Barcelona

So I got word last month that one of my best friends from California was going to be in Barcelona....so I thought Espana here I come. After staying an over night in Vienna, I caught my train to Linz. Ryanair has a small airport there with cheap, direct flights to Girona....which was close enough to Barcelona. After only fifteen minutes on the train, it broke down! I sat in the heat for two hours while another engine came from Vienna. Lucky for me, since I had never been to Linz before I left 6 hours before my flight. I made it to the gate an hour before take off and hurried through security of the worlds tiniest airport. As many of you know....flying is not exactly one of my favorite things in the world.....but the flight was fine...just the landing was a little....hmm....bouncy. The temperature was perfect in Girona....mid 80's and I caught the bus to the center of Barcelona. When I arrived at the Nord Bus Depot I was too tired from the past week of camping, traveling, and not sleeping so I spoiled myself and caught a Taxi. Lucky for me Taxis in Spain aren't nearly as expensive as most of Europe. The hostel turned out to be outside of the city center a bit, but was absolutely perfect. The staff was wonderful and the hostel was very clean and nice. Hannah was already there along with her friend Ryan from Santa Cruz. It was already pretty late and we were all tired so we decided to have a mellow night and just go out for some Tapas. We tried a local restaurant that was recommended by the very lovely Juana who worked at the hostel. The tapas were amazing and the Sangria was delicious....the best part was that is was not that expensive either! The rest of the night was spent in the hostel meeting new friends and enjoying catching up with Hannah.
The first night in the hostel was BRUTAL. Some jackass in the bunk next to me had way too much to drink and was snoring so loudly I could not fall asleep. I tried everything from punching the locker next to him to wake him up, clapping really loudly, to finally flogging him with my pillow. None of it worked :( Oh well...it is part of the charm of a hostel I suppose. In the morning we decided to hop on the metro and explore the city. We arrived at the city center and wandered around La Rambla for hours. It was really nice to see all the street performers in truly exotic and wild costumes and soak up some sun. We walked past the harbors and all the way to Barceloneta, the main "tourist" beach. The water was perfect and we immediately jumped in for a swim. Afterwards we lounged around on the beach chairs until some guy tried to get us to rent them for 5 Euros.....That is when we decided to keep exploring. We wandered through the Gothic Quarter, admiring all the funky architecture, beautiful murals on the sides of the buildings, and the narrow streets. We found what looked to be the most authentic restaurant in the area and decided to get some Tapas and try Paella. Our waitress was an absolute bitch and seemed extremely annoyed that we were all going to share the Paella. She also continually corrected our Spanish....this is where I learned the huge differences between Mexican Spanish and "proper" Spanish. The food was a disappointment, but when in the presence of such good company it did not matter. After cleaning up back at the hostel, a group of us decided to hit the town. We went to a few bars and ended up at the beach with a oddly mixed group containing French, German, Spanish, Canadian, and Irish. It was an interesting night...I will spare you the details.

The next day I managed to convince Hannah and Ryan we needed to rent scooters to properly see the city. So we hopped the subway back to the beach and rented 150cc Scooters. Hannah was terrified at first (and so was I) but we adapted quickly to the intense traffic and crazy roundabouts. Ryan was so excited he actually smiled! So we set off to Gaudi Park......we lost Ryan within ten minutes and decided to try and find it anyway. We ended up totally lost but somehow managed to get to Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família which was under renovations but was still absolutely spectacular. It was also very very weird at the same time. We managed to navigate our way to Parc Güell, which was beautiful and also very strange. Some of Gaudi's work reminded me of some fantasy world, like Alice in Wonderland, that had severe drug themed undertones. We then scooted to the top of the mountain overlooking the entire city. This was perhaps my favorite part of my trip....the view was spectacular and it was very tranquil up there. That night, our lovely Juana took us all out to some hot spots on the town. I could not make it past 3:30....Everyone called me a wimp :( I think the rest of the group got back around 6 am....crazy people :)

The last few days were full of site seeing, sun bathing, swimming, and hanging out with old friends and making new ones. I decided it would be smart to take a ferry to Italy and take the train back to Landshut, hence avoiding air travel. The boat ride from Barcelona to Genoa started out amazing.....beautiful views....ect....but I forgot to pack food for myself and was forced to eat on the boat....It was my most expensive meal yet. They announced that the EuroCafe was now open as a cheaper alternative to the restaurant. It was a Buffet with no posted prices. So I got a bowl of pasta, a roll, a Salad, a water, a small bottle of wine, and a little piece of meat......27 Euros....I wanted to walk out of there but there were people in line behind me waiting to pay....so......oh well.....at least the food was AMAZING...and the bottle of wine was cheaper than my bottle of water....that made me smile. I slept that night in the cramped 2nd class seating area, but thanks to a very sweet friend I had an amazing book to read and managed to get a little sleep too. Once I arrived in Genoa I discovered I missed the direct trains to Munich...but since I had done this trek before I caught the local train to Verona....then took the local train to the Austrian boarder where I managed to catch the last train to Innsbruck. After 32 hours of straight traveling, I arrived back in Landshut to a heaping bowl of pasta and my wonderful family......What did I Learn? Stop being such a wimp and catch the hour and a half flight back next time.

Bratislava, Slovakia

After a short train ride I arrived in Bratislava. I was almost certain I had missed the main train station but something told me to wait one more stop. It appeared that the train was leaving the city entirely, but then at the last moment it looped around and arrived at the main train station. It was a different scene the the main stations in most of western Europe, but it was charming none the less. I had booked a hostel close by ahead of time which ended up being one of the coolest hostels of my trip so far. It was located only a 5 min walk from the station. It was a very modern and hip hostel and had a Dungeon themed bar in the basement. Apparently there is an American horror movie called Hostel, which took place in Bratislava and involved American tourists being held in a dungeon and tortured. So the hostel ran with this theme, and the bar had a bloody bath tub as a table, dummies stuffed in torture chambers, and very interesting pictures on the wall. It was already late in the evening, but I wandered down the road to find some food and stumbled across a fancy looking Italian place. I was too hungry to keep walking, so I sat down and hoped for the best. It ended up being the best meal since leaving Landshut. I got a huge plate of Pasta Carbonera, a salad, and a beer for a whopping 4.70 Euro. I remember that Bratislava was cheap, but I had no idea! After Ireland and Holland, it was a blessing being in a place where food was still cheap. I ended back in the Dungeon Bar and met a group of 10 Brits that were enjoying just having finishing high school. We all marveled at the cheapness of the bar and enjoyed 1 euro Pints and conversations ranging from music, to religion, to politics, to history....and the bar didn't close til 4 am....It was a really fun night! The next day I decided to take in the sites on my own. I wandered all around the old town, which was beautiful! The main castle was under going repairs but was still amazing based on the sheer size and location. It overlooked the whole town from the top of a huge hill, with breathtaking views of the Danube. This castle was once home to the Habsburgs when Bratislava was the capitol of the kingdom of Hungary. After enjoying yet another tasty and cheap meal, I ran into my British friends and we all decided to go to "the Beach." It was a man made beach on the opposite side of the Danube and it was beautiful! We immediately started a game of soccer on the beach pitch and pretty soon a whole mix of international player joined us. We continued doing touristy stuff afterwards and then went grocery shopping so we could cook dinner at the hostel. For the first time in my travels, it was more expensive to cook in the hostel than to eat a meal at a restaurant.

St. Polten

Off to a techno trance festival in St. Polten Austria for days of camping in beautiful weather! Or so I thought. The trip from Landshut to St. Polten started off beautiful and sunny but got progressively worse as I neared the town where the festival was being held. Kiwi and Moni met me there and thanks to Moni's job as a reporter I got a free VIP 3 days pass to the festival. A friend of mine that I met in Scotland joined up later and we enjoyed a live set by Infected Mushroom, an amazing DJ. We decided not to camp the 1st night because it was really raining hard and we got a room at a bed and breakfast in town. The second day I was expecting the festival to be in full swing, but it ended up not opening until 6 pm. So after setting up the camp and securing our belongings, we ventured into town to get supplies. It was only a short bus ride into town and we loaded up on food and beer. The town was quaint and beautiful and was apparently not prepared for the festival at all. That night Faithless, one of my all time favorite electronic groups played, and even though it was pouring....loads of faithful fans of faithless stood in the rain and listened to an amazing 2 hr set. The weather finally broke the last day and I was able to see Paul Van Dyk, arguably the worlds most famous DJ, play an amazing set.....My friend Amanda woke me just in time to catch him! Now...off to Bratislava.