BRRR-LIN

The flight went smothly. We were on time, went through security just fine, had a smoth flight...and made it to Berlin. I still like taking the train alot more however, but 25 hour train ride or three hour flight? I will take the three hour flight. Coming from 25 plus weather to bitter 5 plus cold, was a bit of an adjustment for us. Still, me and stef are elated about the fall season. Christie is not so happy about the cold. We found our way to the hostel just fine....and wow was this a nice hostel.
Grand Hostel is what it is called, and for good reason. This place was NICE and for only 17 euros a night. I was almost sad that we were not staying our whole stay at this place. No bunk beds, all seperate beds. With Duvees and comfy new mattress'. The whole place looked brand new even though it was in an old building. They even apoligized for not having a lift. Child, please....we are used to not having a lift.

We headed out to find some food. Walking around with the leaves falling and the brisk nip on the nose, I was in love with Berlin. I love walking around this city....so beauitful. We found this one place and had a seat. Nice atmosphere and nice jazz music playing. A really cozy place. Then we took a look at the menu. 50% off all the prices. Holy Shit! This place was SOOOOO cheap. Pasta for 1.95, steak for 4.00, and chicken for 3.00. We might have gone a little crazy. We had two cups of tea, a mixed appy platter, escargo, a bowl of soup, and I had a chicken with salad and veggies and fries, and stef and chirstie had seafood salad. Guess how much that cost us. 13 euros each. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!! And it was GOOOOOODDD food. We plan to go back.

After we walked around for awhile, that was followed by a seista and a shower. We decided that we would go to a movie that night. A movie you say? Yes, a movie. We just wanted to chill out. Plus, its still cool to say that we went to a movie in Berlin. It was a late movie so we decided to get some dinner. We went to a Greek resturant. Not quite as cheap but still stupid cheap. We got the most amazing Greek salad and bread with tariziki ever. Amazing.

Then we walked to the movie theatre. This was the only english speaking theatre in Berlin, and within walking distance of the hostel. It was in the Sony centre in Potsdam area. This area is one of the most modren new areas in Berlin. It was incredible. Ive never seen anything so big, and colorful and unique in my life. We got some hot chocolate and sat in awe. The tickets werent bad and they give you assigned seating. Weird, eh? We got some popcorn....no butter (really sad face) but you can get sweet or salty. It was OK. The seat were incredibly comfy...Ive never sat in anything so plush before.
The movie was hilarious. It was mostly just nice to chill out, considering we were all pretty exhausted. Walking home, we past the a great many shops and buildings. Walking in the brisk air you really appericiate Berlin. I could see myself living here.

Surprise Surprise....52 Days in and We Still Make Mistakes

Today, we didnt get up very early or efficiently. Were getting to old for this. After a sufficient lunch we had alot of errands to run, and we were dreading it. We had to book our hostel for Amsterdam, write directions down for Prague and Berlin, print off our boarding passes for our flight and pack up our things. You make look at this list and think...well that would take 15 min. WRONG!

Nothing goes real easy, this is something we have come to accept and embrace. However, this one seemed ridiculous. 52 days in and we are still making silly mistakes. I go to write down the directions for our hostel in Berlin. We have a routine of how we like to plan out our travelling and I was just maintaining course. We were stoked because we were staying at a Wombats. The best chain of hostels we have stayed in thus far. We booked it at the beginning of October knowing it would fill up fast.
So, I go to look up the hostel and see an email saying from hostelbookers saying "Rate your stay at Wombats Berlin." Thats weird, we havent stayed there yet. I find the confirmation email and almost fall off my chair. "Your currently booked for two nights: Oct 5 and 6 at Wombats Berlin. Enjoy your stay!" O shit. Its October 19th. We needed Wombats for Oct 20 to the 25.

STEF!!!!!

What?!

LOOK!!!!

Noooo

Ya!

Thats about how it goes. Then Christie walks in the room and gives the "I dont know if I can handle this today look." We are still not sure as to how this happened, we think it might have been the dodgy wifi in Roma that screwed us over. But, 52 days in after an intial "Shit!" we sigh, all sit down at a computer and get to work. We will figure this out.

We did, Christie came up with the idea to call and pull the " So sorry, we didnt know...we have no where to stay!!" and it worked. Kinda. They fixed us in and only charged us 16.50 as a no show fee....we were expecting 90. However, we would have to find a place to stay for the 20th...Wombats can not accomdate till the 21st. While it was a bit tricky finding a decent hostel for three girls, on short notice, with the upcoming weekend....we found a good one. The rest of our errands went much smother and with ease.

After fiddling on the computer I remebered an early conversation between me and Stef.

Stef: " I love kebabs"

Karina: " Me too"

Stef: " I wonder if their good for you or bad for you"

Karina: " It cant be that bad, they are soo good"

Stef: " Still, I wonder."

For curiousity sake, I looked it up online. This is when the love affair with kebabs ended. Kebab meat has around 400 to 500 calories and is almost all fat. A kebab can be anywhere from 900 to 1200 calories. Kebab is like a lover who has been lieing to you the whole time. The relationship seems great, then it all comes crashing down when the truth comes out. Its then you are disgusted at yourself for not seeing through that lie. Needless to say, no more kebabs....we have switched to Falafels. (veggie and tofu)
That night we went to Puorto del Sol to go on the Mad Rid tour. For 18 euro, you get tapas, a bit of history and a flamingo show. You can also do the pub crawl after, but we decided to pass on that. There was only us girls and a couple from India on this thing as well as a tour guide. This was good, because none of us were really in the mood for talking. They took us to a tiny resturant and we sat and she explained the Tapa story. Of course, we already knew it from our walking tour.

They brought the tapas, cheese, olives, ham/cheese thing, meat, stuffed mushrooms. Which were all very good. Then we got to talking about where we all were from and such. Our tour guide was so sweet and kind. She is from Venezula, shes been all over the world, and recently did a 10 meditation in the far south of Spain. In this, you can not speak, look anyone in the eye, mediatate for 10 hours a day, only eat 3 small meals and be isolated from everyonne else. Can you imagine? Jail systems use solitary confinement as punishment. And shes paying to do it! She says its the most incredible experience of your life. You learn so much about yourself, you have time to clear your head, plan your future. Its amazing what the body can due when you push yourself to do it. I admire her, I do. But I could never do that.

After, we walked around and went to the square by the flamingo place. This square is famous for bullfighters. Many of the celebrity bullfighters stay at the hotel in the square, and people all comee here to drink after a match, to talk about the event. Then we went in. Now, orginally we thought it was going to be a show. You know, theatre seating and that kind of thing. Its this older style building with tables, dim lighting and a small wooden stage in the middle. All around are mosaics of flamingo dancers and colorful picutes of Spainish landscape. Its quite nice.

Our tour guide explained a bit of Flaminco to us. It is unknown exactly how it came to be what it is now, but they do know it is a couple things incorpated together. The music comes from the Moors (arabic), which you can tell by the singing. To the ear, you would think the singer is singing arabic. Then, the guitar and is played lightly and with many cords to a 12 beat rhytm. Thats from Jewish times. The dancing and costumes is from the Gypsys. All together, you get flamingo. Interesting right? Anyways, We got a seat and got ready to enjoy the show.

Two women come on the stage and a male. They are wearing a traditional gypsy clothing. Long skirt, scarfs, flower pattern, and hair back with a flower in it. The male, is in a long trousers with a velvet jacket and scarf. Then the singer and one guitar player. The singer starts, he is wailing into the mic, he pushes himself to continue the note without breathing. Already, he is putting his all into this song. A song about pain, love, and loss. The guitar player lightly runs his fingers up and down the guitar, playing a melody so sweet. Slowly, the dancers start clapping....slowly....entering into the music.
The first women stands up. She paces around the floor. You can see in her face, she is skeptical about this creature, about the music. As if she is on guard, she stride along the floor with her hands raised in defense. Then, as if she cannot fight it, she burst into a dance. Wailing her arms and stomping her feet. You can see the fear in her eyes. She does not want to give into the temptation of the song. With a final jerk, she composes herself. Breathes, and continues to stride along the floor. Shes weary, dreading the emotion that is waiting for her. The song plays on, speaking to her of her hardships in life. She puts on a brave face and makes her self bigger then she is. Hands in the air, grandous gestures, twirls and streached out poses. As always, you cannot escape the music. Again, she is thrown into a fit of ectasy. It is as if her body is filled with so much energy she can not get it all out. She stomps and jerks about the dance floor. Spinning and moving around. This time she can not fight the urge. She is fully engaged in the music. She loses herself in the melody, a grin comes across her face as she spins and hops around. The music is loud, her fellow dancers are clapping and cheering her one. Then as she is about to climax she throws her hands in the air, looks forward, then back and collaspes in the chair. She sits there, breathing heavily, with a look of exhaustion and pleasure on her face.

The Flaminco is a intimate dance. And every dancer seemed to be telling a different story through their movement and the music playing. It was incredible. The energy that flows through the room. It is like nothing I had ever seen before.

After, we went back to the hostel. Our flight to Berlin was at 745, but you have to be there two hours before your flight. So we had to get up at 400am to make sure we got there in time. Gross, I hate those kinds of early mornings. We get back to the hostel and there is already two girls asleep in the room. Then one girl is awak on the other side of the room with the light on. Shes on her cellphone. But there is a common room that she could be sitting in. Of course, we are to nice to say anything...so we just crawl into bed and try to sleep. Its hard to sleep when you have a light glaring in your eyes however. Finally, she gets up to go to the washroom and I turn off the light hoping when she gets back she will get the hint.

This girl, is just starting her backpacking. So she is new to the game. However, when there is people in the room sleeping......you would think it was common sense to be respectful and turn off the light. Nope, the girl comes in and turn the light on again and starts looking at her clothes. Seroiously? At 1 in the morning...you just going to look at a shirt and be like " Wow, I forgot about this shirt...this is a nice shirt....maybe ill wear it tomm...o but what would I wear it with" Im not kidding....she just staring at her shirt. Finally, Stef says to her " Listen, its one thiry in the morning...there are five girls trying to sleep, will you PLEASE shut off the light? Thanks" The girl looking stunned that someone would be upset at her for having the light on. Jsut kinda...looks at stef....then at the gground....awkwardly gets up...shuts the light off and leaves. How can you possibly be surprised by that. Anyways, we didnt get alot of sleep....people in and out of the room and such. But we got up in time and made it to the airport.

Manana Manana

Once we finally got to Madrid (3 hour train ride) and found our hostel we were quite tired. Travel days are draining. So we decided we would have a chill night and just hang out. We found a quite resturant down by our hostel that had pretty cheap food and a gorgous fountain for a view. That makes for a wonderful dinner.

After, I stumbled upon a sort of liquidation store and found some thread. Me and stef have been talking about doing hairwraps for weeks now....finally we can do it. At the hostel we made some tea and Stef got to work. Hairwraps are popular in Europe...very chic indie...and our hostel was full of the dreds , half buzzed, no shower, piercing city crowd. So it only seemed fitting to do it there. Thank the Lord Stef remebered how to do it. They took awhile...but turned out great!

This was a nice hostel. We met a few people, nothing compared to Barcelona...while they were all friendly...we didnt quite fit in. We had a good sleep that night...comfy beds....o yes...comfy beds.
The next day we attended our traditional free walking tour. I was personally excited to hear of the history of Madrid...the capital of Spain...where Spanish culture as we know it began. We ended up with a great tour guide. Funny, spunky, yet to the point. She even encorparated some audience participation. This tour did not disappoint.

Spain has a long history of various empires conquering the vast land. Beginning with the Romans...of course...most of Europe has roots to Roma. Though, Madrid has an interesting twist. At one point, the Moors (Muslims), Jewish, and the Christians all had stakes in Madrid. However, there was quite awhile they all lived together peacefully. Historains believe this is the only time where this has actually happened. There is a picture where...there is a Star of David, the walls the Moors built and a Catholic Chruch. There is no other picture like it....one that I made sure to get. Hence, Spain is an eceltic culture where reminense of all still exist.

The kings that ruled the country are a story in and of itself. For six generations the Hausbergs ruled all of Spain. It was during this period in time Spain was a huge empire, the super power of the world. While most were strong rulers, they had a downfall. They all married their cousins. Come the sixth Hausberg to rule Spain, he was mentally and physically retarded. The people could not understand why?! So to cure Carlos the third of his issues, they would take animal carcesses and animal blood and soak him in it. Everything from pigeons to pigs. It never worked, he was unable to concieve a child, hence there fell the Hausberg empire.

We also got to see the oldest resturant still in business in the world. Its been open for 400 some years or something and has never been closed a day in its life. Ernest Hemingway used to go there quite often. There is even a guiness book of world records to prove it.
The Spainish Civil war was also bought up. It was a bloodly, brutal war. One were to this day 30, 000 bodies remain unnamed. Tis a touchy subject in Spain. One not brought up lightly. The Tapa story on the other hand is quite interesting. Tapas are famous through out Spain, however the exact story of how it came to be is unknown. Some theories are that the farmers where poor and would come into town on their break to relax. However, they only had enough money for wine or food. They always chose wine. Hence they were weak and drunk and producitivity declined. The King passed a rule that whenever wine is sold, food must come with it. Another version is that the people would put salty ham on top of their glass of beer to keep the flies away. And would eat it in the process. Another is the King at the time had stomach problems, and was always told to eat when he drank. There are countless other versions.

There are many more stories and interesting facts. More then you would probably find interesting. So I will end the tour there. That night we went out to the infamous pub crawl. By this point we are pub crawl experts. And we love them. However, there is a term we learnt in Spain called Manana Manana. Thats means... Tommorow Tommorow. Basically, whenever Spanish feel like getting around to it...they will. The Pub crawl was about the same situation. Says it starts at 10.....nope, 1030. When are we going to the next pub, we have been here awhile? Ummmm I'll let you know. Just whatever they want. It drives me nuts. I dont like that.

We went to a couple of OK bars, but nothing that great. Thankfully, we met a great guy from Texas, and he was a hoot. The guy danced his butt off and cheered us on with a couple " You go girls". Really nice guy. Also met a guy would was from the states, just finished his army tour and came all the way to Madrid to find his birth mother. Gave up everything for this, he was so exciting and nervous. Very inspirational. When we got to the last club the pub crawl organizer ditched. There was no one at the club and we didnt know how to get home. We took a cab, but usually they make sure you know how to get back. Overall, we still managed to have a wonderful time and pay for it the next day. But, by far the worst organized pub crawl we had been to yet.

Rugby Love

The next morning we got up early to make sure we were on time for the Rugby game. David from Scotland and Erin from Canada decided to come with us. Thank goodness David came....we was able to explain the whole game to us. Around 10am it started, it was then with a coffee in hand the love affair started. It was New Zealand against Australia. Rival teams with alot of the line. Who ever wins this match goes to the finals.

Rugby is clearly a mans game. These guys are huge....their thighs alone were tree trunks. And how they would viciously pound their componant to the ground. Incredible. There was also alot more to it then I previously thought. There is much talent in being able to pass the ball backwards, and the games to play to score points. Best part? Unluck many sports I found it fast paced and exciting to watch. Its incredible the amount of blood and little padding they wear. The make American Football players look like children.

Sidenote: Europeans get a huge kick out of making fun of American Football. First, the go on about how girly they are with all their padding and fancy little game plays. Second, they can not get over the stupidity of naming a sport Football when there is only ONE point in the game where someones foot touches the ball. Thankfully, they dont make fun of Hockey. Just that Canadians play it....and not as many countries play hockey as they do football or rugby.

After the exictment of the match, us girls and Erin decided to go to the Aquarium. The aquarium was quite large with many different species of fish and other sea creature...like eels, sea horses and sting rays. There was also a clear tunnel you would walk though with sharks swimming above. We spent a couple of hours there, like children discovering a new world. Its just nice to get back to being a kid...realizing how small you really are.

After a nice day at the aquriam we thought it apporiate to get some tapas...and seafood. Is that weird? You spend the day at the aquarium and you crave seafood? We found a nice patio on the Port Olymipic. Our waiter was a hoot, really got a kick out of our pleases and thank yous and constantly saying we are sorry. Sidenote: Us Canadians say Sorry ALOT. You dont really notice it, till the locals start repeating it back to you with a mocking tone. Whatever, at least I care to be polite. As well, he also gave us two rounds of champagne.

Dinner was swell...having Erin there was a real treat. Here was a new person to tell our stories to and someone to tell us her tales as well. Shes an awesome girl and we throughly enjoyed her company. After dinner we went back to the hostel and decided to go to the beach. Scotland and Erin's classmate decided to come, so we all bundled up, grabbed some beers and headed to the beach. Spending the night on the beach was awesome. We sat, drank, shared stories, and watched the waves crash along the shore line. After we ended with our favorite traditional food...kebab. I can't think of a better way to spend your last night in Barcelona.

Football Match....No Real Football....Not the Silly American Kind

Today, Barcelona was catching up with us. Yes, yes, yes....it was self inflicted, but it does not mean we can not whine about it. When we did get around to moving....we went to the beach. To be honest, the weather was not excatly ideal, but it was our last day to do it before chilly Berlin. The waves at the beach were incredible. The surfers were out and it was worth the chill to watch them. We did happen to meet a guy from Arizona. Really nice guy that had just finished travelling Greece. He told us about being stuck in the airport for hours because all transport was on strike. As well, he warned us about the riots and advised us not to go there till things calm down. Sounds like things are getting worse. However, it was his first day in Barcelona...and he told us he was already spending to much money. You know why? Remeber that scam with the ball and the box I told you about? He did that. Canada 3, America 0.

It was a long chilly walk home from the beach. We had heard about the football match that was taking place in Barcelona. As you can imagine football (soccer as we call it in North America) is incrediably popular around here. We thought about buying tickets to see it live, but we were really quite drained. Instead we headed to a local pub to watch the game and get a bite to eat. The match was pretty exciting. Probably would have been cooler to see it in person...o well.

We happened to be sitting with two older gentleman from Ireland. They explained the game to us, and that Messi the lead for Barcelona was the best in the world. They also tried to recruit us to Ireland. Really, they should be the spokesmen for it....makes you reconsider Brighton, o except for the fact we wouldnt be able to find work. 14.5% unemployment is pretty high. They were also kind enough to tell us about the Rugby World Cup semi finals, which would be at the same pub the next morning. We agreed to go.

That is SO Gaudi

The day before we had purchased a two day pass for the bus tour. They had two routes that were 2 hours each. Today we took the other route. To be honest, it was less interesting then the first....and mostly just talked about the same things. Or maybe it wasnt....art is hard for us to follow. However, I had a thought. You know when you say...." Wow that decor is really gaudy." or " That dress is so gaudy." Thats excatly what that guys name is, Gaudi. His artwork that he is famous for, it very flamboyant and colorful. Could it be that saying was derived from this guy? Well, if anyone really knows the answer...let me know.

We hopped on and off on this tour. The one stop I did find fascinating was the Gothic old town. This small district is all the is left from the ancient Roman city Balcola(or something close to that). In the middle is a huge gothic catherdral and in the background a towering medievil wall. Walking through the are, you see the statue do not stand upright on the walls of the church. They are all horizontal and look down on you as you walk by. You look straight up and you are staring into the eyes of a nobleman, saint, or king. Its quite terrifying.

After a long day on the bus and a seista that followed we were ready for another night out. You all back home are thinking this may be getting excessive....but as the tale goes. When in Rome....We were going to this nightclub on the beach called Opium. Huge place that overlooks the beach. We were pretty excited. However, you cant go out till 130 am ....so we had some drinks at the hostel.

The american triad of stupidity luckly was not there. It was Erin the other Canadian girl, and another guy from the states that was also studying in Amsterdam. And Kelan. O Kelan, just precious. This guy was as dumb as it gets, where everything that comes out of his mouth just comes out wrong. Protraying himself as an idiot. For example, us girls were talking about Canadian winters and having to plug our cars in at night so they start in the morning. Kelan asks, " Do you guys not have heaters in Canada?" He was dead serious. By the way, He is a Nurse. Again, American healthcare at its finest. Canada 2, America 0. However, Kelan was a really nice guy and still alot of fun to hang out with.
As well there was Scotland. A doctor named David, who was tall and shy at first...but once you got him talking a really interesting guy. He was getting a kick out of the all the presciprtions we kept naming off, of medication we have had or have taken. He says in Scotland they hardly hand out presciptions...only is absolutly nessacary. Are the America's overdrugged?

Anyways, we all eventually headed out for a wonderful evening. Ended, with me and the girls sitting on the beach listening to the waves. The beach is incredible at night, mystical powers to it.

Once we got back, everyone who was staying in our room was sleeping. Sidenote: Christie has joined Stefanie with the snoring. However, put them together and they actually make a beautiful sympony of heavy breathing. Anyways, we get into the room and the loudest, bellowing, almost belting snore I had ever heard made itself known. Scotland was going crazy with the snoring. I didnt know anyone could snore so loud. Me and the girls just looked at each other dumbfounded. Was this for real?! All of a sudden, the one american girl says....we have been trying to sleep for 45 min to no avail. Then it turns out everyone in the room was awake. Then all at once we all burst out into laughter. It was such a ridiculous situation....but so funny at the same time. Here we were with 6 other people in fits of laughter over the snoring. Just then he stopped, the one girl says..."Quick, go to sleep before he starts again." But he started again, we shared some more jokes and laughter and eventually passed out.

Day on the Town

       Barcelona, is more spread out then other cities we have been to. So, what better way to see the sights then a bus tour. Same sort of deal as Rome. Today, we hopped on, put in the ear phones and headed on out. Barcelona is incredibly proud of their Modernism buildings. Here, you would have a gothic catherdral...but at the very tips of their towers were bright, vibrant, cermaic images and moldings. Thats modernism art I guess. It was pretty cool to see, definatly different then any other city we had been too. The only problem is....that was all the tour would talk about. The Buildings and a guy named Gaudi. He was the modernist of the time and made most of the famous sights. He died in a tram accident, that was about all the history we learnt about. However, the tour went up the mountain and provided us with a breathtaking view of Barcelona. As well, we were able to see there the 1992 Olymipics were held. It was a nice bus ride indeed.

       After a worthwhile seista at the hostel we got ready for the pub crawl. Side note: Seista are the greatest invention by the Spanish. During 2:00pm to 4pm, alot of stores and resturants close. It is during this time that everyone takes a nap, then you are rejuvinated for the day. The pub crawl was to start at 10pm at this pub in an odd square. Suprisingly we found the place. There we met two girls and a guy on business from the states. Nice people with entertaining stories to tell. They told us about this tapas, flamingo deal in Madrid, and a couple other tips. Again, it was a fun filled night.