Spain and Thereafter

Alright Alright,

I know you all have been losing sleep wondering what I have been up to in the past few days. Well, worry not! This is the email to stop all your worries.

So pretty much Jack and I got out of Spain and didn't really know where else to go, that we hadn't been already.

"Hm." I said.

"Hm indeed." Jack replied.

And then we sat like that for quite some time. We hadn't been to Greece! But Greece was very far away and there was not a moment to spare. We only had a week left for our Eurail passes! My how the months fly by when catching rye in the European sky.

"Switzerland!" Said Jack.

"Switzerland?" Said I.

I pondered this for several seconds.

"We can't go through Switzerland." I said mater-of-factly, and added a head nod right afterward just for emphasis.

"What?"

"We can't go through Switzerland," I said again, "it's neutral."

"What in the world are you talking about," said Jack ,"that was only through wars and only if you had armies and were planning to conquer the world. We can go to Switzerland now. We're on vacation."

"Oh. That's nice."
You see. My entire teenage years I had been playing World War 1 and World War 2 strategy board games like Axis and Allies or Diplomacy. It had been so ingrained in my mind that not only was it impossible to move through Switzerland but indeed, for all practical purposes, South of France ran directly into North of Italy and the same with Germany. It was as if Switzerland simply did not exist. Funny mistake you all might say. But I soon came to the realization that throughout our entire European adventure I had been subconsciously avoiding going into or through Switzerland. If you have been watching Jack and my progression through Europe you will quickly realize the truth of it. Feel free to laugh. :) I know I did.

"Why not?" I said and so we caught a train for Geneva. After going through Paris.

Geneva was really nice. Actually all of Switzerland was really nice. Really expensive, but really nice all the same. I'm going to start skimming down my photo albums so I have room for all my Rome and on Pictures. We then went to Interlaken. All stand in awe, please, at the imaginary mountains, lakes and green green pastures that are the Swiss Alps. Chocolate mmmm. Cheese mmmmm. Clocks...tik...tok... Swiss girls... What? Lies. There are no attractive women in Switzerland. ;)

Then we caught a train to Munich because Mike and Meg were in Munich and Munich is just that awesome. Really though. I wasn't going to give out awards until after I got home but this one just cant wait. Best European City Award goes to "Munich". Several reasons.

Centrally located train station across the street from 3 gigantic hostels that are very inexpensive and always had room. And clean too.

Half of a fried chicken for only 2.5 euro in the train station.

The most amazing Christmas markets ever!

The city itself is very clean.

The city is always open for business. No matter what time of the day. Which is awesome for a couple of washed up backpackers.

Awesome Metro.

Any kind of food you could ever want!

Daily international trains to Switzerland, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and a Night train to Naples. Which Mike and Meg caught. And I happened on for the Innsbruck to Rome leg of that same train. and many more.

Its in Germany, which in and of itself is a cool country.

I could go on. I might later.

We hung out all day with Mike and Meg and all night and all day that next day too. Then Mike and Meg caught that night train to Naples. (Napoli). I hear they are having Mafia problems in that part of Italy now. What Mafia? I don't know any Mafia. Columbus Day is better than Christmas! ::Hides in a corner::

Then we headed for Berlin. Stayed the night at the Meininger Hostel where we met Mike and Meg not too long ago! Then, on our way back to Leuven, where I am now, we stayed a night in Amsterdam. Took the walking tour of Amsterdam, and hid out in our hostel. I was too sketched out to go outside the hostel at night. Then we caught a train to Brussels yesterday. The last day of our Super Duper Eurail Pass. On a finishing note for the Eurail pass. I fully endorse it and any other Eurail products for those countries which I visited. I do not, however, recommend that anyone buy or intend to use the Eurailpass in Spain if it is the goal of the traveler to save money or time or both.

Now I'm in Leuven! Soon to head back to the States!

Love,

Tad

Today I would like to thank someone who has been crucial to making this trip possible. Someone who was quite literally with me the whole way and watched out for me and made sure I didn't do anything too crazy. Thanks Jack! Buddy! Guy!

Switzerland Part 1: Banks Abound!

Well, it is about time I did a serious email since my last one was about Thanksgiving time. Oh me! Let's catch up.

I left you all off pretty much without glazing over, in Cesky Krumlov with Katy and Britney. From there I caught a bus the next morning to Cesky Budejovice. I wanted to get a bus to Vienna, but my heavenly guardians had something else in toe for me. I caught a cheap train to Salzburg and eventually Innsbruck. The whole day was pretty crazy and I got hit on by a middle aged man in the Innsbruck train station. (4 hour layovers tend to go poorly when accompanied by strange men and drunken teenagers). Anyway I caught a night train to Rome. What a fantastic place to wake up in!

I got off the train and as cliche as it is, haha, I thought to myself, 'when in Rome' and headed for the underground to try and find my hostel. My hostel was called the Fawlty towers. After the hilarious British comedy. My first few hours in Rome I contacted Jack and we met up at 3 that day. Which was good timing because Katy, Jack's lady friend we met in Paris who now resides in Boston?, left that morning. Katy leaves and Tad arrives. How nice for Jack! Yes Yes. Well I washed all my laundry took a shower, and Jack and I went and saw the Spanish steps and the most amazing view of the city. Rome! How fantastic! I thought it would be unimpressive particularly because it is the ancient Rome which I am so fond of. Not at all! The new Rome is just as spectacular! Skinny winding streets. Pizzerias on every corner. The creamiest most wonderful Gelato you have ever tasted. What a surprise! And sunny too, which was indeed a welcome change from cloudy fog covered Czech Republik. And too the next day I got to see my beloved ancient Rome. Or what is left with it. But ancient Rome is in the City. What I mean to say is that new Rome, ancient Rome, they are one because it is the people that make a city. The Italian hospitality (excluding for the most part my peers who find that faux-hawks and mullets in combination with aviator sunglasses are a keen fashion sense. Not to mention the down jackets when it is clearly far too hot for such attire.) was most welcome to myself. The language was amazing as well. Different from Spanish yes, but some vocabulary remains universal. On the trains in Rome I found myself entranced by people lilting off into their cellphones with their unique highs and lows of this special tongue. Straight to the sights!

The Vatican is for quality the Louvre for quantity. Many works I found in the Vatican's museum from what the Catholic church had 'accumulated' over the years. The funniest part was the collection of 'ancient' globes after seeing the Sistine Chapel. It was funny because it wasn't until recently that the Catholic Church admitted the earth is not the center of the universe. Or so I have been told. I saw the creation paintings and all that jazz, and I was very much impressed. Not to undermine the accomplishment, but I must keep telling my story seeing as how I could go on for hours talking about all the things I saw in the Vatican.

To the center of the Catholic faith! St. Peter's Basilica! It was amazing! Fantastic! Beautifully constructed! And the view from the top was overwhelming.

To the Colosseum! On the way Jack and I saw most of the other Roman ruins and the Pantheon. Excellent. I got a few good shots of the Colosseum at sunset. It was everything I thought it would be and more! The gigantic archs and imposing architecture was all I ever wanted to see in a colleseum. Let alone, The Colosseum. Grand to beat all grands. But I couldnt go inside. yet. It was closed. Thats what happens with most things at night. They close. The next morning Jack and I went inside! Totally had a Gladiator moment Maximus Decimus Meridius would have been proud of. They also had a large collection of Illiad and Odyssey artworks that I was very glad I got a chance to see. Some people say the interior of the Colosseum is sparse and not worth the price of admission. They are also the same kind of people that enjoy watching bricks sieze up inside of a kiln. I am not one of those people.

Then we caught a train to Genoa for the simple purpose of there is no easy way of getting to Nice from Rome. Then the next day we went to Nice. Which is very nice! I like southern France a lot more than the northern parts but that is just me. yep, just me.

Then we caught the coolest train ever. You wont believe me when I tell you this but it is possible for 3.5 Euro with a Eurail pass to catch a train from Nice, France all the way to Brussels, Belgium in a matter of only 8 hours. I know. I know. It doesn't seem possible. But it is. So we took it! Got in to Brussels, and then to Leuven! Which, Jack and I were overjoyed to find that Kristina got our email and had a hot meal waiting for us! It was one of our happier moments. Me and Jack. Jack and I.

Then to Montpelier, as an intermediary to Barcelona. Barcelona! Pretty cool with a melting cathedral. Two nights there then to Valencia! Valencia was nice. I dont really remember that much about it. I wasn't paying attention. Most of my effort was spent on being awesome. And remembering my mad Spanish skillz. Then from Valencia we went to Granada. Granada was way way awesome. Except that all the train stations in Spain are many miles outside of the towns they supposedly go to. Spain was difficult, to say the least, which I do,, for two on the move backpackers such as Jack and I are. Trains are expensive and whatnot. Few and far between. Spain, the land of Manana. We also ran into trouble with two national holidays back to back and all the hostels were booked. Anyway from Granada Jack and I went to the coolest subsistence farm by the name of Semilla Besada, or 'Blessed Seed' What a fantastic place! The woman and her husband, Aspen and David Edge who run the farm have a son by the name of Sam. Aspen and David are the nicest down to earth english people one could ever ask to meet. We spent three whole days there! The longest since leaving Kristina's a few months ago. Wow. A few months ago. I have been living out of a backpack for almost three months now. wow. haha. Everytime i think about that I just shake my head, smile to myself and think about how crazy life is. And how truly blessed I am to have gotten this opportunity. Sorry about the tangent. Semilla Besada is set in the mountainous region known as the Sierra Nevada mountain range in southern Spain just south of Granada near a town called Lanjaron. From our perch, same elevation as the highest peak in England, on Semilla Besada Jack and I could see the Mediterranean. Jokingly one morning Jack asked me, 'Who'd we have to kill to get this view again?'. Jack and I got our own little two bed apartment with bathroom and kitchen, heated by a wood stove. It was a dream location. A dream of a place. My days were spent soaking up my surroundings and digging life. I was sorry to leave.

But leave we did! On Wednesday of this week. It was pure hell getting out of Spain. I'm not even kidding. haha. but really. Spain is a trap if traveling by rail. Now we are in Geneva. I will explain how we came by this in my next email! Oh the suspense.

Love,

Tad

Today I would like to thank Jack and my dear friends Aspen and David. They gave us a home, shared their food and water with us (food has taken on a whole new meaning since I spent and worked those three days on a subsistence farm in which 80% of their consumption was produced by their hands alone), and showed us what it means to conserve and appreciate the environment. Thank you!

Why I left Spain

As you all could see from the subject of this email, I left Spain and am about to explain why I did so.

It should have been alright considering I speak enough spanish to get around and buy my groceries. But, sigh, it was no ones but my own fault that Spain did not turn out to be the laid back mecca I had planned. The land of Manana was far too laidback. It was all stopsigns after Semilla Besada. When we got into Sevilla, the train station was many miles out of the main city and the bus system was little less than utterly confusing. Once we did find the hostel we had planned on staying at, after about two hours of bus travel, it was all booked up due to a national holiday. Then friday was going to be one as well. After paying for a fairly expensive hostel Jack and I decided we needed to leave the country. That day we decided to give it one more chance and check out the ultimate goal of our Spain expedition, Cadiz. Cadiz was booked as well, and all the luxurious camping places we had planned to stay were all closed for the winter. Blast! We must leave the country. There is no other way. The rooms are too expensive and we are caught in 5 days of holiday! It would have been equivilant to coming into albuquerque on the wednesday of balloon fiesta. And planning to stay the whole weekend. And instead of Albquerque, it was the entire country of Spain. Aye. No room No room. So we went to Madrid! Got in at night time. We had planned to catch an overnight to Paris. That was booked. And as we found out the next day, had it not been booked would have cost us about two days worth of budget money. So we had to find a hostel! A place to sleep! Somewhere to lay down and rest our weary souls. First two hostels, mega hostels well over 200 beds a piece were both completely booked and had been for months. So, desperately at the last hostel I asked if the reception man knew of anywhere we could just crash, if only to catch the first train out of Madrid and in the direction of the border. This was thursday night. The partying and booked hostels wouldnt have ended until well into Monday morning. Aye! He, thankfully, said we could sleep in the bar from 3 (when it closed) until 7 (when the hostel opened again). So we did exactly that. Tired from trains all day we slept on booths of the bar in Mad Hostel. For free! We got up and headed for the Madrid station. The first train to Hendaya left at 10 o clock and got in at four. By 10 o clock that night we were on a train from Hendaya to Paris. The night train besides its inhereint sleep so to be said was not filled with what it should have been. Got into Paris and straigh to Geneva. Swityerland was wonderful. I am now in Munich again! Much better the second time around! It is because I was not such a fan of Spain that I am now in Germany again. I am headed home from here. Good food and fun times await me in Belgium and then back to the blessed States. I cant wait to see you all agian.
Love,
Tad

I thank God for all I have been given and standing in line to see the show tonight another light on. By the way I tried to say I be there, Waiting for the Marquis.
Chili Peppers

Spain part 2: I am sleepy

I'm going to do a simple day to day to save myself time, and you guys some pain. I'm also very sleepy. But this is one cool hostel. I might not get to sleep tonight... again... haha. Here it goes. One sentence per day. Let's see if I can do it.

Sunday night, Leuven, Kristina and delicious food for filling.
Monday, Train to Montpelier, university town, discovery of love for southern french country towns far more than the north.
Tuesday, to Barcelona, all day on trains and saw the town at night, sat on the pier watching the hustle, 'O the bustle!
Wednesday, explorering the Barcelona and melting cathedrals Sagrada Familia, evening with two Canadian girls, Very nice!
Thursday, to Valencia, Siesta chaos.
Friday, my goodness, that's today, Granada, all day on trains again.

Those weren't real sentences I know. I'll do better next time. Thanks for all your input of where I should go in Spain. I am currently feeding it all into my Plan'o'matic travel companion. I should have the results in 1 to 2 lengths of an arm.
Thanks again!
Tad

Today I would like to thank all of you out there that are reading all my emails. I love your feedback, and I know you have busy lives. It means a lot to me that you're interested in what I'm doing and I hope some day some, or all, of you can see the wonders I have beheld. I miss you all!

Spain Part 1: I made it!

Nov 27, 2006 3:08 AM

Hey guys,
Just wanted to let you in on a little secret. I´m in Barcelona! cool huh? anyway, I just thought I would ask all of you if you have any ideas of where I should go in Spain. This is the last country on my tour of Europe and I hope to make it a good one! I might and might not make it to Portugal. Weĺl see. Any ideas just shoot them my way.
Tad