movie. tom's good like that. richard gear that's a different story.

I also went to the beach today. it was cooler than yesterday with a strong on-shore breeze. I was generally dismayed by the lack of toplessness, but can one really complain?

european girls like themselves some lip piercings. that and stupid pointy shoes.

Tomorrow morning i leave for seville. A nice 8 hour train ride and I already finished my book.... From what i hear seville is a beautiful city. The hostals are a bit on the pricey side, ~ 30+ $US. we'll see... I may try to take the train down to cadiz before i have to head back to madrid. there seems to be only one hostal in town and its already booked. Anyone ever been to cadiz, any suggesstions?

time's running on the coin operated computer, but at least the keyboard works.
alright meine dame und herren
later days.