S'Owen my Wild Oats

Hey everyone... Hopefully someone is still reading this blog :s The last days of my trip were so action packed that I didn't make any posts here on deemed. I thought I'd rewind and fill you in on what was left unwritten.

After Granada, I returned to Barcelona for a week with my friends Scott Owen and Roy Steurererrerr (he's Jewish.) I don't think I could have had enough Barcelona time on this trip, it was by far my favourite city in Europe.

Scott, Roy and I spent a week in Barcelona letting our so called "freak flags" fly :) The days were spent parading through the city (usually making more noise than necessary) or lying on a jammed packed beach. At night we didn't sleep much, usually to busy drinking Tinto de veranos, which is essentially cheap Spanish wine and lemonade. Unrated stories can be shared upon request ;)

From Barcelona we spent a day in Sitges, a beatiful beach town just an hour away by train. It was a great place for some quality beach time together and again, being in Spain, wearing a speedo was mandatory.



Here are the boys showering at the beach... Watch it Roy... The waters cold ;)

- Jesse Mah (loves the mediterranean)

Tapas Tapas

Granada has the best tapas ever!!!! I'm actually screaming this right now!

The thing we forget about tapas is that it's supposed to come with a drink! Somewhere along the line, North Americans were tricked into buying tiny portions of food for a ridiculous amount of money. In Granada it is the opposite. You buy a cheap drink (around 2€) and you get a plate food with it :)

I met two really cool girls (Mexican and Spanish) who came tapas hunting with me. We had a blast trying new drinks and walking around Granada. Which by the way has the hugest personality for such a small city.

The main attraction in Granada is the Alhambra. This is basically what they've called a huge piece of land containing Islamic architecture and gardens. I loved it, even if I almost passed out from the sun. My pics don't do the place justice... Google it if you have a chance. Or if you end up in Spain, make sure to go to Granada to see for yourself ;)


(A gateway to the Alhambra gardens)


(Standing in line for the palace. The temp was mid 40's :s)


(The Alhambra Palace! Totally worth the third degree burns while waiting in line)

The utility room

Going for €15 a night in Madrid :)

Picasso's hometown

Málaga has a killer beach, great Picasso museum, an old fortress with stunning gardens and a really charming town centre... Filled with French and German tourists :)



I stayed at a really great place where a girl named Vanessa makes giant delicious mojitos. AND it just so happens that she's from Vancouver/ Kolewna... Small world.

It seems like a luxury to have an English speaker around these days. The further south I travel in Spain, the less people are willing to put up with my "Spanglish." (thank you Adam Sandler) I've promised to study Spanish back home, so hopefully some of you can hold me to my word!

I've already have this memorized:

A que ora sale el proximo trenh parah en Granada?

Hot Hot Hot

Seville is hot! How hot you ask?

So hot you need to drink 9 liters of water (or sangria) per day to avoid dehydration.

So hot that you might think you were in Morroco, but really you would be in Andalucía (the most southern province of Spain).... Taylor that was for you

So hot that some form of ice cream must be consumed every hour on the hour..... Ninianne, for you ;)

So hot that if you attend a 2 hour walking tour, it MUST end before 11am or start after 10 pm.

So hot that siestas are more important than your first born child... I'm not proud to say that I've witnessed this :s

Sooooo hot that you can only take pictures at night!


(Nicely lit houses)


(A concert, or maybe protest, in the street)


Jesse Mah (is going to see his first flamenco show in spain!)

Valencia (orange you glad I didn't come up with a cheesy title)

The cities core is a labyrnth of polished marble roads and delapitated walls. Most of my time in Valencia was spent lost in the maze of streets, and in no way is that a bad thing. I was never really sure what would be around the corner.

I had an amazing moment one night having a drink outside a café by popular plaza. The church bells were going crazy at 12am and the outdoor plaza was buzzing with spaniards. I won't forget Valencia anytime soon :)

Annnnddd, certain parts of the city really do smell like oranges. It's a pleasant contrast from the subtle wafts of sewage smell that can creep up from time to time ;)

Here are some pics!

Oh My Gaudi

I absolutely love Barcelona. Taylor has pointed out that I say this after every city, but i'm 70% sure that Barcelona is different.

So why did I love it so much? Here are the top 20 things I love about Barcelona:

mosaic tiles, tapas, paelle, palm trees, subtle hippy influences, gaudi, architects who copy gaudi, siestas, pants with really low crotches, Diagonal, fashionable women in their 60's, clean metro stations, patates bravas, late nights dinning, late night drinking, late night walking, good-looking locals, Picasso exhibitions annnd elaborately designed old wooden doors!




Parc Güell


La Sagrada Famillia (still workin hard)


Green shirt envy

Special thanks to my buddy Altan who showed me around for the first few days. Altan brought me to my first "real" tapas bar, and for that I will forever be in debt to him :)

Here are the only reasons, I could think of, to NOT go to Barcelona:

- if you absolutely cannot stand hippies
- if you hate curvy lines
- if your worst fear is being pick-pocketed
- if you were hoping to practice your Spanish (the local dialect is Catalan)

- Jesse Mah (is going to watch VCB and point out all the places he's been!!)

Arrivederci Italia

I just finished 30 hours of travel! Siena to Chiusi, to Rome, to Civitavicchia, to Barcolena!

The ferry to Barcelona ended up being more of a mini cruise ship. This almost made up for the fact that it took 20 hours to get to Spain. Luckily the captain was also a live singer/ performer so he kept us all entertained throughout the night.





(A very uncreative shot of the pool from where I was tanning.)

Jesse Mah (has another burnt back)

Chink-weh Tay-reh

I spent a day hiking the Via Dell' Amore of Cinque Terre. The walk was absolutely gorgeous! Here are the pictures to prove how well travelled I am now :)


Village #1 Riomaggiore (the cute one/ the one I stayed in)


Village #2 Manarola (the one I forgot to take a photo of)


Village #3 Corniglia (the middle one)



Village #4 Vernazza (the most interesting one with the best swimming, food and locals)


Village #5 Monterosso (the resorty one)

One Night in Siena

Shawwwwwing!

But no... I really did spend a night in Siena, and it was great. So far, the being here has been the closest thing to my experience at Medieval Times in Disney Land when I was 8.



I happened to visit just after a knights battle between the different districts of Siena. I guess every year they fight for ultimate awseomeness.

Ergg... I really don't know why they fight but I know it's "holey" and I promise to find out as soon as I have some down time.

These are some pics of their victory march, and alot of stretchy pants.


Woody Allen isn't impressed.

Still leaning

...And being held up by these strong ladies ;)



Thank god


I also did a day trip to Lucca, where you can bike around the old stone wall that surrounds the village.

Firenze Frenzy

Florence was a much needed breather after Rome. Not that there is any less to see, just that the overall feel is much more relaxed. The city is full of art, gelato, wine, piazzas and thousands of tourists.



The last thing Nin I did on our trip together was visit this fleamarket in Florence. Jaeg you would have gone crazy over this place! I wanted to buy more stuff but I would've needed another backpack.



The duomo! It's huge and cost €10 to get to the top... So I took a picture of the outside :)



Awwwwww, the summer season has this one all tuckered out.



Florence is full of Mosquitos... Here is my mutated forearm (upside down).