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An Appeal for Help (by Laura)

Saturday, June 5th, 2010

Hi, everybody!

Hamsa (aka Gulliver Hamsa Nye) and I are still in Finisterre! I would have liked to have returned to the Camino by now, but Hamsa is feeling kinda sickly. Nothing major, just the creeping crud. But its hard to slog a pack around the countryside when you feel like crap, no matter how much of your stuff your mom is carrying for you. Not that I´m complaining…  much.

Our friend Cristobal left today with the dogs to head up toward Muxia. There are some fine beaches along the way, so he plans to sleep on one of them tonight. I wish him all the best!

So, I need some help from any and all of you who live in the USA: please contact Michael and/or Sarah Beth for us! They aren´t answering any of our emails! ACK! We need Mike to bring a few things for us with him when he flies over here. I´ve sent him a detailed list via email, and Sarah Beth too, several times, but… no reply at all. There´s no reply at all. For heaven´s sake, dont make me break into my best Phil Collins impersonation. Or my worst.  Actually, they´re indistinguishable. So, yeah. Help.

I don´t know that I should post their digits on a website, so if you have their phone numbers, for the love of all that´s right in the world (and the poor Spaniards around me who really don´t want to hear me singing Genesis´ lyrics) please call them and harass them until they read my emails and email me back!

I´m heading back to our alburgue now. It´s so awesome there. I love the Swiss lady, Maria Louisa, who owns the place. She is delightful. I have some yummy local cheese and bread waiting for me there. I gotta tell ya, prices in Galicia are the bomb! I have been pigging out for pennies, and I can even afford to feed my bottomless pit of a teenager. He especially appreciates the Toblerone bars for 50 cents each. I like the giant ring of whole grain bread for €1.  And I like how when you ask for o.j. you always get fresh-squeezed! But I don´t like how every time, every freaking time, I order a salad it comes with tuna on top!  I say “sin atoon” but it doesn´t matter. If you´re in Spain, you´re getting tuna on your dang salad whether you like it or not!

So now I just order hot chocolate instead.  In a cup, not on a salad.

Call Mike now. Or I will send you a beautiful, fresh green salad covered in yucky tuna. You´ve been warned.

Love you!

Posted in 1, Camino de Santiago, Hamsa, Spain, Walking | 5 Comments »

I need a word stronger than ¨jet-lag¨ (by Laura)

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

I have a very confused brain. It doesn´t really know where I am or what time it is. I was already struggling with the ¨how¨and ¨why¨ of life, so it´s good to add ¨when¨and ¨where¨to the mix.
I am typing this to you right now only as a means to stay awake. Oh, how I desperately wish to sleep. Hamsa is perky, happily bouncing around the joint. God, to be young again. Only four more hours until I can go to bed.
I would post pic´s now, but the computer I´m using is kinda old and doesn´t have any USB ports, so words will have to do for now.

We had a fun few hours in the Atlanta airport — ¨Manchester Airport is closed due to the ash cloud but Heathrow is still open… Heathrow is now closed… Heathrow is open again… the cabin crew is in their hotel now… the crew is here! oh, wait, where are the pilots?¨ I was willing to try to fly the thing, but the pilots finally showed. Now, during all this waiting, Hamsa got surrounded by a gaggle of kids wanting to play. Boisterous kids from a distant time zone who didn´t realize it was after midnight. And just before we boarded, Hamsa said, ¨I bet they sit near us¨ And he was so right. Two rows back, two rows ahead, and a row over. Fortunately, they all settled down and fell asleep within an hour or two. Except for, oh yeah, the baby!
Those of you who fly know the trepidation you feel when you board a plane and see a baby. So, yeah, crying baby. She did quiet down for a little while, until every adult on the plane fell asleep, and then she kicked it up a few octaves. And decibels. Fun.
Oh, and then there were the old ladies who got cold (big surprise) and asked the attendants to turn up the heat. It was the hottest, driest flight I´d ever been on. I felt like a walking piece of parchment when we got off.
At least the fellow sitting next to me was nice. A pleasant Brit with a charming accent. I enjoyed chatting with him. I had to fight the urge to ask him to keep talking, or to read the in-flight magazine out loud just so I could hear him speak!

We landed in London a few hours behind schedule, and were met by my brother´s good friend, Greg. He gave us a whirlwind tour of the city during our rather brief layover. We saw Trafalgar Square (impressive) and Big Ben, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, the Thames, the gov´t building that Margaret Thatcher shut down, double-decker buses, stoic guards on horses, and tons of tube track. Greg knew what lots of the buildings were! It was a very fun afternoon, and I´m so grateful to Greg for showing us around. I def want to see more of it!

Then we were off on another, much shorter, and quieter, plane ride. And here we are! Barcelona!
I believe Hummer already filled you in about our first night here. Today was much smoother, so far. We rode the train back to the city center and walked around this very beautiful, and highly walkable city. La Ambras is a gorgeous street, and there were all kinds of things going on there. There were lots of people in very elaborate costumes doing the living statue gig, and scam artists doing the pea-in-a-cup trick, and drug dealers who chirp to advertise their wares (seriously!) It took us a few chirpers to figure out what they were doing. I guess that works better than ¨dime bag! get your dime bag here!”
We continued on to the port area, walked along the waterfront, then came back to Plaza Catalunya along other winding streets. It was fun to just randomly turn this way and that, discovering churches and musicians along the way.
Now we´re back at the coolest hostel, InOut, and we love it here. If you´re ever in Barcelona, I highly recommend this place.
I´m gonna walk in the gardens for a while, try to wake up some more.
I hope you are all well! We love you! And for heavens sake, send Hamsa some comments!
Adios!

Posted in Spain, Walking | 2 Comments »

Ludwig the traveling hedgehog (by Hamsa)

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
Ludwig (pronounced lood-vig) is a hedgehog. He likes orange Fanta, pizza, and getting his picture taken. He loves to fly on airplanes even though he hides in the bag when he does. He hates with all his heart Scrabble because ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Europe, Greece, Hamsa, Hiking, Iceland, Italy, Ludwig the traveling hedgehog, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland | 1 Comment »

we are here

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
We have arrived in spain at like 10 pm, we are out of the airport with our bags and we catch a bus to Plaza Catalunya where our bus (the S1) is to our hostel but guess what... we can´t ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Backpacking, Europe, Language Barrier, Spain, Teenagers, Walking | 1 Comment »