This is how we move couches across the city…

The strangest bakfiets I’ve seen…

Political rally in Museumplein. The red banner says, “No oppressed men are free.”  

     Johannes and his girlfriend Anna met us at the airport and drove us back to his place. After some food and getting settled, he took us out for a walking tour of the city. He lives in the centre, so it’s quite convenient. We saw lots of various old, Baroque buildings and noticed how clean the city is. We went through the MuseumQuartier, saw the Parliament building, and the Volkstheater. One remarkable sight is the Stephensdom. Its spire is the tallest thing in the city, and nothing is allowed to be built taller than it. What was very intriguing, however, is the tiled colored roof, which seems quite out of place to the otherwise Gothic architecture, and then coupled with a very modern, curved glass office building across the street. Inside the Dom has high, vaulted ceilings, and a stone pulpit in the centre. I appreciated the fact that it wasn’t, for the most part, overly bling-bling, as many cathedrals are. We headed home for some dinner and a rest, and to get out of the cold, but first stopped at a typical Viennese koffiehaus and had some melange and apfelstrudel. After dinner we met one of Johannes’ friends, Tomas, at a bar in the MuseumQuartier, where I had Schwechater, an Austrian beer.

We had a nice breakfast in the morning and then went to the Haus der Musik, a type of hands-on museum, having both collection items, such as letters, clothing, batons, etc, from important (Viennese) musicians, but also being an informational and science museum. It gave history of the Viennese Philharmonic, Viennese composers, and also exhibits showing how sound and hearing works, with things to try and test your own hearing, to understand sound timbre and morphing, etc. And there’s also an interactive game, where you can “conduct” a video of the Wiener Philharmoniker and they respond to your conducting, and other games playing with sound. We chilled for the evening at home with Johannes’ other roommate Jessica, listening to music and entertaining ourselves.

On Saturday we made our way to the Süd Bahnhof and got tickets to Graz (€31,40) and on the 12.56 train. It was a nice 2,5 hour trip through the mountains and getting to see the Austrian countryside. Some beautiful little villages and valleys along the way, and a fair amount of snow. We arrived in Graz about 15.45 and made our way to the Jugendgästhaus where we were staying, got checked in and dropped off our things before heading over to the check-in for the IMPULS festival we were taking part in (and hence the reason for this whole trip.) I found some other friends I knew from before and we caught up with each other while waiting for the initial discussion and then concert to begin, follwed by a reception where I got to know some of the other participants of the festibal with whom I’d be spending the next 2 weeks.

After a few days of heavy rehearsing and not much sight-seeing, I managed to have a couple hours off on Wednesday just before dark and decide to take a walk through the center of town and hike up Schlossberg, a hill in the middle of town with a nice view of the city around. The hike up the stairs and pathway isn’t very difficult, and as I walked, the slow movement of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony came on shuffle on my iPod. It seemed rather appropriate at the time for some reason. It was nice to see the city from above in the dark, with the lights illuminating the city below, but I think I’d like another go during the day as well. As I left and headed back, I passed Murinsel, a restaurant/bar on a floating island in the river, lit up in blue in the night.

     After playing a few pieces in the marathon 5 hour concert the night before, with another concert the night before that, I finally had much more free time on Tuesday. Still feeling a bit lazy from the party afterward, I felt it was necessary to have some quiet time. I walked to Schloss Eggenberg, about 2km west of Graz. On the way I passed one of the many stands I’ve seen in Graz selling fresh roasted chestnuts, so I grabbed a cone, followed by a much needed coffee further down the road. It’s a €1 entry to the park grounds at Eggenberg, and today was practically empty. Only a couple other people meandering the grounds, strolling near the trees or the gazebo. And, of course, the many peacocks milling around. The yellow and brown schloss at the end of the long entrance pathway seemed a good match for the autumn-like weather of the day… despite being the end of February. Inside the schloss are a couple museums, but they were closed today. Maybe because it was Karnaval? Which, incidentally, has been the reason I’ve also been able to indulge in krapfen while in Austria at this time of year. Basically a Berlinerbol, Paczki, jelly donut… whatever language you’d like to call it in, but they’re delicious, and everyone keeps bringing them to me while here… Anyway, I’m not sure if Karnaval is the reason for the lack of visitors, but there was absolutely nobody inside, so I got to tour the place myself, with its arched hallways and courtyards. There’s a rather large hill behind the property, so upon leaving I ventured through the woods and hiked up. Once in a while someone would come by with their dog, but I was otherwise alone, with the chance to read, think, and enjoy the view of Graz spread out to the east.

Wednesday was the last full day in Graz, and I still wanted to check out the inside of the extraordinarily funky Kunsthaus. Student admission is only €3. They had a good photography exhibit, focusing on Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and that area. The other big exhibit was on gorillas, and video documentaries the artist took while she had spent several years in Cameroon studying them. It was alright, but didn’t thrill me. Maybe if I had taken a tour I’d be more informed as to what it was all about, but for me it was just Animal Planet projected in the huge space of the Kunsthaus… which might have been worth seeing in itself, basked in a cool green light. Another exhibit had just finished and they were building a new one, so there wasn’t much else to see. Since I was across the street from Schlossberg and it was still rather early in the day, I decided to climb it again in daylight. I think it was worth it, as the view is great, with the read-brown rooftops sprawling out below.

After the parties following the closing concert of the festival, the next morning was not a happy one. Alas, I still had to pack and check out and take a train back to Wien. There were a few others also going, so we all took the 11.30 train back. I took a quiet cabin and slept the whole way, feeling better, yet still not great, by the time we got back. I was travelling with Dana again, and we were staying at Johannes’ place again. We managed to find our way there ourselves and rested and ate a bit before we all headed to the famous Porgy and Bess jazz club, where Rudi Mahal was playing. Vincent, another clarinetist that was in Graz and live in Wien, came as well with Ljupčo, yet another clarinetist that was staying with Vincent until his flight back to Macedonia. It’s quite a nice space, glowing in red inside. Rudi Mahal isn’t particularly famous, so the club was fairly empty, but a nice concert of improvisation nonetheless. €15 entry and expensive drinks notwithstanding…

     Dana was leaving back to Amsterdam around 18.00, so we took Friday morning to explore Wien some more. The mission was to take a walk and get some coffee, so we headed out in the direction of Schloss Belvedere, finding the Musik Verein, home of the Wiener Phil, en route. Schloss Belvedere is a huge, white, very ornately decorated palace, and at €8,50 for student tickets we didn’t make it past the amazing lobby. But the schloss is on the south side of Wien, and the expansive front gardens look out to the center of the city, with Stephansdom rising high from the city, backdropped with the mountains. From here it’s quite clear that the cathedral is, in fact, the hightest point in Wien. We worked our way back to the house for some lunch before Dana left, at which point I decided to check out the Museum Modern Kunst (MUMOK)… yet again finding myself in the museums featuring the strange, avant-garde, and out shit. I got there at 15.00, and they closed at 18.00, and I think I managed to see the whole museum in the 3 hours. Lots of cool exhibits, particularly featuring Nam June Paik’s Music for All Senses, an exploration of music and entertainment, and Maria Lassnig’s 80-some years of art-making with paintins and short videos, as well as a couple floors devoted to the use of the body and environment as art. Lots of 70′s performance art stuff here. After, I headed back to pack up my things, as I had to leave the house around 4.00 in the morning to get to the airport for my 6.45 flight back to Amsterdam. That evening I was going to see some friends that were also in Graz play a concert… so sleeping probably wasn’t going to happen… again… There ended up being quite a few people that were in Graz at the concert, most of which lived in Wien and the few others that were just there awaiting their flight back too. Jessie said I should bring my horn as there was probably going to be some improv at the end of the night. So with Jessie on cello, Steve on trombone, dotcom[plus] on electronics, and myself with the bass clarinet, we had some fun. It was a cool venue, Salon Goldschlag on the Goldschlagstraße. They’re a new spot, trying to be a bit of a cultural studio area. Free entrance and you pay as much as you’d like for the beer… and after I played they wouldn’t accept my money any more. Real cool people. Jessie, Steve, and I hung out there for a while with Uwe and Marian and the others milling about until we finally decided to call it a night at 2.30. Luckily Jessie and Steve were staying just a few blocks from where I was, so we all cabbed it, and I managed to get an hour of sleep before Johannes very generously woke up to drive me to the station where I could get a bus to the airport.

The trip in October, being my first time there, was spent seeing a lot of the various sights… Checkpoint Charlie was the border between the Russian and American sectors of the divided Berlin. The signs still stand, and there’s also a musuem, which is filled with tons and tons of information, however is rather disorganized, partly due, I think, to the small size of the building. It’s interesting to read about the ways in which people were so determined to leave the East, and how they risked everything to hide within the body of a car to get out.

The Reichstag is the parliament building, with a huge glass dome on top. The line is often quite long to be able to go up inside, but we went right at closing and didn’t have to. From above you can look down into the hall where the delegates assemble, and to the outside the view looks out to the Hauptbahnhof and Sony Center at Postdamer Platz.

The Holocaust Memorial looks like a series of rectangles, more or less on the same plane when viewing from outside, but once you step inside, the ground dips and rises, so you see that the columns are all of very different heights. In the middle, they are nearly 5m tall.

Around the corner is one of the main symbols of Berlin, where many important political speeches are given, and the New Years Eve party happens, the Brandenburger Tor.

On Museuminsel is the Berliner Dom, with a very stylized interior of red marble and gold, and an impressive organ.

     Throughout Berlin you can find chunks of remnants of the Berlin Wall, still in the place where the wall stood. The largest section is by the Östbahnhof, but sections also stand in Potsdamer Platz and elsewhere.

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche was bombed during the war, destroying half of the church. Today, what’s left stands as a museum, and a new church was built beside it. The new church, a futurist-minimal style, is a stark contrast to the old.

Oberbaumbrücke is a bridge spanning the River Spree from Friedrichshain to Kreuzberg, glowing in red and green in the night.

The TV Tower in Alexanderplatz has become a bit of an essential navigation tool for me. You can see it all around the city, so I always use it to orientate myself, particularly because I’ve been staying in nearby Prenzlauerberg, so I can always head towards the tower to get home.

From the inside of the Sony Centre in Potsdamer Platz

In the Gendarmenmarkt in Mitte stands the Deutcher Dom, Konzerthaus, and Französischer Dom. Over Christmas-time there was a market in the area, selling glühwein, sausages, and various gifts.

The Stasi Prison out in Hohenschönhausen was an interesting experience. We went there over the summer, after I had been to Berlin several times now, learned a lot about the history and the war, seen Das Leben der Anderen, and also saw a photo exhibit at the FOAM museum in Amsterdam where they had taken pictures of rooms of similar facilities, all from the same angle, all preserved the way it was last used in the late 80′s. Visiting reminded me a lot of this exhibit.

And some various other nice looking buildings and views that I’ve passed…

One of the things I like most about Berlin is its funkiness. The mix of old and new, the way the separation has affected the dynamic of the city, the counter-cultural trends… It has a rawness to it that I think my Detroit-side appeals to, and I miss by living in Amsterdam. Lena lives in Prenzlauerberg, in the former East. It’s a pretty hip place, though now is becoming oversaturated and trendy, as all once-hip places do. But I still like it. It has the funky vibe I dig. Kreuzberg is also a cool area. More of the immigrant community, which might be part of why it makes it more interesting.

There’s also a lot of nice parks scattered around the city…

     It’s no secret that Germans like their beer. But what they also like is a nice atmosphere in which to drink it. There’s so many nice beer gardens and bars that it would be impossible to start going on about all of them. But it seems that everywhere you turn, you find yourself in one. When you’re not even looking. Many of them are in these old buildings that have been converted to a pub, many others have some sort of outside seating area, some are along the rivers with people sitting on floating docks… really nice in the summer. Every one has it’s own character. One evening we were walking along and heard a lot of 50′s and 60′s music being played from somewhere in the park and went to investigate. We found n area tented off, with a DJ playing the old tunes, and a party in the woods. We never did find out for sure what it was all about, but it was fun to hang around a bit. Another time we wandered into an intriguing area, and found people climbing an old water tower with an outside bar below. Near Museuminsel is also a nice area next to the river where you can relax with some beers and watch the tourist boats go by.

Berlin has become one of my favorite cities. There’s so many things going on, a vibrant and active cultural life, open-air lawn-chair cinemas, markets, lots of great concerts of all styles… particularly “out” and experimental stuff, which I always love… Of course the Germans always say that Berlin isn’t really Germany, but, hell, that’s always the case with big cities like that. Same with Amsterdam, New York City… but perhaps that’s what makes it so interesting…

We spent the next morning walking around Cagliari. It’s a rather old city and has some nice buildings that we wander through, and the weather was great, sunny and 37C. Finally! Living in Holland has taught me to greatly appreciate these things. By mid-afternoon we headed to Nora, about 30 minutes south, stopping en route at the supermarket for some lunch necessities and sitting on the beach for a bit. Nora is a Nuraghi ruins site. Ruins fascinate me… I dunno. I just dig em. From all time periods… even modern. My home of Detroit is in a state of urban decay, with ruins of it’s own. So anyway, there’s quite a bit of structure still in Nora, and some mosaic floors. And with a great view out to the sea.

From there we headed the two hours towards Oristano, where we planned to camp for the next couple of days. We thought a central location might be ideal, since there were things we wanted to see all over the island, and we’ll fly out from Alghero, on the north side of the island. We could also have just made a new camp every day and travelled in a line, but since we’re here, literally, the day that high season is ending we were afraid finding a campsite everywhere would be difficult. As it was, we were pretty lucky to find space at Camping Is Aruttas, in Cabras, on the coast west of Oristano. It was a little difficult to find exactly where the place was, but we managed. It’s a nice campground, and cheap… €12 each/night and free showers. And the beach is right there. It actually wasn’t even packed. There were lots of Italian families that go camping for the whole month, and had their multi-caravan spots basically turned into apartments, with dining areas, living rooms, laundry, and the caravans as the bedrooms. Many even had TVs. We had our choice of spots from a fairly empty part of the campground.

     Sunday morning we headed to Costa Verde an hour and a half or so away to the south, which is supposed to have some great beaches. The route we took went through Montevecchio, an abandoned mining town. I was actually really interested in visiting some of the amazing looking sites there, but today was going to be a beach day, and it was already taking us longer than expected to drive, because the roads winding through this area are crazy. Up and down mountains, with valleys below where there was the mining, through old abandoned towns, past crumbling factories, and switching back up steep paths. Unfortunately I didn’t have any extra charged batteries and mine were low, so I couldn’t get nearly all the pictures I wanted to, and I wanted to save some for the Costa Verde. The final stretch of the drive took us to some sand dunes with lots of fir trees and other green plants covering the hills, hence the name. And just beyond was an amazing beach, with nice sand and a dark blue sea with a strong current, bringing some incredible, foamy, white waves in. It was amazing trying to swim into them, and then fight your way out as it carries you back in. We headed back before it got too dark so I wouldn’t have to drive through all that again, but we ended up taking the route around the other side of the mountain back to a major road and it went much faster. We stopped in Marina Torre Grande, the closest town of any size to our campground, on the way back for some dinner. Along the road that follows the coast, lots of people had stands set up, selling souvenirs and whatnot, or food. There was also some bands playing on a stage in one area.

     We were kind of switching back and forth from beach day and site see day. Monday was a do shit day, and I wanted to see the Barumini nuraghi ruins in the middle of the island. But that still didn’t keep us from first spending a couple hours in the morning on the beach by our campsite. The nuraghi are really phenomenal structures, and only exist in Sardinia, but they’re everywhere here. The just look like a dome of rocks, but inside are several levels of rooms. The Barumini structure is 4000 years old and one of the best preserved of them. The area has a much different feel from the lush beaches of before. The interior of Sardinia can be very dry and brown. We bought a ticket that included a visit to the museum, and after doing so we just drove. I miss not having a car in Amsterdam. I love driving. Maybe influenced from growing up in Detroit, maybe from having driven so much, maybe just because I like road trips… I dunno, but it was great to be in a car again. There was some sort of natural preserve towards the north, a route which could take us back in our general direction of home. Everything in Sardinia is a general direction, though. There are no straight roads or direct routes anywhere. It was beautiful in the mountains here. With cliffs on one side, and looking out across the green, rolling mountains on the other. We got out and walked some trails a bit, and had a very smart little beagle take to us and follow. This seems to happen to me everywhere. Dogs love me. We got back in the car and continued on. There are no major roads in this area of the island, so we kept going through little towns and villages along the way. It was quaint in a romanticized, Italian kind of way. We stopped in Oristano for dinner, finding a funky crepes place, and walked the city a bit.

Tuesday we drove 150km across Sardinia to the Gulf of Orosei on the east. There’s several beaches along there, and we opted for Cala Cartoe. It’s not easy to get to, having to drive up and wind through mountains, but that also gives awesome views of the gulf and the village below. Cala Cartoe is a white sand beach, surrounded by green, forested mountains, and the water was much calmer than Costa Verde, so we could actually swim. After spending the day there, we wanted to see a bit of the other beaches, and headed back towards Cala Canone, and passed some goats in the road back down the mountain. We stopped at the closest ones nearby, which were also nice with red pebbles, and an orange rock backdrop, but I’m glad we spent the day in Cala Cartoe. This one looks like it was quite busy earlier, and I think I enjoyed it more seeing the view with everyone gone. We walked to the end of the beach and sat on a cluster of large rocks in the water and chilled out before making the drive home.

The next day we decided that we would pack up camp and move somewhere closer to Alghero, where we would be flying from a couple days later. There’s a road that follows the coastline from Oristano to Alghero, and, of course, has phenomenal views. The deep blue of the sea contrasting with the jutting rocks sprouted with greenery, it’s fantastic. When we got to Alghero we headed to the Mariposa campground, which is on the beach in the north side of town. It was much more crowded than in Cabras, but that’s to be expected, being a much more touristic town, and being right in the city. We also had our choice of spots here, but there were no squared out pitches… just various areas where it was a free for all. Find space for your tent and put it there. We still managed to find a nice one with some shade and off to the side, made camp, and walked into the old Catalan city of Alghero. The old castle is the main area of activity, and after walking through it a bit, we had some beers at a pub looking over the castle wall into the sea.

Thursday was our last full day, and we started with going to Capo Cáccia and the Grotto di Nettuno, a large underground stalactite and-gmite filled cave. To get down to the entrance involved climbing 650-some stairs along the edge of the cliff. The grotto is pretty impressive, although not as big as i would have liked for €10. The tour also wasn’t great, as it was just a guy with a microphone with a trail of 100 people following behind him through everything. It was difficult to pay attention to what he was going on about, and instead we just enjoyed what we saw without trying to see the different shapes that gave the names to the various formations.

Nearby was another nuraghe site, Palmavera. Maybe not as large as Barumini, but still impressive enough. Also close was the Anghelu Ruju Necropoli, a huge burial ground of artificial caves, used by civilzations from 3000-1500 B.C. As a kid I would have loved having this place as a playground, with all the caves and places to hide… though it’s a little freaky when you think of the circumstances for which it was built. We headed back to the campground and spent some time on the beach before it got dark.

Friday the 29th was our last day. We were flying at 18.30, and had to deal with returning the car as well, but that still gave us some time for some final exploration of Alghero in the daylight. All was good until a slight mishap with trying to drive through the old castle town on he way out… I should have just backed my way out to begin with, but thought I could take a different way out. However, with the very narrow old Italian streets, with barely enough room for the car to begin with… and then the factor of other people and construction blocking roadways, we found ourselves in a tight spot and needing to turn a corner that was proving to be difficult. After many attempts, and the help of the locals which got some some people to move their things out of the way, and to help navigate, we managed… eventually… might have been a little easier had I spoke Italian, but no matter. All was fine in the end, and we got to the airport with no problems and took our flight back to Bremen, Germany.

Sardinia is an awesome place, with amazing views, beaches, and history. It was a great combination of relaxing and chilling out, and seeing things, and of quiet and hustle. And the weather was great the whole time, so everything I was looking for in this trip worked out.

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     The next day we headed up Monte San Salvatore. It’s incredibly steep, and there’s a high powered train/cable car that takes you up. The sitting compartments are stepped like stairs, so you remain sitting upright and comfortable despite being on such a steep incline. And halfway up you have to change to a different train, which is even steeper. More amazing views at the top, though. The lake, followed by the city with the Alps as a backdrop… amazing! And everything with a touch of green. Switzerland is amazingly beautiful. We picked up Giordi and went into town. Roberto had to drop off a fishing pole to be fixed, and we hung around the city to wait for it. Once ready, we headed to a nearby park with a little beach to chill out, swim, read, and fish. We met a friend of Giordano there, and Stefano, a friend of Roberto’s came later. Once dark, we left to get some dinner and beers.

     Thursday we drove to the highest dam Europe in the Valle Verzasca, used in a scene of the James Bond film Golden Eye. They offered bungee jumping… but not for me. And again, amazing views. I think that might sum up most of Switzerland, though… We went again to Giordi’s house, and this time took the boat out onto the lake for a bit. The fishing was not any better there. And since we didn’t have a license, we had to keep hiding the pole every time a police boat came by. That night we went to some local bars and hangs Roberto goes to. In the morning we hung around in town for a bit before having to catch the hour long train back to Milano, and then the hour long bus to the airport. Luckily I had done this nearly exactly a year before, so getting everything straightened out went fine. Once at Bergamo airport, we checked in and got ready for the beaches of Sardinia!

     The next day Sofia’s little cousin was having a birthday about an hour outside of Lisbon. Normally I wouldn’t have had any problem going, seeing another part of the country, and experiencing more culture, but since my time in Lisboa was limited we decided maybe I’d just hang around the city on my own. She took me to the Castle of São Jorge, overlooking all of Lisbon, and showed me a bit around the area before she had to leave again, including the Sé de Lisboa, the oldest church in the city. Once she did, I went back to the castle to actually go inside (€2,50 student). It has some great views over Lisboa, as well as having some cool castle architecture itself. After strolling around a bit, in the 35C heat, I sat in one of the large courtyards where a guy was playing flamenco guitar, busking and trying to sell some CDs. I rested on a bench to get some sun and listened. Once I left the castle, I walked through the neighborhood immediately around. I was pretty grimy. Not what I would normally expect of the area around a castle, but I suppose when it’s the main castle of a city, and not something in the countryside of the UK or Germany, it makes sense that the surrounding area would be a little rough. I found a bar and grabbed a beer to help with the heat and sat in the shade outside. It didn’t take long to realize there was a lot of drug dealing going on, and not much longer before someone asked if I wanted anything.

From the castle I had been able to see various things in the city I’d like to see, and with my map I tried to identify them and head there when I left. After some walking and wandering I found my way to a small but interesting archaeological museum. It held a lot of interesting artifacts, including two mummies of children, one boy, one girl, from South America. The building itself was an old theater or something from Roman times. From here I found myself at the Elevador de Santa Justa, an Eiffel-esque lift which helped deal with the hilly area. From the top was a good view of the castle I had just left and the city below. It was taking too long to actually take the lift, though, so I made my way down otherwise. I explored a plaça with some interesting tile work on the ground. Sofia informed me later that this is typical Portuguese, as I saw it many times around the city. I eventually found my way by two churches, Igreja da Graça and Igreja de Santa Engrácia. There was a market cleaning up in the area. Pity I didn’t make it there earlier to check it out. There were some pretty grimy areas over here, too. But also interesting Portuguese architecture on the houses. Tiles and colour on the exterior is common. After hanging around, having some beers, Sofia evetnually called to say they were coming back. I headed to meet them at a metro station where they picked me up with the car, and we went to have dinner in the area where the Expo ’98 was. Patricia, another Portuguese friend from Amsterdam, but from another city, met us there. Sofia and her were flying to Italy on Monday, so she was coming first to Lisboa. After dinner, we walked the area of the Expo, and Sofia’s dad pointed out and explained (while the others translated) the various new buildings and such that had been built for it, including the Portuguese contribution, which has a pavilion with the largest cement ceiling without any mid-support… or something like that.

On Sunday Sofia and I went to the Belém area in the west of the city, stopping first at the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, an World Heritage monastery. From there we went across the street to the Museu Colecção Berardo, a contemporary art museum which happened to be free. There was an exhibit on surrealism, which was bizarre, since I had just seen one at the Guggenheim in Bilbao. There were a lot of names I recognized because I had just seen some other their other works, and in fact, there were even some of the same pieces, such as pieces from the the Dali lobster phone experiments. Sofia’s parents picked us up from there and we went further down the road along the water to see some of the other monuments the city offers. First we stopped at a carriage museum, housed in what used to be the stables for the horses that pulled them. They had an array of the old carriages used to carry various members of royalty, both Portuguese and foreign. Next we saw the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, a monument to the explorers of the Age of Discovery, and the Belém Tower. Sofia also explained how Lisboa has copies of many famous structures… such as the 25 de Abril Bridge, which looks just like the Golden Gate Bridge; the war memorial, with a wall listing names of people that died, like the Vietnam Memorial in America; as well as a large Jesus statue very much like the one in Rio de Janeiro. Before heading back towards home, we stopped for some coffee and pasteis de nata, the typical Portuguese pastry.

Sofia and Patricia’s flight was just an hour or so before mine the next morning, so Sofia’s parents drove us all to the airport where we parted ways until our returns to Amsterdam in September. But in the meantime, back to Berlin for me…

The next day Uxía took me around A Coruña in the daylight. It was a pretty relaxed day, just walking around, going back through the Medieval faire area, and having some food and beers. We ended up at the beach later in the afternoon, and met with some of Uxía’s friends later, and had some more drinks, food, and drinks.

I was originally planning on leaving for Lisbon the next morning, but Uxía said I had to stay one more day, because then I would be there for Thursday night and could really see the city nightlife. So we took the day to wander some more. We went to the Palacio Municipal (free entrance) where they have a huge collection of clocks, as well as other artworks, murals, stained glass, finely polished wood, etc that you expect in a municpal palace. We headed then to the Torre de Hercules, the symbol of A Coruña. Built in the 2nd century as a lighthouse by the Romans, it’s the oldest lighthouse still in use. There were some great views from the top, but would have been better had it not been cloudy and starting to rain.

Uxía’s mom picked us up from there and took us back to their house where we would have coffee with her mom’s boyfriend’s family. As is Spanish custom, whole families gather together to meet each other. Nobody else spoke English, so I was trying my best in Spanish… It was a little strange, not being part of either of the families involved in this gathering, but it was also nice to see this cultural family life. They also gave me some Galician liquor that I had to drink to show I was a Galician Man. They often put it in the coffee, but I took it as a straight shot… so I guess I passed… Uxía and I headed out that night and met up with her friends again in a park. It’s the drinking park, apparently. It was loaded with various groups of people that brought their store-bought bottles of alcohol and sat around socializing. Some of her friends were excited to practice their English, so I didn’t get much chance for Spanish. After spending quite some time in the park and finishing our bottles, we ended up at some other bars. I have to admit, I have no clue where. We managed to get pretty ripped… We got home sometime, and had a couple hours sleep before needing to get up to get the 9.00 bus to Lisbon (€53), where I could try to sleep more.

The wedding was in a village near Bilbao. Small and quiet with a nudist beach nearby with a nice mountain backdrop. The wedding was in Spanish, but afterwards a traditional Basque dance happened outside. One man plays a recorder-like instrument with one hand while playing a drum with the other, while another man dances for the bride and groom. Sergio and Maria picked us up to go to the beach (not the nudist one), but first we stopped for some food, delicious half a roasted chicken. Two other friends met us there, and we went to the beach, although it was getting later and clouds had been forming. From there Sergio, Maria, Belén, and I drove to San Juan de Gaztelgatxe, a small island with a 10th century church atop a large hill, with a pathway resembling the Great Wall leading to it. After heading home, Gaizka met us there for dinner and we headed out for the parties again that night. We met some other friends at a convenience store first, then piled six of us into the car and drove out to one of the further out neighborhoods. Similar scene… stage with live music, lots of people hanging out. Later in the night the music was supplied by speakers outside some bars. It was a long night, arriving home with the sun.

     The next day Gaizka took us to the village he grew up in, an hour south of Bilbao. His brother owns a campground and horse riding stable. We took the horses out for a ride around the area with his dog running behind. It was a nice way to see the Basque countryside. We stayed at his brother’s house for the night and watched a Basque movie. 1 of the 4  ever made. It was a love story of a boy moving into a Basque farm to work and learn the language, falls in love with the girl, yadda yadda. It was funny though. I didn’t understand a word of the Basque. The Spanish parts were better… but the English subtitles were definitely in order.

On Monday we went back to Bilbao and to the Guggenheim Museum, this time actually inside. They were having an exhibit on surrealism with some interesting pieces. Belén’s parents had been gone this whole time, but came home from her grandmother’s that day, so we headed back for the 3 o’clock lunch with them. After a siesta we went to the the music store of the violin player from the wedding quartet. He wanted me to try out a new brand of saxes he was stocking. And then to the bus station so I could get a ticket for the morning to Burgos to see another friend, Célia, en route to Galicia. It was €12 for the 2 hours to Burgos, arriving around 10.30. After that was settled, we met some of Belén’s friends at a bar before heading home for the evening.