I LOST MY PASSPORT, LOL
I'm back from Europe! I had an incredible time, got very drunk, and spent £3,000 ($6,000) over two months and one day. I would without a shadow of a doubt highly recommend a trip like mine to anybody with a couple of months and a fair bit of money to spend, it was incredible.
Anyway, heres my log of my time in Europe, so I have something left to tell after I lost my camera/small child on the first day T__T. i am travelling with one friend.
DAY ONE:
Lisbon
arrive in lisbon (easyjet) around 6ish, went to hostel, checked in, went out to town, went to resturant on edge of some square, had food, was okay, went to hostel bar, had beer (EU1.70 for half a litre), played pool, got drunk, went to bed.
DAY TWO:
Lisbon
went into lisbon on bus, went to castle, nice views, actually great views of lisbon. went up wierd lift thing up to top of hill, where there was a cathedral partly destroyed in earthquake/tidal wave/fires (lisbon=owned) in 1700s, was nice. went to another place in lisbon on the waterfront, saw a big statue thing for Henry the Navigator, went in lift up to the top of it, more great views, very windy. went back to hostel, played cards, went out into town, went to resturant (had rabbit), went to bar, listened to simple acoustic live music while drinking, got drunk, walked back for 30 mins or so singing david bowie - changes at top of voice, CH CH CH CHANGES etc, went to bed.
DAY THREE:
Sintra
went into lisbon, got train (45 mins or so) to sintra, small town in mountains. has ruined moorish castle at the top, with spectacular views of the countryside. also, a crazy palace that is too crazy for me not to link to. all coloured and shit, crazy carvings, was wiiiiiierd. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pena_Pala ce . then went back to lisbon, went back to hostel, played cards, etc, etc, went out, had food, went to same bar, incredible band with lead singer who sounded exactly like bono and an insane guitarist did great covers of classic rock + indie shit. got VERY drunk.
DAY FOUR:
torres verdes
slept through alarm, at 1pmish got train to torres verdes, went around, wasnt bad i guess, nothing amazing but a nice museum about napoleonic defence lines. left torres verdes about 5 - 6pm got train to one place, waited 30 mins, got train to somewhere else, waited 1hr30mins, got train to somewhere else, waited 10 mins, got train to oporto. arrived 1 am with no place to stay.
DAY FIVE:
oporto
stayed in bus shelter from 1am to 6am, lucikly clocks went forward so only waited 4 hours. read book (The Dice Man) that i cant reccomend more to a bunch of fucks who like sex and fucked up psychology. went to cafe at 6am, had lots of coffee, went to hostel, checked in, went to oporto. climbed 225 (friend claims only 224) steps up tower to top of church, great views over higgeldy pigeldy roofs and old churches etc etc. went to see more statues + churches, went to side of river to eat late lunch near a neat modern art fountain. theres a nice bridge. went to church with an odd museum full of bones, and then went inside church, which at one point all but the floor was coated in gold leaf (around 90% remained). 600kg of gold, that is. walked 1mi back to hostel, dozed off till supper, had sarnies, played cards, went to bed early.
DAY SIX:
oporto
went to train station, trains to salamanca are shit, so went to tourism office, bus to salamanca doesnt leave till 9pm, so got on bus to park, missed turning, walked about 1mi back to the park from wherever, sat in park for 2hrs or so, then got on bus, tried to sleep, couldnt sleep, arg.
DAY SEVEN:
salamanca/madrid
Arrive in salamanca early at 3:45, wander around in cold weather (well, 6 degrees, but i just have a short and tshirt on) trying to find some munch, and the town centre. Find both, and sit in bus stop for 4.5hrs waiting for cafes n shit to open. Have a gorgeous cappucino in some square, then wander around the town. climb up some nice cathedral tower thing, nice views, the place is okay, but a little dull. there´s one courtyard full of sculptures of mutants and crazy screaming people which is neat. I get the 1pm bus to madrid, sleep on the bus, go to find hostel recommended by Rough Guide, only to find it doesnt exist. Find other hostel. Go on internet.
DAY EIGHT
Madrid
Woke up, had breakfast, went to palace, but couldnt get in to the palace to walk around because changing of the guards was happening, and it was packed. went to the rene sofia art gallery, where they had a ridiculous amount of picasso paintings on display, culminating in Guernica, which was awesome. He does like to draw his women tubby though. Then went back to the palace, walked around it, there was a neat armoury. There was stuff. That night, went out on a pub crawl. Had 10 beers (bottles, so 7ish pints), 4 glasses of sangria, 2 tequilas slammer, and two unknown but very tasty drinks that were red. Met (among others) two girls my age from sheffield, two third years from cambridge, and a guy from NORTH CAROLINA (IT'S LIKE, THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD GUYS) with a preference for black jokes.
DAY NINE
Madrid
Woke up after 5 hrs sleep alert and awake with not even a trace of a hangover. Sat in a park for most of the day. Went out with the girls from sheffield and the guys from cambridge in the evening to a tapas bar, awesome. then went to a club for a bit, but all went back to the hostel early because we were knackered.
DAY TEN
Madrid
Woke up, said goodbye to girls, went and bought some books from an english bookstore, went and bought bus tickets, went and sat in park for a bit, went and ate food for a bit, bummed around in the hostel, played some cards with the cambridge guys, at midnight got on a bus to seville.
DAY ELEVEN
Seville
Arrived in Seville at 6am, slept in bus station, went into town, went to hostel, dumped bags, went back into town, went and climbed up massive minaret, wandered around the third biggest cathedral in the world, went and triedto book tics for the bullfighting on sunday but it was too pricey so didnt bother. went and did some stuff, had a late siesta, then had supper, had some tapas in a tapas bar, and got hideously lost and spent about 1.5hrs trying to find my way back to the hostel.
DAY TWELVE
Seville/Cadiz
Woke up, had breakfast, got a 2hr bus to cadiz. Arrived at lunchtime, it´s a sunday so everywhere closed though, so had a walk, and went on the internet. Dossed around, read in my room, had a rubbish overpriced meal, went to bed.
DAY THIRTEEN
Cadiz
Woke up, got a pastry type thing with tuna + tomato in it from the local bakery, went and 'did' cadiz. It was raining, but that never stopped me. Went for a wander. Went inside a nice cathedral, cadiz was fairly small and underwhelming otherwise though. Had very nice lunch, went back to the same place for supper.
DAY TWELVE
Cadiz/Gibraltar
Got a bus late morning to Gibraltar. It rained all the way there, but it just about cleared up as we got to Gibraltar. Went on the cable car (EIGHT POUDNS! daylight robbery ahoy) to the top of the rock of gibraltar, great views over to morroco and suchlike. However, got ridiculously windy so the cable car had to close, and we all packed into a tiny minibus on the way down. I bought some socks from marks n sparks, then came home. Skipped supper (although had half a baguette with some sardines at the bus stop waiting for the bus back)
DAY THIRTEEN
Cadiz/Grenada
Got on a bus late morning to Grenada. Rained a fair bit, but that cleared up when we arrived at grenada. Struggled to find the tourism office (blame our rough guide, which is 2.5 yrs old), then struggled to find free rooms. Found a smalll cheap double room for 25 euros /night run by a very old lady on her own.
DAY FOURTEEN
Grenada
Went to Alahambra, apparently the most visited landmark in spain, it's a giant moorish palace/castle thing. It was actually really cool, they have these incredible patterns on the walls and such. Went up a guard tower, and it was ridiculously windy, but good views. That took up most of the day. Then went back to the pension (small hotel) and kicked back. Later, went out to supper, got a good deal on the food, but then we were paying 2.50 euros per HALF PINT of lager, we realised as we looked at the bill. :(
DAY FIFTEEN
Grenada
Chillaxing day. Bus didn't leave till midnight for Valencia, so I had the day to kick back and relax. Went on the internet, finished reading Mystic River, a pretty good book. It stopped raining by then which was good. At ~4pm went to the bus station, booked tickets, then sat around reading until the bus came 8hrs later.
DAY SIXTEEN
Valencia
Arrived in Valencia at 7am, had some coffee, then wandered into town. Dumped bags in the hostel and went to explore the town. Went and got some stamps (ten days after i got my first postcard), went and wandered around the town. Climbed up a tower of the cathedral, good views from the top of the city. Went to a FUCKING WIERD modern art museum. Watched a few videos, the first of which involved two hot women in teh nud lactacting on a beach, the next involved a woman breastfeeding a baby, the next involved a woman breastfeeding an old man with no teeth, the next involved a man with an erection screaming, chained to a wall, and ejaculating, and the last involved a air hostess lactating over a bald man´s head. Would not recommend. Some other modern art, including an awesome thing involving string and walking around town, removing the peak of everest, and inside a lightbulb factory. Went out for a pizza, then walked for ~50 mins to a place the rough guide recommended as an alternative rock bar. It wasn´t bad, I supposed. A long way out of town though, ugh.
DAY SEVENTEEN
Valencia
Woke up, went to an awesome science museum, with loads of crazy exhibitions, including some awesome ones on balance and suchlike. Would highly recommend. Then went to the beach and read a lot, then got the tram back to the hostel (booked bus tic to barcelona first), and booked a hostel in barcelona. Went out for pasta, had a VERY nice salad for a starter. Gorgeous.
DAY EIGHTEEN
Barcelona
Got an early bus to Barcelona, and arrived at lunch time. Got a metro to our hostel, couldn´t find the front door, so went to an internet cafe only to find that we were standing right outside it the whole time. We go back to the door, it´s cunningly disguised by looking identical to all of the windows next to it, but with a tiny key hole. Went down to La Ramblas, an awesome semi-pedestrianised road full of street artists and human statues and things, went to the marina, sat around for a bit. Went back to the hostel. Had supper, got assaulted by prostitutes looking for two dorra fucky fucky then went out to a bar for a few beers.
DAY NINETEEN
Barcelona
Woke up, ate breakfast, etc, etc, bought a UK/EU plug adaptor (left my old one in valencia) went to an english bookshop, went to Montjuic, a large hill in Barcelona with a park on top of it, a castle, and an olympic stadium (1992 Olympics). I sat in the castle watching the busy port and suchlike for a good few hours, then wandered on back to the bottom of the hill and got a metro back to the hostel. Went out on a bar crawl with some hot girls from my dorm, and got absolutely trashed, threw up over my shirt, and staggered the half mile or so back home.
At least the puke kept the prostitutes at bay.
DAY TWENTY
Barcelona
Woke up as the girls woke up at 10am, then fell asleep until 2:30pm, much better. Went to the Sagrada Familia, which was, put it this way, fucking incredible. The scale, the positioning, everything is mad. It´s incomprehensible, and still being built. It seriously is amazing. Then went to park guell. Sat on the crazy really long bench, and read until the sun went down, then went back. Had some munch, then went out to a bar with the girls, had some quiet drinks, went back to bed.
DAY TWENTY-ONE
Barcelona
Woke up as the girls woke up at 10am, then read in bed until 2pm, much better. Went for a walk down to the marina and sat around reading, didn´t do much. Later, girls started playing ring of fire (drinking games) with some americans, this continued for 6 hours(!) until all the girls were trashed. during this time i sat around and chatted with one of them who wasnt playing the games, just throwing back wine. went to a bar at 2:30, then girls went on to a club, i walked home with the girl i'd been chatting with, sat around chatting for a couple of hours, then fell asleep.
DAY TWENTY-TWO
Barcelona
Woke up to find all the girls gone to catch a flight, sat around in the rain in a bus depot till midnight waiting for a bus.
DAY TWENTY-THREE
Montpellier/Avignon
Arrived in Montpellier at 6:30, got tram to train station, had several coffees, then walked into town to the tourist office, then went to art museum that had some awesome pictures of landscapes, then sat in park by a fountain for a while. Got a train in mid afternoon to Avignon. Arrived in avignon late, checked into a seedy motel in an industrial estate, and fell asleep at 8pm.
DAY TWENTY-FOUR
Avignon
Went into avignon town the next morning, bridge + papal palace were awesome, also went into very cool contemporary art gallery and such, but then got rained on a lot, a lot a lot. My friend ate some nuts and threw up (allergylol), ran through the rain to motel, very wet.
DAY TWENTY-FIVE
Lyon
Got train to Lyon, got tube across town to youth hostel on hill overlooking the city with an awesome view, then went into town. Got some munch, tried to go to an art gallery, but it was closed that day only, so just sat around. Back in the hostel, the bar sold desperados, so bought a lime from the grocers and got very drunk.
DAY TWENTY-SIX
Lyon
Went into Lyon, got some cheese and bread from the market, tried to go to a neat looking museum, but that was closed that day only, so just went back up to the top of the hill, with some awesome views over the city, and munched. Then sat in a roman theatre and read a terrible book about a woman who gets raped by a ghost. Would not recommend.
DAY TWENTY-SEVEN
Lyon/Marseille/Cassis
Left Lyon early, and caught morning train to Marseille. Arrived in Marseille to find out friend hadn't booked our room for the night, and everywhere under 150euros per night was fully booked. So took bus down the coast to a small fishing town 20k away called Cassis, and set up our tent in a campsite there. Had supper then went down to the town beach with some cheap beer that we got at the campsite store, then bed.
DAY TWENTY-EIGHT
Cassis
Went to tourism office, who recommended a cove 10 mins walk out of town as a good beach. Walked there to find pebbles, but large rocks at one end, so scrambled out and sunbathed for 7-8 hrs. Then went into town and had nice meal on harbour front.
DAY TWENTY-NINE
Marseille
Got midday bus into Marseille, then got ferry out to Isle d'If, the island made famous by The Count of Monte Cristo, where there were some good views, and a museum of the fortress there + the legend of the count of monte cristo. Then went to museum of the history of marseille, which was okay i guess. Walked for 25 mins looking for a museum that had already closed, then went back to cassis and had some more cheap beer.
DAY THIRTY
Marseille/Nice
Woke up early, packed up tent, got on train from Marseille to Nice. Arrived in Nice, dumped stuff in hostel, then walked down to the front to the tourism office. Went back to hostel, made supper, played cards, bed.
DAY THIRTY-ONE
Nice
Walked to port, all ferry ticket booths closed so go and climb up hill to old chateau with great views of the city. Then went to old town, to find some bars recommended to us by our travel guide, also go to amazing ice cream place with flavours from meringue to thyme. Went back, got changed, played cards, went and got drunk, friend fell asleep in resturant, LAL. turned out later that friend got hassled by the cops as he walked home (he went home early, i stayed to eat my yummy meal).
DAY THIRTY-TWO
Nice/Cannes
Went to old roman quarter of Nice (Cimeaz) and went to lovely museum of Matisse full of all his famous things. Then went to cool archeology museum with attatched roman ruins. Then got train to Cannes for some sunbathing, unfortunately it started raining as soon as we arrived there, so sat under a tree for a few hours, went back, ate, played cards, bed.
DAY THIRTY-THREE
Nice/Monaco
Got train to Monaco, where grand prix is already being put into place. Walked up to the old town and watched the changing of the guard, then went to amazing aquarium with a massive tank full of a coral reef. Then went over to other side of marina to the casino, walked up that awesome chicane/switchback thing that is a good bit of the grand prix, awesome. Refused entry to casino because wearing shorts. Walked back to marina, incidentally having walked entire race course. Got train back, food, cards, bed.
DAY THIRTY-FOUR
Nice/Corsica/Bastia
Got ferry to corsica because its raining in Italy, 5hr journey so played lots of R-Type and Metal Slug in the arcade room (orgasm). Arrived in Bastia, walked halfway to campsite, couldnàt be arsed, so went back into town, got drunk, then went halfway to campsite, couldnt be arsed, so went back into town, got drunk, went back halfway and slept on a beach.
DAY THIRTY-FIVE
Bastia/Calvi
Woke up, walked into town as sun rose, had breakfast by the old harbour. Got a very scenic train across the mountains to Calvi. Checked into campsite, and went to beautiful 6km sandy beach, went for a swim in refreshing sea, then dozed on beach. iPod stopped playing in the right ear.
DAY THIRTY-SIX
Calvi
Explored Calvi on foot, went and had a look around the old town in the Citadel, felt a million miles away from home. Then walked for 2 hrs looking for tiny beach in cove, only to find that the beach was rocky. Walked back, felt dejected, and ate food, played cards, bed.
DAY THIRTY-SEVEN
Calvi
Woke up, decided not to go to Ajaccio (capital of Corsica), instead, slept for a couple of hours more, then went to the beach. Listened to music in one ear for a bit, then ate, fell asleep.
DAY THIRTY-EIGHT
Calvi
Went to beach one last time, very nice, still gorgeous weather, spotless skies, etc, etc, went for gorgeous meal in small restuarant, ate veal done the local way, had a few glasses of wine, got a wee bit tipsy, wandered home along the beach.
DAY THIRTY-NINE
Calvi/Bastia
Woke up, went to supermarket, lost my passport, went to police station, got lost passport report, got on train across to bastia, got on ferry to italy (with no passport? ye gads!), no r-type arcade so played puzzle bobble a bit.
DAY FORTY
Savona/Turin
Ferry pulled in to Savona, got train to Turin. Checked into youth hostel, played a hideous game of chess with my friend (lost terribly), and then went into town to eat, got a very nice meal at a pretty reasonable price (it seems this way all over italy so far), although alcohol fairly expensive.
DAY FORTY-ONE
Turin
Woke up, walked through town to the palazzio, went into the royal armoury, which was pretty cool. went and got a dead cheap lunch in a small resturant ( 6 euros for three courses, water, and wine), then went to look for the holy shroud, unfortunately its not out because its not a holy year this year. Went to a modern art gallery, was pretty awesome, then went to hostel, munched on some food, and went to sleep.
DAY FORTY-TWO
Turin/Verona
Woke up, got train to Milan, then changed and got train to Valencia, tried to find b+b, had a bit of difficulty finding the place but got there eventually, went to a cheap pizzaria and had a gorgeous stuffed crust pizza thing.
DAY FORTY-THREE
Verona
Went to the old roman arena, its not quite as big as the colleseum in rome, but its in FAR better nick, in fact if we'd been 3 days later in our travels we could have seen KISS playing there but oh well. Then went and climbed massive bell tower (campanile) in the middle of city, then went across the river to the old roman theatre and had a look at the museum there, which was pretty neat. Then went to an absolutely incredible gelateria (ice cream store) on the corner of Via Armando Diaz and Corso Cavour (just under the roman arch), then went to museum in the old castle type thing with a neat bridge. Went back to b+b and did stuff conducive to sleep.
DAY FORTY-FOUR
Verona/Lake Garda
Got a train from Verona to Peschiera A Garda, checked into campsite, and just chilled for most of the day. Then that night drank lots of San Miguel and blew 10 euros on the arcade on Bomberman, Metal Slug, and some airplane style shooters. Great stuff.
