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Articles Tagged ‘Spain’

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Contrary to guidebook gospel

Monday, August 28th, 2006

Being the seasoned travellers that we are, we decided to arrive in Barcelona, in peak season, without accommodation arranged. This, we agreed, would give us the opportunity to find somewhere that felt right. Right? Wrong. We spent the first 4 hours of our first day in Barcelona, wedded to the guidebook searching for a bed – any bed – and came up with nothing. Well one place that looked like a glorified brothel and if it weren’t for the decisive impulse to jump on a train to somewhere else, we may have had to take our lives into our hands.
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Taking photos one-handed

Sunday, August 14th, 2005

Granada
Synchroniously a friend of a friend of a friend – an english speaking german woman – was driving to Granada, so I hitched a lift. We took the inland route through naturally desolate dry, dusty plains of various brown and yellow tones;
inland road.JPG
and industrially desolate cities that literally pack and litter the coast line.
The atmosphere was set by the sweeping saharan winds of dust that danced and settled across the windscreen.

I arrived in Granada in the arabic quarter with its winding cobbled streets, too narrow for cars, too steep for bikes – a maze of colourful corridors packed with market stalls and wandering people. I found the teahouse Pervane owned by the Sufis that were to meet me. I spent a couple of nights with the Sufis – which was challenging since only one man spoke moderate english – but we managed. We spent each night at the teahouse with random individuals pulling up a stool; sometime for a few minutes, sometimes for a few hours.
winding alleys.JPG
Time has a different quality in Spain. Everything goes at a slower pace and at a different rhythm. While the days can be quiet and crawl along, the nights are warm and lively. Life is lived passionately and without pretense, which is at once shocking and liberating. From Granada I continued alone onto Sevilla, my last stop.
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Hola!

Saturday, August 6th, 2005
Plans, even the flimsiest ones, are bound to change. I arrived at Jerez airport to be met by my old Australian friend Ingrid and her Spanish partner. red van.JPG blue toes.JPG[Continue reading this entry]

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