Leaving Asturias:
Bea gave me some honey for my trip and Francisco gave me some amazing ham I could use to make sandwiches with. I’ll miss the cows as well, although, they don’t really like me. I highly urge anyone to go visit Asturias. They don’t call it a “natural paradise” for nothing. And the people there are always friendly; I can safely say from my experience.
Eduardo and I finally had our long-awaited tennis match on the last night I was there. The silly Spaniard thought he was going to beat the American (hahaha). Nevertheless, it was very close and there was a lot of emotion shown on the court that night. It was the perfect goodbye to a great friend. It’s only a brief goodbye because I know I’ll see all of them soon.
Exploring Barcelona:
After arriving and trying to walk to my hostel (mind you, I have no data, so I was relying on screenshots from earlier), I got lost. I walked aimlessly for about two hours. I thought I was in the right area and was very confident until this lady at the bakery told me I was about a fifty-minute walk away. I found a taxi to take me, checked into my room, and finally settled in my room.
Of course, I worked my way to the La Sagrada Familia and even got a ticket to view the inside. Inside, the walls and floor are colored by the light shining through stained glass. Anything I say will be an understatement. I really felt transported to this magical, fantastical world. Totally worth the ticket price. I actually went with this Australian guy named Luka. We walked around the city and got some lunch together before parting ways when we got back to the hostel.
Gaudi & Street Art – My hostel has free tours for guests, including a Gaudi and street art tour. So cool to learn about random bits about the city along the trip as well.
And on the topic of my hostel, St. Cristopher Inn, they have so many opportunities for you to meet people. By simply going to a free sangria hour for you to mingle with everyone. I got to meet a lot of neat people from all over the world. I was definitely the youngest of them all; the average age was about twenty-four. When I told them how old I was they all awwwed and pinched my cheeks.
Barcelona is one of the coolest places I’ve visited. The rough culture and history give it almost a street-gritty sort of feeling. The style of the locals is so original and really expressive of themselves. El Raval is full of the coolest bars I’ve seen, and some of the best in the world. It was my favorite area in Barcelona. I wish I could spend one more night there to experience some more of the nightlife. If I lived another life, I would want to grow up in Barcelona.
Enjoying France:
As nervous as it can be entering a place where you don’t know any of the language and you don’t have any internet to rely on, I was feeling pretty confident. It’s easy to get lost in your thoughts, but you just need to not think (easier said than done).
The household I stayed in was beautiful and Claudia and Mathieu were so welcoming. The food was next level even though I’m not used to a vegetarian diet. A lot of Asian cuisine was served; sometimes it was a little spicy but it’s good because I need to get my tolerance up. Also, the luckiest dog and cat live at the house too. Sleep all day sort of animals. Here’s a photo of the cat working hard.
I was there working with some Canadians, Ben and Emma, so basically Wisconsinites. It’s funny because I wouldn’t be able to tell they were Canadians if they didn’t pronounce a few words differently. They really urged me to visit British Columbia, so I guess I have to go there. Ughhhhhh.
As for the work, we planted a lot of trees and even grapes and strawberries. We also created these no-till rows for a future vegetable garden. It’s neat because it’s basically within a forest, so there are fruiting plants and trees everywhere. The place is teeming with life. It’s also cool that we get to have a big hand in the layout of the property. I’d love to see our work in ten or so years and say, “Man, I helped make this possible,”.
Sete & Montpellier – We got to travel around southern France with some days off we had, so we journeyed by train to Sete and Montpellier.
In Sete, the Canadians and I climbed up about three hundred steps to a beautiful lookout over the harbor. Totally worth it, but other than that, there really wasn’t much else to do. I mean, the southern France “feeling” or “vibe” was there, but visiting in the summer when the town is more alive would be much better. Being able to swim and not have to bundle up whenever walking outside sounds more enjoyable.
Montpellier was much more lively. Even on the Tuesday we went to, people were going about their business walking the streets. It was sort of a French cliche that many people were making out in the gardens of the city. There’s even a carousel in the plaza center in the mix of pop-up shops and cafes.
It’s funny, because I am visiting all of these summer destinations in the winter. Ribadesella is the perfect example of a town full of excitement and energy when the sun is out. Or so I’ve heard. I’ll have to revisit and see for myself one day.
I’m writing all this in Bern right now because I’ve been racing around doing everything I can while I’m in Europe. Also, I’ve been procrastinating a little bit. After my long bus ride from Montpellier, which included missing the first bus, I made it to Bern. Really late at night, I will add. I didn’t see myself being here in Switzerland, but I’m glad I’m here now. I’ll try to get the next blog out before I leave. I need to stop procrastinating.
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