Archive for the 'Spain Journal' Category
mario June 23rd, 2000
Viernes, el 23 de junio, 2000
I would say today was pretty fun. The group got to split up and explore San Sebastian.
I went off with the girls again, as Darien is just getting worse by the minute. Unfortunately, the girls went in just about every clothing store they saw, and San Sebastian has a lot of stores. Eventually we reached the aquarium, which, although interesting, wasn’t worth the walk (or the 1.100 pesetas we paid). The girls decided to go swimming; they enjoyed it until they realized they didn’t bring towels, and had to walk back to the hotel in their swimsuits (I can’t say I minded).
mario June 22nd, 2000
Jueves, el 22 de junio, 2000
The bus ride to Pamplona took more than 5 hours! I only slept for 3, so I spent about 2 hours playing Pokémon, until the batteries ran out. Pamplona was fun, but short. Our guide from NETC, Lisa Escobar, showed us where the bulls run during San Fermin on July 7th, and La Cafe Iruña, a restaurant Hemingway frequented. But after that, there wasn’t anything else to do. I walked around with Katya and some of the other girls, and we went in some stores and had some lunch, but we mostly just wandered aimlessly.
Luckily, the trip to San Sebastian was much quicker, 1 or 2 hours. Our hotel is on top of a huge hill overlooking the city. After looking around the hotel grounds a bit, I found a carnival-type thingy, but it wasn’t open. Maybe tomorrow…
Darien is really getting on my nerves. I don’t know what it is about him, but under normal circumstances I never would’ve even talked to him.
 
mario June 21st, 2000
Miercoles, el 21 de junio, 2000
Another fun day in Barcelona. Today we had a guided tour, which was pretty neat, except for the fat that our tour guide was an annoying old lady. She didn’t give us enough time to take a good look at anything, and she looked like a fool carrying around that stupid red umbrella, though it kept us from losing her. Thankfully, her tour was short: we took a quick look at the Olympic stadium, walked through another cathedral, then back to La Rambla. I had some yummy KFC for lunch, walked around for an hour, then went back to the hotel; there’s only so much you can do in La Rambla! After dinner, I went to bed early, so I could wake up early for the upcoming bus trip.
 
mario June 20th, 2000
Martes, el 20 de junio, 2000
Today I had to get up inhumanely early so we could get to the aeropuerto a tiempo. Although I was saddened to leave Mallorca, I looked forward to new experiences on the Spanish mainland. After a 1-hour flight, we were there.
Barcelona was pretty fun. I spent most of the time wandering around. Darien and I walked down La Rambla, a long street with tons of stores and even more people. We also toured some of the back streets, where I found some great gifts for my family. But after awhile, I got really tired (I’m still trying to adjust to the 9-hour time difference), so I went back to our Hotel Cristal and rested up a bit. A few hours later, we all met up for dinner: pork chops and fries. Another American dinner for us…
 
mario June 19th, 2000
Lunes, el 19 de junio, 2000
¡Hola a todo!
I didn’t write yesterday, as we did very little (unless you count the two pasta dinners during the flights). But today I had fun. After a light breakfast of Corn Flakes, we took a bus tour of the quaint city of Palma de Mallorca, followed by a walking tour of one of the cathedrals. It was called “Parc de la Mar”, and the architecture & artwork was incredible. I would’ve taken tons of pictures, but my camera takes all its pictures with flash, which was not allowed inside; it would speed the deterioration of the colored tapestries hung inside.
But the real excitement came when we were allowed to wander the city, with a buddy, of course. So I walked through the tight alleyways with newfound friend Darien Hirotsu. We visited various little gift shops, although I couldn’t yet find anything worth purchasing. Before i came, I was afraid that my smattering of Spanish would be useless, but the locals are very understanding, and I got by. Particularly interesting were two things: Spanish McDonald’s and the beach. However, only the latter proved to be downright strange. After 2 hours of browsing, I was ready to take a quick dip in the Mediterranean waters. Once I got to the playa, I found the women to be… lacking in the clothing department. It was an unusual sight, seeing so many topless women in public. Very unusual…
For dinner, we all had chicken and french fries, which just so happened to be the dinner last night. Most everyone in my group thinks it’s time for real Spanish dishes!
  
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