Journey Home

Dear Brenna,

You were my traveling charm. Now that we are not on the same train back, though, there is a forest fire or a “burning bush” (according to the people here who speak a little English) along the tracks and I am stuck in the middle of nowhere somewhere in between Creil and Paris. It’s unfortunate, we were so close: 10 minutes by train!

It was a very early morning as it was, flight on Ryan air at 5:55 in the morning to Beauvais, to catch a train ultimately to Metz getting home by 4:00. It was a rushed morning because the man in charge of the hostel provided misleading directions to get to the airport this morning. We saw a beautiful sunrise up in the air, but that was all because I slept quite quickly. Brenna’s host for the night met us at the train station and provided us a tummy warming breakfast! The train station was a short walk through a washed down but still charming town. Alas… what is my fortune! We will depart again in a time that is yet undetermined. France, I had such faith in your train system. Now you dump me in the middle of nowhere with a guy from Nigeria who is the only person I could find to speak English and explain the situation in clearer details. He has just confessed I have captured his heart because I speak English so fluently, and that he wants to set his life for me, and wait for me. He wants to buy me a phone so he can contact me and give me the world. I am dumbfounded… but yes… it is true; foreigners either love or hate Americans. I assure you there is no in between. He has an apartment in Creil and he would be more than happy to accommodate me for the night. This is one offer I will not take up. Great! The train should be departing in 20 minutes. Hopefully I will make the next connection to Metz then. Pray that I don’t get stuck in Paris tonight. I have a large desire to sleep in my own bed, eat some homemade food, and do differential equations homework that has proved to space consuming for train rides.

P.S. Dad, I met a girl today who is just heading home from an extended sailing adventure. She was working on a sailboat and had originally had plans to sail around the Mediterranean. Due to weather the trip didn’t go as planned but still sounded so exciting! I thought you might appreciate that story a little. Maybe I should stick to traveling to inland places and save coastal locations for a journey of sailing. I think I need to start making more networks to enable more adventures in the future.

 Traveling repels me today. The gate you walk through to get onto the metro closed hard on my suitcase. I’m glad it didn’t break it, and luckily someone came by to get it unstuck before too long, and hand it over to me. Normally you would then go ahead and discard the ticket once you get through the gate, but luckily this time I didn’t; because upon exiting the metro there were workers checking for the tickets. A 25e fine for not having proof of one! Luckily I got on the train to Luxembourg (that stops to Metz on the way) I had 20 minutes to spare! Woot!

 

Spain Trip Part IV: Granada

First Impression: 

Even the bathrooms were nice.

Second Impression:

None of the roads were labeled. So we wandered... the wrong way first of course.

[Day 1]

 I woke up early, -finally, to see the sunrise. We had an incredible view from a balcony overlooking southern Granada. El Clandestino may not have been located close to the train station by any means, but how else do you get a view that Queens would choose.

Balloons

Even arriving last night was fun! I drank 2 liters of orange juice since then and I’m finally feeling better. I may go out and get some more in a little bit! The sunrise wasn’t spectacular because we are not facing East at all apparently, but we are hoping that sunset will be something lovely.

I went for mini jogs as much as my chest would allow and got lost and found and lost again. This is the best way to explore cities, I assure you. Especially when you don’t have a time limit!

I went back around noon to get Brenna.

Crazy Acts

Marry Poppin's Style!!!

We tried then to find two specific locations; Arabic baths, and el Torro in Granada, but we managed to fail at both. So we returned in preparation for a very exciting night tonight!

The 4 star hotel we waited at before we were picked up for Flamenco.

 

Flamenco was okay, but the bus ride was incredible! Up the narrow cobble stone streets, with even narrower ramps to stay on with a drop off on one side, cars or clay buildings on the other side. Brenna got a front seat view. Lucky her! Though as much fun as that was, I’m kidding about the Flamenco being okay. It was awesome as well; two groups performed that night, and we got a complimentary glass of Sangria.

Cuevas Los Tarantos

Captured in the spirit it was absolutely necessary for me to clap my feet on the dance floor on the way leaving the building. Though I feel the need to mention how ignorant it seems people can be… the dancers told the audience multiple times to not flash their cameras. The audience was circled around the dance floor, so not only did the flash blind the dancers, but the people across from them as well. Apart from that though, the people hosting the event were very sincere and the performances were very exciting. They are so good at rhythm!
 
I met 3 people studying in Spain. One is from Canada, one born in Peru and the other US. I played cards with them and talked out on the balcony. I met up with them after the Flamenco and we went out for a while, meeting up with 3 other people from UGA. Not to offend the readers ... and the girls were nice... but the guy fit a perfect description of a fraternity boy from UGA. He was double majoring in "something real"; psychology and sociology, as opposed to any engineering student from Georgia Tech. I will leave it at that.

[Day 2]

 An elderly woman had been selling castanets the night before but it so happened that we ran into her again today at the St. Nicholas overlook point. She showed me how to use them, and Brenna and I bought a set. Now we have a new annoying hobby. We clapped through the maze of the Albaicin for the rest of the day. (As long as no one was around that is...)

At the overlook there were lots of gypsies selling hand crafted jewelry, and a guitarist singing and playing. The chord changed and there was a sudden rush of movement- very synchronized. A policeman had just walked up the hill, and street vending like that is now illegal in Granada as a of a year ago, but lately they have gotten more strict about it all. It was a little adrenaline rush and at first we weren’t sure what was going on. It reminded me of when someone goes into a restaurant and everyone leaves at the same time and you are left sitting duck. I could have stayed in Granada. Snow capped and covered mountains lined the horizons, and the white buildings look just as stunning against the blue sky.

El torro that we didn't find before

A closed off cave

Granada was the last place to leave, and last place I wanted to leave. Summer home location.