Trippin thru Europe

I realize that this delay in posts from me must have been agonizing for everyone so we apoligize for any trobules it may have caused and we will be spending all night catching everyone up on our journey. So josh and I have been extremly busy, more so than ever and we have lots to tell. That last post I left we had dropped off lots of stuff at the post office and hopefully it will eventually arrive in Canada, we relly have no idea what we were supposed to do besides write the one address we know. Our plan was to leave Marbella this day and arrive in Malaga a couple hours later, where we would catch an overnight train to Valencia where we would catch our plane to ...... a few days later. I am not disclosing the name of where we are going because I think its time I added suspense to my posts. Anyways as usual it was easier said than done and when we arrived in Malaga we went to the train station to find that the first train availble was on the 22nd, which was two days after our flight was booked for. So any other route we planned for was booked days after our flight was leaving. And the reason being, of corse it was still Easter week. So we resorted to a long overnight deathly bus ride to Alicante, see what I did there I added a personal touch of drama, brilliant. So it was about 12pm when we bought our tickets and our bus ride would leave later that night at 12:30am. So I did my usual bus waiting routine and read my trashy british/UK gossip magazines and newspaper. I really enjoy the newspapers they write, they are almost as bad as the magazines and somehow they still believe they are writing legitimate/serious news. So we caught our bus and arrived very unbeautifully the next moring in Alicante at 7:30am. We had previously booked a hotel so we took a cab and arrived there quickly after. I love the reactions we get from hotel reception. Most times (especially after dealthy bus rides) we arrive at our lovely hotels looking not so healthy so i think they almost always think we are coming to beg for money. So of course we took a much needed nap. We later on took a stoll down to the harbour where we assumed we were staying in another large resort area, due to the plethera of massive yaghts parked in the harbour. The next moring we woke up semi-early to go exploring, keep in mind this city was an accidental stop and we had no plans for it. Good thing the main attratction was hard to miss. The city has a humungous, massive, gigantic incredibly large fortress overlooking the entire city. So we opted out on the five hour climb up there and took the 4Euro, 3 minute elevator ride up to the top. We got a magnificent view of the city which was very beautiful and explored the area. The really great thing about the fortress was inside some of the old tunnels art exibits we being held. The was a really creepy one held in a tunnel which was completly sealed off until someone entered than which a guard would seal it off right after. Horror movie music was played and tiny deranged figurines of animals spun slowly on a moving circle. At the far wall a black and white shadow movie of people dressed in animal costumes doing strage things such as blowing up ballons was being played. The walls in the next room were decorated with scratches of again, deranged animals. By the five minutes I had spent in there were up I was ready to scream and hurt something, that music was insane, I felt quite bad for the grandpaly security guard who had to watch over the exibit. I did notice some rage in his eyes when we first arrived... So we left and did stuff, the next morning we got up early and booked it down to the harbour and caught a ferry to a little island called Tabarca, and when I say small i mean population of 100, and 3km long and 1/2km at its widest. The reason for our tip there being that we heard there was some snokeling here. So we arrived and quickly found out that the book we read most likely meant in the summer when the island was actually alive. There was no businesses, just a few souvineers shops and a tiny grocery store. We knew there had to be something good because as we arrived in the harbour you could see a photo shoot taking place off to the side of the island. As well as soon as we got close to the island the water turned into the most beautiful thing I have seen yet. The water was the clearest, purest and greenest I have ever seen, even more beautiful than spain or portugal. I guess this would be the mediterranean. So maybe it would be ok here. We arrived when it was overcast but when the sun came out 20 minutes later I could see why we and the boat loads of other people were coming here. The beach was terribly rocky and there were wood shavings instead of sand. But the water was the most incredible site I`ve seen. Here there were reefs and turquoise blue waters meeting the dark water. The sun was soo hot that day that nothing was better than that freezing beautiful water. We went exploring over the rest of the island and walked out into the reefs. So that was our day and went back to Alicante explored, packed and got ready to leave for Valencia where we would catch our flight to somewhere. So extremly early the next day we left for the bus station late, as for some reason neither of our credit cards would go through and we had no cash, good thing Josh is a quick sprinter. We took our bus ride to Valenica the trip was nice but once we got to the city we were glad we hadent been able to get to the city when we first had tried. There is just something about large Spainish cites, they are cluttered, dirty, and unwelcoming as opposed to the smaller cities that are the most beautiful places that we have ever seen. So hours later we arrived at the Valencia airport to catch our plane ride to ............ Milan, Italy!!! Against our original plans and iteneray we decided to go to italy, just beacause it was soo close so we thought we would just pop on over. So we flew a short while until we reached the Milan airport. One funny custom that me and Josh always laugh at is when the plane lands everyone arupts into loud clapping and cheering, were they expecting a different outcome??? We caught a bus into the city center and went immediatly to an internet cafe because we had no place to stay. Obiously we havent learnt anything from our pervious escapades. The stupid things with these internet booking sites is that you are unable to book for the day that it currently is and no one could call for us because they are not allowed to use the phones for customer use. So we went on the suggestion of our lonely planet book and decided that we did not need to stay in the city and the we would move on. Apparently besides being the capital of fashion which is a HUGE thing there is nothing much to see in Milan. I think it would have killed me to go see the shops where I could afford only a sock.

So early the next morning we were off to Ronda, a small city that Josh was very excited to see and I was reluctant to go to. The city is situated on a huge gorge that divides the city into upper and lower parts. I am really glad we went because this was another one of my favorite cities. The valley that surronds the city was absolutly gorgeous and green with lots of rolling hills. Everyday we have had such good weather so I pretty much fall in love with every place that we go. The city architecture is also very amazing, very very old and detailed. So we arrived and took off to see the first amazing view when I met a little stray dog taht would follow us for a couple of hours. I have decided to carry a little bag of dog food with me so all the dogs will love me!!! The thing I hate most about this blog is the fact that I will see so much during one day but when it comes to writing about it how much can i write about how beautiful one place is. Take my word for it and do a search on Ronda, Spain. So we walked and looked at some very old mines which was little creepy and the million stairs back up was a nice little workout. I hadn´t been feeling well all day so Josh and I split up so I could go relax, in other words, shop. So the sad/wonderful things about all of these little beautiful towns is that since the European Union much more money has come into these places and all places are being broughten up to "European standards" so all these beautiful places are very touristy. There is incredible shopping everywhere which makes it very hard to control myself but I have not been buying much at all, just little souvineers here and there. So we met up later and had some cappchino which is mandatory in Europe and left for Marbella. That night we went back to the coast and had supper and had a bottle of wine, then another, and another on the beach, and one more on the beach before we went to sleep. So the next moring was easter when I finally woke up very painfully. I had mentioned to Josh how much I love easter because I love hunting for the candy. So he got me up and told me I had a bunch of stuff to find around the room, yess!!! I was so excited and still very inebriated from the night before so I went and began my hunt. I told him it was ok if he just wanted to hide Euros so he did, unfortunatly they were the chocolate kind as well as lots of lindor chocolate eggs, yumm. So we were supposed to leave that day but I was in soo much pain we booked for another night. So that was a big waste of a day, eventually I came alive and we went for supper and organized our trip. So this morning we woke up early and went to the post office. I have been trying to send stuff home since our days in Lagos, Portugal which was a least a week and a half ago so I have been carrying around this stupid postal box for days now because Spain shuts down for Easter as you should know by now. During this time I have collectd more stuff as well as I went through my belongings to send off what was not absolutly essential. So 86 Euros later and 24 pounds lighter I left the post office with a whole new type of backpacking the minimalistic kind.

Early Monday morning Josh and I enjoyed our last walk through chilly Stockholm at 5:30am. As it began to snow we realized we were leaving for Spain on the perfect day. We had a short four hour flight from Stockholms Arlanda Airport to Madrid, Spain. The landscape is like nothing I have seen before except maybe something like the desert around Las Vegas. Very dry looking and different tones of red. When we landed it was about 15degrees celcius. From the airport we took a few different subways to get close to our location the Cats Hostel. Here is a link to copy if you would like to see pictures of the hostel:
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/CatsHostel-Madrid-6657?

Once we came up to ground level it was soo exciting and intimidating. This is a large dramatic city full of people and traffic and noise. With little to no sleep it was too much to take in speaking for myself anyways. We went directly to the hostel and unpacked and then went on a little walk around our neighborhood. Apparently 10 minutes from our hostel and you are directly in central Madrid. I have heard so much about tapas bars in Spain so I thought I wanted to try one. All of the ones we saw were quite dirty and the food was something to question. But as we have seen over the next few days most are the same way very loud and lively, a little bit scary as they yell at you to take your order and I dont know what to yell back, ENGLISH!!!! The people here really live their l ives out in the street, much different from a more conservative canada. So far as a generalization i would have to say the spainairds really enjoy their salt, fat, and oil something i will have to try and get used to. We went back to our hostel whcih is amazing, it used to be some sort of palace and is newly renovated for a hostel, this is one time I can actually say the real thing was better than the pictures. Tuesday moring we decided that we both wanted to spend more of our time in the smaller beach towns where we could actually relax. I used to think I would love to sepnd all of my time in the cities but once you are here it is quite different. They are so exciting and crazy and I get too nervous about not seeing everything in the time that we have so I do not relax at all. So we are off to Cacias a smaller beach town just outside of Lisbon, Portugal. And they great thing is that we are staying in a bed and breakfast. Because you know this entire week of hostels has just been too much We got a great deal so we are off today on a nine hour train ride, at least it is an overnight train. After our nuturious breakfast a doughnut, we went off to the metro station to get our tickets. Inside was a lush and large jungle of palm trees and tropical plants. In the middle of this is a sanctuary for hundreds of turtles and little fish, it helped pass the time. So we somehow managed to communicate what we needed, unlike stockholm most people do not speak english in madrid. And my spainsh skills leave much to be desired. Afterwards we walked to the Prada musuem another museum full of wonderful sacred art. unfotunatly today was the day dedicated to group tours so we skipped and went into the botanical gardens next door. This was quite an exprience, the city outside faded away and we were in a beautiful jungle. Apparently every specie of plant is in that garden somewhere. Amazing pictures to follow. This was just what the doctor ordered for me it really helped me calm down and put things in perspective. So the pace was set for the rest of the day, we walked across to a square where the Reina Sofia is housed, yet another art musuem that was closed today. So we sat in the hot sunshine in an outdoor cafe in the pavillion and drank delicious sangria for a couple hours. I really dont know if I can do this for two months, haha!