Spain.. the first time

We arrived in San Sebastian and loved it straight away. We’d heard from a number of people that the tapas (pinxtos) was amazing in San Seb. So after checking into our hostel, we headed to a nearby tapas bar recommended by the hostel staff. For those that have not experienced tapas, you’re missing out, for those that have only experienced it outside of Spain, you’re also missing out. We walked into a bar crowded with people eating, drinking and smoking, and the bar top was filled with assorted foods. One half of the bar had precooked foods, sandwiches and cold foods; whilst the other side had raw meats, seafood, and uncooked pastries etc. Basically, when ordering a drink you point at whatever items you fancy, if it’s precooked then you just put it on your plate, uncooked food was rushed back to the kitchen, cooked and returned in a matter of minutes. We had arrived in heaven! The food was to die for, the best food we’d had in Europe, in fact it was up there with some of the best food we’d ever had.

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We had read a poster in the hostel before going out for dinner that there was a pub crawl that evening and to meet at 9pm. So we turned up and waited with a bunch of other hopefuls, waiting for the pub crawl leader – whom never arrived. So, rather than calling it a night, a few of the fellow Aussies amongst us, took charge and lead the group around the streets of San Seb’s old town. It was like the blind leading the blind, everyone was new to the town and had no clue where they were heading. We past bar after bar after bar. Finally we made our way into a bar that looked as though the same 7 people had been drinking there for 35years and no one else ever entered. You would think that this would excite the publican to have this sudden surge of 20ppl – it did not. He was frustrated at best. We agreed as a group that we were all going to get 1 beer, no other drinks – because that was confusing. We over stayed our welcome before again wandering the streets. Somehow I had become leader of the pack, and I lead everyone to a spot where earlier in the day, I had been given a flyer for a bar offering discount drinks – I just assumed the club was close by. It was nowhere to be seen. However, we hit the jackpot, 4 or 5 promoters ‘bidding’ for our business. We finally chose the guy that offered 2 free shots and 2 for 1, 1€ pints. This is where the night spiralled downhill. 20 tequilla shots were poured – 14 or so were taken, the others dispersed between the willing. Then déjà vu, 20 tequilla shots were poured – 14 or so were taken, the others dispersed between the willing. 2 free shots became 4, became 5 or 6, and 1€ for 2 pints is asking for trouble. We left this bar, and headed to a new one, I disappeared to use the facilities, returning a few moments later Alison was waiting 2 beers in hand. We polished these off and decided it was home time. The bill for a huge night of sillyness? An enormous headache in the morning and 8€. If drinking in Australia was this cheap national productivity would diminish overnight.

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We started slow the next day but made it to the beach just in time for the clouds to cover and rain drops to fall. But we sat rigid with our pub crawl friends planning the events for that evening. We all met for tapas and we headed to the same place as Al and I had eaten the night before. Afterwards many people met up for the “real” pub crawl that costs 15€, we gave it a miss.

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The following day we hiked to the top of the San Sebastian mountain with the jesus statue atop, and checked out the city from above. Quite beautiful, if only the weather was slightly better. In the afternoon we watched the first world cup game with a bunch from the hostel.

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In the morning we headed to Bilbao and checked into our hotel. We were able to get a super cheap room at the Novotel for the same price as we had been paying for hostels. It was luxury! I made my way into town to check out the Guggenheim Museum. I’m not a huge museum person, I enjoy some art but I don’t know a thing about it. I’d heard that the Guggenheim was quite spectacular even just for the building itself. The building was bizarre, made to look like fish scales on the outside. I had a great time looking at the modern art, really obscure items were a breath of fresh air after seeing painting after religious painting for the past months. I’d highly recommend it to anyone travelling in the vicinity to detour via Bilbao just for the Guggenheim.

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We had researched online and found that we could make our way to Porto by taking a particular train at 9:15am. We made our way to the station and were there by 8:45. The lady at the ticket desk was extremely unhelpful, she told us she spoke English, but at no point attempted to speak any, or understand any. We told her we wanted to go to Porto, Portugal aka Oporto, Portugal – for 5 min she was trying to describe how to get to the airport – ‘no’ we said, Porto, Portugal. Finally, she said no, no trains. We told her which train we wanted, and still she said no, no trains. As we discussed and argued that we wanted our ticket, we watched our train set off over the horizon. The next one? 24hrs later.

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So we caught the bus to Santander, a quite beach town that is probably beautiful, but it was raining and we were not in high spirits. We walked all over the town trying to find a hostel, but couldn’t really find anything. It took about an hour and we ended up at place across the road from the bus station – where we had started. It was a quiet day that ended with the Australia v Germany game, not the greatest result.

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The next morning we caught the early train, the first leg in our Marathon trip to get to Porto. We said said cya later to Spain, after 3 trains and about 14 hours we arrived in Porto.

France - welcome to the mainland...

I’m not blessed with Nick’s flawless memory so I’m just writing what stood out for me in beautiful France. Arriving in Paris once again at a ridiculous hour of the morning, after an overnight bus and no sleep, a quick train ride and a short walk we made it to at our hostel. Deprived of sleep we had a quick power nap in the lounge room (check in’s not till 2) and met Tim (Ommit) a fellow traveller. The day began to heat up, our first warm weather for months, we pulled out our thongs and I even got to wear a summer dress. No more jackets and coats, no more beanies and scarfs. We decided to embark on a “free” walking tour that began at the Fontaine Saint-Michel. Within 3.5 hr we had seen most of Paris in a nutshell and were absolutely taken back by its beauty, romance and history. The architecture was so detailed and the gardens and parks showed perfect symmetry.

Day two stunned us with more perfect weather and after purchasing sunscreen for 16 euros we decided that we wanted to see more of the city but were tired of walking, so we hired bikes at a bike station (the most popular, smartest, eco-friendly, transport system that is used throughout Paris and other busy towns in Europe). Nick lead the pack, followed by Tim and I trailed behind at times fearing for my life. Drivers in Paris are aggressive, angry and rarely follow road rules (just youtube the round-about at Arc de Triomphe ).

We made it to the Eiffel tower and ridiculously waited in line in 30 degree weather like silly tourists. 3 very long hours later we finally made it to the top. After waiting in line this long and only spending 20 minutes at the top we vouched never to climb another tall structure to see a view of a city we have already ventured through.

Having our luck the sun rarely shone for us the rest of our time in Paris although it didn’t stop us from venturing out. One of the most memorable experience for us was sitting opposite the Arc de Triomphe eating baguettes huddled under an umbrella in the pouring rain and being absolutely mesmerised by its beauty and chaos surrounding it. Something everyone should see in their life time. 12 major roads intersect at the roundabout housing the arc, there are no lines or traffic lights. We were amused by the amount of road rage and near misses we saw in such a short period of time. We also saw the same tow truck circle the arc constantly, we were later told that an accident occurs every 12 minutes under the arc. True statistic or not we did see the tow truck tow someone away.

Being new to Europe and Paris being so expensive on our last day we decided that if we were to keep spending money on accommodation the way we had been, we definitely would not reach our 12 month goal. So being ambitious travellers we decided to purchase a tent and camp our way along the coast of France. This was a shit idea. We found a camping shop but couldn’t decipher the French or the French guy that was trying to sell us a tent so we decided to go for one of the cheaper options and bought a 100 euro tent. After buying the tent we realised that there was a lot more to camping than just a tent and or sleeping bags. Wanting to save money we really went with the bare minimum and decided we didn’t need cooking utensils just yet, thinking that most camping sites will have a bbq or other facilities. The only other thing we bought was a 50 euro light (apparently we needed a good one).

From Paris we made our way to Caen (Normandy), the north/west coast of France and keeping in high spirits we imagined the weather would improve once we got out to the camping ground which was situated on the beach. How naive of us. We got to the camping ground and was offered a site a little away from the beach (where it would have been a little protected from the wind) or the romantic spot right on the beach front. Nick answered the beach front. Idiot! We Arrived at our site and rolled out our tent. Fail! The tent was so tiny it looked like a dogs kennel. After assembling it, we barely had enough room to sit up once we were inside. We figured it wouldn’t matter because we’d hardly be spending much of our time inside we would be spending it at the beach because the weather was going to be great.

Having no facilities to cook with except a fire bbq we decided to purchase an 11 euro frying pan (which nick was against), a wooden spoon and some fire starters. That night we attempted a bbq with drift wood and our frying pan. Fail! The wind was so strong it kept blowing the fire out. We ate salad with tuna so gross it resembled cat food and baguettes the rest of the time. We haven’t eaten tuna since.

We ended up spending 90% of our time in the dog kennel and the next few days in Caen consisted of numerous games of shit head. It rained and we were surprised the dog kennel didn’t get blown away in all the wind there was. We only left the tent to purchase food and to shower. There was quite a potent poo smell that surrounded our tent from some sort of animal. We named our tent and its surroundings “Poo Farm”.

It turned out that we didn’t end up paying for accommodation anyways. A mix up with the payment meant that we got Poo Farm for free. Lucky us.

We haven’t used the tent since and are planning to send it home as soon as we finish using it in Pamplona. We’re hoping someone will take us in and we won’t have to resort to the tent. Nick donated the frying pan to a hostel after carrying it around in his back pack for 4 weeks thinking we may use it again. We still have the wooden spoon. Why??? I have no idea.

We were ecstatic to leave the camp site and after missing the bus and the next one not coming for another hour, we were quite determined to get of there as soon as we could, we decided to try and hitch hike. Another fail. It’s because Nick wasn’t using his thumb enthusiastically enough and our sign sucked. I told him to put in more effort. He needed to smile.

From Caen we travelled to Brittany and stayed in a beautiful town called St Malo, also on the coast (thanks Phili for the tip). Poor weather meant walking the streets in the rain but it was worth it. We met another traveller John who was cycling around Europe and was covering the same ground as us via bike. We visited Mont Saint Michele, a monastery built in the 8^th century which is now a national monument. Something worthwhile seeing.

A few days later and endless hours on a train we ended up in Bordeaux, a city that really surprised us. Not expecting much, the city had loads to offer. Beautiful architecture and great places to people watch. Some much needed warm weather lead us to our favourite people watching spot, an architectural piece by Claire and Michel Corajoud. A shallow pool of water that was about the size of an Olympic pool but only 2 inches deep, looked more like a mirror from a distance as it reflected the beautiful surrounding buildings. The pool would drain and disappear only to spray mist and refill moments later.

Being in Bordeaux and being wine lovers we embarked on a wine tour that took us to various chateaux’s and offered “sample” tastings. Nick decided that the sample amounts weren’t enough and that he was going to get his moneys worth. By 11.30am Nick was just about drunk, by 11.55am Nick was drunk. He managed to do this by helping himself to the leftovers in the bottle and sculling expensive wine, and apparently some people that go on wine tours – don’t enjoy wine, so Nick made sure their glasses didn’t go to waste. In the state Nick was in he became less discrete with helping himself to the left over’s and everyone else followed suit. Needless to say we had a messy wine tour and everybody was Nick’s friend. We had a delicious traditional Bordeaux meal of duck and cheeses and a glass of wine with each course. By dessert we were legless.

From Bordeaux we headed further south to a coastal town called Biarritz. This spot supposedly has the best surfing in Europe, hence why we headed there. “Surfer “ Nick wanted to get in some surfing time while we were there but the weather let us down once again and Nick only got one day in. We ended up having one nice day and spent it on the beach. Much to Nick’s delight, all of the locals bathe topless... even the granny’s. Hot! Beautiful town with coast line everywhere you looked, we would have liked to stay longer but once again the weather deterred us. We tossed up whether to head south east to Nice, but instead we took the 1 hour train to San Sebastian – welcome to España!

Ireland

After a delayed start, we kicked off our time in Ireland. We had looked at doing tours and looked at buses and we decided hiring a car was the cheapest and easiest option. We were somehow able to find a deal for only €10 a day unlimited km’s. So we picked up the car and headed out on the road. Even without our little delay from the day before, our time in Ireland was rushed. If we had our time again, we wouldn’t have booked a return flight from Ireland, so we could choose how long to stay there, 5 nights wasn’t enough to see it all! We drove straight down to Cork which took about 3 hours, and we checked into our hostel, which was a cool hostel/bar. We then went out to see Blarney Castle, where we kissed the Blarney stone. In the evening we drank wine and ate in the hostel where we met a good group of guys and girls, and we headed downstairs to the bar to continue, unfortunately we were just a little too late to make the karaoke.

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The following day we had a long day of driving, going from Cork to Killarney, via the Ring of Kerry. The Ring of Kerry is beautiful, varying landscapes ranging from dramatic cliffs, to beaches, to farm land, to barren rock lands. All guides suggested that the safest direction to go was anti-clockwise, however we didn’t read that until we were well and truly committed to going clockwise. There were a few hairy moments passing coaches on narrow 100km/h roads. We stayed the night in Killarney a quiet touristy town.

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The following day again involved a lot of driving. We drove from Killarney north to Galway via the Cliffs of Moher and The Burren. The cliffs were spectacular, it was very very windy but that just added to the spectacle. We spent a while taking it all in, and in no time we were back in the car. The Burren region is hard to describe, it’s basically an area of rocks scattered across paddocks, it looks totally out of place, quite bizarre, interesting to see though. We continued to Galway, where we checked into a hostel that Katherine and Janna (whom we met in Cork) were staying. It took a little over an hour and half to drive from one side of Galway city to the other, it was a mad house. The hostel we stayed at was along a cobblestone pedestrian lane and we instantly fell in love with the area. Everywhere we looked it was pedestrian only streets filled with bars, restaurants and cafes. We were staying right on the bay, and it was beautiful. We had dinner in the hostel with a few drinks and then headed across the way to a bar where we drank the night away with a few of our hostel friends. Alison and the other girls retired about midnight when the bar closed, but I continued the party with 2 American guys (Tim and Adam) whom looked like line backers for the New York Giants. We had a blast at this random night club in Galway, Adam and Tim had people coming up all night asking them how tall they were and how much they could bench. Both Adam and Tim could drink quite a bit more than me, but they were intent on ensuring that I kept up, so every time they bought a Guiness for themselves, they got me one also. Then the shots started. The rest of the night was a blur, but I got to bed somehow and got up the next morning in time to check-out by 11. We then drove across the country back to Dublin.

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We got into our hostel and slept and recovered from the previous day. We met a few guys in the hostel; South African fella (Southy) and Tim (Ommit); whom we spent a bit of time with in Dublin, and then Ommit, we saw a whole bunch of times post-Ireland. The following day we walked around Dublin checked out some of the old buildings, and then finally made it to the Guiness factory where we met Ommit and Southy and toured the facility. As all reviews have mentioned, you finish in the top level of the factory in a bar, with a great view of Dublin, and the best Guiness of your life – all of which was completely true. That evening we head out with the guys to Temple Bar, which is the pub and club district of Dublin. We also met up with Kiera (looking back to our Vancouver trip, this is Claire and Alan’s daughter) and her boyfriend, and it was great to catch up.

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We were supposed to be leaving the following morning, but the volcano yet again intervened and we were made to stay another night in Dublin. So we shopped around, continued to sight see and killed time, before going to bed waking up early and flying back to London.

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After arriving back in London, we moved ourselves back into John’s place and again made him sleep on the couch. I decided to take a trip up to Leicester to see Alec. Not exactly the cultural centre of the universe, but we had a great time. We caught up, drank lots, kicked a soccer ball, played golf and had a night out on the town in some of the amazing pubs and clubs Leicester had to offer – we seemed to be the only ones with a full set of teeth.

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Whilst I was in Leicester, Alison was in London, and made a trip to Stone Henge with Janna, Katherine and Ommit. The plan was to take a trip to Bath, but a comedy of errors meant that Portsmouth was their final destination.

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We made the cheap and awful decision to take the overnight bus to Paris, and so began our time in mainland Europe.