Barcelona

Our journey began in the Catalan capital of Barcelona, where we enjoyed some classic seafood paella before boarding our ship. The rice had absorbed the rich broth, and the heat from the cooking created a nice crust at the bottom of the pan. Tender squid, juicy shrimp, and mussels mingled with the perfectly seasoned rice. The diversity of textures and robust flavors in each mouthful gave us a true taste of the region’s iconic cuisine. We scraped the final grains of rice from the pan. Maybe one day I could make a paella as good as this to recreate this experience.

With only a little time before our cruise departure, we took a quick stroll down the famous Las Ramblas to soak in the vibrant city atmosphere, even though it was difficult to navigate while carrying our luggage. This was okay though as we’ve visited Barcelona before.

Valencia

Our first port of call was Valencia, known for its impressive medieval old town. We started in the bustling central market, but found out it was closed on Sundays, and instead only saw people outside selling old junk from their houses. The only interesting thing there were Spanish Pokemon cards.

We then visited the 15th century La Lonja silk exchange, a UNESCO World Heritage site noted for its Gothic architecture. Though no longer a center of commerce, this historic building transports visitors back to Valencia’s golden era. This grandiose building with its colonnaded central hall and twisting columns was the center of Valencia’s thriving silk trade for centuries.

As we arrived at the Valencia Cathedral, we were treated to an unexpected scene. Groups of children and adults dressed in elaborate traditional costumes were flocking to the cathedral. We thought this parade might have been part of the annual Las Fallas festival, but it wasn’t that time of the year.

On the edge of the old town, we visited the Torres de Serranos, a part of the city’s medieval fortifications from the 14th century. The towers rise nearly 20 meters high on either side of the gates. They were originally linked by a bridge over the road, from which arrows and boiling oil could be rained down on would-be invaders. Despite some damage over the centuries, the twin towers have survived as an imposing relic of Valencia’s medieval defenses.

One of the more whimsical sights we a cat door built into the wall of a building, and it allows the city’s stray cats to come and go as they please. Another sight was visiting the outside of the bullfighting arena. Even though there was no bullfighting event happening at the time, it still allowed us to see this iconic part of Spanish culture.

We were only able to scratch the surface, and next time we go back, we’ll go to stuff we wanted to go to but didn’t have time for like the City of Arts and Sciences complex.

Ibiza

Another stop along the cruise was in sunny Ibiza, which offers a vibrant mix of beachside relaxation and exploration of historic sights. During our recent visit, we discovered some of the island’s cultural gems, the island’s famous walled old town of Dalt Vila, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From the window of our room on the cruise ship, we could see the Dalt Vila.

Strolling through Dalt Vila, the diverse architectural influences are striking, from the grand Catalan-Gothic Catedral de Santa Maria d’Eivissa to the humble whitewashed houses draped with vibrant flowers. We also spotted the 16th century Castell d’Eivissa perched atop the highest point. We could even spot our cruise ship docked at the port far below.

After taking in the impressive cathedral, we continued to stroll Dalt Vila’s labyrinth of narrow cobblestone streets. Flower-filled balconies and whitewashed houses flanked our path. The charming architecture and relaxed pace made it easy to imagine life centuries ago within these walls. Before heading back down the hill, we stopped at a cafe tucked within the city walls. There we sipped mojitos (albeitly overpriced), the perfect refreshing drink after ourwalk, and soaked in the ambience around us.

Our day in Dalt Vila provided a beautiful glimpse into Ibiza’s history and culture. Getting lost in its winding alleys while surrounded by medieval architecture was an unforgettable experience. We can’t wait to return to further explore this magnificent walled city.

See here for more of Barcelona, Valencia, and Ibiza

Getting There

Just like the time I went to Barcelona, I had to wake up at a ridiculous hour to catch my flight.  Even though the flight was at 10, we had to take a few regional trains to get to the airport in Karlsruhe-Baden.  It was so early that when we got to Karlsruhe, we could see the sunrise.

Along the journey, a friend of mine forgot this iPod on the train and by the time he remembered, the train started leaving the station.  He watched the train leave with his iPod and could do nothing about it.  He immediately went to the Deutsche Bahn office for help.  The helpful staff there immediately called the next station that it would reach so that another employee could get on the train and retrieve it.  Lucky for him, they found it.  He would end up picking up his iPod after we came back from London.

I ended up sleeping for the whole flight and once we arrived we had to go through customs because the United Kingdom was not part of the “Schengen Area”, which is made up of a group of countries that allow travel within the group without going through customs, as in they have no internal border controls.

It was really easy talking to the customs agent because there was no longer any language barrier like in the rest of Europe.  It felt so nice speaking English again.  I no longer felt bad about not being able to speak a particular country’s language.  Speaking English felt so nice in fact, that I ended up having a brief chat with the customs agent about things like how I was liking Germany and what not.  Unlike the customs agents I see at the border between USA and Canada, the one in London was really nice.  I had initially thought that Londoners would give a really snobby vibe like the Parisians, but it didn’t seem like it so far.

After going through customs, we went to buy tickets for a bus to the city center.  Unfortunately for us, the lady selling tickets refused to accept our euros (good reason for that I suppose), so we had to exchange some money at a ridiculous rate.  We bought both our return ticket at the time too and for some reason the ticket lady wrote down 3:50 am for our return bus reservation (our flight was for 7 am).  We looked at it and we were just so sad to see we had to wake up at a ridiculous hour yet again to make our flight.  But then, we decided to stay up on our last night in London and not pay money for another night’s stay at the hostel.

The bus took us to Liverpool Street and from the looks of it, the districted seemed like an economic center.  People wearing business suits going about their business filled the streets.  From there, we bought our Oyster cards (kind of like the 八達通 in Hong Kong).  It is a prepaid card for taking the London public transit system.  One simply has to place the card on the scanner when entering and leaving the station.

We took the metro to King’s Cross and proceeded to find the hostel we booked.  It turns out that the hostel used to be a courthouse, which is kind of cool.  The interiors still have some of the furnishings of a courthouse and even has courtrooms that have been redecorated into hangout areas for guests.  Unfortunately for us though, when we actually saw our rooms, we were less than satisfied.  We got a super small room for eight people with beds arranged in two rows of four.  The only way we could get in and out of our beds was to crawl from the end instead of getting on from the side.  Solid walls surrounded the other sides and gave a really cramped feeling.  The showers there weren’t that clean either.  Regardless, that was the place that we had to stay at for the next two nights.

Imperial War Museum

Our first destination was the Imperial War Museum.  The museum chronicled the British Empire’s involvement in wars since the First World War up to the present.  In addition to exhibits from the two world wars, it even had exhibits on terrorism and the Iraq War.  Like many museums in London, this one was financially supported by the government so entry was free.  Upon seeing the building, one could already notice the 15 inch battleship cannons placed in the front – one from the HMS Ramillies and the other from HMS Roberts.

When we entered the museum, we were immediately overwhelmed by the sight of all the military vehicles in the museum’s atrium.  They had everything – tanks, fighter planes, rockets, artillery cannons, submarines, etc.  There was even a piece of rubble from the World Trade Center.

In addition to the exhibits about the wars that Britain fought, there were exhibits for the Holocaust as well as genocide in the modern era.  In the World War I section, there was even a reconstruction of a trench.  When I walked through it, I saw statues of soldiers going about their daily life at the time, like a soldier manning a machine gun or a soldier writing a letter to his parents.  In the World War II section, the museum managed to get a hold on the actual bronze eagle that was once on the Reichstag in Berlin.

We stayed at the museum until its closing time at 6 and afterward, we looked for a place to eat.  Just like in Rome, we looked at the Rick Steves’ European travel guide book for a recommendation.

Trafalgar Square

The guide book led us to a pub in Trafalgar square.  Before going to the pub, we decided to check out the place first.  We didn’t spend a lot of time here because we were in a hurry to eat.

The Lord Moon of the Mall

Following the guide book, it led us here to try out London’s “pub grub”.  The way the pub worked was that people had to find a table, take note of their table number and then go up to the counter to order food.  The servers would then bring the food over according to the table number.  I ordered sausages and mash (aka bangers and mash).

The pub itself seemed really British to me.  I don’t really know how, but it just gave me that vibe.  After our meal, we walked around the city for a little bit.  Since Trafalgar Square was really close to the tourist parts of London, we decided to go there.

Westminster

Westminster, one of the districts in London, is what people know London for.  This is where the Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and the Palace of Westminster are all situated in.

We didn’t stay here very long since we knew we’d be back here the next day when we took the walking tour.  We were all really tired too so we were all very eager to go back to the hostel to sleep.

Wellington Arch

At the beginning of the tour, everybody gathered by the Wellington Arch, a triumphal arch dedicated to Britain’s victories over Napoleon.  It is also the site of London’s second smallest police station up until 1992.

Part of the arch is also used for the ventilation from the London Underground (subway) and the heat coming out from the vents sometimes causes people to believe there is a fire.  Every now and then, somebody ends up calling the London Fire Brigade about it.

War Memorials

Throughout much of the city, war memorials can be seen almost everywhere.  Some are dedicated to certain people such as Churchill or Monty, while some are dedicated to Britain’s former colonies or even to the war effort on the home front.

Buckingham Palace – Changing of the Guard

Pretty much everyday at Buckingham Palace, tourists can see the guard change at Buckingham Palace.  We didn’t intend to go see this so when we arrived at Buckingham Palace, we saw a large concentration of tourists watching it.  There were so many people that I couldn’t even see what was going on.

To see the guards up close, we went elsewhere where there weren’t that many tourists.  In the past, people were allowed to go up to the guards and annoy them, but ever since one of the guards flipped out at a tourist, tourists are no longer allowed to go up to the guards anymore.

We tried to annoy the guards anyway though.  The tour guide got everyone to shout out “penis” really loud to see if it would make the guard laugh.  According to the guide, it works about 1 in 4 times.  This guard didn’t laugh though.

Trafalgar Square (again)

The first time we came here, we didn’t really know the significance of the statue in the city square, but the tour guide explained it to us.  The statue was of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, a British war hero involved in the Battle of Trafalgar against the French and Spanish navies.  His fleet won the battle so decisively that his fleet took no losses in ships despite having a smaller fleet than his enemies.  Unfortunately for him, he died during the battle.  It is said that his crew put his body in a wine barrel to preserve his body so that he could have a proper burial in England.  However, since his men had won such a huge victory, they ended up drinking the wine from the barrel that the admiral’s body was in, hence producing the phrase, “tapping the admiral”.

Horse Guards Parade

The next destination was the Horse Guards Parade, basically an area with an open field for horses.  It wasn’t that special I suppose.

Westminster Abbey

According to Rick Steves’, Westminster Abbey is one of the most magnificent churches in the English speaking world.  When I read that, I figured that it might not be as good as the churches that I saw in Rome.  Nonetheless, I still wanted to check out this place.  It would have been nice to see the inside, but it would cost a hefty 13 pounds to enter.  With such an expensive admission fee (compared to churches everywhere else which have free entry), I couldn’t bring myself to pay that.  The churches in Rome are probably way nicer anyways.

Palace of Westminster and the Big Ben

Pretty much right beside the abbey was the house of parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster.  Attached to this building was the Big Ben.  I didn’t really get a good picture of the palace during the day though.

More Pub Grub

At the end of the tour, we went to a pub that had connections with the tour guide so we all got discounts on our meal.  I ordered fish and chips, one of Britain’s specialties I suppose.

Churchill War Rooms

After eating, I went to the Churchill War Rooms Museum, while my friends went to the National Gallery.  The war rooms was a museum set up such that it displayed the underground complex that the British government used during WWII.  Many of the rooms had been untouched since the end of the war.  In some instances, once the war ended, the staff went home and never returned to the command center.

The meeting room, map room, and many of the dormitories in the complex still had the old 40’s vibe.  Paraphernalia was left untouched.  Even maps showed the old names for different British colonies and still had the pin holes leftover from mapping out troop movements.

A large slab of concrete covered most of the complex to protect its occupants from bombs.  Nobody knew how well the slab would protect people, but luckily, the complex was never hit.  While walking around the complex, there are areas where a speaker will play the air raid siren sound.  I guess that was for authenticity, which was really cool.

Buckingham Palace

Now that the wave of tourists had subsided, I finally got the chance to get a good look at Buckingham Palace.  It was one of those places that didn’t look amazing in architecture and was a place where one would have to go while on a trip to London.  Maybe the next time I come to London, I will buy tickets to visit the inside of the palace.

The Cafe in the Crypt

For dinner, we looked at the guide book yet again to find a place.  This time we were recommended a place called “The Cafe in the Crypt”.  It was under a crypt of a church in Trafalgar Square.  When I ordered my food, the server for some reason was really delighted by the fact that I could speak English.

Platform 9 3/4

I hadn’t known before that in the Harry Potter books, Harry Potter went to Hogwarts from King’s Cross Station, which happened to be the station that our hostel was close to.  On our way back to the hostel that night, we came across the famous Platform 9 3/4.  There was even a cart halfway through the wall – just like in the books.

English Breakfast

Because the breakfast at our hostel sucked so much, we all decided to go have an English style breakfast on our last day.  The breakfast came with eggs, mushrooms, bacon, tomatoes and sausages.  It was really oily, but delicious.

The British Museum

According to Rick Steves, the British Museum “is the best chronicle of human civilization…ever”.  With a recommendation like that, we had to go to it.  After seeing it, I agree with Rick Steves.  The museum had information on pretty much every continent in the world.  Its most well known artifact, the Rosetta Stone was also on display.  Apparently, it was the stone tablet that allowed modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

In the exhibit on ancient Greece, the museum showcased a lot of sculptures from the Parthenon.  I guess that would explain why I didn’t see any of those things when I went to Greece.  Another really nice exhibit was the one on mechanical clocks.  It displayed a lot of the different mechanisms that clocks were built out of.  Being part mechanical engineer, this was of a lot of interest to me.  I ended up analyzing the entire mechanism and figuring out exactly how clocks work.

The Millennium Bridge

Our next destination was the Tate Modern Art Gallery.  Before going inside, I went to see the nearby attractions first.  I learned of the Millennium Bridge during my engineering courses because it was an example of a badly designed bridge since it was affect by resonance.  Simply put, the bridge physically wobbled as people walked on it.

Shakespeare’s Globe

Based on the original Globe Theatre, this theatre is a modern reconstruction of the old one that burned down.  I didn’t know before that the original one had burned down.  I thought I was seeing the original.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

During the Blitz, St Paul’s Cathedral became a national symbol of resistance.  During the sustained strategic bombing of Britain during WWII, this cathedral somehow still stood.  Many of Britain’s heroes are buried here, namely Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, Sir Winston Churchill, Florence Nightingale, the Duke of Wellington, and Charles Cornwallis.

Normally, it costs money to go inside as a tourist, but since it was Sunday, the church was open for church services.  This allowed tourists to go in for free, but they weren’t allowed to take any pictures.  As usual, I disobeyed that and took pictures anyway.

I probably could have done something similar at Westminster Abbey also, but that was on the other side of town so I didn’t bother.

Tate Modern Art Gallery

Like many museums in London, this one was also free.  Looking at the different works of art here, I understood pretty much none of them without reading the description.  Interpreting art just isn’t my thing I guess.  Although, there was an exhibit about anti-Nazi works of art that was really interesting.  One photo in particular portrayed Nazi Germany as a house of cards, while another showed a bunch of skeletons depicting what Germany will be like in the future.  Another photo, although not anti-Nazi, it depicted the Japanese waking up the “sleeping giant” known as China when they invaded.

Chutneys Euston

For dinner, we went to a vegetarian Indian buffet.  For 7 pounds, we could eat as much as we wanted.  What a good deal.  That was my first time ever eating Indian food and it was really delicious.  I ate about three plates before I was full.  I didn’t get hungry until 3 in the morning.

Tower Bridge

At night, we went to see the Tower Bridge and the London Tower.  I originally thought the London Tower was just a tower, but it turned out the tower was actually part of a giant castle.

We walked across the bridge and saw the HMS Belfast, a British cruiser docked on the side of the river.  Apparently, the ship had been converted into a museum and was part of the Imperial War Museum.  If I had known about it earlier, I probably would have visited this too.

Going Home

Since our bus time was 3:50 am from Liverpool Street Station, we took a taxi to there to wait.  We went to a nearby restaurant and stayed there for a few hours playing cards.  When the bus came, we got on it and just slept.  We slept some more on the plane and on the train until we got home.  My original plan was to nap when I got home, but after so many naps earlier, it didn’t feel necessary anymore.  It probably would have ruined my sleeping schedule too.  I still felt the effects of the sleep deprivation the day after too.  Either way, it was a good trip.  I think I want to come back some time in the future.

More photos here

Flight to Barcelona

I woke up at around 3:30am to get ready for the flight to Barcelona.  I had slept at around 10:30pm the night before in order to not feel absolutely terrible in the morning.  We took the first train out to the airport at 4:40am and got there about an hour before our departure at 6:45am.  While going through security, I forgot to take of my belt and because of that, the security personnel checked me with the metal detector wand all over the place.  For some reason, he seemed to also have a huge suspicion that I was hiding something in my pants.  Once he let me go, we were on our way.  On the plane ride there, I tried by my best to take a nap, but this little kid cried for the whole duration.

Sagrada Familia

After dropping off our stuff at the hostel, w went to the Sagrada Familia, an unfinished church that began construction in 1882.  When I saw it, I thought it was really weird that the construction crew used modern cranes to build architecture of the old style.  We tried to go inside, but there was a huge line up.

After wandering around town a little bit, we came across this market that sold all sorts of things.  Apart from pretty normal items like clothing, vendors there sold N64’s, used power tools and even military regalia.  A lot of that stuff was probably stolen.  We walked around some more and then headed down to the beach.

Barceloneta

The area we were in, the Barceloneta, was a stretch of beach coastline looking into the Mediterranean Sea.  It had the nicest beach water and sand – even better than what I saw in Volos.  Looking around the beach, I learned that it was legal for women to sunbathe topless. It was actually quite prominent.  The weather was really hot too – perfect beach weather I suppose. 

I lay down under an umbrella on a beach towel while the others went for a swim.  I ended up falling asleep.  I suppose that made up for not having a good sleep on the plane.  After spending about an hour and a half at the beach, we went on a walking tour.

The Walking Tour

The first destination in the tour was in the Gothic Quarter.  We reached the memorial for Eulalia of Barcelona, a 13 year old girl that was brutally subjected to torture from the Romans for refusing to give up Christianity.  She died from the 13th and final torture that involved her being put inside a barrel with blades shoved inside it and then having that barrel rolled down in incline.  It is said that a dove flew out of her dead body as she ascended to Heaven.

The next destination was the oldest synagogue in Europe (as opposed to the one in Prague, which is the oldest active synagogue).  From the outside, it doesn’t look anything like a synagogue.  It just blends in perfectly with the buildings around it and the building itself doesn’t have any valuable looking ornaments or decorations either.  The only things that separate it from the other buildings is sign in Hebrew on the doorway and some signs for tourists to know that it’s there.  In this Jewish district, the tour guide mentioned the expulsion of Jews during the Spanish Inquisition.  I thought it was kind of amusing when I was caught by surprise at the mention of it – kind of like that quote from Monty Python.

Afterward, we went to Plaza de Sant Felip Neri.  The significance of this place was that the plaza was the site of a air attack from Italian bombers during the Spanish Civil War.  Shrapnel damage from the bombs still scar the walls of the plaza.  On another side of the plaza, the bomb damaged was repaired but one can still see the slight difference in colour between the bricks which shows how much of the wall had been destroyed.

One thing about the streets in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona is that a lot of them are really narrow – probably only about 10 feet wide.  We walked through these streets for most of the tour.  In one of those streets, we came across a mosaic of Space Invaders.  Apparently, there is an artist who goes all over the world putting them up.

The next destination was the Placa Nova, which used to be the location of the city gates back when the Romans lived in Barcelona.  The remnants of the gate and the aqueduct still exists.  Across from the gate is the City Architecture School, which has a joke drawing by Picasso splattered over it.

After walking some more we saw the Barcelona Cathedral which housed the tomb of Eulalia of Barcelona and also the Placa del Rei, the historical location where Christopher Columbus reported his discovery of the Americas to the Spanish royalty.  We also saw some Roman ruins after climbing a mountain with a height of 16.9 meters (that’s what a plaque actually said) as well as the Placa de San Jaume, the political center of Cataluña (the area of Spain that Barcelona belongs to).

The tour guide also talked about the origins of the flag of Catalonia (Cataluña is the name in Catalan).  It is said that a great warrior Wilfred the Hairy, after being wounded in battle, drew stripes along a copper shield with his blood-stained fingers, hence the four prominent red stripes on the Catalan flag.

We also walked along La Rambla, a popular tourist street in the city.  The tour guide also showed us a city square that featured some of buildings designed by an architect named Gaudi.  Apparently, his designs are all over the city.

Next was the Placa George Orwell.  As a memorial to him (he was involved during the Spanish Civil War), the city named a city square after him.  Ironically enough, this plaza used to be under 24 hour surveillance kind of like Big Brother in his book “1984”.

We finished the tour at a bar and socialized with other people in the tour group for a little bit and drank Sangria.  I got to talk to these people who used to work at the same hostel we stayed at in Hamburg.  It was such a coincidence.

Barcelona’s Skateboarding Fame

After that, we walked around the city to look for the skateboarding spots that Barcelona was so famous for among skateboarders.  I’m not a fan, so I could not recognize the place from skateboarding videos, but it was cool to see a lot of skateboarders in one place showing off their tricks.

Tapas

For dinner, we tried Tapas, a Spanish delicacy.  Tapas are basically a small appetizer dish, but patrons generally order a few of them for a full meal.  Along with Tapas, Paellas are another Spanish delicacy that’s also really delicious.

Sangria is Evil

That night, we spent a little bit of time at the hostel bar.  We all drank Sangria and the thing about that drink is that it tastes a lot like juice, which means it is really easy to drink too much.  And that’s what I did.  I puked a bunch and got a pretty bad hangover the next morning.  I never intended to drink that much in the first place.

While we were drinking, we talked with this black dude and he always had racist jokes to say.  He went on about how white people could never get away with saying racist comments, which was so true. 

Park Güell

I spent the next morning puking too which sucked a lot.  We went to the beach again that morning, but I felt so bad at that time that I decided to go back to the hostel to rest up a bit before doing anything.  I felt a lot better in the evening and so we all continued sightseeing and went to Park Güell.

Park Güell was basically a park that featured a lot of Gaudi’s architectural exploits.  Since he hated the use of right angles in his work, much of the design had curvy edges.  Spanish architecture here was so different from the architecture I’d seen everywhere else.  It was really distinct and unique.

A Less Intense Night (at Least for Me)

After visiting the park, we went to the hostel bar like the night before.  Except this time, I didn’t do any crazy drinking.  We met the same black dude from the night before again and this time he went on about how much he loved eating fried chicken, which just made me crack up so hard.  He perpetuated that stereotype.  Once the hostel bar quieted down, my friends went out for clubbing while I stayed at the hostel and went to sleep.

Mini-Sandwiches

I found out later that they returned at around 6 am.  Two of them were really high on weed apparently when they came back too (weed is legal in Barcelona so long as one possesses less than 50g).  They missed the hostel breakfast that morning and slept in until 12pm.  Once we all got ready, we went out for lunch at a mini-sandwich restaurant. 

The place had so many varieties of mini sandwiches and they all looked and tasted delicious.  I wanted to try all of them, but I was pretty certain that I couldn’t eat that much since I wasn’t hungry for lunch yet.

Montjuïc

After eating, we went up to Montjuïc.  The mountain had a lot of really nice architecture, just like a lot of places in the city.  Also on the mountain was the site of the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.  We walked around the Olympic stadium and got a really good view of the city.

We walked further up the mountain and reached the fortress at the top.  At the time, we didn’t know there was a gondola that took us up there, so we walked the whole way, which was super tiring in the intense heat that day.  Fortunately, seeing the fortress was worth it.  From there, we got a really good view of the entire city, all the way around. 

After walking around so much, we all got really hungry and took the gondola back down and looked for a place to eat.

Paellas

After trying Tapas on the first day, we decided to try Paellas this time around.  Paellas are basically a rice dish and consists of either vegetables, seafood, or different varieties of meat depending on the type.  We ordered one with seafood and chicken in it. 

Being able to pick meat off bones and peeling the shell off of shrimp was so satisfying.  It was totally unlike the German dishes that involve none of that peeling whatsoever.

Writing at the Beach

We spent the rest of the night at the beach to get one last look at it before leaving the next morning.  When we got there, the sun was already setting so it was quite comfortable at the beach without the sun constantly cooking us. 

As the sun set, it actually got really cold.  While sitting at the beach, I started writing bits of this blog entry in my notebook.  Writing on the beach was really satisfying.

My Joint-Rolling Experience

When we got back to the hostel, two of the people I went with wanted to use up the rest of the weed that they bought.  I refused to do any weed when they offered it to me – even if it was legal here, but I did want to try rolling a joint.  They passed me some of the weed and rolling paper and then taught me how to do it.  In the end, I rolled a better joint than both of them and it was only my first try too.  They called me a “stoner prodigy” and said how I’d be a really good stoner if I ever did weed.  No way I’m going to smoke it for real though even if rolling a joint was an interesting experience.  When the others started smoking the rest of the weed, I returned to the hostel and went to bed.

Flying Back

The next morning we all woke up at 6 am to get to the airport for our flight back to Stuttgart.  For pretty much the entire trip home, our whole group barely talked.  We all had this zombie look on our faces from waking up way too early and not sleeping enough.  It took a few hours for us to return back to our normal state.  We all felt it was a good trip – except for the part where I had too much Sangria.

More photos here