All roads lead to rome

Rome.... the great ancient metropolis that has been the centre of the world for millenia! And here I am roaming the streets of modern day Rome (excuse the pun!). Rome seems to have more catchphrases than other citys.... "When in Rome... do as the Romans do", "All roads lead to Rome" and "Rome wasn't built in a day"... just to quote a few!

Anyways... what have I been up to recently? Well.... I really was lucky that even though I had a shitty experience with the theft and all, at least I met some amazing people in Florence... 2 girls in particular who really made my Florentine experience one that I shall not forget. I originally met these two chiks (Rachel and Sheila) at the Chabad dinner and we decided to go visit Pisa together....

The three of us jumped on a local train to Pisa. The city itself has nothing really to offer except of course for the world famous leaning tower. Imagine if that tower had never decided to lean over... noone would have heard of Pisa!! You have to walk about 15 minutes from the train station but it is definately worth it. The leaning tower is the bell tower of a beautiful and grand basillica plonked in middle of the so called "field of miracles". The cathedral is quite typical of tuscan architecture with an elaborate stucco facade. The tower is much smaller than I originally imagined! We decided that we must take the typical cliche photos of us holding up the tower.... It took us a good ten minutes to figure out the perfect shot!!! After that we lay on the grass in front of the church and chilled!

That evening I was invited to have dinner with the girls. After dinner they took me on a night tour around Florence which included a stop at the lucky pig (a bronze statue of a hog, which apparently brings good luck if you stick a coin in its mouth lol), another trip up to the Michelangelo lookout (which by the way is just as stunning at night) and finally a pitstop at the "secret bakery" (a bakery that opens late at night, only known to locals and students). On the way back home (this was like 3 in the morning!) we stopped outside the ornate Santa Croce cathedral - another fine example of Florentine architecture. I think by the time we actually went to sleep the sun was coming up!!!

The next morning, after not much sleep, I boarded a train to Rome. It was quite funny seeing all the "I heart Roma" tee shirts inside the train station (for those who don't know, I have a friend called Roma). My host is Rome is Gaia, who I became friends with in Wellington when she was or an exchange for her PhD. As I had some time to kill at the station, I headed down to the Colosseum - probably Rome's most well known icon. It is quite impressive, although for some reason it does not look as old as it actually is....

Gaia picked me up and I was greeted by her lovely family who served me delicious Roman-Jewish cuisine consisting of Artichoke and pasta!

The next day I had to sort out my Israeli passport issue... so off to the embassy. After trying to convince the security of my case, they finally let me in - however I could not take anything with me except documents. I entered into a security room where I had to go through a thorough check which included some Israeli security dude rubbing my entire body to check that I was not carrying anything dodgy! Jeez they are paranoid!!! I finally was allowed to go inside and after completing a couple of forms, I could receive a new temporary passport.

Walking back from the embassy I strolled through a huge park in the north of Rome, known as Villa Borghese. It is a great place to get away from the noise and chaos of the city - although the southwest end of the park is packed full of tourists riding bikes and segways and of course bangladeshi men trying to sell you junk that you dont really need! The park edges onto Piazza del Popolo, which from the top of the hill gives you a nice panoramic view of the city. You can see domes of churches popping up all over the place!

I continued to walk south through the Colonna district which is where you will find lots of high fashion stores, and high class shopping .... but more importantly here is where you will find some of Rome's most famous sites. First stop was the Spanish steps. This was hyped up way too much! They are just steps, nice steps.... but steps all the same! Below the steps is a funky sinking boat fountain and the steps themselves are packed full of tourists!

I continued right down to Piazza Venezia. This is an impressive site. The site houses a realitively modern monument that was built in honour of the first King of unified Italy. It is a really impressive monument, in gleaming white and housing an impressive array of bronze statues. You can walk up to the terrace of the monument for an impressive view over the city. (For a more impressive view you can pay to go to the very top - flag!)

In the afternoon I went to visit the area known as the Roman Forum and Palantine hill. Situated between the Colosseum and Piazza Venezia is a huge area which once was the epicentre of ancient Roman life. Today it lays in ruins, however the excavations have uncovered some fascinating temples, cardos (ancient markets), roman streets, arhces, pillars and even an almost complete sport stadium. I spent almost 3 hours walking through the ruins! Some of the site is extremelly important in terms of understanding Roman history including the house of Augustus, the great Roman emporer. For me the most interesting site, was that of the Arch of Titus. The arch has a clear depiction of the victory in Judea over the ancient Jews. It shows the soldiers returning from war carrying the spoils.... including the Menorah!

The next day I went back into the city to check out the Pantheon. This complex is over 2000 years old and once was a Roman temple to the gods. It was later converted into a cathedral and has had continious work done over the centuries. The famous renaisance artist Raphael was responsible for designing the dome, which is one of the most complex freestanding domes ever constructed! Inside is stunning, especially when you raise your head toward the dome! Interestingly there is a hole in the middle.... not sure what happens when it rains!!! Also inside is the grave of Raphael, who was given the priviledge of being buried here due to his contribution to the art world.

Just a few blocks away from the Pantheon is a large square called Piazza Navona. Circled by restaurants and cafes, the square hosts many street artists. Down from Navona is the Campo de Fiori which by day is a food market, and by night is an open air pub! It used to be the place where public executions were held!

Eastward is the famous Trevi fountain. One of the most stunning water works I have ever seen, it stands tall against a building in a tiny square. In front is a small crystal clear pool, where there is a traddition to throw money over your shoulder into the pool to ensure your return to Rome. The place was packed with tourists!!! And so many people throwing their money away.... apparently an average day racks up 3000 euros!!! I heard that this money is collected and then given to charity.

I returned to the Colosseum - this time to go inside. Following the circular path I climbed up through the galleries. It is quite interesting to see how the eliptical monunment was constructed, as the foundations are quite clear inside. You can also see what was constructed underneath the original stage - a series of rooms to hold the gladiators and animals. The colosseum has a series of information placcards and small museum displays to explain the story and put everything into context.

From the Colosseum I wandered down to the Great Synagogue of Rome. There is a Jewish museum but unfortunately I got there just as it closed. The shule stands tall and proud, and looks very similar to the many churches scattered throughout Rome due to its prominent dome.... however the lack of a cross gives it away. Next to the synagogue is the Tiber river, Romes equivalent of the London Thames, or Paris Seine. There is a small island in the middle of the river called Isola Tiberina, which contains a couple of churches, gelato shops and a small synagogue.

I had some time to kill that evening so I went for a casual stroll. The thing about Rome, is that everywhere you walk you will bump into some ancient ruin or grand cathedral. And that is exactly what happened.... just up from the shule are some old ancient ruins including the Portico D'Ottavia and a little further up are some ancient temples. These temples are interesting because today they are populated by stray cats! Across the road is a cat sanctuary and the strays get fed every day outside the temples.

At 8pm I walked down to the Trastevere district, one of the nightlife centres of Rome, for some drinks with the local couch surfing contingent. Gaia, and one of her friends from Milan joined us - and although drinks were expensive - good times were had by all!!!

I do have more to write because I am too tired and I have to get up early tomorrow to get to the Vatican I must leave my blog update here.... to be continued......

Trust noone

Buongiorno!

Well I must say that Italy so far has been an emotional roller coaster!!

Lets get the bad shit out the way first.....

So the long of the short of it is that some dude in my hostel stole 2 of my 3 passports, 200 odd euro, my ipod, my camera and my cellphone!! Life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The guy that took my stuff played me like a fiddle... fed me bullshit stories about his job, his life and even his name. He was a nice outgoing guy who bought me drinks and even trusted me with his own wallet!! He seemed like a trustworthy good honest type! How wrong I was!!! I stupidly left my things in the dorm hidden in my bag for 1 hour. Stupid!!! Came back to find everything gone..... Curiously though he left my credit cards and one passport.... how kind of him!!!

He originally told me that he would be staying in Florence for a while and that he would come to Pisa with me on Monday. He dissapeared last night .... never to be seen again. I talked to the hostel staff in the morning and we looked at a copy of a document that they had for this man's booking. Turns out his name is Paul, not Ari and he is from Canada, not California!! I now know beleive that he was scamming me the whole time.... What a douch!

I have learnt 2 lessons from this experience. 1 - is trust noone! (except your friends and family of course) and 2 - material things mean nothing!

Anyways such is life.... I now have a new phone number (+39 327 068 2020) but no camera to take photos :( Oh well it is more about the experiences right??!!! The blog shall continue as my record of this amazing trip!!!

Dont worry about me guys! Honestly, I am/was pretty upset, but I am ok! Life goes on....

Ok and now for the good......

Venice! The city of Gondolas, canals, glass, crazy loud italian men and great food! (As I had written my travel notes on my Ipod until now, I will attempt to share my experiences from memory). I arrived in Venice in the evening and it was bucketing down! The lonely planet had let me know that finding cheap accomodation in Venice is difficult so I headed to the only hostel listed. I arrived, totally soaked, only to find out that there was no vacancy! Luckily the receptionist was kind enough to ring around and find me a place! She sent me off to a one star hotel situated in a conviently central location!

The rain stopped the next morning, thank G-d!, and I headed out to explore the city. Venice consits of a collection of islands, canals, bridges and alleyways. With the exception of one island and a small block of venice proper, there are no cars to be seen... just ferries, boats and gondolas. The public transport system is great and consists of a series of ferries that go around the islands stopping at floating bus stops. There are also taxi boats and gondolas, if you have the money! I bought myself a 3 day pass and after 4 boat rides it had paid for itself!

My first location to visit was the awe-inspiring San Marco square. I took the number 1 boat-bus down the Grand Canal. This trip is a must as it gives you a great view of Venice as you zig zag yourself down the main boat "highway". San Marco square is home to the San Marco Basillica, a truly amazing Catherdral with beautiful domes and golden paint work. Across the square sits a huge bell tower made from red brick. I took the lift to the top and was blown away by the gorgeous view! The 360 degree view reveals canals and marvellous grand churches (which there are many!!) scattered throughout. Also in the square is the Doge's palace (home to the historic governors of Venice), a funky clock tower and millions of tourists.

I decided that it was important to explore the city by foot as well as by boat and so I invested in a walking guide (only 4 euro and also works as a discount card) and followed the itineraries suggested for the San Marco district, the Castello district and the Ghetto. The winding streets, alleyways and squares reveal a thriving city packed full of restaurants, designer stores, tourist traps and boutiques. There are so many churches to see in Venice that after going to 5 I decided I had had enough!

I really wanted to do a Gondola ride but at 80 euros an hour, it was not going to happen! Luckily you can have a 30 second experience, by crossing the Grand Canal for 50 cents! Tick this one off the list!

The next day I decided to go check out the Ghetto. This is the Jewish area of Venice. It has a fascinating history and in fact was where the word ghetto came from! Originally there was a metal foundry in this location which is old Venitian is pronounced Jetto. When the Jews came in the 15th century their Ashkenazic pronunciation changed the word to ghetto, as we know today. Jews that lived in Venice had to live in the ghetto, and were only allowed to leave by day. They were also only allowed to have certain professions such as money lending. Entering the Ghetto you notice the tall buildings, as real estate was limited so the Jews had to build upward. The spainsh jews arrived later after they were kicked out from Spain and brought great wealth and connections to Venice. Because of this the Sephardi Jews were allowed special priveliges, such as building outside the ghetto and building freestanding synagogues (as opposed to synagogues hidden inside buildings like the Ashkenzim had to do).

I went to the Jewish museum and did the Shule tour. This was worthwhile, as we could visit 3 of the original shules generally closed to the public. We were shown both Sephardi and Ashkenaz, both very much influenced by the Venitian artistic styles. You can spot the syngagoues from the outside only by small domes and large windows in sets of five, to symbolise the 5 books of moses. Today there are only 100 or so Jews that live in the Venice. However there is a kosher restaurant, Chabad house and Yeshiva, 1 active synagogue and a few jewish shops selling touristy venitian style menorahs etc.

Ooo that reminds me.... Every where you go in Venice you see Venitian masks by the truck load!!! I really wanted to buy one but to schlep it around would be a hassle!

I grabbed lunch at the kosher restaurant, called Gam Gam. I ordered a delicious pasta dish with a creamy green sauce! Yum!

After lunch I went to explore the Rialto region which is famous for its impressive bridge (one of 4 that cross the grand canal, but by far the most impressive), and the extravagant markets. One part of the market sells all sorts of touristy junk from I heart Venezia t-shirts, to Venitian masks that are way over priced. It is still however fun to wonder through and experience the atmosphere. On the other side are the fruit and veges markets (and on certain days fish markets) where you can buy food that is also overpriced! See the theme here? Venice is expensive!!!!

The next day I took a trip on the public boat-bus to the Island of Lido. A long thin island, which boasts Venice's best beaches. It was weird to get off the boat and be contronted by buses and cars! I walked down to the beach just to have a quick look. Nothing much to see except for some Pakistani dude trying to sell scarves to keep out the cold!

I wanted to check out some Venetian art, and the best place for this is the Academia gallery. The gallery was quite impressive with some quite ancient works, mostly from the insides of churches.

On my last day it was raining again!!! Yay for me! Actually it was bucketing down! I can not actually complain because all in all I have had maybe 3 days of rain on my whole trip! I wanted to go out to Murano island as it is the home of Venetian glass so I grabbed my jacket and off I went. The boat ride was a bit rough - lucky I dont get sea sick! I tried to explore the island but the rain was too bad so I had a quick look in the windows of some of the funky glass shops and then I popped into the glass museum. The museum houses a collection of glass from Venice over the last 500ish years, showing the progression in glass making techniques and styles. Some very interesting and strange pieces were on display.

That evening I met up with some couch surfers (including a kiwi dude!). One guy was from Venice and he showed us around some interesting places that I had not discovered which was nice! On returning to my hotel I was amazed at how high the water level had risen! It had even started to flood the entrance to my hotel!!! I was told Venice is sinking, but did not expect to see whole roads dissapear under water!!

Not sure when I did this, but I also visited the grand Salute church that sits at the entrance of the Grand Canal. It is truly impressive from outside, but the inside is suprisingly dull!

Goodbye Venice.............. Hello Florence!!!!

I managed to find a cheap hostel quite quickly in Florence. I dumped my stuff and then headed off to the first must-see: The Duomo - this basillica suddenly appears as you turn the corner of any of the downtown main streets. Unlike many other large catherdrals, it is located in the heart of downtown and surrounded by apartment and shopping buildings. The decoration of the church is dramatic, with its amazing white facade and impressive red brick domes. I must say that the Duomo is the most impressive church i have seen on my travels! Inside is just as impressive with high ceilings as well as walls plastered in amazing artwork and stained glass. Outside the church is a large bell tower, also ornate in design. There is no lift to get to the top so I decided to pass!!

There are 2 must see galleries in Florence. The first is the Academia gallery which although small houses the famous David, carved by Michelangelo as well as other interesting Italian renaissance works. Next stop is the Uffizi gallery. This gallery is huge and extremely popular with tourists. My advice is to buy your ticket online, because I waited for 1.5 hours standing in line to get in!!!! It was definetly worth it - the gallery contains many of the greatest works by the Renaissance legends including DaVinci, Michelangello, Botticelli, Donatello and Raphael. The one painting that stood out in my mind (maybe because I have seen it before and I dont know much about renaissance art) was the birth of Venus by Botticelli.

Florence is a small city so very easy to walk around. I think I have walked just about the entire city! The first thing you notice, beside the amazing architecture, is the amount of American students! Tuscany houses many international schools, where students (mostly from the US) come to study Italian and art history. It is kind of cool because it feels like a student city and there are lots of student deals to be found throughout. I walked down to the Piazza della Signoria, a square that contains the Palazzo Vecchio and an interesting display of statues. One in particular stands out - a carbon copy of David. The David statue used to stand here, so a copy was placed for those who can't afford to go see the real thing (don't think that is the real reason lol).

Continuing through the winding streets you come down to the river and the Ponte Vecchio bridge. From a distance it looks like a whole bunch of funky small apartments were build on the edge of a bridge. When I walked across I discovered that the the apartments were actually all jewellery shops. Originally there used to be butchers along the bridge, but the mayor of the city wanted something more classy so he kicked them out and replaced them with goldsmiths which over time evolved into jewellery shops.

Thursday night was St Patricks day. I went out to a local Irish pub, and enjoyed a few green beers! I met lots of students from all over the world! Good times!!!

Shabbat: I went to the local Synagogue for services. I was truly suprised at how amazing and huge his old shule is! In true florence style it has huge beautiful domes and amazing paintwork inside and out! The service was done in the traditional italian way and the voice of the chazzan echoed throughout the huge interior. The shule is weird because there is a pipe organ at the front - kind of felt like a church a little bit! After the service I went to the local Chabad for dinner. The Chabad rabbi is an older man and he was orginally sent out by the Rebbe to look after the Jewish students. Apparently there are 500 Jewish students in Tuscany every summester. The dinner was nice and the guests were a mixture of Israelis, American families and students. There was so much good food - I couldnt even finish my chicken!!!

I went to the morning service on Saturday and was back at Chabad for lunch. I was chatting to the Rabbis youngest son (he is one of ten kids!!) and he took me on a walking tour around the city and up to piazzale Michelangelo - a lookout spot up a small hill. The view from the top is like a perfect postcard panoroma. The grand churches of the city pop out across the skyline in all their glory. Even the great synagogue dominates the eastern part of the cityscape.

I went back in the evening for Purim. The service was kind of boring as there were no young people and no organised party!! But at least I can say I made the mitzvah of hearing the Megillah!

I planned on going out on Purim day to Bologna, where a large student Purim party was to be held but due to my misfortune with my stuff being taken I had to unfortunately cancel that plan! Oh well.. you win some, you lose some!! So instead of stressing myself even more I just had a chilled day including visiting the Strozzi gallery which houses an impressive collection of Picasso, Dali and Miro works. It is a unique gallery because it is disaplayed anti-chronologically and you truly get a feel for how the artists influenced eachother.

Tomorrow I will pop over to Pisa to see the famous tower and on Tuesday I am off to Rome.

I hope everyone is well!

Ciao

Pretending to be rich on the French Riviera

Wow it seems like forever-ago that I was in France!

By the way I have put up a few more photos for you all to enjoy. You can see the album here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=295746&l=e3bbe7d0a9&id=505828375

On the train from Spain to Marseille I had to make 2 changes, including passing through Figures the village where Dali spent most of his life. Unfortunately I could not stop and the train continued along the coast passing small villages and huge flocks of pink flamingos.

Leaving the station in Marseille I was quite suprised to see how many North Africans there were. The suburb of Belsunce sits right below the station and here you can find Moroccans, Algerians and plenty of Kebab stores!

I checked into a cheap hotel for one night and wondered down to check out the old port. This area is the heart of the city and the port is filled with hundreds of yachts. Bars and restaurants line the ports edges while and old fortress guards the entrance. Perched up on top of the highest point of the city is the Notre Dame de la Garde cathedral which dominates the skyline.

The next morning I took a bus up the hill to see the cathedral. Inside the cathedral is an unsual site - hundreds of paintings line the walls including impressions of ships and plane crashes! The view from the top is amazing. You can see the whole of Marseille as it stretches into the hills. You can also see out into the ocean. There are 3 main islands, not far from the mainland including the Ile D'If, made famous by the story "The Count of Monte Cristo". The prison from the story still stands and apparently if you visit it you can see the tunnel that was dug all those years ago!

Returning from the cathedral I decided to walk from the old port to the Prado beaches. It took me about 1.5 hours but it was certainly worth it. The coast line is gorgeous with little bays and lagoons. I made a quick stop at the Pharo palace, a Napoleanic mansion with a great view toward to the old and new ports. The Prado beaches hug the coast for a few kilometres and consist of both sandy and stone beaches. Being winter there were not so many people out but I could imagine that this area would be packed in the summer!

For the last couple of days in Marseille I managed to find a couch surfing host. His name was Thibaud and he really showed me a great time! He came and met me and we cycled back to his place together. It has been a while since I have cycled and boy am I unfit!! Did not help that I had my backpack on me too!

That evening we went to town for a couple of drinks and I was lucky enough to get a ride on Thibaud's motorbike! We zoomed down the main streets... Good times!

The next day I wanted to go and visit Ile D'If but unfortunately it was too windy and the boats could not stop there. So instead I went to the Frioul Islands. As you walk along the island you can see plenty of rugged coasts and interesting plant life, but to be honest this was not so impressive compared to New Zealand. The islands also host some ancient ruins and fortresses.

It turns out that Thibaud's neighbour was Israeli and so we popped in to say hello. We ending up listening to 70s and 80s punk rock and drinking beers! The Israeli dude also recommended a good kosher Shwarma place downtown so off we went!

We cycled into the city and found the kosher place and damn was it a good feed! After we were both full we popped down to a local shisha bar to watch the big game... Arsenal versus Barcelona.

Next stop ... Nice

Nice is a cute little beach town and is the heart of the French Riveira. Also to my suprise, Nice houses a sizable Jewish populatin of 25000 and has a few kosher restaurants. On the first day I went out and explored the city. The main street down town stretches from the train station right down to a large square just before the beach promenade. The square was all kitted out for Carnival, which had just finished the day before, including large floats, grandstands and screens.

If you face the sea and turn left you come to the old city of Nice which is a series of thin alleyways, markets and restaurants. The markets are a delight to all the senses, especially the nose with strong smelling cheeses, freshly baked baguette, nutella crepes and all sorts of meats... Beyond the old city lies the port, very similar to Marseille's old port.

The next day Joel arrived from Sweden and we decided to go chill with the billionaires in Monaco! We took a train and headed straight for the Monte Carlo casino. As we are actually quite poor we decided against going inside (they charge you just to enter!) - instead we sat right outside and drank Monaco beer (at 6 euro a bottle ouch!). I have never seen so many expensive cars in once place... Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Bentley.... Rich people everywhere! We then walked to the port and were blown away by the size of the boats! Private yachts as big as a football field! From here we wondered down to the beaches to enjoy another expensive beer! Monaco may be the place where Europe's rich and famous come out to relax but to be honest I was not so impressed. The city itself is not that stunning and the beaches are pretty average.... I guess its the tax free living that is the main draw!

After returning from Monaco we headed down to the main square where the final celebrations of Carnival were happening (turns out they were delayed because of the weather). There was some strange performance by some local kids but the main event was out on the ocean. We rushed down to the beach to try and find a place to watch the show... everyone else in Nice had the same idea! The final act of Carnival is to burn the King. Floating out on the ocean was a giant dude perched on top of a barge. He was then set alight and this was followed by an impressive 30 minute firework display... one of the best I have seen!

The next morning we headed to the Nice museum of contemporary art. I was hoping to find Andy Warhol's famous Campbells soup cans, as I had read in the lonely planet that this is where it is kept. Well... it was not there (although there was another work of Warhols on display) ... instead we saw all sorts of funky, weird "art" from strange blue men to crazy installations. I really do not understand most modern art, I must admit!

Finishing up at the museum we decided to climb up a small hill near the beach. On top lay the ruins of some old fortress, but it is the view over the city that makes the climb worth it. Interestingly the Jewish cemetery is also found up the hill.

That evening was Shabbos, so Joel and I rocked up to the local Chabad. After Kabbalat Shabbat we were sent off with a family for a delicious meal. It was really interesting chatting with a local family and boy was the chicken good! For shabbos lunch we were also sent off to a family, this time a younger Israeli chabadnik and his French wife. Thank you Chabad for the nice Shabbat experience!

Saturday night - time to party! We me up with some Couch Surfers who were studying in Nice and also a German dude from our dorm. In the pub we met all sorts of strange characters including some dodgy Canadian who kept hitting on the girls, some Aussie dude who was out drinking while his wife was sleeping and some very drunk british guy straight out of lock stock! Good times!

Well now I am in Italy... Been to Venice and now in Florence... You will have to wait until my next update to hear all about it! ;)

Ciao!

Carnaval!

Bonjour!

Yep I am back in France :) Before I tell you about my French adventures I better recap the last couple of weeks....

Granada was my next stop in the south of Spain. I had found a couch surfer to host me but had no idea that his english was not so good until I called him to arrange to get to his house. It did not help that the train station had no spare maps or any information in English! It took me some time, but eventually I made it! Oscar, my host was a really good guy and really made sure that I was comfortable.

The city of Granada is a beautiful city nestled in the hills under the great Siera Nevada mountain range. On the first day I decided to explore the old city. Situated just below the famous Alhambra fortress is a spread of white houses and apartments and lots of boutique restaurants and cafes mostly serving north african and arab dishes. There is still a strong connection in Granada with Islam, as it never really was extinguished here unlike in other parts of Spain during the inquisition.

Walking back down to the new part of the city I encountered a huge protest. I am not sure what they were shouting about, but I think it was something about freedom of expression.... bloody hippies!

The next morning I went up to the Alhambra. The complex is massive and contains a collection of mosques, palaces, churches, bath houses and gorgeous gardens. The Alhambra looks out over the entire city and was built there for strategic purposes. The Nazarite Palace is the highlight of the complex, with amazing stucco plaster work, fountains and tradittional muslim design blended with christian symbolism.

I didn't get a chance to see the whole complex because Oscar came and picked me up as he was taking his kids to the ski resort on the Siera Nevada. Hmmm a chance to go snow boarding in Spain... I was not going to turn that down! The Siera Nevada ski resort is huge with many chair lifts, gondala cable cars and amazing ski runs! At the base of the resort is a mini city with cafes, bars, ski hire and even a supermarket. After hiring my equipment, I went straight to the top and had a few greats runs... as well as a few bails! Good times!

That evening I was quite exhausted, as you can imagine, so I decided to meet up with a few couchsurfers in the area for a quiet drink (or two)! I ended up meeting four American girls who were studying in Granada and we went to a quirky Tapas bar in the new city. In Granada the tapas are free with ever drink and you can usually choose what you want. I had a great night (even though I had to walk home because the buses had stopped) and I even got to do a quick Haka to show the girls lol!

Next stop - Barcelona! Everytime I hear the name Barcelona that song by Queen comes into my head lol! Anyways it was great to be back in a port city - i really miss the sea! In Barcelona I was staying with a couch surfer called Juan. Juan is a great guy! He is orginally from Peru, and being South American he is naturally full or energy, outgoing and fun loving! Thanks to him I really had a great time in the party city of Barcelona!

Barcelona has a similar energy to Madrid, with excellent night life! Lots of funky bars fill the alley ways throughout the downtown area. The main boulevard is called La Rambla and stretches from the main port, port Vell, right into the heart of the city. Along La Rambla you can find everything including restaurants, bars, icecream vendors, pet shops.... but most interestingly are the many buskers including magicians, and people pretending to be statues. Some of the later are quite extraordinary - my favourite being the dude on the toilet who sits there reading his paper, sitting on the loo all day! If you give him so money you can score a photo and a he will fart as you walk away hahah!

The old part of the city is known as Barri Gothic and contains an impressive gothic catherdral. Also in the area is a history museum which contains an excavated roman city that lies below the gothic quarter. The museum tells the history of Barcelona over the last few thousand years and even has some gravestones written in Hebrew.

Going back along La Rambla I popped into the Mercat de la Boqueria, a funky food market. The market is a rainbow display of fresh fruit, veges, fish and most importantly: ham!

The next day it was time to explore the Eixample district. This was a suburb that is a prime example of town planning with criss-cross avenues and a main diagonal road cutting the district in two, creatively called Avenida Diagonal! The streets here are filled with high fashion stores but the thing I came to see are the Gaudi creations. Gaudi was a famous Spanish architect who used nature as inspiration to design really out-there, Doctor Suess style buildings! I visited two of the most famous - La Pedera and Sagrada Familia. La Pedera is an apartment building with really strange chimneys and balconies that look like vine leaves. The roof and one apartment are open to the public so I had a quick look around before heading to Gaudi's most impressive creation, the Sagrada Familia.

The Sagrada Familia is a huge catherdral which they started to build in the 1800s and they will not complete until at least 2020! It is truly inspiring, with its huge spike towers and amazing stone work. Inside is full of light pouring through ornate stain glass windows and bouncing off the white washed walls. Currenly only 4 towers are complete, but the final design will have 13 representing the Apostles and Jesus. I can only imagine how impressive this will be once complete!

That afternoon I popped down to Port Olympic near some of the main city beaches. Here scores of fancy bars line the port and the beaches ready to pump through the night (in the summer that is!) After that I met up with Juan and we both got haircuts together... mine was way overdue! It only cost 3 Euros!!! We then went out to have a few drinks including a 1 Litre Mohito - Yum! Later that night we went to go meet up with the couch surfing crew and I met all sorts of interesting people travelling the world just like me! Good times!

On Friday I went to visit Park Guell, another Gaudi creation. This park looks like a cartoon and is packed with children playing as well as buskers and street musicians. I sat and listened to a great south american band singing and pumping some Spanish beats! The park is up in the hills quite far from the ocean, so you get a truly amazing view of the whole of Barcelona city and the Mediterranian sea. There are also parrots flying overhead as you walk up through the park.

For Shabbat I went to the local Chabad shule (spelt Jabad in Spanish haha) where I experienced an interesting blend of typical Chabad style mixed with Spanish Sephardi tunes! There were other tourists there from Argentina, Brazil and the US and after the service we were all invited back to the Rabbis house for Shabbos dinner. There must have been at least 40 guests and we sang and drank L'chaims through the night! On Saturday there was a nice Kiddush after shule were I met all sorts of interesting people - good times!

Juan and his friends were going to Carnaval on saturday night and I was invited to join them. I am so glad that I agreed! The party runs for 4 days and is all over Spain, but we were going to a town called Sitges, known for its large gay community and is the second biggest Carnaval in Spain! We took the train and arrived to see hundreds of people dressed in all sorts of crazy costumes dancing the night away! We found ourselves a space outside a club and danced until the wee hours of the morning! Carnaval is something like the Rugby Sevens on steroids, with hundreds of crazy people drinking, dancing and living the hedonistic lifestyle!

We got back to Barcelona at 5am and I got the chance to have a quick nap before I had to head out to catch my train for Marseille at 9am! Hangover and tired ... great combination!

Thank you for the great times Spain! And now back to France...... Baguette!