A Holiday in Spain

We left Pamplona amidst much revelry headed towards a place I'd always wanted to visit, Barcelona. We arrived at night to a very hot and quite humid city still dressed in all white from San Fermin. People immediately recognized where we'd been and a few even ventured to ask about it. We soaked up the little bit of status we had been missing since Africa before heading to bed. We awoke the next day without much of a plan. We wanted to ride bikes and see the Sagrada Familia beyond that was bonus. We began riding along the beaches taking in the beauty of the sea before heading towards Gaudi's premiere work the church of the Sagrada Familia. I remember some point in my school career doing a report on this Spanish architect and since then I had always wanted to see his work in person. It did not disappoint. Looking at the building from any angle of the outside could cause a person to forget to breathe if but for a second. It is one of the most visually stunning works of architecture in the world and has been being built for over 100 years. I'll add a picture below.

After accomplishing our goals for the day my bike decided it didn't want to function anymore. The chain slipped and got somehow wedged in between the wheel and the gears. Long story short after making sure my hands were filthy I made the decision to ride the metro back to the shop with my broken bike. After a heated conversation in Spanish neither of us could fault the other with the bicycles malfunction and so we agreed to split the cost of repairs. Not an ideal solution for me but definitely the most just. After that incident we needed a break and so grabbed some supplies and headed to the beach. Best decision we've made all trip. Barcelona, nestled right on the Meditteranean sea boasts some of the best beaches in the world. I spent a nice relaxing afternoon rolling in the waves before heading out on my bike to see some more sights. Barcelona is definitely a city I will be back to, hopefully for much longer than a day.

When we awoke the next morning we boarded a train and headed back to Pamplona where we wandered around aimlessly for a good part of the day before heading to the airport. Onward to Milan!

La Fiesta del San Fermin

Every year Pamplona spends a week honoring their patron saint by participating in some interesting activities including running from bulls, drinking heavily, and dressing in all white. The running of the bulls or El Encierro has been held on the same course for over a hundred years. The Festival is said to celebrate the joy of living so how fitting is it that thousands put their lives on the line in the path of bulls. As for the drinking in the classier parts of town the drink of choice is a nice spanish wine or maybe a beer served in a nice glass. In the parks and city center however everyone is carrying around liter bottles of cheap beer and coke bottles containing a mixture of cola and sangria. It's an interesting mix but not something I would order at home. Somehow people manage to get this mixture literally all over them turning the completely white outfit a almost tie died purple. I have yet to see someone turn their clothing this color but they must pour it over themselves or something. Anyways the official outfit of the festival is white pants with a red belt, a white shirt, and a red neck scarf. It's pictured below.

So it turns out that everything we though we knew about the running of the bulls turned out to be very little and so as we struggled out of bed this morning late because of an alarm malfunction we knew our participation would be a stretch. We arrived to the area where the encierro takes place around 645 and couldn't get in anywhere to run. Kind of disappointing but in my mind for the best. We were unprepared and stretched for time. If only acomodation around here had been cheaper we'd have stayed another day or two and better figured things out. Nonetheless the day we spent at the festival was great. Only at a European festival to a catholic saint would you be served Sangria with breakfast at 9 am. Not a terrible way to start the day. Wash that down with a liter or two of cheap beer and some churros and alas you have a great day.

Anyways we jusy spent the day in Barcelona and now on to Milan....

Culture Shock

I wrote such a good post our way to Pamplona today but it disappeared before posting. I'll try to put the last few days in such elegant prose once again but I can't guarantee anything. Here goes nothing....

No one noticed us as we wandered around the airport attempting to figure out dutch transport. No one tried to sell us anything,  no children yelled "how are you" repeatedly, and no one tried to take advantage of our plight. In fact no one really cared. Our celebrity status had been revoked as we returned to our lowly place as poor college grads seeking adventure.

Our first European experience was a monday night in Amsterdam. We did very little and by that I mean almost nothing and by that I mean we walked for close to four hours, found out the city has more waterways then Venice and that beer in Europe is both plentiful and cheap. The biggest shock of the night however was sitting down to a beer at a cafe at 10 and having daylight. TEN? Daylight? It got dark around 6:30 everyday in Africa. To top it off we had HOT water in our hostel (but we seemed to have forgotten our towels :( ) and didn't have to worry about being targeted for mugging because of our skin color. We blended.

The next day we travelled to Brussels where we spent the early afternoon trying to interpret some more dutch and some french in an effort to find our hostel. After some hiccups and stumbling upon some beautiful sights we found our hostel situated right in the center of historic old town. We spent the rest of the day sampling local cuisine and by that I mean beer, fries, and waffles. We visited the Delerium Bar known for having more beers at any one time then anywhere else in the world. It set the Guiness world record in 200r for offering 2004 beers at once. It was insane. Some of the best beers in the world for less than the price you'd pay for them in a store in the US. Capped off with a nice Carl made breakfast of ham, bacon and eggs our stay in Brussels was short but sweet.

Onward to Zaragoza where we had our first couch surfing experience (www.couchsurfing.com check it out). We stayed with a guy named Angel in his small but very centrally located apartment. The night we got in he took us out with his friends to some tapas bars for some food and cerveza. As we walked back to his apartment that night we passed all of the major sights we would see the next day. He lived a stones throw away from Zaragoza's central plaza that houses remnants of a roman wall, two major cathedrals (one in the renowned mudejar style and the other gothic) as well as several museums housing paintings of Goya. The river Ebro weaves through town one block from the square creating a picaresque landscape complete witha old stone bridges and parks along the water. As the capital of the Spanish region of Arragon and only two hours from the major cities of Barcelona and Madrid it would seem that Zaragoza would see quite a few tourists. However this gem of Aragon is definitely worth the visit. It's low prices, location and friendly people make it a great place to spend a day or two. As for couch surfing, its the best way to travel. Getting an overview of town from locals proved most beneficial and we managed to make a few new friends along the way. Check that out too....

Here's some pictures of these cities in no real order:

Leaving Kenya

I'm sitting on an airplane headed towards Amsterdam, almost seven weeks in Africa behind me and the rest of my life ahead. The people I've met taught me things I couldn't have imagined learning and afforded me experiences beyond any I could conceive. Africa is a land of opportunity and I'm thankful for the people of Kenya for giving me the opportunity to come and learn from them.  This continent has so much to see and experience. I've seen breath taking sights that cause my heart to skip a beat. I've seen one of the seven wonders of the natural world from the ground and from the air. But I've also had my heart break almost everyday. I've seen children, babies covered in flies who couldn't even cry. I've watched as people found out they would have to live with HIV for the rest of their lives. And I saw boys not even old enough for puberty living on the streets begging and sniffing glue. These weren't easy things and won't be easily forgotten. I wish I could've done more while I was here.

This has been a sobering and humbling experience and much more deeply personal than the last time I came here. I forged so many relationships that have forever changed me. Maybe thats why I've always been so drawn here. Africa has a way of attracting people for a myriad of reasons and returns them home much changed from when they left. But alas it's off to Europe and to the next part of this journey.