sav

Hola everyone...

Well here we are in the land of Oz...or so it feels to me today after a somewhat bizarre and long night train from Sevilla to Barcelona...the major thing is the switch in language from Spanish to Catalan...my Spanish, by no means eloquent or perhaps even decipherable to some, did manage to get me by when I needed to, and I am now at square 1 again! I am hoping tommorrow after a good sleep will provide more mental availability to tackle this "challenge!"

For anyone taking the train to Barcelona on the route we did, I am torn between saying take a regular seat and gravol to get you thru the night, or taking the berth, which is what we did...True, you get to stretch your legs horizontally, BUT there is no common area on the train to go relax so we were limited to three options:

-hang out in your tiny bunker with 3 other people you´re sharing it with
-hang out in the K-mart 70´s era cafeteria and drink a lot of wine and be the only ones doing it (and therefore automatically the train drunkards
- or hang out in the very narrow hallway outside the door to your bunker which barely allows you to turn sideways to walk down it normally...

Three guesses which option we took! I really think all the staff on the train just thought we were these troublesome, 18 year old drunks...and I promise we are none of those! Especially 18...

But so far, after having spent just a few hours with our very gracious and funny host, Nicholas, I can see that Barcelona has so much to offer and is the cosmopolitan city everyone says it is...today is a holiday so not only were we charged double for our taxi ride (20€!!!) but the streets are bustling and it´s very energetic and lively out...but that seems like Spain to me the majority of the time...I have only one mission in Barcelona, well two actually and first one is to see my friend Krisna and then to visit some Gaudi...I have been drooling over Gaudi architecture for about 5 years, and never dreamed I would have the chance to see it in person!

I have only 4 minutes in this tiny Internet cafe, so will sign out..however, I have a feeling Barcelona will be pretty raucous over the next 10 days while I wait for my friend Tanya to fly in...I am headed "home" for a much needed nap and then Nicholas has made it his mission to have us stay up until probably 4 am from everyday here on in...even, he said, if it means banging pots by our heads should we try to sleep!

Will keep you posted with any adventures and advice on some good places to visit if you are lucky enough to make it this way!!

Adios!
Savannah

!HOla¡

Well, I couldn´t recommend a city more than Sevilla I don´t think...it´s day 2 of 3 here and I still have a lot to see of this country, but this is definitely one of those places that makes you feel like you have seen everything and could go home happy if you really had to! I am so truly in love with this place...I have a krink in my neck from looking at all the AMAZING buildings and cathedrals and palaces, I can´t walk for more than a few minutes to stop and stare....it is such a vibrant, exciting, Spanish city...We went on one of those organized bus tours today, which I have never done, but it was well worth it...you could spend forever and a day walking around in awe, but never knowing the story behind the many places you´re seeing...this gives you an insight to the jewels and exciting history of what you´re looking at...One place we visited was the old 1992 Expo grounds...I felt like I was in a perfect setting for a horror movie...for some reason, they have let almost the whole area go to pot and all these huge buildings that promoted the future of Spain are overgrown with weeds and are crumbling only 14 years later (tax dollars anyone??)...among all these decaying buildings is a very old building that houses Christopher Columbus´ tomb...I am sure he would be sad to see the state of his surroundings...but I enjoyed it!

I am tired today..all the walking we´ve been doing with all our overpacked bags in rain (in Granada) and then heat (in Sevilla), trying to find hostels day in and day out and from sightseeing...buns of steel baby! On the 6th and the 8th are two national holidays....in Spain, what this essentially means, and like in many countries, is going to church, spending time with loved ones and then some massive partying to chase it down with! And in true Spaniard style, if there is a holiday, let alone two in a week, they take the days before and after the holiday off and it´s called a puente (bridge)...it´s crazy, I have often wondered how Spain functions so wonderfully...when do people work around the puentes and siesta?(such a North American perspective, I know)

Today, we were having lunch near the awe-inspiring cathedral here and we could here cop sirens and people chanting...there was a long protest parade going by and from what I could read on their signs they were separatists showing their support for the separation of Andalucia (the province I am in) but without further investigation, I don´t know if that´s right or not??

Last night, which was our first here, we walked around all day, just checking out the myriad of twisting, fascinating streets...when it came time to drink some more and it was evening, we found an outdoor restaurant and setup camp for a couple of hours watching the hundreds of people walk by...Spain is incredible this way...everyone but everyone comes out...families, from babies to grandparents all come out together and it is so lively! Everyone dresses to the nines ( excluding Shiloh and I in our sandals, a total faux pas for style it seems here) and just walks around in all the squares, eating and drinking, going to all the outdoor bookstores, or shopping at all the outdoor kiosks and markets...it´s beautiful too here right now, because although you can tell that it´s Christmas soon, it´s not gross commercialism...it´s lights strung up on all the orange trees and singers and families and socializing...I could have stayed watching this all night...I wish I could store sleep and run off of it for a week...it seems a shame to go to sleep while I am here...

I am also, like elsewhere in Spain, enjoying how completely romantic it is...not for me , but for young and old couples...married with children or not, it feels like the public displays of affection are something we are really missing at home...you get the feeling that someone who may have been married for 20 years, just got married yesterday...everyone is playful, holds hands, kisses each other and flirts...it´s inspiring and rejuvenating...it´s the place to holiday should a relationship be on the rocks is my advice...

I see the sun hitting the cathedral from outside the window at the cafe and think I should sign off so that we can enjoy the sunset down by the river Gualdalaquivir (sp?) and do what else but have a glass of wine (I´m banking on a free tapa for supper tonight...Shiloh is is my sugar mama today and I think her cash is gone for the day)

I feel like there is so much more to say, but it´s only because I have been in a state of awe for about 27 hours...

Will write when I get to Barcelona in a couple of days...

Take care all,

Savannah

humpf!!!!

After a serious update that i have been writing for the last 30 minutes, my computer turned on me and now there is nothing!!! I have no idea where everything went!!

Hmmm...well the wind has been taken out of my sails...so the best i can do right now is something in point form...

- my friend Alex is visiting...
- we went on a journey up the mountains today to some mountain villages...Bubion and Pampaneira....we nursed Alex who survived a vicious hangover and some of the planet´s windiest roads to have him almost fall off the bus as white as a ghost...
- we have two more nights in Orgiva before we head off to Sevilla (most excited!!), then Valencia (home to the world´s best oranges...they can be yours at your local grocery store too!), and then to Barcelona...I am saving up my energy for the high-life here and relishing a bed and clean clothes for these last two days as well...
- I caved!! I bought mitts and a scarf.....my pride is too strong to tell our landlords that we are out of wood for our stove after we told them that we are hardy Canadians and we will be just fine...brrr...
- hmmmm...sigh, I know there was more, but for anyone who is checking up on my blogs, I make a pact right now to update them every 7-8 days to allow for good stories to build and exciting travel advice for anyone who just happens to stumble upon them and is coming to Spain...it will be much easier for both of these things to happen once we are on the move and out of our cozy little house!

- I will miss Orgiva, and i honestly didn´t think i would say this for the first two weeks...but every small town in the world has its characters and these just happen to be extra colourful in my opinion purely because they are Spanish and I can barely understand a word when they come up and clasp your hands and continue to speak when you make it known you don´t know what´s going on...somehow it makes them that much more interesting to me!

- also, Shiloh and i have apparently broken into a sacred boy´s club in town, much to the surprise of our landlords...my favorite tapa place in town is very male-dominated and it´s not lost on me that they wouldn´t exactly turn away two blond foreign females...but, i guess it´s not typically easy to feel welcome there, and I feel like this is where we have made some of our more interesting friends...their reception has been less and less frosty to us each time and I think it´s because we could care less what they think! We just want our cheap beer and home-made tapas! That´s one for the girls!

I have to sign out now...this is a little more than my pathetic budget will allow! But, check in in about a week´s time and we´ll let you know how our ´drifters´ travels are going! Also, I should have a bunch of pictures to post for next week too...I´m ready to kick things up a notch after this month long resting period...

Adios, and talk to you soon...

Savannah

Savannah

I opened my shutters today to find sun and a blue, blue sky...a nice change from heavy clouds and non-stop rain yesterday...although, it is very needed here because of the drought and it was refreshing for awhile...I think it´s just because our house is always colder than outside that I long for sun constantly here! And not to mention that Shiloh and I really haven´´t mastered building a fire that lasts more than 5 minutes without stoking...so much for my training in the Yukon!

Today is market day in Orgiva...yaay! Once you get passed all the people selling purses, old-lady bras and Nike shoes, the vendors selling produce are the real treasure! I walked away the other day with a kilo (6 good sized tomatoes) for 75 centimos...and we, awhile back, bought a bag full of sundried tomatoes for 5€..something that would have cost probably btw. 15-18 dollars at home...people go home absolutely loaded from the markets! It brings the whole town out and it feels very alive all day, even during siesta...

I had my first (and hopefully only) experience visiting a doctor the other day....the service was great and the doctor would so be mine in Edmonton if i could fit him in my suitcase...very efficient, thorough and patient, my poor translator had to learn about how the human skeleton is constructed and relay it back to me in detail...so, because i am not a Spanish or even an EU citizen i had to go to a private clinic....70€ later!!! I can certainly see what entices govt´s and doctors to sometimes want a two-tiered system...the efficiency is great...but I am still thankful that Canada is choosing to steer away from that...it seems very wrong to have to pay for basic healthcare quite simply...but i can now sleep a little better at night knowing that i have two floating ribs crossed over each other and inflaming one another and not....???? something worse I guess!

I am covered in flea chemicals and dirty dog from giving some TLC to my beloved stray Brown-Dog....ahhh, it´s heaven to me!

Shiloh and I are heading into Granada tonite to check out a funk-jazz band with our landlord Wes and friend of his...if all goes well we´ll be able to visit our sister Pam after the show while we´re there...there is definitely no such thing as an early night in Granada...early means before 3 am...if you plan on coming to visit I recommend this...stay up all night for maybe about 4 days, drink lots...pickle your liver in preparation....and start to love seafood...you´ll have the time of your life then!

I have to run...that 70€ gone keeps haunting me! Take care anyone reading this, and even if you´re not!

Hasta luego!
Savannah

Well Orgiva is coming to a close...I´m kind of sad now actually! The quiet (and cheap!) time is about to come to an end...but i am actually quite excited for what´s on the agenda...this Friday, Shiloh and i are heading to Malaga to meet a friend flying in...from here it´s a bit of a mystery...i have the mini-itinerary that i posted in my last entry about what i think we´ll be doing for the next month or so...hope it all works out!

The last couple of days in Orgiva have been mucho Spanish...as in lessons and homework...my head is on fire, as a Spanish lady said to me who was learning English...it´s such a beautiful language...if i can´t get a grasp on it here, and actually, even if I can, i plan to continue it at home...i am no longer scared of learning it, so i definitely can´t give it up now...

also, and i swear, it´s a case of someone/thing placing us in the right place at the right time, we spotted a cat on the roof of the library who had a plastic bag wrapped around its head...we were shocked and anyone who knows us, knows how we must have panicked.."We must save the cat!!" So we went to the Guardia Civil and told him in our broken Spanish and lots of strangling noises what the situation was...he laughed, which didn´t surprise me, and said they didn´t have a ladder...i was starting to scope out ways that i could climb onto the roof...so we went to the police and he came out with us and was actually a little bit concerned! So he called the City Hall and by now, there were people stopping to see what the mini-commotion was all about...so the guys from the city came and slowly got out there ladders, chatted a bit and went up the roof to the cat...they took a long metal thing and bounced it off the cat´s head a couple of times (while we looked on thinking, what the...??) and the bag came off...we cheered...
It´s been twice now that we´ve rescued an animal here that was caught up in a bag..the other was a pigeon that flew right to us and sat on a fence where we were...he sat there while we untangled it from his wing and flew off again...these two things made my day...sigh, how boring I know...where are the crazy travelling stories...they´ll come...this past month has been for unwinding, learning, sleeping and dealing with culture shock i think...also, because i told everyone that i would be gone for at least 3 months (with not a lot of money), being holed up in the mountains has allowed me to stretch that out and for the next month and a half, I´ll blow the rest of my money and say, " I made it!"...

I am being kicked out..it´s siesta time!! Wine and sleep!

Will finish this off tommorrow, hope everyone is doing well!

Ciao